RKS Wine: Best Red Wines of 2021

Quinta do Quetzal Guadalupe 2018, Vinho Regional Alentejano $16.95 (94) (Portugal)

Chateau Jonin 2018 AC Bordeaux $14.95 (94) (France)

Stag’s Hollow 2019 Pinot Noir Okanagan Falls, BC VQA $27 (94) (British Columbia, Canada)

Stag’s Hollow 2019 Pinot Noir Shuttleworth Creek, Okanagan Valley BC VQA $27 (94) (British Columbia, Canada)

Susana Balbo 2019 Signature Malbec, Valle de Uco. $20.95 (94) (Argentina)

Ponte Pellegrino Aglianico 2018 $14.95, (94) (Italy)

Stag’s Hollow 2018 Tempranillo, Okanagan Falls, BC VQA $28. (94) (British Columbia, Canada)

Smoke & Gamble Appassimento Ontario VQA $49.95 (94) (Ontario, Canada)

Sunrock Vineyards 2016 Red Meritage, Okanagan Valley BC VQA $34.95 (94) (British Columbia, Canada)

Canoe Ridge Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Columbia Valley $29.95 (94) (Washington State, United States)

Cloudline 2018 Pinot Noir  Willamette Valley $26.95 (94) (Oregon, United States)

Ben Marco 2018 Malbec Uco Valley $19.95 (94) (Argentina)

Lavradores de Feitoria Tres Bagos Reserva Tinto Douro DOC 2016 $19.95 (94) (Portugal)

Malivoire Le Coeur 2020 Gamay VQA Beamsville Bench (94) (Ontario, Canada)

Two Sisters 2015 Merlot, VQA Niagara River $84.80 (94) (Ontario Canada)

Tenuta Della Luia Cilestro 2018, Rosso Toscano IGT $15.95, (93) (Italy)

Jean Michel Dupré Vignes de 1940 AC Beaujolais Villages 2019 $16.95 (93) (France)

Quadrus Douro 2015 Douro DOC $22.95 (93) (Portugal)

Malivoire Demo Series 2020 Analog Cabernet Franc and Gamay $27.95 Twenty Mile Bench VQA Ontario (93) (Ontario, Canada)

Louis Bernard Côtes du Rhône Villages 2019 $16.95 (93) (France)

Red Tractor 2017 Cabernet Franc VQA Four Mile Creek $25 (93) (Ontario, Canada)

Meyer Family Vineyards 2019 McLean Creek Road Vineyard Okanagan Valley BC VQA $34.87 (93) (British Columbia, Canada)

Meyer Family Vineyards 2019 Pinot Noir McLean Creek Road Vineyard Okanagan Valley BC VQA $43.57 (92) (British Columbia, Canada)

Quinta da Rede 2017 Reserva Douro DOC $18.95 (92) (Portugal)

Romeo Selección 2017 Monastrell $16.95 (92) (Spain)

Esporão Tinto Reserva 2017 Alentejano $26.95 (92) (Portugal)

Album Reserva 2018 Red Vinho Regional Alentejano $19.95 (92) (Portugal)

Marynissen 2017 Cabernet Merlot VQA Niagara Peninsula $17.95 (92) (Ontario, Canada)

Trius Red The Icon 2018 Niagara Peninsula VQA $24.95 (92) (Ontario, Canada)

Mission Hill 2017 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon BC VQA $29.95 (92) (British Columbia, Canada)

Havens Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Rutherford $38.95 (92) (California, USA)

Stag’s Hollow 2018 Syrah Okanagan Valley BC VQA $27 (92) (British Columbia, Canada)

Stag’s Hollow 2018 Renaissance Syrah Okanagan Falls BC VQA $38 (92) (British Columbia, Canada)

Chateau Recougne 2018 AC Bordeaux Supérieur $15.95 (92) (France)

Tom de Baton das Herédias 2017 DOC Douro $16.95 (92) (Portugal)

Zelena Barka Voros Cuvée 2017 $13.95 (92) (Hungary)

Deep Woods Estate 2019 Ebony Cabernet Shiraz Western Australia $19.95 (92) (Australia)

Paxton AAA Shiraz Grenache McLaren Vale 2019 $21.95 (92) (Australia)

Crasto 2019 Douro DOC $18.95 (92) (Portugal)

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog Is Back: Off to Hollywood for the Academy Awards! Stopping off to See President Biden First!

