d'Arenberg Toilet Wine

Recently I read that Australian wine consumption has dropped around 25% in the last couple of decades

I mention this because it is unusual that I bought half a dozen bottles recently.

For me it's also unusual as I last bought wine for drinking, rather than cooking, about a decade ago.

Sometimes I'm drinking wine that I bought decades earlier, since I have been enjoying the benefits of cellaring bottles in cardboard boxes.

So, what prompted me to buy wine in 2026?

This also seems unusual because I was prompted by a Youtuber.

Bobby Fingers is a wry Irish artist who makes entertaining videos about building dioramas.

His interests extend to dabbling in a variety of media, such as the music that's often included in his videos, as well as a recent excursion into writing romantic fiction.

The most recent video shows the process of constructing a small scene discussed in the defamation proceedings between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which prompted Fingers to try making his own wine as part of research into Depp's fondness for fermented grape juice.

 

Since I've already shown the result of that digression from the detailed diorama, it's no spoiler to share that Bobby Fingers ended up in South Australia at one of the most highly-rated wineries.

One of my top five wine experiences was a 1998 d'Arenberg Footbolt shiraz and I still remember a eureka moment when it hit my tongue.

That taste was when I understood some of the wine terminology about vertical stacking of tannins, as the flavour was bold and seemed as though the taste continued to explode in my mouth after the wine had gone down my throat.

While the Bobby Fingers branded Toilet Wine is a decent drop, although a bit more expensive than what I normally drink because Australian wine is generally very good value for money and I'm cheap, I think d'Arenberg have done something that will be emulated for years to come.

The wine itself shows the same clever blending that I associated with the 1998 Footbolt in having a long-lasting taste, although it is surprising to me the flavour does not seem to be as decidedly fruit-focused as Australian wine is generally.

It might be that I'm so far out of the habit of drinking wine that I haven't noticed it before, or maybe d'Arenberg are making a conscious decision to aim for a more European sensibility since Mr Fingers is based in that part of world.

A clever aspect of this marketing-based product is the obvious affinity that Chester Osborn has with Bobby Fingers' art-making and I thought the suggestion that the Toilet Wine might actually contain fermented toilet was hilarious.

While I couldn't taste toilet in my glass, it's not something that I have much experience in discerning.

However, while Australian wines don't usually note the blends in detail on the labels unless it is more than a certain threshold, I thought it was also clever of Chester to link the role of malbec in the blend in the video.

 

It was memorable to compare the meaty taste of that grape to seared kangaroo. 

This is the kind of small, yet amusing consideration that could cultivate a broader audience for tasting the product and developing an interest that goes further.

At risk of being sentimental, it was sweet to have my appreciation for wine given another lesson from d'Arenberg.

 

They have produced a wine with Bobby that could have been ordinary, but instead they appear to have seized on an opportunity to reach an new audience and educate them a little in doing so -- which might be what this Australian industry needs in the longer term.

Perfect Days

Perfect Days is a remarkable film for many reasons

The story follows a guy cleaning toilets in Tokyo and it reveals a city that appears so much more livable than I would've expected.

While it isn't acknowledged in the script, I expect the role of a nature-worshipping religion like Shinto is significant for the pockets of greenery and abundance of potted plants.

There's also a healthy dose of wabi-sabi in the narrative arc, which reflects the role of Japan's other religion of Zen Buddhism.

One of my habits after watching a film is to look on Wikipedia for background information and it was surprising to learn Perfect Days developed from a program to promote public restrooms:

Wenders was invited to Tokyo by Koji Yanai to observe The Tokyo Toilet, a project in which Japanese public toilets were redesigned in 17 locations throughout Shibuya... At first, the producers envisioned Wenders would make a short film or series of short films on the facilities, but he opted for a feature film

I think it shows how much an artist can elevate a project, but it also helps that you have someone of the calibre of Wim Wenders with a celebrated catalogue of stories which are hinted at in small details like the character reading Patricia Highsmith or the evocative dream sequences that might've been taken from Until the End of the World (1991).

Another surprise for me from the film was the Japanese version of 'The House of the Rising Sun,' which led me to get a new perspective on its themes and learn how a song that might be related to a 17th-century folk melody inspired Bob Dylan to go electric.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die

One of my interests in time travel

While the means to travel back in time have evaded me so far, there's a good technique for travelling forward in time through watching movies.

So time-travel as a genre has been a fascination and I've got ideas about how it functions as a narrative device.

In fact, if there was a subject that I would consider writing a thesis about, I feel I could develop an essay and fiction combination that would explore this potential.

