Virus # 26:Chapter 44 “the luck of the Irish”

Chapter 44 “the luck of the Irish!”

As a physician I am a man of science but being a practitioner of yoga and mindfulness, I do have somewhat of a spiritual side of me that is willing to accept non scientifically phenomena. Like when I was doing my cardiology residency the head of the cardiology department once told us in our group meeting that there was something in Irish whisky that sparked arrythmias of the heart. He thought it was the Irish water. And indeed several of my patients complained that Irish whisky sparked arrythmia!

So as Virus # 26 made its rounds it did not hit Ireland as bad as it did the rest of Europe. Based on some incomplete studies coupled with anecdotal evidence it was thought that daily consumption of three shots of Irish whisky saved the souls of many of the Irish.

Perhaps it was something in the water. How could it be that Virus # 26 that caused wild and deadly arrhythmias of the heart could be beaten back by a drink that caused arrythmia!  Unfortunately despite the proliferation of illegal stills and increased capacity of the legal distilleries there was barely enough to keep the remaining survivors in Ireland alive. I tried to mimic this by giving some of my infected patients arrhythmia inducing pharmaceuticals. It failed.

There really is not much humour about Virus # 26 but at times pot smoking and drinking Irish whisky being more effective than Big Pharma’s vaccines! Party on dudes to avoid your death. My grandmother was in the Temperance movement in Toronto and I can remember my non-Temperance mother singing songs like “Lips that Touch Liquor Will Never Touch Mine”. Harold and Kumar and Cheech n Chong survive Virus # 26 was a screenplay I should have written than this piece of literature!

NEW AMERICAN COVID Mutation: “The Kansas Killer”

Little Birdie Global News Service: Toronto: February 1, 2023: It was reported today by the Global Union of Virus Control in Bucharest, Romania that an American COVID mutation virus suspected to have originated in Kansas has been detected in Tirana , Albania. It is thought the carrier had attended a great American barbeque cook-off contest in Kansas recently.

Suspected ribs have been detained and are under medical investigation

Thankfully the virus has been referred to by scientists as a “soft one” unlike other mutations of COVID like the Brit Bug, The Malaysian Marauder, The Canuck Muck, The South African Slayer and the Pakistani Pillager.

Symptoms are being compared to those one would expect with the seasonal influenza. The “cure” is called MAGA which is a mixture of emulsified Mary Brown fried chicken, apricot nectar, chopped green grapes and a small amount of arsenic. Further details on how to prepare the cure will shortly be released by the Global Union of Virus Control in the upcoming weeks. The Global Union advises against travel to the United States at this time and avoidance of consumption of pork ribs produced at the Pence Piggery Meat Packing Plant in Tennessee.

The Indelible Charm of the Greeks! “’Vicky’s Diner”

We have a complicated cross-cultural situation to deal with here. Vicky Limberis is a Greek immigrant to New York City who worked in a variety of diners before eventually opening up “Vicky’s Diner” way up from midtown New York. She had worked in diners then owned one that burnt down and started Vicky’s Diner to a great commercial success.

I said we may have a cross-cultural situation because New York City has a maniacal dining out culture. Restaurants (pre-COVID) when I have been there which is some 40 plus times are the way of life for many New Yorkers and they are busy at all hours with endless choices from gourmet to deli takeout. I mean no one seems to cook at home. It might be because of peanut sized kitchens where cooking can be technically difficult or some mad desire to socialize as so many in New York are not from New York so they need to be included in a social group like a family they left back home. As I see it a home cooked meal in Manhattan is take-out from Whole Foods at Columbus Circle.

So diners have done well in New York City and many are run by Greeks who for decades have been heavily involved in the restaurant business in North America. As for diners there are still many in New York run by Greeks but there are many now run by Latinos. In Toronto diners are a rarity. Even at the Danforth where there are many eateries with Greek names there may be a Greek owner but the staff are often Sri Lankan. It is if the Greeks have moved on from restaurants to higher echelon and educated positions.  What was once heavily controlled Greek restaurant business is shifting to new ethnic groups. Such is the ebb and flow of immigration.

I can only think of a handful of diners in Toronto that are in a way not diners but an attempt to recreate a diner.

“Vicky’s Diner” represents a fascinating look at a diner from a patron/owner/customer perspective. Is this a last gasp at Greek hospitality? Although on a last visit to New York City I noticed there are a few traditional Greek owned and managed diners the Mexicans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans have seemed to take over ownership of diners and unfortunately, they have a uniform obsession for too many onions in their omelettes. Thanks to COVID-19 Vicky’s Diner closed in September 2020.

