RKS Wines: Wines from the Outer Limits “Tezaur Feteasca Regala/Sauvignon Blanc 2019”

While wine has been produced in Romania since 5700 B.C. it wasn’t until after the fall of communism in 1989 that privatization of the nationalized wine industry began attracting Italian, German, British, French and Austrian foreign investment. Under communist rule making quality wine and innovating was not in the mind of the state apparatus.

Today Romania ranks as the 6th largest EU producer of wine but exports only a fraction of its production with UK supermarkets taking some 30% of exports while Canada a mere 2%. Many producers are small and don’t have the volume to export large amounts of wine and although land is cheap wine production costs are high. And as far as I know while Romania is part of the EU I haven’t heard of the EU coughing up vast sums of money for media tours for Romania. Rather like Canada not coughing up cash to get the ear of wine writers and bloggers. I recall on my first media trip to Portugal in 2013 I wrote an article on all of the 14 wineries we visited plus restaurant and hotel reviews. That’s a lot of publicity for a minimal price.

It must be exciting times in Romania watching a newly revitalized industry trying to compete domestically and internationally. I have not been invited to Romania like I have been by Italy and Portugal using EU money for media trips. So it is an unfortunate case of no hear….no drink. What gems we might be missing are cause for a wine writer’s grief.

There is Feteasca Neagara somewhat like a Zinfandel which we get 4-5 times a year in Ontario. There is also Feteasca Regala which is the most widely planted white grape in Romania and we are trying here. Jidevi is the largest winery in Transylvania and was established in 1949. It has the largest white wine vine cultivated surface in Transylvania.

The wine is a 50% blend of Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Feteasca Regala and won a gold medal at Concours Mondial du Sauvignon 2020.It has a pale-yellow colour almost platinum. As for aromas you’ll get a laser beam of apricot and peach greeting your nose with yellow plum, honey, Orri tangerine, melon and toasted almonds. Very alluring! On the palate a light blanketing of soft acidity but far from zippy. The richness and diversity of the nose is toned down and you’ll pick up lighter notes of melon, pineapple, guava and some tart green apple. The wine is dry but not unpleasantly bone dry.

The finish is short. The wine is suited to both simply prepared lake and ocean white fleshed fish. Drink now.

( Jidevi, Alba County, Romania, $16.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 617340, 750 mL, 12%, A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” : Dealing with Wildlife: Surrounded by Skunks!

A golf course in an urban area like Toronto with its multitude of connected trails can lead to a panoply of wildlife.

Can I start with telling you I was held hostage by a group of four skunks on the 14th hole? The buggers surrounded my golf cart and was it because of the cherries I was munching? I shouted a warning to a group leaving the green and heading towards the white striped stinkpots and they gingerly took a detour leaving me behind. The humans that is! Oh shit were the buggers going to jump on my lap and ask for some cherries! Thank goodness no as the group on 13 was ready to hit and my cart was not facing them so an errant ball might strike the back of my head! I sped off delighted at this unique opportunity to encounter the “Untamed World”.

Coyotes have flourished since the pandemic even on my street in North York which in Toronto you might call mid town. They are stealthy hunters creeping slowly and quietly flat to the ground and when they see their pray bam! What have they done to the wildlife of the golf course? I have seen mangled ducks, partially eaten groundhogs and a decimated squirrel population. I have actually seen a coyote gobble down a squirrel after playing with it.

Geese and their shit is particularly bad on the 3rd approach shot to the green. Aside from a mangled and half-digested goose they are clever and head to the water when a coyote or fox is sighted. Yes I did hit a goose that started convulsing but it was back on its feet 5 minutes later.

Foxes are seen regularly and their diet of rabbit is in abundance in the dawn and dusk hours.

Deer are rarely seen but they are there and probably too big for coyote attacks.

Turtles are seen in the marshlands on the third hole as well as snakes.

Of course, the worst wildlife might be the macho golfers playing from the blue tees thinking they are professionals with lots of balls. Usually half of them really shouldn’t be playing from the blue tees. They are the braggarts with mighty swings that end up in the creek or far less than I can hit on the white intermediate tees.

So enjoy nature you golf Marshalls and if the coyotes follow you from the parking lot all the way to the 4th hole hope they are curious not hungry.

The Montreal International Documentary Festival 2021n Programme Revealed

For immediate distribution

A hybrid edition celebrating reality on film at its best

The 2021 program revealed

Montreal, Wednesday, October 20, 2021 – The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is proud to unveil the full program for its 24th edition. With a selection of 120 films from 44 countries, including 54 films from Quebec and Canada, and more than half by women filmmakers, the RIDM presents the best of reality film from big names and new talent alike.

To celebrate the event-based nature of the festival, each documentary in the program will be screened once in theatres from November 10 to 21. For film-lovers unable to attend in person, films will be available via the festival’s online edition from November 14 to 25. This will include almost all the program’s films, which will be available everywhere in Canada.

The RIDM is delighted to reconnect with audiences and to make this event a meaningful gathering at which to celebrate creative documentary cinema. This edition has been put together by an enthusiastic team led by Marc Gauthier, the new director of the RIDM, with support from a brand-new programming collective: Ana Alice de Morais, Marlene Edoyan, Nadine Gomez, and Hubert Sabino-Brunette.

2021 TRAILER

OPENING NIGHT

The RIDM launches its new program with Futura, a feature-length documentary by Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello, and Francesco Munzi. From three of Italy’s most exciting filmmakers comes a profile of a generation for whom hope is always served with a dose of uncertainty. Presented in partnership with the Italian Institute of Culture in Montreal and The Match Factory, the screening of Futura will be held on Wednesday, November 10 at 7 p.m. at the Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin (by invitation only). The film will be preceded by Des voisins dans ma cour, a Quebec-made short by Eli Jean Tahchi, made as part of the Regard sur Montréal residency program.

CLOSING NIGHT

The festival will close with Gabor. The first feature-length film from Joannie Lafrenière is a funny and warm-hearted depiction of her friend, the talented photographer Gabor Szilasi. Gabor will make its world premiere on Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m. at the Cinéma du Musée, attended by Gabor Szilasi, Joannie Lafrenière, and her team.

