The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 43: Getting Cyclops’ Dogs off My Scent

I met Don Lupara on my veranda overlooking the Bay of Naples. We knew the coward Cyclops had fled to Romania and the general area where he was last spotted. Although the Cyclops “family” had largely been decimated and its remnants absorbed by other families Cyclops still retained a few allies in Naples who knew Don Lupara and I were potential threats as Calabrian’s we had vendettas in our blood for the murder of Ginevra and my unborn child.

The first part of Don Lupara’s plan was to create the allusion of a violent split between Don Lupara and myself to weaken the perceived threat of possible joint action to strike down Cyclops. Quite simple. I was to shoot Don Lupara in a heated argument in front of one of Naples most famous restaurants that one that Cyclops had bombed in an attempt to eliminate Don Lupara. I would shoot him in the arm with a blank! Fake blood would pour out and I would make an orchestrated escape on a scooter. After that I would hightail it to Greece for three months head back to India after that. I would be forgotten. No longer a threat. Then I would pay Cyclops a visit.

The fake shooting of Don Lupara!

A few days later at the restaurant Don Lupara and I sat at an outside table for a meal. There were eyes upon us. After our grilled octopus Don Lupara started shouting at me and threw a wine bottle at my head which grazed it. With blood pouring down my face we had a loud argument. He shoved me to the ground. I stood up and shot him in the arm. The patrons scattered in panic and off I roared off in a motor scooter driven by one of Don Lupara’s men. I was driven to the outskirts of Naples and had a comfortable hidden room in a truck on its way to Athens. I arrived in Athens and checked into a cheap hotel in Vravrona on the outskirts of Athens. My next destination was Samos a Greek Island just off the Turkish coast. Full of German and Dutch tourists but almost no Italians and no Romanians. I could only hope my trail had gone cold….very cold.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film: “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”: International Machinations Lead to National Disaster

“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” focuses on the futile attempt to attain veritable independence of the Belgian colony of the Congo led by Patrice Lumumba. The Democratic Republic of Congo with Lumumba as its first prime minister negotiated its independence from Belgium on 30June1960. But was it truly independence?

The assassination of Lumumba in early 1961 at the hands of rival Mobuto is illustrative there is more to independence than a name. Assassinated locally but assisted and encouraged by Belgium and the United States with heavy CIA involvement. Mobuto had 36 years of dictatorial rule.

Throughout the documentary there is jazz and more jazz with interview and performance footage of the most famous jazz musicians and vocalists of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

The documentary expands beyond the Congo to recount its story amid Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism and the trudge towards “African independence” with both the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. rattling each others’ chains over the evils of each country’s manipulation of African independence. The political games and machinations of the United Nations dealing with the Congo reveal a solid phalanx of liars.

A common theme expressed by many of the jazz musicians and by Malcom X was the segregation in the United States a doublespeak to the right self determination spouted by the United States government.

This is no linear documentary as it jumps from the Congo to other African countries, the United States and the Soviet Union to riotous jazz at one moment to mellow vocals the next. Stories are told through archival footage, diary entries, home movies, quotes from historians and political commentators, government documents etc.

Think of the documentary as a riotous collision of world politics and jazz. The coup’d’etat is not restricted to the Congo but a huge wool pull over the eyes of the world by a host of nation states acting independently, sometimes allied with each other and through the United Nations. The players excel in lies, double speak and manipulation.

A case study in theatrical or sham independence. A documentary, thriller and retro music video. The musical thumping of the desk at the United Nations by Soviet premier Khrushchev is a truly hilarious moment

Best not attempt to master all the facts and players, both political and musical, in the documentary as there are simply too many to categorize neatly in the human brain. Think in generalities such as independence and its manipulation in a colonial word where colonization was evolving toward imperialism. Forget the marching bands of the occupying colonial powers and realistically focus on a leaner form of colonialism where minerals flowing from the “independent African country” including uranium and copper from the Congo are the name of the game.

You can see the trailer here  https://vimeo.com/1026160101

This Belgian/Dutch/Netherlands production is directed by Johan Grimonprez.

