We took the ship from Rhodes to the island of Karpathos. We disembarked at what we thought was our destination. We met a couple of Brits named Flick and Bruce kind of hippie types who were travelling with very uncool people like us on deck class. We found rooms at a hotel called the Diafani Palace. Very clean but sparse. We went for a swim with Flick and Bruce and had an omelet for dinner and went to bed early. We found out the next morning we got off the ship at the wrong town Diafani as opposed to Pigadia! So we had a big fish lunch and managed to hitch a ride with Flick and Bruce on a fisherman’s boat. The fisherman stopped to haul in his nets and I heard a huge fish thrashing in the net. It was a beautiful ride hugging the coastline! Beautiful clear water. And there was a school of dolphins chasing us for part of the trip. I have seen them jumping on television but to see them up close was a real treat. After three hours we arrived at Pigadia. I suppose the mistaken town led to a memorable ride with a fisherman. Will these Greek adventures ever cease?
Clearing a Pee Path
No I am not mistakenly referring to the rock n roll song “Shaking All Over”
but after 60 cms of snow with drifts so big I have to wade waste deep out my front door
its shovel more more more
poor doggie Dylan’s back door and occasional pee path is blocked by a huge drift
both he and I are miffed
But what can you do when Mother Nature affords you a big dump
just get that shovel and grunt hoping the next day the muscles won’t backtalk and be a grump
I was out shovelling at two
and at 5 I tell you the snow just grew
I must now go out again and shovel a pee path at the back door
because if I don’t man’s best friend might pee on the floor
Robert K. Stephen
Travels to a Different Time: June 1970: Panormitis, the Incredible Story of Father Gabriel Surviving a Torpedo Attack and an Invitation for Dessert on a Belgian Yacht
Panormitis is a small town on the island of Symi two hours by boat from Rhodes. There is a church there and I think it was a former monastery. We met Father Gabriel upon our arrival and asked for his permission to stay in the old monastery which is a wing with several very simple and bare rooms. There is a bathroom with a shower, a couple of cots and a hotplate which we use to boil eggs for breakfast. This is a well-known church that is frequented by many older ladies dressed in black that have lost family members to the ocean. This mirrors the story of Father Gabriel who told us an incredible story. He was on a boat with his mother during World War 2 travelling to their destination when a German submarine torpedoed their boat. Father Gabriel bobbed about in the water realizing he was the only survivor. He made a promise to God that should he swim to shore and survive he would become a priest; he did survive and became a priest fulfilling his promise to God in a church named after a patron saint that is a saint for those who have lost loved ones at sea.
Father Gabriel is a very kind man and his English is pretty good. He seems so real of a person. After his evening service he sometimes joins us for a cold beer and a chat. We have attended a few of his services and he seems appreciative of this but we speak so little Greek we understand very little. But the services flies by with the chanting, incense and beautifully decorated church it is almost entertaining. Father Gabriel pointed to an icon in the church that had been moved several times but through the power of God it mysteriously ended up in its original location.
There is boat service here daily and there are always some widows dressed in black that come to pray for their loved ones that have died in the sea.
The town is small and there is one restaurant owned by a cantankerous Mr. Cos. There is one store and a bakery that bakes some very dense and coarse monastery bread. If you don’t eat it in a few hours it turns into a rock. Goodness knows what it does in your stomach.
Like many Greek islands the area around the monastery is dry and barren but Father Gabriel has informed us a huge reforestation project is underway. He said many of the Greek islands were lush years ago but the Romans deforested them to build their warships.
The town has a small beach a few minutes away and it is so well protected it has an international reputation as a place to anchor. I went out spear fishing one day in the beautiful clear water and swam up to a yacht. As I was inspecting its hull I heard a voice from above asking me to come aboard. So a ladder was placed on the side of the ship for me. I took my gear off and climbed up and met a Belgian family who spoke French so we could communicate. Their chef had prepared some fancy pastry dessert called a Galette and it was delicious. After being onboard for an hour I said good-bye and off back to the beach I headed.
