A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version): Chapter 35: A Break from the Killing and Violence: There are Now Two Daddies!

It was time out for a bit of sightseeing outside Naples suggested Ginevra and I agreed. We would be tailed only by two men in a car. Ginevra explained to me a cardinal rule of the Neapolitan Camorra that in the case of hostilities between families woman and children would be spared violence and death provided they were not directly involved in the narcotic trade. Ginevra was not involved in the narcotic trade….at least not to my knowledge. Security was much less stringent than it was in Naples. But didn’t Don Lupara just execute two fourteen-year-olds, Guido and Lino. In his own crew? Why was Ginevra carrying her ancient Smith and Wesson six shooter in a shoulder holster? These Neapolitans are complicated people. We would visit Vesuvius, Sorrento and Capri.

Vesuvius was eerie. So many people died. The ruins were a stark reminder of the horror for those who choose not to flee. Some bodies were mummified in ash. Ruins indicated that Vesuvius was a flourishing town. We went to a wine tasting at a consortium of vineyard owners that grew their grapes in the volcanic soil on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. We stayed at the Vesuvius Four Seasons and had a fabulous dinner in the Michelin starred “Hot Lava” Restaurant. We both enjoyed the post dinner “spook tour” in Vesuvius. Our security detail kept a discrete distance from us.

The next morning off to Sorrento to wander around the streets. I asked Ginevra why she was purchasing so many baby clothes. She replied that they were for her cousin Maria de Mamabravo a childhood friend who was expecting any day. We discovered a stupendous seafood restaurant and had one of the best Neapolitan pizzas ever. Of course, Ginevra knew that Daddy had been supplying all the pizza cheese to Sorrento restaurants and it was made with low quality Sicilian cheese. Ginevra knowing the owner asked for “the other cheese” a code for not my Daddy’s crap. We split a white pizza to start. Our seafood dinner was caught only hours before and so damn fresh and tasty. No farm raised crap for Daddy’s little girl. We headed to Capri on the ferry the next morning. The port area was tawdry but we took a taxi to Ano Capri up the mountain and were rewarded with a spectacular view. What a pleasure to stroll on the quiet side streets. We had a relaxed lunch and goodness Ginevra was tucking into the pasta like it was her last meal. Why is my little plum stuffing her face? I’d love her fat or thin and when I remarked she was getting a bit chubby she smiled in that mischievous way and said that she was “eating for two”. WHAT! I really missed the boat on this one. I had to ask what she just said and the response that she was 4 months pregnant with our “little precious one”. I was dumfounded and could barely speak. Seeing I was in deep shock she smiled and said that I would be a Daddy just like her Daddy! Not that I was contemplating an escape but the fire escape doors had been slammed in my face and locked.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version): Chapter 34: Ginevra Get Your Gun: Is My Sweet Campanian Plum a Ruthless Killer?

Dear reader you must sense I am all shook up. A gangland attack which very nearly killed me and a cold-blooded execution of two young teenagers Guido and Lino by Don Lupara all in one day. If it wasn’t for my sweet Campanian plum Ginevra, I would be hightailing it out this Neapolitan Truman Capote nightmare.

I was reeling even further when Ginevra said I should be a man and suck it up. What!!! As for those teens she made a cruel remark that the little two-timing shits deserved it! Is my sweet little plum also a scorpion?

She relented somewhat and with a cuddle and a kiss suggested we go visit the old family summer compound on the Bay of Naples. So the following day flanked by a heavily armed security team we drove off with a picnic lunch and a bottle of Lacryma de Christi red wine from grapes grown on the volcanic slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

The summer compound was in a ramshackle state but on a beautiful beach. Ginevra said it would be ours and would be fully renovated by Daddy and Mommy as our wedding gift.

Ginevra’s anti tank weapon: A Serbian Vlad 600

Ginerva took her bag from one of the cars and pulled out a machine gun, pistols and an anti-tank weapon. Looking me in eye she said it was time for target practice? Mannequins had been placed at several different distances (prearranged it seems) and before I knew it her barrage of bullets had smashed the mannequins to smithereens. I found it odd she had a Smith and Wesson revolver from the 1860’s. Very Annie Oakley I thought. The last target was an old rowboat that some of the security detail had placed 100 metres off the shore. Ginevra lifted the huge anti-tank weapon like it was a toothpick aimed and blew the rowboat out of the water in a huge yellow and orange explosion. She suggested it was my turn next! I responded perhaps some other day! With a big smile Ginerva asked what I thought of her skills. I was too dumbfounded to answer. She responded it was time to talk about our future. Indeed it was! She gave me a wink and asked if I was “turned on” by all this shooting? Not really. I felt like puking.