Theatrical release begins 17January2025 in Canada.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 95/100.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 42: How Do You Kill Another Man? The Romanian Revenge Plan: Romanian Lightning Heroin

After dinner Don Lupara’s men dropped me off at the fully renovated seaside home on the Bay of Naples a wedding gift for a wedding that never was to be due to Ginevra’s murder. It was payback time. Cyclops who had planted a roadside explosive device that killed my sweet Campanian plum Ginevra and our unborn child. I took a bottle of Lacryma de Christi red wine and sat on the balcony watching the twinkling lights of Naples. Thinking. Thinking. After a glass of this volcanic delight, I took a tour of our house which up to this point I had only heard about from Ginevra who had taken great pains to decorate in a modernist style instead of the overly gaudy Neapolitan nouveau riche style. I opened a door beside what was to be our bedroom and froze in my tracks. A quiet furious rage set my entire body and mind on fire. Adjacent to the bedroom was the nursery for our unborn murdered in the Cyclops’ engineered bomb blast. Now there was no doubt rage, amoral familism and a Neapolitan vendetta that were easily turning me into a killer.

When I dispose of Cyclops Don Lupara said the spirit of Ginevra would guide me. The last picture of Ginevra at target practice with our unborn child

I phoned Don Lupara with my intent to go ahead with the deed. All I needed was Cyclops’ location in Romania. Don Lupara said you just don’t wander around with a gun and shoot your target. Planning was needed so we were to meet over breakfast to discuss this plan.

What we knew about Cyclops at this point:

  • He had fled Naples to Romania and specifically to Braşov a city of some 375,000 in the province of Transylvania nestled close to the South Carpathian Mountains.
  • He was working with the Russian mob using his Albanian connections to funnel low grade heroin into Braşov for the Romanian and Bulgarian market.
  • He was engaged in sex trafficking of Ukrainian and Albanian girls.
  • He was smuggling Albanians into Greece.
  • Security was very tight with local Romanian ex-soldiers of the elite Eagle Unit in his security detail.
  • He was a pedophile surrounding himself with teenage girls, all minors.
  • The Russian mob had serious enemies in Romania particularly the Romanian mob known as the Strigoi who were in a vicious struggle with the Russians.
  • The Russian mob had “friends” at the ministerial level of the Romanian government so extradition of Cyclops to Italy was a virtual impossibility.
  • The Russian mob and Cyclops were growing poppies in massive plantations hidden throughout Transylvania manufacturing a potent heroin called “Romanian Lightning”. The Romanian Strigoi would celebrate the death of Cyclops.

It seemed then Cyclops was not going to be an easy hit. What was Don Lupara’s plan?

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 41: Leaving My Positano Asylum and Agreeing to a Revenge Murder

Don Lupara picked me up in his Russian Zil from my Positano “mental health facility” and take me “home” to the Cattavia family estate on the outskirts of Naples. If only Ginevra had been travelling in Lupara’s Russian Zil amour plated and all she would still be with me. But being of Russian manufacture it was “in the shop” the day of the murderous blast.

It was all pleasant chit chat as we made our way to the Lupara compound. Don Lupara’s wife Malvagia gave me a crushing hug with moist eyes and numerous may God bless you dear one. A feast had been prepared with the freshest seafood and a bottle of the best Greco del Tufo white wine. Again the chit chat was continued but with hesitation. All of us could only think of Ginevra and at times I could have sworn she was by my side laughing and holding my hand. A true spirit or the remnants of LSD in my brain?

After the dishes were cleared out came to grappa and coffee and Don Lupara had I had a chat about “my future”. The gang war with Cyclops had ended and in defeat and in disgrace after masterminding the death of my Ginevra Cyclops had fled to Romania where he had been working the narcotic trade with a group of vicious Russians that in their lack of any sense of brutality and adherence to any morals whatsoever made the Camorra of Naples look like schoolchildren.

Don Lupara explained how exhausted and demoralized he was and offered me a successorship to his narcotics trade. Scampia would be all mine pulling in somewhere near 75 million Euros a year net of expenses. I would have turned down the offer prior to Ginevra’s assassination but I had thoughts about being a drug lord. There was little else in my life and isn’t that what my sweet Calabrian plum would have wanted? Any way for revenge would be acceptable to me and to hell with my former morals. We could talk about my successorship to Don Lupara some other time.

I asked Don Lupara why he hadn’t put out a contract on Cyclops. He took a huge swill of grappa and excused himself saying he would be back in a moment. He returned with a wooden box and said that in the box was my answer. It was Ginevra’s Smith and Wesson six shooter. Puzzled I asked him what did this pistol have to do with a contract on Cyclops. He responded that he had saved this task of honour and revenge for me. There was no hesitation on my part to blast that shit Cyclops to pieces. A life situation had transformed a good ole Bombay boy into a killer. I wanted the bastard to squirm and beg for mercy.

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 one ear and ringing sensations in the other. There were men in deerskin vests and bolo ties, wearing graying lambchops. Wiry guys with high foreheads and veiny forearms, session players who followed their own style, all skinny leather ties and short sleeved cotton shirts and scraggly facial hair, single earrings and sweatbands onstage, a dress code for rockers in midlife as rigid as a street gang’s.”