You can see the trailer here https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-norton-ext_onb&hsimp=yhs-ext_onb&hspart=norton&p=vick%27ys+diner+film#id=1&vid=a6bcffcc1a6e7cc81ad84b0b6982ce7a&action=click

You can catch this documentary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqZMVF1rpYI or go to the Hellenic Film Society of USA to catch up with the link to the film  https://hellenicfilmusa.org/

Greek Middle Class Struggles in “Family Member”

In 2015 Greek Cyprus Sophia (Yioala Klitoa) and her husband Yorgos (Christopher Greco) are owners of a mini-mart and the mega marts and the Greek financial crisis are giving hard times to the family making ends meet. They need an extension from the bank for loan repayments, their daughter “urgently” needs a 50 Euro pair of jeans and their son claims he is the only boy without a mobile phone in his class and to top things off their hydro bill is through the roof. The pension cheque from the government for Sophia’s dad, who lives with the family, really helps them in their quest to hold creditors at bay. Unfortunately Sophia’s father dies but wanting his pension cheques to continue they keep his death a secret and bury him themselves telling everyone he is the countryside visiting friends.

This scam works well for a couple of months and then a government inspector wants to meet the deceased father. Well it just so happens Yorgos catches a senior shoplifting a can of sardines from the store. A bright light goes off in his head and that is to use this Mr. Theodorous, as a stand in for deceased Papu (Grandfather). Mr. T agrees to do this so in he moves with the family. He lived alone with minimal contact with a daughter in the United Kingdom so he seems to enjoy his new family.

Mr. T wows the government inspector. So the scam seems safe to continue. Mr. T returns to his lonely home and dies shortly after giving Sophia a wrapped package asking her to open it after his death.

Well Mr. T not only saved the family’s bacon by impersonating Papu but also in a much bigger way.

While there are some comedic if not farcical moments in the film it highlights the blows struck by the Greek financial crisis with taxes being increased, trimming civil service jobs and social spending and reductions in state pensions. Not giving Papu a proper Greek Orthodox funeral and instead burying him in the middle of the night with a proper religious ceremony is an act of quiet desperation. The film is fictious but an accurate chronicle of a family being caught up in a financial crisis they had no part in creating.

You can see the film here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVYhv4KYp3I or go to the  Hellenic Film Society USA and see it on a link there  https://hellenicfilmusa.org/

This 2015 film is free. It is in Greek with English subtitles and is directed by Marinos Kartikkis.

The Battle of the Portuguese Sagrados

Several years ago after attending Port Wine Day in Porto, Portugal I had a fantastic lunch with the owner of Quinta do Sagrado José Marie Calem in an outdoor restaurant overlooking the Douro River. It was a warm September day and we really dug into some incredible seafood in the old section of Porto. Afterwards I was invited to his house for a private tasting of Sagrado wines which were superlative some of them field blends meaning all different grapes are growing in the same field so you get a blended wine not really knowing the percentage of any varietal. Unfortunately the wines I was fortunate to taste have not made it to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).

What we do receive is a wine simply called Sagrado. I bought several of the 2013’s thinking they were very good wines but they needed ageing. So I picked up in a recent LCBO Vintages release a 2016 vintage and decided to compare it to the 2013.

The 2013 has a murky colour that might indicate it is on the decline while the 2016 has a clear garnet colour.

The 2013 has a nose predominately of lush blackberry and is full of ripe raspberries. The 2016 has a lighter aroma of blackberry, red cherries and hazelnut wafer cookies.

On the palate the 2013 is smooth with not much tannin left in it but enough to continue improving over the next three years. The flavours are light if not delicate with cassis, red cherries with a moderately long finish. I breathe a sigh of relief as its murkiness does not indicate an overaged wine at least in this case and it is free of any malodorous quality. Red wine with fish is often a no no but having had the cod dish Bachalau in Portugal it has always been served to me with red wine and is works well. If you wanted with meat a Douro duck casserole would be a good match. I think the 2013 was $12.95.

The 2016 is actually less tannic that the 2013 which is a bit strange as older wines tend to have their tannins softened by age. The fruit in the 2016 on the palate is very tight fisted and cloistered and, in my view, needs 3-5 years to develop. Quite frankly there is not much character on the palate! This was the same with the 2013 when I purchased it.

These Sagrados share a common characteristic that ageing is required. The 2013 is near its peak and its murky colour is a bit of a concern but has not affected its quality. Both were crushed by foot in shallow granite lagares. This manual process is a fading tradition in the Douro as mechanization has been introduced to Portugal that eliminates the need for foot treading. Both were fermented using indigenous yeast. Both are made from Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela. The 2013 label mentions 6 months ageing in French oak but the 2016 label does not mention ageing in oak. Both have been rated 91 by the Wine Enthusiast. Both have a 13.5% alcohol percentage.

Closing thoughts this Sagrado label almost speaks of a bygone era where wines were bottled to age which is an antithesis to so may wines of today where consumers want immediate accessibility. The 2013 is reaching its prime and the 2016 you may find lacking in character unless you want to lay it down for a few years. It is selling for $16.95.

It is somewhat unfair to rate the 2016 as it is clearly not a cart home from the store and pop it open therefore not what we might call a supermarket wine. These are lush and in you face wines. The Sagrados are wines from another era.

