It's Snowing – Isn't it Delightful?

Had a bit of a snowfall here in Montréal. Nothing serious, just a few centimeters.  And it's not like Montréal and snow are strangers to each other. They're like Steve and Eydie or Wayne and Wanda; hard to imagine one without the other.

No Shirt, No Service - Bartenders in Ogunquit Must Cover Up!

Studio 54 Bartenders at work

Just when we were thinking about going to Maine for the weekend, I read this article in The Advocate
about city officials in Ogunquit ordering bartenders in the Gay Destination hot spot to cover up - no bare chests allowed!

"It's a health hazard!"

OK, given the propensity for men in said profession to shave every follicle of hair off of their bodies, I hardly see what could possible fall into a drink other than a dislodged nipple ring.

If you needed anymore evidence that Montreal and Maine were further apart than their kilometers would suggest, you have only to enter a Montreal Gay bar and check out the bartenders here.  (I've done personal research on this - I know!).

No, if someone wanted to site a health hazard risk here in Montreal, it would be due to the bartender's choice of stir sticks! (There's a reason I prefer my cocktails shaken, not stirred.)

As the owner of Mainstreet states in the article, this is about image, not health.  Evidently a lot has to do with the fact that because Mainstreet has a deck, liquor and half naked bartenders can be seen by unsuspecting children from the sidewalk.

"...before Ogunquit became its own town 30 years ago, alcohol had been banned altogether.

I just think this is pushing the envelope when they're ordering it outside and serving it outside," he said. "What's next?" - indeed.

"I was appalled that the town manager allowed this to happen," town resident Harriet Yaffe told the Seacoast Online. "It was brought to his attention a while ago and he didn't do anything about it. ... I love Ogunquit and I love the gay men...I just don't want a tacky town. It's going to become another P-town."

Not another P-Town? How many pink dollars do they think swish their way down Route 1 each year?

I love Ogunquit too, Ms Yaffe.  But allowing bartenders to serve shirtless isn't going to make the town tacky nor will it make Ogunquit another Sodom by the sea as you obviously think P-Town is.  What it will do is absolutely nothing because we don't go to Ogunquit for half naked bartenders, there's a beach a few meters away and you get all the eye candy for free.

So hide the beef behind the curtain if you must, we'll love you all the same.

Can Happy People Be Trusted?

Much has been made about the pursuit of happiness yet it would seem that if you looked around, grumpy seems to be à la mode

Who was the last Prime Minister that actually looked happy? Harper has his smile attached with a staple gun and Paul Martin has that sweet old uncle smile; more hapless than happy.

Here, on the erratic streets of Montreal, people robotically stare straight ahead while dodging cyclists and construction sites.  The happiest seem to be those very smiley panhandlers who pop unexpectedly out of doorways like demented Cirque du Soleil clowns.

People instinctively know that if you don’t want to be approached, you don’t smile.  A smile implies an invitation to approach or to ask a question. That’s why leaders don’t flash their pearly whites unless they're getting their photo taken holding a baby; why customs officials don’t greet you at the border with a "Wassuup?"

ARE HAPPY PEOPLE SERIOUS?

What do all the great cities in the world have in common - London, New York and certainly Paris; their reputation for very cranky people!

Like everything else, I believe that happiness (or cheerfulness) is best indulged in with moderation.  Smile too much and you're dismissed as simple or of needing to adjust your medication dosage.

In a related article in The New Scientist, Jessica Hamzelou writes:
"Happiness ain't what it's Cracked up to Be."

In it, she quotes Robert Cummins, editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies as saying:

"It is so very refreshing to hear an alternative to the view that happy is good, and more is better" 

"High levels of happiness generate openness to new experiences and gregariousness, but they also generate a lack of attention to detailed information and recklessness."

Hmmm, so now I know why Dr. House is such a brilliant diagnostician; he's miserable! 

5 HABITS OF HAPPY PEOPLE EVEN THE BIGGEST GRUMP CAN BORROW
by Sarah McColl

Reach out:  (and touch somebody's hand - a little Miss Ross reference there)

Be thankful:  "When you adjust your perspective to be grateful for all that you have rather than bemoan all you don't, you start living in the positives and the results are immediate."

Live your passions:  (Find something that charges your batteries and run with it like the Everready Bunny.)

Make do:  "Instead of turning to shopping malls to buy the things we hope will suddenly make our lives happier and complete...make the most of what you already have."

Enjoy the simple pleasures:  "The best things in life...often aren't things and they're usually free."

IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT...

Then there's a secret society just for you: The Secret Society of Happy People

Their motto is:

If you're happy and you know it...tell somebody!

If someone else is happy and they know it...listen!


Being happy is not about being a laugh riot all the time.  It's about balance; about finding an equilibrium between things that challenge us and those that comfort us.  


And I'm serious about that!

Invited to an election and no one shows up.

I've been thinking a lot lately about democracy since I listened to last weeks Ideas show on CBC radio. Hosted my by old Canadian Studies Prof, Paul Kennedy, the show wrestles with the question: is democracy always a good thing? (The second part airs Tuesday night.)

In the meantime, as a resident of Montréal and a citizen of Canada I am soon to be faced with the quandary of having to cast a vote in a civic election where I have a choice of a péquiste warhorse and an scandal ridden incumbent. On the national side, there is Harper (the anti-Canadian), Ignatieff (the born again Canadian) and Layton (the caring Canadian). As for "other category" we have Elizabeth May (Green Canadian) and Gilles Duceppe (visiting head of state and therefore not eligible).

As I believe strongly that one has to exercise their right to vote, not ticking off a ballot is not an option. So what's a citizen to do?

Democracy is hard! So is it worth the effort? What difference does it make if I vote or not? (add your excuse here). Democracy is a worthy ideal, how it works is dependent on the close scrutiny of a state's citizenship and leadership. As I have remarked last year following the proposition 8 debacle in California, democracy is not intended to be "rule of the majority" to the detriment of it's minority. There are protections that have been embedded in constitutions that are there to protect citizens from leaders who may for pragmatic reason, decide to ride a wave of intolerance.

We have seen that in the US when the Right used same sex marriage and family values to re-elect Bush. Now, it's health care. In beaverland, Harper drives the wedge between us and you people; the Tim Horton crowd and the Starbucks fans. Luckily, Canadians seem to hold their Constitution and the Supreme Court that protects it, in higher regard than our American neighbours. I think that ultimately Canadians believe in their "responsible government" and are fair. The idea of taking away rights of people as they have in California and are trying to do in Maine (in the case of same-sex marriage) is aberrant to most of us.

There are many philosophical questions surrounding the definition of democracy but one thing that is certain is that it fails when the very people who benefit from it cease to participate in it.

That is what I'll keep repeating to myself as I gulp down a scotch before I head into the municipal voting booth and cast a vote for whom I believe will do the least harm to the city. And as the Conservatives keep trying to force an election by giving the oppostion a chance to bring them down and force an unwanted election, I will do my best to find out what Ignatieff stands for and having failed that move my vote to the party that will do the least harm to my country. It's not the most inspired way to exercise my civil duty, but until Mister "Hope" comes along, I'll settle for Mister hope for the best.

Happy election season to all.

Do you like choral music?

I will be attending a much anticipated choral concert this Saturday in Montreal. I have enjoyed a number of their recitals as they perform a spring and Christmas concert each year. A combination of two Montreal area choirs, this ensemble pushes the usual choral repertoire due in large part to the adventurous direction of Pierre Turcotte and the talent of its singers.

I especially love the tenor section.