RKS Film: “Free Puppies”: And There is Always One More

This year I wrote a serialized novel “Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog”. Reggie was a small pet kept by his master Anwar in Cairo. Anwar was arrested for writing articles critical of the government and was never seen again. Reggie led a harrowing life on the street hunted down by animal control whose ideas about animal control were poisoning and shooting dogs. Reggie was attacked by another dog and found unconscious in the street and taken by an animal loving policeman to an animal shelter and survived later being transported to Canada to a happy life. So in writing about Reggie I had to be Reggie and feel his terror, anxiety and fear. So I connected with this documentary immediately. If you want to read about Reggie here is an early chapter https://setthebarlifestyle.wordpress.com/2021/07/20/reggie-the-egyptian-rescue-dog-my-life-in-egypt-a-childrens-story/

“Free Puppies” can mean there is no charge for a rescue dog or by taking them from unsafe and neglectful situations they are free. In Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee there are groups of ladies that rescue stray and neglected dogs and do their best to find homes for them whether it means driving vans full of them 16 hours to Wisconsin or putting them on a jet to Rochester.

I must hand it to the filmmakers for not making this a depressing and tawdry work that overwhelms the viewer with images of suffering. It is an informative film explaining why there is such a huge amount of rescue dogs in the southern United States. Much of the problem is caused by poverty and ignorance rather than intentional cruelty.

There are basic things you must do as a dog owner and do that you have a friend for life that is not simply a pet but a family member so if you are a dog owner that cares for your special canine charge this is a painful film that is bound to invoke anger.

The film is a tribute to these “rescue ladies” with their passion for offering dogs salvation. Spend some time with them and the message is clear spaying and neutering dogs is the answer and that is a matter of education that will avoid having to transport them en masse to safer states.

“Free Puppies” will be released on VOD/DVD in the United States and Canada on December 13.

A film by Samantha Wishman and Christina Thomas.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/769921775

RKS Literature: German Big Business and National Socialism

“The meeting of 20February1933 and its aftermath are the most notorious instances of the willingness of German big business to assist Hitler in establishing his dictatorial regime. The evidence cannot be dodged. Nothing suggests that the leaders of German big business were filled with ideological fervor for National Socialism, before or after February 1933. Nor did Hitler ask Krupp & Co. to sign up to an agenda of violent anti-Semitism or a war of conquest. The speech he gave to the businessmen in Goering’s villa was not the speech he had given to the generals a few weeks earlier in which he had openly spoken about rearmament and the need for territorial expansion. But what Hitler did promise was an end to parliamentary democracy and the destruction of the German left and for this most of German big business was willing to make a substantial down-payment.”

“The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy”, Adam Tooze, Penguin Books 2006.”

RKS Wine: Cave Spring 2019 Cabernet Franc

As for aromatics dense black cherry, cherry cola, blackberries interlaced with chocolate covered cherries. On the palate tannins are on the light side and the acids are well integrated into the wine. Lots of blackberry with a wide swath of blueberry. The finish of this medium-bodied wine is moderately long.

The wine was aged for 14 months in 225 and 500 litre oak barrels of which 10% was new. The wine will cruise into 2026 nicely.

The warm fall weather of 2019 permitted harvesting up to November 7th!

The winery suggests roasted poultry or turkey, beef brisket, Mitaki mushroom roast, vegetarian burritos, roasted red pepper and eggplant dishes for a wine match. I can agree with that apart from the roasted poultry or turkey where I would prefer a Cave Spring Chardonnay.

1,600 cases of this tightly disciplined Cabernet Franc produced.

(Cave Spring 2019 Cabernet Franc VQA Beamsville Bench, Cave Spring Vineyard, Jordan, Ontario, $18.95, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous”: Chapter 15: Fishing with the Central Intelligence Agency

You have read that I had been approached at McGill University by The Royal Canadian Mounted Police to act as an informant to turn in and rat on “student revolutionaries”. That idea was distasteful so I walked away from that “opportunity”. I was an Eastern European political scholar and of course I made summer plans to visit Yugoslavia Bulgaria and Romania to further my studies. One spring afternoon after having left the visa centre of the Bulgarian Consulate in Montreal with a student entry visa in hand a huge black 240SL Mercedes pulled up alongside me as I was walking up Stanley Street. I was asked to come join two men in the back seat. I refused and one of the men said, “It’s about your mother.” I couldn’t resist. They said we were going for a ride and in 75 minutes we were having iced tea at Tudhope’s Marina in the small Vermont Town of North Hero. After the iced tea the Mercedes and its men walked me down to the docks at the marina. Three men dressed as fisherman picked me up in a “cabin cruiser” and we had a nice little “fishing expedition”.

