RKS Literature: The Clean Mindedness of the Junior Anti-Sex League (Orwell)

“She was a bold looking girl of about 27 with thick dark hair, a freckled face and swift, athletic movements. A narrow scarlet sash, emblem of the Junior Anti-Sex League, was wound several times round the waist of her overalls, just tightly enough to bring out the shapeliness of her hips. Winston had disliked her from the very first moment of seeing her. He knew the reason. It was because of the atmosphere of the hockey-fields and cold baths and community hikes and general clean mindedness which she managed to carry about with her. He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones, who were the most bigoted adherents to the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers out of unorthodoxy.”

George Orwell, “1984”, 1949.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Stag’s Hollow 2022 Renaissance Chardonnay from British Columbia’s Similkameen Valley

Hand picked and hand sorted grapes destemmed and pressed into stainless steel to settle for 24 hours then racked into a combination of French oak (24% new) and stainless steel for 9 months before bottling.

215 6 pack cases produced.

Aroma: Mango, apricot, peach, Matsu apples and toffee. The oak is well integrated into the wine preventing “oak embarrassment” prevalent with many oaked Chardonnay efforts.

Palate: Rich, elegant, smooth and clean with a moderately long and creamy satisfying finish. No annoying acidity threatening the sanctity of the wine.

Personality: High class wine am I. Superb sipping wine.

Food Match: Roast tenderloin pork with sage potatoes and parsnips. Chicken in a tarragon/wine/chicken stock/cream sauce.  Asian style popcorn. The winery makes several food pairing suggestions with my vote going to “Indian chicken curries”.

Cellarbility: Drinking beautifully now and will continue high on the satisfaction meter until 2029-year end. The winery thinks it can age into 2033.

Price: $36.87 CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 93/100. Gismondi on Wines 90.

(Stag’s Hollow 2022 Renaissance Chardonnay Herrera Vineyard, Similkameen Valley BC VQA, Stag’s Hollow Winery, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 12.6%).

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: POTTY TRAINING: THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

POTTY TRAINING: THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

Not to make an overarching analogy to Jim Mackay’s phrase for ABC’s Wide World of Sports “The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat” but I would have to apply that phrase to my potty training.

When I do my “business” outside everyone is dancing with extreme delight with smiles and hugs and sweet talk for me. “Good Boy Rory!!!!”

When it is inside stern words and glaring stares. Don’t I have the right as a puppy to relieve myself when nature calls? This would only apply when I am outside it seems. I am slowly processing that idea but that takes some time. Puppy’s brains are small you see. Do human babies continually soil themselves? Give puppies a break!

Isn’t life with dogs one of compromise? Why can’t I pee and poop outside sometimes then inside. Call it a puppy compromise. I can do my business inside but I receive a blast of displeasure which manifests itself as guilt for me and sometimes for Bob and Fay guilt for their chastising. I’d rather not have to play on this emotional see saw so believe me world I am trying. I want the thrill and not the agony. Bob and Fay too!  

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: A Moraine 2022 Cabernet Franc/Merlot from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley

A token British Columbia wine has trickled on to the shelves of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). So much noise has been expended in Canada concerning the removal of barriers to interprovincial trade in the face of Trumpian tariffs, but I can’t see a flood of British Columbia wines occupying the LCBO shelves to take the place of all the space of “banned” American wines. I suspect a scarcity of Ontario wines on the retail shelves in British Columbia. Tit for tat.

Aroma: Massive black fruit. Blackberry, cassis, plum, black cherry and dark chocolate.

Palate: Tsunami of black fruit swells all around and to and fro on the palate. Some choco influence. Tannins are noticeable lending a bit of chalkiness on the long finish tinged with a burn of sorts. A whopping 15.6% alcohol.

Personality: Wanna a real red! Not for the faint of heart drinkers of any Ontario Cabernet Merlot blends.

Food Match: The label proclaims, “sensational paired with steak frites, grilled mushrooms or lamb”. I would add Pasta Milanese made with San Marzano tomatoes to give extra richness to the sauce.

Cellarbility: This youngster will gracefully age into 2030.

Price: $40 CDN.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 93/100. Natalie MacLean 90.

(Moraine 2022 Cabernet Merlot, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley BC VQA, Moraine Winery, Penticton, British Columbia, 750 mL, 15.6%).

