Robert K. Stephen – Page 203 – A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity

RKS Literature: Doctors as Empty Headed? (Thomas Mann)

“Indeed, the doctor’s calling is not different from any other: its practitioners are for the most part ordinary empty-headed folk, ready to see what is not there and to deny the obvious. Any untrained person, if he loves and has knowledge of the flesh, is their superior and in the mysteries of art can leadContinue reading “RKS Literature: Doctors as Empty Headed? (Thomas Mann)”

RKS Literature: School as Prison (Thomas Mann)

“I am only able to live when my mind and my fancy are completely free; and this it is that memory of my years in prison actually less hateful to me than those of the ostensibly more honourable bond of slavery and fear which chafed my sensitive boyish soul when I was forced to attendContinue reading “RKS Literature: School as Prison (Thomas Mann)”

RKS 2023 Wine: Italian Merlot Could be the Change You Need!

It is not frequently we encounter Italian Merlot as a single varietal in Canada. So we have a chance now with a somewhat unique Terre Magre Merlot from Friuli. Aroma: Black cherry, blackberry and cola with some intensity. Palate: A robust aroma for a wine does not always equate with a robust wine! Not muchContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Italian Merlot Could be the Change You Need!”

RKS 2023 Film: “Out of the Loop: Chicago Comedy Is No Joke”

I have no problems with Chicago and who cares if it is the Murder Capital of the United States! City of Vultures some say! A properly developed waterfront unlike my butchered Toronto. Great food. Skyscrapers. All assuming you aren’t in the wrong neighbourhood at the wrong time and end up with a bullet in yourContinue reading “RKS 2023 Film: “Out of the Loop: Chicago Comedy Is No Joke””

RKS 2023 Wine: Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Biodiversity Organic Wine: Confessions of a Rat!

Here we have an organic red blend from the Maipo Valley in Chile consisting of 58% Carmenère, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. It has aged a year in French oak barrels. Aroma: Raspberry, blueberry, blackberries and root beer. I can detect some acidity on the nose hoping it will beContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wine: Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Biodiversity Organic Wine: Confessions of a Rat!”

RKS Literature: The Essence of Zorba the Greek

“If today I were to choose a spiritual guide from the whole wide world- a “guru” as they say in India, a venerable father as the monks say in Mount Athos-the one that I would choose without fail would be Zorba. He possessed precisely what a pen pusher needs for deliverance: the primitive glance thatContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Essence of Zorba the Greek”

RKS Literature: Making a Proper Toilette (Thomas Mann)

“The preparation, the lavish equipment for what should have been the serious business of life used up all his energy. How much mental effort had been expended simply in making the proper toilette. How much time and attention went to his supplies of cigarettes, soaps, and perfumes; how much occasion for making up his mindContinue reading “RKS Literature: Making a Proper Toilette (Thomas Mann)”

RKS Literature: Dog on the Hunt (Thomas Mann)

“The racking out, the driving up, the chasing-these are ends in themselves to the sporting spirit, and are plainly so to him, as anybody would see who watched him at his brilliant performance. How beautiful he becomes, how consummate, how ideal. Like a clumsy peasant lad, who would look perfect and statuesque as a huntsmanContinue reading “RKS Literature: Dog on the Hunt (Thomas Mann)”

RKS 2023 Wines: Good Karma Malbec? Blueberry Jam Memories!

Most Argentinian Malbecs are infused with good Karma. Is it because of some higher power in the wine cosmos or a matter of terroir meeting the right grape and winemaker? I think it best not to disrupt any mysticism. So I will not answer the question. From Finca Sophenia we have a 2020 Malbec fromContinue reading “RKS 2023 Wines: Good Karma Malbec? Blueberry Jam Memories!”

RKS 2023 Hot Docs Films: “It’s Coming”: Reality Television?

Ashley lives in an old Brooklyn New York apartment with her children. Ashley claims to have been haunted since the age of 11 in the same apartament. Javier her young son has progressed (or regressed) to the point he is playing with a spirit he calls Kitty. He was terrified initially with Kitty who isContinue reading “RKS 2023 Hot Docs Films: “It’s Coming”: Reality Television?”