This is a far cry from Spain in every way but everyone goes to Spain so I have to be different. We have been away for such a long time and every once and awhile I long to be back with Andy and all of you.
I have had 10 letters from my German friend. He fell like a ton of bricks. In early August he will meet us in Munich and proceed to show us Germany. He will take us to visit my friend Heidi.
In the meantime we continue “to do” the Dalmatian islands moving from one to the other moving North towards Trieste. The islands are quite similar. They are fairly primitive but not nearly as much as in Greece. The food here is grim and monotonous. Lots of bread and potatoes but very little meat and vegetables. No wonder they are so fat. I don’t want to look like a horse when I get to Germany. The people are very poor and I don’t know how they can live a monotonous life and diet. On our island we only have water an hour a day. They all have three-piece bathrooms but the bathtub is used to store water. You pour water into the toilet to flush it. The have to carry water from the wells in the town. This a real underdeveloped place. No one has a fridge so they have to shop everyday and there are line-ups to buy food. I bought a scarf yesterday. There was a line to buy then another to pay. You buy writing paper one sheet at a time and they carefully fold it and put it into an envelope. I would go stark raving mad if I had that everyday of my life.
Rob has been at the night club every night here. Not really a club but an outdoor patio to dance. He finally got the courage to ask a girl to dance and it was a slow number which he does not know how to dance to.
Robert has been good company. I would not have lasted so long without him. No one but no one speaks English here. There are no English books or newspapers to buy.
We have been on five islands so far and this one has the best beach. The weather has been very windy and it is cold at night. I am glad that I brought slacks and a sweater. There is NOTHING in the stores I would buy all shoddy and poor quality and expensive. Today we leave for the next island so we are just sitting around waiting for a bus to the other end of the island where we catch a ferry. Beginning to feel like a hippie. I am almost black my hair is blonde, white, brown and orange. The main thing is that I am not fat!
“All the while, however, she was waiting in her heart for something to happen. Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the solitude of her life, seeking afar some white sail in the mists of the horizon. She did not know what this act of fortune would be, what wind would bring it, toward what shore it would dive her, if it would be a rowboat or an ocean liner with three decks, carrying anguish or laden to the gunwales with bliss. But each morning, as she awoke, she hoped that it would come that day; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that it did not come; then at sunset more saddened, she longed for the next day.”
As you can see we are on Pag. We had left the beautiful Hvar then to the island of Muter which was packed with German tourists. A tiny place with no hotels. People are packed in like sardines. We stayed two days and three nights there. We met a man from Holland as we were trudging along the beach and he took us back to our lodgings but we stopped for a drink along the way. If I were his wife I would have killed him. He had been an interpreter for Canadian forces liberating Holland from the Germans. A very tall man like your father. You don’t see many tall men here. He said many times that it was the Canadians that liberated us. They love and appreciate Canadians in Holland. From Muter we took a bridge to the mainland. It was good we left at 6 a.m. as by 10 it was blazing hot and unbearable in the bus. The bus driver stopped for lunch and we had to wait until he finished it. How spectacular was the scenery. It was a five-hour trip to get to the ferry that would take us to Pag. We passed by islands with no greenery or any living souls on them. I have a feeling Pag Island is going to be a hot hell hole.
We stopped at the tourist office as usual. We got a room with the beach just outside. Perhaps the nicest beach so far in Yugoslavia. It is pebbled and very long. I wondered why the bathtub was full of water with a pail in it. I ran into an old man and he said he only has running water for half an hour every day. People get their water from wells in town and haul it home. The man said he had not had a bath in 5 years. Tell me about underdeveloped nations. So like the locals we have to lug water in a plastic jug. I am anxious to get to West Berlin and civilization soon.
I am not much fatter. My hair is like dirty straw and feels like it too.
We spent the day on the beach today. Robert shot a fish but it escaped. He was cheesed off. I am having a cold beer at an outdoor café and Rob has returned from the post office with no mail for us.
17th
Last two nights Rob and I went to a nightclub. Rob said the band was good. People will dance in a group here not just with a partner. I leave at 10 and Robert at 11.
I was up at 6:30 and had a tea and it was too sweet. The same thing happened with coffee yesterday. There was no bread left to buy this morning so I had to go to a restaurant to buy a loaf. These food shortages are so frustrating.
On New Year’s morning Dillie and I howled after Karim’s death. It was Dillie that got me howling for two reasons. He thought if we were loud enough Karim could hear us and our howling would be a good-bye we never had the time to say. Secondly, we were so sad it was as if some instinct made us howl. It just overtook us.
New Year’s Day was interminably long. It was damp, overcast and freezing rain started in the afternoon. When a dog is sad and distressed such gloomy weather only makes your heart heavier with grief. You can’t escape grief. It has a terrible vice to your head.
