“Introversion-along with its cousins, sensitivity, seriousness and shyness-is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like a woman in a man’s world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing style, but we’ve turned it into an oppressive standard which most of us feel we must conform.”
Passage of the Day: William Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair”; A slight on the English!
“In fact, our friends may be said to have been among the first of that brood of hardy English adventurers who have subsequently invaded the Continent and swindled in all the capitals of Europe. The respect in those happy days of 1817-18 was very great for the wealth and honor of the Britons. They had not learned, as I am told, to haggle for bargains with the pertinacity which now distinguishes them. The great cities of Europe had not been as yet open to the enterprise of our rascals. And whereas, there is now hardly a town in France or Italy in which you shall not see some noble countryman of our own. With the happy swagger and insolence of demeanour which we carry everywhere swindling inn-landlords, passing fictious cheques upon credulous bankers, robbing coachmakers of their carriages, goldsmiths of their trinkets, easy travellers of their money in cards-even public libraries of their books: thirty years ago you needed but to be a Milor Anglais, travelling in your private carriage, and credit was at your hand wherever you chose to seek it, and gentlemen instead of cheating, were cheated.”
“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 20 “Reseudo Encounters The Moonies”
Garth rather liked the firebrand lady he had just encountered. She had a very American name being Mary Alice Beth Ann. Mary was smitten with this Reseudo dude! She invited Garth up to her lodgings and she explained to him the war in Vietnam and how the students of the United States were standing up to the rape of that country. Even prominent citizens were joining the students with Hanoi Jane and Phony Joany. Reseudo was exhilarated thinking he could make a contribution to stopping an unjust war. He would devote his time to furthering the cause and working with like minded Americans. Mary’s attention then shifted to putting on some music called Jimi Hendrix and smoking some green herb that made the music sound much better. He really liked the liquid called “wine” and even better was the sex which was the same as Zorollian sex but more primitive and uncontrolled! Mary invited him for the night and as long as he wanted. He was looking forward to the spaghetti Mary was going to prepare the next evening. It sounded like a fascinating Earthling dish. While Mary worked as a secretary at The Pentagon Garth spent his day piling through volumes of books on Earth history, sociology, politics and economics. He had even memorized all of Julia Child’s recipes.
It wasn’t too long before Garth was launched into political affairs as he was invited to speak at an anti-war rally in Washington. He related to his audience his Zorollian experiences and the extent of political repression there. There were peals of laughter about this dude who thought he was a alien! His speech they thought was full of allegories dealing with his Zorollian experiences.
A Washington Post reporter asked him several questions and the next day an article appeared about the anti-war spaceman which made him into a new anti-war darling.
The radicals loved the spacey dude but most Americans really couldn’t give a damn however the CIA were scratching their heads over a spaceship they had found in the Virginia woods.
Reseudo had a knack for smelling out corruption and if he had any popularity it was with the red liberals such as the famous consumer protection lawyer Arf Needer. But it was the Rufus Moonhead scandal that won him some general public acclaim.
Moonhead was a Romanian evangelist who had been expelled by communist authorities for being a propagator of seditious acts. Like many communist rejects he made his way to America as a refugee and had built a strong following amongst the disadvantaged, middle class disaffected American youth, dope fiends and ex-criminals giving them dignity and peace of mind. His followers called themselves the Moonheadies and dedicated all their material goods to the Moonhead Church of International Love. Rufus Moonhead reminded Garth of a movie he had seen called “Elmer Gantry”.
All the material goods donated by converts mysteriously disappeared into such categories as general expenses or the maintenance of wilderness retreats that didn’t exist. Well why had this scandal not been exposed. No eyes had scrutinized the expenses of the Moonhead Church of International Love because the Moonheadies had hired the most skillful and well-connected lobbyists that money could buy. They threw the best and most expensive parties at hotels and restaurants running up enormous bills “entertaining” politicians.
Moonhead was lobbying for special tax breaks to be given to religious organizations involved in businesses. Moonhead and his corporation owned over 50 health food stores, 430 carpet cleaning stores and over 4,000 second-hand stores needed to sell the possessions donated by new members of the Church. All work done in these establishments was by Moonhead volunteers so labour costs were minimal. The politicians with their bellies full of Russian caviar and French Champagne took for granted that Moonhead was helping the hopeless. After all it was a foundation of a new world order dedicated to international love. No one seemed curious to delve deeper.
Jon Kabat-Zinn’s “Full Catastrophe Living”: Non-Judging
“Mindfulness is best cultivated by paying close attention to your moment-to-moment experience while, as best as you can not getting caught up in your ideas, opinions, likes and dislikes. This orientation allows us to see things as they may actually be rather than through our own distorted lenses and agenda. To adopt such a stance toward your own experience requires that you become aware of the constant stream of judging and reacting to inner and outer experiences that we are all normally caught in and learn to step back from it.”
