“Travels to a Different Time” : 12August1973: Bled, Yugoslavia:  Birthday Soccer Game and My Dirty Old Man Cough: The Dirty Looking German Girls

Woke up to my 18th birthday. Legal drinking age and more responsibility blah blah blah. I figured out that I have had only 4 birthdays in Canada. This is my third successive birthday in Europe. Will there be a marching band or my favourite meal with a birthday cake? Dream on intrepid traveler! Well a good birthday breakfast of scrambled eggs, black bread, honey, plum juice and a piece of sweet cake. No swimming today as it was overcast so instead a nice three hour walk around the lake. Came home and whipped up a dinner of rice, peas, black bread, beer and some cucumber. Some dirty looking German girls came in as I was finishing my supper. Hopefully they will enjoy a hot shower. Peeu the smell as they walked by like Pig Pen with a cloud of dirt following him. After cleaning up I watched the end of a Russian film and went out with some of the fellows to play a soccer game against a local soccer team practicing nearby. We rag tag decadent capitalist youth whupped them and I scored three goals. Out to celebrate my birthday with a huge helping of ice cream and a delicious chocolate pastry. Much to the delight of the patrons of the youth hostel I gave them a few dirty old man coughs I am famous throughout the European youth hostel circuit for. Lots of clapping. What an odd birthday.

Speaking of dirty German girls such can be the plight of low budget young travellers as on occasion extended travelling days make a shower a difficult task. In some countries a hot shower is but an illusion as cold showers rule. But my view is that no one wants to be stinky and dirty. You are a representative of Canada and of your generation so best to be as clean as you can. A bath! Forget it.

“Andrij the Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog” : Chapter 3: “My Bloody Revenge: If This is Death I Die With Honour”

I am out of the city on the bus to what we have learnt is Romania. There is no room left in Poland to process and feed us. I am hungry and thirsty and have lost my hearing from the explosion on the truck. There are 4 dogs on the bus all with their mistresses. I have no one. What will I do when I get to this place called Romania?

Thank goodness one of the dog owners has some sausage and bread and gives me some to eat. She also gives me some water. She calls me a sweet little thing and she cries even more when she says she can’t take care of me as she has her own dog and children to take care of. I understand and try to comfort her as she moans about her husband back in Kiev fighting the Putin stormtroopers.

Despite having bright flashes affecting my vision my stomach is full and I start to doze off and then again a deafening explosion as something hits the bus. Many women and children are killed. I am fine and hop over the dead bus driver and sit outside the bus. There are 4 Russian soldiers coming towards the bus with their pistols. Saying “Ukrainian Bastards die”. They board the bus and I hear shooting for a few minutes and cries for help. Then all is silent. They throw a few grenades at the bus and walk away laughing. I am grabbed by the neck and taken into the woods by a soldier they call “The Brute”. The soldiers are driving a van with Ukrainian license plates. These vermin are spies and mercenaries. The Brute smiles at me speaking sweetly and calls me a Ukrainian cur and motions for me to have a piece of sausage. I see a glint of steel behind his back. I understand Russian but don’t flinch when he says he will skin me alive and force a Ukrainian soldier to eat me. My rage, hatred and terror come into my blood and I have one thing on my mind and that is the honour of my master Anatoli, his wife Boyka and the two children Danilo and Daryna. I edge closer and give a horrifying growl and with adrenalin pumping lunge high up at the throat of The Brute who in this last second hopefully feels terror of a sudden death. I rip out his throat and taste his blood amidst the stench of vodka on his breath. His companions are stunned and seizing the scant time I have I run deeper into the woods and they are cracks of rifles and I hear bullets whizzing all around me and my hind leg is burning with pain but I run zig zagging in and out of the trees. There is blood on the snow. I am so tired I can’t go much farther but I run into a Ukrainian patrol of soldiers that order me to sit and stay. I see them as angry as I am kill the invaders and they shout very angry and bad words. They come back and I am getting very sleepy. If this is death then let it be said I died with honour.

RKS Film: The Hellenic Film Society USA Presents “My Name is Eftihia”

The Hellenic Film Society USA continues its “Greek Films on Demand” enabling viewers globally to access feature films, documentaries and film shorts made by Greek filmmakers, as well as films that promote the cultures of Greece and Cyprus.

Their two March offerings include “My Name is Eftihia” a bio pic from 2019 capturing the inspirational and tragic life of Eftihia Papagiannopoulou (1893-1972). She fled the Turkish genocidal attack and burning of Smyrna in 1922 lucky enough to board a ship to safety as many countries refused to assist these victims. Instead they watched hundreds drown trying to swim to what they thought was safety.

Upon arriving in Greece she became involved in the theatre and then moved into composing songs of the rebetika and laika genre. She was a prolific composer selling her compositions to Greek singers such as Vassilis Tsitanis. She was a contemporary to Rosa Sarah Eskenazi a well-known singer of rebetika.

