Tattoos and Drinking - UPDATE

Well hasn't today been an interesting day. I happened to be minding my own business having a quick read on Twitter when I saw a post by Justin Trudeau MP.

For those of you outside of Canada he is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and has a seat in the House of Commons. He also happens to be the son of, in my opinion, one of the greatest Canadian Prime Ministers of my time - Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

When I read his tweet (yes it is actually him that tweets), I figured that I would respond back about this blog post, considering it has him in it.

I figured it was worth a shot. To my surprise, unlike many many other "famous people" on Twitter, he responded. It was a quick response, but a response indeed. That thrilled me.

Here is what he said. "That pic is of my old tattoo. It's much bigger now. But agree with the post." Now it may not sound like much, but it really impacted me in a positive way.

This is coming from a man who was able to yell out in the middle of a Parliamentary Session and call Federal Environment Minister, Peter Kent a "piece of shit" and get away with it. He quickly followed up in the media scrum with a quick apology and immediately was able to put the focus back on the issue which was that the Conservitives blocked the other parties from attending a conference that Peter Kent had blamed them for not attending.

Justin Trudeau MP, a man that I have a lot, and I mean A LOT of respect for now.
Good on you Justin Trudeau.


Original Post:
An article was brought to my attention by @SandraEMartin in this week's Huffington Post about a people that have tattoos drink more than those without them.

Hmmmmm. So what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that everyone with a tattoo is a drunk? Of course not.

Here are excerpts from the article that describes how the study was completed.

"The researchers asked nearly 3,000 young men and women as they were exiting bars on a Saturday night if they would take a breathalyzer test. Of those who agreed to take it, the researchers found that people with tattoos had consumed more alcohol than those without tattoos, the researchers said."

It also goes on to say that individuals with tattoos are "more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex, theft, violence and alcohol consumption, compared to people without tattoos."

I want to tell you that I have two tattoos (both within the last 18 months).

Celtic Knot and Celtic Tree of Life on my Left Forearm

Let me go through the list and tell you what "risky behaviours" I have done.

1. Unprotected Sex - Draw your own conclusions (I have 2 kids and yes with my wife).
2. Theft - Do ketchup packages count?
3. Violence - Only when I'm playing video games and it's usually me getting my but kicked.
4. Alcohol Consumption - I'm a wine guy, so yes.

Sooooo, am I a risk to society? I think not.


Doing the study when people were leaving a bar on Saturday night? DUH! What did they expect? Did they ever think about asking the question to those individuals, are you driving? Because, here is why I would take a breathalyzer test for a study. It would tell me if I can drive home or not. It also doesn't say if it was excessive drinking or not. It just says more.


At one time, tattoos were for those that were either in the Navy or other branch of the military, have some type of indigenous ritual connection, or, dare I say it, enjoyed some time in the "pen".

Here is what I have to say about the study.

WAKE UP! This is 2012, for cripes sake. There are more people with tattoos, piercings and other types of body art than ever before. At all levels of business and society. Including Justin Trudeau, Liberal MP.

Tattoos have become mainstream, a thing of beauty and some of the artists that do this work are simply amazing at how they can transform your body, which I already view as a work of art on its own, into something spectacular.

Please don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really really bad tattoos out there.

Really? Was that a wise choice?

So do I think that we (those of us with tattoos) drink too much? I think they need to look at this study from a different perspective. Find those willing to be in the study and follow them over a longer period of time and track them longer term. Not on just one Saturday night.
In the mean time, maybe we should all branch out a little and have some fun. Just make sure that you have some common sense about it.

How about a tattoo? If you are thinking about getting one, one word of advice. Think long and hard about your choice of art and artist.

Not feeling that adventurous? Then simply go have a great glass of wine. Just be sure to share some with me because apparently I drink too much.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

What is the Fascination with Points?

I've been reading on Twitter the last few days the pros and cons with the 100 point system for scoring wine. My take on it is, what's the big deal????

I can understand why some wine makers can get pretty upset with a score less than 90 for a wine that in my opinion should be about an 80. They think that a poor score will affect their sales, and it probably does.

But who am I? I'm just a guy who likes to drink wine.

Wait a second.  No.

I think I know a thing or two about what makes a good wine good and a one that has been scored high to influence sales. I asked my wife tonight what she thinks about the 100 point scale system and her response was simple. If it scores high the wine should be good, as long as the scoring is consistent.

And I agree.

Sale and Pelltier in 2002

But here is the problem. The scoring isn't consistent. It is all up to the individual tasting the wine. During this conversation, I was quickly reminded of a certain figure skating scandal during the Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City.

Yes, I am Canadian, and probably showing my age, but I'm still a little bitter about the judging for the gold medal round. That's when the Canadians were robbed and the gold was initially awarded to the Russians.

My point is, unless you know what how the wine is being marked the score is meaningless. It's all about how the wine (and figure skaters) perform that should be the true indicators. Not points on a card.

Wine should be about the experience you make of it. Not from that card in front of a bottle of wine on a liquor store shelf. Just because it has a number on it marked by someone that the general public has never heard of before, doesn't always mean that it's good.

In my opinion you need to be the judge yourself. You may like wine from a box. That's OK, even if I may think the wine may not be of a so called good quality. (FYI, it probably isn't if it comes in a box.)

I have spoken to a few winemakers that know the truth. Make a good quality wine that they are proud of and it will be loved by those that drink it regardless what the critics say.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt