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Max gets the boot

My BlackBerry was on fire yesterday with comments from friends north of the border on news that Maxime Bernier, Canada's foreign affairs minister, stepped down amid an embarrassing scandal of incompetence. Incompetence seems to be nothing new to the MP -- who represents Quebec's Maine-abutting Beauce region on Parliament Hill -- whose career has been more about his impeccable appearance and charming good looks than his capabilities.

As the New York Times so aptly explained the situation, "First Maxime Bernier lost his girlfriend. Then he lost his job as Canada’s minister of foreign affairs."

"Mr. Bernier’s political and personal setbacks are directly related. His former romantic interest, Julie Couillard, was linked to Quebec’s motorcycle gangs, which have long tried to infiltrate politics and the justice systems. On Monday night, Mr. Bernier resigned shortly before Ms. Couillard disclosed in a heavily promoted television interview that he had left confidential government documents in her suburban Montreal apartment."

A friend who is a Toronto journalist quickly emailed to ask me if I could get him a date with Maxime (for the record, I've never met the guy). "He's hot," my friend said. So I shot that little request and physical assessment over to another friend, this one in Ottawa who knows Maxime well, who I knew could make it happen. Of Maxime's supposed hotness, I got this sharp retort: "Umm...not really." No word on whether, now that he's had his heart broken by Ms. Hells Angels, he is going gay.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / May 28, 2008 /

More Maine

While out rowing this afternoon, I headed over to the large channel marker that sits midway between North Haven and Vinalhaven in the Fox Islands Thoroughfare. Since time began, kids have headed out to the buoy, tied up their boats, and taken photos on it...today, I was less daring since I was all alone and had a digital camera with me that I was sure was going to fall overboard.

Posted by Sebastian / Maine / May 25, 2008 /

Visions of Maine

Photos from around North Haven today!

Posted by Sebastian / Maine / May 24, 2008 /

Family time

I'm up in Maine for the weekend enjoying the company of assorted nieces and nephews. Here I am with my nephew Pacey! I almost look like I could be a parent. JK!

Posted by Sebastian / May 22, 2008 /

Light flight

I've been on a lot of empty flights, but never like this...this morning I flew from Boston to Rockland, Maine, aboard US Airways, and as this photo reveals, there were only two of us on the plane!

Posted by Sebastian / Aviation / May 21, 2008 /

Boston

The other day I was up in Boston, and except for the soon-to-open Mandarin and the hot new just-opened Apple Store (photo below), the city felt as if it hadn't changed a bit. Here's a basic rundown of how my morning there went:

7:53 a.m. - Land a Logan. A breeze getting downtown.

8:50 a.m. - Ramming around Back Bay. "Wow," I think to myself. "I've been here an hour and haven't seen anyone smiling."

8:56 a.m. - Ran into my old neighbor outside the Pru. My friend John was making bets on how long it would be before I ran into someone who said, "Hey, haven't seen you in a few weeks. Where ya been?" Only took an hour.

9:01 a.m. - On Columbus Ave., across the street from my old apartment, the same woman is STILL loitering outside her building with her baby-in-a-baby-carriage. Still seems sinister. Some things never change.

9:15 a.m. - Finally a smile! Does it matter that it's in a cafe where they're paid to smile at you? (I shouldn't be so quick to judge. Even I revert to an insta-scowl here!)

9:30 a.m. - Outside the South End Buttery, a recent arrival to the neighborhood comments, "Are there a lot of dogs here?" as two pups lunge at each other in a minor spat. (Oh honey, just check out The South End is Over for your answer!).

9:34 a.m. - I give up writing down my thoughts since this could go on all day...

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / May 20, 2008 /

O Canada, where have your bargains gone?

From the Sunday Times: "ONCE upon a time, not all that long ago, there existed a magical country that was a lot like the United States, only less expensive. Its enchanted currency — the other dollar — allowed Americans to indulge as they could not back home. This delightful fantasyland was called Canada, and for centuries it was synonymous with frugality.

No more. With the precipitous decline of the United States dollar, Canada has slid off the budget-travel map, and nowhere is the challenge to stay frugal greater than in Toronto, a city of 2.5 million whose ascendancy is not merely attributable to fluctuating exchange rates."

Posted by Sebastian / Toronto / May 18, 2008 /

Quotable

I can't believe it's taken me so long to comment on Benoit Denizet-Lewis's epic "Young Gay Rites." Let's just say it was longer than a flight to Johannesburg, but not quite as interesting. The blog remarks are quite amusing; everyone seems to think the cast of characters in the piece are silly, vacuous, and not that interesting. I tend to agree. But like everything Benoit produces, it is excellently written. I particularly enjoyed this gem, having seen far too many 60-year-olds clad in Abercrombie:

There was a reason, of course, why so many gay men my age and older seemed intent on living a protracted adolescence: We had been cheated of our actual adolescence. While most of our heterosexual peers had experienced, in their teens, socialization around courtship, dating and sexuality, many of us had grown up closeted and fearful, “our most precious and tender feelings rarely validated or reflected back to us by our families and communities,” as Alan Downs, the author of “The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man’s World,” puts it.

