RKS Wine: The Penniless Pensioner, Tuscan Wine and Bernie Madoff Golf Balls

When PP had dough he wasn’t shy on parting with it to purchase to classified Chiantis and the Super Tuscans. Despite their fantastic quality and high prices the Super Tuscan’s did not adhere to Italian appellation laws so they were categorized as ordinary table wine. While appellation rules protect quality they can stunt innovation. This wine is an IGT which a category above table wine. IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica.

How does this Comedìa from Bellini fare? PP sent me an e-mail saying it was rated by James Suckling as a 93. He asked could I review it and as a thanks sent me a box of corporate golf balls with Bernie Madoff’s picture and corporate logo embossed on them!

It has a compact and impressive nose of very deep-set black cherry, blackberry and creating a strong impression this is a likeable and winning wine. Easy on the tannins. The flavours are subtle and restrained. Red cherry, white pepper, cactus pear, cremini mushrooms but with a short finish. I advise PP of my appreciation for his golf balls as they are now collectors’ items and worth a couple of thousand dollars! I think he’ll like the wine but a 93 seems overly generous. I would say if it only had a more assertive taste it would deserve a 93 but it is short in that department.

I told PP this is best served a wee bit cool. Try it with some stirred fried broccoli you’ll put on the side and fry up some tofu marinated in ginger, sesame seed oil, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar and Thai garlic chili paste which you will then add in the broccoli and serve over Jasmine Rice.

(Bellini Comedìa Rosso Toscano IGT 2016, Cantine Bellini, Pelago, Italy, $15.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 19293, 13%, 750 mL, A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100).

“Mutantism on the March” Chapter 89: “Quebec’s Swine and Swindle Rhetoric”

In New York the United Mutations were hot on the trail of the Hecklevesque ethnocentric rants. In conjunction with the fledging CDQ they jointly published a small pamphlet entitled “The Swine That Swindle”. Comments such as the following could be seen in the pamphlet, “Beware of the nationalistic swindle that certain politicians are mounting gaining support amongst the frustrated and desperate. Just imagine what might happen when the golden age of separation dawns on the poor oppressed souls of Quebec. Most likely their American friends will become even more “friendly” and create a stronger satellite. Once that is done watch the patriots squabble with themselves and the Americans over who gets the largest slice of the pie. Mutants and the remainder of the population will gain nothing from the proposed separation of Quebec. We have everything to lose and the only thing we can count on is increased repression. For the foreseeable future we will be subject to American domination. All we get are slightly different masters and most likely they will be worse than previous ones. Fanaticism is the hardest slave driver especially when it is “for the good of the nation”.  Right now the biggest swindler is René Hecklevesque. Stay clear of him with his scheming and dreaming. He’ll promise you gold and be bad you’ll get lead in the head. Mutants must remain united and prevent distractions in the ranks. Ask yourself who gains the most. Ask yourselves are these nationalists addressing the real problems we face. Verbally attack these nationalist swindler perpetuators. Their game is not new.”

Montenez and his newly formed CDQ met with little interest or popularity. The fact his name was Spanish sounding made him but a foreigner in Quebec. His heroic role in foiling the Orange Lodge hijacking was quickly forgotten by most. Neither did his association with mutants help. If you even knew a mutant you were now suspect in Quebec. If a mutant moved into your neighborhood real estate prices would plummet. There were but 80 people in the CDQ but what could one expect from a small political force? Their undertakings consisted of monitoring speeches of nationalists and emphasize what they could gain from an independent Quebec. They published their findings in a small newsletter with a paltry circulation of 896.

For a time a queasy peace set in Quebec leaving Hecklevesque (aka Jiber) depressed but with every political crisis manufactured and manipulated by Hecklevesque his popularity increased. Many of his supporters were poised to gain profits as a result of contracts controlled by Droolpoop, the mayor of Montreal, for Expo 67. The Mafia was busy making horsemeat hot dogs and hamburgers for the chain of restaurants they had contracts for at Expo 67. Perhaps once Expo 67 was finished at the end of the summer and their bank accounts were full Hecklevesque supporters would surge in popularity. Rumours were abundant that Droolpoop was getting ready to bid on the 1976 Olympics for Montreal and if successful Droolpoop would be handing out a bonanza of contracts that would make Expo 67 look like child’s play.  

Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog: Hurt Yet Again But I am Tough

Hello. Let me introduce myself. My name is Reggie and I am the luckiest and happiest dog in the world. Please read my story and find out why I am saying this.

OK so Anthony and Susan have left. Will I ever see them again? I felt safe with them and feeling safe is important for a dog and I bet for humans as well. I am not frightened because I have Fay and Bob by my side and I have met them and their dog Dillie before. But can I trust them?

I am or was a street dog in a very tough city called Cairo in Egypt. I am tough but that does not mean my heart can’t break. It has been broken before.

I am confused about being placed in another home. I am also ANGRY! I understand as a dog I am to be a companion and a friend to humans and Fay and Bob are nice so why am I so angry. It might because I have had paradise with Anwar and that disappeared then again with Anthony and Susan. I am so confused. What have I done wrong?

Dillie the dog comes to sniff me but I growl like the tough street dog I am (or think I am) and he moves away looking puzzled and sad. Then Bob comes and speaks to me softly saying how he understands I am confused but I am now in my forever home. He puts his hand carefully under my chin knowing many dogs do not like their heads touched by people they do not know. Then I BITE him.

Oh I AM STUPID! I am going to be thrown out in the streets again for being so STUPID. Oh the gods of the Pharaohs please forgive me for being so stupid.

I wait for Bob to smack me or kick me. BUT WHAT? He comes again with blood dripping from his bruised hand asking me to forgive him? A human asking for my forgiveness from Reggie the street dog? Suddenly I feel I can trust Bob and shivering with embarrassment I let him pat my head and rub my jowls. Then he asks if I want a belly rub. Of course I do. Then Dillie comes over and he wants a belly rub too so Bob gives us both a belly rub.

I don’t understand how I can be so angry one minute and happy the next. My life in the past months has been a blur. Being tossed into the street in Cairo, bitten by a nasty big dog, placed in an animal hospital, being flown on a big airplane to Toronto, being taken care of by Anthony and Susan and now finding myself with Fay and Bob with Bob telling me I am in a forever home which I understand the meaning of.

Fay and Bob show me to my bed close to Dillie’s bed. I have my own bowl for food and water. My I love the clean Canadian water and the wonderful chicken kibble.

Dillie is an older dog, a brave West Highland Terrier who hunted foxes in Scotland, but we have previously met and are good with each other. He is older than me so I know I must treat him with respect. And he treats me with respect at least for the time being. A brave warrior is my friend!

Fay gives me the liver treats I love. How did she know I love them? Dillie gets another treat as I hear Fay tells me Dillie farts if he eats liver treats.

Fay and Bob take Dillie and I for a long walk at Sherwood Park where I first met Fay, Bob and Dillie with Anthony and Susan. Are they giving me back to Anthony and Susan? No I think not but both Dillie and I know the park and go off on the off leash trail. So many great smells and we both pee and poo. Dillie is slower than I but smarter and more sophisticated! I can learn much from him about what it is like to be a dog in Canada.

We all have a long walk at Sherwood Park and we go home in Fay and Bob’s automobile and Dillie and I have long drinks of that cold and clean Canadian water and a big bowl of chicken kibble. Then Fay takes me upstairs with Dillie to watch a British television series called “Coronation Street”. I love to hear that British accent. And then Fay watches the BBC NEWS!!! Oh my! My dearest BBC!!!!

Both Dillie and I fall asleep beside Fay before Bob takes us out for an evening walk around the street they live in. So many people with dogs! I hear many people ask who this new dog is you have. Bob says my name Reggie and I let them pat my head.

