RKS Film: “The Human Trial”: Should Private Enterprise Have the Power to Control Pain, Suffering and Life Itself?

The documentary “The Human Trial” is a five-year journey exploring the development of stem cell laden implants into human subjects suffering from Type 1 Diabetes in the anticipation they will produce insulin. Five million people a year die from complications attributable to diabetes. If it doesn’t kill you it may very well blind you or cause amputations of limbs, heart attacks or strokes. It will always make everyday life challenging.

As with many diseases in addition to the physiological changes living with diabetes can cause fear, apprehension and depression which the documentary gives the viewer a very good idea of.

Some of the film may lose you with technicalities more germane to those suffering from diabetes. But it is not the technicalities that make the film riveting. It is the human element. What toll is diabetes taking on its victims and how do two humans participating in the initial study in the United States react to this participation. It is a roller coaster of emotions that the viewer can’t escape riding on. Optimism and hope and crushing defeat and everything in between. The documentary may be diabetic centric but living with diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Lyme disease have been on the documentary film circuit of late and share the theme of suffering, despair and lack of hope.

The film does touch upon the economics of disease and the role of biotech companies and there is the smell of big money. Big Pharma makes enormous profits from insulin so it does not have an interest in wiping out those profits with a cure unless the cure is a new pharmaceutical product they can distribute in their network so they take a wait and see attitude investing when a product seems to have more benefits than risks. In the case of this new technology it is San Diego developer Viacyte that must continually search for funds from venture capitalists and pharmaceutical companies to further its research and trials. The documentary skirts substantial criticism of private interests controlling life and death of millions and fails to suggest government funding might be called for but for a healthcare system that is run by private insurance interests and has an abhorrence of socialized medicine governmental intervention seems positively anti-American. Although the documentary captures the emotional trauma of diabetics and of the two participants in the trial it fails to make concrete suggestions how the present American system can be overhauled but give it credit for hinting medical technology follows a money trial.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30146N9nY7U

Directed by Lisa Hepner (a sufferer of Type 1 Diabetes) and Guy Mossman.

“The Human Trial” will be available on November 11th on VOD including Apple, Amazon, Google Play.

RKS Film Rating 68/100.

RKS Wine: Niagara Red Blends: Nyarai Cellars Soars Above the Mundane

In Niagara to review an inn and some restaurants this month I managed to speak with a few people in the wine trade and it was empowering to hear they agreed with a fundamental point I have with Niagara red blends. In Niagara Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are almost best retired as incapable of making a good single varietal wine and even in a blend there are few worthy Niagara red blend wines with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in them. In good long warm summers Cabernet Sauvignon can shine. And 2019 saw Cabernet Sauvignon being harvested in November!

Nyarai Cellars then made an excellent decision to produce its 2019 Cadence with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and that spicy hyper Petit Verdot. Does the blend work?

On the nose the Cabernet Sauvignon adds a generous element of blueberry and blackberry. Additional notes of black cherry, cactus pear and milk chocolate. The tannins are mild but broad coating the entire mouth. On the palate a thin layer of white pepper, zippy blackberry, choke cherry, red currants and with a hint of root beer. And most uncharacteristic of a red Niagara blend a long-lasting finish. The acidity is well managed!

Steve Byfield proprietor and winemaker at Nyarai Cellars has crafted a Niagara red blend from well sourced grape growers. This 2019 Cadence is delightfully unique and made only in the best years for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Steve is a virtual winemaker meaning he does not own a winery. He uses the equipment of West Avenue Cider House to make his wine. Steve is also the only black winemaker in North America I have encountered. Nyari has a South African meaning of humility and to be humble. While this describes Steve the wine is something he could be very easily boasting about.

Serve this slightly chilled with fried callaloo, tomatoes, garlic and salt cod and break the rules about red wine with fish. The Portuguese can serve red wine with a national salt cod dish Bachalau so can we with the Jamaican dish I have mentioned the recipe from Chester a Jamaican fellow I met at my Volvo mechanic.

You can enjoy the wine as a sipper too. I would be willing to give this up to the end of 2024 to improve in the bottle. What a pity only 112 cases were produced.

(Nyarai Cellars, 2019 Cadence, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Nyarai Cellars, West Avenue Cider House, Freelton, Ontario, $24.95, Available at nyaraicellars.ca, 750 mL, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 90/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : 2September2022: Toronto to Athens: Getting There is no Longer Half the Fun!