One of the BBC documentaries I saw with Bob was an interview with Tara Brach a famous mind doctor for humans. Her theory was called “Radical Acceptance”. If you can accept what has happened and move on you will be healthier than if you refuse to accept it and constantly think about it in a negative and hurtful way. I used this philosophy to deal with the execution of Anwar my first master in Egypt and me being thrown out into the street. I could not change what had happened to me but it was a long process before I could accept it.
I can accept what happened to Karim but all of us in the house needed to know why Karim died. Dr. Murray at the animal hospital said he would see us on January 2cnd in the morning and that we were to bring Karim’s body with us.
Bob took Karim’s body in the garage to keep it cold until we went to the animal hospital. His complexion was almost green with sadness and loss. He said it was the heaviest load he had ever carried. When he left with Karim’s body to see Dr. Murray, Dillie and I barked furiously. I grabbed his Bob’s pant legs and I think he got the message that this was to be the last ride of the Rat Pack. Bob put us in the back seat of the car and put Karim’s body in the middle. This was to be a ride of honour and tribute.
We arrived at the animal hospital and we went into Dr. Murray’s examination room but when we saw Karim’s body so cold and lifeless, we started howling again. Dr. Murray knew he should do a private examination. He returned 30 minutes later saying they had done an MRI on Karim’s brain and determined it was an aneurism of his brain that killed him. I am not sure what aneurism means so I listened carefully to Dr. Murray speaking to Bob and he said it was a rogue blood clot and that no one could have predicted it. Well at least it was not caused by Dillie and I and the fact it was not preventable made all of us feel just a bit better.
But we left Karim behind for cremation and again that enormous feeling of loneliness swept over our hearts. Bob would pick up Karim’s ashes in a few days. Bob was unsteady as he walked back to the car and cried for many minutes before we went home. It was cold and miserable and that night without barking we went upstairs to sleep with Bob and Fay. I started shivering although I was not cold. Fay hugged me tightly and spoke to me softly saying she was so sorry…so sorry…so sorry and I fell asleep. Two days later we picked up Karim’s ashes and we all went to a golf course up the street as the snow fell. Karim had loved walking in this park with no one around so we went to a place where Karim knew there were squirrels and he loved barking at them thinking they were some type of Canadian rat. There are no squirrels in Cairo just rats. We scattered his ashes and had a long walk. It was a quiet ride back to a home that was missing one of its beloved dogs.
Pay attention very closely to the opening scene of “The Integrity of Joseph Chambers” and store that in your mind. Of course, you may want to revisit that opening scene after the closing credits have rolled.
Joe (Clayne Crawford) and his family have moved to rural America to escape the urban grid thinking they would be making jams and jellies and canning tomatoes. Joe would hunt and be the “big provider”.
Joe takes up hunting but as his wife and his hunting mate note his inexperience saying wait some more before you go out on your own. You will see the inexperience as he heads off to the woods. He barely knows how to load the hunting rifle. He knows nothing about stalking prey. He is absolutely a disaster waiting to happen. He stumbles wildly and lets off a shot. A little further in the woods he discovers a vagrant with a bullet in his gut and seemingly dead. What does he do thinking his errant shot felled the vagrant?
His good conscience dictates he spill the beans to the local police. As a lawyer I note his shot was so errant a forensic examination of the deceased may reveal that Joseph Cambers has too much integrity. Before you make any decision pay very close attention to the opening scene. Joseph may mistakenly believe he is Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”.
Tracy (Roseanne Supernault) and her dog Pretzel (Karibou) are on a 12-hour winter drive to the Canadian “Far North” to attend her mother’s death bed. Tracy can’t seem to do anything right and has a miserable personal relationship or lack of it with her husband Danny. Even her sister Eve criticizes and disses her for not standing up for herself.
The film opens with a fatal car crash. We see the boots and hands of a man walking up to the overturned car and spilling vodka at the accident scene and placing a mickey of vodka by the car. He takes an Indigenous token hanging from the rear-view mirror. A memento of murder…classic serial killer. Those Indigenous people like to drink…..right? Just another DUI fatality?
Then a mysterious truck is on the road playing with and harassing poor Tracy and Pretzel. The intensity of the truck driver increases rapidly into potentially deadly manoeuvres including a near miss of flattening poor Pretzel and ramming her from behind at high speeds. She tells her story to the police and to a waitress at a rest stop and is not treated with respect. The policeman says to Tracy that “you people” like drinking and have you been drinking? It is clear these two people do not like Indigenous citizens demonstrated by their acts and words.
It is getting darker and colder and Tracy is running low on gas. Somehow mastering her terror she becomes angry and gains composure and courage. She approaches the cab with axe in hand and sees the driver has collected little Indigenous mementos of his victims.
