Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 13August1970: West Berlin, Germany: In Berlin Shocked By The Wall

We arrived in Munich after a “delightful” trip on a Yugoslav train. It originated in Athens and it was full of TURKS and GREEKS. The filth was incredible. No food or drinks and the toilets were beyond description. We left at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at 2:30 p.m. to a beautiful hotel dirty and tired. I spent an hour soaking in the tub. Our friend met us and took us to see Munich. Then on our way to Stuttgart and it was blazing hot at 95 degrees. Finally, we arrived in the Black Forest where we stayed in a log cabin and even though I was provided with heavy hunting clothes it was damp. The next morning as it was raining we decided to drive to Basel, Switzerland. It was pouring and at 3:30 a.m. on the train to Berlin. The German train was clean and we had a compartment to ourselves. Then upon entering East Germany the experience with East German soldiers began. We obtained a visa on the train to pass through East Germany into West Berlin. They looked at our passports and were surly laughing at Robert after seen his middle name Kennedy in his passport. They locked the doors and did a thorough search both inside and outside the train. There were soldiers in machine gun nests watching the train. The station was deserted with high walls and barbed wire surrounding it. The train started and many soldiers remained on the train. The train went very fast and only a handful of people in the stations we passed through. Dreariness everywhere in East Germany. The train stopped to let the soldiers off before we entered West Berlin.

We met our friend Hedi at the train station and went to her apartment where we stay for a few days. It is very new and modern like most of West Berlin. We met her boyfriend Michael who showed us around West Berlin. She will join her boyfriend leaving us her apartment full of food for hungry Robert. As a physician she will be on duty at her hospital for two days. Our next stop will be Frankfurt. We saw the Berlin Wall last night. It has been 10 years since it was built and, on this anniversary, they are expecting trouble. Hard to believe anyone could get over that wall. I think the worst thing is the trained dogs on the East German side. There are blazing bright lights and trip wire everywhere. I hate police dogs now more than ever. We were advised to fly into West Berlin but I wanted the experience of a train trip through East Germany. How fortunate we are to live in a free country where you may go where you please. I wanted to see a concentration camp but living with Germans it was impossible. Freedom is the most precious thing we have.

Bye for now

Love Marnee

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”: The Final Cut: Reggie’s Security Detail: MOOKIE aka THE MOOKSTER: Chapter Twenty Seven (27)

I can imagine you might be snickering about a bunch of puffballs providing security! That is part of their cover. Many will not take them seriously but I assure you as cute and cuddly as they are they have vicious and deadly personality should they sense an attack on those under their protection. These dogs protecting us are lightning fast with a reaction time that makes human security look like a tortoise.

Mookie fits the visual personality of a classic puffball as stereotypical as that might be. His main attribute is his keen eyesight that enables him to ferret out dangerous situations long before human eyesight could.

Mookie has the wisdom of age that Dillie the Westie has but as far as security experience other than being harassed by it in North Korea he is a bit green when it comes to being a member of a security team as opposed to being harassed by it. Mookie will be trained through watching attempted assassination videos whether it be by guns, poisoned umbrellas or plutonium laced tea.

I mention North Korea. Mookie was perhaps a bit corrupt and misguided for a few years being in the inner circle of The Supreme and Blessed Leader of North Korea. He enjoyed a privileged life of state barbeques and a highball or two of fine Russian themed cocktails particularly “The Drone” made with Russian vodka and ingested with Iranian caviar. The Mookster liked that cocktail’s “explosive” taste.

Mookie quickly lost favour in the ruling cabal of The Supreme and Blessed Leader of North Korea by his strong stance against the consumption of dog meat in North Korea. REPULSIVE! He founded and lead a movement “Keep Dogs Out of the Hot Pot Luncheon Specials”. That lasted for two days until a price was put on his head and he managed a defection out of North Korea onboard a train with its cargo of drone missiles en route to Moscow.

