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

Hotel Wine Lists - Why are they so bad?

At one time eating in a hotel restaurant what the height of fine dining.  When dress codes were in place and a stain on a white table cloth meant that you would be asked to change tables.

Oh how the times have changed.

This week I spent 3 days in the lovely city of Halifax for work. I love Halifax. I've been there more times than I can count, so I have a pretty good idea on the places to go and have a great meal and those to avoid.

Some of my favourite place to eat are the Economy Shoe Shop. A great place for a decent meal at a reasonable price with a really cool atmosphere. My favourite place for a good beer has got to be the Split Crow. If your form Halifax, I know that you are thinking "what about the Lower Deck?" No doubt, but I have some great memories and some really fuzzy ones from the Split Crow.

So this trip I had some free time and figured I would go throw some money into the Nova Scotia coffers by making a donation at Casino Halifax. I figured I could afford $20 at the blackjack table. Well 2 hours later I was up 110 big ones! I should have stopped a few hands earlier and would have had a bit more. Didn't matter as I was ahead.

So I cash out and am a bit tired and haven't eaten, so I make my way back to my hotel for a bite and a couple glasses of wine to celebrate.




I pull myself up to the bar in the restaurant and the bartender passes me a menu and the drink list. Before I look a the menu I flip to the red wines. My thing when I look at a wine list is for the most expensive price per glass and work my way backwards. The first thing that grabs my attention is $10 a glass for Campo Veijo Reserva. My first reaction is that I can buy a bottle at the LCBO for about $18 off the shelf! Why should I pay 10 bucks for an ok wine that I've had many times before?

Then I take a look at the rest of the wines they have listed and it's abundantly clear. Let me clarify something. The hotel that I'm staying at isn't a Super 8. I'm at the Delta Barrington. Probably one of the more expensive hotels in Halifax. In the heart of downtown and easily accessible to everything by foot.

So what to do. Well I had cash to burn and was hungry oh and did I say tired? Needless to say, I had a couple of glasses and a Southwest burger and salt and pepper chips. The food was pretty good and as close as a match as I could find for a wine.

The moral of the story is for my next trip, buy your own wine at the local liquor store and order in room service.

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

To Concord or Not to Concord?

So I'm sure that many of you love a little grape jelly on your PB sandwich, but for me, it is the perfect combination.

Usually grape jelly is made out of concord grapes which is really yummy. I can remember as a kid, my mom making grape jelly by putting the cooked grapes in an old pillowcase (at least that's what I called it) and squeezing out all the juice into a pot to then transfer it into jars and sealing them with wax.

I'll probably get in trouble if my mother reads this, but it was one of the things, looking back, that my mother made well.

A couple of weekends ago, our family was on a weekend trip to a small ski town in Western New York state for my wife's job, and I made sure to stop into the only winery in town.

We went in and did a variety of tastings and many were okay wines. None of them I would particularly search out again. We did walk away with a bottle of their Syrah which wasn't bad, however a bit over priced.

But one of the things that really got to me was that they had a number of wines that were either 100% concord or a blend of concord and other grape varieties. 

I've gotta say that every time I tasted them, it reminded me of when I was a kid and sneaked in the kitchen at my Presbyterian church and drank the communion wine. Yes I did that. Here was the thing. It wasn't wine at all but 100% pure Welch's Concord Grape juice.

I guess this is my point. The wines that I tasted were "100% New York Grapes" and that was very evident. Not that all New York wines are all bad, just the ones that I've had.  

So in my humble opinion. To Concord or Not to Concord?

Not.

Enjoy a glass.

Matt