Tracy makes it home safely but her mother has died. Through her travails she has gained composure and self confidence. As for that lunatic truck driver there should be no doubt he is on thin ice.
Although we try yet another moderately priced Bordeaux I can’t stop contemplating where Portugal has gone. Is there some new strain of COVID or natural disaster (not a political corruption one) that has strangled the outflow of Portuguese exports of wine to Ontario? Has some strange variety of fungus attacked Portuguese vineyards? Has TAP Portugal Airlines being shamed for serving wine in paper coffee cups?
Pending an answer before Portuguese wines are but a distant memory in consumer’s minds why not focus on Bordeaux?
We try a Château Des Places 2020 Graves a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Aroma: Blueberry, cassis, black cherry enveloped by a gentle touch of vanilla. Typical Bordeaux being tight fisted and secretive.
Palate: Moderate tannins. Gentle blueberry perhaps even weak and too diffuse or God help me if I say watery.
Personality: I am impressive on the nose but when the rubber hits the road I am overpriced and somewhat anemic.
Food Match: Midia Pilafi.
Cellarbility: Drink now.
Price: $27 CDN (Ontario).
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 86/100. Roger Voss 91.
(Château des Places Graves 2020, A.C. Graves, Vignobles Reynaud, Gironde, France, 750 mL, 14%).
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is premiering an all-new original documentary series, The Power of Film, which explores some of the most popular and memorable American films of all time. New episodes of the six-part series will premiere every Thursday beginning January 4 at 8pm ET. Hosted and curated by renowned UCLA professor emeritus, founding chair of UCLA’s Film and Television Producers Program, and one of the founders of the UCLA Film Archive, Howard Suber, each 40-minute episode dives deep into the art of storytelling by examining the defining principles and inner workings of beloved films.
Howard Suber your most knowledgeable and likeable host!
Executive produced by Doug Pray (Netflix’s hit series Arnold, HBO’s Grammy-winning, 5x Emmy-nominated series The Defiant Ones) and Laura Gabbert (IFC/Hulu’s City of Gold, Greenwich Entertainment’s Food and Country), and based on Suber’s book of the same title, The Power of Filmgoes far beyond an online masterclass by intertwining his structured framework, teachings and insights with dozens of dramatic movie scenes to create a uniquely engaging narrative through humor, emotion and human experience.
Suber’s impact on the entertainment industry and deep understanding of cinema have inspired countless careers throughout his 53 years of teaching. His efforts resulted in the Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a retired faculty member. Having an extensive history of analyzing films and television, Suber has uncovered the mysteries surrounding what makes a film not only popular, but also memorable across generations. Suber is a man steeped in American film. His delivery is slow as if he has so much data in his brain he struggles to synthesize and simplify it but he does his best as clips of numerous films flash by. It is as if we are in a PHD 101 film class. Suber delivers in an easy format and tone imparting his insights on film and “arms you” with a theoretical intellectual framework to analyze films. While you may not agree with his ideology of film surely you will agree with some of it or at least understand his point of view. The content is far from simplistic and to glean full benefit of each episode multiple views are recommended.
Part of the fun is watching the continual stream of film clips. You may jump up and remark that you have seen this and that film and this is an effective mechanism to pair Suber’s comments with or like me you may have not seen or understood all the films but Suber is there to the rescue. Even if you determine Suber is a bit too complicated for you the endless film clips are well worth “the price of admission”!
The Power of Film is directed by Laura Gabbert, written by Howard Suber and Doug Pray, who also serves as supervising editor. Pray and Gabbert previously studied under and worked closely with Suber at the UCLA School of Film, Theater, and Television where they received their MFA.
Bear in mind the series exclusively focuses on American big studio productions with barely an acknowledgement to international and indee cinema quite like the programming of TCM the repetitive epicentre of big studio production. How many times a month must we watch “Rebel Without a Cause” or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on TCM?
Episode 4 “Heroes and Villains” (25January2024 at 20:00 ET)
There are enough film clips of great American films here you can bask in them and “get your money’s worth” without listening to Suber’s commentary. Suber offers his insight which given his credentials is worth listening to but that does not translate into you having to agree with it. Suber attempts to offer us a Coles Notes categorization of heroes and villains in American cinema and many interesting points are made.
Suber answers the question of why people keep returning to certain movies and it just may be that we want to see a just and equitable world. Somewhat like seeing a world we want it to be.
Suber remarks that both villains and heroes can be killers but the villain kills for pleasure and self aggrandizement whilst a hero kills on behalf of society of doing something for a higher purpose. Villains are often more interesting than heroes being unpredictable but heroes can be boring. Villains love chaos and heroes order.