It is time to go to bed. And Dillie and I go to our beds and both of us fall asleep. I dream of Anwar and hope he is safe in heaven. I dream of Anthony and Susan and thank them. I dream of my new life with Fay and Bob and hope this is my forever home.

I hear crickets outside and fall asleep beginning to feel like Reggie the lucky dog.

RKS Wine: Did I Hear The Penniless Pensioner Snicker? A White from Languedoc

I could swear I heard PP snicker when I suggested we try a white wine from Languedoc in Southern France. I started getting a lecture about how this area was a huge wine lake providing wine for the working class of Paris and most likely even cheapened by the addition of Algerian wine but PP did mention the wineries there have really upped their game so he suggested a willingness to try a Château Belles Eaux Les Coteaux Grenache Blanc 2020. PP likes Grenache Banc and Rousanne which are part of the blend. PP says these grapes can give a very special quality to wines. Of course his eyes went off like a slot machine with 3 cherries when he heard it was $14.95. After that costly Madoff criminal litigation he was involved with the days of packing his wine cellar with trophy wines are long gone.

There is Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Vermentino and Rousanne in the blend. PP also noted that the soil the grapes are cultivated in includes stone, red clay and alluvial deposits. Alluvial deposits often impart some mouth smacking scratchiness to the palate. Really unique PP says.

The wine has a light gold if not platinum colour. The Grenache Blanc and Rousanne are evident on the nose!  On the nose apricot, tangerine, guava, mango and pineapple. On the palate there is that scratchiness that gives the wine some traction and durability. And you get on the palate exactly what you get on the nose with a little anis tucked away in the back palate. The finish is quite long leaving a “heavy impression”. No the wine is not elegant or sleek but in your face and not apologizing for its delicious gruffness. The Vintages catalogue says pair with smoked goat cheese or a grilled-crab salad with ginger and dried orange peel and I can agree with that. I would add a grilled shrimp linguine with pesto!

The Vintages description describes the wine as “Light and Crisp”. No way! This wine is a heavy hitter and a great sipper.

Drink until the end of 2023.

(Château Belles Eaux Les Coteaux Grenache Blanc 2020, Languedoc AOP, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 18665, Château Belles Eaux, Landiras, France, 14%, 750 mL, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

“Mutantism on the March” Chapter 88 “The Toronto Insult”


Closing time at Farwin’s on Stanley Street in Montreal drove the gang to Jillie’s a lesbian bar up the street but the straight gang tired quickly of the novelty and headed for some Metaxa brandy and Greek coffee at Squid’s mountain retreat in his hollowed home in Mount Royal. The party broke up in the early morning hours with Montenez spending the night in the guest suite. After a refreshing repose Montenez and Squid shared an exquisite breakfast of sausages, eggs, milk and griddle cakes. Montenez remarked that the hijacking incident had made a deep impression on him and he would like to stay awhile in Montreal to see if he could help the population of the province. After Squid had a long talk with him over the dangers of nationalism Montenez was resolved to create some political grouping to monitor the utterances of nationalist leaders. Montenez’s only experience with nationalism had been in Romania where communist charlatans had ruled the country through clever manipulation of nationalism. He saw no reason why the same type of nationalism could not thrive in Quebec. The conditions for its flourishing were growing.

The new organization contemplated by Montenez would attempt to fight destructive nationalism and its big swindle and it was to called Quebecois Contre Déception (CDQ). It would establish its own media centre and warn the street of the scalping antics of nationalists. Nationalism could be beneficial to a degree when it cleaned the parasitical filth from the nation but when it extended its boundaries it could lead to a new class of internal bloodsuckers. The Russian experience, amongst many others, served as a prime example.