EIGHT THEMATIC SECTIONS

Following the success of the 2020 edition, this year’s program is organized around eight thematic sections, each including short, medium, and feature-length films, as well as films from different national and international competitions. The thematic sections – THE HUMAN SPACE, IN SEARCH OF ONESELF, FAMILY TOPOGRAPHIES, STRENGTH OF THE LIVING, DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ARTS, HAUNTED TERRITORIES, GESTURES OF RESISTANCE, and ECHOES OF THE PAST – are designed to help audiences better navigate the festival programming, whether in theatres or online.

All the films in the program will be shown in theatres during the festival. They will then be divided into three program blocks available online according to the date of screening in theatres: from November 14 to 17 (Block 1), from November 18 to 21 (Block 2), and from November 22 to 25 (Block 3).

THE HUMAN SPACE – 11 films that explore the relationship between human beings and their environment, with a focus on connection and resilience

Twice the winner of the RIDM’s Grand Prize for International Feature Competition (Another Year, 2016, and Present.Perfect, 2019), Chinese filmmaker Shengze Zhu returns this year with A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces, an urban symphony that follows the long and winding route of the Yangtze River in Wuhan. Meanwhile, Jessica Kingdon’s film Ascension, which won Best Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival, is an ironic and critical portrayal of contemporary Chinese society by way of a number of unusual happenings, shedding light on the absurdity of the capitalist rat race.

Strict Regime takes us to a high-security Russian detention centre, where Nikita Yefimov turns his camera on one of the prison guards. With a glimpse of the behind the scenes inside the prison, the film reveals the power dynamics that exist there. In Le kiosque, filmmaker Alexandra Pianelli uses her cell phone camera to shoot the newspaper kiosk that encapsulates the life of a Parisian neighbourhood.

The experience of a group of migrants is the focus of The Last Shelter, in which filmmaker Ousmane Zoromé Samassékou records the dangerous journeys of three women staying at a shelter on the Sahel border. In Alone by Paul Tom (Bagages), the stories of three refugee children bring to light complex issues around exile and reception.

The many faces of Park Ex shine in Je me souviens d’un temps où personne ne joggait dans ce quartier by Jenny Cartwright,a film that hints at the relentless onset of gentrification threatening the social fabric of a neighbourhood. On a different note, Resources by Serge-Olivier Rondeau and Hubert Caron-Guay gives a voice tothose who are at the heart of the food system that sustains this country.

In Ostrov – Lost Island by Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop,we meet the last inhabitants of the Russian island of Ostrov in the Caspian Sea. Sunny by Keti Machavariani is a forceful and eloquent evocation of the spirit of a post-Soviet society turned upside-down; finally, Futura by Pietro Marcello, Francesco Munzi,and Alice Rohrwacher, the festival’s opening film, completes this section.

IN SEARCH OF ONESELF – 10 introspective films on the human condition and our understanding of the world

Three films are united under the theme of a search for freedom. The winner of the Golden Leopard – Filmmakers of the Present Award at the Locarno Film Festival, Brotherhood by Francesco Montagner transports us to Bosnia to explore a challenging path to adulthood, in which three brothers’ search for identity causes them to defy their authoritarian father. In Zuhur’s Daughters by Laurentia Genske and Robin Humboldt, we travel to Germany where two Syrian sisters’ identities as trans women generate moral conflicts with the Muslim faith practiced in their home. From up-and-coming filmmaker Vadim Kostrov comes Orpheus, a minimalist docudrama reflecting on today’s Russia, from the point of view of an artistic and free-spirited younger generation.

Human connection takes centre stage in Kevin by Joana Oliveira, a hybrid piece sensitively depicting the friendship between two women separated by an ocean and different ethnic and cultural backgrounds; as well as in They Sleep Standing by Bogdan Stoica, which follows three friends at different crossroads in life, in a poetic film set in Romania’s dreamlike landscapes.

This section features two highly personal works: In Fiasco, filmmaker Nicolas Khoury points the camera at himself to challenge the social constraints imposed by his family and by Lebanese society; meanwhile, in Francis Leplay and Isidore Bethel’s film Acts of Love, Bethel, struggling to recover from a toxic relationship, decides to use his next romantic encounters as material for the film.

A Story of One’s Own by Amandine Gay (Speak Up, RIDM People’s Choice 2017) is an eloquent meditation on the various political, economic, cultural, and racial issues surrounding international adoption. Focusing on the personal agency of Black women, Wash Day by Kourtney Jackson highlights three young women’s journeys toward self-acceptance, self-care, and the courage to confront daily microaggressions.

Love Me by Romane Garant Chartrand is an intimate portrait of Laetitia, a charismatic high-school student in whose everyday life seduction and carefully controlled self-image play a crucial role.

FAMILY TOPOGRAPHIES – 10 films illuminating the complex ties that bind us to our families, those who brought us into the world and whose lives run parallel to our own, for better or for worse

In Babushka, filmmaker Kristina Wagenbauer returns to her native Russia to visit her resilient grandmother with whom she spent part of her childhood, in this film rich in tenderness and humour. Dropstones by Caitlin Durlak follows a woman taking back control of her life after an abusive marriage as she returns with her two children to the picturesque Fogo Island, off the coast of Newfoundland.

Jeremiah Hayes’ moving work Dear Audrey is a candid reflection on the incredible life of Martin Duckworth, who is supporting his wife through the final stages of Alzheimer’s. In a similar vein, Dida by Corina Schwingruber Ilić and Nikola Ilić sees the filmmaker returning to Belgrade to care for his aging mother.

Human bonds are central to these works rooted in personal experience. In Upstairs, Pier-Luc Latulippe and Martin Fournier turn the spotlight on one of Quebec’s best-loved actors, Serge Thériault, who has lived for over a decade with extreme depression. Together, his wife Anna and their neighbours try to bring him back to the land of the living. Under the Sleeping Mountain sees filmmaker Charles Duquet (Prix de la relève, RIDM 2019) coming to terms with the gradual erosion of his parents’ relationship. Yasmine Mathurin brings another tough subject to the table in One of Ours: a young man of Haitian origin, adopted by an Indigenous family in Calgary, finds his identity called into question by the authorities of the All Native basketball tournament.

Some Kind of Intimacy by Toby Bull delivers a touching message from the living to the dead, in which a flock of sheep become the benevolent guardians of our cemeteries. Becoming by Isabel Vaca explores the inner workings of a tough and controversial world through the eyes of an 11-year-old Mexican cowboy. In Les enfants terribles, filmmaker Ahmet Necdet Çupur films his younger brother and sister, who live in a small Turkish village, offering an inside look at their search for fulfilment and the possibility of a new start.