The Mookster knows the working of a repressive security organization benefitting from it before he saw the way. He knows the mechanics of state security. He is remorseful of his being a beneficiary of an abhorrent security machine. You are forgiven.

WELCOME MOOKIE!

RKS 2024 Wine: An Alternative to Sauvignon Blanc: Entre-Deux-Mers? Apologies to My English Teacher

Sauvignon Blanc on a personal preference level for white wine sits at the bottom of the pile. It has a certain intensity that has me skittering away from it. While I can discern a good and bland Sauvignon Blanc even the good ones I’ll restrict to professional and not personal consumption.

Entre-Deux-Mers will have Sauvignon Blanc in it but it will be blended often with Sémillon and Muscadelle. The blending obfuscates the Sauvignon Blanc or tones it down if you prefer making Sauvignon Blanc a delight. By a rough analogy I am not fan of Ontario Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon but blend it with Ontario Cabernet Franc and you may end up with an excellent “Meritage”.

Stopping the yakking we move to sampling of a Château Haut-Garriga 2022 Entre-Deux-Mers. A blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillon and 10% Muscadelle.

Aroma: While the Sauvignon Blanc is identifiable it is tempered by the Semillon and Muscadelle nuancing it with honey, apricot, melon and marzipan.

Palate: Hardly bursting with flavour it is easy on the palate with what shall we call it initially a non descript character but give it some time it rather comes into its own with pear, peach fenced in with perfect acidity. A sort of watered down Sauvignon Blanc. Did you have an English teacher that admonished you for using the word “nice” I will incur the wrath of that departed well intentioned soul by saying this wine is nice! Not a wine with a hot and heavy finish but rather a gentle longish finish.

Personality: I am light footed and may not make any bold statement. I am easy drinking particularly in hot weather.

Food match: White fleshed ocean and lake fish. Roast chicken with 100 pieces of garlic.

Cellarbility: Consume by 2024-year end.

Price: $15.95 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 90/100.

(Château Haut-Garriga 2022 Entre-Deux-Mers, AC Entre-Deux-Mers, C. Barreau et Fils, Gironde, France, 750 mL, 12.5%).

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut: My Security Team: Why Are They with Me? Houthi and the Blowfish Rebels Burn My Picture in Effigy! Chapter Twenty Six (26)

You humans have an expression “big shot”. Please bear in mind when you watch me zipping around in limousines, travelling around in a private jet, eating Beverly Hills kibble, sleeping over at Ritz Carltons I am Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog. Survived the streets of Cairo you say. Damn it you are right so even when you hear about me eating pistachio cream cake from Snoop Dog’s favourite Beverly Hills bakery “In the Weeds”, I remain a humble and very thankful dog!

And you remember in our initial negotiations with Disney they did mention a security detail was required whenever I was involved in any sort of Disney promotional tour for the Disney film about my life. As Disney said to Bob I am an extremely valuable “corporate asset” and if I was ever “taken out with extreme prejudice” it would cost Disney millions and according to their “bean counters” as Bob calls them indeed given potential Disney profits I am Disney’s hottest property.

As I am a Muslim dog and that will be dealt with in the Disney animated film about me there may be some Islamic extremist backlash or even a fatwah leveled on my little noggin. Likewise the far right Christian “fundamentalists” could seek to “neutralize” a corruptive Islamic influence on the children of the world. I am nothing but a pediatric terrorist to certain members of the Islamic and Christian fringe community.

Bob and Fay are not thrilled about this security detail but feel to protect themselves, Dillie The Westie and me security is necessary. I saw a bunch of armed men on the telly (where are the women?) wearing white baseball caps and AK 47’s burning my picture in street demonstrations and shouting with unfathomable hatred in their voices, “death to America”! Those turkey heads are so ignorant they don’t know I am Canadian! In any case Bob calls these fanatics Houthi and The Blowfish rebels. They are in some country near Egypt Bob tells me.

We will introduce my security team shortly but here is a brief snippet about them.