The hijacking antics experienced by Montenez soon became known as the “Toronto Insult” and it inflamed the population of Quebec. Several homes in the Montreal Anglo enclave of Westmount were vandalized. Thousands boycotted Ontario controlled businesses doing business in Quebec. Police forces stood by doing nothing. When residents of Ontario were threatened and property belonging to them was destroyed such as automobiles bearing Ontario license plates the federal government led by Liberal Pester Mommyboy threatened dire reaction such as sending the Canadian army in to “restore peace and order”. He swore that the hijackers would receive swift justice and so far that was not encouraging as after a ten minute hearing they received suspended sentences for “disturbing the peace”. Mommyboy promised Quebecers this wasn’t enough and promised the hijacking decision would be sent to a higher court for appeal assuming of course the hijackers could be located. But they were so busy campaigning on behalf of The Conservative Party they couldn’t be found. The head of The Conservative Party, Johnny Difenfarter, praised the hijackers as national heroes. The premier of the province of Quebec Robert Poorassa getting caught up in the political turmoil suffered a heart attack while touring a hydro electric plant in Northern Quebec. Jiber, aka René Hecklevesque, was propelled forward by the political hotplate. His credibility skyrocketed with his vague nationalistic statements. Hostile encirclement by Canada was an undeniable fact. He cast himself in the role of a great saviour who would defend the virginity of the Province of Quebec harping on the injured feelings of the crowd. At one of his numerous public appearances, he summed up his theories and made it quite clear to the CDQ and mutants how lethal he could be if unchecked. He said, “We must fight to the death all those who are fighting to eradicate the Quebec nation. We face a strong and hostile federal government that is ready to oppress our sacred nation and they are bolstered by Quebec fifth columnists in their ranks fearful of losing their Parliamentarian pensions. We must labour to clear these fleas from our body politic. They should have no say in the matters that concern the province of Quebec. Those who must be listened to in this conflict are strong, native and honest Quebecers like myself. We can only build a free and independent Quebec with our own sweat and blood. This means my friends we must do it without the fetters that Canada imposes upon us and dominates our culture and economic development. I stress culture for without our own spirit we will never be free and this is one of the first steps required to cleanse and build. Let not foreigners and their alien culture dominate us. They are job stealing backstabbers full of Anglos. Beware of the enemy within.”

Poetry Break :Who Do You Trust?

Who do you trust?

Statistics as to COVID
governments with an agenda
are they lying to us
infections, deaths, vaccine efficacy
an incessant get vaccinated propaganda disguised as health public service
we’ve been swindled over the centuries
but this time by politicos and men in white coats
get the jab
in 8 months you’ll be dead on the slab
and the anti vaxxers will be partying
as we were nothing but martyrs in a public relations grab

Robert K. Stephen

“Whelm”: Not Exactly a 1,2,3, Film

A dandy last of the outlaw’s American movie. We can be fancy and call it “post Western” gangster. Where the Western left off Clarence Dillon and Al Capone took over. The outlaw spirit in America lives in the film “Whelm” set in 1930’s Indiana.

Many American gangster movies present you with an easy 1.2,3 linear plot. It becomes apparent in the first 15 minutes of the film “Whelm” is not one of those films. It’s bizarre beginning has one thinking this is a Tarantino look alike but that quickly dissipated leaving the viewer with a movie with its own mind and creative spirit. You’ll need to pay attention to the first 15 minutes carefully and I had to watch those 15 minutes twice.

In summation you are getting a raw and gritty movie full of nasty characters and somewhat innocents looking for revenge. The opening ice cube scene most likely will draw you in hook line and sinker.

And who you think are the bad guys may not be that.

Did the owner of Charly Creek Inn die from frostbite or something different? The clues left in the safe are both taunting and curious. Ostensibly nasty Alexander Alesky starts the film dragging an enormous ice cube and rifles the hotel’s safe and leads two brothers, one of which August has seen bloodbaths on the battlefields of France in World War 1 on his tail, as Alesky tells them where to find him. There is also a note for Jimmy a well-heeled gangster who like Alesky is wanted by the law.

Alesky isn’t as bad as one initially thinks he is.

And you’ll be surprised by who Jimmy is!

A bloodbath results in a heist of an Indianapolis bank. Good guys and bad guys who are more good than bad hit the dust.

