Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS Literature: France: Love, Slander and Nonsense

“Have you ever been to France Monsieur Martin?”  Candide asked. “Yes”, Martin replied, “I have been through several provinces. In some, half the people are mad, in others the people are too cunning; there are some in which they are gentle and foolish, and others where everyone is witty. And in all these provinces theContinue reading “RKS Literature: France: Love, Slander and Nonsense”

RKS Literature: The Rabble of Paris (Voltaire)

“Yes, I have seen Paris. It has all those types of people. What chaos! A swarm of people where everyone is seeking pleasure but hardly anyone finds it; at least that is how it seemed to me. I did not stay long. When I arrived, pick-pockets at the Saint Germain robbed me of everything IContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Rabble of Paris (Voltaire)”

RKS 2025 Film: “Paying For It”: Romantic Love vs. Paying For Sex: Friendship Somewhere in the Middle

Chester Brown (Dan Beirne) an introverted cartoonist lives with Max Network VJ Sonny Lee (Emily Lê) and cutie pie canine Moe in a ramshackle house in Toronto’s Kensington Market a former hangout of mine before vintage clothing and budget hipster eateries edged out the produce people and the skinheads with their nasty dog. It isContinue reading “RKS 2025 Film: “Paying For It”: Romantic Love vs. Paying For Sex: Friendship Somewhere in the Middle”

RKS 2025 Film: “Dark Match”: Some Chilling Thrills and Comedy in a Quasi Farce

In “Dark Match” a struggling professional wrestling organization, SAW Wrestling, accepts a lucrative gig out in the isolated countryside. The tantalizing cash is difficult to resist. A small group of wrestlers and the managing promoter Rusty Beans (Jonathan Cherry) pack themselves off and head to the venue .They receive a warm welcome from a ratherContinue reading “RKS 2025 Film: “Dark Match”: Some Chilling Thrills and Comedy in a Quasi Farce”

RKS Travel: Beauty and Death in the Desert: Palm Springs Air Museum

The Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California has 70 vintage aircraft from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and a Stealth Bomber used in Iraq. My visit sparked a resurgence of memories. There is a certain beauty to most of the aircraft particularly the B-17 bomber where for a small fee you can enter the interior.Continue reading “RKS Travel: Beauty and Death in the Desert: Palm Springs Air Museum”

RKS Literature: The Regimented Assassins of Europe (Voltaire)

“I have hardly ever come across a town that does not desire the ruin of its neighbouring town, a family that does not destroy another family. Everywhere the weak despise the strong at whose feet they grovel, and the strong treat them like sheep whose wool and flesh can be sold. A million regimented assassins,Continue reading “RKS Literature: The Regimented Assassins of Europe (Voltaire)”

RKS 2025 Wine: Beyond the Moon to Jupiter! An Animal Farm Red

Côtes du Rhône is known for its robust red wines occasionally exhibiting a tad too much acidity. We try a Halos de Jupiter and query will it take us beyond the moon to Jupiter? 75% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah. Aroma: Blackberry, cassis, black plum and black Vermont licorice. Palate: Yep, noticeable acidity cutsContinue reading “RKS 2025 Wine: Beyond the Moon to Jupiter! An Animal Farm Red”

RKS Travel: The Botanical Beauty of the Desert: Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage, California

Many know of Rancho Mirage’s plethora of spectacular golf courses, country clubs, glam hotels and restaurants set amid palm trees and the brown towering and sometimes snowcapped mountains of the Coachella Valley in Southern California but one should not overlook the Sunnylands Centre & Gardens located at 37977 Bob Hope Drive. Sunnylands is a 200-acreContinue reading “RKS Travel: The Botanical Beauty of the Desert: Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage, California”

RKS Literature: The Timeless Excellence of Wine from Samos, Greece (Voltaire)

“He immediately approached them, greeted them, and invited them to come eat at his inn to eat some macaroni, Lombardy partridges, and caviar, and to drink some wine from Montepulciano, from Cyprus and Samos and some Lacrimae Christi.” Voltaire, “Candide or Optimism”, 1759.