“If our descendants don’t study our times closely, they will find that they have again exhausted the planet’s fossil fuels, that they have again died by the millions of influenza and the Green Death, that the sky again has again been turned yellow by the propellants for underarm deodorants, that they have elected a senile President two meters tall, and that they are yet again the intellectual and spiritual inferiors of teeny weeny Chinese.”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1976.
Pinot Noir is often referred to as the heartbreak grape due to its thin-skinned delicate nature. In my opinion Baco Noir is also a heartbreak grape perhaps not in the field but in converting its juice into a good wine. In Ontario I am mostly disappointed with Baco Noir that tricks the nose into thinking it is a special wine but it dies on the palate. While in Niagara recently I reluctantly picked up a Riverview Estates Winery Marechal Foch/Baco Noir because I am a fan of the former rather than the latter. It was a winner.
In this case stumbling into Cox Creek Cellars in the hinterland of Guelph, Ontario I decided to be adventurous and try their non-vintage Red Cuvée which is a blend of Baco Noir and Cabernet Franc the percentage of each grape in the blend not revealed on the label nor on their website.
Aroma: The Baco Noir is dominant with resulting “grapey” aroma. Blackberry, black cherry, dates and a smidge of chocolate. The Cabernet Franc keeps the Baco Noir in check and adds some discipline to the wine.
Palate: An enormity of smoothness with soft tannins. The acidity is just right. But is it just a bit too smooth without a bite or defined structure? Lots of blackberry and black cherry yet tinged with a bit of austerity which gives the wine credibility.
Personality: I am a juicy and approachable wine perhaps lacking complexity. But again I am approachable and many will like me and enjoy me and isn’t that what counts?
Food Match: Pork tenderloin medallions in a blackberry jam Red Cuvée reduction sauce. And this will shine with a roast turkey with cranberry sauce on the side.
Cellarbility: Drink by mid 2025.
Price: $16.95 CDN.
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 84/100.
(Cox Creek Cellars NV Red Cuvée, Cox Creek Cellars, 7687 Wellington 22, Guelph, Ontario, 750 mL, 13%).
“Captain O’Hare and I entered the palace between two lines of soldiers. They were an honor guard of some sort, I suppose. Each one held aloft a banner, which was embroidered with the totem of his artificial extended family – an apple, an alligator, the chemical symbol for lithium, and so on.
It was such a comically trite historical situation, I thought. Aside from battles, the history of nations seemed to consist of nothing but powerless old poops like myself, heavily medicated and vaguely beloved in the long ago, coming to kiss the boots of young psychopaths.”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1976.
“The miniaturization of human beings in China had progressed so far at that point, that their ambassador was only 60 centimeters tall. His farewell was polite and friendly. He said his country was severing relations simply because there was nothing going on in the United States which was of any interest to the Chinese at all.
Eliza was asked to say why the Chinamen had been so right,
‘What civilized country could be interested in a hell-hole like America,’ she said, ‘where everybody takes such lousy care of their own relatives?’
Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1976
In 1971 I spent 4 months in the Greek islands and then in 1972 another month. I managed to witness Greece as most will never see it. We took a fishing boat to an island I forget the name of, as there was no ferry service. We stopped for the fisherman to haul in his catch and with dolphins jumping along the boat we arrived at our island destination as the sun set. We stayed on this island for two weeks and slept in a vineyard a la open air. Thank goodness no scorpion bites. There were no hotels and no pensions. There was one restaurant in the village which we had to travel to from the vineyard across the beach down one rickety wooden ladder then up another ladder. The restaurant was happy to serve mezze with ouzo as the sun set but God forbid asking for dinner before 20:00 hours! Absolutely no English was spoken by the locals, which really didn’t matter in those days so we just went into the kitchen pointed to this and that and Bob’s your uncle a fantastic dinner arrived. Then back home in the moonlight across the beach and up and down the ladders!
I apologize for the digression as isn’t this a film review and as I write about travel perhaps the world of film and travel intersect.
“Kristos the Last Child” is a documentary about a young boy in his sixth grade on the Greek Dodecanese Island of Arki very close to Patmos itself being very close to the Turkish coast.
Kristos is the last child in the island’s elementary school. In fact he has been the only child in the school from grades 3-6. He is bright and his teacher Maria has dreams beyond goat herding for Kristos. On the island of Arki there are close to 50 inhabitants. One of many small Greek villages on the verge of extinction.
Kristos bravely chooses to break the goat herding tradition by attending high school in the nearby island of Patmos where he must live in a spartan dormitory. It is an enormous step for a boy but he takes the voyage and we are left wondering about his success. Given the love of learning imparted by his teacher Maria I think he will be successful.