No wonder, then, that in our 20s so many of us moved to big-city gay neighborhoods and aggressively went about trying to make up for lost time. And no wonder that some of us — myself included — occasionally went overboard.

Posted by Sebastian / May 18, 2008 /

Spotted in Boston

I love passive-aggressive signs!

Posted by Sebastian / Boston / May 18, 2008 /

The curse heard 'round the world

No TV outburst has ever been quite as amusing as this week's gaff by WNBC's Sue Simmons. The other night, during a tease for the 11 o'clock newscast, she must have thought her mic was off because this came out of her mouth...I've been watching the clip on loop for days and it just gets funnier each time.

Posted by Sebastian / TV / May 13, 2008 /

Running like the wind

This morning I ran in the annual Mother's Day 4-miler along with 3,300 other crazy New Yorkers who somehow managed to get themselves to Central Park in time for the 8 a.m. start. It was my best run ever. Why? Recently I started buying more performance running gear (you know, the shirts made from mountains of soda bottles), slitty shorts and ugly sneaks. This race was the first time I put the whole outfit together. My belief is that if you look like a runner you'll run faster. And it worked. I managed to run a 6:54 mile, which is 40 seconds faster than I've ever run.

Anyone interested in being a better runner can forgot about training more. Just head to JackRabbit Sports on 14th Street (Don't forget your Amex. You'll need it. Glory does not come cheap.), where they'll videotape your stride on a treadmill, analyze your swish on a computer screen, and somehow pick the perfect pair of sneaks for you. It could be a complete racket, but it's worked so far!

Posted by Sebastian / Sports / May 11, 2008 /

Beyrouth en feu

I'm super bummed! In a few weeks I was hoping to be sitting here at Starbucks in Beirut, that Middle Eastern center of coolness. Unfortunately Hezbollah has other plans. Beirut, of course is burning. What a bummer!

• Hezbollah overruns west Beirut as Lebanon on brink of war
• Britain advises against all travel to Lebanon

Posted by Sebastian / Etceteras / May 8, 2008 /

Alex H-J, 1974-2008

Life works in funny ways. Today I was riding the New York City subway, thinking about an upcoming trip to Beirut. I thought that I needed to call my friend Alex tonight, the Lebanon expert, for advice on the best places to visit there. Minutes later, I got off the subway and had a voicemail waiting for me from our friend Lucas. I sensed a weird tone in his voice and called him back right away. Lucas told me Alex's body was just found dead in his apartment. It's hard to believe...

I met Alex half a decade ago and he kept me in stitches ever since (his obsession with my friend Mike, a complete opposite, was among the more humorous aspects of our friendship). He was full of contradictions (how many drunk, oversexed theology students could there be?) and full of endless surprises. He was a complete intellectual, a complete dandy, and one of the best listeners ever. And no one in Boston ever had bigger hair than he did (it was quite toned down in this shot from last month). More than a few bottles of red wine were downed on my roof deck, musing over eastern religions, bad clothes, sexual politics, our shared experiences at Boston University, and the latest South End gossip (he had me rolling on the floor when he discussed the merits of colonic irrigation). Alex brought many people into my life (oh the stories we could tell!), and expanded all our lives. For that he will be missed.

Posted by Sebastian / Lives Lived / May 6, 2008 /

Sunning in Sin City

For as long as I can remember, I've had a no-Vegas rule, much like the no-Cancun rule I broke this spring. Standards are slipping all around; this weekend I broke the no-Vegas rule, too. On my noontime flight in from San Francisco, everyone was riled up and ready to go. A few were intoxicated already. I was actually a little frightened. Then I landed at Las Vegas's monstrous airport and was overwhelmed by the masses of people. I've never seen so many people and such a massive baggage claim area ever!

I headed up The Strip to The Venetian, wandered around for a bit and was again overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place. So I headed to the pool to enjoy the 71-degree temperature and got one of those 15-minute sunburns I thought was only possible to get in Aruba.

Later, lost as I tried to find my way back to my room, I discovered the eerily realistic Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian with its mind-screwing animated blue skies. Everything was very well done -- but I'm not too hot on the artificial in any aspect of life (Disney, Cancun, Sweet and Low). The IGLTA conference was in town this week so I spent a great evening with friends at Trevi before heading to Kraze and eventually back to Caesars Palace when they insisted on 3 a.m. gambling! What a town.

Posted by Sebastian / Las Vegas / May 3, 2008 /

Austin

I am so in love with Austin! I could easily see myself living here -- if only it were on the ocean. Staying at the uber-cool Hotel San Jose, a yuppie version of a roadside motel.

Posted by Sebastian / Austin / May 1, 2008 /