#commanderzinskey

[marcien]

A Hero's Journey… Of the People- For the People!

In the last episode… our hero - Commander Zinskey was preparing to travel back in time, start a new political party and run against the evil orange overlord. As you recall, the Commander believed the world needed a hero to directly stop the orange demagogue before he could irreparably damage democracy, destroy the environment, anoint himself a god and turn the planet into an orange wasteland. The Commander, while preparing for his time leap, decided to pay a visit to the eccentric, inventor-billionaire, Elliot Tusk. The commander heard rumors that the crazy billionaire had developed an Alternate Reality Society Engine - A.R.S.E.! The mind bending device allows a preview of an individual's actions before they commit to them… allowing one to see how different scenarios or actions alters the future. As Mr. Tusk placed the A.R.S.E. helmet on Commander Zinskey, he whispered in his ear - “Your life will never be the same!” The Commander, somewhat confused, closed his eyes and went for the ride. The first “if-this, then-that” scenario the A.R.S.E. played for the Commander was - If he went back in time, could he save the world from the evil orange overloard? As the scenario played out, he saw that he could prevail but quickly realized his own militaristic background wasn’t the best fit for the civilian government of the 21st century. Much to his chagrin, and a blow to his ego, he saw that he would be replacing one demagogue with another (himself) and he would alienate a large part of the population and the country would devolve into chaos. He realized a true hero, who loves his country, must decide between ego and the people he serves - his presidency would end in resignation. He then decided to let the A.R.S.E. show him the future as it would naturally play out. To his surprise, he saw people come together in protest. He saw young and old - male, female, trans - straight, gay and pan - black, white, yellow, brown and even a few migrant alien green people, stand up to have their voices heard. He saw a young girl address climate change to a large, adoring audience. He saw the people protest for equal rights for all. He watched as the people demanded - and got - change. It was then that the Commander remembered the vow he took which ends with “…liberty and justice for all” and realized the people don’t need a hero - THE PEOPLE ARE THE HEROES! Knowing the world was back on the right track, he turned to Mr. Tusk and asked if he could take his new Starship for a test drive. To be continued…

[vineyardkitchen]

Simpler Times When I was growing up in a large multi-generational family, no meal was simpler than grilled, smoke-kissed sausages smothered with softly caramelized, sweet, juicy peppers and onions all tucked into a nice chewy crusty Italian roll. It was pure pleasure at first bite. Sweet peppers and grilled sausages form the perfect platform for the brambly and black raspberry notes of the Commander Zinskey. Tasting is believing! Until the next wine… Maria

EAT: Grilled Sausages with Peppers and Onions

[marcien]

Code Orange The Continuing Adventures of Commander Zinskey! In the last episode, our fearless Commander found himself in a blue state of mind as the Supreme Leader, Ronald Frump, implemented “Code Orange” - the grand conspiracy to turn the Earth into a Frumpian nightmare. The Commander could no longer stand by and watch as nature emitted a death rattle of hurricanes, floods, drought, fires, record temperatures and rising oceans. Even the air in the usually pristine Pacific Northwest became orange and toxic.

As the Earth turned from blue and green to an unnatural Frumpian orange color, the Commander became convinced the only hope for the survival of the planet would be to travel back in time to the year 2016, create a common-sense, science-based third party and run for president of the USA… but he did not foresee an oncoming storm!

While the Commander prepared his spaceship for the journey back in time, one of Frumps Amazonian concubines, Stormy Spaniels, broke free of her contractual shackles and, with just her gaze as her weapon, began to destroy everything Frump in sight. Thinking she had stumbled across one of Frumps Space Force rockets, she focused her laser eyes upon it. The Commander could only watch in horror as the last candle of hope prematurely ignited. Will the Commander get to Stormy in time to convince her to join forces and become his running mate before the rocket explodes? Tune in next vintage to find out!

[vineyardkitchen]

Give the Commander a Boost!

Commander Zinskey needs fuel for his continuing adventures. This all-beef chili kicks the beans to the curb to give him all the power he needs to complete his missions. The subtle spices in the chili warm up to the black raspberry and bramble flavors and aromas of the Commander’s favorite beverage. He doesn’t shy away from the kiss of heat added by the dried pods imported from a sunny land. In fact, he embraces the use of three types of chiles to give this dish the same amount of layered complexity found in his Zin. And if you think chili is boring, guess again. The chiles add hints of smoky dark chocolate that form an effortless bond with the Zin. Pile on your friends for a feast with the Commander, but be sure they check their rayguns at the door.

