“Travels to a Different Time” : 10July2005; Viano do Castelo, Portugal

08:30 arrival in Opporto. Climbed on a bus from the airplane to clear through immigration in the terminal building. A bit of a sour arrival as Andrew left his MP3 on the airplane. Apparently, Alex had borrowed it and returned to him when he was sleeping. Some cleaner no doubt will be listening to some good music. Took to the shuttle bus to Europcar picking up a Renault Megantic much to my chagrin as I was to have a Mercedes so we were short on trunk space so one suitcase ended up in the cabin. Damn North Americans with all their luggage.

Off for a 90-minute drive on a brand-new highway to Viano do Castelo. Portuguese at this early point in the trip drive either too slow or too fast. Total disregard for using turn signals but there are no weird or wild maniacs on the road. Up up the hill to our Pousada Santa Luz which overlooks the Atlantic and the coast below. Our pousada is a former convent on top of the mountain beside a huge monastery. Many buses full of Portuguese are visiting it. We had an hour wait for the room to be prepared. Alex and Andrew had their own room with two singles and we had a double. Very comfortable rooms with a tan colour throughout. 70 Euros a night. Alex, Andrew and I headed out in the blazing heat to the swimming pool and revived somewhat. Poor Fotini had crashed so being peckish Andrew, Alex and I headed down to a local restaurant down below called “O Pescador”. Had wine, soft drinks, fish patties, cheese, grilled seabass and seafood stew with a litre of spring water. A superb repast for 42 Euros. Returned back to Pousada for a crash out from 17:00-21:00. Groggily downed water watched television and slipped into oblivion and slept for 9 hours.

RKS 2024 Film: “The Great Salish Heist”: Of Rezy Indians, Well Meaning White Folks and Russian Mobsters

If you enjoy a good heist movie with tension, action, humour, sarcasm and more than a few double crosses you will enjoy the Canadian feature film “The Great Salish Heist”. No state secrets, secret and revealing information on a disc, gold or diamonds are the object of the heist.

Steve Joe (Darrell Dennis) is a traditional archeologist for the Moquahat peoples. In a tragic motor vehicle accident a drunk driver collides with his truck killing his son Daniel. Steve had previously dug up an ancient Moquahat mask and sold it for personal gain. He is convinced the ancestors have cursed him for the misappropriation of sacred property creating a cascade of misfortune. Can he placate the ancestors?

On the rez sits the Royal Western Canadian Museum which is shipping out a First Nations artifact exhibition for a European tour and for Steve removing the artifacts will cause ancestors to wreak havoc on the rez. The answer would be to “remove” them and replace them with replicas prior to their shipment to Europe. Steve assembles a far less than a crack heist team of rezy Indians. They may have the right spirit but as for skills they are seemingly inept.

Numerous complications arise to the extent that the planned heist appears in all respects doomed to failure. The viewer will enjoy all the twists and turns.

I can’t reveal the result but it is enjoyable entertainment with a well written screenplay. Aside from the sheer entertainment value there are juicy jibes at the Canadian Government and well-meaning white folks in the museum crowd. What is most refreshing is despite the many stereotypes portrayed here the Indigenous peoples are portrayed positively as savvy instead of in the oft miserable gloom and doom documentaries on Canadian Indigenous peoples. I am witnessing a series of emerging positive television series and films such as this one that don’t dwell on the misery and tragedy. Accordingly I appreciate the political statement made by “The Great Salish Heist” although it may be solely in my imagination.

“The Great Salish Heist” showed at the Victoria Film Festival and begins a limited Canadian theatrical release on 9March2024.

Directed and co-written by Darrell Dennis.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 88/100. 

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Why Do (some) Humans Hate Dogs? Chapter Fifty Four (54)

In Egypt I was cursed, kicked, spat on and shot at. In many human eyes I am but a simple beast. Why was I thrown out in the street like an old rag? Why did animal control try to shoot and poison me? I can say you are mean you know whats. You are lowlife scum.

I mean as a dog we are companions to humans and in Egypt guardians of the tombs of the pharaohs! I have the blood of the ancient pharaohs in me but I was treated as some low life cockroach. You know all we dogs want is to be cared for and if I can be sappy, to be loved.

