Up up and away on an ageing Air Canada 747. Rather cheap French wine to start and the usual Air Canada shenanigans with chicken or pasta but we are out of the chicken. Cannelloni was undercooked pig slop. Nodded off and up at 4 a.m. to daylight. Breakfast, if you can call it that, was a slice of stale date cake and processed fruit salad. Landed early morning at Heathrow and on a bus to the terminal Olympic Airways used. Flight to Athens delayed by 30 minutes and it was packed. The captain was Captain Poulaki which means little birdie. Little birdie flying a big plane! Stuffed vine leaves for lunch a very traditional Greek dish. Not sure what the correct time was when we landed. The Olympic crew neglected to tell us. The bags never came! We missed the connecting flight as many others did. To and fro in an exhausted state to get replacement tickets for a flight leaving next morning. Then another run around to get a chit to the magnificent Lost Luggage Hotel. Looks as if many others were suffering from Olympic Airlines lost luggage. Some mumbling about a mix up at Heathrow. Of we headed with others to Hotel Emmantina in an Athenian seaside suburb Glyfada. Dinner a la lost luggage was a green salad, pizza slice, chicken and potatoes, banana, ice cream. There was even some butter with the bread something you would not have seen 30 years ago on my first trip to Greece. Numbed out with jet lag crashed out.
The Montreal International Documentary Festival unveils an electrifying visual identity for its 25th edition
Montreal, July 13, 2022– The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is pleased to unveil the visual identity of its 25th edition, which will take place from November 17 to 27.
To mark the RIDM’s 25th anniversary, Juliette Moal has dreamed up a visual signature that taps into our collective nostalgia for the 1990s. That decade saw the launch of the Montreal International Documentary Festival, founded in 1998.
In a nod to the design of VHS cases – the iconic cassette packaging that was a staple in most households for about two decades – the poster serves as the de facto wrapper for the festival’s complete 2022 program. Vintage and colourful, it showcases the RIDM logo as well as its slogan, Where all stories meet. It also heralds an edition that will foster dialogue between generations. The documentary films selected by the RIDM programming collective raise issues of relevance in the present, the past and the future. This 25th anniversary edition will provide an opportunity to bring filmmakers of the past, present and future together, along with the public, to take part in roundtables, discussions, and performances pertaining to documentary cinema.
“Developing a festival’s visual identity is an annual challenge that gives rise to much reflection and sometimes a little trepidation. When it’s an anniversary, all of that is inevitably amplified. So it was with great joy that we welcomed our esteemed collaborator Juliette’s proposal. Her design manages to evoke, in a very colourful way, a feeling of nostalgia by paying tribute to cinema and to one of its most universal (at least for a few generations) means of dissemination, all the while proudly featuring the RIDM’s branding” explains Marc Gauthier, the RIDM’s Executive Director
Headquarters
The Cinémathèque québécoise, located in the heart of Montreal, will also serve as the RIDM’s headquarters for the duration of the festival. The RIDM’s main box office, two screening rooms, and numerous activities (roundtable talks, as well as networking and festive events) will be held there, making for a vibrant venue for the festival’s 25th anniversary.
The full program of the 25th edition of the RIDM will be unveiled at a press conference on Wednesday, October 26 at 10 a.m. at the Cinémathèque québécoise.
About RIDM
Quebec’s first film festival dedicated to documentaries, the Montreal International Documentary Festival presents the best non-fiction films, including the works of established directors and new talents.
About Forum RIDM
Forum RIDM aims to stimulate the production and distribution of independent documentaries, both nationally and internationally, by promoting the exchange of information and meetings between the various professionals in the documentary industry. Roundtables, conferences and workshops on major current issues will bring together over 300 filmmakers and representatives of various production, broadcasting and distribution companies over five days.
The 25th annual RIDM will take place in theatres from November 17 to 27, 2022.
