Attribution: SecretName101, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper and Phyllis’s nomination of Wisconsin governor Tony Ever’s for a Pulitzer for his response to the narcissistic POTUS demanding that state efforts to keep emergency food coming for those who need it be stopped immediately. In the Republican …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “A House of Dynamite”
The Final Countdown: Film Review of A Houseful of Dynamite ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Illustration by Michael DiMilo Call it techno-horror, apocalyptic cinema, or just plain science-fiction, but films about the dangers of military technology gone wild, especially when paired with the specter of nuclear annihilation, have been with us since the first days of …
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Kickass and First Snow
Attribution: W.carter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Photo by Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting the keeper’s long experience in dealing with seasonal rotations, consulted with him on the appropriate reaction to the first “dusting” of snow on portions of the local landscape. The keeper’s response follows: “Don’t cry. Crying only turns tears into …
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Kickass Writes a Note
Attribution: United Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, intercepted the following note written by the keeper and Phyllis as they attempt to survive life as it becomes ever more absurd and impossible. “To the POTUS who obviously has no concern: “At long last, sir, have you no sense …
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Kickass and Thrown Sandwich
Attribution: פֿינצטערניש, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reminds the keeper and Phyllis that the most important thing to remember about throwing a sandwich is to throw it in the direction of the dog. Throwing a sandwich at an ICE agent is fraught with peril as the ICERS wear bulletproof …
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Dialogues on the Devils We Know: Tripping in the Twilight Zone
Attribution: IlNat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring The Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter A calculus max min term as we all know…🤓 …and No, I’m not referring to exactly when Ohtani’s 3rd jack started to fall. Before I begin, I want to …
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Kickass and ICE Undercover
Attribution: Paul Goyette from Chicago, USA, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has returned from his under-cover assignment at the ICE training center and will be back in his usual haunts as soon as the delousing medication kicks in, his self-image is restored to the …
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Princes of Darkness
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We’ve survived another Halloween season, which, regrettably (to me at least), is becoming more and more of a Hallmark holiday. Increasingly elaborate costumes, extravagant home decorations, and a growing cornucopia of movies and limited series have inundated us for weeks—if not months, but the psychopathic killers, monsters, aliens, …
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Kickass and Women Winners
Attribution: Illustration by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in celebrating the recent election results, particularly those in which women emerged victorious. As the keeper has written in his ready-to-be-published novel, the only hope for the planet’s survival is for women to totally take over from the …
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Kickass and Louie’s Ghost
Attribution: Photo by Veronica Dudarev on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper growing up in the company of bachelor farm hand Louie Lancaster, he of the crooked leg and the tumbleweed mind that never lacked for novelty and curiosity nor the inclination to express those things. There was the ghost that haunted the horse …
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Kickass Retires as Hunter
Attribution: Henry Farny, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper submitting his formal resignation as a natural predator, which means, of course, that he is no longer a member of the hunting crowd that now swarms over the land like an alien invasion force. Being a hunter …
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The Pen in Hand in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Highest 2 Lowest”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo New York City Serenade: Film Review of Highest 2 Lowest ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter There’s nothing like a Spike Lee joint. The man has a style like no other. Over the last forty-some years, the man has made masterpiece after masterpiece. Lee’s cinematic oeuvre ranges from poignant family dramas like Crooklyn to biting …
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