Since I have time now to indulge in sitting on the couch in front of the TV after abandoning my teacher training, I caught up with this film that had interested me last year.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is a surprising story with developments that lead into dark satire and, no spoiler, an ambiguous ending that still manages to resolve character arcs.

Actually, slight spoiler, I think the ending shows it is similar to that famous time-travel franchise Back To The Future and made me wonder if there was an aspiration for a sequel.

However, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die will likely become one of those cult movies that finds an audience outside of the cinemas since it didn't achieve much success in those venues and lost money.

I don't want to spoil anything, so let's just say this film is worth watching if you like comedy horror and fluffy sci-fi with a biting commentary on contemporary life.

It shows how science fiction can be used as a device to reflect the present day, while leaving open the possibilities of how things could be different.

Brand inconsistencies

One of the fundamental aspects to building a brand is the opportunity to convince consumers to pay more or buy more often

Brand loyalty is a relationship where the consumer sees value over time, even if that means something as simple as saving their mental bandwidth from having to research other options.

However, some brands are fractured through diverse market offerings, which might explain my disappointment with the current Reese's ice-cream.

Now chocolate brands reinterpreted as ice-confections is an area that fascinates me, as there's a weird thing where their primary appeal behaves differently.

Chocolate is one experience at room temperature that differs markedly when it is cold, although that also serves as a way to disguise bad quality.

The Reese's ice-creams have been a very mixed bag in their various iterations, but there are some key components that can be successful and it has been my greatest pleasure during previous summers.

Currently the brand is being sold in the "sandwich" form, which is probably my least-liked style because this tries to make a virtue of eating a soggy biscuit.

The new Reese's version lacks caramel and I'm not convinced there is any peanut in there either, although there was a lump that I couldn't identify.

 

Then I wondered -- are they having a laugh?

My conclusion is that brand loyalty has not delivered a product that rewards my consumption and I advise caution when approaching this confection.

There's no caramel and no chocolate and probably not enough peanut to trigger an allergy (but please don't test this if you have a reaction to those, in fact just don't buy this icecream)!

Succumb

Summer is here and I've been succumbing to ice-cream

Usually I'm a fan of a small scoop to add that sweet and creamy mouthfeel to a piece of warm pie.

Sometimes a scoop goes well in a coffee too, particularly if you add extra milk.

It's a simple approach and feels in balance with the rest of my diet, I like to think.

Then I started looking at the varieties of ice-cream in those freezer cabinets and suddenly my tastes aren't so vanilla.

There are two in particular that appear when my mind turns to visiting the supermarkets.

At the European brand shop there's a Magnum-style knock-off that's white chocolate with raspberries.

(I know white chocolate isn't really chocolate but it melts better for not having the paste-like character of cocoa.)

The tartness of the raspberry is easily overcome by the vanilla and then the sweet hit of that sweetened condensed (misnomered) chocolate.

This same brand with a NZ-sounding name that I can't remember also has a passionfruit ice-cream but the second ice-cream I've been enjoying most is the one pictured.

It's nuts and outrageous, just like it says.

There's really no stopping once I hit a seam of the caramel that runs between crunchy peanuts and different flavours of ice-cream.

Otherwise I'll run the spoon around the edge of the packaging where it's melting and the sundae all blends together like a gritty sticky mouthful.

I can feel my brain doing these cartwheels while I'm eating it.

The peanuts probably aren't appropriate for everyone, but if you need to grab an epipen then consider giving it a go.

Best cheese lately

Thought I should balance my negativity about those Twisties by sharing my enthusiasm for sheep cheese

This has been a favourite in recent months and I was happy to find it half-price at the stupormarket.

I am so grateful to live in an age when truffle has become so plentiful.  

(You can find it flavouring chips!)

And cheese is so often wonderful.

Worst chips ever

These are undoubtedly the most unappetising packet of chips that I've ever eaten

Normally I encourage brands to be adventurous and I think they've done a good job of raising tolerance for spice.

However, the ramen flavour is undefined and a poor representation of the dish.

Under the Silver Lake

Watched this yesterday and it's the first film in a while where I've wanted to watch it again almost immediately

The story follows a dopey dude into an unbelievable conspiracy and ends with a most unlikely conclusion for an American film. 

Lots of laughs and also lots of codes, which may or may not reveal the identity of The Dog Killer if you look further into the film online

If you liked "Inherent Vice" or Coen brothers' comedies like "The Big Lebowski," although this one draws more heavily on Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and "Rear Window" than the brothers' Raymond Chandler influence.

It's got a heap of adult-oriented material though, so not suitable for a general audience.

Avatar the latest story bender

There's a lot to like about the live-action Netflix adaptation of The Last Airbender

The show feels like a remix of the original cartoon story.

