“Gradually over the years he and Kapitolina developed an aversion to teeming human beings, to jostling crowds. The Rusanovs found streetcars, buses and trolley-buses quite disgusting. People were always pushing, especially when they were trying to get aboard. Insults were always flying around. Builders and other workers were always climbing in in dirty overalls, andContinue reading “RKS Literature: Comrade Rusanov Once a Proletarian and Now a Party Bureaucrat Despises the Proletarian Kind (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)”
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
RKS 2024 Wine: Boas Quintas Dão’s 2020 Gandarada
I had the pleasure of a recent visit to Boas Quintas in the Dão region of Portugal. After a hearty breakfast we headed off in a slight November fog to the winery. It was strangely North American in set up both in tasting room design and in marketing. Special Christmas combo packages were available ratherContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Boas Quintas Dão’s 2020 Gandarada”
RKS 2024 Film: “Inedia”: A Deadly Convergence of Flummox and Eating Disorders
Cora’s aversion to eating spirals out of control to the point that she considers herself allergic to all foods even parsley. While at dinner at her sister’s she has a few bites of a bizarre vegetarian dish and runs to the toilet to induce vomiting. Her condition worsens. Her GP does not share her thoughtsContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Inedia”: A Deadly Convergence of Flummox and Eating Disorders”
RKS 2024 Wine: Vineland Estates 2021 Game Changer Red
A bold statement indeed to maintain any wine these days can change the game. More marketing fluff but as I have said many times a label really makes little difference as what matters is in the bottle. For example, this year the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team has changed professional baseball in Toronto to aContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Vineland Estates 2021 Game Changer Red”
RKS Literature: Comrade Rusanov as a Proud Soviet Stoolie for Stalin (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
“Rusanov was not afraid of any of them. He had helped establish the guilt of them all, more boldly and openly as time went on. On two occasions he had even gone to the confrontation, raised his voice and denounced them. At that time it was not considered the least shameful to do such aContinue reading “RKS Literature: Comrade Rusanov as a Proud Soviet Stoolie for Stalin (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”
RKS Literature: Soviet Party Bureaucrat Thinks He Deserves the Best (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
“There was nothing wrong in a man in strengthening his material position with the help of a good salary from the state and a good pension (Pavel Nikolayevich’s dream was to be awarded a special, personal pension). Such a man has earned his car, his cottage in the country, and a small house in townContinue reading “RKS Literature: Soviet Party Bureaucrat Thinks He Deserves the Best (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”
RKS 2024 Wine: Canadian Pinot Noir Eh? Bachelder Les Villages Bench 2021 Pinot Noir
Any country with a couple of pesos to rub, and that includes Canada and France, can bottle up Pinot Noir but there is so much inferior product. Thomas Bachelder has been crafting excellent Niagara Pinot Noirs for years now garnering a top reputation initially with Le Clos Jordanne. Is he the king of Canadian PinotContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Canadian Pinot Noir Eh? Bachelder Les Villages Bench 2021 Pinot Noir”
RKS Literature: Cancer Ward Patients Like Chickens Waiting to Have Their Heads Cut Off (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)
“But here in the clinic, sucking an oxygen balloon, eyes hardly able to roll, the tongue keeps on arguing, “I’m not going to die! I haven’t got cancer!” Just like chickens. A knife was ready and waiting for them, but they all carried on cackling and scratching for food. One was taken away to haveContinue reading “RKS Literature: Cancer Ward Patients Like Chickens Waiting to Have Their Heads Cut Off (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)”
RKS 2024 Film: “Lyvia’s House”: Be Prepared for Breadcrumbs or You May Become Lost
Some movies require your complete attention and if losing your train of thought you may spin out of control on the film freeway. Do we call these “thinking person’s movies”? In this American horror- mystery-thriller please pay attention very closely to the film as it has a trail of breadcrumbs that most likely will leadContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Lyvia’s House”: Be Prepared for Breadcrumbs or You May Become Lost”
RKS Literature: Radiation Madness in Soviet Cancer Treatment (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
“But then, ten, fifteen or eighteen years ago, when the term “radiation sickness” did not exist, X-ray radiation had seemed such a straightforward, reliable and foolproof method, such a magnificent achievement of modern medical technique, that it was considered retrograde, almost a sabotage of public health, to refuse to use it and to look toContinue reading “RKS Literature: Radiation Madness in Soviet Cancer Treatment (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”
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