“The Church was hated not because its priests claimed to regulate the affairs of the other world but because they were landed proprietors, lords of manors, tithe owners, and played a leading part in secular affairs not because there was no room for the Church in the New World that was in the making but because it occupied the most powerful most privileged position in the old order that was now to be swept away.”
“The Old Regime and the French Revolution” Alexis de Tocqueville 1858
The Vietnam War ended some 5 years ago but that did not prevent all sorts of political disturbances from rocking the campus grounds of McGill University. The United Mutations were mobilizing support for mutants of the world. The Marxist Leninists the exploitation of students and workers, Hillel fighting against Palestinian terrorism, the Palestinians griping about the occupation of their land by the Israelis, the faculty wanting increased wages and so forth.
Marxism was a convenient if not a simplistic description of class power but in practice it had been a flop with the top party bosses replacing the old bourgeoisie. This was a fact ignored by the Marxist Leninists half of whom I expected were stoolies for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police yes those spiffy red uniforms and neat hats loved by elderly grandmothers and naïve school children the same clan that supported the English monarchy. The RCMP could be seen snapping photographs of demonstrators at McGill. Canada’s KGB! The RCMP knew my volunteerism with the United Mutations but figured I was a just a rich boy with a guilty conscience. So one day while having a cappuccino at my favourite joint just below the Four Seasons a rather hefty bald man in a Gestapo vintage leather coat sidled up to me and right off the bat offered me a well paid position as a stoolie for the RCMP with its “University Intelligence” unit. A bonus was paid for each communist ratted on. Love that free enterprise encouraging productivity. My cooperation would ensure that there would be no problems with my student visa. It was explained to me by this Pompy Blackhead since I was so wealthy I would be more than eager to turn in “revolutionaries”. And I was not affiliated with any of these groups which made me virginal target for recruitment. Thinking quickly, I volunteered I supported the Untouchable Freedom Movement in India and gave Mr. Blackhead all assurances this group operated within a democratic framework. The coup de grace was saying to Mr. Blackhead many in India considered the UFM to be a communist organization. He took the bait of doubt and scuttled away.
OK so I have made Wuhan Wet Market Publishing very pleased with espionage and yes they want something salacious next either sex or murder or even better if it was both.
The Perez Cruz 2019 Limited Edition Cabernet Franc was fermented in stainless steel and aged 14 months in oak. Cabernet Franc is one of Ontario’s signature grapes so is Chile muscling in on Ontario’s territory?
Upon opening the bottle the aroma of the wine exudes some barnyard which in small amounts can add charm but in excess can be fatal. Thank goodness the barnyard subsides with some aeration being replaced with some well integrated oak. Some high-strung red cherry peacefully co-exists with loganberry and chocolate covered cherries. Canadians may remember Lowney’s Chocolate covered cherries and in this wine that memory is invoked. When those boxes of Christmas chocolates from Purdy’s in Vancouver were passed around I always went for the chocolate covered cherries! The wine’s tannins are firm unlike most Ontario Cabernet Francs. The palate presents black cherry with much lesser notes of cranberry. At 14.5% alcohol and with its tannins this is an excellent wine to have with food. I would suggest bone in grilled chicken breasts coated with a stout and Peruvian Merken spice and served with grilled asparagus brushed with EVOO and just a bit of sesame seed oil.
This is a medium bodied wine with an equal finish. I see it as still in its youth and will get in stride by mid 2023 and cruise into a wall by 2025. By the way this Cabernet Franc has more hair on its chest than what one might expect from its Ontario cousins.
I would keep my palate on the alert for how the acids in the wine develop. They are lurking on the edges here.
(Pérez Cruz Limited Edition Cabernet Franc, DO Maipo Andes, $19.95, Vitivinícola Pérez Cruz, Helquén-Paine, Chile, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 10591, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).
Fame, like food poisoning, can strike when you are least expecting it. I was invited to the United Mutations box at the Montreal Forum to see a special event being a hockey match between the Montreal Canadians and the Indian National Hockey Team. All the Indian team were Canadians save for the goalie who was also a star cricket player in Delhi. The United Mutations were heavily involved with Untouchable Rights in India.
