After breakfast a chat with a Brazilian guy who had found a job at a laundromat. He had the address of another laundromat that might have a job so I went to it and waited 10 minutes in the office to speak to the manager who had a job at the night shift. That would screw up a normal life so I declined. I returned home in the Metro and bought some beans, milk and tangerines for lunch. I found a “Time” and read half of it and went into town to people watch on the steps opposite the marketplace. Then off to the other hangout Kulterhuset where you can read and listen to music on earphones. I reserved a 7 p.m. spot. I returned home for a repulsive supper and then headed back to Kulterhuset picking two albums one being “Hot Rats” by Frank Zappa. Came home at 21:00 and in bed half an hour later.
RKS Wine: A Douro Delight? Prova Cega Sparks Demonstrations Against Canadian Wine Writer in Portugal!
Spoilt brats like me get so accustomed to consistent excellence of Douro reds from Portugal they often fail to become excited by them and instead nonchalantly assume excellence. Poor spoilt brat! What pressure on Douro winemakers to be held in such high esteem! I have had some knockouts at under $15 so money doesn’t necessarily determine Douro excellence.
Now that I have opened my big mouth what about a 2019 Provo Cega from the Douro. A blend of the “usual suspects” of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Sousão.
Dark purple in colour. For aromatics black cherry, blueberry, floral notes, spice, root beer and lavender. On the palate moderate to heavy tannins with black cherry and assorted black fruits including blackberry. Medium finish. Would suit grilled Ox or pork and clams Portuguese style. Also would suit medium rare grilled beef or a Douro Duck and Rice Casserole. Eggplant Parmesan would like to be a friend of this wine or some Greek Pastitsio.
This will calm down a bit in the next two years if you like a less robust wine.
This spoilt brat rolls his eyes and says not another excellent Douro red! A real spoilt spoilt brat. If I keep this up next time I land in Porto the anti-Robert demonstrations will be larger than the last time!
(Prova Cega 2019, DOC Douro, Quinta de Curvos, Braga, Portugal, $14.95, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 446054 RKS Wine Rating 92/100)
RKS Wine: Mendoza Malbecs Power on But Not Always! Malbec Disaster!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say there isn’t a Malbec that disappoints but from Mendoza they rarely disappoint. There may be a looming problem that Argentinian Malbecs are perceived as Argentina’s signature wine to the detriment of other Argentinian wines. Perhaps the identical problem facing New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc. Malbec producers enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.
The Nieto Senetiner Don Nicanor Malbec 2018 is a Malbec from Mendoza. With its near purple colour one receives an impression it will not surrender. On the nose you will be knocked about by a concentrated aroma of blackberry. There is also an underpinning of coal and layered above that is a mean rich streak of black cherry with a whiff of concrete. On the palate enough power to propel Elon Musk to the moon and back although some of us might be happier if he remained on the moon to develop an electric moonwalker.
But wait as the wine opens up the fruit disappears and the wine becomes overwhelmed by wet cement and cardboard. Houston, we have a problem. Abort the mission! Malbec disaster!
(Nieto Senetiner Don Nicanor Malbec 2018, Mendoza, Argentina, Nieto Senetiner, Mendoza, Argentina, $16.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 178657, 750 mL, 14.7% RKS Wine Rating RETURN TO SENDER)
“Travels to a Different Time” : 30June1975: American Graffiti Lives on in Stockholm! Scary Jesus Person in the Graveyard
I had the idea of finding some work to bolster my cash as at $12 a day Sweden is burning the cash. The first stop was the tourist office who gave me the address of the employment office who then sent me to Immigration who then sent me to the employment office for students. Yes they had jobs but what a hassle. They give you a book with jobs and a translation book. I gave up with the bureaucracy after an hour and went to the hangout square where there is a library you can listen to music at with earphones and read newspapers and magazines some of which are in English. I met a guy from Winnipeg and another from Montreal. They were good Frisbee players. Finally someone with my skills. We played in an old graveyard by the hostel. I put one on poor Hans’s grave marker (RIP 1907). We were taking a rest and some eerie looking Jesus person approached us looking as if he just emerged from a grave. I went with the Canadians to McDonalds for cheap food for the impoverished masses. After on a main street an incredible sight with old American cars roaring up and down the street. A greasy crowd. A cross between “American Graffiti” and “Rebel Without a Cause”. Sweden loves American culture.
“Travels to a Different Time” : 29June1975: Stockholm, Sweden: Salvation Army All Over the Place!
I must admit civilized and advanced Sweden may offer the best milk I have ever had and guaranteed hot showers but everything feels sterile and lifeless after Greece and Yugoslavia where people may be poor but many are so lively. And anything you want you can buy which is a bit of a shock from the shortages of everything in Eastern Europe. There is simply not too much to get frustrated with. It is so much like home even much of the topography. Is it boring?