Information: ridm.ca / info@ridm.ca
Virus # 26 Director’s Cut : Chapter 5 “Born in Pig Shit: Welcome to COVID-19 Plus”
COVID-19 Plus appeared in 2025. It was thought to have originated near a pork processing plant in the state of Virginia so it can be honestly said to be an American virus. It was not in the slaughterhouse that it was born but rather in a pork feces holding tank adjacent to a huge pork processing plant.
A slaughterhouse must dispose of swine feces and in the United States transport of liquified animal feces across state lines was illegal due to the widespread understanding of the toxicity of such feces. Not even Haiti would accept them!
So the feces were stored in huge tanks. These are the same tanks you see at oil refineries. Hundreds of thousands of litres of pig shit with no place to go. They were a powerful breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. And some of the feces were affected by the COVID-19 virus and in a toxic cesspool a mutation developed which wouldn’t be a problem if the feces were contained in their storage tanks.
Well Mother Nature doesn’t always co-operate and often strikes back at the abuse humans have done to the eco-system and will strike back whether it be through a virus that kills off some of the population or through huge forest fires like the ones in Australia in 2019 and 2020 or massive tsunamis or hurricanes. In this case it was an earthquake that cracked one storage tank sending thousands of litres of sewage spewing out all over the fields by the storage tanks and into the nearby river.
You can guess what happens next. Human ingestion through contaminated water. The COVID-19 Plus virus, as we called this new brute, was coated in a protein shield and that prevented water, chlorine and fluoride from killing it. COVID-19 Plus sickened its victims almost identically to its predecessor COVID-19.
Humankind was spared the devastation cased by the earlier COVID-19 virus. We leant that the protein shield of the virus made this a very hearty virus and it bound itself to carbon particulate so it could latch on for a ride as did COVID-19.
COVID-19 Plus petered out in 18 months killing a mere 4,388,888. Why so quickly no one really knows. Some of us medicos surmised that the ineffective COVID-19 vaccinations actually worked against COVID-19 Plus. The issue was what was going to be the next mutation?
RKS Film: “Anonymous Club”: Rockumentary with Heart
The rockumentary “Anonymous Club” examines the off- and on-stage personality of Australian rocker Courtney Barnett. Barnett is far from self assured and confident but that doubt propels her creativity to new heights and different directions. Unlike many rockers she is not stuck to the groove which quite frankly gets boring.
She recorded many of her observations on a Dictaphone and many create the impression of a dissatisfied and confused musician. At thirty she queries why she is on stage and muses why she is saying what she is saying going so far as to liken herself to a moron. Yet she is grateful for her success and has a very amiable and confident aura on stage.
I have watched a slew of rockumentaries over the years but never one so full of intimate and occasionally painful reflections of an artist. To use a trite expression this is raw and uncut. And it is Barnett’s self doubt and uncertainty that most likely will propel her career. This is honest filmmaking at its best. Although a musician she is a person on a voyage of self discovery. She, unlike so many, stops and questions the landmarks on the journey.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSTqNdasDUY
The film opens up in Canada on July 18.
Directed by Danny Cohen. RKS Film Rating 93/100.
RKS Passage of the Day: “Nine Perfect Strangers”: The Discarded Wife
“It happens. It happens a lot. It’s essential the discarded wife remain dignified. She must not wail and weep, except in the shower when the kids are in pre-school and she’s alone in the suburbs with all the other weeping, wailing wives. The discarded wife must not be bitchy or unkind about the new improved wife. She must suck it up but without developing a sour face. It is better for all concerned if she is thin. “
“Nine Perfect Strangers” Liane Moriarty, Flatiron Books, New York 2018
“Travels to a Different Time ” : 23July2000: Good Old Air Canada: Off to Athens
Boarded an Air Canada flight to London at Toronto’s Pearson Airport to make a connecting flight to Athens. As a flight to Rio was boarding at the same time as my flight to Athens a big commotion and two huge streams of passengers were all mixed. There were also a large group of children with cerebral palsy on the flight that had to be carried to their seats. There was a two-hour delay with all the commotion and good old Air Canada with its supreme customer service ability failed to keep us posted about the delays. The acquisition of Canadian Airlines by Air Canada has caused a mess at Canadian airports. Flights have been cancelled and passengers bumped off oversold flights. My flight to London was oversold by thirty people. How on earth is that possible? Only Air Canada management can answer that. They were offering $200 cash or a $500 voucher. We Canadians love our Air Canada!