We noticed many of the Indian players vomiting all over the ice during warmups. The team had eaten at Tandoori Palace on Laurentian Boulevard near their hotel The Motel St. Pierre. The curried eggplant was the common denominator amongst the stricken. The team was short 7 players. Since most of our intramural McGill Hockey team had been invited to the United Mutations box we sprung into action and volunteered our services. The Indian team had huge revenue expectations from the match as it was being broadcasted nationally in India and Canada. It required that revenue to fund hockey development in India. So while the Zamboni was cleaning the ice of all the vomit we suited up as best we could with what equipment we could find in the dressing room.
You can only imagine the massacre that awaited us! The Indian national team and its substitutes from the Punjabi Pundits was defeated 24-3. Yes a defeat but I scored a hattrick against perhaps the best goalie in the world Ken Dryden who by the way was at McGill Law School and had seen the Punjabi Pundits play a match. As a hockey player I was full of knobbly knees but laser fast zig zagging erratically so much so the Montreal Canadians team was baffled. Ken Dryden said he was disoriented by my bizarre movements and fooled by the weakness of my wrist shot which he equated with the treacherous knuckle ball in baseball. I was also injured by a Chris Chelios frustration slash to the face necessitating 15 stitches. The blood spilled on the ice causing a riot in Bombay with the Canadian consulate being riddled with bags of urine.
My performance was a point of Indian national pride to the extent I was awarded the Nehru Prize for Valor! We had a fantastic meal with the Montreal Canadians at Ruby Foos on Decarie Boulevard after the match. Mr. Dryden presented me with my hattrick puck and gave me a big hug. What a classy guy! The Canadians also supplied us with the best hockey equipment and a $20,000 cash grant for our expenses. We might need this as some 42 hockey teams invited us to play in tournaments. Throughout the sports world I was referred to as the Bombay Blaster and to those who hated Indians it was the Bombay Bastard. I also received a coaching offer from the Kashmiri Crunchers of the Opiate Minor Hockey League. And yes RKS Films in Bombay was planning a movie on the Punjabi Pundits “Indian Conquerors of the World”.
I was recently in St. Davids Ontario in Niagara wine country. I was there to review the Woodbourne Inn. They feature the “double breakfast” which starts with organic juice, tea or coffee and a fresh baked pastry. Out of my usual routine I decided to try an Organic Sakura Rose tea from Genuine Tea in Toronto. I order most teas from Tea Squared or David’s Teas so Genuine Tea was a new player on the block for me.
So for my first breakfast a pot of Sakura Rose tea it was. It is organic green tea (steamed Sencha) with organic rose petals and jasmine petals. I love my jasmine tea so why not see what rose petals do to the tea. So with my organic pear juice and pastry for the Woodbourne first breakfast I savoured Sakura Rose. The blend here was perfect as no element overpowered the other. It was a lightly flavoured tea. On the nose apricot and applesauce dominated with lesser notes of baked apple, orange marmalade and a hint of cinnamon. The apple sauce and marmalade notes carried onto the palate with a twist of rose petal Turkish delight. The finish was medium length and tannins were barely noticeable.
Sakura Rose was perfectly blended and suited the Cinnamon French Toast topped with tangerine infused with lavender, maple syrup and pa pa cream.
Should you be headed to the Niagara region and are intrigued about the multiple breakfasts prepared by a top-notch chef take a look at my review of The Woodbourne Inn at https://a-little-birdie-told-me.ca/2022/11/07/rks-hotels-the-woodbourne-inn-at-st-davids-niagara-on-the-lake-just-like-home/
You can order at https://www.genuinetea.ca/ at $9.95 for 50 grams.
RKS Tea Meister Rating of Genuine Tea’s Sakura Rose Tea 91/100.
There has been an astounding jump in the price of most wines of late here in Ontario. It could be due to the LCBO thinking it is the holiday season so people are willing to spend more being in the “festive spirit”. Are you feeling festive enough to spend $383.95 on a Dom Pérignon Brut Rosé Vintage Champagne 2008? I do make it a point to chat with LCBO customers and eavesdrop on a conversation or two. The bleachers are in a state of shock. Entry level California Cabernet Sauvignon that was $20 has now jumped to $26. What has held firm are Chilean wines and in the upcoming release there are 11 of them all under the $26 range. The quality is high and the price compelling. My prediction is that here in Ontario it will be Chile’s year if pricing remains firm. Not to be crude but Chile move in for the kill!