RKS 2025 Wine: Schild Estate 2020 Angus Brae Vineyard Shiraz

Named after Ed Schild’s grandson, Angus, and the Scottish word for ‘Brae’ meaning a steep hillside.

Aroma: Blackberry extreme.

Palate: Blackberry and black currant extreme complimented by dark chocolate. A rich and powerful full-bodied pedal to the medal red wine. This does not impede its silkiness. Long lingering finish.

Personality: Not known for modesty these Aussie’s I say powerful and exceptional.

Food Match: Grilled wild boar.

Cellarbility: Drink until 2028.

Price: $35 CDN.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 94/100. Sam Kim 95. Wine Align 91.

(Schild Estate Angus Brae Vineyard 2020 Shiraz, Barossa Valley, Schild Estate Wines, Lyndoch, South Australia, 750 mL, 14.5%).

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (the Final Version) :Chapter 33: Attacked by “Cyclops”: The Execution of Two 14 Year Old’s

Ginevra told me all involved in the Neapolitan narcotics trade had nicknames as a matter of pride and to assist in obfuscating identification by law enforcement and tax authorities. You remember that notorious American gangster Al Capone who visited the “big house” not for murder but tax evasion! The names were colourful and of course as I told you earlier Don Lupara was referred to as the Fat Fox. Other names “in the trade” were “Cyclops”, “Hot Blood”, “Hairy Balls”, “Thumb Sucker”, “Big Nose”, “Bloodhound” and the “Slippery One”.

Don Lupara and Cyclops were not in a “harmonious” relationship. Don Lupara’s territory was the slums of Scampia and bordering Scampia was Piscinola-Marianella. One street on the border of these districts Via Greco was according to Cyclops being hijacked by Don Lupara. Warning shots had been exchanged between Cyclops’ and Don Lupara’s men.

After our little “tour” Don Lupara took me to Scampia’s finest restaurant Satriole’s. A hole in the wall with the best pasta in Campania. We had a steaming bowl of clam pasta with a Sicilian Grillo white wine sitting in the front of the restaurant. It’s plate glass windows gave us a view of all sorts of “Crime in Action”. After being grilled by Don Lupara about how many grandchildren Ginerva and I would give him we sat up and were ready to leave when I was tackled by one of Don Lupara’s men and Don Lupara by another. A huge burst of machine gun fire shattered the plate glass window followed by an explosion. Bloody bodies and body parts were strewn all over the restaurant. Don Lupara was unscathed and I had a piece of glass graze the back of my head and was bleeding. And that man who had been tailing Ginevra and I in New York and had tackled me lay on the ground with bits of his brain oozing from a crater in what was left of his head. Don Lupara was as cool as a cucumber declaring that a war was now on with Cyclops.

Badly shaken we returned to the family compound leaving one piece of business to be taken care of. Guido and Lino were two 14-year-old Scampian teenagers who had staged a violent robbery of a bordello run by Don Lupara. Of course, Don Lupara’s men had apprehended the boys within the hour. Don Lupara was struck by their gall and hired them as low-level drug runners. Well at a disco Guido and Lino had made acquaintances with two young ladies and they ran out of cocaine so they ripped off a Fat Fox drug dealer outside of Scampia. This was a fatal mistake. We walked into a room where the boys were tied up full of apologies and contrition by the “traitors”. Territory had to be respected as a matter of honour. Don Lupara walked up to them and shot Guido and Lino in the head. And I was just thinking Don Lupara might be a decent fellow. You disagree with Don Lupara you will not live to agree or disagree with anyone anymore.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version) : Chapter 32: Scampia, Naples: Down and Dirty in the Cocaine and Heroin Factory and Price Club Distribution Centre

Don Lupara and I left the family compound after a hearty breakfast of fruit, smoked ham and Napoli croissants loaded with Malvagia’s stupendous orange marmalade made from oranges from the family orchards in Ischia. With food like this perhaps the “Fat” in “Fat Fox” might have referred to the effects of all the tremendous Neapolitan food!

