I woke up today knowing I am north of Dubrovnik. A tiny village called Janiania? It is not on my map. I really don’t care as I know I must head north to get to Germany to leave Europe shortly. I am in the Twilight Zone and there is a beautiful ocean and lots of Dalmatian smoked ham. My Austrian pals returned with loads of food for breakfast. We feasted and headed off to a fabulous beach for the morning. We are all hooked on this wonderful Dalmatian smoked ham and we went to a tiny restaurant for a bottle of sparkling Radenska sparkling water and two Dalmatian smoked ham sandwiches each. As we were eating a fight broke out in the restaurant with the son of the owner slugging the daughter of the owner. A crowd emerged to separate the two combatants. I think that spooked my Austrian friends and they packed up and left asking me if I wanted to go with them. My answer was no as I am stuck by forces unknown here. So I am alone in the big world. So back to the beautiful beach and cleaned out my nylon house of garbage and walked about a village unmarked on the map that I think was called Drače? This place is off the grid. Dinner was leftover food from Romania meaning bread, Russian canned sprats, peach juice and a peach. I have a dilapidated tent. No radio. No TV. I don’t even know where the fuck I am! Off to bed at 20:00. Wherever I am it is a therapeutic recovery from the horrific Romanian Black Sea Coast. What can happen in the Twilight Zone? Who knows? My mom always said the ocean had a healing power. I am beginning to understand this!
RKS Wine: The Bordeaux River Keeps on Flowing
There is no shortage of Bordeaux reds flowing into Ontario at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. It is not a waterfall as the LCBO attempts to please all with a bit of this and a bit of that and none of many.
At $19.95 there is a Château Tour Castillon from the Médoc which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenère.
As for aromatics the first thing you might notice is the lushness of the Merlot and the exoticism of the Petit Verdot. I would venture at least 50% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot but no such information is on the label. Loads of black cherry and some cassis. On the palate there are noticeable tannins but they retain their moderate nature at least initially. Black cherry again! If only the inviting aromatics could translate into an exceptional wine! The tannins gain more steam and begin to interfere with the palate. This is a wine that dashes your hopes on the rocks.
(Château Tour Castillon 2016 AC Médoc Cru Bourgeois, Earl des Vignobles, Peyruse, Gironde, France, $19.95, LCBO # 22949, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 84/100).
I am at odds with James Suckling on this one who gives it a 92! Yikes!
RKS Film: “When We Were Bullies”: The Perpetrators and The Victims 50 Years Later
“When We Were Bullies” initially may seem to be a case of 50-year-old memories careening out of control. But in this case the documentary is not about a presidential election in Zimbabwe or some other esoteric event we have no real tangible connection to. It has to do with bullying and I venture to say we all have bullying experiences.
I recall in grade 3 being surrounded by three boys in the schoolyard. I thought I had waited them out so my heart stopped when I saw them coming after me. I fought like a lion and it was a draw. I remember that utter desolation being alone and outnumbered. I also remember in grade 6 X pooping in his pants with feces causing a horrible stink. The mean machos made his life miserable to the point he had a nervous breakdown.
In this documentary director Jay Rosenblatt remembers a bullying incident where he was both an instigator and participant. He reconstructs the incident that occurred at Public School 194 in Brooklyn some 50 years ago when Dick was surrounded by his entire class and punched, spat on and insulted. The incident was broken up by staff and Rosenblatt remembers his teacher Mrs. Bromberg blasting the class calling them “animals”.
He contacts former classmates and most express some remorse although many have a foggy memory. He also speaks with Mrs. Bromberg who can’t remember the specific incident but a whole series of similar incidents saying children have a sixth sense for detecting weakness. In fact her own daughter was one of those who was bullied and never was with the in crowd. She committed suicide. Mrs. Bromberg does remember Rosenblatt himself was bullied. I caught that line and I wondered if the film is not about Dick but Rosenblatt. Rosenblatt quickly had mentioned that his brother had died when he was in grade 4 and he closed down after that. He concludes this bullying incident and film is not so much about Dick as it about all of us. What does Rosenblatt want to say to Dick? “I’m sorry”.
I was thinking this would be a flippant trip down memory lane but it is a powerful study of bullying and how it can damage both its victims and its perpetrators.
It will be broadcast on HBO on March 30th at 22:00 hours with streaming launching on HBO Max on the same day.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcFJPTj94aM&t=2s
Image courtesy of HBO.
“Andrij the Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog” : Chapter 16: We Meet The Grand Ayatollah in Tehran Who Loves Pancakes and Waffles!