Ollie is a King Charles Cavalier. He is a neighbourhood dog and friend. What he was a king of I am uncertain. He was a bomb sniffer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and took a piece of shrapnel in the eye just after discovering a mini-plastic explosive device intended to take out the King of Borneo who was visiting Canada. His tremendous sense of smell and experience with explosives and operating within a sophisticated security detail will prove invaluable.

Mookie, a 13-year-old Bichon Poodle is also a neighborhood pooch and my pal with eyesight twenty times superior to a bald eagle. Sharp eyesight will be invaluable. As a North Korean defector “The Mookster” as dogs in the hood call him, for a time was in the inner cabal of the “Supreme One” in North Korea until he launched a “seditious” movement “Keep Dogs Out of the Hot Pot Luncheon Specials”.

Believe it or not we have a Portuguese superdog Kit Kat hailing at 16 pounds out of Porto, Portugal. He was a key member of the PPS (Port Protection Squad) entrusted with crushing counterfeit Port rings throughout the world. After his PPS retirement he assumed a crucial role for protecting film stars working with the globally famous Obrigado Studios headquartered in Lagos, Portugal. His knowledge of the entertainment business gives him a great ability to “sniff out” interlopers…those who clearly are misfits in a crowd.

Also from Porto there is a human in my security detail Mr. Antonio a small arms expert and driver famous for navigating treacherous winery roads in the Douro. It is said his driving skills make James Bond look like a novice. Gran Turismo!

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 28July1971: Skiros, Greece: Old And Very Clever Husband and Young Wife

Dear Barbara:

If you could see us now you would wonder what is coming off. We left Crete yesterday for Skiros which is 8 hours by sea from the Greek mainland. No rooms were available so we slept in a person’s backyard under a grape arbor. We have no choice but to wait for a room. It gets cold overnight and we sleep with our clothes on and a linen blanket. We are 5 minutes away from a beach and the swimming is good. But we must climb down a ladder to get to the each like Billy goats. The toilets like all Greek toilets stink and ours has no toilet seat. It is a cold shock if you have more than the usual to do. Robert is still asleep with his head covered up. Last Nite we went to the local restaurant and there was nothing but fish and meatballs and the inevitable spaghetti. Sitting across from us was a woman who came from New York to Athens on Overseas National Airways. She told me there is an ONA flight back to New York from Athens on September 17th. She spent $238 to get over here and I didn’t let on we travelled for free. Good thing Rob has good eyes as we returned from the restaurant and it was pitch black when we climbed up the ladder from the beach to the back yard. Things are so crude here you think you were in a different time. This woman doesn’t even have a refrigerator. They have a deaf and dumb son about 25. A handsome man. One son died and they have a daughter. As usual the woman is much younger than the man. These Greek men are clever as they will have a nurse in their old age.

I am getting that “kind of want to go home feeling”. It has been a long time to be away. It is 8:45 a.m. and very hot so it will be a long day and I only wish I could take a siesta like the natives. No doubt if you were here long enough you would get into the habit.

Love Mum

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut: From Street Dog to Celebrity! Reggie’s Rescue Society Funded! A Warning from Anwar: Chapter Twenty Six (26)

Bob has been on Zoom calls with Pilkington his Los Angeles agent. It is a no brainer. I am going to be featured in a Disney animated film and the money is unbelievable. Bob knows the financial details and all I know is he keeps saying that we are rich. The best part is that for the most part I don’t have to be on set and away from Dillie the Westie, Fay and Bob and I get to stay in Toronto. But there are promotional stops Disney had negotiated with us. Of course, the more we promote the wider the distribution and the more money we make. Bob had instructed Pilkington to arrange a “Reggie cut” of the revenue. .05% of net revenues from the film will be directed towards two Egyptian canine rescue organizations. Bob thinks of everything!

