After R and R in Amsterdam on the Magic Bus to Munich from Amsterdam. Caught the Magic bus outside the zoo. I had a good party time without thinking about much and noting it in the travel journal. But the time had come to move on. The bus was an hour late. The bus driver seemed to move at a snail’s pace. The Magic Bus people do not seem well organized. Somewhere in Belgium at 2 in the morning the bus driver stopped in a small town and disappeared for some nooky nooky with his girlfriend, He was booed and hooted when he returned three hours later! Most of the passengers were on their way to Athens which was tempting but been there and done that. In a quick change of mind hopped off at Innsbruck right at the Autobahn, My next lift was on an Italian ambulance travelling to Bolzano which is just north of the Yugoslavian border. Hit the campground in this Italian Alpine own. The camping looked like a hole in the wall so rented a room which was $5 plus breakfast. Not having slept or washed in 35 hours the hot water and bed was a luxury I could afford. I splurged with a $5 dollar meal. Had a beer afterwards in bed at 23:00. Zurich on my mind tomorrow.
RKS Film:“We Are The Thousand”: A Delightful Escape From Documentary Depression Rocking with The Foo Fighters
I have finished reviewing some 24 documentaries over 60 days for two film festivals, Toronto Hot Docs and Earth X. 80% of those were depressing dealing with genetic manipulation, child abuse, politically sanctioned murders, deforestation, pig feces overflow etc. After this down ride I welcomed “We Are The Thousand” which is crammed with good cheer, happiness and camaraderie. If I had a smile meter this doc would be 98 out of a hundred.
Imagine a small group of Foo Fighter aficionados organizing “a big band” arrangement to woo the Foo to play in a small Italian village of Cesena. Through a minimal budget and countless hours of planning and coordinating 1,000 musicians in Cesena to play the Foo Fighter’s “Learn to Fly”. Drummers, vocalists and guitarists playing in perfect harmony to “Learn to Fly” which contained a plea for the Foo Fighters to play a concert in Cesena. And the video went viral with over 26 million views all over the globe in just two days. As of today this tally is closing in on 60,000,000. And yes the Foo Fighters play a concert in Cesena. An incredible feat. But behind that feat you’ll be introduced to the 1,000 musicians ranging from children to a terminally ill senior guitarist. And can you imagine a young man, a drummer with a Mohawk being invited by the band to play drums for one of its numbers in their Cesena concert.
Let me stop here and say this is a documentary of Niagara Falls proportion rocketing good will everywhere. A feel-good movie to be seen whether or not you have even heard of the Foo Fighters. A Woodstock of optimism!
The Director is Anita Rivaroli and the film will be opening in several theatres on June 3 as well as on VOD/digital platforms including iTunes/Apple, Dish TV Network/Dish Digital, Amazon Prime Video. Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, Vimeo Direc TV. You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPG4RbhZFo
RKS Film Rating 90/100.
Just to be sure you watch it here is the official “Rocking 1,000” Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozAmXo2bDE
“Travels to a Different Time” : 22July1975: Into Amsterdam
Up after a few hours of sleep. This camping in the woods is free but it would be nice to have a shower and bush the old molars. We were lucky to see a gas station as we were low on petrol. So it was non stop for a few hours to Amsterdam and we arrived at 08:30 and the city was waking up. We stopped at a coffee shop and the driver and the Irish guy went to the washroom to wash up leaving me downstairs with two mugs of steaming coffee. The owner was taking a bird and became a bit surly. After twenty minutes they appeared to finish off their coffee. Back at the Peugeot we said our good-byes. I hopped on the bus to a camping site within the city for 80 cents a night and only cold water. Only young people here. Bought some food at the store for dinner then talked to neighbours and out like a light at 21:30.
RKS Film: Toronto Hot Docs Winner “Eternal Spring”: The Rise of Animation in Documentaries
The Canadian documentary “Eternal Spring” may be a watershed documentary with its use of animation to tell the story of the Falun Gong “hijacking” of Chinese State television in Changchun, China on March 5, 2002. Changchun was the birthplace of Falun Gong which is a “spiritual” practice pointing out a clear path to elevating yourself in a step-by-step process. I have been seen them for years meditating and Tai Chinging themselves outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto. Although I would have appreciated a more comprehensive treatment of why Falun Gong represents a threat to the dictatorship of the communist party, we are told they were becoming increasingly popular in China and any movement other than the Chinese communist party is perceived as a threat to the party’s hegemony.
This is why Falun Gong has been outlawed by China in 1999. It’s members have been beaten, tortured, imprisoned and murdered by Chinese authorities due to a perceived quiet threat they pose. Their hijacking of a TV signal gave them an opportunity to respond to the vilification and persecution they had been suffering. They were successful but most of the main group that carried out the hijacking have been murdered or imprisoned.
Much of the story is told through the animation of Daxiong a member of Falun Gong and a participant in the television hijacking. The animation is along comic book animation traditions and no wonder as Daxiong had been fixated on comic books since a child. The animation works well offering a way to recount the episode in a different fashion than recreation using actors or narration. It creates a fluidity of excitement. Falun Gong joins the Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims as threats to the communist hegemony and atheist nature touted by the party.
The documentary won the Audience Award for Top Documentary at Hot Docs Toronto Festival. It next shows at the New York Human Rights Film Festival on May 23/24 and then June 2 at Krakow Film Festival.
RKS Film Rating 89/100.
RKS Wine: My Private Pinot Grigio Nightmare: The Simple Mayhem Cure
As a wine writer there is what I write and there is what people ask me. When up close and personal I try and be non-judgemental about what people drink and sometimes that is a bit difficult as they look at you trying what they pour and they think it is the cat’s pyjamas. My facial movements and eyes are watched carefully so when I come across some plonk years of training has made me into the masked wine writer. Not nice being judgemental lest feelings be hurt. When writing I understand the passion of the winery owner, vineyard manager and the winemaker and must respect that very carefully. But I must be honest and that hurts sometimes.
When it comes to Pinot Grigio I have a private Pinot Grigio nightmare called Santa Margherita. It is diffuse, weak and watery and at $20.95 in Ontario that is a crime. My inside Italian wine contacts in Italy agree with me saying Santa Margherita is from a factory.
I think Mayhem can, as it has done in the past, help me cure my nightmare by proving there is life beyond Santa Margherita.
So how about the Mayhem 2021 Pinot Gris? On the pour there is a delicate acidic fizz. On the nose some apple, pear, lime with some tangerine. On the palate the acid I thought might be there had dissipated from the initial pour. The wine is bone dry with a short finish but the acidity is not terrorizing the palate. The dryness can hijack the fruit from the palate. The whites from Vinho Verde in Portugal are equally dry but with grilled fish they take on a life of their own. While this Pinot Gris is not my style of white wine for sipping but with food, such as grilled sea bass, sea bream and porgy with a lemon, olive oil and oregano sauce with Swiss Chard this wine will be where it should be and good riddance Santa Margherita. The winery suggests mussels and French Fries and taking this from the Muscadet playbook I agree! This wine is built for white fleshed ocean fish. If you like a crisp white wine this is for you.
The fermentation started in stainless steel then moved to 7% new French barriques, 69% seasoned puncheons and 24% seasoned barriques.
As only 322 cases were produced perhaps check with the winery where you can purchase www.mayhemwines.com
(Mayhem 2021 Pinot Gris, Okanagan Valley, BC VQA, Mayhem Wines, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, $17.39, 750 mL, 13.7%, RKS Wine Rating 86/100).
“Travels to a Different Time” : 21stJuly1975: Somewhere in Netherlands: Dopester in a 404 Peugeot: Germany Depressing?
Went down for breakfast with a litre of milk. I hopped on a train that would take me to the highway heading to Hamburg. Thank goodness for the cool day as hot weather can sap your energy. I passed by a hitchhiker to get a spot and in 5 minutes a lift in a 404 Peugeot. We also picked up an Irish guy. The car reeked of hash. A crazy guy but what fun. We took the ferry to Hamburg which was only an hour trip. In Germany the driver said Germany depressed him so he altered his route to Paris by passing through Amsterdam. Perfect! We powered on until 23:00 ending up just past the Dutch border. We found a camping site for a washroom break and found a farmer’s field to sleep in and the driver slept in his car and the Irish guy and I shared my tent.
RKS Film: “Battle for The Heart of Texas”: Megacorp’s Destructive Power
The Earthx Film Festival running in Dallas Texas from 11-15 May presents” Battle for the Heart of Texas”. The battle may be fought in the heart of Texas from a geographic perspective but emotionally it affects the hearts of Texans proud landowners in mostly remote areas who see their property and hearts ripped asunder by Megacorp Kinder Moron ooops I mean Kinder Morgan. To give you a realistic perspective was it Richard Morgan who was CEO of Enron. A brilliant guiding light!
Kinder Morgan announces in September 2018 it is building a natural gas pipeline from the Permian basin to Houston and some of it is going through beautiful Hill Country in Texas. It is dropped like a bomb on unsuspecting citizens and politicians through a press release. There has been no public consultation prior to the announcement. Armed with the power of Eminent Domain Megacorp Kinder Morgan has the power to expropriate property to build its pipeline. Such power would be denied to public agencies.
Consultations are announced by Kinder Morgan after its announcement but Texans in Hill Country complain no answers are being given and they are sent running around in circles by Kinder Morgan PR.
Kinder Morgan is accused by aggrieved Texans of setting lowball offers for land to be expropriated and meeting resistance with legal actions with huge costs to a landowner. So many are forced to settle.
It is not only a pipeline involved but compressor stations to propel the gas moving along the pipeline and those are huge facilities.
Hill Country prizes itself on its water supply and many residents use well water with some residents having their water supply contaminated by Kinder Morgan drilling The Texas Railway Commission cites Kinder Morgan for violations of contaminated drinking water and taking four days to notify state officials of the contamination. Many residents are still forced to drink bottled water. And the Texas Railway Commission members have 70% of their campaign costs paid by the oil and gas industry.
I could continue with the raping of Texan’s property rights but I think you get the message. The documentary puts you in the shoes of abused Texans and it will make you outraged and disgusted with Kinder Morgan and the Texan politicians that seem to have forgotten a sense of public duty towards the electorate.
Even assuming residents in Hill Country had been afforded due process just take a close look at what pipeline construction has done to land. Like a festering scar. Imagine it running through your property! Imagine a political system unresponsive to Texans. Quite frankly it is a disgrace.
Watch another festival film “Coextinction” dealing with the Transmountain Pipeline in Canada and you may conclude pipelines are a threat to human beings due to the destructive forces they spawn. You can see my review of that film here https://setthebarlifestyle.wordpress.com/2022/05/11/rks-film-coextinction-humanity-on-the-edge/?fbclid=IwAR1DPT8ka2AmMa_gxBztcwPuyF1JayximqZrfRNyfWqeOqRcin6b22Xe8Ek
You should be able to see this documentary virtually. Directed by John Brown.
RKS Film Rating 92/100,
“Travels to a Different Time: ” 19July1975: Copenhagen, Denmark: Exhaustion
I have been so tired over the past few days with endless walking and I haven’t written anything in the journal as I lost my pen. I arrived in Copenhagen after a memorable boat trip on a ferry. A big party you might want to say. I found a room here at a youth hostel which is quite nice but a bit like a luxury detention centre. It is $4.50 a night. I woke up drained of much energy or enthusiasm and shoved the usual boring bread and jam down my throat. I washed up and went out for a walk. I met a couple of German guys I knew from the Stockholm youth hostel. We went to a youth centre which has a restaurant and jazz club. I returned to the detention centre for a shower and met a German who had just arrived from Munich. Supper was half cooked freeze-dried soup and some leftover rice I threw into the soup. Went downstairs and played some ping pong with an Aussie guy. The beer is excellent. This is the real Carlsberg not the swill we get in Montreal brewed under license from Carlsberg.
