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“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: PUPPY DELIGHTS: ONE LUCKY SQUIRREL

PUPPY DELIGHTS: ONE LUCKY SQUIRREL

A cloudy and windy November day. Was it Jimmy Cliff that sang,” I can see clearly now”…. A wonderful day for visuals. I can see crystal clear.

And 50 feet ahead of me through the glass sliding door I see it. The motherlode! A black squirrel flicking its tail and munching on a black walnut. That swishing bushy tail attracts me like a matador’s red cape attracts a bull. Bob sees me staring intently at the black creature! Opens the door and I am certain there will be one less rodent tearing up the lawn and hiding walnuts then digging up the same spot days later to retrieve its treasure.

I run like the wind those West Highland Terrier genetics fueling my hunt the prey instinct. Not a Scottish fox nor farm rat but a good old fashioned Ontario squirrel. I query if my Scottish ancestors chased squirrels in the Scottish Highlands. But I am not in Scotland, but Toronto and I will make do with what God has given us to hunt!

That squirrel tore across the lawn and scrabbled up a tree. Beginner’s misfortune, I am sure. Hey my first squirrel hunt so show some compassion with my failure. I am not even embarrassed except when the squirrel sat on the fence by the tree, looked at me and started chattering. Fay said it happened to Dylan the Westie many times with that chattering being a “squirrel laugh”. Laugh. It will be your last laugh you beady eyed oversized rat. Next time you rodent you will succumb to my superior hunting skills. If a Westie can’t eliminate a pesky black squirrel what type of Westie might that be?

Dylan the Westie interjects from the Land Beyond, “This pup has much to learn but who has the heart to tell him I never caught a squirrel with 15 years of trying. So much fun I say and hope springs eternal and as I sit here the Land Beyond just watching the pup is great fun and all of us chortle and say it is the folly of youth! By the way I had a squirrel at my mercy as a three-year-old but Bob ordered me to stop. The squirrel was very sick and weak…beneath the dignity of a West Highland Terrier to cull unlike you humans in British Columbia that culled those ostriches. Avian flu my ass! Bureaucratic flu!

Photo Credit: Fotini Stephen

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Cabernet Franc Ontario’s Great Red Wine Strength: Does a 2027 Cellars Cabernet Franc Carry the Torch?

If you can’t produce a top-notch Cabernet Franc in Ontario you might as well go home.

There were 366 cases of 2027 Cellars 2021 Cabernet Franc produced.

Aroma: On the head of the nail with bright cherry, black cherry, cocoa and cola.

Palate: Packs more of a punch than its tender aromas might suggest and its gloves are not hiding much tannin in them. Firm acidity makes it more of a with food wine than a sipper. Expect black cherry with a mouthwatering peppery finish and a smoothness if you give it a chance.

Personality: I am not a Brutus of a Cab Franc but perhaps a Pépé le Moko, wily and clever.

Food Match: Black bean-based burger of if you fear patty disintegration black bean meatloaf.

Cellarbility: Consume by 2026-year end.

Price: $25 CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 90/100.

(2027 Cellars Wismer Vineyard-Foxcroft Block 2021 Cabernet Franc, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, 750 mL, 13.2%).

P.S. No need for vintner Kevin Panagapka to go home. He should stay at the winery and make more than 366 cases next time.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: PUPPY WOES: EVEN ALBERT EINSTEIN PEED ALL OVER HIMSELF

PUPPY WOES: EVEN ALBERT EINSTEIN PEED ALL OVER HIMSELF

Into week 12 and settling into my home nicely.

Well, there is a little issue with “my business” as Fay likes to say or “pee and poo” Bob refers to it as.

When you gotta go you gotta go doesn’t fly particularly well in this household. So there is a little puddle now and then or some other stuff that stinks. God made urine and feces so we dogs could mark our territory. Apparently even though I have made this house my territory for marking purposes it isn’t.

I am getting less than gentle reminders as my marking is responded to with frustration and stern words all of course according to puppy manuals stern words will scar me for life!

I love the outside. The backyard is more than simple territory. It is my kingdom. And when I do my “business” I receive the “good boy” compliment accompanied by a delicious treat. How nice of Bob and Fay. I am a West Highland Terrier and very intelligent say Bob and Fay. “He’ll pick it up quick.” Bob retorts adding, “I don’t mean picking THAT up.”

I am beginning to contemplate the proper locale to best exercise my bodily functions. It’s coming …not you know what but the thought process.

Bob sighs on occasion and mutters, “Even Einstein peed all over himself as a babe”.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: AND YOU THINK A PUPPY RAISING MANUAL IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD?

AND YOU THINK A PUPPY RAISING MANUAL IS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD?

Of course, I want to be reared to mature into a model West Highland Terrier. I trust Bob and Fay have been through this rigamarole with Dylan the Westie but as I hear poor Bob groan it all happened 17 years ago and he has forgotten 90% of the puppy training. Yes he used a Dr. Dunbar manual on raising your Westie and in fact he still has it.

