“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.
Category Archives: literature
RKS Literature: Opera as a Revolting Monster (Voltaire)
“I would perhaps prefer opera, had they not discovered the secret of turning it into a monster that revolts me. I do not mind if people want to see bad tragedies set to music, the scenes serving only to introduce (and quite badly) one or two ridiculous songs intended to exhibit the actresses’ gullet. GoodContinue reading “RKS Literature: Opera as a Revolting Monster (Voltaire)”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 51: Revolt at the Mugless Mental Hospital in Montreal
Squid whisked me away from Dorval International Airport in Montreal to downtown Montreal in his silver Studebaker. I took my usual suite at the Ritz-Carlton on Sherbrooke Street. After unpacking we went to Thursdays on Crescent Street for a quick Martini and then to an old favourite Greek restaurant of mine on Park Avenue calledContinue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 51: Revolt at the Mugless Mental Hospital in Montreal”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 54: Meeting with Bernie Maggot and Fleece-Em Investment Management Company
The Greyhound Montreal to New York midnight bus is always a bizarre experience. Invariably Mennonites or Amish are denied entry into the United States. Then that rest stop at Saratoga Springs in New York is like a trip back to a 1950’s diner and the apple pie is almost worth the trip! I arrived inContinue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 54: Meeting with Bernie Maggot and Fleece-Em Investment Management Company”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned But Marvellous (The Final Version) :Chapter 46: Touchdown in Romania Clouded with Poop Gas: An Angry Gun Barrell Never Sleeps
I left India via New Delhi on TAROM Airlines on the Delhi Belly flight to Bucharest aptly named as so many passengers have the trots from Indian food the airplane cabin reeks of poopy runs! Part of the “plan” had me darkening my skin with a couple of weeks in the Bombay sun to bleachContinue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned But Marvellous (The Final Version) :Chapter 46: Touchdown in Romania Clouded with Poop Gas: An Angry Gun Barrell Never Sleeps”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 44: Cooling My Heels in the Greek Eastern Aegean
I spent three days in Vravrona, a short distance from the Athens airport, enjoying the ocean and eating plenty of grilled octopus, fresh fish, stuffed vegetables and Greek Salads. I researched my island destination of Samos a relatively small island in the Eastern Aegean at points as close as six kilometres from the Turkish coast.Continue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 44: Cooling My Heels in the Greek Eastern Aegean”
RKS Literature: Rockers in Midlife
“The mourners here were friends of my parents, musicians from Yorkville: family friends from out of town whom I’d met on a few occasions, all nice folks who played music at one time or another, a little loopy from too much prescription medication for joint inflammations and anti-social tendencies, who suffered from deafness in oneContinue reading “RKS Literature: Rockers in Midlife”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 39: The Worst Day of My Life: Naples An Assembly Line of Death: My Sweet Calabrian Plum Has Been Wrenched from Me by Assassination!
I wanted desperately to return to Naples to my Ginevra who I was beginning to miss terribly. Physicians at the Roosevelt Hospital in New York were concerned the bone chip near my heart might be a potential risk so travel was forbidden until a round of tests was completed. I was in gnawing pain andContinue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 39: The Worst Day of My Life: Naples An Assembly Line of Death: My Sweet Calabrian Plum Has Been Wrenched from Me by Assassination!”
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 36: Let’s Plan the Future with My Sweet Campanian Plum That is Eating Three Pizzas at a Shot: John Lennon to the Rescue!
Upon our return to Naples we continued our holiday mode for a few weeks seeing the sites of Naples and eating for three. Ginevra was expanding rapidly. It would be two pizzas for dinner and many scoops of gelato afterwards. As my sweet Campanian plum was expanding rapidly and becoming more like a watermelon myContinue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 36: Let’s Plan the Future with My Sweet Campanian Plum That is Eating Three Pizzas at a Shot: John Lennon to the Rescue!”
RKS Literature: Vancouver Suburb the Hate Capital of British Columbia
“I remembered playing baseball past where Navi lived, back when it was an empty lot, but now the area was overrun with homes, housing mostly Indian families. Sikhs. Men with turbans and beards. Women who travelled in pairs, in gold flecked orange, beet, and yellow fabrics. They kept their lawns trim and undecorated. They tookContinue reading “RKS Literature: Vancouver Suburb the Hate Capital of British Columbia”
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 