"Regular" is not a word to describe Mike Babcock. It's the opposite of regular to be the only coach in NHL history to have won an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and a Stanley Cup. In the eyes of professional sports, Mike Babcock is anything but regular.
The Tribune sat down with Babcock, a McGill graduate, for an exclusive interview to discuss his hockey roots, life as a Red Wing, his Olympic experience, and life off the ice.
Roots
Photo courtesy of McGill University
Babcock began his playing career at the University of Saskatoon, but took a gap year to pursue his dream of becoming a professional hockey player. Realizing his chances of playing in the NHL were slim, he decided to resume his academic and university hockey career at McGill as a visiting student following heavy recruiting by Head Coach Ken Tyler. Babcock doesn't take his McGill experience for granted.
"I'm proud to have gone to McGill," Babcock explained. "When I was here, I didn't know what McGill was about. I didn't know that everyone I met studied harder than me and had a plan way different than mine. That affected my life. I'm thankful to have been part of something bigger."
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1986 and brief playing and coaching stints in the Western Hockey League (WHL), he landed a coaching job at the little-known University of Lethbridge in Alberta. He didn't expect much from the opportunity, but the experience turned out to be a launching point for his career.
"That wasn't my dream job, that was the only job I could get," Babcock said. "The Lethbridge administration were cutting their program. We went there; they had never been in the playoffs. We won the national championship. It was a miracle. That was the best job in coaching I've ever done. Things just came together. That gave me impetus."
His improbable success in leading Lethbridge to the CIS championship propelled him back to the WHL before being selected as Head Coach of Team Canada during the 1997 IIHF world junior championship. They won gold and his success opened doors to the NHL. He was hired as the bench boss of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2002.
From the onset of his NHL coaching career, Babcock found success. He guided Anaheim to the Stanley Cup finals in only his first season behind the bench, and his existing relationships with the Red Wings' front office from coaching their American Hockey League affiliate in Cincinnati led to his hiring in Detroit in 2005.
Life as a Red Wing
Hard work is what brought Babcock to Detroit, and over the years, this same principle became the foundation on which the Red Wings' organization is now built. One of these principles, particularly stressed by Babcock, is a team-first environment.
"The Red Wings is bigger than anybody … it's about the team. When you come to our team, the veterans run the show, not the guy you trade for. He doesn't affect the culture. He just fits in," he said. "What we try to do is create a demanding, supportive environment."
Working in a city known as Hockeytown, Babcock is fully aware of the expectations for his team and the pressure that accompanies it. The Red Wings currently hold the record for the longest streak of postseason appearances in all of North American professional sports (1991-2011). Yet, this doesn't seem to faze management, the players, or Babcock.
"There is pressure, but what pressure in life means is that you have a chance. If you're 15 teams in the league, there's no pressure. Is that what you want?" Babcock asked. "To me, pressure is a great thing, makes things exciting. We have a chance because we have good players, we're well-structured, have good management, and that leads to healthy pressure."
'I'm proud to have gone to McGill,' Babcock explained. 'When I was here, I didn't know what McGill was about. I didn't know that everyone I met studied harder than me and had a plan way different than mine. That affected my life. I'm thankful to have been part of something bigger.'
Though Babcock underplays the role of pressure in such a hockey-crazed city, it inevitably remains a strong presence in the locker room. Playing through a gruelling 82-game season, with extra exhibition and playoff games, Babcock consistently needs to find ways to motivate his team in order to bring them together on a nightly basis.
"Motivation, in my mind, is ‘what's in it for me?' Now, how do you get 23 people to find what's in it for them and be on a team? You give up some individual rights for team rights, but the reality is, they all still want to be important. That's what I do, I manage people."
The Olympic Experience
(Photo courtesy of Martin Rose / Getty Images)His ability to bring together such a dynamic group of talented players is what earned him the trust of Team Canada's management team. He was named Head Coach of the men's hockey team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Once the roster was set, Babcock began the difficult task of turning 23 star players into the world's best hockey team all the while keeping egos in check and managing the tremendous expectations from Canadians.
"It wasn't an all-star team, it was a team," Babcock explained. "The best team wins at the Olympic games, not the best talent."
To illustrate this point, Babcock recalled a story from the summer player selection camp that set the tone for the rest of the journey.
