Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS Wine: The Three Styles of Pinot Noir

Try to simplify Pinot Noir and you are asking for trouble. I like trouble. The first style is the soft and sensual style. Low tannins with aromas of raspberry and ripe strawberries. Think Okanagan Pinot Noirs from Canada’s British Columbia such as the Pinot Noirs from Stag’s Hollow or Meyer Family Vineyards. Then there isContinue reading “RKS Wine: The Three Styles of Pinot Noir”

“President”: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Zimbabwe Exposed in Magnificent Documentary

Dirty rotten scoundrels exist in politics just about everywhere. The United States just put one on the backburner for the time being. He tried to steal the Presidency of the United States but the military was not swayed by his fantasies of an election steal. Matters in the 2018 election in Zimbabwe were clearer cutContinue reading ““President”: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in Zimbabwe Exposed in Magnificent Documentary”

“Travels to a Different Time” : 10August1972: Belfast, Ardrossan, Edinburgh and Unusual Security Issues in Belfast: Missed Bloody Friday by Three Weeks

So here I am a 16-year-old having breakfast at the Royal Belfast Hotel. I am sure I must look like some ratty orphaned child as I eat from silverware. Oliver Twist looking for Fagan! I love that they bring toast in a silver rack covered by a napkin to keep it warm. The staff IContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 10August1972: Belfast, Ardrossan, Edinburgh and Unusual Security Issues in Belfast: Missed Bloody Friday by Three Weeks”

RKS Wine: North Coast California Dough Cabernet Sauvignon: How a State Monopoly for Liquor Distribution Mocks Us

You may have seen wine “on sale” at your LCBO. Sale most often means a whopping and quite frankly insulting $1.00 or $2.00 discount. Wow! Shiver me timbers! Then the roof gets blown off “a la State Monopoly” with manager discounts that can be as high as 30%. Beyond 30% seems a place no liquorContinue reading “RKS Wine: North Coast California Dough Cabernet Sauvignon: How a State Monopoly for Liquor Distribution Mocks Us”

Dylan’s Passage of the Day: Meditation and Non-Doing

“Meditation is synonymous with the practice of non-doing. We aren’t practicing to make things perfect or to do things perfectly. Rather we practice to grasp and realize (make real for ourselves) the facts that things are already perfect, perfectly what they are. This has everything to do with holding the present moment in its fullnessContinue reading “Dylan’s Passage of the Day: Meditation and Non-Doing”

“Travels to a Different Time” :9August1972: Thoughts on Dublin: Bloody Remains of Blown Up Terrorist, Rubber Bullets and Screaming Mob: Welcome to Northern Ireland

In a way I am regretting my coin toss in Paris that sent me northward. What has it revealed? Awful accommodations, hair lice, great breakfasts, great beer, fish and chips in newspaper and more or less friendly people. But the air and the smells are different than southern Europe. Dublin is a cold city inContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” :9August1972: Thoughts on Dublin: Bloody Remains of Blown Up Terrorist, Rubber Bullets and Screaming Mob: Welcome to Northern Ireland”

Dylan’s Passage of The Day:  Shut Up the Voices in Your Head and Try Just To Breathe and Concentrate on Your Breath: Sounds Easy But it May Take Months To Be Able To Do It!

“To use your breathing to nurture mindfulness, just tune into the feeling of it….the feeling of the breath coming into your body and the feeling of the breath leaving your body. That’s all. Just feeling the breath. Breathing and knowing that you you’re breathing. That does not mean deep breathing or forcing your breathing orContinue reading “Dylan’s Passage of The Day:  Shut Up the Voices in Your Head and Try Just To Breathe and Concentrate on Your Breath: Sounds Easy But it May Take Months To Be Able To Do It!”

“Travels to a Different Time” : 7August1972: Newhaven to London: London to Holyhead

Steve and Mike had hardboiled eggs which we ate for breakfast as well as a pint (of milk). We spent the morning walking the cliffs of Newhaven and looking at the pillboxes facing the ocean. I hitched to London which took me three hours. My last lift was with a lawyer named Jim who apologizedContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 7August1972: Newhaven to London: London to Holyhead”