Now to the Grenache there is 10% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre.
Perez Cruz is a winery to keep an eye on. Its wines are sold at a reasonable price and so far the quality is impressive. Just to be sure we try a 2020 Grenache from Perez Cruz. That tell tale very Grenache well ripened strawberry rules the aroma sphere. It is also brimming with bright high toned red cherry and some chocolate covered red cherry. On the palate beautiful hyper cherries somewhat hammered down and tempered by cactus pear and a tad of beets.
Really gripping traction on the palate with a very long finish. Easily mistaken for a flippant lightweight but take the burka off and this is a very serious and compelling wine. So far Perez Cruz has amazed this palate. Scotty please beam me down to Perez Cruz in Chile! These guys need a Dr. Bones probe!
While Grenache wines usually have a more serious and ponderous composition this Perez Cruz wants to dance all night at a fiesta with its cousins from Valpolicella and Cabernet Franc.
(Perez Cruz 2020 Grenache, D.O. Valle Maipo, $17.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25645, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).
The American documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is an interconnected story about the life of American Nan Goldin as an artist and Nan Goldin as an advocate to eliminate the imprint and legacy of the Sackler family in the art world.
The Sackler’s company is Purdue Pharma the makers and distributors of Valium and the opiate Oxy Contin which to date has killed over 500,000 Americans.
Nan Goldin is a renowned photographer with a storied life. Profoundly affected by the suicide of her sister Barbara as an adolescent she sought solace behind a camera and developed a keen eye for the “subculture” world of New York City and Providence Rhode Island. At times a lesbian, drug addict and a prostitute she was a part of the subculture of 1970’s and 1980’s hanging out with artists, actors and writers of the fringe. Why not say you’ll follow a life of an artist in the world of hard knocks. You can just about smell the rot of The Bowery in New York!
Goldin struggles for acceptance and respect in a sexist world and her success was hard earned. It would appear her struggle for personal and artistic success gave her the skills to fight a political battle against the Sackler family. The Sacklers were huge patrons of the arts with their names on many galleries in prominent museums through the United States and Europe. These philanthropic darlings were great providers of grants to these museums but in Goldin’s eyes they are nothing but murderers. Goldin was hooked on a variety of drugs including Oxy.
Can the actions of the organization she founded P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) exert enough pressure in the perpetually cash starved museum world to have them stop accepting grant money from the Sacklers and remove the Sackler name from the names of galleries in Museums? Can criminal actions be brought against the Sacklers?
The documentary brings a very personal touch to the ravages of Oxy. Just listen to the taped 911 call near the conclusion of the documentary and feel the pain and make that connection to rage against the Sacklers and Purdue.
Why the title of “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”. That phrase is a comment of her deceased sister in reaction to a card shown to her by a psychiatrist. There is also a comment made by an artist in the film that there is a thin line between blood and action.
The documentary is directed by Laura Poitras. The film plays at Hot Docs in Toronto on December 2/3/5.
Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.
You can see the trailer here https://cinemaduparc.com/en/film/all-the-beauty-and-the-bloodshed_fr
RKS Film Rating 91/100.
Being accustomed to a certain standard of living I chose lodgings equivalent to my standing in life. Being humble I rented the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons in Montreal on Sherbrooke Street 8 minutes from the majority of my classes in the Leacock Building.
I have a spectacular view from my window of Mont Royal and when the fall colours hit it is a wonder to behold. I’ll take it over the Taj Mahal any day.
I have all the amenities I need. Swimming pool, steam room and a gym. I am up for breakfast which I prepare myself as I have a kitchen in my suite. A cup of organic green tea, fruit in season and two slices of whole wheat toast. On Saturday and Sunday morning I have a big breakfast delivered to my room and read the New York Times and Montreal Gazette savouring a big pot of tea.
Saturday after working until 15:00 hours or so it is culture time so I may go to the McCord Museum or Musee des Beaux Arts or wherever there is a worthy exhibit. Saturday night it may be an obscure artsy film showing at the McGill Film Society or the Greene Cinema. Occasionally I will go out with fellow students to Thompson House for some beer and peanuts. If there is a good jazz show at Didi Boucel’s Club in Vieux Montreal I might go there. I have seen Stan Getz, Gato Barbieri, Sony Rollins, John Mayall and many others.