Nicole Kidman Productions Ltd. has sent a corporate jet to take Bob, Fay, Dylan the Westie, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot and Martin Malivoire to Los Angeles but our friend President Biden has asked us to stop at Dulles International in Washington to take a quick tour to the White House to meet our friends Joe and Jill Biden. We land and 4 limousines are on the tarmac to take us all to the White House. There are Canadian flags flapping on the limousine and we have a United States Navy escort.

As we drive up Jill and Joe and their German Shepard Commander are outside to welcome us. Joe picks me up and gives me a hug. I don’t give out hugs freely but for Joe I relent. President Biden says he has something special waiting for us? So we are ushered into the White House Dining Room where tea awaits us but Joe motions to me and Bob he would like to speak to us in private and so we go into his Oval Office and meet with Mr. Sneeky Peet the head of the CIA who is most anxious to hear about our North Korean trip. Bob fills him in and remarks Kim is a friendly fellow but the North Koreans we encountered seemed terrified of their “Supreme Leader”. Joe tells us the message that we delivered from Kim to Joe is that North Korea will stop all ballistic missile tests if the United States promises to deliver massive food aid to the starving North Koreans in a most discrete fashion. Joe is delighted and has responded to Kim saying he agrees. Joe thanks me for my role in safeguarding world peace. Joe has Bob and Fay taken to our tea and pulls me aside and laughing heartily says to me he really enjoyed his intelligence reports about me and Dylan the Westie cornering a journalist in Darwin when we were shooting the film with Nicole. The journalist mockingly mentioned my relationship with “Sleepy Joe” and that set Dylan the Westie and I off the deep-end cornering the journalist and growling like mighty Egyptian pharaoh guards and Scottish warriors. Joe said he loved our grit! The poor journalist was so frightened he peed in his pants.

So we go back for tea and Dylan the Westie and I have some raw carrots and jasmine tea and Joe raps on a tea cup and asks for our attention. Photographers from the White House jump into the room and President Biden gives a short speech about how Reggie, Dylan the Westie, Bob and Fay have done so much for the American people in Iran and North Korea that he is bestowing upon us a Presidential Medal of Honour! Joe and Jill hug Bob and Fay and we get a huge pat or two on the head. As a parting gift we dogs receive a doggie bed with a huge Presidential seal on it and a t-shirt with “Team Biden” on it. Joe has heard about a possible deal we have in the works with Kim to launch a chain of North Korean ramen noodle restaurants with Kim. “Noodles for peace” says Joe. Off we go to Dulles for our tip to LAX.

Golf and Your Mental Game: Taking a Restoration Break

Just because you are on the golf course should not prevent you from taking a “restoration break” whether your game is humming along beautifully or is in flames!

You most likely already do this at work or at home during doing chores or trying to beat a deadline.

A restorative break is fuel for your mental well being. If by chance you are getting a bit stressed out it makes sense to take a break because if you don’t your stress level may increase and even if you aren’t stressed out a break can keep your positive mental attitude even more positive.

Rest is not distraction, hiding or avoidance but unhooking for a moment or two and resting your mind.

On the golf course these restorative breaks are technically simple particularly if you are an experienced meditator where you can launch yourself into a quick meditation even if it is for a minute. If you are not a meditator perhaps all you need is a minute to close your eyes and take a few calm breaths trying not to think about golf. It could be on the tee box while your group is teeing off or when a fellow golfer is searching for a golf ball in the woods.

It could be that this short mental rest helps you place your game into perspective. That is, it is only a game. Is it really that serious or threatening!

