“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH HUMANS: THE SNOUT NUDGE

LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH HUMANS: THE SNOUT NUDGE

I have found the “snout nudge” is highly effective.

When I want attention, particularly when its playtime (which is just about all the time when I am not napping or sleeping) I just push my snout against the nearest human body part and Bob or Fay, with a bit of practice, know what I want. When I am hungry or need some cold water I nudge my bowl when someone can hear it and that receives a quick response. You require just the right amount of force with a kibble bowl or it makes a bit of a clatter but I am really becoming proficient with snout pressure!

The snout nudge is quiet and highly effective!

RKS Literature: Vice and Corruption Meet the Dregs of Parisian Society (Guy de Maupassant)

“The place reeked of vice and corruption and the dregs of Parisian society in all its rottenness gathered there: cheats, common and cheap hacks rubbed shoulders with under-age dandies, old roués and rogues, sleazy underworld types once notorious for things best forgotten mingled with other small-time crooks and speculators, dabblers in dubious ventures, frauds, pimps and racketeers. Cheap sex, both male and female was on offer in this tawdry meat market of a place where petty rivalries were exploited, and quarrels picked over nothing in an atmosphere of fake gallantry where swords and pistols at dawn settled matters of questionable honour in the first place.”

Guy de Maupassant, “Femme Fatale”, b 1850 d 1893.

RKS Literature: Predatory Women and Booze Sodden Men Looking for a Fight (Guy de Maupassant)

“A noisy, rambunctious crowd filled the floating restaurant. The wooden tables, sticky and awash with streams of spilt drink, were covered with half empty glasses and surrounded by half-tipsy customers. The crowds sang and shouted and brawled. Red faced, belligerent men, their hats tipped at the backs of their heads and their eyes glassy with booze, prowled like animals spoiling for a fight. The women, cadging free drinks in the meantime, were seeking their prey for the night.”

Guy de Maupassant, “Femme Fatale”, b 1850 d 1893.

RKS Literature: Vulgarity and Idiocy (Guy de Maupassant)

“On the land adjoining La Grenouillère strollers were sauntering under gigantic trees which helped make this part of the island one of the most delightful parks imaginable. Busty women with peroxided hair and nipped-in waists could be seen made up to the nines with blood red lips and black-kohled eyes. Tightly laced into their garish dresses they trailed in all their vulgar glory over the fresh green grass. They were accompanied by men whose fashion plate accessories, light gloves, patent leather boots, canes as slender as threads and absurd monocles made them look like complete idiots.”

Guy de Maupassant, “Femme Fatale”, b 1850 d 1893.

RKS 2026 CANADIAN WINE: Oxley 2021 Syrah from Lake Erie North Shore

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s 11April2026 Vintages catalogue describing this wine states, “Syrah is challenging to grow in Ontario, flourishing in only a select few ideal climates.” Very true.

Aroma: Black fruit predominates primarily black currant and blackberry. Root beer. A certain smokiness.

Palate: Tart red cherry. Lacking in richness. Mild tannins and acids that are in balance. Short finish.

Personality: Not a Rhône Ranger if you are looking for one. Perhaps call me a Syrah Lite? If Lake Erie North Shore and Niagara can’t get it right British Columbia certainly can.

Food Match: Japanese shrimp curry.  Serving chilled on a warm summer day might work best.

Cellarbility: Drink in 2026.

Price: $19 CDN.

RKS 2026 CANADIAN WINE RATING: 84/100.

(Oxley Estate Winery Syrah 2021, VQA Lake Erie North Shore, Oxley Estate Winery, Harrow, Ontario 750 ml, 12%).

RKS CANADIAN Film: “Mould”: Brittle Mental Health

Stevie (Stephanie Petallano) is a twenty something waking up to a surprise believing her hands are moulded clay. At her workplace her clay hands transform into porcelain and the rest of her face into clay save for her eyes. Her mind deceives her as she is the sole witness to this horrific and imaginary transformation.

Alone in a dark office storeroom a fellow worker Clara (Morgan Mitchell) shares a moment of truth with Stevie confessing she doesn’t feel real and she’ll be stuck like this forever.

Perfection and disassociation may be but an illusion.

The interplay of live action and Claymation deliver a commanding presentation, a physical presentation if you like, of mental illness in a simplistic but highly tangible and effective manner.

Written by Morgan Abele and directed by Abele and Kiki Evans.

The film was shown at an 11April2026 Crazy8’s Gala Screening in Vancouver.,

RKS CANADIAN Film Rating 83/100.

Crazy8s is an 8-day short filmmaking challenge and program that provides support and funding to emerging filmmakers to produce a short film and provides training opportunities to crew and cast. Each year, more than 100 teams apply to be part of Crazy8s.

Crazy8s is run by the Crazy8s Film Society, a registered British Columbia not-for-profit organization. Its mandate is to foster support for emerging and mid-career BC-based, Canadian short filmmakers who have limited access to resources or funding to produce professional-quality short-form content. Since 1999, Crazy8s has produced 151 short films that have gone on to win awards at film festivals worldwide.

RKS Literature: Yankee Whalers as Sea Peasants (Herman Melville)

 “To be sure, from the small number of English whalers, such meetings do not very often occur, and when they do occur there is too apt to be sort of a shyness between them; for your Englishman is rather reserved, and your Yankee, he does not fancy that sort of thing in anybody but himself. Besides, the English Whalers sometimes effect a kind of metropolitan superiority over the American whalers; regarding the long, lean Nantucketer, with his nondescript provincialisms, as a sort of sea-peasant.”

Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”, 1851.

RKS Literature: Spaghetti All Over Her Snout: BAD DOG! (Kerk Murray)

“In that moment of our absence, we discovered that our thirteen-pound senior dog was an acrobat. Chelsea was standing on the table devouring our dinner, unabashed. She looked at us proudly with spaghetti on her nose and a loaf of bread in her mouth. I glanced at my mom, who was furious as she stood with widened eyes and clenched fists. I fought hard, biting my lip to hold back laughter-I don’t think I ever heard her yell so loud.

‘Bad Dog!’

Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.

RKS Literature: How a Dog Can Capture Your Heart Making You Realize What’s Important About Life (Kerk Murray)

“It only took a few weeks for Chelsea to find her way into my heart- and for me to find my way into hers. With each passing day, she was willing to become more vulnerable as I continued to meet her where she was. Trust was built as I patiently learned about her boundaries and respected them. Although Chelsea needed me that summer I also needed her. Through that little dog, I understood the value of looking beyond the exterior of others- that if you dare explore beneath the surface, we may stumble upon something truly lovely. But more than that, what I’m most proud of is what Chelsea learned; that no matter what her past held, a new chapter of her story was being written-one where she captivated the heart of a young boy who would love her forever.”

Kerk Murray, “Pawprints On Our Hearts”, 2021.