STRENGTH OF THE LIVING – 10 films that celebrate the vitality of nature, its cycles, and the roots that connect us all

Surveillance footage forms the backbone of a captivating visual journey from Sebastian Mulder on the trail of Naya, the first she-wolf seen in Belgium for over a century. Based on a huge archaeological investigation into the archives of world cinema, Animal macula by Sylvain L’Espérance teases out a troubled and often violent relationship between humans and animals. Following the life of a cow and her calves on an industrial dairy farm, Andrea Arnold’s feature Cow documents the life cycle of animals condemned to servitude. Taming the Garden by Salomé Jashi is both poetic and political, shedding light on the environmental and social issues at work when a wealthy Georgian man decides to ship over colossal, centuries-old trees to plant in his private garden.

Northern countries are at the heart of explorations into unsettling environmental changes. Luke Gleeson’s film DƏNE YI’INJETL takes up the perspectives of those affected by the environmental and social repercussions of BC Hydro, which have transformed the territory of the Tsay Keh Dene Nation. At once lyrical and dystopian, Holgut by Liesbeth De Ceulaer foregrounds a nascent environmental catastrophe in Siberia, where the thawing permafrost is causing remains of long-extinct species to rise to the surface. At a Polish station in Antarctica, filmmaker Viera Čakányová enters into conversation with an artificial neural network and takes an introspective look at the future in White on White.

Young people take centre stage in The Hill, in which Julien Chausit intelligently conveys the anxiety many young people feel in light of the destruction of the environment and the need to act to avoid catastrophe. Meanwhile, in Last Days at Sea, Filipino filmmaker Venice Atienza spends time with a young boy who will soon leave his village to study in the city.

In the tradition of ethnographic documentaries, Far Beyond the Pasturelands by Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis and Maude Plante-Husaruk is the final film in this section. In it, the filmmakers transport us to the Himalayas, where an expedition to find a rare mushroom is underway.

DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ARTS – 11 films that draw inspiration from intersections of film and other artistic mediums

Aleph, a labyrinthine work by Iva Radivojević loosely inspired by the writing of Jorge Luis Borges, is a many-tentacled story that unfolds without losing its integrity. Filmmaker Ben Russell (who has previously won two awards at the RIDM for River Rites and Atlantis) returns with a clever reappropriation of Réné Daumal’s novel Mount Analogue in The Invisible Mountain, an enchanting journey that renders the invisible tangible. Eastwood by Alireza Rasoulinejad follows a filmmaker who, on spotting Clint Eastwood in a photo in the newspaper, heads to the city of Sirjan, Iran, in search of the iconic American actor.

Music serves as the inspiration for Reminiscences of 15 Musicians in Beirut Attempting a Re-imagination of the Egyptian Classic Yara Garat Al Wadi. In this film by Charles-André Coderre, a contemporary orchestra reinterprets Yara Garat Al Wadi, a well-known Egyptian piece of music. Likewise, in Singing in the Wilderness, Dongnan Chen observes the Christian choir of a Miao village, co-opted by a propaganda official from the Chinese government.

Two films in this section focus on creativity: Stray Ducks by Bruno Chouinard follows the epic story of the rubber ducks dropped into Greenland’s glaciers as part of an experiment on climate change, which have now made their way all over the world. The End of Kings by Rémi Brachet presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of Clichy-sous-Bois, drawing attention to gender relations and questioning the balance of power.

With an emphasis on exploration, The Truss Arch by Sonya Stefan is an ode to freedom rippling with reflection, somewhere between an autobiographical piece, a heartfelt tribute to an immigrant mother whose fate is out of her hands, and a dance film; while Ikebana by Rita Ferrando and Lily Jue Sheng is a sensitive film that questions representation as well as exploring the meticulous, meditative art of flower arrangement.

The colourful and creative The End of Wonderland by Laurence Turcotte-Fraser – a depiction of Tara Emory, a trans artist and pioneer of the burlesque, fetish, and erotic scene of the 90s – completes this section alongside Gabor by Joannie Lafrenière, this edition’s closing film.

HAUNTED TERRITORIES – 11 films that transport us to ghostly worlds where the weight of the past blurs reality and fiction

Poème fantôme by Laurence Olivier draws us deep inside a strange and haunted natural environment, while Abisal by Alejandro Alonso is a hypnotic fable in which worlds, temporalities, and realities overlap, recalling how the ghosts that haunt us often come from within.

Places are sometimes haunted by the systems that govern them. In The Gig is Up, filmmaker Shannon Walsh records the striking yet calmly recounted stories of workers exploited by the gig economy. Exposing a cruel capitalist system, this is a documentary destined to ring alarm bells. In 2010, fire tore through a prison in Chile, killing 81 people. Haunted by nightmares of the victims, El cielo está rojo by Francina Carbonell revisits the tragedy to denounce a precarious prison system.

Urban spaces and memory take pride of place in two films: Zaina Bseiso’s When Light is Displaced, in which an orange grove in California becomes an unexpected site of shared reflection around experiences of exile for a Palestinian father and daughter; and If You See Her, Say Hello by Hee Young Pyun and Jiajun (Oscar) Zhang, whichfollows a man who visits the town where he grew up, only to discover that the old city is in ruins and a new one has replaced it.

Speech is the focus both of By the Throat by Effi & Amir, a surprising work that explores accent as a powerful social marker and the sinister control tactics that exploit it; and of Minimal Sway While Starting My Way Up by Stéphanie Lagarde which, in a world where data are gathered to be analyzed by artificial intelligence, a talking elevator describes what it perceives.

During the pandemic, two friends keep up correspondence via excerpts of films. The result is Same/Different/Both/Neither by Adriana Barbosa and Fernanda Pessoa, which captures the feeling of a suspended space/time. In Delphine’s Prayers by Rosine Mbakam, two friends are connected by their shared belonging to the African diaspora. The filmmaker introduces us to Delphine, a woman whose greatest crime remains her own existence.

GESTURES OF RESISTANCE – 10 films celebrating gestures both great and small of those who fight the status quo


In Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award and Rogers Audience Award for Canadian Feature Documentary, Hot Docs 2021 and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Director, DOXA 2021), filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers takes her camera into her own community, the Kainai First Nation, to shed light on their collective struggle to overcome the opioid crisis and to heal the wounds caused by colonialism.