"Steve Yzerman said something unbelievable at the summer camp. He said to the guys, ‘The management team, Ken Holland has more experience than I have, and so do Doug Armstrong, Kevin Lowe, and they've been willing to take the title of assistant. Ken Hitchcock has more experience than I have, and so do Lindy Ruff and Jacques Lemaire, and they've all been willing to take the title of assistant. If you think your ego is getting in the way of anything going on here, you're wrong. It's cut off now.'"
Despite the pressure, Babcock was overwhelmed with the immense support Canadians offered him and his team throughout the Olympics. Following their loss to the US during the preliminary rounds, Babcock spoke about how each player's family offered immeasurable support, which combatted the intense negativity of the Canadian media.
"When we lost to the US, we went to the Hockey Canada House that night where the families were waiting, and I always joke that we won something that night. The people were unbelievable."
Thanks to the incredible support they received, members of Team Canada were able to turn the pressure of winning into the impetus behind their run to the top of the podium. The loss to the US served as a reminder that there were other teams who were driven by the same forces.
"Every championship we've ever won, something went wrong and we got through the adversity, we stuck together and we got better because of it," Babcock noted.
Babcock beyond the game
(Photo courtesy of Owen Egan / McGill University)
Babcock stresses the fact that work has never become a burden because it's his passion.
"It's all about finding something you love so much that you don't work, because you can't work as much as you need to in order to be the best … It's impossible, because the amount of hours you have to put in, you can't do it if it's work. You have to live it."
He is aware of the heavy time commitment that his job demands, so he feels the need to give back to his family and create lasting moments. One of these moments came in 2009, when the Chicago Blackhawks welcomed the Red Wings to Wrigley Field to participate in the annual NHL Winter Classic, the league's only outdoor event. For Babcock, the experience was unforgettable in many regards, from being able to play in such a renowned field to having the opportunity to skate with his family before the game. These opportunities were his way of giving back to his family and, in the meantime, celebrating the game of hockey.
"Memories to me are about moments in your life. You don't remember half of the stuff, but you remember moments. That's a moment. That's what you're trying to do, you're trying to create moments in your life. That's what you think of."
There are rumours that next year's Winter Classic will be held in Detroit, something that Babcock would love to experience.
Defining Babcock
Throughout his life, Babcock always earned his opportunities. With his incredible success, it would be simple for him to be satisfied with his accomplishments and become complacent. Yet, what defines Mike Babcock is not what he has accomplished, but the fact that he has never lost sight of the principles that have guided him. In turn, he has always managed to transfer his disposition onto his players and coaching colleagues, translating attitude into success on every level.
'It's all about finding something you love so much that you don't work, because you can't work as much as you need to in order to be the best … It's impossible, because the amount of hours you have to put in, you can't do it if it's work. You have to live it.'
"There are a lot of coaches [and] players that do it one year and don't work the next year. I'm not interested in that. Every single year we have to find a way to make it happen. If we do what we did last year, that's not good enough. That's the other thing. As soon as you get complacent, people are going past you. That's life, but it's exciting."
When I became a vegetarian, one thing I missed was eating hamburgers. There’s nothing quite the same as biting into a hearty burger to satisfy your hunger. That’s why I was thrilled to learn how to make my own bean burgers. Rich in protein and fibre as well as iron, black beans are extremely valuable in a vegetarian diet. Not only are these burgers extremely simple and quick to make, but they’ve even been known to win over the most dedicated carnivore.
Ingredients: (makes at least four burgers):
1 can black beans
½ cup bread crumbs
Salsa (I recommend medium to spicy as that adds more flavour)
Salt and pepper to taste
Hamburger buns
Your favourite burger condiments and toppings
Directions
Rinse the black beans in a colander and put them into a large bowl.With a potato masher (a fork can work as a substitute), mash the black beans to break them up. Don’t mash them into a paste however; you want make sure to leave some texture so that the burger holds together.
Next, add the bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of salsa. Mash some more. Test the mixture by taking a small handful to see how well it holds together. You don’t want it to be too wet or too dry, so adjust by adding more salsa or bread crumbs until you are able to form a patty.
Once your mixture is done, heat some oil in a frying pan. Form the mixture into patties, and fry in the pan.
Once cooked, assemble your burger and enjoy. My favourite toppings include cheese, red onion, avocado, and some more salsa for a Tex-Mex flavour.