We met the family next door some Greeks from Athens called Milagressi’s. Although the mother and father were very nice their child was a little brat called Andreas.
We stayed a week and then went back to Rhodes to catch a boat to an island called Karpathos.
RKS Film: “The Contrast”: Weak with One Saving Grace
The film “The Contrast” will be released on digital platforms on January 18, 2022. This American film is an adaptation of 1787 Royall Tyler’s “The Contrast” a great favourite of President George Washington.
It is about the impending celebration of the marriage of Maria (Joy Villa) to cad and fortune hunter Dimple (Lee Donoghue). The marriage is taking place at the Royall Tyler Inn. It’s a small marriage and less than a dozen people are attending. The nephew of owner is a valet, waiter and bartender and pot head who has headphones on and has no interest in working for his uncle owner. He does offer a minute bit of comic relief.
The acting is weak. The lead actress Joy Villa it seems is a real-life Instagram star and perhaps would be best suited to stay on that short attention span social media platform. Villa’s performance is one that highlights her numerous tattoos and overly made-up face as her acting ability is studentish at best. I get the impression of an actress that is disconnected from the film and who would be happier bulking up in the gym or shooting a deep and meaningful Instagram post. Well let’s not fault her for trying!
Donoghue’s performance as Dimple is equally unimpressive and light. Certainly, a cad and deceiver could be played with more evil.
The plot is oversimplistic that might have suited a 1787 audience.
If there is a bright spot here it is the portrayal of Colonel Henry Manly by Jermaine Hollman who has an immediate stage presence that dwarfs the performance of the other cast members. His strong performance will put him in the big screen beyond the Indie world. There is warmth and sincerity in his performance. I’d like to see how he fares in meatier roles!
Lance F. Nichols as Mr. Van Rough and Chip Carriere as Mr. Wignell have minor supporting rolls but offer a fine example of professional actors.
Well the impending marriage falls apart and with it so does the film. As for the Maria crying scene Villa has so much make up on as tears cascade I hold my breath looking as if her face is melting like in the “Wizard of Oz” just like the wicked witch. What was intended as an endearing and sensitive moment is a Kim Kardashian one.
You can see the trailer if you wish but that might immediately put you in a “trash it” mode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0fBed7TnOY
RKS Film Rating 53/100.
RKS Film: “Nocturna; The Great Old Man’s Night” (Side A): Perhaps a Different Type of Horror Film? : The Horror of Dementia?
Gonzalo Calzada has a double feature for us. There is “Nocturna Side A The Great Old Man’s Night” and “Nocturna Side B Where the Elephant’s Go to Die”.
Side A “The Great Old Man’s Night” seems to have been widely accepted by reviewers as a horror film. Certainly, there are fragments of horror primarily near the end of the film but as I repeatedly asked myself, “Why” this and that has been projected I would label this more as a mystery suspense. But if I want to push the genre of horror I would say this film explores dementia and its horrors.
Ulises and Dalia are husband and wife in their 90’s living in some formerly grand flat in some Argentinian city. They have been together since their teen romance.
Ulises (Pepe Soriano) is suffering from some form of dementia as he sometimes forgets where he is going and what he should be doing. He is mixed up in time. His wife Dalia (Marilu Marini) is predominately a shrill, spiteful and sarcastic character and she plays that side of her role brilliantly.
Ulises and Dalia live a cloistered life in their flat which they have lost the ability to maintain. Ulises does go out shopping for food and talks to the superintendent Daniel but he wants to be out more but strong-willed Dalia retorts why go out as everyone we knew is dead.
This isolation of the elderly is explored in detail in the film as is the decline in mental and physical health, the long-ago decimated romance, the lack of credibility afforded to the elderly, regret of life decisions and the destructive nature of family disputes.
The film focuses on the last day of Ulises’s life and like his namesake Ulysses you are going on an epic journey that is less than a day but seems a very long and tiring journey for Ulises and viewers.