RKS Wine: The Okanagan’s Meyer Family Vineyards 2020 Micro Cuvée Chardonnay
Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan is a bit of Burgundy in British Columbia with its winning ways producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir not to mention a wickedly delicious Gewurtz! I mean give MFV another decade and my successor may be saying in France that Burgundy is a bit of British Columbia in France! Global warming.
We try their Micro Cuvée 2020 Chardonnay.
It has a light gold colour. As for aromatics there is some French oak on the nose but it is restrained to avoid attack by the ABC movement (Anything But Chardonnay). Interspersed amongst the oak there are gentle and subtle aromatics of pear, apple, pineapple and a tad of lemon meringue pie.
On the palate what happened to the gentleness? Yes it seems we have a gentle giant with a finish that simply doesn’t want to return home along the Old Main Road. Initially you are waiting for the fruit to land and it takes about two seconds and it mushrooms with waves of apple, pear and pineapple with a hot finish. If you like a discreet, disciplined and powerful Chardonnay look no further and I mean that to say why bother looking at Burgundy? With MFV Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays I am thinking of starting a new movement ABF (Anything But France).
A mere 200 cases produced and it is going to be snapped up quicker than a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk in front of you. The initial fermentation was in stainless steel with the must then being transferred to 100% French Oak (40% new).
Yet another solid effort from winemaker Chris Carson.
(Meyer Family Vineyards 2020 Micro Cuvée Okanagan Valley Naramata Bench Old Main Road. Vineyard, BC VQA, $60.87, 750 mL, 13.5%, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, RKS Wine Rating 94/100).
No when it comes to price this isn’t inexpensive. It is sort of equivalent to a bottle of champagne. But in my humble opinion perhaps you should treat yourself. I like this gentle giant as it is today but it will improve with the right cellaring for a few years until 2026 and hold its own until 2028.
Given its limited production perhaps it is best to order from the winery at www.mfvwines.com
Pair with Eggplant and Zucchini Pasta with Feta and Dill (New York Times Recipe)
RKS Film: “Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan”
“Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Kahn” weaves an interesting narrative into spectacular cinematography. On second thought it may be that the cinematography in this documentary directed by Robert H. Lieberman ascends the narrative. I don’t take this as a negative as who says the narrative must be more important than the cinematography?
The documentary recounts a basic history of Mongolia and the impact Genghis Kahn had on Mongolia and the world. It was in 1206 that Kahn crafted together Mongolia as a nation state. We think of him as a great warrior but culturally he passed edicts mandating religious freedom, the prohibition of kidnapping women and the protection of diplomats. As these edicts covered his empire they were the beginning of international law. He created an empire which was the biggest one ever created dwarfing that of Alexander the Great. He died in 1227. His empire lasted until 1368. By 1696 Mongolia became part of the Manchu Dynasty. Eventually it fell under the control of the Soviet Empire until communism faltered in the Soviet Union and it could no longer continue to finance Mongolia. Shortly thereafter a democracy was established and the Genghis Kahn legacy resurged to fill a political and cultural vacuum. In the communist days it was prohibited to refer to Kahn but his greatness was a legacy the Mongolians could cling to in uncertain times.
Despite the fact that only 30% of the population is nomadic the nomadic spirit survives in national culture. But modernization and a huge livestock failure caused the main city of Ulan Bator to swell with a million or so former nomads that flocked to the city. Pollution is horrific in the winter months as so many of the former nomads camping on the edge of the city in their gers burn low quality coal for heat.
The documentary is a fascinating incursion into Mongolian history, culture and politics.
You can watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/365863230
To start the documentary will be showing in select theatres in Washington on June 3 and in Los Angeles on June 10th. Further theatrical and VOD releases will be known soon.
RKS Film Rating 84/100.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 