It works for me in a way like the Zelda games all begin to blur as the story is retold over and over again.

These days that deja vu-like telling is explained by a conceit like the multiverse, but I wonder if it hints at a Dreamtime sense that these things have always happened and will always happen.

It might be that dramatic arc that's laid out with Sozin's comet and other celestial movements that accompany the arrival of the Avatar.

The story always had a grandeur beyond the Nickelodeon format back when I first started watching the animated series with my firstborn son nearly two decades ago.

I've revisited the series with successive children and there's been a pleasure in rediscovering the characters who populate the universe of the elemental kingdoms.

My kids didn't take to the Netflix series but I thought the action sequences were a massive improvement on the animation.

They bristled with sacrilege in the mergings of half-hour stories into the new hour-long episodes.

Yet every reworking of the characters seemed to make sense within the grander scope of the live-action drama.

At first the casting of Katara felt wrong and then I realised it made more sense for her to be closer to Aang's age.

Likewise Uncle Iroh took a little getting used to but, in the subtle details like when he handled the game tile, I gained a new appreciation for the role of Pai Sho in the Order of the White Lotus.

I didn't think I'd like the Netflix version after being horrified by the film version, yet now I want to see a seriousness taken with the political subplot in the Earth Kingdom.

And now I want to see the Library in the desert fully realised and there are so many other stories that I can't wait to see retold.

Penguin flavoured chips

At least that's how they look, right? 

They're actually chicken flavoured but I can pretend they might be penguin, although I'd guess the latter would have a distinct taste from their diet and environment.

The TV ad for this brand is pretty wild too

Hamburgers and chips in Leeton

My family recently undertook a comparison of five takeaway hamburgers and chips in Leeton

In the details below you'll see I've included some basic observations about each, as well as noting weight and price.

Our order at each venue was for a plain hamburger and a minimum of chips with sizes varying as well as prices.

Some venues asked whether we were happy to have tomato and beetroot in the salad and one asked if we wanted cheese, but we didn't accept as that might be considered a cheeseburger.

The plain hamburgers shared in common the beef patty, lettuce, tomato, beetroot and bun.

They each differed in ways that make this comparison an exercise with contrasts and I expect the ratio of ingredients will vary between preparations and probably changes depending on staff at each venue too.

We split these five hamburgers over two meals and bought our favourite from the first round a second time to assist in calibrating our taste buds.

It was also interesting to note the burger from Luke's was 9 grams heavier when we bought it on the weekend, compared to the second one we bought on a weekday.

Country Fried Chicken:

Burger had beefiest tasting patty and lots of lettuce.
327 grams / $8

Chips were crisp, golden and fluffy inside.
439 grams / $2

Golden Fried Chicken:

Burger had a sourdough bun with noticeable butter.
317 grams / $7.50

Chips were served, rather cooked specifically for the order and didn’t seem as crisp (but had been brought home in a plastic bag).
507 grams / $4.40

Luke’s Cafe:

Burger had oregano added to patty and a noticeably toasted sesame bun.
284 and 275 grams / $7.50

Chips were crisp and highly rated, possibly the oil.
519 grams / $3

Tourist Supermarket:

Burger had lots of fried onion, which gave a sweet flavour.
333 grams / $11

Huge serve of chips with some crispiness.
909 grams / $3

Amesbury Crossing Family Store:

Burger tasted grilled and seemed to contain more salad (tomato and beetroot were prominent as well as mixed lettuce leaves rather than just iceberg).
326 grams / $6

Chips might have been served and came home in a plastic bag in a box branded GFC.
258 grams / $2.50

Conclusion

It’s worth noting that family members had differing opinions but the adults largely agreed on the following preferences.

Overall the Amesbury burger was the favourite and Luke’s a second place, but they were quite different in the style of patty and the amount of salad.

Overall Country Fried offered the favourite chips, with differing opinions about second place but my partner and I preferred Luke’s. 

The Beach review

Director Warwick Thornton has been going from strength to strength in his filmmaking

In some ways it’s only a short distance from the contemporary tragedy of Samson and Delilah to the 1920s setting for the neo-western Sweet Country (which comments on Australian race relations with a plot like something John Ford would direct), but he’s quickly established himself. 

Thornton has a confidence in his control of what he shows viewers, particularly in action that happens offscreen, and his style seems almost disproportional to the work he has produced.

With The Beach Thornton puts himself at the centre of a powerfully understated experience that appears ridiculously cinematic for a six-part television series, thanks to his son Dylan River.