Dear Jackie by Henri Pardo is a cinematic letter to baseball player Jackie Robinson offering a historical and social perspective on racism. Just a Movement by Vincent Meessen, meanwhile, is a free adaptation of Jean-Luc Godard’s La Chinoise that explores the story of Senegalese Marxist militant Omar Blondin Diop.

The winner of this year’s Œil d’Or (Golden Eye) award at Cannes, A Night of Knowing Nothing by Payal Kapadia draws on the correspondence between two university students whose romantic relationship is thwarted by the archaic caste system. Also set in India is Writing with Fire by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, which follows female journalists of the Dalit community who decide to move beyond their print newspaper and, instead, to produce videos with a reach of millions.

Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege by Abdallah Al-Khatib gives a Palestinian militant’s perspective of the Yarmouk refugee camp, under a brutal siege by the Syrian regime and surviving only thanks to the resistance and generosity of the community. An original collaboration between the filmmaker and the Cuban refugees stranded at a camp in Panama, La opción cero by Marcel Beltrán tells the inside story of a dangerous migration.

Audrey and Maxime Jean-Baptiste reappropriate the archives of France’s National Center for Space Studies to tell a story of collective dispossession in Listen to the Beat of Our Images, an incisive and otherworldly cinematic essay. In All of Your Stars are But Dust on my Shoes by Haig Aivazian, seemingly disparate video and sound elements enter into a dialogue, reminding us that light always has its dark side.

And, since resistance can sometimes be embodied by silent struggles, this section’s final film is Edna by Brazilian filmmaker Eryk Rocha. Both poetic and brutal, this film follows an older woman whose diary records her memories of survival in a territory scarred by massacres.

ECHOES OF THE PAST – 11 films that call for reflection on the past, to understand the present and imagine a better future

Equipped with an old tape recorder and his keen eye, an Indigenous man speaks with Elders of his community whose assimilated Christian faith coexists with a longing for the past in Nothing But the Sun by Arami Ullón. Ëdhä Dädhëcha¸| Moosehide Slide by Dan Sokolowski juxtaposes two stories – the white man’s version and the First Nations’ version – that explain the formation of a geographical feature. This experimental short film highlights the impossibility of reconciliation without recognition of the ancestral stories of Indigenous peoples.

Carolina Arias Ortiz travels to Costa Rica to reconnect with her dying father in Objetos Rebeldes. Like an archaeological dig, this essay unfolds along several strata, revealing cracks in the country. In Under Silence and Earth, filmmaker Gisela Restrepo makes the trip to Colombia to search for the body of her aunt who took part in armed conflict.

zo reken by Emanuel Licha, the winner of the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs, takes us to Port-au-Prince and inside a 4×4, where Haitian inhabitants discuss colonization and international aid, casting a critical eye on many broken promises. The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation is a detailed guide from director Avi Mograbi that unveils the forces at work in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

Kal Fatemeh by Mahdi Zamanpour Kiasari depicts the daily life of Kal Fatemeh and her sons, who live in a remote region of Iran. Undaunted by the hardship of rural life, this is a woman whose greatest struggle is the regret of contributing to her daughter’s unhappiness.

Impressive photography is layered with a sound composition made from the desert wind in Galb’Echaouf by Abdessamad El Montassir, which calls up the ghosts of sociopolitical conflicts in the Western Sahara. In Can a Mountain Recall – a cinematographic essay in the form of a personal diary – Delfina Carlota Vazquez tries to unravel the mystery surrounding a volcano that looks out, enigmatically, over a Mexican city.

Winner of the Burning Lights Competition at Visions du Réel 2021, Stefan Pavlovic steps onto the emotional rollercoaster of two men whose growing friendship helps them reconcile themselves with their past in Looking for Horses. In Conversations avec Siro, frank and frequent discussions between filmmaker Dima El-Horr and her friend Siro provide an opportunity to reflect on solitude, exile, and the future of a Lebanon ravaged by successive crises.

VITALY MANSKY RETROSPECTIVE – Facing Reality

This year, the RIDM pays tribute to filmmaker Vitaly Mansky, whose keen eye and critical perspective on political questions is more necessary than ever before. Through his films, the Russian producer and director addresses complex questions with a cinematographic style that is at once persuasive and provocative. His films Broadway. Black Sea (2002), Private Chronicles. Monologue (2011), Pipeline (2013), Under the Sun (2015), Close Relations (2016), Putin’s Witnesses (2018) and his most recent opus Gorbachev. Heaven (2021) will feature in this retrospective of his work.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

For the fourth year running, the RIDM and Wapikoni mobile join forces to present 4 x Wapikoni mobile: four shorts to be screened before each feature film in the Canadian competition. This selection is a snapshot of the creativity of new voices in Indigenous filmmaking, including works by Mary Menie Mark, Melanie Lameboy, Alfred McKenzie, and Véronique Picard. A fantastic way to celebrate Wapikoni mobile’s many achievements since 2004.

Hosted by Matthieu Dugal, La soirée de la relève Radio-Canada is the chance to see six short documentaries by Quebec’s next generation of filmmakers. Audiences will have the chance to discover works by Jérémie Picard, Julia Zahar, Sara Ben-Saud, Stéphane Nepton, Simon Larochelle, and Aucéane Roux. This exciting event will be held on Sunday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at the Cinéma du Musée, attended by the filmmakers. Following the event, the films will be available on the RIDM’s online platform from November 18 to the 21,and then on ICI TOU.TV.

From November 2 to 27, the Société des arts technologiques’ [SAT] dome will play host to the immersive film Territories of the Americas by Patrick Bossé, a travelogue inspired by the artistic career of multidisciplinary artist René Derouin. The film, in which 360° footage combines with graphic animations, retraces the artist’s journey from Quebec to Mexico. Territories of the Americas is presented by Hubblo in collaboration with the RIDM.

ROUNDTABLES AND DISCUSSIONS

The roundtable Working in the cultural sector: redefining what’s essential, presented in collaboration with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), will address labour standards in the cultural sector, as well as issues in adapting to the constraints of the ongoing pandemic.  This discussion will take place on Saturday, November 13 at 2 p.m. in the Salle Norman-McLaren of the Cinémathèque québécoise.

Another roundtable, Regional documentary cinema: creation, production, and distribution, presented in collaboration with URBANIA, will be held on Saturday, November 20 at 1 p.m. in the Salle Norman-McLaren of the Cinémathèque québécoise. For this event, documentary filmmakers and other professionals working in rural areas and smaller cities in Quebec will discuss cultural creation in these locations, as well as collaboration, territory, and representation.