An interesting story but perhaps more interesting is a snapshot of a Greece that is disappearing to brighter opportunities elsewhere in Greece and abroad. This story commenced in the 1950’s took a respite and with the “economic crisis” in Greece rebooted.
In Greek with English subtitles.
The director is Giulia Amati.
For scheduling of films in the 11 Canadian cities where the festival films are playing check out https://giftt.ca
Some films are available online.
I must be very careful with my drinking at my birthday party, if I drank too much, I might spill the beans to everybody: That life awaits after death is infinitely more tiresome than this one.”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1976.
Think Grillo then think Sicilian power. With Sicilian Chardonnays cool climate Chardonnays are left behind. It is a 50/50 blend.
Aroma: Concentrated notes of pear, apple, mango, pineapple, peaches, quince, honey and a slight briny note.
Palate: Full bodied medium dry wine with a long finish. Slight floral tinge with heavier notes of pear, applesauce, creamsicle with a creamy personality.
Personality: Unlike many of my Italian white brothers I have some real substance. I am very reticent to show much acidity. We get lots of sun here in Sicily so there is nothing flinty about me.
Food Match: Filet of sole in a curry, ginger, garlic, onion and coconut sauce. Traditional North American holiday turkey.
Price: $19 (CDN).
Cellarbility: Drink by 2025-year end.
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100. Wine Align 88. Natalie MacLean 90. Luca Maroni 92.
(Don Tomasi 2022 Grillo-Chardonnay, D.O.C. Sicilia, Don Tomasi, San Ciprello, Italy, 750 mL, 13%).
In ‘Rest”, a short, Iris has a court appearance for a DUI charge and having alcohol on one’s breath or looking raunchy could have disastrous effects. And she simply can’t get right a few lines she will say before the judge that she hasn’t had a drink in three months. She fumbles with the line so many times it is painful. Her pronunciation and grammatical errors could easily be interpreted as intoxication.
The evening before the court appearance she sets her alarm hoping to get that good night’s sleep so she’s looking fresh in court.
That voice in her head, identifying himself as Charlie, gnaws, needles and manipulates her saying just have a quick drink and you’ll be off to sleep and ready for tomorrow’s court appearance. It is a lying and dangerous voice. The alcohol comes out on the counter. Iris has visions of her still not being able to master her few lines she will say before the judge. She has a battle raging in her head and the soft persuasive voice of Charlie inveigling her. This is one hell of a battle royale. As Iris drifts off the alarm sounds heralding a very important day. Has she kept herself drink free after three months?
Director is Micha Stathis.
“Rest” is part of the programming for the 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada) running from 1-31October2024 in 11 Canadian cities both in theatre and in some cases on-line. For programming and scheduling see https://gifft.ca
“They could be heroically Christian in their own eyes only if Eliza and I remained helpless and vile. If we became openly wise and self reliant, they would become our drab and inferior assistants. If we became capable of going out in the world, they might lose their apartments, their colour televisions, their illusions of being sorts of doctors and nurses, and their high paying jobs.
So from the very first, and without quite knowing what they were doing, I am sure, they begged us a thousand times a day to go on being helpless and vile.
There was only one small advancement they wished us to make up the ladder of human achievements. They hoped with all their hearts that we would become toilet-trained.”
Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1991.
The 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada) runs in 11 Canadian cities 1-31October2024 both in theatre and online.
There are two possible reactions you might have when watching “Ex-files, Pals and Pocket Dials”.
It is so wrapped up with Gen Y dating protocol and vocabulary it may quickly lose non-Gen Y viewers. On the other hand it may be a discovery voyage to non Gen Y viewers to see what goes on in the mind of a Gen Y’s. Narrowly one might cast the film as “specialized” examination into the dating characteristics of Gen Y but it is more expansive than that attempting in a broader sense to reveal what Gen Y thinks about life.
Nikki (Emalie Forsyth) is coming off a 7-year relationship and finally takes the step via an app of setting up an initial coffee date with Julian (Paul Chiuslo). It goes well and Julian and his pal Terrance and Nikki and her pal Trina become involved in discussions of what the dating rules of Gen Y are and what Gen Y wants from life. As for Julian and Terrance saying dating is “all about getting the girl” this may ring true with many Boomers too! So has anything changed over the years other than technology?
There are a few terms you may be exposed to you do not fully understand in the highly digital media world of Gen Y such as ghosting, gaslighting, getting played, swagger, blocking and pocket dials. What relevance are their theories of dating and social relationships?
Not a Gen Y perhaps you might want to call this film an amusing “educational video”.
Director is Michael Zamanis.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 72/100.
As for scheduling details see https://gifft.ca
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