“Travels to a Different Time” : 19July2005: Estoril, Portugal: Portuguese Strongmen Lift Massive Bus

Breakfast buffet service at the Palacio Hotel has been exceptional but today they could not keep up with replenishing the scrambled eggs and bacon. The fruit is plentiful and top rate. The peaches and oranges from the Algarve are superb. We headed off to Sintra after breakfast but this time along the coastal road that steadily climbed. The tourist literature described the road as hazardous. Narrow with many hairpin turns but a spectacular view of the Atlantic coast below. We must have climbed some 2,000 feet up through lush forest. Once you arrive at Sintra up you go further on a narrow winding road to Castelo dos Mouras and the Palacio Nacional. As we climbed to Palacio Nacional there was a huge traffic jam. A bus full of Spanish tourists had parked at an angle blocking the traffic. A huge group of men was attempting to lift up the bus and move it over so the traffic could pass. The were successful and we moved on.

The Palacio Nacional was the summer residence of the Portuguese monarchy and it commands a spectacular view of the coast. It is a blend of Moorish and baroque architecture. Comparable to Fontainebleau in France. As common in Portugal a heavy use of tiles. A beautiful cloister by the entrance. The ceilings are awesome. Through the mountains we drove home. Andrew and I had a swim at the Palacio and hunted dinner to eat in room. We had a fish and squid bash watched a few music videos and then off to bed.

RKS 2024 Wine: 2020 Château Grand Escalion Costières de Nîmes: Boxer and Cash

A blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan.

Aroma: Big juicy local strawberries which have not suffered the indignity of too long a voyage. Some raspberry and blackberry thrown in for good measure.

Palate: If this was George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” this would be Boxer. The good natured and simplistic horse. Solid and muscular with sour cherry, pepper and cassis. Long and spicy finish. Some acidity but not out of hand and manages to well suit the blend.

Personality: Honest and straightforward. Don’t think of me as Bitcoin but rather cold hard cash! Unlike Squealer in “Animal Farm” I am mum on the price you paid for me.

Food Match: Moules in a tomato-cilantro based sauce perhaps with some Chorizo included. Over rice.

Cellarbility: Consume by 2025-year end.

Price: $ 13.95 (CDN) Ontario.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 86/100.

(Château Grand Escalion 2020, AOP Costières de Nîmes, Gabriel,Mefre, Gigondas, France, 750 mL, 14.5%).

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Our North Korean Experience: On Tour in North Korea: The Call of Nature for Dylan the Westie Just About Sends Him to the Gallows: A Warning for The Mookster: Chapter Seventy (70)

After our sumptuous feast with Kim and his sister we return to our hotel. It has been searched in our absence. Bob leashes us up and takes us for a walk. There are no people on the streets. There is no pee mail in this town of Pyongyang. Could it be all the dogs, a symbol of bourgeoisie decadence, have been confiscated and turned into “hot dog pot” to avoid mass starvation of the toiling masses? We are tailed by a rather fat Korean man in a Gestapo like black leather coat who perhaps has been helping himself to too many dog dishes. For the heck of it we run here and there and lose the fat fellow. Hopefully he is not executed tomorrow.

Kim has provided us with a “guide” who will drive us for our two-week tour of North Korea. Joe Biden had said this would happen. The guide is there to protect us against making any errors like mentioning any criticism of Kim’s leadership or showing any disrespect to the infinite amount of monuments erected in his honour. Dylan the Westie was about to pee in front of a monument erected to honour Kim but the guide pulled him away just in time as if he had peed where he wanted he may have just been executed.

We had a wonderful tour of North Korea including a tour of the DMZ where we were cheered by North Korean troops. I loved Tejhu Island and for green tea Boseong which is incredible.

Bob has travelled years ago in the Iron Curtain countries under communist rule. He said he was free to travel in Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Hungary without being harassed by the security apparatus. Bob said he mingled freely with the citizens of these countries and a few had the courage to whisper, “We are capitalists.”

Although here in North Korea Bob notices the citizens would like to meet us but with our guide they have a reticence that is unnatural. They look emaciated and haggard yet every night we eat at a “Comrades Buffet” which are a series of restaurants for communist party members and there is no dog on the menu but lots of pork and chicken with Russian beer and wine.