When I must go out and pee at 5 in the morning and bark to wake up Bob to take me out that is care and love. And to be taken up in the cold winter to snuggle under the covers that is love. And belly rubs!! So simple. So very simple but ignored all over the world not only in Egypt but in Canada and the United States.

What have we dogs done to deserve such abusive treatment? We are in your control and you hold our destiny in your hands. We are needing your love and compassion so why do some of you treat us so very badly? By doing so you show us and other caring humans you are not above the animal kingdom. You are scavengers and scum. Sorry but my anger is showing. I AM VERY ANGRY!

So why do you hate us you humans? Is it because we are animals you think are stupid? Excuse me humans. Those of you who abuse us are stupid and cruel. May the curse of the pharaohs visit your house! Those who abuse us are weak and seeking to exhibit power over us dogs.

But listen to me! There are those humans that love us dearly and treat us as a best friend and a precious soul. There are some of those in Egypt that are dedicated and caring so please I am not singling out Egyptians as canine killers. This sub strata of humanity lives throughout the world. For goodness sake in China, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines we are treated as meat.

Travels to a Different Time: 9July2005 Departing Toronto for Lisbon: Airline Food and Its Contempt for Passengers: The Infernal Vacuum WC Flushes

Again always seem to be ready to depart at the very last minute before the airport taxi arrives. Managed to down a quick Martini but with no time to enjoy it. Lesson one is that Martinis are meant to be savoured although not so long they warm up.

Four people in the car with too much luggage so the driver had to fasten the trunk with a bungee cord. Arrived at Toronto Pearson Airport three hours prior to the flight departure. Sat waiting for some two hours eating a bag of cherries and reading the newspaper. Boarded the plane and my knees jammed up against the seat ahead of me. And what a treat 3 rows from the WC so I can hear each vacuum flush.

Dinner, if you wish to glorify pig slop by that name, was “sort of a beef stew”. What an insult airline food is to steerage class passengers. Pure contempt.

RKS 2024 Film: “Orah”: Omnipresent Corruption and Raw Justice: Mommy Vengeance!

“Orah” is a stellar Canadian-Nigerian co-production where Nigerian corruption meets Canadian-Nigerian raw justice.

Orah (Oyin Oladejo), a 15-year-old Nigerian, starts off the film by blasting vengeance style an older man sitting in a Lagos barber’s chair with a home-made shotgun. Considering who her victim was poetic justice is dished up in Lagos, Nigeria.

Teenage Orah is lured to Toronto, Canada by “an uncle” promising a career in fashion. Instead she is served up as fodder for a Russian mobster running a sex cartel. Orah is used as a mule to deposit criminal cash into her Canadian bank account. Upon fleeing Nigeria she abandoned her newborn son Lucky with her mother. The Canadian launderers offer to reunite Lucky with his mother in Toronto if he agrees to transport a suitcase full of dirty cash into Toronto from Lagos. Lucky learns at the last-minute drugs are to be transported not cash so he gets cold feet and the “big boss” and his “tribal woman” conspire to give Lucky cement shoes to clad his cold feet.

The “big boss” Hami Bazar (Lucky Ejim) launders money for corrupt Nigerian politicians. Through Orah’s digging she rightly determines Hami is responsible for the murder of Lucky. The Financial Crimes Recovery Agency of Nigeria (FCRA) strikes a deal with Orah that if she agrees to testify against Hami in Nigeria, Hami will spend the rest of his days in a Nigerian prison. If Hami is arrested the FCRA offers a $300,000 reward.

Hami is kidnapped from Toronto to Lagos, Nigeria by FCRA agents and through FCRA torture of his son Tariq spills the beans detailing all his assets so he is destined, by the deal between the FCRA and Orah, to spend the rest of his years in prison. But don’t you find it odd Orah receives her reward money from the FCRA in cash? Perhaps it is the money laundering training I have received which tags this as highly suspicious. The FCRA fails, not surprisingly, to deliver on its promise to imprison Hami.

As the movie started it ends with poetic justice but is it really justice when Orah muses that any eye for an eye is never enough.