EAT: Chili Con Carne EAT: Sour Cream Cornbread

[marcien]

The Grand Conspiracy of Frump! The Continuing Adventures of Commander Zinskey

It used to be called Earth, but that was a long time ago. The crisis started slowly, almost imperceptibly. People assumed it was a labor shortage caused by the Great Wall of Frump; however, it was a much more complex and evil force at work. Commander Zinskey, with his intuitive powers, saw it coming but he felt powerless and could only watch as his fellow humans (with decreased mental capacities from watching too much “reality” television) turned into lemmings and let their fear conquer reason.

Now known as the Grand Conspiracy, it was a power play to control the world’s energy and food supplies. After the supreme leader, Ronald Frump, enacted his “Illegal Immigrant Guilt by Association” proclamation and had the means to successfully deport all suspected illegal immigrants and their relatives (he had previously used a similar “Terrorist Guilt by Association” proclamation to depopulate the Middle East and take control of their oil fields), the family farms no longer had the labor to help them grow and harvest their crops.

One by one, farms failed and were bought by Megasanto, a shell company of Frump Industries. Megasanto’s evil plan was to replace farm labor with chemicals and automation. By banning hard working people from the country, no one was available to work the farms. The only cost effective solution was to develop Mega-farms designed to use synthetic sprays applied by drones. Megasanto not only created an endless dumping ground for their chemicals, they regulated the types of foods distributed, practicing nutrient manipulation to control the unsuspecting population through behavioral conditioning. Humans no longer had the nutrients necessary to support higher thought processes and devolved to embrace the base instincts of selfishness and greed.

Nature tried to fight back but Megasanto would just create more powerful chemicals until photosynthesis ceased, turning all vegetation into a strange, unnatural orange color… but Frump, ever the opportunist, renamed all food - Frump food - with the slogan: “Eat More Frump” later shortened to just “Eat Me!”

The Frump oil fields ran day and night, providing cheap oil. The people responded by buying huge Frump Trucks that could crush anything in their way. Roads were no longer needed as Frump Trucks found their own way, destroying all natural vegetation and habitat under their massive, spinning tires.

Glaciers, already melting before the reign of Frump, began to recede at a rate unprecedented in geologic history. Threatened with rising oceans that could destroy the Frump Casinos on the New Jersey shore, Frump drafted a new proclamation that all remaining humans must drink the melting glacial water to keep it from reaching the oceans. Bottles of Icy Frump Glacier water were shipped throughout the world and the waste of the bottles formed islands of plastic in the sea, creating a giant magnifying glass that boiled the oceans.

Coal mines and coal fired electric generating plants were recommissioned, belching smoke and turning the sky orange. Once again Frump took advantage of the branding opportunity by renaming Earth in his image - and the Blue Planet, now the Orange Planet, became known as The Celestial Body of Frump - and Frump, who rose to power as the President of the United States before anointing himself Supreme Leader, became god!

The monster had been released and there was no turning back. Commander Zinskey was horrified as he watched the mass destruction of ecosystems, oceans drying, all plant life dying, and the people turning on each other. First it was along national lines … but then it broke down into smaller factions. People with brown hair began to fight with blondes. Frump, with his phobia of baldness, targeted all chrome domes and banished them to isolated work camps in an attempt to remove their recessive gene from the population. Meanwhile, all gingers were promoted to positions of authority where they created more rules to further segregate and destroy anyone who did not share their self-serving desires.

The Celestial Body of Frump was dying and Commander Zinskey was the only one who could do something about it. Urgently, the Commander gathered his secret team of geniuses to devise a plan. They determined it was too late to repair the damage but a long shot, hail-Mary plan was hatched. The Commander and his loyal companion, the physicist Jenni Whitlock, must leave the solar system before the planet implodes, reach time-bending velocity and return to Earth in the year 2016 - in time to launch a third party campaign to defeat Ronald Frump before he became the president of the United States.

Can Commander Zinskey turn back the clock in time to save humanity from Frump and itself? Will the unsuspecting public rally to support a third party candidate before it’s too late? Will Commander Zinskey become the next president of the United States? Stay tuned as reality is more fascinating than fantasy.