It opens with Thornton arriving at a remote beach shack on the Western Australian coast and ends with him leaving, while the supporting cast amounts to birds, an animal (spoiler?) and some tasty sea creatures.

Aside from occasionally cursing at the challenges of the setting, his addresses to a group of chickens serve as a device for monologues as Thornton reflects on his life.

I had difficulty forgetting that there would have been a crew watching from outside the frame in those moments, but did not doubt his skills cooking sumptuous fusion meals from a few jars of supplies and meat from the surrounding landscape.

It’s remarkable that the economy in the storytelling required only a couple of scenes showing city life, especially a collection of beer glasses, to give a context for his reasons to escape to the beach for about two months.

Much of the pleasure in watching this holiday is the foraging and cooking he undertakes, but the deeper character development is told with symbols like the flashy jacket he takes off and doesn’t put on again.

In Thornton’s productions the Australian landscape becomes a leading character and The Beach will have you wanting to find your own isolated beachside shack, although this one was apparently purpose-built.

9/10 

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower review

From the opening scene we learn the central character, Charlie (Logan Lerman), has been working through a personal issue as he writes a letter to an anonymous friend

Then he’s beginning high school and struggling to fit in, before he befriends a couple of older students and soon has a social life that involves partying with their cohort.

A memorable scene is when he first meets Sam (Emma Watson) and the camera takes Charlie’s perspective to see her face lit with a halo from the nightlights at a football game.

It’s soon clear that he is attracted to her, although part of that interest seems to stem from the kindness and compassion she offers after learning Charlie’s lost a close friend.

While this film is described as a coming of age story, it’s interesting that threshold is not crossed through the loss of virginity. 

The key plot development sees characters develop a sense of maturity through recognising the impact of trauma.

However, the film isn’t as heavy as this theme might suggest and is remarkably restrained in the way it handles the material.

Director Stephen Chbosky developed the screenplay from his own novel and the film maintains a quick pace that uses a variety of music to express character and mood, both within scenes and accompanying them.

The soundtrack is excellent and enhanced by Michael Brooks’ understated score.

I’ve watched this a couple of times now and found a lot to admire in the use of camera angles and flashback scenes to convey the internal world of the characters.

Watson’s acting carries a lot of the film, as she is required to cover a range of emotions, while accompanied by an energetic performance by Ezra Miller as her stepbrother.

There were many points where I thought I could guess the direction of the film only to be wrong, and I really enjoyed being surprised.

9/10

Bamay review

Bamay is a "slow TV" program currently streaming on SBS On Demand that reveals a new perspective on some of the local landscape

The visuals are mostly drone footage of the natural environment, accompanied by occasional text detailing features.

Slow television earns the name for the long duration and sluggish pace of the programs, which might include showing a train journey from start to finish.

Bamay shows stretches of waterways and includes the Murrumbidgee River as well as tributaries such as Yanco Creek and dams Burrinjuck and Blowering.

There is a short introduction by Wiradjuri man Peter Ingram, who shares some of his knowledge of the Murray Darling Basin waterways as links between communities and describes them as veins for the Australian continent.

Then, from what I've seen so far, the presentation moves between different streams with laidback music and snippets of information including First Nations and other roles for these landmarks.

The perspective is one that's only occasionally glimpsed from an airplane.

Aside from the brown water bursting the banks in places, the plants look surprisingly and refreshingly green.

It's not clear what the intent of the program's producers are but I came to the conclusion that Bamay offers a contemporary take on First Nations art.

Many Australian Aboriginal artworks present a map-like view of the landscape and often reference culturally significant sites.

My impression is that Bamay invites viewers to take a fresh look at our common wealth and the textual information presents both European and First Nations details – and that combination is the sort of narrative Australia needs right now.

Booksmart review

Booksmart (2019) is a teen comedy that begins with a familiar setting and then gently pushes against expectations

The two lead American characters are friends who, facing graduation, realise they’ve sacrificed high school romance in the pursuit of grades and a place at college. 

If the film was made a decade earlier someone might say “YOLO,” but it’s way more contemporary.

That the characters are named Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) is the first step away from the usual male perspective, then Amy’s interest in same-sex romance is another difference to so many teen comedies.

Early on there’s a scene where Molly is seated in a toilet cubicle and overhears fellow students insulting her. It’s a scene that’s been done elsewhere, yet the first time I’ve seen it delivered in a unisex toilet.

Given the current debates about gender fluidity in Australian high schools, this film recognises the current generation are more adept at discussing sexuality than their parents.

Before the end of the film there’s an inferred romantic relationship between a teacher and a student, as well as some drug use, yet Booksmart doesn't make a moral judgment.