TWO ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Institut national de l’image et du son (INIS) will present a selection of its best documentaries entitled 25 years of INIS: from strength to strength, followed by a discussion with some of the INIS alumni.

This discussion will take place on Thursday, November 11 at 7 p.m. in the Salle Norman-McLaren of the Cinémathèque québécoise.

2021 also marks the 50th anniversary of Vidéographe. To highlight the occasion, artist and filmmaker Luc Bourdon has put together a selection – Le devoir de mémoire – of five films from the artist centre’s 2300-title catalogue. The screening will take place on Friday, November 19 at 6 p.m. in the Salle Norman-McLaren of the Cinémathèque québécoise, followed by a discussion hosted by Luc Bourdon.

FAMILY SCREENINGS

And finally, for the seventh year running, the RIDM is delighted to invite families to the Cinémathèque québécoise for its Family Screenings, an international program of short films for ages six and up, as well as a workshop on learning from images adapted for youths. Presented in collaboration with the Carrousel international du film de Rimouski, the Family Screenings will take place on Saturday, November 13 at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday, November 21 at 2:30 p.m.

AWARDS AND JURIES

The following prizes will be awarded during the RIDM awards ceremony on Saturday, November 20 at 5 p.m. in the Salle Norman-McLaren of the Cinémathèque québécoise:

Grand Prize for International Feature Competition – presented by TV5

Special Jury Prize for International Feature Competition

Grand Prize for National Feature Competition – presented by PRIM

Special Jury Prize for National Feature Competition

New Visions Award – presented by SCAM and Post-Moderne

Best International Short or Medium-Length Film

Best National Short or Medium-Length Film – presented by Télé-Québec and SLA Location

Magnus-Isacsson Award – presented with the ARRQ, DOC Québec, Funambules Médias, Cinema Politica, and MainFilm

Student Award – presented by the Caisse Desjardins du Plateau Mont-Royal

People’s Choice Award – presented by the Canada Media Fund (NOUS | MADE)

PRICES AND SALES OF PASSES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

To ensure that access to the program is simple and affordable, the online box office offers several options for purchasing your festival pass:

– Tickets for in-theatre screenings are $13. A discount of $2 per ticket applies for any purchase of five or more tickets. There will also be a physical box office at the Cinémathèque québécoise during the festival.

– For those who prefer to watch from the comfort of home, and for documentary fans across Canada, the RIDM will offer online access to the vast majority of its program from November 14 onward, via the RIDM online platform. At $85, the RIDM passport gives you access to the online program, which will be released in three program blocks between November 14 and 25.

– Alternatively, a subscription for one online block can be purchased for $30. This option allows you to view all the films from one of the three program blocks via the online platform. All the details are available on the festival website.

THANK YOU TO THE RIDM’S PARTNERS

The RIDM gratefully acknowledges the support of its valued partners: the Gouvernement du Québec, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications, SODEC, the Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine, the Canada Council for the Arts, Ville de Montréal, Telefilm Canada, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, the Centre des Services aux Entreprises – Intégration en emploi (Emploi-Québec), the ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation, Crave, Canal D, the Canada Media Fund, Télé-Québec, CSN, TV5, Radio-Canada, Post-Moderne, the Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM), PRIM, BDO, the Cinémathèque québécoise, and Studio Chop Chop, as well as Benoît Parent and Arthur Gaumont-Marchant.

The RIDM’s 24th edition will take place in theatres from November 10 to 21

at the Cinémathèque québécoise, Cinéma du Parc, Cinéma du Musée,

Centre Pierre-Péladeau, and Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin

and online from November 14 to 25, 2021

Molnupiravir: The Game-Changing Antiviral Pill for COVID-19?

PublishedOctober 18, 2021COVID-19DRUGSVACCINES

white pills with the word "molnupiravir" written

Pharmaceutical company Merck applied on October 11 for FDA emergency use authorization for its oral antiviral COVID-19 drug, molnupiravir. In this Q&A, Carl Dieffenbach, PhD, director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Joshua Sharfstein, MD, talk about the development of the medication, how soon could it be approved, and how it might change the trajectory of the pandemic. 

Portions of this Q&A are adapted from the October 13 episode of Public Health On Call.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT MOLNUPIRAVIR AND HOW IT WORKS?

With COVID, we’ve seen the pattern where some people convalesce very easily, while others get sick and the disease progresses rapidly. The goal of oral antivirals is to prevent people from getting sicker so they can rehabilitate faster. The idea is like with any other drug: You get an infection, you take the drug, you get better, you move on. 

People who are newly infected with the coronavirus or are newly symptomatic begin taking the drugs within three to five days of symptoms starting. The treatment consists of eight pills a day for five days. With the flu, we know that people have to take the drug (the oral antiviral Tamiflu) quickly after becoming infected. It’s the same principle with molnupiravir.

Other drugs are still in development that targets the virus in different places, but molnupiravir is the first one to progress to the point of EUA application.

HOW SOON COULD WE SEE MOLNUPARAVIR APPROVED?

It will probably be approved by the end of the year. Like the COVID-19 vaccines, we will probably see an emergency use authorization process first, where the drugs will be approved for a certain population.

 WILL THIS DRUG BE FREE? 

It will be free. The United States government will make this drug—like the monoclonal antibodies—available at no cost as part of our pandemic response.

WILL MOLNUPIRAVIR BE AVAILABLE TO ANYONE EXPOSED TO COVID OR ONLY SPECIFIC GROUPS?  

It’s likely that the recommended population will include those represented in the clinical trial: nonhospitalized adults with mild to moderate COVID-19, who are within five days of symptom onset and have at least one risk factor for severe disease. It’s possible that FDA may permit broader use beyond this group.

WILL KIDS BE ABLE TO TAKE IT?

The initial studies were conducted in adults. It’s likely that pediatric studies will not be far behind.

CAN VACCINATED PEOPLE TAKE THIS MEDICATION?

 Yes.

IS THERE ANY CONCERN THAT HAVING AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT WOULD PREVENT PEOPLE FROM GETTING VACCINATED?

There is a concern there. We already have governors in certain red states that are promoting antibodies instead of vaccination.

But from a public health perspective, we need to have different tools in our toolbox so we can deal with whatever comes at us. With a vaccine, we can prevent infection and disease. With monoclonal antibodies and with pills now, we can prevent disease progression. Hopefully over the next year or so, we will have even more choices.