Of course, the whole movie could be a fantasy and if it is it is enjoyable. You know a very smart student in my university days used to say comparisons are odious but before I make an odious comparison making them would be selling the film short. Sorry but I am thinking “Bonnie and Clyde” with Beatty and Dunaway and “Pulp Fiction” or “Reservoir Dogs”.

The film offers complexity that the aforementioned films don’t have. A brilliant effort and directorial debut of Skyler Lawson.

Whelm will be released on various digital platforms on August 13, 2021, and at various theatres in the USA assuming the 4th wave of COVID hasn’t closed down live screenings.

As for the acting it shines throughout. I have seen many an American Indie film and perhaps I can encourage you by saying this film should be a classic. Its roughness is genuine and not as a result of weak writing or cinematography. In closing it also reminds me of a 1982 Canadian film called the “The Grey Fox” about the last days of train robbing in Canada.

You can catch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhHpqsqoXr8

Poetry Corner: The Unvaccinated Not The Bullied and Brainwashed

The Unvaccinated Not The Bullied and Brainwashed

All those little good boys and girls
hurled under the wheels of a train of incessant propaganda
torn from the Stalin book and perfected by various totalitarian regimes
BUT this time it is disguised as “public health information”
I am not a junkie of your misinformation and bullying
24 hours a day but obviously we are not toadies
to your medical team’s palaver
untested for the long term
and we are to take your word from physicians who only know how to prescribe
and not how to treat diseases
what shit is going to be put in my veins
is simply a matter of keeping the case count down
focused solely on the present
the iatrogenic medical profession
may be simply killing us as 5 months from now the long term effects are known and you good little boys and girls who obeyed will be dead
until that time I’ll be a happy unvaccinated bastard fodder for CNN and a profession that endorsed thalidomide
I ain’t going along for that ride

Robert K. Stephen

Lambrusco’s Comeback: Labrusca Lini 910 Disappoints

Maligned for many years as cheap Italian fizz Lambrusco is making a comeback in the past few years. Is it because we are seeing more of it in Canada or has quality dramatically improved? That is a difficult question as we see so little Lambrusco who knows the reality. But the rare bottle that drifts our way is far from cheap fizz at least most of the time.

We try a Labrusca Lini 919 with a refreshing alcohol content of 11%. It has a frightening purple colour that reminds one of Canada’s own cheaper than cheap Baby Duck. However let’s not get stuck in our past. On the nose sweet black currant, black plum and Welch’s grape juice. On the palate it certainly is fizzy! It does not have the bite of a Prosecco or a traditional method sparkler. Notes of ginger, rhubarb and yes grape juice. It simply can’t escape its grapey nature. A noticeable tannic streak. I have had better Lambrusco’s.  Geez as I think Baby Duck is still produced a blind tasting with this Lambrusco might be in order. I think this might suit a Huevos Rancheros in a sort of weird way.

(Labrusca Lambrusco Rosso Lini 910 Reggiano DOP, Lambrusco Rosso Secco, Lini Oreste & Figli, Correggio, Italy, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 632208, 750 mL, 11%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 84/100).

The Unvaccinated Bastards

Flaunt your Trumpian civil libertarian palaver
a plot
against civil liberties
and your welcome may be a painful death
of course after you infect those who don’t believe in your party line
you low life selfish swine
interfering with my own libertarian line of freedom of association
kill your parents and grandparents
as thousands gasp for life in emergency army tents

You let the virus mutate
isn’t that great?
in Hell you’ll bake
for killing more than your selfish self
Isn’t it great to be stupid and ignorant
so go to a patio and swill down a beer and enjoy your “freedom”
hoping for a big attendance at your funeral and those who you have murdered

Bravo for your ideals
which we will celebrate at your grave
You call a mask a muzzle
society will call you a puzzle
but you are dead and gone
perhaps mentioned in bitterness in a pop hit song?

Robert K. Stephen