RKS Poetry: “We the Nothing”

We The Nothing

We the nothing make our febrile donations to the noble causes
not receiving any notable media recognition pauses

Our dollars and euros fall into the bottomless charitable pit
but those charitable foundations governed by the “foundation board of directors” kneel in front of the capitalist big buck…Branson…Musk…crypto kings..entertainment idols (not fleeced by their accountants)
For the little guys like you and I they treat us no better than annoying flies
instead a wing of a hospital is named after the bulging wallet friends of those charitable vertical mosaic souls on the foundation board!
the monied touted in every situation
having that wing named after the big families shelling out the cash
and what about a wing of the hospital named after the penniless chumps like you and me?
We count for nothing in the big scheme
but when the charitable begging comes again all we get is a smiley meme asking for more and paying blackmail rates at hospital parking lots “with gracious thanks to pay for research costs”
Not good being treated like meaningless turds
laughing when the hospital cardiologists warns about  eating too many poutine cheese curds
and the accounting nerds
beg and shout we need more and more
what are foundations nothing but a heat seeking bed sore!

Robert K. Stephen

RKS 2023 Wine: My 25 Cent Spanish Cava Memory?

I recall being in Torremolinos, Spain in 1972 and Spanish Cava at the Supermercado was 25 cents a bottle. I was too young to consume alcohol then but for some reason I remember the price perhaps I was travelling my late mother and we had rented a fully equipped apartment for a couple of weeks so we shopped for ingredients to prepare most of our meals and that included some Cava. I recall tremendous seafood and enormous steaks.

Fast forward to 2023 to try a Spanish Cava by the name of Faustino and rest assured it didn’t cost 25 cents!

It is a blend of Chardonnay and Macabeo.

Aroma: Rather to be expected from Cava there is apple, pear and citrus.

Palate: A good bite of acidity with lemon, sweet white grapefruit and a short crisp finish. Cava is much closer to Champagne than Prosecco and has less identifiable fruit on the palate.

Food Match: Cava is pleasant to drink on its own. Suits a wide range of foods although I’d steer clear of beef. How about a mushroom and zucchini frittata cooked with a big dollop of basil pesto?

Personality: Ebullient and friendly and at this price you should get to know me and my Cava amigos. Hola!

Cellarbility: Consume in 2023.

Price: $17.95

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100. Jamessuckling.com 88.

(Faustino Cava Brut Reserva, Bodegas Faustino, Spain, 750 mL, 11.5%)

RKS Literature: The Warm Glow of Paris (Balzac)

“I will pick you up in my carriage, and we shall soon be in Paris. There, my dear, is the only life for superior people. We are only at ease among our peers; in any other society one suffers. Besides, Paris is the intellectual capital of the world, the stage of your success: cover quickly the distance that divides you from it. Do not let your ideas stagnate in a country town, get in touch at once with the great men who represent the nineteenth century. Approach the Court and power. Neither distinctions nor honours come in search of talent whose star shines only in a little town.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”

RKS Literature: The Peculiarities of Society (Balzac)

“Among the peculiarities of society, have you not noted the capriciousness of its judgements and the inconsistency of its demands? There are people to whom everything is permitted. They can be guilty of the most outrageous things, and nothing they do is wrong; people hasten to find excuses for their conduct. But there are others on whom the world is inexplicably severe: such people must do everything well, never make a mistake, never show any weakness, not even permit themselves a foolish action; they are like statutes that everyone admires, but which are taken down from their pedestals the moment that winter chips off a finger or cracks a nose; no human weakness is permitted them, they are obliged to remain for ever divine and faultless.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”

RKS Literature: Poets and the Mocking Laughter of Hell (Balzac)

“If poetry is to be spoken aloud in such a way as to be understood, absolute concentration is necessary. There must be complete sympathy between the reader and the audience, in the absence of which no electrical communication of emotion can take place. If this sympathetic atmosphere is lacking, the poet finds himself in the position of an angel attempting to sing heavenly music against a background of the mocking laughter of hell.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”

RKS 2023 Film: “King of Killers”: Daddy is a Killer!

Marcus Garan (Alain Moussi) from Chicago is a former hitman for The Company that kills domestically and internationally “bad guys”. A hitman with morals? Garan has a wife and his darling little daughter Kimberly. Unfortunately his wife is set up to be killed in the “crossfire” at a messy hit Garan has accepted as an assignment. Yes he is an angry man looking for revenge. He flounders around for a year or so feeling miserable and guilty. Then poor little Kimberly is afflicted with such a serious cardiac malady she’ll die without a heart transplant. Marcus needs cash so accepts an assignment for a hit in Tokyo that will pay him $10 million enough and more for a heart transplant.