“Travels to a Different Time: 19March2000: New York City: Screwed Over by the Bank, Mozart and Patsy’s
Continental breakfast of bagels, crumpets, juice and tasteless New York City coffee. The ATM machine advised me I had no funds available to make a cash withdrawal. I had to phone my bank in Toronto and find out what was going on. In error they had cleared a postdated cheque Two hours later I finally get some cash! Caught a matinee of Amadeus which was superb. It was held at the Music Box Theatre. It has a well used hang dog décor but still was impressive. Had an emergency stop at a McDonald’s restaurant. A real filth pit.
Went to visit sister Barbara and went to a restaurant Patsy’s known for its pizza. The joint was jumping. The pizza, Chianti and the Caesar Salad were excellent. Tomorrow is last day in New York.
RKS Quote of the Day: “Nine Perfect Strangers”
“That particular group of solidly married friends was meant to envy her, or they’d pretend to envy her anyway, for all those years, but it seemed that being childless and single in your thirties was very different from being childless and single in your fifties. No longer glamorous. Now kind of tragic.”
Liane Moriarty “ Nine Perfect Strangers”, Flatiron Books, New York 2018
RKS Wine: Is the Hegemony of Argentinian Malbec Threatened by Cabernet Sauvignon?: Welcome to a Wine Mugging
How long will it take wine consumers to put aside their Argentinian Malbec and move to Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon? Given the hype over Argentinian Malbec in the past 15 years with the Argentinian government onside promoting an annual Malbec Day throughout the world it could be some time before Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon matches up and sands proudly beside its Malbecian brother. But remember Chianti, Soave and Lambrusco once had their heyday and crashed to surface and after many years of rehab they resurfaced . Yes remember the Eaton Boys here in Canada. Their lack of management skills it can be argued brought the Canadian retail giant down. Motto is because you are in the spotlight bulbs can and do burn out. One also may want to keep an eye on New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Some of it is of atrocious quality and it still flies off the shelf. I should add the top RKS Wine red wine in 2022 so far is an Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon.
Is the Cicchitti 2019 Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon ready to spar with Mendoza Malbec?
On the nose ample black cherry and blueberry oozes about with traces of cactus pear, shades of chocolate and root beer. The high alcohol content of 14.5% is in the background clamouring for some recognition. I’m not sure that is a good quality to have. Alcohol should be integrated into the wine not hovering above threatening to take all the attention. On the palate the alcohol distracts from the tannins but it may be that they are mild. The palate seems trumped by alcohol so one senses power and little fruit. Unfortunately as the wine opens up an overactive acidity lurches out of the shadows. Ready for a wine mugging?
I find 14.5% in this wine overpowering. High alcohol is not necessarily fatal to a wine. In many cases it can, with great skill, be integrated into the wine so that it is hardly noticeable.
High alcohol and acidity rob the wine of any possible star status.
I think this might pair with venison or a breast of duck with a port wine and cherry reduction sauce.
(Cicchitti Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Mendoza, Argentina, Bodega Cicchitti, Mendoza, Argentina, $17.00, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 24849, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 82/100).
Virus # 26”: Chapter 4 Director’s Version (A Serialized Novel by Robert K. Stephen)
Chapter 4 “Some of the Path of Destruction of COVID-19”
So you now know it originated from Wuhan, China with the co-operation either knowingly or innocently with the American presidential administration.