I was in the friendly clutches of operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency.  Off we cruised on the placid waters of Lake Champlain. We spent 50 minutes trolling by McCormick’s Reef and Gull Island arriving at a small uninhabited island called Knight’s Island. We dropped our lines in the water and had a chat. I was informed the CIA had conducted an exhaustive background search on me and they were willing to do me a favour if I would do them a few in the context of “Operation Berlin Wall Humpty Dumpty”.

The CIA knew exactly the whereabouts of Abdul. You know the bastard brother of my former sweetie Minah who blew my mother’s plane from the sky in an errant attempt to snuff me. He had fled to North Korea then North Vietnam and now was in Tripoli operating a McFalafel franchise. The CIA would treat Abdul with “extreme prejudice” if I decided to participate in their covert operation. They had my attention as did the bass chomping on my nightcrawler hooked onto my Lake Champlain Spinner.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: What Did the French Revolution Accomplish?

“If we disregard various incidental developments which briefly modified its aspect at different periods and in different lands, and study it as it was essentially, we find that the chief permanent achievement of the French Revolution was the suppression of those political institutions, commonly described as feudal, which for many centuries had held unquestioned sway in most European countries. The Revolution set out to replace them with a new social and political order, at once simple and more uniform, based on the concept of equality of all men.”

“The Old Regime and the French Revolution”, Alexis de Tocqueville 1856

RKS Wines: Wines of Chile: Emiliana Organic Vineyards: On the Softer Side of Red?

As we continue our Wines of Chile adventure the best we can as we are not amongst Chilean wineries we might ask if Chile can produce a memorable Pinot Noir. Chile can produce full throttle Carmenère, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Can it tone down matters a bit and make a gentler Pinot Noir like it can make a Grenache?

We try an Emiliana Organic Vineyards 2020 Signos de Origen Pinot Noir from Valle Casablanca. Yeah play it again Sam! The Casablanca Valley is Chile’s premier cool-climate wine region known for gentle Pacific Ocean breezes, early morning fog and old granitic clay soils that make it one of Chile’s top white wine producers. The higher warmer frost-free elevations are conducive to red varieties such as Merlot and Syrah, while the lower, cooler area are favourable for crisp fruity whites with a characteristic minerality that makes Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay the stars of the Casablanca Valley.

On the nose relaxed and mellow notes of cherry, raspberry, strawberry, cherry cola and beet juice. On the palate immediately the verdict is that this is a full throttle Pinot Noir I have experienced previously. Not all Pinot Noirs must be silky and sensual! You might want to call this one aggressive with a big mouthfeel with a peppery overlay. It may be in a hurry to impress you with its burliness but in doing so it loses much of its strawberry and cherry-based fruit charm. Additionally, that barnyard present upon opening the bottle failed to blow off entirely and as you swirl the glass to let it escape it just smells up right back at you.

Many Pinot Noirs are excellent sipping wines but this roguish chap requires some rough and tumble Chilean cuisine which not having visited Chile I can’t pair it with local foods. I would vote for a spicy sausage on a bun lathered up with red pepper jelly.

(Emiliana Organic Vineyards Signos de Origen Organic 2020 Pinot Noir, DO Valle Casablanca, Chile, $19.95, 750 mL, 13% (Vegan), RKS Wine Rating 86/100).

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 14: The Torrid Sex Life of a Freshman

Rest assured this title was required in my contract with Wuhan Wet Market Publishing. It is misleading. It is salacious. It is supposed to sell copies. The contract did not state the contents of the chapter though!

It could be the lack of torrid lust was rooted in my respect for the opposite sex. Don’t make any moves lest one be accused of a rapist. I was part of the “Me Too” movement before it even existed. Harvey Weinstein could have saved himself long prison sentences if he had my respect for women.

There were a few memorable ladies. The 6 foot 5 Amazonian with a twin sister was an initial foray but with me at 6’3 we drew too much attention. She had the grip of a mechanic and the mannerisms too! She eventually gravitated to a Sumo wrestler exchange student.

Then there was what a nasty friend called “The Toad”. Part Cree Indian a great kisser but at 19 wanting badly to get married. SHIVER!

OK the attempt to befriend a film society tough bird. Someone took pity and finally told me I was wasting my time as she was a lesbian.

Then a good-hearted soul but her looks killed that.

Is there any point in going on?