Despite the gross-out-style humour and sexual gags, the film has a sweet sentiment as the characters realise how mistaken they have been in their malicious gossiping about fellow students.

Olivia Wilde’s debut shows remarkable strengths in her direction, particularly the pace and a diverse supporting cast of authentic characters. She also includes good visual jokes in onscreen details.

8/10 

Destroyer review

As it neared the ending, I had a thought that 'Destroyer' (2019) was a kind of remake of 'Bad Lieutenant' (1992)

It’s not that simple and not quite as harrowing, but Nicole Kidman rivals Harvey Keitel in her performance as a bad cop. 

As Detective Erin Bell she shows occupational hazards, including alcoholism and distant family and corruption.

Part of the appeal of watching this film was the frumpy twist on the usual icy Hitchcock-blonde-type role Kidman might normally inhabit. Here that aloofness is like a wounded animal.

Another part is Karyn Kusama’s direction, which draws on a long tradition of noir-style LA police thrillers.

When I read Kusama had a mentor in John Sayles*, I better understood the seamless way her films can shift from past to present (particularly 'The Invitation' (2015)). 

The uncertainty of whether a scene is past or present is part of the storytelling in 'Destroyer' and, like many detective movies, the audience follows the lead character in attempting to get to the centre of a mystery.

In this case the detective is bleary-eyed and trying to piece together fragments from between gaps in memories, like 'Memento' (2000).

The result is somewhat disorienting but the strength of Kidman’s character kept my interest and the sense of how stresses hollow-out a stone made her performance memorable. 

8/10

* Sayles’ film 'Lone Star' (1996) has a wonderful style that uses pans between scenes to underscore the relationships between characters and their histories.

The Merger review

'The Merger' is a local film that's now finding a new audience on Netflix and I regret not seeing it with an audience and sharing their recognition of the Riverina

The plot follows interpersonal politics of a small-town football club as they resolve grief and regret, as well as avoid losing their identity.

Their season is saved by recruiting new players from the migrant community, after recognising their diverse skills and desire to be part of the town.

Working with a predictable collection of characters, this film is a nuanced representation of masculinity as the plot follows a series of emotional arcs framed by sporting scenes.

'The Merger' is really creative in showing character development and kinda conflicts with memory of a news story from that region, where a team was taken to court for urinating on the main street of a neighbouring town.

It was also disorienting that Ganmain was often filmed from the opposite side of the train tracks, so there was an element of going into a 'looking glass' and seeing a reversed image of local landmarks.

I realise now the crux of the film is inverting local binaries by comparing experiences of personal loss. This film has an incredible heart, as well as mild and good-natured humour.

9/10

The Platform review

I haven’t watched so many movies but The Platform is probably my favourite release this year

The film follows Goreng as he makes sense of a "Vertical Self-Management Centre,” a kind of prison built into a tower where inmates are randomly assigned to floors for 30-day periods. 

A distinctive feature of the setting is a sort of dumb-waiter that delivers meals from a kitchen at the top, with each floor having limited access to food as it descends.

Inmates at the top get first pick, while those at the bottom either starve or resort to desperate means to survive.

Described as “social science fiction” this film is a lot of things. 

Horror elements sit within a theatrical setting that ultimately reveals itself as a metaphor for trickle-down economics.

8/10 

The Host review

This monster movie breaks convention early on by showing the creature in broad daylight

Wikipedia says 'The Host' was inspired by a local article about a deformed fish with an S-shaped spine caught in the Han River; and an incident in 2000, when a mortician working for the U.S. military reported he was ordered to dump a large amount of formaldehyde down a drain.

"Because of its themes, which can be seen as critical of the United States, the film was lauded by North Korean authorities, a rarity for a South Korean blockbuster film"!

There are few scares and little gore, because the real monsters are people and from the opening scene you learn they're often American doctors.

The film includes many characteristics of Bong Joon-Ho movies, such as slapstick in unlikely moments, as well as a dark turn in the second half.

A couple of chase scenes in 'The Host' could be drafts for those in his later film 'Okja' (which benefits from having a much bigger scope in the storytelling) but this film is remarkable for what they've achieved with a small-ish budget.

7/10 

Mother review

A mother seeking to save her son from prison offers great motivation for the main character in this film

Bong Joon-ho's ‘Parasite’ brought him wider attention (as well as Academy Awards) and I've found his earlier films interesting for the same focus on class struggle, as well as subversive characters.

There's a Hitchcock influence in ‘Mother’ but, where Alfred was constrained by the Hays Production Code, Bong has opportunity to really challenge an audience's expectations.

The first half of this film is kinda goofy and then the investigation into the case starts to explore darker territory.

8/10