Listen puppy owners all this puppy raising literature is a valuable read but don’t forget common sense. Westies are a handful and oddly enough that is the essence of a Westie so give me and all Westie puppies a break.

Of course, take a moment and reflect on the following: What about all those Boomers raising human babies relying on Dr. Benjamin Spock’s publications. Were human babies any better or worse when raised without commentary from this famous pediatrician?

Woof Woof.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN WINE: Stag’s Hollow 2022 Renaissance Merlot

Stag’s Hollow Winery celebrates 30 years of British Columbia winemaking in 2025.

To commemorate this milestone anniversary, the winery has reimagined its Renaissance Merlot 2022 label to feature three exclusive ‘Art Series’ labels, each capturing the essence of the Stag’s Hollow estate in Okanagan Falls, BC. The depiction on each label, created by local artists Sharon Snow, Stephanie Perry and Ron Gladish, reflects the natural beauty of Stag’s Hollow property and the historic hollow in its name . Customers can collect all three limited-edition labels honouring Stag’s Hollow commitment to distinctive quality wines that have defined Stag’s Hollow since 1995.

The label for this Merlot was a creation of Stephanie Perry and is entitled “Sun Setting on Stag’s Hollow”

All fruit was hand-harvested, bunch-sorted, destemmed and gravity transferred to 1-ton fermenters. Approximately 50% of the berries were left whole and uncrushed. After a 4-day cold soak, the must was warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts. The cap was punched down by hand 3 times daily, and at the ideal tannin extraction, the must was drained of free run juice and the skins were lightly pressed. The wine continued its fermentation in French oak barriques (40% new) through to dryness and then through Malolactic conversion. It was left to mature undisturbed for 18 months before being blended and was bottled without fining or filtration in August 2024.

94.9% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 0.1% Cabernet Franc.

Aroma: Powerful. Lush. Blueberry, blackberry, black cherry and ultra concentrated raspberry. You want to reach in your glass and grab a handful of fruit.

Palate: Youthful and tight. Give it another year in the bottle or drink now and decant for at least an hour. With each well spaced swirl the wine opens up asserting its character with vibrant acidity and moderate tannins. Moderate length with a clean finish saving it from any “decadent” descriptor.

Personality: Think of me in 1964 at The Sands listening to Sammy Davis with lots of bourbon flowing and the air tinged with blue smoke filtering through the stage light beams.

Food Match: Grilled meat (steak, sausage, etc.), charcuterie, roast beef, game pies, burgers, roast lamb (no lemon marinade), stews or black bean and corn chilli .

Cellarbility: Until 2027-year end.

Price: $45 CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 94/100, Gismondi on Wine 92.

(Stag’s Hollow 2022 Renaissance Merlot, Okanagan Valley BC VQA, Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13.5%).

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: RORY RECOUNTS HIS DAY OF ARRIVAL At BOB AND FAY’S: IMPRISONMENT?

RORY RECOUNTS HIS DAY OF ARRIVAL At BOB AND FAY’S: IMPRISONMENT?

Imagine coming from a cloistered existence at Ardendale Kennels into the bright lights and sounds of a new world!

Overwhelming! A delightful yet at times terrifying interjection into humanity and my new home.

Carried in through the door and set down on the floor. A continual whimpering as I cruised along the main floor of the “modest 13 room Bridlepath cottage” where Bob and Fay live. Over and over. Around. Under. Up. Down. I don’t know what to make of it. Bob and Fay think I am whining and whimpering but these are cries of astonishment. There is a very faint unmistakeable smell of a Westie here and there. Who could that West Highland Terrier have been?

Bob and Fay soft talk me. I am under a strong perception they are overwhelmed and saddened. I query why?

I have a bowl of cold water and a munch of kibble and I go in my jail cell. A cage with a soft mat. How cruel. I think I should have remained at the kennel. What type of people imprison a Westie in a cage! They call it “necessary crate training”. I do not like this.

I smell distress on Bob and that makes us equal.

At three in the morning, I howl in terror. Bob lifts me out of the crate and rocks me back and forth soft talking me to sleep.

What a day!

Do all puppies have an initial day like me. Is this puppydom?

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: DYLAN THE WESTIE FILLS YOU IN ON HIS LIFE IN THE LAND BEYOND

DYLAN THE WESTIE FILLS YOU IN ON HIS LIFE IN THE LAND BEYOND

Some of you out there have been asking if Dylan the Westie is managing well in The Land Beyond and if he is returning to earth to continue the fight for justice and the improvement of canine health and dignity particularly for rescue dogs. It is a complicated issue and I best let Dylan the Westie speak on this.

“Readers, I assure you I am doing very well up here in The Land Beyond. I perished in a horrific terrorist explosion just over two years ago.

I am residing in the Canine Sector. It is adjacent to the Russian Orthodox Sector and by the most beautiful golf course imaginable. Should Bob and his friend Walter end up here I took the liberty of putting both their names on the membership waiting list for the golf course.

I am awaiting reincarnation assignment necessitating a hearing before the Reincarnation Tribunal. There is a terrible backlog almost equivalent to the Immigration Review Board of Canada! That might be appropriate as up here in The Land Beyond you are akin to a refugee!