“One (Nine)”: World Premiere at Female Eye Film Festival
I will admit to having watched the film three times and seriously thought of foregoing a review but as the filmmakers put an effort in at such a difficult time in our history I decided they deserved a review.
There are 9 female film makers from differing parts of the world creating one film that is a series of 9 shorts from each of the filmmakers. The PR blurb says, “In times of uncertainty, we embrace uncertainty and create. During the COVID-19 pandemic nine filmmakers in differing parts of the world joined to make a collective experiment. A nine-chapter anthology of perspectives and experiences, Real, unreal, fiction, and everything between”. Perhaps I should stop here?
I am glad I persevered and settled down to closely watch a film I thought initially was a bit too artistic. There is certainly no simple plot that takes you from point A to Z. Each filmmaker makes her own film but a common element is COVID-19 either expressly or symbolically.
Ok you have heard the COVID-19 narrative from many sides but this film, although repeating them, gives them some dramatic meaning and drives them home either very directly or very succinctly. If you need refreshing on COVID and what it has done to all of us you’ll find most of these adjectives and descriptions in the film;
- Loneliness
- Social isolation
- Racism
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Line ups
- Masks
- Social distancing
- Empty streets
- Deserted public transit
- A widespread attack on our way of life
- Death
- Suffering
- Anguish
- Separation from family
- The lack of family celebrations
- Banging pots
- Working and school from home
- Short tempers
- Bad dreams
- Feeling trapped
- Lack of control
- The loss of a sense of time
I give thumbs up to a series of films that so completely deal with the impact of COVID in an artistic and creative way that includes animation, poetry, dance and creative cinematography.
Do I have a favourite? I rather like Ingrid Veninger’s “Birth” as it gives one a sense of hope that humanity will prevail. Veninger is also executive producer of “One (Nine)”.
What will be your emotional reaction? I can’t say what it will be but for me it was sadness, hatred of COVID and the ills it has created on humanity both physically and psychologically but a sense that humanity has the spirit to weather the storm and, in some cases, soar over it. Well done!
This is part of the Female Film Eye Festival and the film can be seen at Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox and Encore Plus Media March 26, 27 and 28. You can rent at Digital TIFF Bell lightbox at https://digital.tiff.net/ closer to the 26th of March. You can learn more of the Festival at femaleeyefilmfestival.com
The directors and their films are described here;
TOUCH – Mina Shum (Canada)
HEAL/RAGE – Isa Benn (Canada)
TIME GAP – Dorothee Wenner (Germany)
TOGETHER – Shengze Zhu (China/USA)
BIRTH – Ingrid Veninger (Canada)
SPIRIT – Jennifer Podemski (Canada)
SOAR – Slater Jewell-Kemker (Canada)
UNCERTAINTY – Carmen Sangion (South Africa)
ENCOUNTER – Lydia Zimmermann (Spain)
Jon Kabat-Zinn “Full Catastrophe Living”: the present moment
“….because the present moment whenever it is recognized and honoured reveals a very special, indeed magical power: it is the only time that any of us ever has. The present is the only time that we have to know anything. It is the only time we have to perceive, to learn, to act, to change, to heal, to love. This is why we value moment-to-moment awareness so highly. While we may have to teach ourselves how to inhabit this capacity of our own mind for this kind of knowing through practicing, the effort itself is its own end. It makes our experiences more vivid and our lives more real.”
“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 19 “Reseudo Exiled and gets involved in a demonstration against the Vietnamese War!”
Reseudo’s tracts and speeches were dangerous to Redbeard and his gang of blackbooters as they implied the need for a general strike. This meant the mines would no longer be producing their valuable minerals. And if that happened the mining companies that had financed Redbeard into power would be very displeased and could easily find a replacement. Reseudo and his passive anarchism had to be dealt with severely. He was gaining too much popularity and followers.
Redbeard decided to follow the exiling of Willie Montenez and family strategy the Jiber had used in Zortixia. Trumped up charges of sedition were heaped on Reseudo followed up by a show trial. Reseudo spoke eloquently refusing legal counsel. The lying and vicious prosecutor tore Reseudo’s integrity to shreds but the guilty sentence was known even prior to the start of the show trial. Judged guilty anda quick exile to that strange planet Earth was implemented. Reseudo was led away in chains to a waiting spaceship that landed in Virginia right across the river from Washington D.C.