The 2013 and 2016 are not competing in some 1970 “Battle of the Bands” However if you pressed me for a rating I would give the 2013 a 93 and the 2016 an 89. Age for wines can be a blessing and sometimes a curse for human beings!

Chapter 43 “the scramble for immunity: thank you cannabis”

The other totally effective immunity source against Virus # 26 was cannabis and not simply a puff for a novice. As with measles and chicken pox it took time to complete the research on this rather strange anti-viral tool but through the preliminary research and anecdotal evidence what we did know as the outbreak of Virus # 26 spread globally was that consumption of cannabis on a daily basis at a minimum potency rate was the key. The quantity had to be in the 90-gram range per month of which 60 parts had to be THC and 40 parts CBD. For hashish the monthly consumption needed to be 23 grams. And the consumption had to have been for at least a year or so.

Most progressive physicians knew that cannabis products strengthened the immune system generally speaking but were taken aback at the fact cannabis was a Virus # 26 killer. Somehow and some way the endocannabinoid system was activated by the cannabis to attack and kill the virus. The synthetic cannabis produced by Big Pharma offered no immunity. The cannabis consumed had to have both CBD and THC in it. Hemp seed oil was ineffective as it only had CBD with a miniscule component of THC although it was relatively easy to convert a hemp farm into a cannabis farm

Demand shot up and supplies were cleaned out in countries and states where cannabis was legal but for many it was a desperation buy and too late as the cannabis must have been in your system for approximately a year. So as the mortality rate increased demand for cannabis decreased but there was a sufficient supply in the system to supply current users and those with enough money to isolate for a year and consume cannabis daily.

The general response after several months of political bickering was to nationalize cannabis production and import vast quantities of cannabis product. Jamaica, Pakistan, India, Mexico, Morocco and Columbia narcos became very wealthy through the exports of hashish and cannabis. Yesterday’s drug lords became respectable businessmen. Homegrown outdoor cannabis was generally weaker in temperate climates and not sufficiently powerful to offer Virus # 26 immunity unless the strain was a potent one which growers quickly caught on to, The result was that cannabis was the new gold rush and farmers finally regained their rightful stature as vital to society’s survival.

The regular pattern in the First and Second World was to create a national rationing programme. Present your card at a cannabis rationing station and off you went.

Those whose chip in the shoulder indicated that they had had measles and chicken pox were unable to purchase unless it was for a family member.

The upstanding Canadian corporate elite hightailed it to their summer retreats to isolate and consume cannabis for a one-year period. Being used to privileged treatment they managed quite successfully to bribe “the right people” for a one-year supply.

Third world countries had a higher measles and chicken pox infection rate so supply issues were not as big of an issue as they were in the developed world. The Perry Como sweatered Bill Kruger and his highly pickled wife Mitzy immediately dropped their measles and chicken pox vaccination obsession and against all of their ethics spread around enormous amounts of their Foundation money to cannabis grow-ops. There is money in them thar hills! That’s all the Krugers were ever after.

Although Virus # 26 killed millions at least everyone knew what was going to save their bacon and it wasn’t social distancing, handwashing and not touching your eyes, mouth or ears. Believe it or not it was a plant that had been used in medicine for over 5,000 years.

The cannabis magic bullet had some interesting effects on demographics in the First World. The measles and chicken pox afflicted seniors were in their 60’s and 70’s and there were not many of them left! The cannabis consumers could be split into medical users and recreational users. The recreational users were in the 18-50-year-old age bracket but the majority of those were in their twenties. Medical users could be any age. Society was split between youth and a declining tranche of baby boomers.

Poetry Corner: “downtown Treblinka”

Downtown Treblinka

Hemmed into the office towers by the awesome guard posts of corporate ideology
the weary beaten stagger
staggering into Calcuttian cubicles
to be transported to prosperous futility
whisked by gleaming vehicles financed at the public expense
only marred by the spots of the unhappily assimilated
broken by their own black boots
stomped through lack of humanity
lined up on the wall of advanced humility
or
cutthroat bestiality
experimented on by clever wizards
soothe by taxed juices and coloured flashes
that numb
and bring “round the clock relief
to the voluntary prisoners
and arthritic stricken

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Empty Ballad”

Empty Ballad

he basks in the spotlight
an angel
feels so proud of himself
and the throngs surround
call for more
the critics rave
Only Time knows he is nothing
only words an music of an era
a face on an album cover

Actually they hate him for he is nothing like them
more than they know they will ever be
his reality crushes their dreams
but his words are their fantasy
He is nothing
his words are nothing
they are nothing
but for one moment
they
believe

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Honeymoon in Saratoga Springs (circa 1961)”

Honeymoon at Saratoga Springs (circa 1961)

Well it certainly was quite a day
let’s go to bed

Wait!
I’ve got to brush my teeth

You already did

Come on let’s go for a walk

But it’s two in the morning

Oh all right
turn off the light and look the other way

OK

Robert K. Stephen