My tribunal counsel has advised me due to my stellar accomplishments on earth I will graduate to a human. All memory of my prior life will be erased. This frightens me as all dogs and humans and all my experiences locked in my mind will vanish. I query what did I live my life for only to have all these memories and experiences stripped from me. But those are the rules.

But I still haven’t left the building yet. I may comment on Rory’s puppydom. Dylan the Westie was Dylan the Westie and Rory Dylan Stephen is Rory Dylan Stephen. They are different dogs with differing destinies although with Bob and Fay managing the pup he is in good hands.

I hang around with Kit Kat, Ollie, Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog and my big Labradoodle pal Walton joined us a couple of weeks ago. Mookie is the last of the Old Guard but at 15 he will be joining us eventually. Penny the copter poodle won’t be here for some time.

We spend our days in a pack exploring the mountains, forests and streams all expressing gratitude we are not in the Land Below. There you can smoke, drink, gamble, dance and cavort about but you are locked there never to be reincarnated.

We hang out with Pope Francis as he knows both Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog and I as we sat on his lap in the Vatican. We walk once a week with Gordon Lightfoot and Reggie always asks him to play “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. The pack never tires of that song.

RKS 2025 Film: “Dead to Rights”: Blockbuster Chinese War Epic

“Dead to Rights” is a blockbuster Chinese war epic depicting the 1937 capture of the Chinese city of Nanjing by the Japanese Imperial Army.

An estimated 300,000 city residents were killed and given the barbarity of the Japanese forces “killed” may be a modest adjective.

Men, woman and children were executed by various methods including mass executions, stabbings, flame throwers, and the sacking of live bodies and rolling them down the hill into the river. Arson, sexual assault and looting by an army out of control with the blessing of senior officers.

Chang (Liu Haoran), a postman, being hunted down for sport by Japanese soldiers is saved posing as a photo developer very useful for the Imperial Army wishing to photograph key moments of its conquest and occupation. The proprietor of the photo shop Lao Jin (Wang Xiao) is in hiding with his family under the floor of the developing shop and he quickly teaches Chang how to develop photos. Chang develops a relationship with a Japanese army photographer Hide Ito (Daichi Harashima) requiring a developer of his photographs. Ito is not overtly brutal but displays treachery at the end of the day.

A translator Wang (Wang Guanghai) from Nanjing translates instructions from Ito for Chang he possesses photo developing skills. A police sergeant Song (Cunyi You) and an actress (Gao Ye) join Jin’s family beneath the photo shop floorboards.

This well shot and big budget film has authentic war action, suspense, bravery, treachery, deception, barbarity of the basest sort and yes a certain tear inducing melodrama intermixed with patriotism. The acting and sets are spot on and at times near its conclusion the film is spotted by sappiness and a matching cheesy soundtrack.

The Japanese barbarity is sickening but some of it is caught on film in duplicate and smuggled out to the international press debunking the propaganda of “Sino-Japanese friendship” fabricated by senior Japanese military and political leadership this myth being supported by coerced Nanjing residents photographed joyously interacting with the Japanese “liberators”. What arrogance of the Japanese thinking they wouldn’t get their hands burnt with their wholesale genocide. War trials resulted in several Japanese military officers being judged guilty of war crimes in Nanjing and sentenced to death.

Don’t let the sappiness and mild propaganda embracing this harrowing film’s conclusion deter you from watching “Dead to Rights”. This is a story, based on true events, that should be told and one that you should watch.

Directed by Shen Ao.

China’s official entry for the 98^th Academy Awards.

Watch the trailer here and gleam a sense of the spectacular cinematography https://vimeo.com/1134788761?fl=ip&fe=ec

Playing at the Asian World Film Festival on 18November2025 in Culver City, California.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 87/100.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom” (Dylan the Westie Intervenes)

DYLAN THE WESTIE INTERVENES: THINKS RORY HAS A BIT TOO MUCH OF A SWAGGER!

Sorry. I have been in The Land Beyond for over two years now and happily adjusting. I really shouldn’t intervene but Rory has too much of a swagger which can be forgiven (but not left uncommented upon) due to his puppydom.

At a very early age I made the mistake of rushing a cat and received a scratch on my nose with a few drops of blood in return for my “bravery”. To Rory I say keep your distance pup and respect cats and you will be rewarded and suffer less bloodied anatomy by managing your chase instinct. Stick to squirrels. A chance in hell of ever catching one but so much fun in trying. I saw today at 13 weeks you had your first squirrel chase. Well done pup!

As for Mr G’s cats it took me a couple of visits to Boris and Nastasha to warm up to them. Let’s say peaceful co-existence and my goodness I enjoyed sneaking in for a gobble of their cat food.

Let me say it would be highly respectful to mind your manners with Boris and Natasha considering Mr G is your godfather.

Rory, I am keeping an eye out on you and I may have to step in now and then if you need some correction and guidance.

And by the way and take it from me please learn the difference between a skunk and a squirrel.