We arrive in Tehran after stopping to refuel in the Azores. We are met by an assistant to The Grand Ayatollah and taken to see him at his office. He has a big smile when he sees Reggie like they are long lost friends. As customary no business is talked until we have many cups of tea and some dates of which Bob will not let us eat. The Grand Ayatollah is concerned he has not prepared the right food for his canine guests. Bob explains that dates are not good for dogs. The Grand Ayatollah looks perplexed and insists his canine friends must eat. Its a matter of Iranian hospitality he insists so Bob suggests some watermelon or carrots and within moments such sweet watermelon and carrots are set down before us. He mentions Reggie to hop up on his lap. If only people could see this they might be willing to seriously talk to Iran about its nuclear ambitions and its human rights issues.
After tea and refreshments Bob gets right to the point as he aways does and asks if Iran can increase its output of oil to compensate for boycotted Russian oil. The Grand Ayatollah strokes his beard and says some remarkable things. He says that Iran is disturbed about Tsar Putin’s irrationality and brutality. He was especially concerned about Tsar Putin’s public statement that those who criticize his invasion might have to be “cleansed”. He says this reminds him of Hitler. He also says Iranians are having second thoughts about Syrian decimation caused by Tsar Putin. In short he says Tsar Putin was massacring fellow Muslims. Iran, he says, started becoming very worried after seeing me attack and kill The Brute in Kiev. Iranians know what drove the little dog to attack this Russian rogue soldier that being the massacre of his family. The Grand Ayatollah says that Iranians see Russians as barbarous invaders. He then says we must pray about this and invites Reggie and I to pray at his private mini mosque. Reggie is a trusted friend of The Grand Ayatollah. Bob explains that I am Ukrainian Orthodox. Nonetheless the Grand Ayatollah still invites me saying Allah welcomes all peaceful loving creatures and has a special place in his heart for brave warriors with noble causes like me. I go with Reggie and The Grand Ayatollah. I do not kneel but quietly watch Reggie and The Grand Ayatollah pray. We pray for an hour and return to meet Bob. The Grand Ayatollah surprises us even more by saying he has seen the right way and will apologize to the Canadian government for the Revolutionary Guard that shot down a Ukrainian Airlines plane killing scores of Canadians aboard. He also says he will check with his ministers about increasing oil production but there may have to be concessions from the Americans. He says he knows Reggie and President Biden are good friends and hopes Reggie and Bob can broker a deal if necessary. He quickly says enough business. You must be my guest for a private dinner tonight. He asks Bob if ground lamb, carrots and rice would be good for me and Reggie. Now that will be a treat.
We go to a hotel and have a rest and prepare for dinner. We arrive for dinner and sit-down and The Grand Ayatollah asks Bob to say a Christian grace. Bob delivers a very sincere grace thanking Allah for our food and asking him for guidance and help in bringing peace to the world and making Canadians and Iranians great friends. The Grand Ayatollah astounds us by saying Iranians will increase oil production to the levels President Biden requires provided all sanctions are dropped against Iran. Iran will promise it will not develop nuclear weapons and open all nuclear facilities to United Nation’s inspections. Iran will meet with the representatives of the United Nations to discuss human rights. He says let the bureaucrats paper the deal. Reggie will be busy with President Biden.
After dinner The Grand Ayatollah gives us three dog blankets and jerseys from Teheran’s main football club. Bob gives The Grand Ayatollah a case of Canadian Maple Syrup. We are some of the few that knows The Ayatollah’s love of pancakes and waffles!
We are off to Rome for a quick visit with the Pope.
“Travels to a Different Time” : 25July1974: All Over Yugoslavia: Massive Confusion in Dubrovnik: Minimalist Camping! Existential Question of Where am I?
I woke up shortly after my Peugeot 404 friends did, Alex and Eckart. On the road at 09:00. We encountered a traffic jam in Titograd but it cleared up and we stopped at supermarket to buy some food for breakfast. Not eating dinner we all were starving. The incredible scenery continued. We arrived at the campsite but it was full. What is going on? Into Dubrovnik but there were no rooms and hundreds of tourists seemed to be arriving in a state of confusion. They were on their way to Greece but it seems the Yugoslav-Greek border is closed. So we tried another campground for 25 cents a night but no facilities other than a hose with cold water! It is near a small village with 15 homes a store and a restaurant. It has a beautiful beach. Dinner was a beer and some of that wonderful Dalmatian smoked ham on a bun! Where am I?
“Travels to a Different Time” : 24July1974: All Over Yugoslavia: Turkish Invasion of Cyprus a Hot Topic: The Ugly American and Smashed Cars Down the Gorge: Yugoslav Army Mobilizes Behind Me!