One of our stops on the promotional tour will be in Cairo which terrifies yet excites me. I have a nightmare I will be lost in Cairo and end up as a street dog again. But I will be with Bob who will protect me and hold me tight. Bob and Pilkington negotiated with Disney a torrid 14-day blitz for PR purposes with our own private jet. London, Paris, Berlin, Athens, Cairo, Saudi Arabia, United States (Chicago, New York, Boston and Los Angeles) and Stockholm to start. Dillie the Westie, Fay and two bodyguards will be with me! Bob has insisted upon a canine security detail and we will bot begin interviews to hire the best.

I am thankful some of the proceeds from the animated film will go to help street dogs rescued in Cairo. Bob has added two million dollars of his own to establish “Reggie’s Rescue Society” in Cairo and another two million dollars to establish a “Reggie’s Rescue Society” in Toronto. Bob has also ensured on the promotional tour we stay in hotels near parks so Dillie and I can go on walks.

I have no desire to be famous other than imagining when they speak about “Lady and the Tramp” they will also mention “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”. And money will go to help dogs tossed out onto the street in Cairo.

Disney has lined up voices for the animated film about me. My voice will be that of Canadian Rick Mercer. Fay’s voice will be Jennifer Aniston. Bob’s voice will be that of Spanish Shakespearean actor Eduardo San Juan Breña and Dillie’s voice will be that of Ewan McGregor for the right Scottish ancestry of Dillie the brave and proud Scottish West Highland Terrier.

Despite all this excitement Bob and Fay maintain a low profile. The Canadian media hasn’t much of an idea about this Disney film so we lead a quiet life like nothing has changed. I appreciate the simple things in life that are unheard of for street dogs in Cairo…..love, clean water and that tasty chicken kibble. But the adventure that awaits us fascinates me but I hear Anwar in my dreams saying be careful my little one. Does he know something from The Land Beyond?

RKS Literature: Madame Bovary Thinks Her Husband Charles is Clumsy and Vulgar (Flaubert)

“Her tenderness, in fact, grew daily as her repulsion toward her husband increased. The more she yielded to one, the more she loathed the other. Never did Charles seem so unattractive, slow witted, clumsy and vulgar as she met him after her rendez-vous with Rudolphe. Then while playing the part of a virtuous wife, she would burn with passion at the thought of his head, the black curl falling over the sun-tanned brow: of his figure, both elegant and strong, of the man so experienced in his thought, so impetuous in his desires.”

Gustave Flaubert, “Madame Bovary”, Gustave Flaubert, 1857

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut: Reggie Has a Screen Test with ABC and Bob Meets with Big House Publishers: We Meet Famous Television Types Kelly and Mark: Chapter Twenty Five (25)

Bob, Fay and I travel to New York City to meet with ABC studio executives and Bob will check in with Big House Publishers about publishing his “Reggie” book. ABC has sent us first class tickets and I sit in a seat between Fay and Bob instead of under the seat as Bob is using his canine service papers that Disney provided him with so I don’t have to sit under the seat!  I like those Disney people! ABC has also put us up in the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South which is great because I can go for walks in Central Park and as we have the Presidential Suite we can always head down to the Club Room where they let dogs come in. There are flowers, dog treats, all sorts of delicious snacks in our room. We unpack and Bob and Fay who have been in New York frequently as they tell me prepare for a very special walk in Central Park. We meet many dogs and their owners and some old ladies have their equally old dogs in baby strollers which I find very funny. We walk up to Strawberry Fields which I remember seeing in a BBC documentary about a famous musician John Lennon. This is a huge park and there is even a lake with ducks in it but I like the golf course near us in the winter and early spring more as I can go off leash. Dillie the Westie would have loved it here. We have already seen four Westies on our walk and six rats. Dillie is with Bob and Fay’s son Drew in Toronto.

On the way home Fay encounters a lady called Kelly and her husband Mark in Central Park by the lagoon with their little dog and we wag our tails and get along with each other. Kelly has a television show on some channel called “Kelly and Ryan” that Fay watches. Fay explains to Kelly we are in discussions with Disney, ABC and Big House Publishers about my story. Kelly queries Fay if I would like to be on her show they are producing and Fay gives her a card with her number on it and Kelly wants to know how things go with my movie career!