Her story is one of grit and determination divorcing her husband 20 years senior to her age she then married a policeman Giorgos Papagiannopoulos (Pigmalion Dadakarides). The tragic side of her life is that she was a ferocious gambler constantly in debt. She would sell her songs and the rights to them at a low price to finance her gambling addiction.

The acting and costuming looks like big budget. Karyofyllia Karampeti (older Eftihia) and Katia Goulioni (as younger Eftihia) give fierce performances and Thanos Tokakis (Loukas) as her manservant, confidant and assistant offers a brilliant and measured performance as a homosexual when such a sexual status was vilified in Greece. In the 2020 Hellenic Film Academy Awards Dadakarides won best actor although one could argue Tokakis was equally if not more deserving. Goulioni won best supporting actress. The film was awarded Best Film.

I had only wished more attention had been given to the Turkish genocide in Smyrna a brutal act the non-Hellenic world needs to know more about. If I could tell you of the torture of the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of Smyrna you would surely agree with me. And if only we could have heard more of her music! Get your Kleenex ready for the ending of the film and the closing song and perhaps then you’ll understand the emotionalism of the lyrics of Eftihia Papagiannopoulou.

You can see the trailer for this 123-minute film directed by Angelos Frantzis here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNNhL6EKkkw

From around the world you can stream this film from March 4-March 13 at www.hellenicfilmusa.org

RKS film rating 91/100.

“Andrij The Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog”: Chapter 2 “My Master is Dead: I Am an Orphaned Dog: I am Having Flashbacks”

Anatoli and I were on the truck taking volunteers to a combat zone. I remember hearing “Incoming” and Anatoli leaning over and shielding me. A white flash and a boom. I lost my hearing. All the men are dead in the truck and there are body parts everywhere. Anatoli is dead. Three teenagers at the back of the truck survived and they are crying like little children. I am numb and at best I have a mounting fury against the Russian attackers. Give me Tsar Putin and I’d rip him to shreds.

I bark at the crying boys and they follow me back into the smouldering Kiev. I am totally alone and my chances to escape seem to be dwindling so I return to where I last saw people evacuating and that is how I found myself on a bus going to where I do not know. There are only mothers with children.  Only a few weeks ago all of us were living a normal life. Now they are crying and terrified like animals being hunted down. How can I protect Ukrainians? I keep having flashes seeing the mangled bodies and the crying teenagers who should be eyeing the girls and playing football instead of carrying rifles. Damn Damn Damn Putin. Look what you have done to my master. A curse be on you.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 11August1973: Bled, Yugoslavia: Travelling on the Cheap; A Russian Sprat Man

Often I am asked how you can afford to stay in Europe for three months every year. The main reason may be that since my sister works for Overseas National Airways out of Kennedy Airport in New York I get to travel for free. Of course you never quite know where you may end up as it is a charter airline. The other main reason is that I live on the cheap. I packed a tent this year and camping is even cheaper than youth hostel tyranny. You meet a few like-minded tourists and lots of locals most often recognized in communist countries by the men wearing track suits. And I make my own meals whenever I can. I am a canned Russian sprat and bread man with lots of grapes. I will treat myself with a hot meal in a restaurant occasionally. And if possible, I will auto-stop which is what they call hitchhiking in Europe. I am not a EURAIL pass man. Too conventional.

So today made scrambled eggs with bread and honey for breakfast.  Went to the lake for a couple of hours for a swim and left when I felt I was beginning to burn. I met Lynn and we decided to call Overseas National Airways in Frankfurt to obtain info about return flights to North America. We went to the tourist agency to see where we could make a call and they said go to the post office which we agreed we will do tomorrow. I went to the supermarket to buy some ingredients for macaroni and cheese. After that I headed back to the youth hostel dropped off my supplies and walked to the castle but did not enter as they were charging an admission fee. I walked down from the castle and listened to a concert and headed back to make my macaroni and cheese for dinner. I added chopped up green peppers and tomatoes to it. Talked with the Belgian couple and some Irish girls. I watched an American show McCloud and then hit the sack.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 9/10 August1973: Ljubljana and Bled, Yugoslavia: My Crusty Left Eye and Big Feasts

9August1973: Up early at 7 am to a breakfast of stale rusks with Bulgarian jam, yesterday’s left-over pineapple juice and some grapes. After a glorious hot shower hit the main drag. This is a beautiful city. It is like a Nordic small-scale Venice with numerous canals. I ran into a wandering American with a backpack looking for a room so I sent him in the direction of the student dormitory. I returned to the residence and made a stupendous meal of scrambled eggs, ham, Fructal cherry nectar, cake and grapes. I am building up some reserves and taking full advantage of the kitchen. It was a fantastic lunch and I was very full. A simple meal but one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in Europe. Like a lion after the kill it was time for a nap. Woke up with a sore under my eye that was bleeding. I cleaned it up and put some anti-biotic cream on it. Went out to store and bought some supplies for a big hot meal which again was scrumptious. Had a hot shower read a bit and early to bed as I am off to Bled tomorrow hoping I will not have trouble finding a room as from my last visit I know it is a popular holiday destination for Yugoslavs. Even Marshall Tito has a summer home here.