WILL THIS DRUG HELP PREVENT LONG COVID? 

This is a long-term question, and people have been taking these pills for a relatively short period of time. We won’t know for a while whether the use of medications and antibodies prevent long COVID. But if the pills help people convalesce quicker and also prevent long COVID—that is a game-changer. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE NEXT?

There’s another antiviral, a protease inhibitor from Pfizer, in clinical trials, that should be complete late this year or early next. There are also other drugs further back in the pipeline that are at different stages. But between now and June or July 2022, we may have three or four oral antivirals either at the EUA stage or that have at least reported data. 

We could eventually have medicines to use prophylactically if people think they’ve been exposed. In fact, Merck is testing molnupiravir in a post-exposure model. I think that’s the vision everybody has, because we know how wonderful it is to have something simple, like a Z-Pack of pills that you can take quickly should you get exposed or start showing symptoms.

ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THESE KINDS OF DRUGS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AS QUICKLY AS THEY HAVE BEEN? 

No, not at all. Molnupiravir has been in development as a broad-spectrum antiviral for approximately 10 years. It was first tested as an Ebola drug in Liberia’s 2016–2017 outbreak.  The other drugs in development are more coronavirus-specific and have progressed a little quicker. 

HOW WILL HAVING MEDICATIONS TO TREAT COVID-19 AFFECT THE TRAJECTORY OF THE PANDEMIC?

The goal is to keep people from progressing into the hospital and dying. Merck reported in their press release that molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 50%. The advantage of pills is they’re a lot easier to access and you can treat more people quicker than you can with monoclonal antibodies. Having a sufficient supply of molnupiravir could make a huge impact on hospitalizations and deaths.

5 factors to consider for remote teams effectiveness (from E-Hotelier)

Lesley Vos1 postPosted on 19 Oct at 8:55 am196 views

While hotel managers often focus more on the mechanics of their business, team performance is that very aspect driving everything and influencing the overall success. That’s why it’s essential to have the right team members aboard and invest in their regular training. It’s a key to your hotel employees’ work motivation, satisfaction, and productivity.

The same is true when it comes to working with remote teams.

And still, it remains a bit more difficult for managers to influence and control remote employees’ performance and work effectiveness. To maximize it and ensure they work with satisfaction and pleasure, you need to consider and provide your team with the following factors.

1. Clear goals and KPI

It’s challenging for remote employees to flow into your working processes because they aren’t physically present at meetings. Plus, they have no chance to communicate with colleagues in person anytime they have a question or aren’t sure about an assigned task.  

 

 

 

 

 

To prevent misunderstandings and conflicts, do your best to clarify your business vision and goals to them. Be clear and specify each team member’s responsibilities. Milestones (KPIs) are also necessary for remote specialists to better understand the work process and organize their time accordingly.

As a rule, most teams work effectively with both goals and KPIs at hand. But it’s worth mentioning that goal-setting is more appropriate to consider when your squad is project-based, while KPIs are a subject of a process-based working environment.

2. Transparency

When your team works remotely, there’s a high risk to leave each member to themselves: 

Once they understand business goals and their individual tasks and KPIs, they may “forget” about the team and focus only on personal performance without even knowing what other colleagues do.

As far as you understand, it’s not how high team performance and effectiveness appear.

As a manager, you need to encourage transparency in the team, motivating them to communicate what they do and intend to achieve. But ensure your team understands that it’s not for the strict control of their every step but a better understanding of others’ roles in the group and where the project goes.

The best way to achieve transparency is to organize a common platform where members communicate their actions towards the project. It can be a group chat in messengers or any team task management tool (Trello, Asana, ClickUp, you name it).

Such transparency can impact your team performance significantly:

  • Everyone will better understand and appreciate what others do.
  • Team members will have an opportunity to collaborate and assist each other, writing argumentative notes whenever appropriate.
  • It’s a chance for employees to think about their priorities, not just complete tasks on auto-pilot.
  • Updating the team on their progress, employees will see it more straightforward, feeling the satisfaction from their work.
  • It will help them organize working days and you — to see what everyone is working on at the moment, managing the whole process more effectively.

3. Regular meetings 

Not only are they critical for organizing and managing work processes, but they are also a must for exchanging feedback and strengthening the relationship with employees.

When your team members work remotely, it can be challenging to catch their attention: They get tons of information via different communication channels, feel stressed, and thus miss or ignore messages from you. That’s what you can do to deal with that:

  • Determine their most preferable communication channel: Some choose business email, while others prefer messengers or phone/video calls. It will help you reach them faster.
  • Share only the necessary information with them, the one relating to them directly. Thus employees will know that if you contact them, it means something important and requesting a reply.

Besides group meetings, make it a habit to practice one-on-one messaging with remote team members to discuss their individual goals and accomplishments. Ask them to share their feedback on the tasks you assign and their role for the overall project. Thus you’ll motivate your remote workers to be more proactive.

4. Perks 

Employee perks are essential to show your team that you value them and care about their wellbeing. They are great to reward a person for hard work, accomplishment, or a business idea, and it’s a pleasant bonus way to show your employees that their work doesn’t go unseen.

Perks bring a positive atmosphere to the team, creating a sense of camaraderie, influencing employee retention and loyalty, and increasing productivity and overall performance. They help create an engaged workforce, promoting collaboration for better team effectiveness.

And, sure thing, all these benefits work for remote employees too.

Here go some perks you can offer to promote engagement in your remote team:

  • Flexible working hours for a better work-life balance of your employees
  • Discounted dining memberships, gyms, or hotel booking
  • Paying for additional training or online courses on professional development
  • Sending tiny and cute surprises like a Starbucks coffee certificate, a T-shirt, or any other gift, and so on.

5. Positive team culture

While some managers still insist that team culture is optional and unrelated to work performance, highly effective teams are almost always those with a strong and positive culture. When employees respect, understand, and like each other, they are naturally more motivated to work together, help each other, and perform better for shared project success.

Different team-building activities are a great instrument for promoting positive team culture within your team. They help people know each other, bond over interests and experiences, and learn to trust each other.

In the case of remote teams, when not all your employees work in the same office, you need to connect them with their non-remote colleagues. When feeling connected with the rest of the organization, remote specialists become more engaged and productive, participating in business processes actively.