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: I MEET MY GODFATHER MR G a Ca Ca Caaa CAT PERSON: COMMENTS ON OBESE WELSH CORGIS

I MEET MY GODFATHER MR G a Ca Ca Caaa CAT PERSON: COMMENTS ON OBESE WELSH CORGIS

Last Saturday Fay and Bob invited my godfather Mr G over for dinner and upon entering the house I gave him a very warm welcome. When my tail wags at 100 kms an hour rest assured that is the seal of approval from a West Highland Terrier. Some smart ass “canine experts” pontificate (thinking we are a rattlesnake) the rapid tail movement hypnotizes our prey so they are jelly when we finish them off. No doubt the musing of some Brit academic with his/her head up the ass offering smirky comments on Scottish canine royalty. Talk about Brits, isn’t it telling those wanker English monarchs are cuddling overweight Welsh Corgis so bloated they can’t even run! I dare any of you readers to find an overweight Westie! We are willing to fight slow witted Welsh Corgis at anytime assuming they can pull themselves away from the telly watching Coronation Street while stuffing their gullet with dainties at High Tea. They are fat wankers with ABSURD freakish ears! Too much Welsh coal dust has created some problems for that breed.

A friendly man Mr G is and despite smelling of cat his heart secretly gushes admiration for West Highland Terriers. I can smell it! He muses fondly about his cats B and N but in his heart he’s rather have me! Bob and Mr G debate who is going to be the boss when I encounter his two cats.

Mr G brought me huge squeaky animal as a fitting “tribute” to a West Highland Terrier. I understand this means if anyone fucks with me, assuming I can’t “dispose” of the problem Mr G as godfather has assumed a moral obligation to “protect” me. Mess with me and you might find a severed horse head in your bed courtesy of Mr G! He is an awesome dude, and I promise in return I will be a gentleman with his cats. I knew a few cats as a wee pup in the kennel and they weren’t bad sorts!

Comments from Dylan the Westie from the Land Beyond

From Rory’s comments above you might judge him as somewhat arrogant and ignorant. I have interacted with Mr G’s cats and while off standish we happily mingled and permitted me to eat their cat food and drink from their water bowl. No way I’d ever be hospitable enough to relieve myself in their “litter box” though.

Can you take his comments so very seriously when he is not a potty-trained Westie!

In reflection though, my first encounters with Mr G had me ferociously barking at him so as for manners toward Mr G I am a bit embarrassed. Rory had a great degree of diplomacy! A class act despite his puppydom.

RKS 2025 Wine: El Enemigo Chardonnay from Argentina: 2018 vs. 2023

El Enemigo 2023 Chardonnay

Aroma: Up in your face oak as if it has hijacked the wine. Pineapple, mango, pear and cinnamon. Fresher and lighter than the 2018.

Palate: A bit raspy and abrasive whereas the 2018 is far smoother. You taste the oak. Rather thin in comparison to the 2018. Acids are noticeable and not the same degree of fruit as in the 2018. Short finish.

Personality: In comparison to its 2018 older bother brash and immature.

Food Match: Grilled pork chop marinated in olive oil, oregano and lemon. The acidity in the lemon matches the acidity of this wine. It would destroy the 2018.

Price: $30 CDN.

Cellarbility: Robot in “Lost in Space” television show 1965-68 would we waving its arms violently shouting, “WARNING. WARNING. DO NOT CONSUME THIS WINE UNTIL 2029” at which point it will be peaking.

RKS 2025 Wine Review Rating: 87/100. Jamessuckling.com 96.

(El Enemigo 2023 Chardonnay, Mendoza, Argentina, Alejandro Vigil and Adriana Catena, 750 mL,13%).

El Enemigo 2018 Chardonnay

Colour: A much deeper gold in comparison to the 2023.

Aroma: One can’t ignore the heavy oak influence in the wine, but it is well buried in the wine. Perhaps one might say the oak is well integrated into the bouquet. Butterscotch, Baked Alaska, pear conserves, marzipan, honey, clay, and cinnamon.

Palate: Seven years in the bottle imparts a degree of smoothness. What you smell you taste. Acids are tame. A mature wine to be taken as such. It will evolve no further but its astounding aromatics are good into mid 2026.A pleasant and muted finish.

Personality: A senior citizen perfectly mobile albeit a bit slow and proud of its longevity and the fact it was money well spent.

Food Match: Shrimp/Lobster in a butter garlic sauce or chicken in a tarragon/wine/cream sauce.

Price in 2022: $25 CDN.

RKS Wine 2025 Wine Rating: 91/100 (November 2025). Natalie MacLean’s 2022 review 92/100

RKS Wine’s 2022 Review (of the 2018) Rating 89/100. Here is that review https://a-little-birdie-told-me.ca/2022/02/04/rks-wine-a-chardonnay-from-mendoza-el-enemigo-digressing-into-the-battle-of-britain/

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: FROM EXISTENCE TO LIFE: THE BRIGHT LIGHT SUNSHINE FOR A WESTIE PUPPY

FROM EXISTENCE TO LIFE: THE BRIGHT LIGHT SUNSHINE FOR A WESTIE PUPPY

I am finishing off 12 weeks or so since my birth at Ardendale Kennels in Denfield, Ontario. Farm country.