Horsemeat bulgogi a Favorite dish at the Comrades Buffet restaurants. The horsemeat is exported from Canada

We feel like we are in a cocoon detached from reality. After two weeks of an incredible tour we are back in Pyongyang for our last night with Kim and a dinner of epic proportions. Kim and Bob retire to a viewing room to see the Grey Cup 2021 that we attended and of course Kim who loves a show sees Dylan the Westie and I romping around the field and says in 2022 he wants to attend a Grey Cup game. A closet Canadian Football League fan! Bob says he will try and arrange it.

Kim attaches an envelope to my collar addressed to Joe Biden before we go. We hug and are given many gifts by Kim. He says he hopes to see us at the next Grey Cup game and Bob says if you come stay with us in Toronto. Kim bobs his head up and down and says good-bye and adds you are like our people and are not filthy capitalist roaders. If we seek to ease world tensions let us do it with your Prime Minister Trudeau as a peace broker with the American capitalists.

This is getting a bit complicated for me. The media portrays Kim as a wild maniac butcher. Is he a nice man as I think he is? Perhaps the fate of the Koreas rests with an invitation to the upcoming Grey Cup Game?

We have our breakfast and head out to the airport to our private jet for the trip home. Kim has loaded several kilos of the best North Korean green tea, kimchi, North Korean beer and special on-board dinners of beef ribs. Thank goodness there is no hot dog pot!

North Korean threats against this cutie The Mookster?

Now just before we boarded the plane up roars a Zil Limo with Kim Yo Jong exiting and pulls Bob aside for a walk along the runway. She has a pistol butt sticking out of her belt. Hopefully Bob is not going to be executed! As we lift off Bob tells us Kim Yo Jong welcomed us for our constructive visit that will lead to eternal solidarity between Canada and North Korea. She had “good vibes” about dealing with Canadians and complimented Prime Minister Trudeau for invoking the War Measures Act against those “fascist Freedom Convoy truckers”. That is real power she said and if only Trudeau would realize it should be permanent. She also said, or warned, to be most careful with the North Korean traitor The Mookster. If he continued to advocate liberation of dogs destined for luncheon hot pot specials in North Korea we are going to stick a very “special umbrella” in his leg!

RKS 2024 Wine: The Terror of Terroir

I recall a few years ago while reviewing The Ritz-Carlton Central Park South in New York City discussing wine with their head sommelier. She indicated some weariness with assessing vintage years and wine classifications. Her focus was simple and that was knowing what customers appreciated and building on that if the customer willingness was there. Her goal was to describe the general characteristics of the wine avoiding too much winespeak.

Best to tone down winespeak for those who become lost with such terms as “minerality”, “tannins”, “acid”, “balance”, “length” and “terroir”. At some point do the terms important to a wine buff and sommelier became a terrorist recital to an innocent customer. When do those guys and gals dressed in black and white with skinny little ties become somewhat comical or ridiculous if not theatrical as they serenade a wine to a customer? Too much winespeak as insulting and threatening to a wine drinker?

Terroir is a buzzword these days in the wine world. Quite simply in my mind it describes the place where grapes are gown and wine is made. That includes those involved with the production of wine, soil and climate.

Here are the thoughts of Britt and Per Karlsson on terroir in their BK Wine Brief (Edition 246).

Per Karlsson toasts you!

“One word that stands out in all wine communication today is “terroir”. Wine drinkers claim to find it in the wine, and winemakers strive to express it in their work. All wine enthusiasts know roughly what that means. A regular wine drinker probably does not, or possibly just an inkling. You can appreciate a good wine without having a clue about the importance of terroir.

In any case, terroir is a vague concept. Not that it is not important. The soil, the climate, the grape, the local environment, as well as traditions and methods (everything usually included in “terroir”) create and shape the wine together with the winemaker in the cellar.”

Britt and Per offer in depth wine tours you may want to be aware of and of course their timely,not overly complicated and free BK Wine Brief. Why not contact Britt and Per and check out their tours and ask to be on the mailing list for the BK Wine Brief at bkarlsson@bkwine.com.

Photo of lava soil of Pico Island in the Azores: Robert K. Stephen

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Off to North Korea! Prime Minister Trudeau Calls Me a Flea-Bitten Mutt! Sipping Drone Cocktails: Will Kim Jong Un be Invited to the Next Canadian Grey Cup Game? Chapter Sixty Nine (69)

After we wake up and have our bowl of kibble and a half cup of jasmine tea in our water bowl Bob takes me and Dylan the Westie aside and informs us we have a call with President Joe Biden at 2 p.m. What is going on with Joe?