But his employer is much more than an employer in a vey neat little plot twist. In fact there are fellow assassins in on the same hit and although the hit is on it becomes more of a “game”. A very nasty game. Lots of blood and guts flowing with finely choregraphed fight scenes. If you like this sort of deadly brawling you have found your groove with this Canadian film. The groove may be somewhat bumpy with a few too many insipid scenes of poor Kimberly popping up to inspire Daddy in his killing mission.

And the man the hitmen are competing to kill Drakos (Frank Grillo) is a nasty you know what. It is predictable which assassin gets the kill but the victim rises from the dead to propose an alliance in a comic bookish twist. And yes revenge comes Garan’s way.

All said and done the action is top rate and if there is a blemish in the film it’s the insertion of poor ill Kimberly here and there to inspire Daddy in his killing.

I sense a sequel.

The writer and director in Kevin Grevioux who created a graphic novel on which the “King of Killers” is based.

“King of Killers” will be released in theatres, Digital and On Demand September 1st.

RKS 2023 Film Rating 78/100.

You can see the trailer here https://youtu.be/_JXRDQw7EMw

RKS Literature: Squashing Your Rival: Balzac’s “Lost Illusions”

“Baron Sixte du Châtelet was of the opinion that the little rhymer would succumb, sooner or later, in the hot house atmosphere of applause, or perhaps that, intoxicated with the prospect of future glory, he would commit some impertinence that would consign him again to his original obscurity. While awaiting the decease of the young genius, he pretended to immolate his own aspirations at Mme de Bargeton’s feet; but with the subtlety of a confirmed rake, he held his hand and followed the progress of the lovers with diplomatic attention, waiting for his opportunity to exterminate Lucien.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”

RKS Literature: Infatuation: Balzac’s “Lost Illusions”

“He did not notice her faded cheeks, or the brick red blotches on her cheek-bones, the result of boredom and a certain amount of ill-health. His imagination seized, first of all, on those ardent eyes, those elegant curls that caught the candlelight, that dazzling whiteness – so many points of light that drew him like a moth to a candle-flame. Besides how could he judge dispassionately a woman whose soul spoke so intimately to his own? Her feminine exaltation, the ardour of the rather dated phrases that Mme de Bargeton had been repeating for a long time past, but which were new to Lucien, fascinated him the more because he was in a state of mind to admire everything.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”

RKS 2023 Wine: A Cab Franc from Quai du Vin in St. Thomas Ontario

Cabernet Franc is Ontario’s top red wine. Putting my mouth where my money is or is it putting my money where my mouth is?

The Sparta Moraine isn’t exactly crammed with wineries just cornfields and a lonely Quai du Vin. What can Quai du Vin do with Cab Franc?

Aroma: Ah yes those bright and expressive cherries and mocha really are hall marks of Ontario Cabernet Franc. As a bonus rich blackberry and yes like a Chilean Carménère a solid streak of ripe raspberries.

Palate: A beautiful combination of raspberry and cherry with tannins hovering on the heavy side. Acidity is well under control and well integrated into the wine which was aged 22 months in a combination of French and American oak.

Cellarbility: I think the wine is going to age and improve into 2027.

Personality: I am an excellent Cabernet Franc that would appeal to all drinkers on the wine knowledge scale. I make both Sparta and St. Thomas proud. Long live Elgin County!

Food Match: I agree with the label which states the wine is an ideal companion to red meats, roasted vegetables, herb infused sauces and soft cheeses. It would also suit vegetarian chili with Elgin County veggies particularly field tomatoes and the region’s beautiful, sweet corn. It would also suit my very own perch and pickerel chowder (cream and tomato based) with both these fish available super super fresh from Golem Fisheries in Port Stanley! Quai du Vin is about twenty minutes from Port Stanley on the Lake Erie coast.

Price: $20 CDN. Best to order from the winery.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 93/100.

(Quai du Vin 2019 Cabernet Franc, Ontario VQA, Quai du Vin Estate Winery, St. Thomas, Ontario, 750 mL, 13.4%)

RKS Literature: The Misfortune of a Great Intelligence (Balzac)

“One of the misfortunes to which great intelligence is subject is that of understanding everything too well. The standards by which these two men judged society were all the higher, because they themselves were low on the social scale, for unknown men are apt to revenge themselves by their lofty outlook. But their despair was the more bitter since those standards themselves were a continual reminder of their present lot.”

Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”