A blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet and Syrah.
Spent 8 months in American oak barrels.
Aroma: I am soon to watch James Dean’s last movie released in 1955, “Giant”. Speaking about giant there is giant blackberry in this. Secondary notes of blueberry and dark chocolate.
Palate: On the juicy side with high toned tannins. Rhubarb, pepper and some brackish black cherry. Chalky and fine tannins. Long peppery finish.
Personality: The palate can’t let my fruit shine more than it should. My advice to you is find the best food to match this. You know once upon a time wine was crafted with local food in mind. Bear in mind wine is not only about how it tastes but what food best suits it.
Harriet (Jacki Gunn) visits Doctor October (Jennifer Koenig) to have her IUD removed. In response to Dr. October’s questions Harriet explains she is experiencing nausea, insomnia, anxiety, low libido, depression and at times thoughts of suicide. Perhaps it is all just attributable to hormonal changes?
Her boyfriend Matt (Matthew Graham) in slug like fashion eats enormous amounts of greens, avoids salt and to retain his moisture bathes five times daily.
Is he exhibiting the classic characteristics of a garden slug or is Harriet suffering from delusions. That’s the fun of this short if in fact there can be “fun” in “creatively” describing mental illness.
The gloomy cinematography and exaggerated facial shots create a 1950’ish bizarro unreal film with elements of a governmental educational high school film, a B horror movie and a gardening instructional video.
Written by Jacki Gunn.
The film will be shown at an 11April2026 Gala Screening in Vancouver,
RKS CANADIAN Film Rating 91/100.
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.
Didn’t your mother ever warn you never take candy from a stranger?
How about phishing warnings that if it’s too good to be true walk away?
Have you read the children’s story “Pied Piper”?
I wonder if in the beginning of the film if seemingly shallow minded influencer Nikki (Lilian Doucet-Roche) purveyor of anything and everything had not opened the package that was delivered to her front door containing three vials of Go-V juice and a recoded message stating that “we’ve” noticed your like count is low so try this Go-V juice and expect success.
Nikki’s friend Amelia (Felicia Simone) hosts a podcast about missing BIPOC’ers that have reached a dead end as far as police investigations go. With only 5,000 viewers to Nikki’s 300,000 she accepts Nikki’s invitation to visit Go-V’s head office. From that point on matters turn very chilling very quickly.
A thriller that is entertaining, provocative and slightly satirical about the quest for adoration and the price that may be paid to attain it. There are many Daniel Websters in the world but there is only one devil.
There may be an equally chilling undertone of racism.
Spot on acting. Imaginative writing by Kat Reynolds and Felicia Simone.
The film will be shown at an 11April2026 Gala Screening in Vancouver,
RKS CANADIAN Film Rating 86/100.
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.
“James Dean, the young motion-picture actor killed in a car accident in 1955, was promoted throughout his phosphorescent career as the all-American ‘mixed up kid’ the symbol of misunderstood hot-rodding youth with a switchblade approach to life’s little problems. When he died, an expensive film in which he starred, Giant, had yet to be released, and the picture’s press agents, seeking to offset any ill effects that Dean’s demise might have on the commercial prospects of their product, succeeded by ‘glamourizing’ the tragedy, and in ironic consequence, created a Dean legend of rather necrophilic appeal.”
“In the present case I remembered, hastily, that your one chance when charged by several elephants is to dodge them around trees, working downwind all the time, and go home. It was evident from the utter unconcern of these monsters that I was downwind now, so I had only attend to dodging, and I promptly dodged around a tree, thinking perhaps that a dodge in time saves nine-and I lay down.”
Mary Kingsley, “Five Gorillas, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“Moreover I fancy it safer not to have an overpowering percentage of Fans in the party, as I know we shall have considerable stretches of uninhabited forest to traverse; and the Ajuma say that the Fans will kill people, i.e. the black traders who venture into their country, and cut them up into neat pieces, eat what they want at the time, and smoke the rest of the bodies for future use. Now I do not want to arrive at the Rembwé in a smoked condition even should my fragments be neat…..”