At 2 p.m. we have a virtual meeting with President Joe Biden and his new German Sheppard puppy Commander. Commander has a vicious hissy fit and after biting a Secret Service man (again) and he is hauled out of the room.

Joe talks with Bob and mentions he would like, if agreed to by Bob and Fay, send Dylan the Westie and I to North Korea on a “friendship tour”. We are not to act as spies. We are to contact their Supreme and Blessed Leader Kim Jong Un and tour the country and meet North Koreans. We are apolitical ambassadors from the West and North Korea has allowed my two Disney movies to be shown to the public and they love the film making it a perfect time for a visit. Bob will take a message to Kim Jong Un from Joe saying please welcome Reggie and Dylan the Westie who wish to discover the glorious republic of North Korea and establish a friendship base that we political leaders can build upon. There is a certain confidential message in a secure flash drive I am to give Kim and it will be attached to my collar.

We arrive in Pyongyang, North Korea on our private jet and Bob, Fay, Dylan the Westie and I step off the plane and there is a band playing the Canadian national anthem and children throwing flowers on our path to a huge Russian Zil Limousine apparently a gift from Tsar Putin “to the friendly masses of North Korea”.  North Korean politicos shake Bob and Fay’s hand vigorously and nod and bob like we are old friends. We have brought a reporter and photographer from Set The Bar in Windsor, Ontario to record the visit.

We are whisked to our hotel and have a huge suite. Bob says we are being watched so I feel uncomfortable especially since North Korea’s famine has resulted in “bourgeois dogs” being rounded up and used for food! We have a rest and Bob has a shouting match on his phone with swear words I best not repeat. Bob was red faced and, in a rage, as, “That shit Justin Trudeau was pissed royally that he wasn’t invited and that we didn’t ask his permission for the trip. He called Reggie a flea-bitten mutt.” Was this Mr. Nice Guy Trudeau who invited us to the Grey Cup in Hamilton. What a hypocrite!

We eat a delicious meal at a restaurant with some dignitaries. No expense has been spared and Bob and Fay feel a bit guilty considering that Western media has been reporting a terrible famine in North Korea. At least we dogs are not on the menu! At least not tonight. And Mr. Gordon Lightfoot music plays over speakers. These guys know everything about us?

We have a restless sleep on our gift beds which have a hammer and sickle on them. Back to the days of Stalin? How do these guys know we have a collection of special dog beds in Toronto?

We spend the day with a guide seeing the sites of Pyongyang and are back at our hotel named “Hotel of Our Glorious Leader”. At 5 p.m. a variety of cocktails are served in the Victorious Proletarian Ballroom by waiters in white outfits with white gloves. The featured cocktail is “The Drone”. Wasn’t that The Mookster’s favourite cocktail here before he defected?  Bob and Fay have showers and at 7 the Zil arrives again for our trip to the Palace of Our Glorious Leader where we will have dinner with the Supreme and Blessed Leader Kim.

We are welcomed like long lost brothers and Dylan the Westie and I are taken to Kim for a quick private meeting. Bob and Fay being barred by soldiers with bayonets. And those bayonets are not ceremonial ones.

So here Dylan the Westie and I find ourselves with who many think is a crazed leader. Kim welcomes us with a chicken treat. He says come my friends and we jump on his lap. He strokes our heads and says in perfect English that we are welcome in his country and he wants us to meet its people. He sees the message from Joe on my collar and reads it and laughs. He seems to be in agreement with it. I motion for him with my snout to take the flash drive from Joe on my collar.

I have seen many news articles and documentaries about Kim that he is a bloodthirsty tyrant but who is this man really?

Bob, Fay, Dylan the Westie and I have a private dinner with Kim and his sister Kim Yo Jong and the talk is of Canadian football and Canadian wine. We noticed that there are wines from Meyer Family Vineyards from British Columbia. Kim loves the Pinot Noir. Bob brought several mincemeat pies from Toronto for dessert which Kim counters with Kentucky Bourbon! Kim asks shyly if he can be invited to the next Canadian Grey Cup championship football game.

There must have been twenty courses served. We dogs get rice and “Great Revolution” chopped chicken! YUM! WE DOGS LOVE CHICKEN!

With good spirits and bloated bellies, we retire to a private screening room to watch the final version of “A Dog Saved My Life”. With Bob and Kim smoking Cohiba Cuban cigars and drinking Japanese single malt whisky we are one happy family. Is there something wrong with this picture? Fay has fallen asleep in a chair with Dylan the Westie snoring up a storm on her lap.

