Robert K Stephen (CSW)

“Lost Contact”: Autistics as Aliens?

I encountered Jaina Kalifa’s film “Happy Android” as a short at Toronto Hot Docs Festival in 2019 and it was a simple uplifting story about a mentally distraught man creating a robot costume and trundling about making so many people, particularly children, happy. How could this be? A near “social reject” making people who mightContinue reading ““Lost Contact”: Autistics as Aliens?”

A Modern Greek Tragedy Both Human and Societal: “City of Children”

The Greek Film “City of Children” presents the viewer with a multitude of tragedies. There is nothing like a tragedy to make one feel like a fool for wasted time and bad decisions. There are four couples in the film and pregnancy is ostensibly the main theme but perhaps very subtly the bigger tragedy isContinue reading “A Modern Greek Tragedy Both Human and Societal: “City of Children””

Stel+Mar’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

You will not find this wine on the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s shelves quite yet. If I remember correctly these guys brought us Rosé and Chardonnay in cans. The man behind the scenes is winemaker and master blender Phillip Zorn out of California. Years ago he wowed me with his bargain basement priced PinotContinue reading “Stel+Mar’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon”

“Coral Ghosts”: Stunning photography but a sad story

Toronto Filmmaker Andrew Nisker’s “Coral Ghosts” presents the viewer with stunning cinematography but a tragic story about the death of the world’s coral reefs. Coral is a living organism and as it is extremely sensitive to increases in water temperatures it is “bleaching out” and dying. With its death the ecosystem that inhabits these reefs isContinue reading ““Coral Ghosts”: Stunning photography but a sad story”

“Taken by the Muse”: On the Path of Becoming a Filmmaker”: Seemingly random events shaping your life

Anne Wheeler is perhaps best known as an Albertan documentarian and filmmaker. In the narrow sense this book is a chronicle of several life events in the 1970’s that shaped her into the filmmaker that she is. However in a more expansive sense it a universal story about certain events in our life that shapeContinue reading ““Taken by the Muse”: On the Path of Becoming a Filmmaker”: Seemingly random events shaping your life”

British Columbia’s Meyer Family Vineyards 2020 Pinot Noir Rosé: a wine with the heart of a lion

The wine has a dark pink colour. Pinot Noir aromas weakly struggle to break through but remember this is a Pinot Noir Rosé and not a Pinot Noir! Cherry, raspberry and strawberry predominate. This is one of those “serious rosés” meaning there is not a huge amount of fruit on the palate. There is aContinue reading “British Columbia’s Meyer Family Vineyards 2020 Pinot Noir Rosé: a wine with the heart of a lion”

Poetry Break: “Lowlife Canadian Politico Medicos”

Lowlife Politico Medicos Politico medicos do you forget the SARS outbreak we hadyou had plenty of time to plan for virus badsbut did nothing as such poor plannersyou have murdered thousandsignorance and stupidity is your grimeis it time for a Nuremberg trial of your crime?yet we are obliged to follow your advicewith your seemingly intelligenceContinue reading “Poetry Break: “Lowlife Canadian Politico Medicos””

Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Full Catastrophe Living”: ,

“Remember, acceptance does not mean passive resignation. Not at all. It means taking a reading of the situation, feeling it and embracing it in awareness as completely as one can manage, however challenging and horrible it can be, and recognizing that things are as they are, independent of us liking or disliking the situation andContinue reading “Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Full Catastrophe Living”: ,”

Mayhem in British Columbia Tries its Luck with Wine in a Can

Last year I tried my first wines in a can a Merlot, Rose and Chardonnay. And the production process unfortunately resulted in a rather spritzy result which was corrected quickly in a subsequent batch and the wine was good. I wonder what Mayhem canned wine will taste like. Canned wine is increasing in popularity hereContinue reading “Mayhem in British Columbia Tries its Luck with Wine in a Can”

“Amityville Poltergeist”: Where is the horror?

Here’s a typical horror movie with perhaps a twist which might be totally out in leftfield but when you make a movie be prepared for possible multiple interpretations. Quickly then to the plot. After losing his mother to cancer Jim (Parris Bates) moves out of town leaving his father and sister behind. He hangs withContinue reading ““Amityville Poltergeist”: Where is the horror?”