Left-over cooked patties also make excellent sandwiches. Use toasted bread, mayo, mustard, and your favourite sandwich toppings, and you have an easy and filling lunch to bring to school the next day.
This semester, the 30-minute commute between McGill’s downtown and Macdonald campuses will become just a bit more productive, as the buses now offer wireless Internet service.
McGill announced on Jan. 9 that students and staff with McGill usernames and passwords can use the Wi-Fi free of charge on the buses.
Gary Bernstein, the Director of Network and Communications Services at McGill University, explained that the initiative began after he traveled from Montreal to Toronto. With Internet connectivity available on the Via Rail train, but not on his return aboard a Megabus coach, he realized how big of a difference Internet connectivity can make while in transit.
“There are only a number of things you can do on a Blackberry,” Bernstein said. “But, it is easy, in this day and age, to set up a network anywhere.”
He explained that Telus donated a few USB mobile Internet keys and, knowing it would be free of charge to the university, he began a trial service on one inter-campus shuttle bus. The trial phase began in mid-August even though the connection was weak. At that time, it was recommended that students not use the service for software updates, calls, or important work. Nonetheless, Bernstein said that he received a lot of positive feedback regarding the trial Wi-Fi. On Jan. 9 the service became standard on the buses.
“There are four buses that have Wi-Fi service,” Bernstein told the Tribune via email. “The blue bus (that is sometimes used as a replacement) does not have Wi-Fi. We did not feel that it was justified to spend money on a service that would not be used frequently. We have to pay for the Internet bandwidth on a per-bus per-month basis, whether or not it is used.”
Some students are unsure whether or not the new system will provide a consistent connection.
“The question is: It is reliable?” Tracy Mcdonough, a Master’s student in nutrition at Macdonald Campus, said. “One … of [the] buses doesn’t yet have Wi-Fi, so you don’t know [if the bus you’re] going to be on [will carry service].”
Many commuting students say they are enjoying the new service.
“I have used it once or twice, and it seems to be working properly,” Brianna Kovarik, U0 education, said. “I always see laptops and iPads everywhere.”
When questioned whether the service is going to expand to other areas of campus, Bernstein presented a positive outlook that there will be greater Wi-Fi connectivity around campus and on other McGill-run shuttle buses, such as the shuttle busestravelling between the various hospitals operated by McGill University and its downtown campus.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to talk to someone busted for dealing pot, a struggling single mom, a concert pianist, or a disabled person who grew up in “the place of the belugas”? A special library event held this week provided students with the time and place to talk to these characters and others, at no cost.
McGill’s Living Library was founded on the idea of the Human Library—a concept started in 2000 at a youth festival in Denmark. The event was sponsored by a variety of campus organizations and volunteer librarians, and was first organized at McGill in 2011.
The premise is simple: each recruited volunteer personalizes a book by preparing a story about themselves. On the day of the Living Library, students, staff, and the public visit the Living Library at the Redpath Library and look through a catalogue of books.
“It’s called the catalogue, just like a library, and it’s a listing of books that people can check out,” librarian volunteer Sarah Wilkinson said.
After reading the book descriptions and choosing a book, an appointment is made with the “book.” Some books, like The Flaming Teabag or How Catching Fire Brought Me Down to Earth are more popular than others. Appointments are made in 30-minute blocks, but it’s easy to get caught up in the story and go over the allotted time.
While the subject is telling his or her story, the viewer is encouraged to ask questions and find out more. The level of interaction is unique to the Living Library and makes for a more animated level of learning.
One of the main goals is to break down prejudices or misconceptions that each “book” feels bound by.
“If we can say that one of the tasks of a liberal university education is to provide opportunities for learning while instilling a lifelong habit of questioning cherished assumptions, then the benefit of the McGill Living Library project would be to challenge members of the McGill community to examine their beliefs and attitudes toward difference,” reads the McGill Living Library’s website.
During a slow period, June Apostol, a Masters student in library and information studies discussed why she volunteered to participate as a book. Apostol, a volunteer firefighter from Pennsylvania, represented the book The Flaming Teabag.
“I’m hoping to take this back to Philadelphia and pitch it to one of the city libraries or my hometown library. I think it’s very valuable and I think it’s very interesting,” she said.
Apostol also explained why she felt that it’s important that other libraries consider projects similar to McGill’s Living Library.