Photo: Kim Tong Hyung (AP)

RKS Literature: The World Will Never Be White Again (James Baldwin)

“One of the things that distinguishes Americans from other people is that no other people have ever been so deeply involved in the lives of black men, and vice versa. This fact faced, with all its implications, it can be seen that the history of the American Negro problem is not merely shameful, it is also something of an achievement. For even the worst has been said, it must also be added that the perpetual challenge posed by this problem was always, somehow perpetually met. It is precisely this black-white experience which may prove of indispensable value to us in the world we grace today. The world is white no longer, and it will never be white again.”

James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son”, 1955

RKS 2024 Film: “Our Grandmother-The Inlet”

This Canadian short falls into the “angry Indigenous genre” of documentaries. The treatment of Canadian Indigenous nations justifies the anger which is so intense in this short documentary with the distressed Kayah George, a young Indigenous woman that wants to burn “this fucking city down”. Could that be Vancouver?

George, often with skateboard in hand, takes us on a journey communing with her grandmother the water so fundamentally important to her nation but being degraded by the bad guy colonizers and fouling not only the water but Indigenous culture that believes in a human connectivity with nature living in harmony with it and not dominating and eventually destroying it.

Although the cinematography and references to the power and spirit of the water are at times ingenuous and vitally important to understand, the incessant anger of Indigenous people must be understood even if at times it becomes oppressive and choked by negativity. Surely there is a danger this currency of negativity will be devalued. Somewhat of a shame this may happen but constant repetition risks deafening ears and creating a movement towards media productions celebrating positive contributions and a celebration of a rich culture of Indigenous peoples such as APTN’s “The Rez”. What is the maxim “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”? At what time do we move on from the past?

Screens as a short in The Gender Equity in Media Festival in person in Vancouver 5-9March2024 and virtually 12-26March2024.

At times seems somewhat like a music video?

RKS 2024 Film Rating 73/100.

The Penniless Pensioner and His Wines: A Rare Vintages Occurrence From Portugal’s Alentejano: The .95 Obsession

The big wine monopoly in the province of Ontario occasionally graces its shelves with wine that even pensioners can afford. So yes I am back, The Penniless Pensioner, presenting you a $14.95 Portuguese wine. That liquor monopoly has almost all its products with that 95 after the big dollar. Do they think this sways the captive customer when just about all Vintages wines have that .95 on the price tag and a jamessuckling.com rating of 91-93.In the LCBO’s 17February2024 Vintages release of the 86 wines featured 3 do not have a price ending in .95!

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Aragonez and Trincadeira.

Aroma: As a maker of blackberry jam this in indeed infused with blackberry jam, black cherry and vanilla. Just about enough oak picked up on the nose indicative of about 30% new oak. A prime example here of how oak can smooth out a wine without hijacking it.

Palate: Good solid stuff. Firm black cherry and cassis with moderate tannins. Certainly not sophisticated but not quite rustic.

Personality: Given the below poverty line of state pensions in Canada you will come running to me in all my modesty! A true pensioner’s wine assuming first and foremost you have any money remaining after paying for food. If not stick to a Doug Ford Wobbly Pop now available everywhere money is taken in Ontario.

Food Match: A Franchesina if prepared should keep you full for 24 hours.

Cellarbility: Consume by 2024-year end.

Price: $14.95 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Coutada Velha Vinho Tinto Signature 2022, VR Alentejano, Monte Ravasqueira, Arraiolos, Portugal, 750 mL, 13.5%).

RKS 2024 Film: “Cherry”: A Fly on the Wall Not Wanting to be on That Wall

Marie-Lise Chouinard (1986-2002) a beloved Quebecoise dies slowly in front of the camera. At age 36 she has lymphoma with months to live and heroically with vivacity and humour, but not without moments of sadness and distress, lifts her persona to the very end. When I grasped her terminal state I did not want to be the fly on that wall but I asked why she agreed to participate in this documentary. She had asked a priest why now. She was told it is either because he either wants you at his side or to help people on earth. It may very well be this documentary is her wish to help people on earth deal with their death. That is up for you to decide. How much time each of us has varies!

This short is a film by Laurence-Gagné Fregéau.

Screens as a short at the Gender Equity Media Festival running in person from 5-9March2024 in Vancouver and virtually from 12-16 March2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 92/100.