From my theatrical corporate days I found that often I just stopped what I was doing to take a two minute meditation break and it helped reduce stress. Most importantly while work colleagues were sacrificing their mind and body to corporate loyalty playing the game of looking important and busy and eating lunch hunched over their desk trying to feel so ever important, I took a full lunch break and walked with a few like minded pals in all directions. I returned supercharged and productive while my colleagues looked burnt out and sickly .In the corporate environment give them an inch and they’ll try and take a mile and that won’t be mentioned in your obituary.

RKS Wines: The Best Fortified and Dessert Wines of 2021

Quinta da Devesa 30-Year-Old Tawny Port $112.45 (94) (Portugal)

Bacalhôa Moscatel de Setubal 2017 $14.95 (94) (Portugal)

Grahams 2015 Late Bottled Vintage Port $16.25 (94) (Portugal)

Warres Warrior Port Finest Reserve Port Symington Family $19.95 (94) (Portugal)

Dows 2013 Late Bottled Vintage Port Symington Family Estate $24.95 (92) (Portugal)

Quinta do Crasto Finest Reserve Port $17.95(92) (Portugal)

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog Is Back: Reggie is Up for an Academy Award!

Needless to say, Bob, Fay, Dylan the Westie and I were floored when we received a call at lunchtime from Nicole Kidman in Los Angeles. “A Dog Saved My Life” is nominated for the best picture, Nicole Kidman for best actress, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot for best song, Reggie The Egyptian Rescue Dog-Russell Crowe for best actor and Dylan the Westie-Rick Mercer for Best Supporting Actor. Martin Malivoire was nominated for best special effects. To put it politely we are knocked on our ass big time. 30 minutes later Mr. Gordon Lightfoot is pounding on our door and we let him in. We all do a crazy dance like maniacs in the kitchen. We are going to Los Angeles!!!! Some of us could be kissing Oscar’s bald head with billions watching. Nicole insists that we all stay at her Malibu home with her husband Keith Urban and that includes Bosco and Mr. Gordon Lightfoot.

The film grossed a relatively small 275 million USD but received high critical praise. Tubby Tubeman’s review from the New York Grimes film review was a big factor in warming up the United States critics.

“Tubby Tubeman

“A Dog Saved My Life” delivers an enchanting and heart-warming story about a dog named Paco (Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog) that saves Alice Springs (Nicole Kidman) from moral and spiritual destruction and perhaps even death.

In what could be a maudlin storyline Kidman soars above the mundane delivering a performance beautifully tinged by angst and desperation and in effect is saved by mixed breed Paco a street dog from the Dominican Republic. It may be difficult to not have tears rolling down your face several times during the film. Her chemistry with Paco is a laser beam of trust and hope. This may be Kidman’s best performance ever.

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog makes his first appearance on the big screen although you know he has been featured in two Disney films and on an ABC sitcom. He has hobnobbed with high political and religious figures including being very close friends with Joe and Jill Biden. His world maturity is evident in the film as his every move seems a reflection of Kidman’s mood. Watching those two is nothing short of a massive treat that at time both breaks your heart and makes you want to cheer. Russell Crowe as the voice of Paco is measured and he picks up his voice beautifully to match with Paco’s predicament.

Dylan the Westie plays a small 10- minute role for what originally was to be a thirty second performance but director Darren Mann on intuition films 9 extra minutes as he said he was captivated by both the wisdom and empathy in Dylan the Westie’s eyes. He is an old dog. He delivers a performance of an experienced actor as a wise Dominican street dog that takes Paco under his wing and gives him moral guidance not as we humans might expect it to be in but in a rather innovative and doglike fashion if such is possible.

Canadian veteran songster Gordon Lightfoot’s moody but very catchy song “Paco A Girl’s Best Friend” lifts this rather quirky film to the highest heights possible. Martin Malivoire adds some seamless and stunning special effects throughout the film including an unforgettable sea crocodile fight between Paco and the reptile.

I never thought one of these ‘dog is man’s best friend” films would sweep me off my feet but I am knocked on the ground moaning, “GIVE ME A SEQUEL!”