Kevin Chong, “Baroque-a-Nova”, 2001

RKS 2025 Film: “Loren & Rose”: Jacqueline Bisset on Stage!

“Loren & Rose” showcases the enormous talent of Jacqueline Bisset in her role as Rose Martin an actress rising to great acclaim in “Lisa Overnight” her greatest commercial success and her biggest curse as once you reach the summit it may be more of a slide down as how much room is there left to ascend once you are at the peak? It was certainly not with, “Mega Gator’s Mom” and a series of B and C films that followed her breakout role.

Young and upcoming film director Loren (Kelly Blatz) hot off the success of a short film that has traversed the festival circuit meets Martin for lunch at Martin’s favourite restaurant in Topanga Canyon (now devastated by the ongoing Los Angeles County wildfires). Over the next five years they meet at the same restaurant Martin acting as muse and confidant to an uncertain and anxious Loren trying to build a film director career.

The discussions between Martin and Loren are intense and the restaurant becomes a stage for Bisset and Blatz to showcase their impressive talents. The film ostensibly is about the bourgeoning mentor-mentee relationship between Martin and Loren but it is more about life in general and in particular about acting, directing, the history of theatre, art, the meaning of cinema, creativity and commercialism, approaches of different directors, love and grief. Martin is a treasure trove of life and professional experience which is received with gratitude but not without challenge by Loren.

While Bisset and Blatz excel in their roles one senses solid chemistry between them throughout that often one may forget they are acting as their relationship seems ensconced in reality more than in their acting. The last supper scene is positively memorable and what a swan song for veteran Bisset and the lesser know Blatz.

And Paul Sand as Phil the owner of the restaurant is understated, witty and sarcastic yet at times effusive.

The acting ability of Bisset and Blatz is accentuated by the solid foundation of writing and directing by Russell Brown.

“Loren and Rose” will be available exclusively 28January2025 on Amazon Prime.

I am not going to include a link to the trailer here as the film must be watched and digested in its entirety so offering you tidbits in a trailer does great injustice to it.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 93/100.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvelllous (The Final Version):Chapter 40:  I Have Been Committed to a Psychiatric Hospital: Thank God for LSD and Pasta a La Nero! Lupara’s Deadly Cure

After my Ritz-Carlton meltdown in Manhattan for months I had no idea where I was nor did I really care. Was it post traumatic stress disorder or depression?

I was told that I had been transported on a chartered jet courtesy of Don Lupara from New York to Naples where I was transported along the coast to a sanitorium in the beautiful tourist trap village of Positano. Apparently the standard treatments were not working as I was not communicating and just rocking back and forth mumbling “GINERVA” and then I would sob for hours. I ate very little and shriveled away to a dangerous body measurement.

I started to recognize myself again after eating a big bowl of Pasta a La Nero. This pesto/zucchini/cheese pasta was Ginevra’s favourite and it must have jolted my memory. It was weeks later that improvements were noted. Food as medicine for the mind?

Speaking of the mind I was experiencing terrible flashbacks about John Lennon, Ginevra and the execution of those two teenagers Guido and Lino. I had made a breakthrough sparked by bowls of that medicinal pasta but had hit a roadblock.

Don Lupara, as my “guardian” I learnt later had authorized an experimental treatment for extreme depression Dr. Muzzio O’Leary had pioneered in the Bolzano Psychiatric Institute. The treatment was called “fear and loathing protocol” which Dr. O’Leary had used with several Las Vegas showgirls. With measured doses of LSD the trauma causing the mental illness was relived in an exploratory and guided manner to have the mind explain to itself the continuing trauma was nothing but a reaction to an awful reality but no longer a debilitating reality. Medical gobbly gook but it worked extremely well in my case. Unfortunately one side effect was a craving for pesto so I ate huge quantities of pasta which. Considering my skeletal frame wasn’t all that bad.

My private suite at the Positano Psychiatric Institute

I was housed in an exclusive asylum up in the Positano Hills with a breathtaking view of the ocean below. 14 months after my meltdown it was me I was finally dealing with. Don Lupara had popped in for a few visits and the Fat Fox had red eyes, a mottled complexion and was yellow skinned. He looked atrocious. A haggard caricature of his former self. One day he showed up for a talk with me about my future. He had a final cure in mind. MURDER!