Dalia and Ulises have severed contact with their daughter due to her pregnancy out of wedlock not knowing who the father is. Dalia calls her a slut and Ulises has forgotten her name. Their son Carlos, Dalia says has forgotten us. Given the nasty streak in Dalia’s character who would want to call her their mother. Her bitterness does not endear her to anyone and her husband Ulises confesses to her I am afraid of you and calls her a mean mean woman. Dalia apologizes and begs for forgiveness this being about the first time we see any decency from this sniping and vituperative woman.
Then there is the neighbour Elena a thirtyish photographer and artist who falls out of her window and dies after landing on Ulises’s and Dalia’s patio after banging ferociously on their door for help. Was it suicide or was she pushed? The firemen arrive and put Elena in a body bag. The superintendent smells gas yet again that Ulises has caused by failing to turn off the burner so he says he will phone their son Carlos about this dangerous situation. Carlos phones early in the morning saying he will be there later in the morning as he has made “arrangements” for his parents.
But has Helena died? That’s when some horror kicks in as after the body is carted away she is banging on the door over and over again. Elena may be a metaphor for Ulises’ daughter trying to get back into their lives? Why has Helena taken photos of Ulises and hung them on her developed photo line? Why did she jump or was she pushed by her ex who says to Ulises she has taken everything from me and shoots himself in the head and as a ghost enters her apartment?
Ulises discovers his daughter’s phone number on a photo of her hidden behind another picture he had forgotten that he had hidden and that photo on the back Irene (the daughter) says “I love you”.
Carlos arrives and finds his father dead of a heart attack holding a picture of Irene. At this point you are ready to wrap this sad story up but at the conclusion of the movie Calzada turns you on your head. Did anything you saw in this movie happen or has dementia overtaken Ulises completely and has him living in a world that does not exist? The horrors of dementia.
The film has won numerous awards including best actor/actress which Soriano and Marini deserve. Calzada’s awards as best director are merited. I love those films that leave you saying WTF just happened and after watching this one twice I am still saying that in an entirely positive way.
Oh pay attention to the documentary Ulises is watching about the death of elephants as it no doubt has relevance to Side B of Nocturna “Where Elephants Go To Die”.
The film will be released January 18th on iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Vide, Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, Vimeo, DirecTv, DVD and with some satellite providers.
Side B is a bit too artsy for me.
RKS Film Rating 94/100.
Travels to a Different Time: June 24, 1970, Letter From Rhodes from Margaret Mary Stephen to Son Andrew Stephen (travelling deck class with the hippies and eating Chelsea buns aboard the USS Roosevelt)
Dear Andrew: Robert and I have a morning swim each day around 9:30. today We have had our breakfast of orange juice and freshly baked buns from the runny nosed baker down the street from our hotel. They eat loads of bread here with every meal. We were invited on a U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Roosevelt the other day. What an experience. As we met a couple of cooks from the ship we were invited to the kitchen for a private tour. We ate freshly baked Chelsea Buns that were just out of the oven. I couldn’t get over the size of the ovens! The town is lousy with American sailors and I am sure some Greek girl has found an American boyfriend. The ship will be here until July 5th.
Tomorrow we are off to the island of Symi which is a two-hour trip on a ship. We plan to stay a week there if it is nice and there is enough to do. They are known for their sponges there and I haven’t a clue how they fish for them. I miss you and wonder how your cooking is going. Hopefully it is improving JUNE26: We are just getting ready for our trip to Symi. The bill has been paid and the hotel owner will drive us to the docks. We had our swim this morning and the water is rough. We are going to travel deck class with the hippies who always travel this way and sleep on the deck in sleeping bags. I don’t even know if they are allowed to sleep on the deck or if they are allowed to go to the snack bar but the trip is only two hours so who cares. Bye for now. Love Mom. Letter to Nanny Relyea from Margaret Mary Stephen: Both Robert and I slept in today and we will have some breakfast before we go for a swim. We found a beach where the water is calm. Robert goes out with his goggles, flippers and speargun but has only speared a couple of fish which are no bigger than sardines but he hopes for something bigger. Last night we wandered through the Arab quarter. It is so clean here and at night most people sit in front of their homes. They are so friendly but so few speak English. We usually eat dinner around 8 p.m. I like the food but the portions are very small. They eat too much bread here. We buy fresh fruit and vegetables at the market. The cucumbers and tomatoes are so good here. We eat oranges, cherries, strawberries, peaches, apricots which are in season.