Up for breakfast at 07:00. I met my German Easy Rider friend for breakfast. The room was buzzing with talk of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The borders into Greece may be closed because of the Turkish aggression. So there is some confusion. After breakfast I came up and packed with grim determination as I want to get to Dubrovnik and hitchhiking can be brutal in Yugoslavia. Your best bet is to be picked by a tourist as opposed to a Yugoslav. I did think of taking the plane to Dubrovnik so I went into the JAT Airlines office and what a disorganized mess. It took me a half an hour to find someone to speak to and I had to listen to some American whining loudly about the service and making a fool of herself. The “Ugly American” syndrome. Obviously, a person thinking she was back home in Mountain Lake New Jersey as opposed to behind the Iron Curtain! The airfare was $15 but it was departing next morning so forget it. A gruelling walk in the heat to the highway. Sticking your thumb out is the easy part of hitchhiking. Getting to the right road to stick your thumb out can be gruelling. With all the walking I do it is no wonder I am a vacuum cleaner for food! My first lift was with a Yugoslav working in Philadelphia. What impressive scenery up in the mountains. He left me off at Pristina in Kosovo and another gruelling walk to get to the right road. Weary I sat down and shortly I heard a whistle and a soldier motioning to me to get moving. I was right outside a military base. Speaking of military there are rumours the Yugoslav military has mobilized just south of here along the southern border with Greece. Two Austrian guys in a 404 Peugeot picked me up. A great car. In fact the best car I have been in since Fritz’s Alfa Romeo. They took me to Titograd in Montenegro where we stopped at a campground. Overcrowded with inadequate facilities but what an incredible drive here up in the mountains. We stopped a couple of times to soak the beauty in. Treacherous roads with gorges with rushing rivers below and no shortage of smashed up cars below. Yikes! I met a Canadian from Calgary with strange plaid pants. Pooped it was off to bed a 21:00.
“Travels to a Different Time : 23July1974; Nis, Skopje, Yugoslavia: Am I Jack Nicholson or Peter Fonda? Staying in Earthquake City!
Woke up yet again in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Unfortunately my jeans I washed last night are still damp. These are my last pair of pants. I went down for a great Continental breakfast at 08:30. I ate quickly and hung up my pants to dry further. Not willing to wait I headed out off to Skopje. I found a discarded sign with “Skopje” written on it so I used that and snagged a lift going halfway. Some French kids picked me up and dropped me off at Skopje site of a recent devastating earthquake. I had a choice of taking the bus to Dubrovnik leaving at 22:00 but that would cause some difficulties in finding a room so late at night. So I found the dreaded youth hostel and there were a crowd of poorly dressed Bulgarian youth in the lobby. I met a German guy as I was heading up to my room and we agreed to meet in the lobby in 15 minutes. He had a Yamaha 125 CC motorbike so we had a spin around the town a la Easy Rider. The old town is beautiful and there are some mosques as there is a Muslim population here. We wanted to see some mosques but all were closed. We headed up in the hills for a spectacular view of Skopje. There is so much life in Yugoslavia compared to Romania. We stopped in a cafeteria and as there was food glorious food I ate like a horse. After dinner we sat by the river and had a bottle of wine in a café. We headed back to the youth hostel and had a beer in the lobby. Beer in a youth hostel! Is the world coming to an end?
“Travels to a Different Time ” : 22July1974: All Over the Place in Romania and Yugoslavia: The Squawking Plastic Parrot: Being a Community Project and a Cadillac With New York Plates Parked Outside a Shack
My last day in Romania. I have been here for 29 days and only have scratched the surface. When I return home I will have to read more about Romanian politics and society. I was up at 06:15 for a breakfast of my bartered Romanian honey and some bread. Off on a dilapidated bus courtesy of a crowd of Romanians who made me their community project. I asked one of them how I would get a bus towards the Yugoslavian frontier. It wasn’t long before there were 50 of them eyeballing a “hepee”. I would ask a question and someone would translate it and there would be a discussion. Back and forth it went. The whole crowd took me to the bus stop and waved good-bye!
We passed town after time and there were many peasants in the fields all very poor looking. I saw a Cadillac with New York license plates parked outside a shack. I got off the bus at a small city Turnu Severin which was the frontier town. I asked people where Yugoslavian border was and they pointed me in the right direction but it was 9 kms away. A Romanian student took me to the bus that would take me to the frontier. He was from a university in Bucharest and was sent here to make a map of the city. There are many students that are sent to smaller towns for projects. I arrived at the frontier. I must have gotten too close to something and a Yugoslav soldier got all upset and motioned me back for a search which he abandoned seeing how crammed my knapsack was. He managed to get a ride for me with some Finns that were visiting Yugoslavia for the day. The next lift was with a greaseball Yugoslav driving a Ford he had purchased in the Netherlands. He had 4 plastic animals hanging from his rear-view mirror. When we hit a bump the plastic parrot would squawk. I ended up in Nis paying an outrageous $7 for a room but at least a private bathroom and hot water. I crashed out at 9 without eating any dinner.