Our car, a huge fat Russian Zil with its armour and bullet proof glass, was flanked by a car in front and to our rear. I saw pistols bulging from the backs of the tattooed and odd looking “colleagues” of Don Lupara riding in the vehicles. Don Lupara said the Zil once belonged to Nikita Khrushchev.

Don Lupara explained to me that I was to see his business operations that “of course” Ginevra was going to assume upon his death which he said in this business and in Naples is always just around the corner. Again the threat, although said in a more friendly tone than it had been a few days ago, that what I was about to see must never be repeated outside “the family”.

Our first stop was the cocaine and heroin “factory”. The narcotics were smuggled via Bulgaria from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic concealed in sex toy dolls wrapped tightly in two kilo bricks. Having such good import connections the narcotics were pure. A team sat on a huge-long table removing the wrapping on the bricks. The powder was then cut to half strength and packaged in various sizes for “retail distribution” fine tuned like some Price Club warehouse! Heavily armed men guarded the outside with machine guns.

The retail network consisted of over 75 men and women. Most narcotics were distributed like candy from various locations in the Scampia district often near schools and playgrounds with tall buildings nearby where sentinels could watch oncoming movements. A fleet of motor scooters zipped about delivering narcotics to the “distribution team”. A never-ending line of ragged customers flashed their cash quickly and efficiently and scuttled off. The “distribution team” was well trained in quick escapes should there be a police raid. As Don Lupara said to me the family had many “friends” in the public prosecutor’s office and custom’s offices so law enforcement raids were known far in advance. For their information and assistance very large sums of cash were needed to grease palms so Don Lupara had a payroll to meet in addition to “employees” in the factory and in the distribution network.

All said and done this was a business model that could be one of the finest in the capitalist world. Again what in earth had fate delivered to me. Ginerva and I becoming narcotic kingpins in Naples? Ginevra was not that type of girl…..or so I thought yet I recalled she cut up 3 tough Puerto Rican thugs in Harlem faster than you could blink. There was much more to my sweet Italian plum than those captivating green eyes.

For our lunch break Don Lupara said it was important I meet some of his “colleagues” as I would be dealing with them in the future? And why did Don Lupara have me set up to take Italian language courses?

RKS 2025 Documentary: “A Conversation with Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion”

“A Conversation with Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” is what you get in this American documentary; Bob Mackie and many others, predominately entertainers and celebrities, discussing the career of American costume designer Bob Mackie.

Mackie, now 85, started sketching as a boy preferring that to athletic pursuits. When asked what he wanted to do “when you grow up” he answered a “fashion designer on Broadway”. At 21 years of age his first job was sketching for Jean Louis and Mackie sketched the dress that Jean Louis then designed for Marylyn Monroe to sing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy. He designed extensively for The Judy Garland Show, The Carol Burnett Show and The Sonny and Cher Show. Mackie has had a long costume designing relationship with Cher creating unique costume designs lending her a persona that she might not have otherwise had. Elton John credits some of his success to the outlandish Mackie costumes.

There are countless testaments to his talents from Carol Burnett, Cher, Mitzi Gaynor, Pink, Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Ru Paul and others.

Costume designers create theatrical “outfits” and require an ability to translate personality into costumes i.e. will it compliment the personality and make a lasting statement. There is no better example than the costume created for Cher for the 58^th annual Academy Awards presentation, a fuck you dress she wore to snub the Academy. A few of the comments made by subjects in the documentary are “visual beauty”, “larger than life”, “scandalous” “performance fashion” and “Hollywood creations”.

Mackie was influenced as a youngster by the musicals he saw on television and in the movie theatre such as the costumes worn in the Ziegfeld Follies.

The costumes in the documentary speak for themselves and the talent of Bob Mackie.

There is scant and fuzzy information as to his personal life and sexuality. Mackie was married to LuLu Porter divorcing her in 1963 with costume designer Ray Aghayan becoming his life partner until his death in 2011. His son Robin died of an HIV related illness in 1993 which shook Mackie to the extent he refused to elaborate any further in the documentary.