We booked this trip from Toronto to Athens on points. I wonder if we have been penalized by Air Canada for booking on points as when checking in on-line exactly 24 hours prior to departure as permitted by Air Canada in the entire plane there are three seats available? What’s that old Greek proverb “the fish stinks from the head down”? Love sitting in the last row of the plane by the galley and the continual vacuum flushes of the toilets which by the way are filthy to start and revolting after 10 hours. In all this COVID hysteria dire warnings about getting to the airport 3 to 4 hours prior to departure. Arrived three and a half hours prior to departure and never whizzed through security so fast! With too much time to spare dropped by Premium Plaza Lounge close to our departure gate and a wait of 45 minutes to be admitted and the wait certainly was not warranted. Some type of chicken in a cream sauce and a pathetic looking pasta. The chili wasn’t bad. The Guinness tap is not working and the beer is Molson Canadian (SHUDDER!). The salad is one that after a few mouthfuls you wonder if you made a mistake. Food poisoning not a great way to start a trip. Lowest quality spirits. The Muzak was annoying although the Christmas song in September was “unique”.

All passengers were masked as required by Pearson Airport. Given the multitude of lost checked in baggage in Europe carry on seemed the rule. An Air Canada passenger agent asked for complimentary check in. This was greeted by howls of laughter.

The seating on the plane was sardine in “Economy”. On my last flight on Air Canada in 2019 I had 4 inches of room between my knees and the seat in front yet now knees jammed up against the seat in front and twisted like a pretzel. The cabin is dark and gloomy. Dinner was a rock hard stole white roll, frozen butter, slimy pasta in sauce that might have been canned tomato soup and cheese that had the consistency of melted plastic. Betty Crocker chocolate cake for dessert and the cheapest French plonk as wine. Air Canada can’t have the pride and decency to serve Canadian wine? For breakfast a stale croissant and some yogurt. Arrived at Athens airport having to wait 20 minutes to get a gate. Air Canada Economy is like travelling in a portable dank basement. So glad to escape.

RKS Wine: Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer 2020 Grand Réserve

Many will say Alsace vints the best Gewurztraminer. A few years ago I may have agreed with that statement until I tried Gewurztraminer from Mayhem Wines and Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan. The trouble is that the British Columbia wines are small batch hence reach a small audience.

Pierre Sparr is a big Gewurtz negociant in Alsace producing some solid examples. We try their 2020 Grand Réserve. A very classic nose of mango, peach, apricot and pineapple upside down cake. Good Gewurtz is perhaps one of the easiest wines to identify. On the palate yet more peach and apricot with caramel and mango. Smooth and creamy with just the right amount of acidity. I think of vegetarian or shrimp curry as a food match.

What more can I say more intellectually than yummy and a white wine with a delightful personality.

(Pierre Sparr Grand Réserve 2020 Gewurztraminer, Maison Pierre Sparr, Blenheim, France, $20.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 747600, 14%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 93/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” :21-28 July 2007: Thessaloniki Greece

The flight from Munich to Thessaloniki was just over two hours in length on Air Berlin. Non descript ham and cheese sandwich on Wonderbread. After so much great Bavarian meats and cheeses who would have thought the Germans could have sunk so low. Arrived in Thessaloniki in 45-degree heat. Although the Porto Palace Hotel is newly renovated from a former shoe factory it really is quite deserted and industrial. We have an executive suite overlooking the hotel entrance and a communication tower. Not realizing the time difference we missed breakfast. I did manage to finagle some Greek yogurt and honey with some croissants.

As Fotini has relatives we went to their seaside town summer residence in Perea a suburb of Thessaloniki which at one point was a quaint fishing village but now it is a suburb. You can get there via a ferry from the port of Thessaloniki but we took a taxi for 17 Euros. There is a boardwalk crammed with seafood restaurants. The beach is mediocre and a shadow of what it was years ago. We had a wonderful lunch with tables right on the sand. Octopus, calamari, gavros (anchovies), sardines, fries and much more.

The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous!

Introduction By Robert K. Stephen

Could it be The Penniless Pensioner is one of the most interesting characters inhabiting the globe today? That will be up to you to decide.

From feedback I have received there is no doubt in my mind he is misaligned, misunderstood and some of you have remarked he is marvellous.

If you have been reading about his exploits on this website there is no doubting The Penniless Pensioner, or PP as we call him, is surrounded with beautiful women, adventure and espionage which are lacking in most of our lives.

As for beautiful women we have seen Lola Frieberg the Tirana Tigress, Celine and of course the dubious Russian Svetlana. PP likes his women far younger than himself. This is no surprise from someone trying to conquer a dream!

I am but a ghost writer yet one who has been at his side in many of his tumultuous moments so I can temper and validate his stories. This will be no fictional and rose-coloured examination of this remarkable man. You will get PP raw and ready. We are going to serialize this autobiography here on this website. Subject to reader response PP has inked an “intent to contract” with Unrealistic Pictures headquartered in North Hero Vermont for a major film on his life. It is a bit early to discuss the film but I can say as a fact that Nicole Kidman has expressed interest in playing Lola Frieberg the Tirana Tigress based on the fact of the unknown friendship between PP and the late Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog. Ms. Kidman and Reggie as you know starred in several movies including the autobiography of Reggie.

Before we delve into the story of this remarkable man many of you have asked why “penniless pensioner”. That is complicated indeed. PP has at times been impoverished particularly when his Panamanian bank accounts were frozen but these setbacks were momentary. PP is neither a pensioner nor is he penniless. He earned the nickname Penniless Pensioner due to his short-lived role of a lawyer on the Bernie Madoff legal team. Mr. Madoff rendered many of his pensioner clients penniless so PP’s reputation was besmirched by the tabloids as “The Penniless Pensioner”. I am not sure how that makes any sense but the name has stuck. At this point PP wants to keep his name out of the press. PP has received several death threats from Mr. Madoff’s former clients so he wants to protect his identity until he clears his name by publication of his autobiography.

Readers enjoy the voyage.

Toronto November 1,2022.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 2006 Füssen, Germany: Off to the Castles: Bavarians the Calabrian’s of Germany?

Our room at Hotel Kurkafe is Bavarian kitsch. The breakfasts are adequate with some loose-leaf green tea but not as good as the green loose-leaf tea at the Maratim Hotel in Wurzburg. We packed up after breakfast and saw the Bishop’s Castle a rather fortified looking bunker with simple interiors a break from the sumptuous churches and palaces we have seen so far in Bavaria. This brief delving into simplicity ended with a visit to yet another church Kloster St. Mang. The streets in Füssen are narrow and winding with much charm although somewhat dampened by an excess of tacky souvenir shops. There are many Japanese tourists here dressed in great fear of the sun with long sleeves, scarves and big floppy hats. They are quite a spectacle here in Bavaria.

Schloss Neuschwanstein is the poster child for the Walt Disney castle. One mustn’t miss the Throne Room as spectacular and lavish. Go to the tour books for a complete description. There were simply too many tourists crammed in. Our guide was a peculiar looking young man. Skinny and a bad complexion who was mocked by snot nosed west coast Yankee teenagers in our group. Encountered an arrogant and rude Turkish tour group who acted like the castle was a Turkish conquest. Hohenschwangu was almost as impressive.

Bavaria is impressive with its scenery and architecture very different than most of Germany. They love their beer and heavy food. They are somewhat mocked by other Germans discretely of course. Are they the Calabrian’s of Germany?

We arrived late afternoon at Sheraton Arabella Hotel in Oden Schwaig about ten minutes from Munich’s Josef Strauss Airport. Very spacious rooms that looked more like a room in Cleveland than in Bavaria. Being pooped and marooned in a quiet suburb we ate downstairs. Yet more schnitzel and a farewell Bavarian beer. Andrew had the surf and turf. Off to Thessaloniki tomorrow.

RKS Wine: Tirana Tigress and Penniless Pensioner Back in Toronto

After hoodwinking the Russians in Operation Payback Lola Frieberg aka Tirana Tigress and the Penniless Pensioner wisely decided to head back to PP’s home in Toronto a luxurious penthouse The Lonsdale on Avenue Road with a huge wrap around balcony and a view of the campus of Upper Canada College. If the Russians ever got wind of his sabotage of the Iranian drones rewired so they would return to the Russian and Belarusian batteries from whence they were fired PP would be dead. As it stands President Putin has been so humiliated, he most likely will soon be dead. So far all is clear and for the time being Lola and PP have a two person RCMP security detail discretely protecting them. In a secret ceremony in Ottawa the purple haired Governor General of Canada would soon bestow the Order of Canada on PP for his bravery in the Ukrainian conflict. Lola is 22 years younger than PP!