Up at 10:00 and off to the store for breakfast and while I ate I talked with a Pakistani guy and with some Canadians that had just arrived from Oslo. They had a shower and we headed out to a cheap place to eat called the Cooking School but could not find it. We ended up at a place the Pakistani guy knew which was a buffet and we all stuffed ourselves. We headed to a square where the young folks congregate. There were huge crowds of Japanese young folk. We just watched the people drift by on a warm spring day. The Germans and I headed off to Carrols for a milkshake. Stockholm is Americanized. Lots of processed plastic food and chain restaurants. After this off to the PUB department store steps to people watch. The Salvation Army was performing nearby. What is it with the Salvation Army here. They are everywhere. Do people in Sweden need salvation? They had their first Swedish meeting in 1878.
RKS Film: “The Smell of Money”: A Big Battle Against Big Pork Megacorp!
Elsie Herring was a resident of Eastern North Carolina in the United States that fought tooth and nail against the big pork processors in Duplin County. Her grandfather as a former slave purchased tracts of land in the county for farming purposes. The Big Pork Megacorps mushroomed in Eastern North Carolina in the 1980’s and pig wastewater spraying began just across from her property or rather on her property which through deed manipulation Big Pork claimed as its own. Pigs generate many feces and much urine and generate a lot of flatulence. The feces and urine are channelled into lagoons. Much of it is sprayed onto fields creating a dangerous toxic spray. Some of it “leaks” out so Big Pork says. It is a cheap way for disposing of pig waste for Big Pork but it is a huge nuisance making life unpleasant for residents. It poisons residents, groundwater and waterways.
As Peter Finch yells in the movie “Network” and has citizens yell, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Well the 1990’s saw residents in Big Pork contaminated areas fight back and eventually win massive multi billion dollar settlements against Big Pork. This documentary is a story of their fight.
One Smithfield Big Pork plant processes over 10,000 hogs a day. Truckloads of pigs pour into Eastern North Carolina leaving a trail of pig fumes. Not only that chicken farms compound the problem. Why is it that fisherman in lands adjacent to Big Pork start passing out? Why are so many residents becoming ill incurring massive legal bills?
North Carolina politicians on the whole favoured Big Pork as the biggest industry in North Carolina. Their unwavering support and callous disregard for Big Pork opponents is disgraceful. Big Pork’s opposition and harassment of opponents has labeled them the affectionate term “Pork Mafia”. Why is it the film crew in Big Pork territory was shadowed by no less than 5 police cars?
It was community activists that launched numerous class action lawsuits that wounded Big Pork. Perhaps the call to action intensified with Hurricane Florence in 2018 that killed millions of animals, flooded hog processing plants and caused 50 pig waste ponds to overflow with disastrous results.
Elsie died but the activism continues and Big Pork continues its way. As one Big Pork executive said the smell of pig shit is the smell of money.
One activist admonishes the American public for eating meat 24/7. Big Pork is fuelled by consumer demand.
I would be interested in a sequel dealing what if anything has changed after Big Pork lost so many class action lawsuits.
The documentary is part of Toronto Hots Docs Festival and can be seen at Hot Docs theatres on April 30 and May 3. It will stream (geoblocked to Canada) for 5 days commencing May 1st.
Directed and written by Shawn Bannon.
RKS Film Rating 88/100.
RKS Wine: Does Lions’ Circle Shiraz Roar or Meow?
The Plantagenet Lion’s Circle 2018 from Western Australia might roar, meow or perhaps even purr. Western Australian wines can be lighter than a Barossa or McLaren Vale Shiraz. Let’s see!
As for aromatics there is an earthy characteristic that on a blind tasting I might mistake this for a South African Shiraz. Notes of black cherry and blackberry. On the palate just above the radar tannins. It is no weak kneed 99-pound weakling as it has palate presence but does it have character? The influence of blackberry, blueberry and black cherry is knobbly kneed. This Shiraz has run out of gas and fails to impress. I hear a meow! I am beginning to conclude that Australian wines are overpriced and better value is to be had with the wines of Portugal, Spain and Southern France and for Syrah in Canada I’d go with Stag’s Hollow in the Okanagan, British Columbia!
(Plantagenet Lions’ Circle Shiraz 2018, Great Southern, Western Australia, Plantagenet Wines, Barker, Western Australia. $18.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 15977, 14%, 750 mL, RKS Wine Rating 85/100).
“Travels to a Different Time” : 28June1975: Stockholm, Sweden: Seeing the King of Sweden and the Arguing Gay Boys
Up at 9:30 in my slum which at least has hot water in their showers. On my way to the supermarket to buy some breakfast supplies approached by yet another drunk of which there are many in Stockholm. I bought some bread, cheap meat and a litre of milk. The price was so outrageous I can’t write it down. I ate breakfast sitting on the edge of my bed and then walked into the city encountering a huge mob of people. I waited with the mob and then saw why so many people were there. I saw the King of Sweden. I split and walked around. Lots of small winding streets very narrow and full of expensive shops and restaurants. I checked a few restaurants to query if they had work but only one did and it was a waiter’s job and since I do not speak Swedish forget that! On the way back to my tenement I stopped for a lunch of a Big Mac, milkshake and fries for $3.50. How expensive! I could have the same in Montreal for $1.50. Back at three I washed some clothes and lamented the difficulty of living out of a knapsack. Next door are a couple of gay guys from United States asking each other the most stupid questions. A nasty blow out ensued. They left shortly afterwards. I left at 19:30 and bought some milk, bread and meat. Milk is the cheapest thing to drink at 35 cents a litre. I went to play harmonica along with a guy with a guitar from New Zealand. Off to bed at 21:30.