Dylan the Westie has previously won a Nobel Peace Prize for Literature shared with his owner Bob but may I dare say he may be on the podium along with Crowe to receive a best actor award at this year’s Academy Awards”.

Golf and Your Mental Game: Golf as a Necessity or a Luxury?

I say Bravo to you for being on the golf course. Why? Because I think you are setting aside several hours to (hopefully) enjoy yourself. Let’s call this an example of self-care. You have carved out time to play a game you love or perhaps are addicted to? Do you prefer being a “corporate hero” burning the candle at both ends” for a pat on the back which more often will be a kick in the ass out the door when you are a very old 55. Type A personalities are often candidates for heart disease and burnout. Incessant work is depleting for both the mind and body.

So if you find yourself on the golf course I say you are in the right place and taking the time to care for yourself. This is not to say you are free to ignore family and social obligations. Cut out self-care then stress and pressure will intensify. If golf is causing you frustration and aggravation and is becoming unenjoyable don’t waste your self-care time on it. Take up curling, tennis or fishing. There is a self-care groove out there. So if you get heat at home for the 6 hours whittled away getting to and from the golf course and playing the game pull out the self-care card! You are worth it.

Golf and Your Mental Game: Should You be Playing Golf at All?

Nourishing activities are those that restore energy and depleting activities make you worse. Assume you are on the golf course and you begin to notice the depleting moments outweigh the nourishing moments. If you are leaving a golf course in a worse mood than when you arrived should you ask yourself should you be there in the first place. I know several people who gave up the game as they no longer were having fun and enjoying themselves.

It could be these people could not step back and recalibrate and realizing they were reacting rather than responding to elements of their game.

If you can’t manage your mental game well the lack of proper mental responsiveness may send you a negative spiral so why bother with the game?

RKS Film: “Arctic Void”: Devoid of a Thrill but Full of Questions

“Arctic Void” describes itself as a thriller but I am neither thrilled nor horrified. I would better categorize the film as a mystery. I have a lot of questions as to why and whom! As a viewer you most likely will be asking the same questions. However there is no spoon feeding here giving you an easy answer and that may be part of the fun as you the viewer will have to make your best guess as to the who and why!

A travel show producer Alan Meursault (Tim Griffin) and on screen commentator Ray Marsh (Michael Weaver) are on assignment in the Arctic Circle in Norway on a small cruise ship sailing along the Norwegian coast with twenty or so passengers. A last-minute replacement for the usual cameraman Sean Tibbets (Justin Huen) joins them. Why does Tibbets have a tape recorder and headphones in a lunch pail? There are some very weird noises on the tape. What are these weird noises?

All the passengers disappear except for Alan, Ray and Sean all of whom have listened to the tape recording in the lunch pail. Are these noises life saving?

They see what looks to be a small mining town and they land there taking the motorized launch. Of course the town is deserted. Where have the inhabitants gone?  It is in Russia. A very cool set which both in its exterior and interior remind one of the Stalinist era. The mining town creates a sense of overwhelming desolation. It may be old but it captivates one as well as the rich cinematography.

Why are the lads seeing birds without eyes, polar bears with open wounds and a deer bleeding to death?  Why is a walrus goring its newborn to death? Why is Alan covered with gaping bloody gashes?

Who is Sean working for? As he tells Ray they are people you don’t want to know. Of course, the conclusion of the film certainly gives veracity to his statement.

Many questions are answered although who Sean is working for and what they are up to is never fully explained. Are these people behind all the weird occurrences? Are the disappearing people the result of some experiment? Are these disappearances part of some supernatural phenomena or explained logically?

If you are a curious person this film may be for you. A mystery slowly develops and you should enjoy the ride. The mystery may tag on your brain after the film which is indicative of the hold the film may have on you. You may also appreciate the not happily ever after ending.

The performances are good giving the characters credibility.

This 2021 US/Norwegian film is directed by Darren Mann and written by Michael Weaver.

The film will be in theatres (assuming Omicron has not closed them) and on VOD as of January 14th.