We know that it gave China a relatively tame go but ravaged Italy and Spain initially and gradually took a severe death toll of 3,678,000 in the United States. Any country or continent without a fully functioning and accessible medical system was not as originally thought hammered mercilessly. When the first wave hit the low African case count perhaps was the most unexpected but not the most surprising. Most Mideast states like Iran and Iraq were pummelled. India and Pakistan were not busted in the chops which as many of my colleagues predicted they would be. Bad reporting the mainstream medical establishment cried. Actually as many of us had concluded their low case count was based on the scientific fact most of the population had not been vaccinated against measles and smallpox. It was incorrectly thought that the vast amount of turmeric, cumin and curry in the mostly vegetarian Indian diet boosted the immunity system of many Indians.
I mention the first wave but there were many more like one in September 2020 we attributed to premature reopening of economies. There were two minor waves in 2021. By the close of 2022 Canada was in its seventh wave.
The September 2020 (which carried on into March of 2021) wave struck with a vengeance as the opening of economies was a green light to “mass murder” a term commonly used by many towards the political decision makers who gleefully opened the economy in a quest to return to normalcy. The fact of so many First Worlders took to flying here and there to be with their families particularly for Christmas and New Years augmented the death toll causing it to be nicknamed the Santa Claus surge. Successive surges of COVID-19 took another 375,000 Americans. Canada lost 75,000 of its citizens and again to due poor diet and health Canada’s First Nation citizens comprised 20,000 of the 75,000 dead. Aboriginal communities throughout the globe suffered the same high death rate. The elderly in Canada’s scandalously ill maintained long term care facilities were virtually eliminated. The lack of measles and chicken pox vaccinations seemed more of an immunity grantor in the Third World countries. The mainstream medial establishment weaned on Big Pharma propaganda and rigged peer studies would never believe a lack of vaccinations was in effect very effective immunity against COVID 19.
So the COVID-19 death toll was very hefty;
- 5,053,000 in the United States. Comorbidity factors particularly obesity, its own epidemic in the United States, are attributed to many of these deaths. The lack of socialized medicine also raised COVID-19’s kill rate for Latinos and African Americans. The US medical system was slipping. Once the best in the word was actually in decline for a decade prior to COVID despite the fact it spent the most per capita in the world on healthcare. The medical industrial complex had favoured more testing with expensive medical equipment and Big Pharma championed drugs. The American medical establishment focused on identifying disease and then administering pharmaceuticals to manage the symptoms. Little attention was paid to prevent disease as it was not profitable.
- 75,000 Canadians perished with its severely downsized and disorganized medical system.
- Africa with a primitive medical structure did rather well. The 2021 Ebola outbreak in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Chad may have scrambled the COVID-19 fatality numbers.
- 1,000,000 in India and Pakistan both like Africa having a largely non-existent medical system but low measles and chickenpox vaccination rates. It was incorrectly thought that certain spices in Indian and Pakistan food had created a better immunity system.
Where measles and chickenpox vaccination rates were low it seemed that fact offered some natural immunity to COVID 19.
Then poof, herd immunity kicked in in 2024 and the virus was gone according to the global politico-medico elite. Well viruses are very clever. They never die but rather mutate and so get ready for COVID-19 Plus.
There is more to COVID-19’s history than statistics and we’ll get to that soon.
By the time an incompletely tested a vaccination was ready in late 2020 it was too late because COVID-19 was on its way to continual mutation originating in South Africa which started with the second wave. The efficacy of the vaccine was reduced to lower than 50%. With each new wave Big Pharma licked its greedy chops. A vaccine for each strain. A corporate management’s senior management team’s dream! Big management bonuses funded by fear and manipulated by greed. At one point a silent minority in the medical system seeing countless reinfections amongst the vaccinated began to wonder if the vaccination game was a sham. Of course, challenge the politico medical elite on vaccination efficacy you risked being categorized as a right-wing nut.
You ask were there any “winners”? On a proportional basis Sweden was the country with the lowest death rate due to its strict social distancing, high nutritional standards and excellent socialized medicine. On the other hand Greece with less than a first class medical system acted aggressively throughout the COVID-19 waves did very well almost as good as Sweden. What was their secret? The Mediterranean diet? Any answer is possible with the Wuhan virus!
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 