If there is one red wine in Ontario that causes some excitement on my part in Ontario it is Gamay Noir. For the most part it is reliable but not quite at the point of Cabernet Franc for universal excellence but it is at the edge of that. So we try a Tawse 2020 GamayContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Ontario Tawse’s Grower’s Blend 2020 Gamay Noir: Swimming with the Fishes”
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
RKS 2023 Wine: Washington State Syrah? Chateau Ste. Michelle: Memories of the January 6th Coup Attempt!
There is no doubt that Washington State can produce top quality Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon but can the same be said for Syrah? I suppose we might start with a big Washington State winery that produces quality wines at least the ones we are seeing in Ontario. Up on the witness stand is a ChateauContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Washington State Syrah? Chateau Ste. Michelle: Memories of the January 6th Coup Attempt!”
RKS 2023 Film Toronto Hot Docs Festival: “Food and Country” (international premiere)
“Food and Country” is an American documentary delving into food production and the restaurant business in the United States. Although shot during COVID, a most miserable time for so many, it doesn’t solely focus on the impact of COVID on restaurants and the ag business. It digs deeper and examines the crisis in the AmericanContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film Toronto Hot Docs Festival: “Food and Country” (international premiere)”
RKS 2023 Wine: Colossal Reserva from Lisbon: Big Name but What Quality?
Red wines from the Lisbon appellation in Portugal are not timid about blending with Syrah, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon aside native indigenous varieties but all we can read on the label is that it is made from “typical grape varieties planted in the region”. A trip to the Casa Santos Lima website reveals the grapesContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Colossal Reserva from Lisbon: Big Name but What Quality?”
RKS Toronto 2023 Hot Docs Festival: “Eat Flowers”
Once upon a time long ago when you could take rocker Rod Stewart seriously there was his song “Every Picture Tells a Story”. In the short documentary “Eat Flowers” every picture of flowers taken by photographer Cig Harvey tells a story. The photos are lush and gorgeous as well as the cinematography by River FinlayContinue reading “RKS Toronto 2023 Hot Docs Festival: “Eat Flowers””
RKS 2023 Hot Docs: “Hebron Relocation”: Church and State Swindle of the Inuit?
Holly Anderson’s short documentary “Hebron Relocation” has its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto Hot Docs Festival. It explores the forced location of 233 Inuit from Hebron to more southerly locations in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1959. Unfortunately the documentary fails to provide what the “official reason” was for the relocation so viewers may beContinue reading “RKS 2023 Hot Docs: “Hebron Relocation”: Church and State Swindle of the Inuit?”
RKS 2023 Toronto Hot Docs: “Undertaker for Life!”: More About the Living than the Dead
The National Film Board of Canada presents a gem of a documentary “Undertaker for Life!” at the Toronto Hot Docs Festival. Yes there is a focus on several undertakers and mourners but the documentary is more about how the living navigate death of loved ones through the grieving process. As one undertaker quips about theContinue reading “RKS 2023 Toronto Hot Docs: “Undertaker for Life!”: More About the Living than the Dead”
RKS 2023 Toronto Hot Docs: “Twice Colonized”: A Familiar Story for Many but not All
“Twice Colonized” will have its Canadian premiere as the opening night film at Toronto Hot Docs. It is a documentary focusing on renowned Inuit activist lawyer Aaju Peter living in Iqaluit in Nunavut. Peter was born in the Danish colony of Greenland and at the wish of her father was sent to Denmark to beContinue reading “RKS 2023 Toronto Hot Docs: “Twice Colonized”: A Familiar Story for Many but not All”
RKS 2023 Film: “Sisu”: Finnish WW 2 Bloodbath!
“Sisu” is not your “usual” war movie and the usual meter can swing in both directions and after 5 decades of war movie viewing experience “Sisu” is off the meter. In fact it breaks the meter! No “Full Metal Jacket” nor John Wayne “Green Berets”. Aatami (Jorma Tommila) is a Finnish goldminer (and something aContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “Sisu”: Finnish WW 2 Bloodbath!”
RKS Literature: Kafka on Bureaucracy: “The Castle” (“Das Schloss”)
“He ought long ago to have had, not a uniform, for there aren’t many in the Castle, but a suit provided by the department, and he has been promised one, but in things of that kind the Castle moves slowly, and the worst of it is that one never knows what this slowness means; itContinue reading “RKS Literature: Kafka on Bureaucracy: “The Castle” (“Das Schloss”)”
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