Of my two months there I remember little. Drinking mother’s milk and snuggling against her and my brothers and sisters. We played now and then I am told but what games I know not. It was simply existence for a short time just enough to obtain nourishment and basic canine socialization skills. I remember a cockatiel squawking occasionally, a three-legged cat and some prize chickens scrabbling for food outside a sliding door. Hardly a challenging or memorable experience. But I thank the big canine father for blessing me with health and as Bob and Fay are discovering a “rascally nature”.

I think I may have had an inkling of what life was promising when Bob and Fay visited me at a month old. I was told then by my breeder I was a very intelligent pup when I trundled over to the water bowl, put my feet on the rim and had a long drink of water. She’d never seen a pup my age do the same. I was also told I nearly pooped on Bob’s shoe.

What I do remember is Bob picking me up under my arms looking at my face up close, sweettalking me and rubbing his nose on mine! If this was a hint about the nature of my future life I thought busting out of the kennel was going to be quite something. I have had enough of existing. I WANT LIFE!

RKS 2025 Short Film: “The Hemingway”: Elbows Up

Canada currently faces threats of economic decimation and political annexation by you know who.

Canadians have adopted a fightback phrase “Elbows Up” a metaphorical reference to hockey players aggressively using their elbows to defend and possibly strike back at aggressors.

Patrick Sean O’Brien is saddled with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) where the muscles atrophy in an inevitable termination of life usually within months of formal diagnosis. The termination is with extreme prejudice as the unaffected mind witnesses the inevitable deadly physical decline.

For those viewers without any ALS “experience” which includes watching friends and colleagues succumb to it the documentary may invoke feelings of horror, fear and pity. But you owe O’Brien more than that.

Pity, fear and horror are emotional observations by viewers being essentially selfish. Perhaps wonderment, inspiration, admiration, courage, raw emotion and yes even a laugh or two are respectful to Patrick Sean O’Brien a man of insight, satire and humour as he explains a few moments in his life to us. The animation and clips from old films and documentaries and O’Brien’s ceaseless wit throughout may lighten your emotional distress.

Physically wasted perhaps. Mentally charged indeed as how can you explain his co-direction, co-executive production and his screenwriting!

While he might not possess the brawn and robustness of Hemingway he is a massive elbows up guy in a cruel world.

J.R. Reed is O’Brien’s voice.

Winner of awards for best short documentary it will no doubt appear on screens throughout the world.

You can watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/1044832501

RKS 2025 Short Film Rating 96/100.

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: PUPPY PRIDE: MY FIRST KILL….SORT OF…NOT REALLY

PUPPY PRIDE: MY FIRST KILL….SORT OF…NOT REALLY

West Highland Terriers are hunters. We aren’t dentists from Wichita that lay peanut butter traps for lions in Africa and blast them hiding behind blinds, take a photograph of their kill and idiotically declare their “Great White Hunter” status. To those hunters I say “Bunga Schmunga.

We ferret out and hunt foxes…well er…farm rats too. We chase, dig, jump and catch quarry in our mouth and shake their body to break their neck for a humane kill. And you thought Westies were cute poofballs skilled only at cuddling and inveigling human food or symbols on toilet paper and cheap dog food made in China!

I was out in the backyard this morning and Bob saw me munching on some object with greater relish than usual. Being cautious he jumped into action and removed the object from my mouth and my very sharp puppy teeth. “Oh my goodness” was what I heard. “A decomposed mouse! You can see his long tail!”

A mouse is a mouse decomposed or not! Welcome to Westiehood! I am as proud as can be!

Well half and hour later AJ, Bob and Fay’s son, passed judgement on the mouse. It was a dried flower with a long stem. Bob’s original pronouncement was made without his spectacles.

My ego is DEFLATED!

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: PUPPY WOES: NEEDLE IN MY FLANK: OUCH!!!!

PUPPY WOES: NEEDLE IN MY FLANK: OUCH!!!!

Today we had a double adventure. My first real daylight ride in our car and a trip to a funny smelling animal hospital where we met a lady veterinarian named Dr. CK.

I heard Bob saying in the car we were going for a “puppy check” to determine my good health. I could smell apprehension on Bob before we went into the building like something very bad had happened to him on his last visit there just over two years ago. I wonder what occurred there?

Dr. CK was wonderful, pinching, squeezing and feeling my body sweet talking me all the way. The verdict about me? “Fit as a fiddle!”. And then something terrible happened as Fay and then Bob held me firmly and assuring me everything was fine. A searing pain in my flank and I let out a howl of pain. And I thought Dr. CK was such a sweet lady until she jabbed me with what she referred to as a needle. This was “a vaccination”. And oh my I heard Dr. CK say more were coming.

After my dinner and a nice tank up on cold water I started to feel “not myself”…a happy, squirmy and naughty puppy. I slept beside Fay on the couch all evening not wanting to play. And when I moved my left flank OUCH!

I don’t think anyone wanted to hurt me but it sure seems that way. I have to give everyone the benefit of my doubt.

By the way I gave that other dog arriving when were departing a bark. I am not sure why?