RKS 2025 Wine: A Limniona from Greece: Greece’s Hot New Grape? A Dual Personality Wine

As for Greek red wines there is no star performer of world renown at least yet! Argentina has Malbec. Chile has Bonarda. United States Cabernet Sauvignon. Canada Cabernet Franc. Greece? Xinomavro or Agiorgitiko? I don’t think so perhaps because of limited distribution in North America.

The Lemniona grape

Lemniona is the rising star of the Greek red varieties and will be a driving force for the development of numerous top wines around Greece in the years to come. The quality potential of this red variety, used to make dry red wines, was identified when only few vines were left. Several years of research and microvinifications, bringing together numerous scientists, growers and producers, started yielding some impressive results.

Lemniona wine has an extremely deep and vivid purple red colour. On the nose it is rich, very expressive, with red fruit, herbs, minerality and cooking spices. The palate has a great line, with a firm, textured but never aggressive tannin frame. Alcohol can be relatively high, although rarely above 13.5%, but it is always very balanced by the bright acidity. Today, because of its high profile, it is cultivated in a number of areas almost all around Greece. Nevertheless, in many of these it has a rather experimental status rather than used to make commercially available wines.

Lemniona is one of these rare red varieties that manage to pack extract, concentration, acidity and flavour, without leaning towards fatness and volume. It is for people looking for the next generation of ambitious, yet graceful reds. Lemniona, especially when young, is excellent with beef and other rich red meats. Most commercially available examples are ready to drink but will benefit for at least a few years of bottle age, while they will reach their peak in a decade or even more.

We try a Limniona from Domaine Sabanis.

Aroma: Black cherry, pomegranate, fig, hazelnut but the cherry predominates sometimes bright red cherry then suddenly black cherry in a dual personality.

Palate: Tannic but far less than one would expect from and Xinomavro of the same vintage. Loads of cherry for sure but fresh fig too. Moderate finish.

Personality: Although I carry a big stick, I am no Barolo or Xinomavro. A wine fitting for Zorba or Melina Mercouri but never on a Sunday!

Food Match: Kleftiko (Lamb in parchment paper).

Cellarbility: Will soften over the next 4 years. Consume by 2029-year end. I might go out on a limb as I am not familiar with the grape but it just might reach its peak in 2030. No harm in trying with a couple of bottles.

Price: $22 CDN.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating; 91/100.

(Domaine Sabanis 2021 Limniona, E. Sabani S.A., Evoia, Greece, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2025 Wine: Foss Marai Millesimato Prosecco

Aroma: Lemon, lime, green apple, ginger and white peach.

Palate: Moderate acidic bite less than you might experience with a Crémant. Citrusy, ginger, green apple and pear. Short clean finish.

Personality: Far less formal and less bite than Champagne, Cava and Crémants.

Food Match: Tuna melt with sharper cheddar possibly Collier’s Welsh Cheddar.

Cellarbility: Drink in 2025.

Price: $21.70 CDN.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 89/100. Wine Align 88.

(Foss Marai Guia Brut 2023 Valdobbiadene, Prosecco DOCG, Italy, 750 mL, 11%).

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 and miserable. John Lennon, who had become a close friend, had been gunned down in New York. I just had to leave this cesspool even if it was to the violence of Naples. Ginevra did the best she could to keep my spirits up talking about our baby kicking her in the womb like a professional soccer player. That made me chuckle but being so distant it just made me cry in utter desperation.

I took long walks in Central Park but it brought more sadness as it sparked memories of the wonderful walks I had in the park with John Lennon. It was as if I had no place to turn to but a depressing and lonely hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South. I had no appetite. Nothing to do. No place to go. New York once a glowing gem for me was nothing more than a piece of fool’s gold.

Then it happened. The worst day in my life. After a walk in frigid Central Park I returned to the Ritz and as I entered into the lobby one of the crew from Don Lupara’s family I recognized “Greasy Fingers” Alfonso. Alfonso said he wanted to check up on me as Ginevra was unable to. We went to the lobby bar and had a martini and Alfonso said my beloved Ginevra, my sweet Calabrian plum and my unborn child had been killed in a roadside explosion. It was Cyclops that claimed responsibility. Naples, an assembly line of death.

Ginevra dead at the roadside: Her last words were “Penniless”!

As for what happened after that I remember very little except descending into a hellish violent rage. In fact it was a rampage smashing mirrors, lamps and anything in sight in the Ritz-Carlton lobby. I was later told Alfonso had attempted to stop me but I tossed that muscular man aside like a toddler. Police came along with the boys in white from Bellevue. After being subdued by a tranquilizer dart I was placed in a straight jacket and off I was whisked. Ginevra dearest had been taken from me.