We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly, as if hovering in the air, high over our heads, till the first break of day. Whether this meantContinue reading “RKS Literature: Penetrating the Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)”
Tag Archives: Robert K. Stephen
RKS Film: Ah Biao’s “Border”: Sort of a Zombieland
“Border” is, could we say, a participatory film. The basic plot is not that difficult to pick up but there are gaps where the viewer must make decisions what is transpiring and in what direction the film is heading towards. One could enjoy the participatory ride or suffer from annoyance and frustration. Not a massContinue reading “RKS Film: Ah Biao’s “Border”: Sort of a Zombieland”
RKS Literature: Fine Fellows These Cannibals (Joseph Conrad)
I don’t pretend to say that steamboat floated all the time. More than once she had to wade for a bit, with twenty cannibals splashing around and pushing. Fine fellows-these cannibals-in their place. They were men one could work with, and I am grateful to them. And, after all, they did not eat each otherContinue reading “RKS Literature: Fine Fellows These Cannibals (Joseph Conrad)”
RKS Literature: The Fascination of the Abomination (Joseph Conrad)
Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga-perhaps too much dice, you know-coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes. Land in a swamp, march through the woods, and in some inland post feel the savagery, the utter savagery, had closed aroundContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Fascination of the Abomination (Joseph Conrad)”
2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!
11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead: Finally in Thessaloniki! Was it a two hour or 4 hour “sleep” at Sofitel Athens Airport Hotel. Having finally crawled into bed at 01:00 and setting the alarm for 04:00 it was 3 hours in bed and itContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!”
THE PENNY PENSIONER’S VIEW OF CHEAP WINES: A GERMAN PINOT NOIR
A Pinot Noir for $13.95. OK it’s a Spätburgunder that’s the reason? I don’t care what a $13.95 Pinot Noir tastes like but rather is the wine pleasantly drinkable. While I lead a most comfortable life it might be you are a poor pensioner even more likely if your only source of income is aContinue reading “THE PENNY PENSIONER’S VIEW OF CHEAP WINES: A GERMAN PINOT NOIR”
RKS Literature: Conquerors and Buccaneer Colonialism (Joseph Conrad)
This devoted band called itself the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, and I believe they were sworn to secrecy. Their talk, however, was the talk of sordid buccaneers: it was reckless without hardihood, greedy without audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of serious intention in the whole batch of them, and they didContinue reading “RKS Literature: Conquerors and Buccaneer Colonialism (Joseph Conrad)”
RKS Literature: Conquerors, Colonists and Aggravated Murder on a Grand Scale (Joseph Conrad)
What saves us is efficiency-the devotion to efficiency. But these chaps were not much account, really. They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want brute force-nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accidentContinue reading “RKS Literature: Conquerors, Colonists and Aggravated Murder on a Grand Scale (Joseph Conrad)”
2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill
Plans that went askew! I was to meet up with dearest F at Athens E Venizelos International Airport when her ITA Airways flight from Rome arrived at 18:35 and then take a Sky Express flight at 20:35 to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. The arrivals board simply said her flight was “Late” with no estimatedContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill”
RKS EURO FILM: “Saints”: Sacrilegious Pilfering’s and a Heist
What a fascinating plot line in this Spanish-Italian film set in Barcelona and recently screened at the St. Sebastian Film Festival. Rosario (Eulàlia Ramón), a former missionary nun, leads a gang of do gooder thieves stealing religious statues of saints from churches, convents and monasteries. Barcelona itself is protected by two patron saints. And DirectorContinue reading “RKS EURO FILM: “Saints”: Sacrilegious Pilfering’s and a Heist”