10August1973: Sort of a restless night as poor Robert may have the bubonic plague. At least the sore is not hurting anymore but woke up with a “crusty eye”. I will give it a day more before they amputate. Breakfast was leftover pork and rice and some bread and jam. Then a hot shower and I left like 5 gallons of water on the floor. Not sure what happened but perhaps I can blame it on loss of sight? I paid my bill having to wake up a sleeping porter to do so. I went to the bus station to take the 100 bus to Bled and it stopped at every dinky station as it was a municipal bus. I found a room in the youth hostel and headed out to the lake for a swim. I bought a piece of cake and a Fructal juice for lunch.  I read The Herald Tribune in the lobby and an American girl named Lynne arrived and what a coincidence. Her sister worked for Overseas National Airways like my sister. We had a long chat and she went out for a walk. I ate some canned beans with sausage in them for dinner and a Belgian couple gave me their leftover buttered spaghetti and we talked about the film industry. I went out with the Belgians to a discotheque and was back at midnight waking up the Frenchman I was sharing the room with. At least I was not puking all over the place like Wild Bill in Ios.

“Travels to a Different Time”: 8August1973: Zadar and Ljubljana, Yugoslavia : Spectacular 8 Hour Bus Ride: A Kitchen to Myself

Up at six in the morning and there was some moisture in the tent. Dew? Had leftover grapes for breakfast and had an ice-cold shower (no choice). I went to the campground store and bought some stale rusks for breakfast. I went into town and bought a bus ticket to Ljubljana. Loaded up on food for the 8-hour trip. What a spectacular trip up in the hills with deep gorges and gushing streams. We are taking a break up in these beautiful hills and I hear Neil Young singing about Northern Ontario. Surreal! We arrived in Ljubljana at 6 p.m. so it was too late to make it to Bled and the tourist office sent me to the University where I could stay in a residence. It is a huge residence with its own kitchens. Eggs and beans for a delicious dinner. Boy even loads of hot water. What a great hot shower. Off to bed. I must stay a day here.

“Andrij The Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog”

Chapter 1 “About Myself”

My name is Andrij. In Ukrainian that means “warrior”. I am sitting with a group of women and children seeking to leave our city of Kiev. I am cold and hungry. And I am so terrified I can’t stop shaking.  Loud explosions are coming closer. Women are crying and some children are screaming. They are boarding a bus to take them out of the city but no one knows where they are going. I hear them saying “Poland” and “Romania”. I think these are other countries where there are no rockets and bombs.

What is going on down the street? There is a helicopter on fire and it has crashed with an enormous boom to the screams of the crowd I am in. There is the smell of burning petrol. I want to run away and be safe but something tells me I am safer here. I do not know anyone in the crowd. I am an orphan in hell.

There are soldiers coming with yellow and blue armbands and they are shouting for us to run over to the next street as there are buses waiting for us. We crowd on the buses and I hop on. Where am I going? I don’t understand all these explosions and bombs near us. We are not soldiers. We are proud Ukrainians running for our lives. I hear several people refer to these brutal attacking Russians as “dogs”. I am not offended but if I was able to fight the Russians I would be fighting them.

Sorry I should have given you more information about how I am on this bus now. I was a happy dog living with my master Anatoli and mistress Boyka with their children Danilo and Daryna in a big flat in Kiev. Anatoli and Boyka owned a small brewery. I came from the countryside from a relative of Anatoli. I am two years old. I am a mixed breed but do not know of what. Three days ago Anatoli took me out to the park for our afternoon walk and we were knocked off our feet by a massive explosion. Our apartment complex was in a state of flames and rubble. Boyka, Danilo and Daryna could not have survived. Anatoli let out a scream of pain and fury. It was awful to see him destroyed. I could not believe what happened but people were shouting “Bastard Putin”. Anatoli took his machine gun that was given to him by soldiers at the corner and I followed him and hopped on a truck with armed men and teenagers. It only worsened.

RKS Wine: Massive Overstock of Liano 2018 Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon

Considering this wine from Emilia-Romagna has been out in Vintages at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for almost a year and there are still over 13,000 bottles of it in LCBO stores it might be fair to say it is not moving all that well. Could it be indicative of poor quality or overbuying by our fearless retailer? The LCBO is anxious to move it out as they are offering a staggering discount (for them) of $5.00 a bottle. Dearest monopoly “We aren’t worthy” refrains from “Wayne’s World” are rising throughout the province.