“Libraries are changing and I think that people who think that libraries are dying have an incorrect assumption about what libraries are,” she said. “Libraries aren’t just books, [or] just books and DVDs, [or] just, you know, fiction libraries and video games. They can be e-books, they can be e-audiobooks, they can be people, they can be a collection of names or individuals that know different skills.”
David Haberman, a U3 student at McGill, stopped by the Living Library to check out the book Please Don’t Shout—I’m Only Blind.
“I think it’s nice that the libraries are looking to expand [their] role because [their] former responsibility as a place to take out books has gone the way of the rotary telephone—it’s not useful anymore,” Haberman said.
Since the rise in popularity of the Internet and the legitimacy of online research, libraries have been forced to evolve their traditional services. McGill has discovered that the Living Library may be a good place to start.
Black banners confronted visitors to the English version of Wikipedia, reddit and several other websites this past Wednesday as part of the largest online political demonstration in history. The websites were protesting two proposed bills in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).
If passed, SOPA and PIPA would allow Congress or copyright holders to take direct action against websites that are deemed to be infringing on copyright or intellectual property, or dealing in counterfeit goods like forged sports memorabilia. The bills were proposed and supported by both sides of the aisle, as members of Congress, backed by various entertainment companies, sought a tool for stronger action against copyright infringement, up to and including blocking access to websites.
Opponents of the bill include the Wikimedia Foundation and reddit, as well as other tech giants like Google, Facebook, eBay, and Twitter. Their primary concern is that the bills are too open to interpretation.
These companies share four main objections to SOPA and PIPA:
Their broad wording
SOPA and PIPA propose that websites which are found to be “committing or facilitating the commission of criminal violations” are liable to be punished. Under this condition, any website that has a link to another site that illegally possesses copyrighted content is held equally accountable. For websites that do not directly control what links are posted, such as Google, Facebook, reddit—or any site which accepts user comments or uses robots to crawl other sites—this broad umbrella makes them liable and would “criminalize linking” according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
DNS blacklisting
Blacklisting would make the unique address of an offending website invisible and unreachable by typing in the URL or searching on Google. This is a departure from current attempts to control copyright infringement where the website must simply remove offending content. Instead, what is proposed would remove any possiblity of accessing the website, essentially shutting it down.
Duty to monitor
Currently, for any copyright claim to be made, copyright holders must inform a website that it hosts copyrighted material, and prove that the claimer has ownership. SOPA and PIPA would legislate that websites must monitor themselves for any offending content or links, or otherwise risk being shut down in response to a single complaint. Not only would this force larger companies to divert resources into monitoring their content, but it may act as a barrier to smaller companies.
Freedom of speech
There are worries that DNS blacklisting coupled with vague wording on what constitutes an offending website has too much potential for abuse. Civil libertarians have drawn comparisons to the Great Firewall of China, saying that while the intent is completely different, the effects could be the same.
Opponents to SOPA and PIPA are multinational, as the proposed bills would affect foreign websites as well as domestic ones. For example, the American company Verisign owns the registry for the suffix “.com,” so any website that uses “.com” is subject to SOPA and PIPA regardless of the website’s country of origin. If an offending link were posted on any .com site, the site runs the risk of being erased from the Internet before being given the chance to defend the allegations. It’s a shoot first, ask questions later approach.
In the wake of online protests, the strong opposition shown has caused supporters to waver. The number of congressmen and senators against SOPA and PIPA is growing rapidly, with many taking to Twitter to make their opposition publicly known. Republican Senator John Cornyn was quoted as saying, “Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about the Internet and free speech necessitate a more thoughtful, deliberative process.” On Friday, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed the upcoming Senate vote on PIPA. SOPA’s sponsor, Representative Lamar Smith, announced that SOPA would also be postponed, pending further review. He added that he was willing to rework the bill to precisely target only infringing websites.
While it seems protestors have thwarted SOPA and PIPA for now, one should expect to see them again in a new form. The MPAA, RIAA, and other proponents of the bills aren’t likely to give up on ensuring their copyrights are protected.
As graduation looms, I seem to have had thousands of conversations recently about what to do after university. What I’ve found is that there emerges one snarling, pesky paradox: you must have experience to get experience. This poses an obvious problem for even the most investigative of job-seekers, a problem which pervades career fields both elite and comical. You can imagine my dismay when, after weeks of searching through the listings of carnivals and traveling circuses, I found out that an entry level blindfolded chainsaw juggler position required two years previous similar employment. But all jokes aside, there is one saving grace, and it comes in the form of outdoor summer seasonal employment.