We get home to the hotel and the doorman gives us a big smile and knows my name and says hello! At the Ritz-Carlton they call guests ladies and gentlemen of the Ritz but for dogs they have no such title so the doorman calls me “cool pooch”. Mariah Carey staying here at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South gives me a pat on my head and offers to take me for a walk in Central Park. Then at the elevators we meet an actor Fay knows called Michael Douglas.

In the room there is a chilled bottle of that wine that goes pop when you open the bottle like on New Year’s Eve. A dinner of chopped roasted chicken, carrots and rice is awaiting me with Ioli spring water from Greece.

For Bob and Fay’s dinner they are meeting Bob’s sister Babs who lives 20 minutes away and we are going to a small French restaurant called Les Deux Amis and since they have a patio I can sit outside with them. So many people pass by and what a strange smell the city has! There are so many taxis and the whole city seems to be eating out at a restaurant! So much activity! I am not a downtown dog so this is very new to me. Bob has a Bucky Burger with fries and I get a little of each and it is yummy. Babs has an omelette and Fay the Onion Soup. I have a little nap under the table until it is time to go home to the Ritz-Carlton. We take a taxi back to the hotel and a special bed with the Ritz Carlton logo is ready for me. There is a note for me from the manager welcoming me Reginald as a distinguished guest and saying if here is anything I want just phone him. Bob has a good chuckle after he reads the note and says we should go to bed as we all have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.

Breakfast is brought in at 9 a.m. by men with white gloves. Bob has asked for simple chicken kibble for me and it is called “free range and organic” and it is very delicious but a bit rich. On the taxi ride to ABC I admit I farted a few times not being accustomed to this different food. My tummy is a bit off today.

Like the Disney people the ABC “team” is in a boardroom and Fay and I am escorted for my screentest which is a piece of cake! When I return to the boardroom the ABC executives explain what they have in mind. They know about my screentest results and they are ready to explain “the deal” as they call it.

The television series will be called “Reggie Rules”. There are two gay men in their mid thirties living in Soho and have been partying for years. They feel their life is empty until Reggie the stray approaches them at a restaurant patio and jumps up on one of their laps and wins their heart. The men are called Tony and Akbar who is of Egyptian descent. 14 episodes are planned and I will be the silent star who will be cute, rambunctious yet very lovable. I change the outlook on life for Tony and Akbar. The money is in the range of $100,000 an episode but there is potential that it will be picked up outside of the United States and the money will increase. ABC says it will put a summary of the deal together and send it to our hotel. Bob notes that in the series some comic relief is provided by the man we met in Hollywood called Larry David who is very suspicious of everything Tony and Akbar do. Bob tells the executives he would like Dillie the Westie to be in the series as Larry David’s dog.  Subject to a screen test they agree.

And then it happened as the runs hit me like a volcano and I make a horrible and stinking mess on a very expensive oriental carpet in the ABC boardroom! Bob and Fay turn bright red but as one executive says “We’ve seen it all before!” A cleaning crew arrives and all is gone! Bob thanks the executives and off we go. But I let another fiery mess fly in the elevator and we hustle out of the building. Bob says with a laugh that I have left a good impression. We see a well-dressed man and an angry one at that trying to wipe my little mistake off his alligator shoes. We pick up our pace.

Fay takes me to Central Park for a walk and to settle my stomach while Bob heads off to Big House Publishers and tells us the results. They love Bob’s book but want him to create a series of very simplistic children’s book and then one geared for adults. He will be paid for every book sold and if he reaches certain best sellers lists there will be a cash bonus. There are possible cartoon and movie spinoffs Bob will be paid for.

When we return to the Ritz-Carlton Fay and Bob talk about the options. There are pros and cons to each but they decide give it a few days and we should all wait to hear what Bob’s agent Pilkington has to say.

Bob and Fay order room service with a 1982 Chateau Latour as after all Bob says ABC is paying for it! I am back to my regular chicken kibble and my tummy has settled. We pack up for our plane ride home tomorrow. I have had a very exciting time but I miss my own bed, Dillie the Westie and a very green Toronto. It will be good to be back in my territory!

