Not too long ago, a politician known to have taken drugs would have been more or less disqualified from office. Lately, however, confessions of drug use are met with a shrug and voters and other politicians focus on — I hope — more relevant matters.

I have argued that the next behavoir that politicians are going to run up against are public acts of sexuality. It appears that my home province of Nova Scotia is providing a early test of this. A candidate there, Lenore Zann, is also an actress who has appeared topless on the TV series, the L Word. (I have known her for a long time. For what it’s worth, this wasn’t the first time: I recall her appearing unclothed in at least one serious play in Toronto theatre in the 1980s.) Regardless of where or how many times this has occurred, a controversy has arisen and her party, the NDP are dismayed after Liberals circulate nude photo of candidate (i.e. Ms. Zann).

I am hoping she wins, and that she wins because she is the best candidate for the riding. Not only will this be the best thing all around, but it should also help stop anyone else from using photos or other images of a similar nature to prevent people from serving others. Unless some harm was done, then these things should be met with a shrug and people should focus on the main thing: who is the best person right now for the job?

Hell Burgers, no less. Awesome.

 President Obama & V.P. Biden Go Out For A Burger [Ray’s Hell Burgers]

From Landon Pigg: Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

Originally I was planning to write this:

I hate flip flops. I hate the sound of them. I believe they’re cheap. I think they are mostly inappropriate to wear. They are like sweatpants, except for the feet. They say: I don’t care. Sure flip flops are fine if you are six, you are poor, or if you are on the beach. But to wear them with a business suit, or when you have to wear layers of clothing because it is cold, is surely a sign of bad taste.

To make it worse, there are so many other shoe choice women (and to some degree, men) can wear. Why wear flip flops when you can wear something better? It drives me crazy.

That’s what I was planning to write. But two things happened to me when I started to write this. And it illustrates a greater point. The first thing is that I discussed it with someone who not only dared me to write it, but also (very nicely) critiqued my thinking. The second thing is I thought: if I write this, is it really true, or is it just lazy thinking on my part? If it is lazy thinking, how do I feel about people who many not be as nice (as Cynthya was) in criticizing me for writing my dislike for possibly their favourite footwear?

Thinking about it more — but not too much more: we are talking flip flops here – I have to concede that some flip flops are actually half decent, and not all that different than a dress sandal (though I prefer the sandal or most other shoe). I also concede the thing that bothers me more about them is people wearing them inappropriately rather than the actual shoe itself.

And that is the greater point. Regardless of the topic, be it flip flops or life or death, it can be helpful to state a negative position rather than holding your tongue. If you do it constructively, you may find either that you change your position (if it is faulty) or strengthen it (if it is strong). Either way, you will learn something; something you may not of learned if you kept your thoughts to yourself.

You may get some bracing criticism. It pays to be humble, or at least open to the idea that you may be wrong. But if you do express a negative viewpoint, you may learn a lot more than if you keep it to yourself.

To sum up, you could say I flip flopped on flip flops. 🙂

As you may know, Lysistrata is a character in a classic Greek play by Aristophanes, who “convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate a peace (to end the Peloponnesian War), a strategy however that inflames the battle between the sexes.” (Wikipedia)

Apparently the women of Kenya are doing something similar. As outlined in the Globe and Mail:

” On Wednesday, a coalition of more than 20 women’s groups began a weeklong boycott, withholding sex from their husbands in protest against what they call poor leadership in a patriarchal society that risks plunging their country back into chaos.”

Comparing the wikipedia article to the globeandmail.com article, it seems there are a number of similarities. See Lysistrata in wikipedia then head over to the Globe and read Cure for chaos: no sex tonight

It would be good if Kenya’s problems get sorted out. It would also be good if someone wrote a play or screenplay comparing the two situations. Or adopting Lysisrata in a Kenyan setting.

One of my favourite restaurants in Toronto, Grano on Yonge Street, held an event recently called “Recession Reds”. The
globeandmail.com’s Beppi Crosariol was there as well as 120 everyday wine drinkers. The article is worth reading, but the short of it is these wines were the winners:

1. Fuzion from Argentina ($7.45)
2. Obikwa Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from South Africa ($8.95)
3. Ubuntu Shiraz 2006 ($9.95) from South Africa
4. Trapiche Astica Merlot Malbec from Argentina ($7.45)
5. Flor de Crasto 2007 ($9.95) from Portugal
6. Spinelli Sangiovese 2007 ($7.50) from Italy
7. Sogrape Douro Vila Regia 2005 ($8.95) from Portugal
8. Alianca Douro Floral 2007 ($8.50) from Portugal
9. Cesari Merlot 2007 ($7.45) from Italy

Some thoughts on this:

• Four countries make these reds: Argentina, South Africa, Portugal and Italy.
• Year after year, Portuguese wines are consistently good, low cost, and underrated. They have that old world taste to them, but they deliver it for such a great price. These two are just two of the many great Portuguese wines that are low cost.
• Likewise with Argentinian wines. Sadly, they may become trendy and shoot up in price.
• If you like #4, try others by Trapiche. The whites are good too. Nothing complex, but good simple flavour for a great price.
• If you like merlot, you have to try #9. If you want a good thing to have tomato sauce with, go with #6.
• If #1 gets any more popular, it will have it’s own section in the LCBO. Look out Wolf Blass and Yellow Tale.

Billy Munnelly hosted this event. You can get his take on some of the wines here.