The wine has aromas reflective of its 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. The strong cherry aromatics are courtesy of the Sangiovese but the blueberry is courtesy of the Cabernet Sauvignon. At times the nose reveals some creaminess yet at another moment there is some firmness. A bit of a chameleon.

On the palate tannins are a notch above moderate. There isn’t a gush of fruit sloshing around but you’ll note that blueberry and cherry from the nose is also on the tongue and cheeks. A well-structured wine that should be decanted for an hour prior to serving. I am tempted to say this needs another couple of years in the bottle. It is not one of those sipping wines and calls for food and I’d say a T-Bone steak would do both the wine and steak proud. A good but not an amazing wine. In the EU at the producers website the wine is selling for 25€ so the $22.95 LCBO price is a good one.

(Liano 2018 Sangiovese Cabernet Sauvignon, IGT Rubicone, $22.95, Umberto Cesari, Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100)

RKS Film: The Hellenic Film Society USA Presents “Too Much Info Clouding Over My Head”

On my last trip to Greece pre pandemic, whenever that was, I was on the island of Samos near the Turkish Coast probably too close given the rantings of Erdogan, the Turkish Grand Vizier, seeking expansion of the mythological Ottoman Empire by conquering Greek islands in the Northern Aegean. I was there for close to two months and after a great meal on the water it was back to the room to catch a Greek movie on television. Most of these were vintage 1950’s and 60’s films. I can pick up about 50% of the dialogue and as far as comedy is concerned dialogue is not that essential as Greek comedy in those times was very physical and overtly satirical particularly towards the upper classes. I fell in love with the ribald comedies and there was a noticeable pattern to these comedies. Greek cinema has certainly become more sophisticated and by chance or fate I linked up with The Hellenic Film Society USA for my fix of Greek film and I just can’t live without it. Having spent a couple of years of my life over 5 decades of visiting Greece and being married to a Greek perhaps I have a slight insight into the Greek character. I notice that there are commonalties in language and outlook of characters. And understanding much Greek I can see the subtitles as not being totally accurate as with Greek there are many terms that can’t be translated into English. This film has English subtitles

In “Too Much Info Clouding Over My Head” a 2017 film one sees that Greek comedy has moved beyond the ribald into a much more sophisticated comedic level way above that seminal “Manoulis and the Commandos” I saw in the 1970’s in a Greek theatre in Montreal. Yet there are scenes in the film that have a throwback vibe of slapstick to them such as the Chinese beer commercial.

Vasilis (Vasilis Christofilakis) is an anxiety ridden film director in Athens who by most accounts is a failure. His film of three years ago “Gay Nazi Cyborg Zombies” was a terrible movie that showed for a week and made no money.  He can’t seem to do anything right and you might be correct saying he is a bumbling fool rather like Alfie in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall”.

He is making a movie “Night of the Shooting Stars” a pretentious period piece about a love trilogy but he can’t raise financing hoping for a grant from the Greek Film Centre which seems impossibly slow in coming. So his producer Betty plans three events so he can raise money for his film.

One is a Chinese beer commercial that goes terribly wrong but from a comedic standpoint is outstanding. A satire of the idiocy of commercials.

A second plan is to act as a photographer at a charity event dealing with fish. Vasilis also bumbles that one after witnessing a roast lamb (sacrosanct in Greek cuisine) being served at the event he has flashbacks about his pet lamb as a child disappearing around Easter realizing it was his pet that he just ate. He has a panic attack and rushes to vomit in a vase where donations are deposited and knocking the hostess into the swimming pool. A nice lampoon on the lambduggery of charity events.

The last attempt to raise money is directing a fading 1990 actress in a Chekov play. The play is a success but in an interview after the play he insults the actress and falls face first into a chocolate cake. Betty, his producer, is furious with Vasilis as he has failed to raise a penny so she walks out and is replaced by Goldy (Kitty Paitazoglou) a quirky waitress who he bumped into and sent her flying with food and got her fired. A satirical look at the vanity and self importance and irrelevance of most actors and actresses.

And as a subplot Vasilis thinks he has testicular cancer and squirms about for half the movie annoying everyone to no end. You’ll be chortling over this (and possibly squirming) even though testicular cancer is nothing to be laughed about.

I should stop here and say there is so much going on in this film most of it satirical but some of it serious and tragic although not in the classic Greek sense.

The ending liberates Vasilis and shows however bumbling Vasilis may be his faux pas are part of a cosmic rescue package for his soul. Long live “Gay Nazi Cyborg Zombies”.

Directed by Vasilis Christofilakis.

The film can be seen starting March 4-March 13th for $8 (USD) and is not geoblocked. For further information see www.hellenicfilmsusa.org

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL1B7lJljHY

Winner of three awards at the 2017 Thessaloniki International Film Festival.