Mary Kingsley, “A Hippo Banquet, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“Every child in the place as soon as it saw my white face let a howl out of it as if it had seen his Satanic Majesty, horns, hoofs, tail and all, and fled into the nearest hut, headlong, and I fear, from the continuance of the screams, had fits. The town was exceedingly filthy-the remains of the crocodile they had been eating the week before last, and piles of fish offal, and remains of an elephant hippo or manatee-I can’t really say which, decomposition was far too advanced- united to form a most impressive stench.”
Mary Kingsley, “A Hippo Banquet, Travels in West Africa”, 1897.
“The one thing a man should not have is a wife. It is depressing to watch her bear children and fuss over them, and things don’t end with his death, for then you have the shameful sight of her growing old and decrepit as a nun. No matter who the woman may be, you would grow to hate her if you lived with her and saw her day in and out and the woman must become dissatisfied too. But if you lived separately and sometimes visited her, your feelings for each other would surely remain unchanged through the years. It keeps the relationship fresh to just drop in from time to time on impulse and spend the night.”
Yoshida Kenkō, “A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees”, 1329-1331?
TERROR ON A SUBURBAN STREET: COYOTE CONFRONTATION!
Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were in a certain contest that had some reference to being masters in their domain?
I am master of my backyard domain as there I am the hunter. Squirrells, opossums and rabbits are my prey.
Last night I was in another’s domain and I was the hunted.
At 23:15 Bob and I head out the front door for our final walk. At this time of the night we occasionally encounter Snipsy or Jasper a couple of my canine friends.
As we headed down the steps we encountered an unleashed dog I didn’t recognize just ahead of us on the other side of the street. Bob immediately started yelling and clapping his hands. Something was amiss! I sensed DANGER! This was no dog but a coyote! I am 12 pounds now and face it but a shrimp against this savage brute. A killer. A demon. A maniac. A scourge on the canine population specializing in luring then attacking finishing off my brethren.
The coyote moved down the street to the next house. Bob and I stayed motionless, but the coyote started slinking toward us until Bob shouted, screamed and clapped causing the brute to back off. We backed up slowly facing the monster. Bob clapped and screamed again and the coyote backed off. It slowly moved towards us until it was at the end of the driveway some 20 feet away. I could feel its hot, fetid and menacing breath down my neck. We made it to the front door. Alive and shook up.
I heard a few naughty words from Bob upset with our adventure.
Up to bed. I was put in my crate but I kept visualizing that scrawny and vicious creature so I began to cry and Bob opened the crate and I hopped up on the bed and unlike me gave him a multitude of kisses. We have had our differences over midnight romps in the snow disobeying the COME COMMAND but when I am fearful or in discomfort he is always there. I wiggled up to his chest as he sweet talked me to sleep assuring me everything was OK.
My advice to you when facing a coyote and it is stalking you is to pull out a Glock and shoot the bastard between the eyes. Failing possession of a Glock, which is hard to believe with truckloads of them from the United States pouring into Canada, stare it right in the eye, shout/scream/clap and hope for the best and do not turn your back nor run.
The City of Toronto is goo goo ga ga over coyotes in the “urban ecological system” unless of course some poor dog or human is mauled or killed. I say defund those lousy coyote lovers!
“The steak was excellent; Japanese take a just pride in the quality of their beef. The spaghetti, a dish popular in Japan was not; nor was the rest-the conglomeration of peas, potatoes and beans. Granted the menu was a queer one, it is on the whole a mistake to order Western food in Japan, yet there arise those moments when one retches at he thought of more raw fish, sukiyaki, and rice with seaweed, when, however temptingly they may be prepared and however prettily presented, the unaccustomed stomach revolts at the prospect of eel broth and fried beans and pickled snake and octopus arms.”
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