A taught and gritty thriller professionally produced and directed deserving of international exposure. Oyin Oladejo delivers a brilliant performance supported by the brutal and bulky Ejim. Just watch Oladejo’s final scene and you may agree this lady is destined for further starring roles. Nigerian footage and music inject realism. There are some gaps and weak points in the screenplay.

Food for thought. Poetic justice may not always be legal justice! Orah is a soiled protagonist?

An exploration of Nigerian corruption, money laundering, family values and justice. The grit and realism permeating the film makes it a winner. Currently playing in Canadian theatres.

A film by Lonzo Nzekwe.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 93/100.

“Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Reggie Returns With a Prance and Swagger in His Step: The Terrible Misery of Abandoned Dogs! Chapter Fifty Three (53)

Our 6-month rest moratorium has concluded with Fay noting Reggie now has that prance back in his step and Bob adds that he has also that swagger! And I am feeling rejuvenated and totally alive. No imminent threats of danger but can I share with you a secret? I am a wee bit bored.

You have been reading about my adventures and thank you for so doing. These adventures are perhaps the most amazing ever experienced by any dog let alone a rescue dog. Winning a Nobel Prize for literature, hanging out with Drake, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot, President Biden and his wife Dr. Jill, being on national television networks and meeting the Pope and the Ayatollah of Iran. I am glad that I took a break because all this was exhausting. But you know what I cherish most is the love Fay and Bob give me, belly rubs, kind words, a snuggle or two, a big bowl of chicken kibble, a bowl of cold and clean water and a walk. Of course, that piece of toast I get in the morning or a chunk of cheese that miraculously lands in my bowl are so good despite the gourmet dog food I ate on the road.

Experiencing all these wonderful adventures has been amazing and I lead a happy life but deep in my soul there is lodged a bit of hurt. I have managed it best by accepting it and moving on. Had I not it would have gnawed me to pieces. But every once and awhile it surfaces that they took Anwar away and executed him for writing “treasonous articles”. I cry to myself but pick myself up and realize I have an important job to do and that is protecting my masters Bob and Fay and Dillie the Westie. I would defend them with my life. I have a deep sense of loyalty. I also want to help my brothers and sisters languishing in unsafe conditions.

Reggie accepts his past but will not bury it and plans to use it for the good of all

So yes I am well adjusted with an occasional bad memory but have patience or pity that many rescue dogs have internalised their pain and it eats them up with self pity and anger. They growl, snap and act up in the worst fashion. Some are so hurt and damaged no amount of training can overcome the terrible trauma they have suffered through neglect or punishment BY HUMANS. I can only hope you have compassion in your heart for these poor dogs after all it is humans that have caused the pain. Frustration and anger will do no good. My dearest hope is that with enough love, patience and training they will trust humans again. There are only a few rotten apple humans out there. I know that at Snookie’s Rescue Society who rescued me from Egypt there are often 150 applicants for each dog so I know there are many humans with big hearts that will not let us dogs down. Bob and Fay’s philanthropic organization “Reggie’s Dogs” helps Snookie’s and the foreign shelters they deal with and funds other rescue societies throughout Canada. Throw all the money you can at the problem which is what we need now but what about the problem of human abuse that simply remains and will always create a continual stream of abandoned dogs? You must change attitudes and hearts of people. Reggie’s Dogs has funded a hugely expensive pilot project in Cairo requiring anyone purchasing a dog to provide a “Certificate of Caring” attesting to the fact that the person(s) in whose name the dog will be registered has taken a 7-hour course in dog management and owner obligations. Whether this will work who knows. But I will leave you for the moment and say that humans are our worst enemies but can be our best friends.

Keeping all this in mind let us continue with some of my thoughts and adventures if you care to listen to Reggie who is “is just a dog”.

RKS 2024 Film: “The Omicron Killer”: A Film Trying to Discover Itself

I am uncertain how many viewers want reminders of COVID triggered by “The Omicron Killer”. The Omicron Killer is a New York City serial killer preferring kills of the bashing as opposed to the slashing method. I can’t find any scenes that remind me of New York City. Outdoor scenes could be in New Jersey!

The COVID Killer was gunned down in a police trap and is replaced by the Omicron Killer. Get the point? The virus has mutated bringing into the fold a mutated virus we all know as Omicron. Clever eh?

