“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)”
Author Archives: Robert K Stephen (CSW)
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)”
RKS 2024 Wine: Donnafugata La Bella Sedàra 2021
This Sicilia DOC Rosso is a blend where Nero d’Avola, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon comprise most of the blend. The wine has seen no oak. The flamboyant label is dedicated to Claudia Cardinale who portrayed the character of Angelica Sedàra in the 1963 film Il Gattopardo (“The Leopard”). Aroma: The wine has a very cleanContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Donnafugata La Bella Sedàra 2021”
RKS 2024 Film: “Night of the Harvest”: Psycho Sisters Enjoy the Big Halloween Party
Just in time for Halloween “Night of the Harvest” is available digitally. I never understood the penchant some movie goers have for slasher films. What fun is there with blood, guts and body parts flying all over the screen. As far as slasher films go this is true to the genre with a tad ofContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Night of the Harvest”: Psycho Sisters Enjoy the Big Halloween Party”
RKS 2024 Film: “The Pitch: Patient Safety’s Next Generation”
The documentary “The Pitch: Patient Safety’s Next Generation” presents a picture of the United States’ hospital network as predominately archaic from a technological perspective but reveals change is beginning to arrive hopefully improving patient safety much of the change attributable based in artificial intelligence and virtual reality. For example, 25% of patients admitted to hospitalsContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “The Pitch: Patient Safety’s Next Generation””
RKS Literature: The Cancer Patient in the Hospital a Grain of Sand (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
“You, see, you start from a completely false position. No sooner does a patient come to you than you begin to do all his thinking for him. After that, the thinking’s done by your standing orders, your five-minute conferences, your program, your plan and the honor of your medical department. And once again I becomeContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Cancer Patient in the Hospital a Grain of Sand (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”
RKS 2024 Wine: Searching for a Reasonably Priced Merlot in Italy
Ontario struggles with a reasonably priced Merlot. Good Merlots are not easy finds in Ontario. My favourite is the Merlot from Two Sisters in Niagara-on-the-Lake but at $60 a bottle few are willing to pony up at that price. So we look to Italy for a reasonably priced Merlot. We find an Italian Merlot fromContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Searching for a Reasonably Priced Merlot in Italy”
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