RKS Wine: Argentinian Viognier?
We do not see much Argentinian Viognier here in Canada. Most of it comes from California and France. So is this Seral Viognier from Mendoza any good? The grapes are grown at an altitude of 1,300 metres in Tupungato, Mendoza. There is no oak involved just stainless steel.
It has a very light gold colour and is almost platinum coloured. Unmistakable aromas of Viognier being honey, peach apricots and tangerine. On the palate it is a bit vacuous and stops short of delivering a solid Viognier punch. In fact it is watery. Short finish. A big disappointment. A mediocre Viognier from Argentina should not lead to conclusions Argentina can’t produce great Viogniers. Before we say adios I noted upon opening a yeast smell emanated from the bottle almost as if I was wandering about in a winery at harvest time but no trace of yeast in the glass or on the palate. Strange.
(Atamisque Serbal Viognier 2019, Bodega Atamisque, Tupungato, Mendoza, Argentina, $16.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 21984, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 85/100).
“Andrij the Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog” : Chapter 15: Some Downtime: I Meet Mr. Gordon Lightfoot and Drake: President Biden Has a Mission for Me and Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog
I had a good sleep except for flashbacks about explosions and the deaths of my Ukrainian family. Bob takes me, Reggie and Dylan for a walk in the compound. Poor Bob having to pick up all that poop. We have our breakfast and as usual, according to Reggie, we have a little treat on the side a bit of toasted bagel from Fairmont Bagel Bakery in Montreal.
Bob pulls me aside and we go into his office. Bob explains to me he oversees me here in Canada and that he is going to take care of me and ensure that I don’t work too hard. He says he has my back and the look in his eyes of which we dogs are very good at reading says to me he means it. He says my only task today is to attend a Toronto Maple Leaf’s hockey game at Scotia Centre. He explains the plan. But he asks me if the plan works with me. I bark YES! Bob laughs and says the way to a Canadian’s heart is through hockey. He also has a strange request from President Biden about easing the terrible rise of oil prices in North America and delivering a slap in the Tsar’s face. It is an unofficial mission and we are to say we have no request to do what we are going to do from President Biden. Bob says Reggie has a special place in the heart of the Grand Ayatollah because Reggie is a Muslim and they have prayed together. Reggie hops on his lap to be petted. The children of Iran love Reggie. Our job is to go to Tehran and ask the Ayatollah to increase the supply of oil to North America. Bob tells me Iranians view me as a brave warrior after I tore out the Brute’s neck. So Reggie and I will be a team with Bob doing the talking. We will be travelling right after the hockey game on Bob and Fay’s private jet. On the way back home we will be stopping at the Vatican to meet the Pope and greet the faithful in St. Peters Square.
Bob also mentions that our friend Nicole Kidman has plans for a movie about me but we will discuss that later. Not only that but Disney Studios has floated the idea about an animated film about me.
We have tea with Bob and Fay’s neighbours. Mr. Gordon Lightfoot is an older guy and he is over with another Egyptian Rescue dog Bosco a great friend of Reggie and Dylan. Then a black man called Drake comes. Both guests are famous musicians but I do not know their music! Reggie says just wait until you hear Mr. Gordon Lightfoot sing “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. Drake and Mr. Gordon Lightfoot start discussing a benefit Ukrainian concert which will be broadcast to the world. We have a wonderful tea and I have a bit of jasmine tea. Dylan and Reggie love it and I think I do too.
Bob suggests we have a nap as it will be a long day. Bob has packed and we shall be heading to Tehran after the hockey game.
We arrive at Scotia Centre and security is very tight. I have my flak jacket and helmet on. We go into the Toronto Maple Leaf’s dressing room and these big strong men act like happy children seeing me. The captain of the team presents me with a dog size Maple Leaf’s jersey and a matching blanket. Dylan and Reggie have Hamilton Tigercat’s blankets and jerseys. Aren’t we sporty dogs!
We have a special box where we will watch the game. Before the game Bob takes me to centre ice where the Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada gives a short speech and introduces me. Bob turns me around so all the roaring crowd can see me. The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs comes out gives me a flak jacket with the Toronto Highlander’s insignia on one side and the Ukrainian flag on the other. I get a matching helmet. Then the Ukrainian national anthem follows the Canadian anthem. I see my face on a giant Jumbotron. Is this real?
We watch the game from our box but so many people want to meet me. My attack on the Brute has gone viral in Canada as it has in most of the world. Bob later tells me some sizeable cheques were written for the Ukrainian Relief Fund For Refugees by guests in the box.
After the game we go in a motorcade to the Toronto Airport and board our private jet. We are off to Tehran!
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 