The Omicron Killer is unkempt and overweight but nonetheless a killing machine with his crowbar. The police force is inept in an attempted comedic way. Even the Satanists are inept. And the acting for the most part is inept and highly overdone. It is so poor one conclusion to make is that it is intentionally so in an attempt to create a spoof basher movie but the problem is there is scant humour. Neither is there much terror aside from the bathroom bashing.

The acting on the spoof rating is a failure. Bai Ling as Nurse Nancy is over the top even for a spoof role. The entire cast gives the spoof a go but fails with the exception of Lynn Lowry as the sarcastic and caustic Captain Lois Callahan who has enough spoof in her to be likeable and comedic.

“The Omicron Killer” fails as a spoof and as a thriller basher movie. I think that leaves it lost in itself.

World premiere starts in Los Angeles on 22February2024 and works it way across the United States in a limited theatre engagement.

Written and directed by Jeff Knite.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 61/100.

“Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Reggie Says Time for A Break: Hope for You Humans Yet! All are on a Six Month Chill Out Moratorium: Chapter Fifty Two (52)

You’ve read about a couple of years I have been in Canada and in my recounting of my brief history there has made me realize how lucky and happy I am. There has been sadness and tragedy in my life but that’s life isn’t it. Telling you my story has been like being on an emotional rollercoaster. It has both exhilarated and exhausted me.

One lesson you may wish to take away is that however humble your beginnings you can rise to incredible heights if you try and of course then there is fate. Not every person or dog will succeed even if they try and try again and again but that’s life isn’t it?

What have I learnt is that humans can be both cruel and compassionate. As a dog I bark out loudly there is hope for you humans yet!

I have also been a testament that horrible situations can be blessings. If I had not been injured by that Rottenwhiler dog in Cairo I never would have been rescued by Snookie’s Society and brought to Toronto. I would have been lying dead on the street, swept up and thrown in a garbage truck.

I have discovered a unified spirituality amongst humans although stupidly most of them fail to realize that. I often said I prayed to Allah however after meeting religious leaders and seeing my favourite BBC documentaries humans from a “primitive society” in the deep Amazonian rain forest and humans from “advanced societies” are looking beyond themselves for answers about why they are on earth. If only you humans would take the time to REALLY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER the world would be a better place. 

As a closing comment I am puzzled why so many dogs are badly treated? What evil have they done to humans except wanting to be loved and cared. What price is it to cuddle and take care of a creature that really can’t take care of itself. Why in Egypt do they shoot and poison street dogs? Who is the animal the dog or the human?

I have enjoyed taking my journey with you dear readers. Given my young age I have much more to accomplish. And remember NEVER EVER MESS WITH A STREET DOG FROM CAIRO!

I noticed Bob is about ready to collapse with severe exhaustion and perhaps even worse. The promotional tours for the Disney film and his book “Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog”, the violence, the politics must stop Bob says. I have noticed I look forward to quiet times, lots of naps and mindless activities like watching Coronation Street with Fay. Bob had said to me more than a few times that we have given our body and souls to world peace and dignity for dogs but now is the time TO TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES!

As a result, there is a 6 month chill out moratorium imposed by Bob especially since his promotional duties under his Disney contract have ended.

Penny and Kit Kat will also be resting and catching up with domestic life. Penny will be in Beamsville and is training for the Royal Hamilton Canine Caravan Best In Show Award. She has always considered herself the prettiest dog on the block so the best of luck to her and her dreams. She will be on standby with her Oodlecopter. Kit Kat has returned to Portugal. We flew him to Porto in our private jet. As Dr. Murray advised a 6-month rest cure is warranted he will be spending 6 months with one of Bob’s fellow knights in the Order of The Port Brotherhood at his quinta is the Douro.

The Mookster and Ollie are neighbours of mine and we will keep in touch. They both have emergency beepers on their collars if they are needed.

And of course, Dillie the Westie, the brains of the operation, is now just sunning himself out in the backyard.

I will return with more adventures after we all rest up.

God bless!

“Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: The Mookster Leads Hostage Negotiations: Mustafa Has a Limp of a Certain Sort: Chapter Fifty One (51)

The United States viewing audience watching Dr. Phil has now increased by millions. There are more viewers watching the drama than have ever watched the Super Bowl even that one with that biker looking thug and Taylor Swift. There are 68 members of the audience being held hostage along with Dr. Phil and his wife and of course Bob and me Reggie! Luckily Kit Kat has been removed by a fleeing audience member and Dr. Phil, a religious man, leads a prayer session for Kit Kat. Please Allah I say let Kit Kat see another day.

Mustafa and his plastic explosives headed to a Mountain Lakes New Jersey ED boot camp: Photo courtesy of the New Jersey Urologists Association

The studio is surrounded by police, FBI, media and an elite squad of Secret Service agents has been sent by President Biden by Executive order. Video screens have been set up in the studio and we understand The Mookster will shortly be on screen to lead the hostage negotiations.

The hostage taker identifies himself as Mustafa from the Houthi brethren. He demands the immediate decapitation of all members of the Israeli Knesset by midnight or he will detonate the plastic explosives taped to his body and he has his finger on the detonator and he is VERY NERVOUS.

In a flash The Mookster is on the screen and it is a Mookster I have never seen oozing confidence and authority yet earnest and sincere. And you thought he was nothing but a cute fluffball!

Bob is on his mobile with The Mookster and the story is shockingly simple.  Relying The Mookster’s intelligence network it is revealed Mustafa has ED despite his 21 Burka clad wives. Using the most sophisticated psychological tests The Mookster hypothesizes Mustafa wants to be a martyr so he can “get it on” with the virgins waiting for him in heaven.

Dr. Phil hasn’t been on television for 21 years for nothing. He sidles up to Mustafa in the most charming fashion and offers him a fully paid week at an ED boot camp to get hm back to the “earthly swing of things”. The Mookster goes offline with Joe and using the compassion and empathy card ensures Mustafa will not be gunned down and will be permitted to attend the ED boot camp in Mountain Lakes New Jersey but after that will be apprehended and immediately deported to Yemen.

Mustafa removes his explosives and is immediately transported to his ED boot camp.

Bob and I return to our hotel room. He is looking terribly pale and wobbly. We order room service and poor Bob is so tired no walk for me instead he apologizes and puts me out on the patio to pee. He crashes out fully clothed on the bed. I jump up and give him a good snuggle. He needs it!

RKS 2024 Film: “Total Trust”of the Good Comrades or Total Mistrust of the Paranoid Comrades

The documentary “Total Trust” enables a better understanding of the oft use phrase the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a “surveillance society” where Big Data and surveillance are attempted to be sold by the good comrades running the state apparatus as desirable for “public safety” and “good order” with a good dose of “foreign subversives” thrown in for good measure. Many citizens of the PRC enjoy a standard of living thought unattainable a few decades ago so they surrender political freedoms for economic stability and where each citizen has a social credit point system imposed on their life. Be a good citizen, do as you are told and God forbid never protest or petition the government or face a loss of points. The lower your social credit score is social privileges (or what we might refer to human rights) will be withdrawn or curtailed e.g. what schools your children can attend. There are 190 ways to gain points and 1040 ways to lose them. You are living in “a grid” with grid managers keeping extra vigilant tabs on malcontents “on a list” as directed by the good comrades.

Facial and biometric iris recognition and millions of surveillance cameras all pour individual data into Big Data servers so efficient that if are a “malcontent” any social media posts with your picture are removed and if you as the malcontent posted this picture your account will be terminated. George Orwell’s “1984” is thriving in the PRC. I recall seeing another documentary on China’s social management technology and yes there was Google in the thick of it helping the good comrades with their social management. Here in North America, we are only being spied on at this point for commercial gain and not thrown in prison.

In “Total Trust” the camera follows a journalist, a lawyer, his wife and son and a human rights activist who in the minds of the good comrades have challenged the government and they pay the price with imprisonment, torture, harassment and increased surveillance in a desperate attempt to keep the good comrades and their perpetual Supreme Leader in power.

China has never experienced democracy and given the revelations of “Total Trust” it appears unlikely it ever will.

Directed by Jialing Zhang.

Available on VOD/Digital as of 13February2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 91/100