Robert is good company and sometimes I wonder how he can stand me but somehow he manages. I hope you are OK and hope that Toronto is not hot like here. Today in Athens I hear that the temperature will be 105 degrees. The hotels here are not airconditioned in Rhodes but there is always a nice breeze so they don’t have to be. Every once in awhile here in Greece I feel like I am dreaming. It does not seem I could be so far from home. Love Margaret
RKS Wines: Great Western Australian Wines: More Elegant than Barossa
Generally speaking the red wines of Western Australia are perceived as lighter and even elegant as opposed to the full throttle Barossa red wines and the centre of these light-footed reds is in the Margaret River District. I agree with the generalspeak here! Now what about the wines of Great Western which is a registered subregion (GIC) of Central Victoria’s Grampians wine region?
We try a Best’s Great Western 2018 Bin number 1 Shiraz. Best’s has been making wine since 1860. The winery calls this a “cool climate aromatic made in a style that is perfumed, peppery yet well balanced with no overt dominance of alcohol yet well balanced”. It is notable the winery says this is ideal to drink with a roast rack of lamb and that is a fair statement.
Critic James Suckling put this wine which he rated a 95 in his top 100 wines of 2021. Suckling and I are usually quite close in our rating. He usually scores 2-3 points higher than I do. So bottom line I think we are assured a drinkable wine.
On the nose there is some heft to the wine. Notes of red and dark plums, creamy blackberry, cassis, root beer, bacon and a whisper of Saigon cinnamon. On the palate the tannins are soft and there is blackberry, pomegranate, dark chocolate and cranberries. The wine is not packing a Barossa punch. This Syrah is not exactly Rhône or Western Australian but it is not Barossa. It will drift nicely into 2028. We rarely get wines in Ontario from Great Western so I will anxiously await arrival on the shelves of more.
(Best’s Great Western 2018 Bin No 1 Shiraz, Great Western, Best’s Wines, Victoria, Australia, $21.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 222323, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).
Wine Drinker Profile: This wine will suit one who enjoys a lighter style of Shiraz as opposed to many Australian Shiraz’s that take no prisoner. Good to sip but will suit food such as New Zealand Spring Lamb or Black Bean Chili with Sweet Potatoes and Corn https://www.purelykaylie.com/vegan-sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/.
RKS Film: “They/Them/Us”: A Deservedly Happy Ending
When I received “They/Them/Us” for review it sounded somewhat like “Cheaper by the Dozen” made in 1950 followed by a 2003 remake. Yes my fear was cheese and a “Leave it to Beaver” squeaky clean film sanitized for all to see!
Thank goodness most of the cheese was sanitized out of this film and it has an adult feel to it best suited for mature audiences.
Charlie Goldman (Joey Slotnick) and Lisa Harper (Amy Hargreaves) are 40 somethings recently divorced. Charlie and Lisa meet on a dating site and hit it off very quickly. As for sexual preferences Lisa is into kink and likes to be dominated. Charlie is not of that ilk but to please Lisa takes kink lessons. So yes they do “hit” it off!
In a jiffy Charlie and Lisa decide to move into Charlie’s house. But there is a matter of their two children each! There is 18-year-old nonbinary Maddie Harper (Lexie Bean) who needs to be called “they” and her 15 year old sister Courtney (Sarah Eddy). On Charlie’s side there is pot smoking Danny (Jack Steiner) and his younger sister Anna (Shanna Strong). There is an initial bit of ill will between the children but over a short period of time that ill will disappears but it is a rough transition. Maddie is bullied and Danny has a drug problem.