Episode 5 “The Power of the Paradox” (1February2024 at 20:00 ET)
Suber’s view is that one main attraction to a film is the situation where things are not what they appear to be. A paradox is defined as any person or thing/situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature but in reality exposes a possible truth and is more effective when combined with mystery e.g. Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now”:
Paradox has you asking for more. Colonel Kurtz was the dream soldier with impeccable credentials and experience yet he was demonic. Paradox draws viewers in as it is based on the reality of life. Dualities of character or not always contradictory as they can exist simultaneously. Predictable characters are boring. Betrayal can be the key for a successful film.
Episode 6 “Love and Meaning” (8February2024 20:00 ET)
In the last episode perhaps the most important theme in American film is love and Suber comes at the viewer with a wealth of film clips, semantics and psychology. Love is more than romance according to Suber as it includes mentorship, work, obsession, love triangles, war, the conflict between the concept of desire and duty and love and comedy. Desire is crucial to many films balancing the desire of the characters and that of the audience.
At last we are in a civilized country arriving after a nine hour train trip from Bled in Yugoslavia. We arrived at 4:30 p.m. We had a glorious long shower with hot water. What went down the drain was black as we were so grubby. The train had started in Athens. The conditions were filthy. No food and the toilets so vile you felt like gagging. After cleaning up and feeling human again Fritz came and picked us up and we had a tour of the Olympic grounds. We went to the biergarten where Hitler made several speeches. Sausages and huge mugs of beer. I had a great headache was glad to return to the hotel. I awoke at 5 a.m. with a horrible cold and sore throat. I went down for breakfast and had eggs for the first time in months. When I returned Rob was awake and went down for breakfast. We leave at 11 with Fritz in his Alfa Romeo and head towards the Rhine. I will buy some Kleenex and cough drops and hope for the best. We will be staying in a hunting lodge in the Black Forest.
Torontonians like to celebrate on New Year’s Eve. Are they happy to end the year or begin a new year. Puzzling humans!
I am happy with the past year as I arrived safely in Canada and luckily landed with Bob, Fay and Dillie. Even Karim has joined us. I have much to be thankful for.
Karim and I are so excited as we feel there is something electric in the air. Dillie is a bit more chilled as he has been through it many times. I hear Bob and Fay talking and they say Paul and Patricia are coming over for a special dinner called the dinner of the Seven Fishes. Bob and Fay have been working for days on it. The smells are incredible and that is a compliment from meat eaters like us!
Paul and Patricia arrive bearing gifts of peanut butter cupcakes for doggies as a special treat. If you want to know how to win over a dog’s heart peanut butter is a good start. We all split one and what a delicious treat. A good way to end the year!
The Christmas tree lights are turned on and the fireplace crackles and we dogs sit by it until its too warm to stay in front of the fire. The humans are drinking some special liquid called wine and talking. Then dinner is served and it lasts for several hours. Us dogs get a treat of some fish called tuna with some rice after we eat our chicken kibble. We are so full and tired all three of us go for a nap and are woken up by Fay so we can “see the ball drop”. The ball drops and everyone shouts, “Happy New Year”! Something in a bottle goes pop and the humans clink their glasses full of the liquid. Paul and Patricia leave shortly after and Bob and Fay work to clean up all the dishes. Karim is feeling a bit dizzy. Perhaps the tuna has not agreed with him.
Bob then takes us for a walk. It is the first one for us in this new year and it is cold and we can see our breath. We joke about us being the Rat Pack. I notice Karim is a bit unsteady on his feet and I ask him if he is feeling fine and he responds he is just so tired he wants to sleep. So that’s where we go and we are dreaming of beef as tomorrow there will be a special New Years dinner of roast beef and we dogs know we will get a piece as a treat.
I have an unusual dream that I am back in Cairo with Karim in the pack and we find a door to slip through and we are in a butcher’s shop in the main market at Cairo with all sorts of meat in the open for us to eat and there are no humans about.
In the early morning I am woken up half asleep by Dillie howling. I am very confused about why Dillie is acting so out of character. I see Dillie trying to nudge Karim to wake him up. But there is blood on Dillie’s snout. Has he hurt himself and is howling in pain? Then I see Karim is not moving and there is a pool of blood oozing out of his mouth. He is cold. Karim has left us to visit The Land Beyond. I say a quick prayer to Allah and pray he will guide Karim. Bob is with us and he knows instantly that our dearest Karim is gone. He picks up Karim and wraps him in a blanket. Then I see Bob and Fay putting their heads down and crying. Bob says a prayer wishing Karim a safe journey. I go outside with Dillie and we howl like wolves. We are so sad. We are hurting. Why did this happen to Karim? What did he do wrong? One moment happy the next dead. Why is life so unfair? Karim my dear friend Dillie and I will miss you terribly. Our little Rat Pack is down to two now. Safe travels dear brother.
Safe travels dearest Karim. we have big holes in our hearts….why o why?
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