Although the documentary is deep down Mackie it is also somewhat of a history of costume design in the United States.

“A Conversation with Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion” will be showing in Toronto at Toronto Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema 18/19January2025 with Bob Mackie and his design director Joe McFate in attendance and in conversation.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZSLQ_E3eXQ

Directed by Matthew Miele.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2025 Wine: More Token Romanians

A few Romanian wines have limped into Ontario of late. Should the Trump administration impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods flowing into the United States the Premier of Ontario has threatened to have the state liquor monopoly (Liquor Control Board of Ontario aka LCBO) refrain from selling United States wine in the province of Ontario. What will replace the over representation of California wines on LCBO shelves and warehouses? Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovenian and British Columbian wine will happily take their place and of course Ontario wines. What is good for the goose may be better for a whole bunch of ganders.

We try a Nomad Pinot Noir from the Dealu Mare appellation in Romania.

Aroma: The nose is greeted by a slight funk which often passes under the name “barnyardy” or “earthy”. These distracting fumes partially lift after aeration. A combination of red and black cherry with some minimalistic raspberry.

Palate: Husky rough and raw and golly is this really Pinot Noir? There is no mistaking this is wine but any resemblance, and there is not much, to Pinot Noir must be in the mind of its producers and some poor LCBO buyer.

Personality: This reviewer is humiliating me. A huge liquor monopoly bought many cases of me. Surely they have good taste and judgement? Or are they embarrassed and blushing up a storm caused by this wine?

Food Match: The LCBO suggests “try it with Moroccan-style foods or a simple meat lasagna”. I presume they mean you use it to cook these dishes but do not consume with the dishes.

Cellarbility: Not worth it.

Price: $13.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 59/100.

(Aurelia Visinescu Nomad 2022 Pinot Noir, DOC Dealu Mare, Romania, 750 mL, 13%).

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version): Chapter 31: My One on One with Don Lupara (the Fat Fox): Invited to Join the “Family”

I knew Don Lupara wanted a private conversation with me. Hopefully it was not to slit my throat! After dinner one night at the “family compound” Don Lupara “invited” me for a chat, just him and me! We had yet another coffee and grappa. Boy those Italians drink coffee like water and just as fast!

Don Lupara got right to the point saying he had wanted to kill me after I “violated” his little “Sugar Cube” namely Ginevra his daughter. Yes sir that made me feel mighty comfortable. But it was clear to him Ginerva was mad about me and for that I would be spared a swim with the fishes.

He then told me about himself most of which Ginevra had already related to me. At a young age he was smuggling cigarettes making contraband runs around the Bay of Naples. As a young teen he was useful to the Camorra as authorities rarely pressed charges against minors. He moved on to starting his “new business” of importing and distributing hashish and cannabis. Then he dropped a bomb saying essentially, we were of the “same blood”? Don Lupara knew my father Paneer Gurdeep as he imported from him super premium hashish the Neapolitans loved. His rivals peddled inferior Moroccan hashish they sold at the identical price and subsequently lost almost all the hashish market. Did Lupara think I was a drug exporter? I made it clear I was not a narcotics exporter and treading on fragile ground I said narcotic importing and distribution were “honourable professions”. This pleased Lupara immensely. Why I said that as in my mind it was cowardly “self preservation” and a portent of fidelity to his little “Sugar Cube” and my sweet Italian plum.

Lupara asked me to join the “family”. Was this an offer I couldn’t refuse? Don Lupara had graduated from moving soft drugs such as hashish and cannabis to cocaine and heroin as the latter were easier to transport and conceal. If I was to join the family what would my role be? I am above all a businessman and not a killer nor a boiled sweets salesman.

Lupara “invited me” on a tour of his operations warning me if I ever double crossed him or his daughter. He would “dispose” of the problem that problem being me! With his track record of murder and assassination and remembering the goat head delivered to me in New York Don Lupara was not to be taken lightly.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 30: Meeting Don Lupara in Naples: Better Toasted than Being Toast!

Ginevra and I flew to Naples via Frankfurt in mid November. Naples was almost warm when we arrived at 11 a.m. We were met by two burly men in the arrivals area. And wouldn’t you know one of the men was that heavily tattooed man with a scar on his face and Iroquois haircut that had been watching us in New York. We were whisked way in a huge black Mercedes. There was a car behind ours and another one in front. Our driver had a pistol lying on this front seat. What did I get myself into! Not much to see on the drive but Mount Vesuvius in the distance was impressive if not a bit chilling considering its deadly history.