I forgot about Sethi though. Returning home to my Four Season’s Presidential Suite one Saturday night there was an Indian wedding occurring in the Duplessis Ballroom. Hoping for some Indian food that was superlative I snuck into the room but the wedding was so huge no one noticed and questioned me. While ordering a Harvey Wallbanger at the bar the play-by-play commentator for Punjabi Hockey Night in Canada recognized me as the hero that had beaten Ken Dryden for a hattrick in that Indian National Hockey Team Montreal Canadians game. A group of young men paraded me around on their shoulders singing the Indian National Anthem. Unfortunately I was deposited at the head table unable to make an escape. My eyes locked with a beautiful Indian goddess with piercing green eyes. Reena was her name. One problem though that she was the bride! We had a dance and the temptations were enormous but being so damn decent this was simply not the time to deflower India’s most beautiful woman. A fool I was. Her mother-in-law set her wedding dress on fire later that night and poor Reena succumbed to massive burns. Mother-in-law was royally pissed at the “meagre” dowry so sought revenge. She received a life sentence and a cell in Tanguay Prison in Laval. Given my sweet pea Mina was confined to the Douglas Psychiatric Institution I knew me and women were a bad mix as far as romance unfolded. People seemed to die as a result of my romantic involvement.

RKS Film “Apostles”

Doesn’t this sound wretched? “Apostles” is Scud’s 8th film. Why would director Danny Cheng refer to himself as Scud a faulty Iraqi missile! Is he playing with us?

“Apostles” is one of those “artsy films” if you throw my way, I am free to interpret it in artsy ways and never be wrong! As an old Bachelor of Arts student, the engineering students called us when they were behaving “artsy fartsy” which was a sight better than the schizophrenic fascists they were!

Interpretation 1

“Apostles” is a sensitive intellectualized exploration by young men and their master about the quintessential nature of what dying is. Through mutual bonding exercises each of the 12 young male apostles realises what death is. The dialogue is heavily laced with Greek philosophy and myth imparting a deeply personal view of death. The dark photography emphasises the murky and philosophically clouded topic of death.

Interpretation 2

“Apostles” is a deeply disturbing and relevant study of the manipulation of youth by a charismatic leader that draws in the young, confused minds with sinister and self destructive poison and is but an attempt to explain the Jim Jones Guyana Jungle tragedy where individual thought is hijacked by an evil charismatic leader. This film is not a study on the philosophy of death but is death itself.

Interpretation 3

“Apostles” is a LGBTQ farcical romp full of pubic hair and butts. It is a spoof on philosophy where young men fornicate, grunt and groan then after realising the venerable master is simply filming them for a porno-snuff movie they get the hell out quick before they are snuffed. You can sense a “Life of Brian “ ending.

“Apostles” is available on DVD and VOD on December 13.

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

RKS Wine: Wines of Chile: Pérez Cruz Chaski 2018 Petit Verdot

Chile’s Pérez Cruz has been hitting a very high average of late. I was first attracted to their wines at Drink Chile 2022 in Toronto in early November. I focused solely on Carmenère from 7 producers and Perez Cruz 2020 Limited Edition ($19.95) came out on top spot. Subsequent to that their Grenache and Cabernet Franc were top quality. Then there is the Pérez Cruz 2018 Chaski Petit Verdot?

Petit Verdot is almost always used as a blender valued for its colour, structure and violet scent. On a rare occasion it appears as a single varietal as it does with this Pérez Cruz. Can they continue their winning streak?

It is a very late ripening grape and needs heat.

The Chaski has an aroma full of rich dark fruit particularly blackberry. But three cheers none of the fruit is overripe as there is nothing worse, (other than a spoilt wine) than a stewed red wine. On the palate blackberry, licorice, coal, dark chocolate, cassis and a peppery finish. A fine winemaking effort but a baby that needs until 2024 to really strut its stuff and really roll forward like a Ukrainian tank. The Russian one got stuck in the mud. Squirrel a few away and consume by 2029.

(Pérez Cruz Chaski 2018 Petit Verdot, Sustainable, DO Valle de Maipo Andes, Pérez Cruz, Chile, $29.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25644, 750 mL,14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100)

RKS Literature: “The Zeal of the French Revolution”

“No previous political upheaval however violent, had aroused such passionate enthusiasm for the ideal the French Revolution set before it was not merely a change in the French social system but nothing short of a regeneration of the whole human race. It created an atmosphere of missionary fervor and indeed assumed all the aspects of a religious revival-much to the consternation of contemporary observers. It would be perhaps truer to say that it developed into a species of religion, if a singularly imperfect one since it was without a god, without a ritual or promise of a future life. Nevertheless, this strange religion has, like Islam, overrun the whole world with its apostles, militants and martyrs. “

“The Old Regime and the French Revolution” Alexis de Tocqueville 1856