Garth left his slightly damaged spaceship in the woods where it had landed. As he walked through the streets of Washington a great many residents and tourists cast disapproving glances at the strange man in outlandish clothing. In the distance he could see some huge white buildings one of which had enormous dome reminded him of primitive Zorollian architecture. Quaint but vastly inefficient. As he continued his stroll he saw a group of young people, probably students, carrying signs and shouting about ending some war in Vietnam. With his prodigious intelligence he instantly understood the English these people were speaking. In fact it was somewhat similar to the dialect he had spoken growing up in the Montagne Mountains in Zorollia.
Being curious he asked many questions to the young people about this war in Vietnam they seemed so angry about. One of the female protesters took a liking to Reseudo and was attracted by his strange manner of dress. She had been listening to his questions and was shocked at his total lack of knowledge about the Vietnam War. With a pained look on her face and tears rolling down her eyes she said to Reseudo, “My brother had his legs blown off in Nam. Like what planet are you from. Where have you been in the past 6 years. We Americans sent “advisers” to Nam and now we are involved in a full out war killing thousands of young men and civilians. There is a fucking war going on dude.”
Reseudo sensed the emotion wracking this young lady and in an apologetic tone replied, “Please don’t label me a reactionary. I am from a planet called Zorollia and was exiled from it to this planet because of my calls for liberty. I was criticizing an unjust regime there so please don’t give that stink eye to me. I will always fight against wars and political repression wherever they are. If I can help you in some way please ask. I was a professor in Zorollia. “
“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 18 “Welcome to Garth Reseudo”
While the revolution in Zortixia had cleansed the planet of the Opposite Party and its blackbooters such fresh air was not felt on the neighboring planet of Zorollia. Zorollia like Zortixia had followed the Creaturists until their regime was toppled by the Zorollian blackbooters.
Zorollia was well endowed with countless reserves of strategically important minerals. In fact it was the Zorollian blackbooters that had allied with senior management teams of large astral mining companies that ended with the toppling of the Creaturists, These “helping corporations” were not adverse to stuffing the pockets of the Zorollian Opposite Party members with appreciation funds. The Zorollian Opposite Party members began enjoying a lavish lifestyle.
Zorollians were restless under the Opposite Party regime. It was a government foistered upon them by greedy mining companies and a corrupt Opposite Party. Zorollian Opposite Party members sensed potential troubles and bolstered propaganda efforts. The old tactic of the hostile neighbour so often used to cement political power was used and a liberated Zortixia was the enemy. Zortixians were painted as evil and cunning devils preparing to invade and conquer Zorollia. By so doing it was an attempt to have people look to the illegal and corrupt Zorollian government for protection
The Zorollian government incessantly harped on that Zortixia was the wealthiest planet in the Federation insinuating the incessant Zortixian greed. The Zortixians were portrayed as greedy and ruthless looking to suck mineral wealth from the Zorollians. Redbeard, the Zorollian Opposite Party leader like the Jiber in Zortixia used ruthlessness to hack down opposition to his rule. Redbeard murdered and imprisoned any opposition to his rule.
Now at least there was one creature Garth Reseudo who spoke out against the barbarity of the Zorollian Opposite Party. Garth was a professor at the Zorollian State Culture Academy. Garth had been a fiery opponent of political repression and had won many freedoms for political prisoners throughout the Federation. His criticism of Redbeard was attracting an increasingly large number of followers and strength.
Reseudo’s philosophy was passive anarchism. It permitted massive participation. It was simple to destroy a corrupt government as all one had to do was nothing. In this way a government could be crippled. In his famous tract “Passive Positivity” he had written” ……therefore one must do nothing. The mere act of doing nothing accomplishes much. It is a firm political resistance tactic, Stay put, Don’t flinch. The authorities will be powerless. If we stay firm the killing will be unnecessary. By our courage we will win over our enemies and show them their moral bankruptcy and the powerlessness of their leaders in the face of mass challenge. We must win over their weapons. Therefore our actions must be directly visible to those that repress us. If we win over these repressive institutions our goal will have been obtained. The government will have no force left to back up its wagging tongues. When outnumbered in terms of resources and sophisticated weaponry the sole recourse of the repressed lies with moral courage.”
Poetry Corner: “Vaccine Failure:”
Vaccine failure
You are resting so many great hopes on the COVID vaccine
a media and medico-politico fuelled dream
desperate optimism
on a largely untested juice
and we await the magical life saving jab
Perhaps no better than a big Pharma scab|
they have swindled us before
a huge profit seeking whore
so tonight a story of a COVID out break in a vaccinated long term care home in British Columbia
seems the dream
just might be obscene
so if you were jolly and happy that science has saved us
may I suggest you may be wallowing in public relations created optimism which is no better than puss
Stag’s Hollow from the Okanagan in British Columbia
I managed to snag a couple of samples courtesy of Stag’s Hollow in the Okanagan. Finding any wines from British Columbia at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is rare as finding Ontario wines at the SAQ in Quebec!