While it may be winter now, it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead. In the balmy months of summer, seasonal job opportunities abound, since certain outdoor projects and organizations cannot function in persistent inclement weather. I discovered this when I turned my own employment crosshairs away from complete and utter cluelessness and began to aim at jobs in conservation field work. What I discovered were countless cadres of project leaders in search of an able-bodied short-term work force willing to break its back and sun-burn its neck for a few months at a time. In essence, the exclusivity so common in career-driven fields melts away and the impenetrable cycle of experience-begetting-experience is, for lack of a better word, penetrated.
Obviously, you have to know where to look. The following are just some examples of seasonal work which those of us facing life after graduation should consider for a first soiree into the real world. First off, let’s consider Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs have begun to pop up everywhere, and not just in small podunk towns. There are over 90 CSA farms around Montreal, each committed to sustainable agriculture, and most either supply local farmers’ markets or organize a farm-share, in which members receive produce directly from the farmers themselves. Emphasizing these aspects of sustainable agriculture is one thing, but CSA farms also tend to hire heavily in the summer. Although the pay is usually negligible, room and board is often free, and there’s no better way to squeeze into a local community than by bringing fresh food straight from your farm to someone’s fridge (think of it as your exotic European WWOOFing trip (Willing Workers On Organic Farms), just a little closer to home).
Another option is to be a wilderness guide. Odds are you wouldn’t want to do this in Canada during any other time than the summer anyway, and let’s face it, in ten years we won’t have the energy to trek into Banff with a 30 kg backpack, some Mueslix, and a broken compass. So take the time now. King Pacific Lodge, Treetop Trekking, and NovaShores Adventures are just three top names which are hiring now, and new openings come out every day.
You might be saying to yourself that my future me will have nothing to do with outdoor work, so the whole seasonal experience argument is useless. Don’t listen to yourself. For example, leadership retreats abound in the summer, and while most are premised upon outdoor skill-building, the main takeaway is an unchallengeable forte in organizational leadership and people skills. These are transferrable to any job, and for the price of a bottle of sunscreen, you could avoid a mind-numbing management training session in a florescent room at your future cubicle job.
Perhaps you have your dream job laid out in front of you, and this is all nonsense. But for the rest of us, taking the time work outside the proverbial box will, I believe, prove invaluable. Do yourself a favour and leave McGill ready, as it says in a sea-kayaking guide position which just opened up, to “work in the world’s largest tides.”
The Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) kicked off its seventh annual Academia Week on Monday, Jan. 23. The week-long series of talks, presentations, and networking events will showcase new and innovative research, while promoting science career paths beyond the arenas of medicine and academia.
The highlight of the week will likely be the keynote address on Friday by world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne. Tessier-Lavigne, who is currently president of The Rockefeller University, was once an executive vice-president of biotech giant Genentech. Tessier-Lavigne is a McGill alumnus and Rhodes Scholar, and his current research centres around developmental neuroscience and degenerative neural diseases.
Neil Verma, SUS VP Academic, told the Tribune how the SUS was able to get Tessier-Lavigne as a speaker.
“His extensive ties to McGill as a renowned alumni was the main factor that allowed us to secure him as the keynote despite his busy schedule,” Verma said. “We are extremely excited to have him come and speak not only about his academic career but his progression from a McGill BSc to the current president of [The] Rockefeller University in New York.”
The week will also feature more lighthearted speaker events, including a talk on the science of sports and human sexuality.
Verma spoke about the society’s choice to host a somewhat unconventional talk by sex therapist Dr. Laurie Betito.
“We have always been looking for fresh ideas to incorporate into our weekly repertoire,” he said. “Dr. Betito’s work seemed to be a novel application of the fields of psychology and sex therapy, which we felt would be very well received by McGill students.”
Don’t let those winter blues get you down. Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you should stay inside all day at the library. So, to bring some variety to the snow-filled months that lie before us all, the Tribune has compiled a list of the winter activities Montreal has to offer.
Tubing
The exhilarating feeling of whizzing down an icy slope on a piece of plastic never seems to get old. So, if you want to go tubing, it’s nice to know that every year Mount Royal grooms the hill near Beaver Lake into organized tubing lanes. You can bring your own $5 Canadian Tire sled, or rent an inner-tube at the hill. Get your friends together and see who can make the longest run or race each other down the slope. Loser buys the drinks later.