Virtual communication can become the best option to connect your remote team with non-remote employees:

With the help of corresponding communication software, you can create a virtual booth for all employees to get together, share news and insights, have some fun via small talks or sharing funny memes, and so on.

About the author

Lesley Vos is a seasoned copywriter and digital marketer, freelancing as a guest blogger and writing on education, career, business, and self-growth. Feel free to see more works of hers on Twitter @LesleyVos or read her profile at the Bid4Papers blog. Post Views: 196Tags: remote employees, Remote teams

About the Author:

Lesley VosLesley Vos1 posthttps://bid4papers.com/blog/Content writer and blogger. Ambitious dreamer and wanderer. Proud guest writer and contributor to many blogs on writing, content marketing, and social media. Ninja from Bid4Papers, and lady willing to be friends with you.

“Mutantism on the March” : Chapter 105 The CIA Caught with Their Pants Down; Anti-Americanism Heats Up!

The United Mutations International Herald article:

US Espionage Unit Caught with Their Pants Down

The United Mutations of Montreal, Canada has come into possession of a tape with some rather enlightening information on it. But we knew you were aware of it already! The following conversation is caught on tape between Morris Filibuster, CIA Chief of the North American Bureau, and the President of the United States Richard Affliction. We have chosen selected snippets for your review. The complete transcript can be seen on pages 24-26.

Affliction: Fucking hot day Morris. Real Alabama weather. Those fat Southern bastards giving you any trouble over your proposed budget?

Filibuster: No sir Mr. President. You know we have our people in the House as well as in Chile (laughter) , Greece, Canada, Mexico and any other country you care to name. God Bless America and Democracy! 

Affliction: Yeah….speaking of Canada what is happening in Montreal? I have just made a deal with some Froggie politician there and don’t ask me about it as it is all covered by executive privilege. It is strictly confidential.

Filibuster: Yes sir Mr. President. I always said you were right and had the best interests of the country in mind. Well….about this Montreal thing. We have a whole unit down there masquerading as a professional baseball team. They are called the Montreal Hexpos. As you initially ordered they are destroying anti-American groups through the usual tactics of blackmail, payoffs and the like. However due to the issue of your new orders they are now stirring up anti-Americanism. They are also kidnapping draft dodgers and smuggling them back to our blessed country across the Quebec Vermont border.

Affliction: Oh Morrie if you only knew the plans I have for that province. We are looking at the 51st state. Just instruct your Hexpo squad to be persistent. Get them burning down the Gillette factory in Montreal. Those bastards never contributed to my re-election campaign anyways. If all goes well there is a promotion in it for you Morrie.

Filibuster: Yes sir Mr. President but we are not without problems. The baseball players are so popular they have attained celebrity status so undercover operations are becoming increasingly difficult. Also there are those damn mutants and the CDQ warning about American provocateurs including the CIA.

Affliction: Come on Morris I have a few problems especially with someone that calls themselves “Sore Throat”. And these damn mutants in New York at the United Mutations are filthy commie anti-Americans. In our own country Morrie! In our own country. This is a national disgrace.

Squid wrote an article in the same edition that the transcript was reproduced;

The Same Old Wine in a New Bottle

Dear mutants and all readers you have hopefully read the Affliction transcript contained in this edition. You should not be surprised. This type of American “friendship” is common throughout the world. This transcript amounts to a kick in the ass to the Canadian government and their incessant babble about a “trusted ally”. Hopefully Canadians, Americans and the rest of the world will see Americans for what they are. What will we expect from them now? Nothing new. The same as before. I’d like to see the United States Information Service squirm out of this one.

Is it not time the Canadian ruling class see the dangers they face in directing the prostitution of their nation? Did they not think they would escape the fate of the Dominican Republic? They are the parasites of their country Canada but do they not realize when the host becomes angry it may cast its parasites aside. Do they care about mutant experience and insight about the Americans? Those Canadian politicians and their supporters are comfortable in Rideau Hall and in the best hotel suites sipping Scotch and attacking the evils of unemployment and separatism. The “serve” their country while the police force murders aboriginals and assists in kidnapping and “re-educating” aboriginal children in “residential schools.” Thousands languish in hospitals dying of disease, the air and water is polluted. The patience of mutants, particularly in the developing world, is dwindling. Look out America as your ass is going to be kicked if you can’t mount an effective cover-up of the Affliction transcript.

There isn’t much we mutants can do except take the moment and further organize and expand our numbers. We should try and dismantle these awful “Foster Parent’s Plans” that try and alleviate the poverty and misery American capitalism has caused in the developing word. Let no rich gruel masters pacify the revolutionary spirit with food and second-hand clothes and of course Bibles.

One lesson is clear. We must band together and crush American imperialism. If the fight is not further energized on all fronts we face defeat and can only hope the American Empire self-destructs in violent spasms Beware of CIA sponsored false prophets and politicians. Prudence would take too much time. And for many mutants time is an unaffordable luxury. As Bobby Seale says, “Seize the Moment!”

RKS Wine: Affordables Under $20: “Primus The Blend” at $19.95 CDN

“Primus the Blend 2018” is a Chilean Wine available at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for $19.95.

On the nose a certain degree of lightness. Nothing too concentrated or heavy despite the fact there is a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenére with Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Notes of fresh cherry, raspberry, blackberry and milk chocolate. In short you aren’t being bowled over by a big and bold nose. If I could describe the nose I would say cheerful.

But what do you get on the palate? Moderate tannins give the wine some presence. So if the nose is cheerful the tannins ground it a bit to avoid it from being a flitty wine. There are notes of cherry, ripe raspberry and Santa Rosa plum. The fruit is deeply ingrained in the wine but not enough to hide itself. There is a certain roughness to the palate but not coarse. Light on the nose and much more introverted on the palate making this a delicious wine which is not a phrase you’ll hear often from me. I might even call it beguiling or a tad schizophrenic on the palate it is lighthearted and happily trying to convince you it is a lightweight. As my late Portuguese diplomat friend J would have said in a very diplomatic but charming way the wine is “complicated”! Very well made and a cut above so many look alike reds that are good but almost indistinguishable from each other. Unlike many Chilean reds there is also no hint of mint to this. I think each of the gapes has lost their identity in the blend except for the Petit Verdot which gives it a slightly spicy and devious twist. Yes I think Samantha has “Bewitched” me on this one.