Sundays is my mandatory walk up to Beaver Lake on Mont Royal and a stroll clear across to Park Avenue where I usually stop for a late lunch of souvlaki at Arahova Restaurant. If I have any energy left I may walk up and get some bagels at Fairmont Bagel Bakery. Just baked they are one of the 7 wonders of the world.
During the week it is class to class and lots of assignments and papers to work on. I have managed to stack all my classes so Fridays are free. I use this time to volunteer at the United Mutations Office researching specific issues as requested by Willie Montenez a big executive at United Mutations.
I play intramural hockey at McGill. A group of Indian students have created a team the Punjabi Pundits and quite frankly we stink. I am fast as hell and score a lot of goals but I am hell on wheels to watch. I mean in months I learnt how to skate. The United Mutations have a box at the Montreal Forum and occasionally I get to see Nos Glorieux play hockey in the shrine of all shrines for professional hockey.
My life is a peaceful and scholarly one.
It is difficult to make friends here but my slight British accent (rather Welsh from my late Mom) really attracts the ladies so there is no shortage of chatting and drinking 4th rate coffee from a machine. Occasionally I’ll ask one of these charming young ladies to Pam Pam restaurant on Stanley Street for Hungarian pastries and a café au lait. After my Minah incident though I wonder if these Montreal Girls are poison.
After a hearty breakfast at our hotel in Thessaloniki Daios Luxury Living we were picked up by Fotini’s niece for a day at Chaladiki a series of beaches of renown about an hour from the city. We avoided the main highway for a faster and scenic route through rolling countryside mostly farms but with several small towns. The biggest town was ,which is not a big bustling town nor is it a sleepy seaside resort. After following a dirt road for 15 minutes we arrived at Ioli beach where we were seated in the VIP section. Totally Greek here and nary a gringo tourist except for me the famous journalist! A wonderful beach with warm water and clear and sandy! A family beach but with cool music and bottle service if you wanted it so we all had vodka and orange juice and some raspberry cream cake. The snack of souvlaki was a flop with mustard in it instead of tzatziki! Poor Fotini had a spill after leaving the change room. Uneven wooden slat walkway did her in but thankfully not that serious. Played some Frisbee with the younger set but not a Wham o Frisbee so challenging. Back around 18:00 and listened to some bluegrass on Greek radio. Strange.
Once upon a time in Ontario and British Columbia there was a grape called Maréchal Foch a French hybrid grape. It made common wine and, in an era, when Canadians did not appreciate or know Vitis vinifera grapes they drank it. As tastes changed and the Canadian palate became more “sophisticated” Maréchal Foch grapes were pulled a fate suffered by many grapes. So today Maréchal Foch is now a rarity. I encountered it 3 years ago in the Okanagan produced by Oak Bay. It was quite good. So I see it as on “sale” in an e-mail from Malivoire Wine Company Limited in the Niagara wine region. Surely if the Okanagan can do it well Niagara can too? You might find more of it in Nova Scotia and Quebec than you can find in Niagara.
The Malivoire 2020 Old Vines Foch in colour is a bit more purplish than red. Aromas of smoke, blackberry, blueberry, licorice, black cherry, cola and candy cane. On the palate smooth with little tannic influence. There is a Welch’s grape influence as what can I say the wine is grapey but in a pleasing way. But let that grapey wave pass and you’ll notice some good traction to the wine with some peppery overlay on the mid plate with almonds, tobacco, anis, dark chocolate with a long spicy finish. Some might treat this wine as highly dismissible and on the wild side but those with an adventuresome and patient palate might call this wine deviously complicated. It is not what it may it apparently seems to be. Baco Noir can make an awesome wine but not handled with care by the winemaker it can be a disaster. I would think the same might be said for Maréchal Foch. The winemaker here has mastered the beast!
The wine would suit lamb burgers or short ribs. The wine was aged 17 months in American oak 18% of which was new. The vines were planted in 1972. The wine will improve marginally over 2023 and peak in 2024.
You can order this from the winery at Malivoire.com.
(Malivoire Albert’s Honour Old Vines Foch 2020, VQA Ontario, The Malivoire Wine Company Limited, Beamsville, Ontario, $26.95, 12%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).
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