We pulled into the family compound and six heavily armed men stood in front with their hands folded This is the business model for a cocaine king? Don Lupara gave an enormous hug to Ginerva and to me a handshake accompanied by glowering eyes. Like it was I am gonna kill you for violating my daughter you swine was the stare I endured.

Her mother Malvagia was far more welcoming and effusive. She gave a look to her daughter as if she was expecting some momentous news.

What a mansion but the furniture was exceedingly gaudy. Leopard patterned furniture and television sets hanging on the wall encased in gaudy golden frames. Camorra decorative brilliance?

Expensive but gaudy Naples high fashion sofa?

After a nap, in separate rooms, we headed down to a “small family dinner” of 30 or so relatives. I can’t recall who all these people were but Ginevra seemed to know them all calling them “aunt” and “uncle”. They were a jovial bunch and many wanted to know me better. What a feast although served in very ornate vessels. The wine glasses had bands of gold around them. The food was delicious entirely seafood. A huge welcome home cake.

After cake and coffee with a few grappas Ginevra and I let it fly. We announced our engagement. There was stunned silence and the relatives all focused on Daddy who suddenly flashed a huge smile and ordered champagne be opened for a celebratory toast. I had the feeling of relief sweep over me. I would rather be saluted by a Don Lupara toast than be toast. The relatives thundered cheers and applause. Could Don Lupara (aka The Fat Fox) be a decent fellow?

RKS 2025 Documentary Film: “Mediha”: ISIL’s Genocidal DNA

ISIL is a genocidal force bent on the annihilation of “non- believers”. There is no middle ground for fanatics. They can’t destroy all non-believers so they pick away here and there whether that be New Orleans, Paris, Moscow and many other urban centres with easy civilian targets.

On 3August2014 ISIL commenced its attack on the Yazidi people of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq close to the Syrian border.

The United Nation’s Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis has documented how ISIL committed genocide as well as multiple crimes against humanity and war crimes through mass executions, forced religious conversion to Islam and widespread sexual violence against women and girls. Following the Sinjar attack ISIL forcibly transferred thousands of captured Yazidis into Syria where girls as young as 9 were subject to sexual slavery and Yazidi boys as young as 7 were forcibly trained for combat roles and suicide missions.

In 2019 when ISIL lost its territorial hold in Syria thousands of people mostly women and young children were presumed to be family members of ISIL fighters many of which were Yazidi mothers and their children some the result of ISIL rapes were detained in internment camps including Al Hawl and Rawj in northeast Syria forced to live amongst their abductors and kidnappers. Commissioner Lynn Welchman has said, “The international community should be supporting their recovery and well being and pursuit of justice, not perpetuating the atrocities they have survived.”

I have given you a bit of background so you may more fully understand the documentary “Mediha” which is largely the story of teenager Mediha who was abducted at 10 from her quiet Sinjar home and sold as a slave numerous times. ISIL had a physical and internet-based slave trade selling many young girls to the “brave” ISIL fighters who are not only terrorists but pedophiles.

Living in a refugee camp in Iraq with her handheld camera Mediha weaves a horrific recounting of her abduction and very little about the details of her slavery because it is too painful to recall. Her mother, father and 3 brothers were also abducted and she assumes her father was executed like so many Yazidi men.

It was her uncle that rescued Mediha and professional rescuers search for her missing brother and mother including a visit to the Al Hawl internment camp where hostility and the burka rule.

Mediha agrees to appear before Commission representatives in an attempt to identify her abductor who sold her for $500 USD equivalent.

A compelling watch and deep dive into to genocidal bent of ISIL and its disregard and overwhelming hatred of non-believers. Whilst Mediha escaped she is riddled with PTSD triggered by planes flying overhead and calls to prayer. In one scene Mediha is in agony listening to the call to prayers.

Chilling, disgusting, vile, revolting and barbaric yet a testament to the power of a camera and of the human spirit.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8bvCpQNL_g

The director of this American documentary is Hasan Oswald.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 95/100.