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 3August1971: Skiros, Greece: We Are Sleeping Outside Under a Grape Arbor

Dear Mother:

This is my last letter till I get off Skiros. Every Greek Island brought something new. There was only one small hotel and it was full so we are out of town in vineyard. We have cots to sleep on hoping we are not visited by any scorpions. The sun wakes us up early every morning. We must wait until a room is available.

The water has been rough and I am afraid to go in. The waves bowl you over and it has been this way for 4 days. It calmed down a bit this morning but it is wild now. Our landlady is out in the field collecting almonds this morning. She gets a big stick and beats it about the almond tree and the nuts fall. Soon they will be picking their grapes to make wine. She is now boiling water to clean the sheets of people that have left. She works from morning to night. The husband and her son do nothing all day. It seems women do all the work in Skiros. There is no happy medium that I can see. It was a dreary birthday yesterday food wise. We have a 2 kilometre walk to the restaurant in the town. We have to walk to the beach, climb down to the beach on a wooden ladder and then walk into town all in the dark to return home from dinner. We are getting sick of the monotonous food here. Too much bread and olive oil. No meat. We are eating a lot of meatballs.

We leave on Wednesday morning for Skoplelos. They say it is very beautiful. If the water remains rough we just may go back to Germany.

Robert has grown during this trip and is dark brown and his hair is bleached blond. He seems to be enjoying himself and loves the rough water and will stay in it for an hour or more. My main purpose in the water is to cool down and get OUT. Even Robert notices that here in Skiros the husbands do very little the help their wives. The men are smart here as they marry young girls that will take care of them in their old age.

Robert is reading on his cot. He reads anything he can get his hands on. I never thought he enjoyed reading so much.

The trip here was very pleasant. The cabin was cool, comfortable and spotless. They say there are Greek ships and then there are Greek ships. Quite different than the one we were on to Skiros.

Love Margaret

RKS 2024 Wine: Casa Dea 2017 Amore: The Mystery Wine: A Bit Sloppy on the Marketing but The Taste?? Did Mommy or Daddy Have an Affair?

There is nothing on the label of the 2017 Amore from Casa Dea Estates Winery indicating what grape is in the bottle. The label states “Amore is a lush, blended red wine”. A blend means more than one grape. Trying to solve the puzzle I visit the Casa Dea website and the bottle shown for the 2017 vintage is the 2013 vintage with a description that it is a Cabernet Franc blend. The Liquor Control Board website states “The 2017 vintage was a great year for Ontario reds, and Cabernet Franc was an especially successful variety.” Their website has a bottle pic showing the vintage is 2017.

So not being entirely certain what I am drinking let us proceed.

Aroma: Must be Cabernet Franc of some proportion with rich back cherry, milk chocolate and blackberry.

Palate: Expansive mouth feel. Noticeable but controlled tannins. Acid in the backroom where it rightly belongs. Big fruit but is it possible it will need more time in the bottle to soften? Moderately long finish.

Personality: My marketing may be frayed at the fringes but consider me bold particularly for an Ontario Cabernet Franc (if my identity crisis is headed in that direction). Could there be some Ontario Merlot as some long-lost parent of mine. Daddy is Cabernet Franc but Mommy or did Daddy have an affair with another grape!

Food Match: The wine is a bit of a burly one so how about flank steak marinated in honey, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.

Cellarbility: I do not think I will soften much with ageing. I would consume by 2024-year end. The slight coffee notes on the nose hint at the arrival of old age.

Price: $27.80 CDN (Ontario) at a Manager’s Overstock Discount otherwise $34.95.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 88/100.

Comments From the Peanut Gallery: Given the quality vastly overpriced.

(Casa Dea Estates Winery 2017 Amore, VQA Prince Edward County, Casa Dea Estate Winery, Wellington, Ontario, 750 mL, 13.5%).