Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS Japanese Literature: Making the Yellow Man Believe in the White Man’s Yellow Peril (Nagai Kafū)

“Here, then, is proof that cruelty to animals is an issue only to a few Christians, not a pressing problem for the whole of Japanese society. Is this a matter for grief or celebration? Witnessing these scenes only deepens my sense that the Japanese are a warlike people who are sure to defeat the RussiansContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Making the Yellow Man Believe in the White Man’s Yellow Peril (Nagai Kafū)”

RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Hunger (George Orwell)

You discover what it is like to be hungry. With bread and margarine in your belly, you go out and look into the shop windows. Everywhere there is food insulting you in huge, wasteful piles; whole dead pigs, baskets of hot loaves, great yellow blocks of butter, strings of sausages, mountains of potatoes, vast GruyèreContinue reading “RKS Literature: In Poverty You Discover Hunger (George Orwell)”

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: THE SWITCHEROO

THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: THE SWITCHEROO The Singapore Times Exclusive: Singapore gang connection revealed! Bob and Fay realized it was time for a grooming. I might have been the hairiest West Highland Terrier puppy in Toronto. I was taken to Guido and Wong a new canine grooming establishment in the Leaside area ofContinue reading ““Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: THE SWITCHEROO”

RKS Japanese Literature: A Repulsive Mess of Fish and Sorrow for the Japanese People (Nagai Kafū)

“Upon a wooden counter disturbingly overgrown with green moss sits a shallow, round sushi rice mixing bowl half filled with greasy water containing fish parts, shaved fish meat and rows of skewered shellfish that have been dried in the sun, almost all bearing price tags of ten sen or less. As far as I canContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: A Repulsive Mess of Fish and Sorrow for the Japanese People (Nagai Kafū)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Should I Become an Artist in Japan? (Nagai Kafū)

“Should I become an artist? No, this is Japan, not the West. Far from demanding art, Japanese society looks upon it as a nuisance. Those of us with a deep-seated desire to devote ourselves to the Muses or to Venus must leave this fatherland of ours with all its stringent rules before we can beginContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Should I Become an Artist in Japan? (Nagai Kafū)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Family Ties as Oppressive and Debilitating (Nagai Kafū)

“No, nothing in this world is as oppressive and debilitating as blood ties. Any other relationship-be it with friend, lover, wife; be it obligatory or constraining or difficult-is something one has consciously entered into at some point. Only one’s ties with parents and siblings are formed at birth and are unbreakable. And even if oneContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Family Ties as Oppressive and Debilitating (Nagai Kafū)”

RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)

“There was R., an Englishman who lived six months of the year in Putney with his parents and six months in France. During his time in France he drank four litres of wine a day, and six litres on Saturday; he once had travelled to the Azores, because the wine there is cheaper than anywhereContinue reading “RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)”

RKS Wines Of Greece: Xinomavro a Most Difficult Grape Unless….

Xinomavro, a Greek red grape, is problematic. It can be highly tannic and grape quality aside, if not sufficiently aged, your mouth is in for a battle. For this reason, I largely avoid Xinomavro. Yet I have had the pleasure of Xinomavro aged some twenty years and it was remarkable. I was at the TorontoContinue reading “RKS Wines Of Greece: Xinomavro a Most Difficult Grape Unless….”

RKS Films of China: “The Butcher’s Blade”: Death, Redemption and Noodles in the Song Dynasty

Why so many Kung Fu films from China in North America? Surely there are more Chinese films of a non martial arts ilk deserving release in North America? Do I have to fly on Cathay Pacific to see them? But until and if that occurs enjoy “The Butcher’s Blade”. “The Butcher’s Blade” packs in plentyContinue reading “RKS Films of China: “The Butcher’s Blade”: Death, Redemption and Noodles in the Song Dynasty”

RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)

“There were the Rougiers, for instance, an old ragged, dwarfish couple who plied an extraordinary trade. They used to sell postcards on the Boulevard St. Michel. The curious thing is that the postcards were sold in sealed packets as pornographic ones, but were actually photographs of châteaux on the Loire; the buyers did not discoverContinue reading “RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)”