RKS Film: “Road Trip”: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Panah Panahi has crafted a clever film in the Iranian film “Road Trip”. It is a wonderful film and does not hand feed you. It is delightfully vague and I believe perhaps intentionally so or has Iranian autocracy hardwired Panahi as a matter of survival to be discrete? If you know the repression of Iranian theocracy it is unwise to criticize anything that can be perceived as a political attack. Just ask the political prisoners that have disappeared, been murdered or have been tortured or all three. If you are familiar with Soviet literature during the Stalinist era and possibly in the era of his successor Putin you may know by way of innocent allegory a regime could be lampooned and criticized with a smile. To do so requires skill and as akin to a cat on a hot tin roof not getting paws scorched. Panahi is the cat on a hot tin roof with this film.
To gain an idea of repression in Iran you can see my review of the documentary “Nasrin” https://setthebarlifestyle.wordpress.com/2020/12/01/nasrin-dirty-rotten-you-know-whats/?fbclid=IwAR1vorUlI_jUqqRI4r-xySbPHa2judXpbQQHxX4FV-2EFjUJnWFtqcvU5N8
Initially I thought this might be a comedy. Father Khorso (Hassan Madjooni), mother (Pantea Panahiha) little brother (Rayan Sarlak) and big brother Farid (Amin Simiar) with their ailing dog Jessy are off on a road trip in Iran. After watching little brother motor mouth in a most precocious fashion to start the film I thought this might be an Iranian Griswoldian trip to Wally World.
Matters start to get off the comedic track when mother in a fearful voice exclaims that they are being followed on the highway. Why the paranoia? Is it simply because this is Iran or is there more than meets the eyes? More comments are made by mom and dad about a summons not yet being served on Farid and having to sell a house and car for bond? Then mention is made that once out of Iran photographer Farid will be successful and we’ll all be reunited? Then father is on the phone with Houshang who appears to be waiting for them. Father says Houshang is a stand-up guy and is to be trusted.
The family heads up from the desert into lush green hills and stops to buy a sheepskin for camouflage. Up they head to a remote meeting point where father says to Farid he should not forget that Houshang is waiting for him “on the other side”. Bingo! Big brother Farid is being smuggled out of Iran into Turkey. Why we don’t find out. But at the hand off point there are other families waiting to hear if their loved one has been successfully smuggled out. Does Farid make it?
This film is no comedy but rather a study in quiet desperation of which little brother has no real clue. Any joy on the trip is fabricated to mask misery. We do not know why Farid is escaping. That is purposely kept vague lest any reason critical to the Iranian regime be apparent. Even any direct reference to human smuggling is never made but rather implied. There is some reason why Farid is escaping. Has he committed a crime? Is he evading military service? Has he criticized the regime? Panahi as writer and director is a cat on a hot tin roof. It is up to the viewer to draw their own conclusions. As in Stalinist and Putinist times censors can’t catch all especially when there is no clear-cut jab criticizing an oppressive regime. Farid could simply be a criminal or trying to escape military service. Right?
Madjooni as father and Panahiha as mother give convincing performances and little brother (Rayan Sarlak) plays both the precocious and obnoxious card beautifully and unforgettably. Beautiful cinematography by Amin Jafari is pulling you to visit Iran.
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/690585703
Currently playing in Canada and when and where see https://www.filmswelike.com/
RKS Film Rating 91/100. The film started its run in Canada on April 22 and will play at several theatres there. You can check out where at https://www.filmswelike.com/
RKS Wine: Inexpensive French Wine: Pays d’Oc
Generally speaking Southern France, particularly Pays d’Oc, can be a good region for inexpensive wine with quality a bit of a hit and miss but isn’t that the case for just about all wine regions?
The Gayda Syrah 2020 retails for $14.95 in Ontario. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s description in its April 16, 2022 catalogue says this wine is an astonishing value making it a can’t miss option. Forget the marketing hype and investigate on your own.
As for aromas the wine has a presence. Expect blackberry, black cherry and some spice. On the palate expect blackberry to rule hanging in there like a nearly expired monarch. The palate is coated pleasantly with richness that might be better defined but the sourness I am registering with so many red wines is thankfully not lurking in this wine. Short finish. Not a complex wine but there are no flaws. It can be quaffed on its own but as there is summer on my mind try with a Swedish Lindstrom burger.
RKS Wine Rating 88/100. If you are comfortable with a simple but well-made wine well then this is a “can’t miss option”.
(Gayda Syrah 2020, IGP Pays d’Oc, Domaine Gayda, Brugairolles, France, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 392977, 750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).
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