So we are progressing nicely and looking for a cheesy ending right? But Danny overdoses on 4 tabs of acid and the girls put a little too much weed in their Lasagna. Chunks of cheese fall by the wayside at this point. Danny is not a forever lost soul as he is in a great deal of pain from the divorce and tries to unsuccessfully self medicate out of his trauma. That overdose puts a strain on Charlie and Lisa but Lisa willingly surrenders Charlie to care for Danny. Lisa wonders if their relationship is over but it is not.
OK then the movie has a bit of a rough happy ending and after seeing both adults and children coping with divorce, drug abuse, bullying and new sexual patterns by God they deserve the quasi-happy ending. Finally an adult “Cheaper by the Dozen” genre film that we had to wait 19 years for. The cheese has been left on the cutting room floor for the mice. The acting is strong throughout the entire cast. A shout out to Abi Van Andel as Charlie’s ex-wife Deborah who plays a selfish, self-righteous prig to the tee!
The film will be released in theatres in the United States on January 28, 2022 and then digitally for the rest of the world on February 1, 2022. You can see a trailer for the film which is written and directed by Jon Sherman here https://vimeo.com/581908613/4acaeff620
RKS Film Rating 90/100.
Passage of The Day: What is Mindfulness?
“Mindfulness is the act of consciously focusing the mind in the present moment, without judgement and without attachment to the moment. Mindfulness contrasts with automatic, habitual or rote behavior. When we are mindful we are awake, like a sentry guarding the gate. When we are mindful, we are open to the fluidity of each moment as it arises and falls away.”
Marsha M. Linehan “Building a Life Worth Living” Random House
Travels to a Different Time: June 22,1970 Letter to My Nanny Stephen
From Robert to Nanny Stephen: Dear Nan: I am now in the country of Greece on the island of Rhodes staying in the city of Rhodos. So far in Greece we have met many people including a couple from South Africa named Jenny and Charlie Horse. Jenny is a doctor. We also met another doctor Heidi from West Berlin. We have invitations to visit both. Well today Heidi and I went to the market to buy some fruit. We went to both the Old Market and the New Market. The Old Market is inside the city walls and the New Market is outside the city walls. We bought cucumber, tomatoes, ham, cheese and buns. We had a lunch with Heidi, and the South Africans on our hotel balcony. Then we had a siesta and in the late afternoon I was anxious to visit the beach to try my new speargun I bought at the market.
P.S. I had a lousy plane trip with a rotten crying baby hollering for most of the trip. He wet his pants and screamed almost the entire ten hours. He then spilt a soft drink over my pants. I will never forget that trip! Both Mom and I were exhausted upon arriving at our Hotel Omiros in Athens. We went out for dinner and got lost. After three days in Athens we took a ship to where we are now.
From Margaret Mary Stephen to Nanny Stephen: This island is a heavenly place. It is so clean and the Greeks are kind and pleasant. The fruits and vegetables are incredible here. Such a tasty tomato I have never had! We have such juicy oranges and the sweetest watermelon in our room.
On Monday we go to the island of Symi which is a two-hour boat trip from here and we plan to stay a week there then go to Crete after that for a week then we might go back to Athens then go to Spain. The weather in Rhodes is very hot during the day but in the evening with a breeze off the ocean you need a sweater.
The sea here is many shades of blue and green. We are discovering this fabulous island and Robert and I are brown and heathy. Everything here is for the tourists. It is their living. One can live in a hotel here and eat for less than $5 a day. We are now heading for a swim before breakfast. We buy fresh rolls from a runny nosed baker down the street from our hotel. The bread is warm and we have it with oranges, cheese and ham or salami . The Greek traditional breakfast does not impress Robert as he likes his bacon, eggs toast and jam and here it seems to be bread, coffee and occasionally a cheese called Feta. But here Robert can have some ham with his breakfast along with such sweet oranges he is making the transition from the Canadian breakfast! Love Mum.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 