You can catch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/644555684/a2b077bc31

Golf and Your Mental Game: Taking a Moment

This golf season working as a Marshall I saw quite a lot of reactivity to bad shots. Often it sets in before the ball has landed because the golfer knows trouble almost immediately after making contact with the ball the shot is a bad one.

I wonder if we can step back and say something revolutionary for a golfer’s mind. That is that there are no bad shots just shots? Errant balls are simply part of the game so is it correct to say before exploding in anger and frustration just view it neutrally as a shot in a series of shots?  Or put another way instead of an emotional explosion realize that good and bad shots are simply part of the game. Hard to take this philosophy because golf is a passionate game for many!

Another approach to avoid reactivity to that less-than-ideal shot is simply to stop and take a moment to calmly ponder the shot just made and your reaction to it. Self analysis of your body and breath reaction. Then simply take note of it. Where does a strong negative reaction get you? Nowhere too pleasant. Wouldn’t it be preferable to respond to that shot and calmly determine what could have gone wrong and can that mistake be avoided next shot or playing the shot from the same position in a future round?

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog Is Back: Our North Korean Experience

After our sumptuous feast with Kim and his sister we return to our hotel. Bob leashes us up and takes us for a walk. There are no people on the streets. There is no pee mail in this town of Pyongyang. Could it be all the dogs, a symbol of bourgeoisie decadence, have been confiscated and turned into “hot dog pot” in an effort to avoid mass starvation? We are tailed on our walk by a rather fat Korean man who perhaps has been helping himself to many dog dishes. For the heck of it we run here and there and lose the fat fellow. Hopefully he is not executed tomorrow.

Kim has provided us with a “guide” who will drive us for our two-week tour of North Korea. Joe Biden had said this would happen. The guide is there to protect us against making any errors like mentioning any criticism of Kim’s leadership or showing any disrespect to the monuments erected in his honour. Dylan the Westie was about to pee in front of a monument erected to honour Kim but the guide pulled him away just in time as if he had peed where he wanted to he may have just been executed.

We had a wonderful tour of North Korea including a tour of the DMZ where we were cheered by North Korean troops. I loved Tejhu Island and for green tea Boseong is incredible.

Bob has travelled years ago in the Iron Curtain countries under communist rule. He said he was free to travel in Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Hungary without being harassed by the security apparatus. Bob said he mingled freely with the citizens of these countries and a few had the courage to whisper, “We are capitalists.”

Although here in North Korea Bob notices the citizens would like to meet us but with our guide they have a reticence that is unnatural. They look emaciated and haggard yet every night we eat at a “Comrades Buffet” which are a series of restaurants for communist party members and there is no dog on the menu but lots of pork and chicken with German beer and wine.

We feel like we are in a cocoon detached from reality. After two weeks of an incredible tour we are back in Pyongyang for our last night with Kim and a dinner of epic proportions. Kim and Bob retire to a viewing room to see the Grey Cup 2021 that we attended and of course Kim who loves a show sees Dylan the Westie and I romping around the field and says in 2022 he wants to attend a Grey Cup game. A closet Canadian Football League fan! Bob says he will try and arrange it.

Kim attaches an envelope to my collar addressed to Joe Biden before we go. We hug and are given many gifts by Kim. He says he hopes to see us at the next Grey Cup game and Bob says if you come stay with us in Toronto. Kim bobs his head up and down and says good-bye and adds you are like our people and are not filthy capitalist roaders. If we seek to ease world tensions let us do it with your Prime Minister Trudeau as a peace broker with the American capitalists.

This is getting a bit complicated for me. The media portrays Kim as a wild maniac butcher. Is he a nice man as I think he is? Perhaps the fate of the Koreas rests with an invitation to the 2022 Grey Cup Game?

We have our breakfast and head out to the airport to our private jet for the trip home. Kim has loaded several kilos of the best North Korean green tea, kimchi, North Korean beer and special on-board dinners of beef ribs. Thank goodness there is no hot dog pot!