House of God: Review of Heretic Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter “Two young women working as missionaries for the Church of Latter-Day Saints—the Mormons—enter the home of a charming middle-aged man and soon find they have walked into the devious puzzle box of a religious fanatic, that they are prisoners of a …
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Kickass and the Hodag
Attribution: The Wide World Magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in celebrating the capture of what was first thought to be the Rhinelander Hodag but turns out to be Elon Musk who was nabbed while trying to stuff currency into the personal body …
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Kickass and ICE
Attribution: Cgoodall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper that it is only a matter of time until he and Phyllis are accosted by black clad masked young men who demand that they come along peacefully as the deportation process has advanced to their category—that being “elderly …
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Kickass and Mike’s Birthday
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in wishing a belated happy birthday to the keeper’s son Mike and reminding him once again that his birth was not a big enough deal to interfere with the keeper’s fishing. On the way home from the birthing hospital …
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Kickass and Founders Day
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, napped as the keeper and Phyllis joined a community room full of Vista West residents at a “Founders Day” dinner, a very nice white tablecloth, wine and rose affair put on by director Jeanne and her capable staff. It all required Phyllis to dress …
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Altered States
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In the late 1970s, when I was still in college, a movie named King of Hearts was the popular midnight movie (before it was preempted by Eraserhead and the ubiquitous The Rocky Horror Picture Show). The film was about a French town taken over by inmates of an insane asylum during World War I. The …
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Kickass Hands it Off
Attribution: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes and Bill Mullen Kickass and the keeper hand it off to old Tribune friend Pulitzer winner Bill Mullen for his response to yesterday’s Kickass post about Jim Lovell on his 96th birthday. Thanks, Bill. “And to think that Lovell grew up as a Wisconsin kid, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Play Ball!
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I sighted my first robin a few weeks ago. The daffodils and crocuses are starting to peek through the ground. After possibly one of the longest winters in the history of the modern world—at least subjectively speaking–spring has arrived. We can enjoy walks in the sunshine, digging in …
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Kickass and Jim Lovell
Attribution: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper and Phyllis that the message for the day should come from astronaut Jim Lovell as he celebrates his 96th birthday with the following comment: “We learned a lot about the Moon, but what we really learned was about …
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Kickass Remembers Jackrabbits
Attribution: Photo by Mike Lewinski on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in lamenting the disappearance of jackrabbits in Wisconsin. Nobody has seen one for years and DNR biologists say they are officially “extirpated.” In his boyhood Barron County days, the big white jackrabbits were like the royalty of winter, jumping up from …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Gorge”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★1/2 Long-Distance Relationship: Film Review of The Gorge By Geoff Carter Genre movies have come (or gone) a long way. It used to be that a spy movie was just a spy movie. We could always trust James Bond to be suave, sophisticated, and deadly—and his movies to be fun romps. …
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Kickass Hiding Under Bed
Attribution: Photo by kuaileqie RE on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, woke up to the dripping of the keeper’s poetry on a rainy Sunday: ‘If I had a Telsa I would sell it. “if I were a Repub you would smell it. “If the mad POTUS has his way And tells his lies with every …
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