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: “A Dog Saved My Life”: It’s a Wrap! Chapter Sixty Eight (68)

Four months after our arrival in Darwin we have finished shooting “A Dog Saved My Life”. I worked almost every day and enjoyed every minute of it with Nicole Kidman ensuring my proper hydration as she said this Australian sun can suck the life out of you. I admire the dedication of Nicole as through thick and thin she motored on without showing a bit of fatigue. And we were working 12 hours a day in the heat. I made a few mistakes and never a harsh word from Nicole rather an encouraging statement that she knew I could do better. Nicole is an inspiration for all humans and dogs!

The film goes into postproduction over the next month so Nicole suggested in case of a reshoot I may have to return to Darwin but she thought that would be unlikely. Bob and Fay had their walk on scene which was a 30 second argument before Alice (Nicole Kidman) and her third abusive husband (Mel Gibson) entered a restaurant. Bob and Fay’s cameo went well with only one shoot. Dylan the Westie also had a cameo but I forgot what it was about! Sorry! Bosco stayed with us for the entire shoot as Mr. Gordon Lightfoot’s tour kept extending itself and he’s finishing off recording an album in South Korea and he’ll be heading off home to Toronto soon after we arrive there. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot is now experiencing stardom like he has never seen it before. He is over 80 and barrelling along like he never had that aneurysm in 2002 and stroke onstage in 2006. His song for the film “Paco A Girl’s Best Friend” was number 1 on the Billboard charts for 12 weeks! For the South Korean album both Nicole and I are on the album cover! I do not know what “K-Pop bands” are but Bob said his agent in New York had received requests that I appear with a couple of them in a music video.

The film will preview in Sydney in April then in Los Angeles in May. We have been invited to those two crucial screenings and all sorts of showbiz parties. Stars and celebrities will be as thick as thieves. Nicole has insisted we stay with her and Keith in Los Angeles for as long as we like. That is going to work out well as Bob wants to play golf in Palm Springs and Fay wants to go to Joshua Tree National Park there. Bob knows a fantastic Mexican restaurant there. Fay wants to go shopping. I will nap by the pool with Dylan the Westie. We are “dog tired”.

After a few hugs and tears Nicole waves goodbye and we are off to Darwin Airport to our private jet to take us home. Nicole whispered in my ear that I was the second-best dog in the world. Number one was Julian her oodle of some sort and we would meet him in Sydney or Los Angeles. NICOLE KIDMAN HAS A RESCUE DOG! We stop for refuelling in Sydney and then in Honolulu where we stay the night so the pilots can get some rest. We had a swim on the beach and went out for dinner on the beach so Dylan the Westie and I could be with Bob and Fay. I don’t remember much being so tired so Dylan the Westie and I slept under the table not even waiting for a scrap of food to accidentally fall. Bob and Fay enjoyed their Hawaiian dinner.

Nicole with her RESCUE DOG Julian (photo copyright Nicole Kidman)

In the morning up in the air again refreshed. So much so Dylan the Westie and I chase the ball down the aisle on the jet. We stop for refuelling at an airport in Scottsdale, Arizona and in five hours we are at the airport in Toronto and home before we know it.

Bob orders some pizza a “Barry Sherman Special” with artichokes, sundried tomatoes and chicken. As a treat we dogs get a big chunk. Such rich tomato sauce with the top drizzled with Honey. Murderously delicious!  Now I don’t want to be gross but the Bridle Path is our hood and as Dylan the Westie and I have been away for 5 months there is a lot of pee-mail to mail and check. But it is winter here in Toronto and so cold. Dylan the Westie and I have our “A Girl’s Best Friend” t-shirts on but it is so darn cold here in Toronto we skedaddle back home real quick. Bob watches the news with us dogs and puts us to bed. I noticed in the corner we sleep in just off the kitchen Bob has added an autographed picture of Nicole Kidman. We already have pictures of the King of Sweden, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot, Joe and Jill Biden, the Pope and the Ayatollah. Bob tells me tomorrow Joe Biden wants me to do him a very secret favour. I’d do a lot to help Joe and Jill as they are for us not the President and the First Lady. They are Joe and Jill and if you call him “Sleepy Joe” to my face I just might nip your ankle. Oh to sleep in my wonderful Winnipeg Blue Bombers doggie bed!

Martin Malivoire was medevacked back to his Beamsville estate with Penny by his side. He will be finalizing the special effects over the next few weeks. Russell Crowe is well enough to do my voice in the film.