Attribution: Carlo Chiostri, User:Mbz1, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper is in something of a dilemma in adjusting to the demise of truth as a communications requirement, from pronouncements from political narcissists to now here on Facebook with the announcement that posts will no longer be …
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Kickass and Political Advice
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis hard at work trying to befriend the incoming administration by suggesting ways for it to identify with old tried and true political words and phrases: *Change Lincoln’s use of “better angels” to “bitter angles.” *Rearrange “Fly the flag” to …
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Kickass and Future/Past
Attribution: NASA/Carla Thomas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has resolved to stop dwelling on his past and concentrate more on his future which is guaranteed to be a much less cluttered field of commentary material. In keeping with this resolve, the keeper will now …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Rebel Ridge”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Messing with the Man: Review of Rebel Ridge ★★★☆☆ By Geoff Carter The revenge story is one of the oldest narratives out there. From vintage tales like Hamlet, Medea, Julius Caesar, A Cask of Amontillado to more modern iterations like Carrie, Dune, and The Revenant, the revenge story also seems to resonate with audiences. …
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Kickass and Nancy’s Hip
Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1989-034-21 / Mensing / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, suggests to the keeper that he should have realized that when he opined on Nancy Pelosi’s replacement hip being installed in Germany there would be problematic fall out. Some of that fallout came …
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Each year, in the family holiday tradition, my wife and I venture out to buy our Christmas tree. We’re lucky enough to live across the street from a big tree lot so we don’t have very far to go—we can walk right over. It’s very convenient. It’s also …
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Kickass and Flat Shoes
Attribution: US Department of Labor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, in his ever vigilant but forever disappointing search for meaningful political developments, has finally scored big-time with news that Nancy Pelosi has returned to Congress wearing “flats” instead of her signature high-heeled stilettos. It …
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Kickass and Phyllis Genius
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in being awed by Phyllis’s casual innovation of the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle genre, a popular form of entertainment that has remained unchanged forever. In working her puzzle, a gift from her daughter Gina, Phyllis used much of a kitchen counter to …
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Kickass and 2025 as a Model A
Attribution: Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, having sampled an entire day of 2025, has consulted with Phyllis and decided to go through the year identifying himself as a car, which in his case would be a Model A Ford made the …
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Eating Our Young
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter America has always been full contradictions (the more cynical among us might say hypocrisies). It is a place where anyone with enough spunk, luck, and wherewithal can become rich and powerful, but it is also a country where abject poverty runs rampant. It is a place where people …
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Happy New Year’s Day from The Pen in Hand Blog
Geoff Carter and Company wish you a very Happy, Prosperous, and Safe 2025!! Attribution: HitomiAkane, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Auld Lang Syne by The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
Kickass and Dryer Flying
Attribution: Baron Maddock, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper welcoming the new year by announcing that from where he most often does his best planning he can hear the clothes dryer out in its hall closet and as it heads into the spin cycle it sounds …
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