Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis being warned to stay away from most natural bodies of water as they are polluted with human and animal waste and will make you sicker than a duck in the DC reflecting swamp. In responding to the urge to return …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Backrooms”
Down the Rabbit Holes: Review of Backrooms ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Cinema has a unique ability to embody the subjective conscious—and unconscious—through a purely visual narrative. In short, it has the ability to create nightmares. It could be argued that literature, the theater, and music can also effectively get in a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: A Tribute to Father’s Day
Photo by Sabine van Straaten on Unsplash A Tribute to Father’s Day: Ten Unforgettable Celluloid Dads By Geoff Carter (Originally published June 12th, 2023) It’s that time of year when we’re once again celebrating the patriarch, the pater familia, the big man, the king daddy, and the head of the family. It’s Father’s Day. Master of the grill, …
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Kickass and Father’s Day
Attribution: Photo by Steve DiMatteo on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes on a few Father’s Day words to the keeper and all human fathers: “You know how you qualified for the “father” title with all of its perks and pleasures, and how you were not really tallying such things up at that precise moment. …
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Kickass and the Book Launch
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis fresh off their full-house book launch of Ah, the Women! the keeper’s new novel about women saving the world from the bullish outrages of men. The friendly Vista West crowd did not throw any ripe fruit or demand the keeper’s immediate …
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Kickass and “Ah, The Women!”
Attribution: Image by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be napping today as the keeper and Phyllis conduct a book launch in the Vista West community room for Ah, the Women!, Bill’s latest novel about women taking over the world to save it from the outrageousness of the male libido. 1:30 …
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Kickass and the Like-Me Element
Attribution: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, confident in the knowledge that he is “liked” to the extent that the keeper and Phyllis tolerate his presence and would probably feed him if he had a stomach. All of which goes to make the point that all people and dogs …
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False Imprisonment
Attribution: Paul Goyette from Chicago, USA, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter We’re not supposed to be a country that imprisons innocent people. It states in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and that “among these are Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness” and that it is the …
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Kickass and Message to Bob Shepherd
Attribution: Pete Souza, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper will be sending a message today to his old friend Bob Shepard on the occasion of the opening of the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago. Bob would have a typical Chicago comment of ironic Black pride …
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Kickass and Ailment Complaints
Attribution: James McTaggart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, lies low today as the keeper works to develop his “Ailment Complaint Guide” for use primarily in elderly environs but also useful for all ages in responding to the ubiquitous “How are you?” in even casual encounters. The following card …
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Kickass and Tobacco Spitting
Attribution: University of Texas at Arlington Photograph Collection, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to be helpful as the keeper goes off on a Monday morning tangent and wonders where the tobacco industry located the spittoons at the POTUS birthday party on the White House trash dumping area? …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Obsession”
Careful What You Wish For: Review of Obsession ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In past reviews, I’ve written a fair amount about the renaissance of the horror genre in today’s cinema and these modern filmmakers’ expansion of the traditional genre tropes to include issues of social and cultural importance. It’s not just …
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