RKS 2023 Film: “The Job of Songs”: A Beautifully Layered Documentary

Seeing the promo material for “The Job of Songs” and the words “traditional Irish music” I experienced very Canadian flashbacks of television shows “Don Messer’s Jubilee” and “The Pig and Whistle”. Teen PTSD! Forcing myself to watch this Irish documentary was not easy. It took me three days of “yes watch” and “no watch”. AsContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “The Job of Songs”: A Beautifully Layered Documentary”

RKS Literature: Pain and Humour (Ken Kesey)

“Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. He knows there is a painful side: he knows my thumb smarts and his girlfriend has a bruised breast and the doctor is losing his glasses,Continue reading “RKS Literature: Pain and Humour (Ken Kesey)”

RKS Literature: Aggravate Your Adversaries (Ken Kesey)

“Even McMurphy doesn’t seem to know he has been fogged in. If he does, he makes sure not to let on that he’s bothered by it. He’s making sure none of the staff see him bothered by anything: he knows that there’s no better way in the world to aggravate somebody who’s trying to makeContinue reading “RKS Literature: Aggravate Your Adversaries (Ken Kesey)”

RKS 2023 Wine: Bachelder Wismer Foxcroft 2021 Gamay Noir: Ontario Gamay Noir Establishing Itself in Ontario

I encountered Thomas Bachelder last Sunday at Toronto Hot Docs Theatre for a showing of “Crush; Message in a Bottle” and we exchanged brief pleasantries. Bachelder, Kelly Mason, Shiraz Mottiar and Anne-Marie Saunders were expressing their views as to growing grapes and making wine in the Niagara region of Ontario. I expressed my agreement withContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Bachelder Wismer Foxcroft 2021 Gamay Noir: Ontario Gamay Noir Establishing Itself in Ontario”

Keith Haring at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Exhibit “Art is For Everybody”: Behind the Scenes

One of the perks  of membership in the arts media is “the sneak preview” and in this case it was with the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto on 7November2023 which included a panel discussion and then a leisurely and uncrowded walk through the exhibits for the Haring exhibition, “Art is for Everybody” the firstContinue reading “Keith Haring at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Exhibit “Art is For Everybody”: Behind the Scenes”

EXPLORING THE URGENT ACTIVISM OF A POP CULTURE ICON, KEITH HARING: ART IS FOR EVERYBODY OPENS AT THE AGO NOV. 8

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2023 ShareFacebookTwitterCopy Link Making its only Canadian stop at the AGO, exhibition reveals Keith Haring’s tireless commitment to social justice for environmentalism, AIDS awareness and anti-racism. Entrance to this special exhibition is with an AGO Membership or Annual Pass. Admission is always free for Indigenous peoples and visitors aged 25 and under. TORONTO — AContinue reading “EXPLORING THE URGENT ACTIVISM OF A POP CULTURE ICON, KEITH HARING: ART IS FOR EVERYBODY OPENS AT THE AGO NOV. 8”

RKS 2023 Wine: Global Inclusion is Not Profitable! A St. Laurent from Austria

You would expect a state liquor monopoly like our brave and fearless Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) would be a champion of “global inclusion” a popular term these days rammed down our throats not because it is indeed a worthy concept but rather a corporate game historically designed to meet bidding requirements of governmentalContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Global Inclusion is Not Profitable! A St. Laurent from Austria”

RKS 2023 Film: “Adventures of the Naked Umbrella”: Is it Bird With Glowing Eyes, a UFO or Possibly a Christmas Film?

Sam Wanoutsky (Jeremy Davies) is a frantic conspiracy theorist and that certainly shows by listening to his podcast “The Naked Umbrella”. He is a convicted arsonist currently out on parole so as one says, “He’s gotta keep his nose clean”. Even his parole officer Yolanda Johnston (Darnell Rhea) is pulling for Sam but the factContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “Adventures of the Naked Umbrella”: Is it Bird With Glowing Eyes, a UFO or Possibly a Christmas Film?”

RKS 2023 Wine: The Bad Oak Stink of A Bubonic Plague New Zealand Pinot Noir! Oak Murder of a Wine!

Wine can stink with a variety of contaminants. I recall having a Hester Creek Merlot from British Columbia a few years ago. It was jacked up with so much sulfur the wine tasted like hot dog juice. Oak can compliment the juice or it can embarrass itself by overpowering a wine. I tried a Nor’WesterContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: The Bad Oak Stink of A Bubonic Plague New Zealand Pinot Noir! Oak Murder of a Wine!”

RKS 2023 Literature: The Tight-Smiled Fury of Big Nurse (Ken Kesey)

“The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine. The slightest thing messy or out of kilter or in the way ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury. She walks around with that same doll smile crimped between herContinue reading “RKS 2023 Literature: The Tight-Smiled Fury of Big Nurse (Ken Kesey)”