We decide to celebrate after I pick them up at Toronto Pearson Airport. They come to my little Leaside house where we celebrate. Both Lola and PP are bloated and gassy after ingesting putrid Air Canada food on their flight from Athens. The trick then is to fight gas with gas so I open a Crémant de Bourgogne rosé. It is a Labouré-Gontard.

PP is so sick of the Ukrainian sparkling wine he had in Albania he just about retched when I poured a glass of the Crémant. It had an anemic pink colour which could promise just rip snorting acidity and too little fruit? The bubbles are not fine but they are rip snorting! Some gentle raspberry, strawberry and a bit of field tomato skirting about the edges. On the palate sharp and crisp. I say to my guests knowing the queasiness Air Canada food causes to let lose with a few belches and for a few minutes the wine does battle with the squalid Air Canada pig slop and wins. There is some strawberry and raspberry but the sharp cutting acidity is rather classic brut. Cleans up the palate which is extra important with dry chicken in Campbell Soup tomato sauce and plastic cheese, stale roll, limp salad and the dark chocolate square that never was as the hot dish had been placed on top of the chocolate. And the wine low tier French wine the white being a Colombard long ago used in California jug “Chablis”.

The Crémant is no better or worse than many of the entry level Champagnes on the market but a third the price and as there is “penniless” in PP’s name he warms up to the wine’s price tag.

PP also says we have his new book to celebrate “My Life as the Penniless Pensioner” which will be released here on this site in a serialized basis sometime early in 2023. By the way I will be the ghost writer!

We also celebrate the anticipated birth of their child in March of 2023. Has the Penniless Pensioner finally witnessing stability with the Tirana Tigress? They are cuddling up a storm after a huge round of raucous belches which have cleared the Air Canada induced bloating. PP remarks even Air Albania can prepare better food than Air Canada!

(Brut Rosé Labouré-Gontard Crémant de Bourgogne AOP, Mersault, France, $21.95, 750 mL, 12%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 460816, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).

RKS Wine: Not a Corporate Lawyer, Accountant, Neurosurgeon, Corporate Executive, Overpaid Professional Athlete or Cardiologist? Welcome to Delicious Brutality!

If you are not a “hot shot” it is certainly possible to discover a quality wine at a proletarian price. I mean my friend the Penniless Pensioner would guzzle Chateau Latour with his Boulud Burger in Manhattan and think nothing of paying $1500 as “chump change” for a bottle of Bordeaux First Growth. With a reversal of fortunes, as temporary as it was, he needed my advice to downsize his palate. And when the cash started rolling in he was hooked on looking for a bargain. A few bottles were poured down the crapper but he was a quick study and with my expert guidance he triumphed finding quality wines not cheap n cheerful. A bit snarkily he said the sewer rats drinking his poured toilet wine were like so many of his “esteemed” corporate colleagues.

In fact PP suggested I try a Bastide Miraflores from Côtes Du Roussillon in France home of once simplistic and hearty wines but in the last twenty years has surged in quality without a corresponding hike in purchase price. In fact this one is $19.95. It is a blend of Syrah and Grenache.

As far as aromatics go there is no namby pamby about the wine.  Very solid wine. Gritty and firm raspberry and strawberry with blackberry and the tiniest bit of clove. As the wine rises from the glass into the mouth it is firm with grainy streetfighter tannins standing firm against the Chateau Latour boys flim flaming about elegance and sensuality. More Broad Street Bully than Wall Street wolf. A bit chewy with black plum, ripe cherry and some pepper creating a long zippy finish and by zippy I do not mean acidity but rather liveliness.

Some assertive food for the wine please such as hot grilled sausage or filet of mackerel or sardines cooked in tomato sauce, with capers, olives, anchovies and jalapeno peppers. It would sip well with the film “Double Indemnity”.

This might cruise well into 2027. While it may be brutal this delicious wine can be enjoyed as a sipping wine for those with hair on their chest!

(Bastide Miraflores Syrah & Vieilles Vignes de Grenache, AOP Côtes Du Roussillon 2019, France, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 320499, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 93/100).