The first is a 2018 Syrah from the Okanagan Valley. It has a black cherry colour. As for its aroma? It is heady black cherry, blackberry, blueberry with a bit of licorice. On the palate I would say mild but broad based and smooth tannins. Lots of black fruit on the palate with a touch of pepper on the moderately long finish. In this case I feel like I am in the Northern Rhône in France as the fruit is held back very much in the French style whereas many Okanagan Syrah’s are more fruit forward. I am not saying a French style of Syrah from the Northern Rhône is the better of the two. Just different. I will say there is a bit of proud elegance to this Syrah. I might even be persuaded to call this a classy wine. True to the Northern Rhône there is white wine here in the blend that being 9.2% of the aromatic Viognier.
The grapes were from the Amalia Vineyard, Osoyoos West Bench.
My thought as to food pairing would be for lamb on the grill coated with pesto served with a melody of baked butternut squash, organic sweet potatoes, heirloom carrots tossed with extra virgin olive oil, crushed toasted almonds and maple syrup. I have a source for Ontario organic lamb so I am sure there are organic lambs to be had in the Okanagan. Speaking of food this wine is built for food which will bring the best out of it. The winery suggests cured meats, steak, lamb brisket heavily seasoned dishes with black pepper, aged cheeses, sausage grilled meat or for the adventurous grilled eggplant, Asian dishes with plum sauce, stir fried pork, red wine braised octopus, venison or veal seared tuna. I can’t take issue with these suggestions.
As for music pairings a must with Chet Baker jazz particularly with his vocal numbers.
The grapes were hand harvested and destemmed which might help explain the relatively mild tannins. Each lot was pressed individually into a combination of French oak barriques, hogsheads and puncheons of which 14% were new.
383 cases were made. The winery suggests it can age over the next 5 years. Although a delicious wine I would reduce that to three years.
All said and done a great Okanagan take on a Northern Rhône Syrah wine. Restrained and elegant, Nothing is out of whack here.
(Stag’s Hollow 2018 Syrah, Okanagan Valley BC VQA, Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls British Columbia, $27, 13.7%, 750 mL, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).
There is another Syrah from Stag’s Hollow called a 2018 Renaissance Syrah also from grapes grown in the Amalia Vineyard but instead of a Northern Rhône style it is in the Southern Rhône style which I would hazard to say is a bit more full bodied and aggressive.
So on the nose it is a bit more “aggressive” than the White Label Syrah reviewed above. The blackberry, black cherry and red plum is more intense that the White Label nose. On the palate the acids and tannins are greater than the White Label but balanced and controlled. Instead of pepper we get in the White Label version we have some spiciness and earthiness. I can’t find much fruit though as once again it takes on a French rather than Okanagan profile, I will venture to say there is an elegance here. I was not expecting as Southern Rhône Syrah’s and wines in general are more in your face type of wines. The smaller blend of Viognier (1.2%) here as opposed to the 9% in the White Label Syrah might explain the slightly different profiles of the wine.
Decanting the wine will often soften the wine but strangely here give it a half hour and it becomes more aggressive and Southern Rhône in temperament. Quite frankly this wine is still an infant and will start hitting its stride in 2023 and last until 2027. I wish I could give assurances of greater longevity but I have had a couple of unsatisfactory ageing experiences with a couple of Okanagan Syrah’s (Not from Stag’s Hollow) that were tremendous when first tried but stinky and tossable after 5 years in the cellar.
Let us bear in mind that 2018 was not an ideal growing season in the Okanagan particularly for reds with forest fire smoke in August and a cool and wet September. Both these wines are excellent but one can only imagine what an ideal growing season could produce.
As for food this Renaissance Syrah is made for food and the food suggested for the White Label above applies equally here.
Do I have a favourite. No. Stylistically quite similar and pardon me different from the more immediately accessible Okanagan Syrah’s I have tasted in the past. Different does not mean better or worse. My curiosity leads me to a wish to visit the Okanagan over a 5-day period and really dig into Syrah’s and other wines to get a sense of the region. The LCBO isn’t providing any inventory, There are no media tours to the Okanagan I am familiar with and there does not appear to be any governmental funding to promote trips by wine journalists who simply can’t afford the trip. Wine writing is a money losing profession.
(Stag’s Hollow 2018 Renaissance Syrah, Amalia Vineyard Okanagan Valley BC VQA, Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls British Columbia, $38, 13.5%, 750 mL, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 92/100).
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