While this one is a good sipper I am going to go out of the norm of matching it with beef or lamb and venture to say I would give it a try with Icelandic Cod Japanese style curry with its slight sweetness. A unique curry (try S&B curry blocks) paired with a unique wine. It will either be a divine match or a bomb. Years ago I had a little leftover Merlot with some of this cod curry and was blown away by such synchronicity particularly facing the adage that red wine and fish rarely match.

Given the tannins and the devious tendency of the fruit to crouch behind the bushes I would venture to say this will begin to hit its stride in late 2022 and fade delightfully until 2027.

(Primus The Blend 2018, Apalata Colchagua Valley, Veramonte, Casablanca, Chile, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 712463, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).

RKS Wines: The Penniless Pensioner Sues the Canadian Government

You may recall PP was held in a Roman jail at the behest of the Canadian Government for suspected tax evasion. The Canadian government changed its mind on charging PP saying a hacker from Turkey disrupted the systems of the Canada Revenue Agency causing an “error” affecting PP’s file. Of course these things happen PP tells me but they never even apologized which infuriated him so he hired the law firm of Greed and Lust to go after those “negligent bastards”. He learnt how to make great wild Tuscan Boar Stew in that Roman prison but has nightmares about all the bedbug bites he has that he claims to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The CRA has a duty of care to protect my file and I am not going to let them forget it he bellows!

When I was over to his cozy new house discussing some upcoming wine purchases for his new cellar he took his shirt off and it was not pretty. Not his rather fat and hairy belly but the number of bites that covered his back and chest. He claims that these Italian bedbugs loved Tuscan Wild Boar Stew and they can smell it in your sweat.

I tell him about a Château Recougne 2018 I saw at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for $15.95. At that price his eyes lit up and he said he wants the cheapest but best wine cellar in town. It is a new pet project for him. So we pop open a bottle hoping for a blessed miracle.

It has a black cherry colour. On the nose it is loaded with black cherry, blackberry, cactus pear with some licorice and root beer. It portrays itself as an elegant lighthearted wine. Is this true on the palate? The tannins are broad based but not persistent or overpowering. Rather classic youngish red Bordeaux that loves taunting your tastebuds by letting them know there is fruit swirling about but you’ll have to close your eyes and concentrate. And what do we pick up? Some very tightly knit blackberry, chocolate covered cherry and candy cane beets.

All said and done this wine is rather like listening to a one-year-old trying to engage you in conversation, You might pick out a half word or so if you close your eyes and listen but give the child some time and the words will come. Give this wine that is trying to babble to you this time it will, in time, speak to you and you might just come to love it. This baby has potential and will develop further in the bottle!

Yes I can get standard here and suggest lamb or beef for this wine or even a Devil’s Kiss Pasta. However PP had ordered a vegetarian and a meat lover’s pizza from his favourite Toronto pizzeria and the wine really showed well with the “meat lovers pizza”. If in Toronto check this pizzeria out https://lafamigliaonthedanforth.ca/.

(Château Recougne 2018 AC Bordeaux Supérieur Mélodie & Marc Milhade (brother and sister) France, $15.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 368167, 750 mL, 14.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).

“The Life of a Golf Marshall” :The Lonely Life of a Golf Marshall?

If you search “golf Marshall” it is amazing how many golfers relate their bad experiences in dealing with a golf Marshall. The common complaint is a Marshall that is overbearing and aggressive opining where that Marshall should stay clear of. “Like why are you playing from the professional tees when you are lacking the skill to do so.”” Or why are you taking so long to line up and shoot the ball?”. “Haven’t you ever heard of ready golf?” Many comments focus on the fact a Marshall is often retired. Ageism in action!

My experience and training show that what you would like to say as a Marshall is best kept to yourself as everything can be swept under the carpet and covered effectively by saying,” I wonder if you can help me out by picking up your pace as you are slowing up golfers behind you.” Of course, if golf etiquette courses were mandatory and paid attention to the need for a Marshall might be reduced!

An angry and bitter Marshall is a liability for a golf course and the internal soul of such a Marshall may isolate that Marshall from golfers who dislike such an annoying character. So in effect that Marshall may be ostracizing himself and setting him/her out for isolation and loneliness. Better to converse and chat with golfers at random and establish a relationship as there is a better chance they will respect you when you ask them to pick up the pace if of course you have to do so.

So on busy spring and summer days there is no end of conversations and interactions to keep a Marshall occupied. However when autumn rolls in with cold morning temps and a thinning group of golfers I will admit things can get lonely and the colder it becomes misery just might accompany loneliness. The crowds thin out when the sunsets get earlier and earlier. So what does a lonely Marshall do?  I have found looking for golf balls helps pass the time or even getting off the cart and heading into the woods at the edge of the rough opens a whole new appreciation of the eco system surrounding the golf course. Streams and jungle like vegetation. Aside from that chatting with the groundskeepers opens a new world of understanding what goes on “behind the scenes”.

And on occasion I have worked the “closing shift” where there is a rush to close up the golf course, park and lock up golf carts before darkness sets in then the awe of seeing a bustling golf course settling into sleep for the night which golfers never have the privilege of seeing. And then hop into your car and head home in the darkness, have dinner and then sit down and write about “The Life of a Golf Marshall”.

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” : The Golf Marshall’s Wet Dream! Ready Golf!

As the driving force nagging and oppressing a golf Marshall is “Ready Golf” what does this fantasy involve? Actually it is quite simple but a foreign concept for 99% of Canadian golfers. It really means at the tee box taking one practice swing and hitting the ball. No ass wiggling, No 5 practice swings. No setting up a view finder as to yardage. Just hit the frigging ball.

And if you manage to find your ball as abusive swingers are usually shitty golfers and lose their ball walk up and hit the ball. Really do you need a multiple practice swings?

Then walk up to your ball and simply hit it. 5 practice swings only shows what a clueless dickhead you are.

If you are ahead of the rest of the foursome let them hit and move up to your ball and then hit. Let them catch up and hit and then you hit. It is easier if you have a cart as you can move up and face your cart as a protective device for those golfers hitting behind you. Let them hit and you hit.

Assuming you are on the green and the laggards are walking up the fairway then putt out and move to the next hole and get ready to tee off. Don’t wait for the laggards to putt out before setting up for your next tee-off. Golfers do you need practice swings for a putt? Putt the frigging ball.

From my perspective this is the way to keep a good pace going. Brutal no. Courteous yes. Of course as we move to autumn and winter such promptness may not be required due to a reduced course occupancy.