Renting an inner-tube costs $9 for the day, which gives you access to the exclusive inner-tubing lanes. The hill is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Montreal’sIce Village
For the first time in North America, an ice village has been constructed at ParcJean-Drapeau. This village consists of an ice hotel, igloos, an ice restaurant and ice bar, snow sculpture exhibit, snow labyrinth, a giant snow slide, and replicas of Montreal buildings.
Unless you feel like splurging $195 per person to stay in a Polar Igloo for the night, or $295 for a standard room in the Ice Hotel, make a day trip to check out the village for a much more affordable price of $17. While their activities program has yet to be officially released, visitors can look forward to a snow sculpture contest, outdoor evening dancing with guest DJs, and live music.
Having just opened this month, the ice village is here until March 31. To get there, just take the yellow metro line and get off at the Jean Drapeau stop.
Skating
Montreal has two excellent skating venues to suit your fancy.
Frozen during the winter, Beaver Lake on Mount Royal turns into an outdoor rink. Grab some friends and go for a few laps around the lake, day or night. Frequented by families and groups, there’s absolutely no pressure to perform a triple Salchow or to dress to impress. Practicality is the name of the game. Make sure to bundle up well and wear good gloves, since it’s pretty difficult to skate with your hands in your pockets.
You don’t need to worry about owning skates, as they can be rented on-site for $8.50 for two hours.
Beaver Lake is open to skaters from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. You could make a full day of it by adding some tubing into the mix.
If you prefer to remain indoors, make your way down to Atrium Le 1000 located at 1000 De La Gauchetière Street West. With an admission price of just $6 with your student I.D., you can enjoy a smooth rink and lively music.
Different nights bring a variety of activities such as Girl’s Night Out on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. where admission is two-for-one. Wednesdays are Date Night from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Couples can enjoy two-for-one access and romantic music while they skate. Also, two-for-one admission is available to couples on Valentine’s Day. Then, on Thursdays, all students can enjoy two-for-one access starting at 4 p.m.
Not only that, but February 27th is an “all-nighter” evening with the rink open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Skate rentals are $6.50.
Hot Ciderat Else’s
After spending the day out in the cold, it’s always nice to finish the evening off in a warm, cozy environment. There’s no better place to do this than at Else’s.
Located in the Plateau, at 156 Roy Street East, Else’s small space, dark walls, and dim lighting creates an intimate atmosphere. The music is of the jazz/blues variety, and isn’t so loud as to stop conversation from flowing.
Not only does it boast a great beer selection as a microbrewery along with good food, but Else’s hot alcoholic ciders just might be the best thing to warm your insides when it’s cold outside. Not only do they taste great, but they look good and keep your hands warm too.
The closest metro to Else’s is Sherbrooke metro on the orange line. While you may have to dress warmly, the walk to the bar will be worth the trip.
Decadent hot chocolate at Juliette et Chocolat
If you’re craving chocolate, Juliette et Chocolat is the place to go. With over 20 chocolate drink selections, there’s something for everyone. Their many hot chocolates will surely have you saying ‘mmm’ as you seek refuge from the cold.
Boasted as one of the best in the city, their hot chocolates come in three varieties–traditional, dark vintage, and milk vintage–each with a number of options to choose from. For those who want to mix it up, they also offer alcoholic chocolate beverages such as the Snow White, Chocolate Ruby, and Irish Chocolate.
On its website, Juliette writes that it all started with her search for the perfect hot chocolate: “I wanted a hot chocolate like our grandmothers used to make, a thick and velvety drink that warms, consoles and nourishes.”
And, if you’ve worked up an appetite after tubing on the mountain, they have plenty of food to choose from too, including delicious crepes.
Juliette et Chocolat is located in multiple venues around the city. The closest location to the McGill campus is at 3600 St. Laurent on the corner of Prince Arthur. In the Plateau you can find it at 377 Laurier West on the corner of Parc and at 1615 St. Denis.
The average university student is aware of the crippling effects suffered by after alcohol consumption. They call it: The Hangover. As the years progress in my university life, I can’t help but notice that the day-after effects are getting worse. Our bodies are aging and our society is expecting more of our mental capacity and overall productivity, a combination that does not compliment the disorientation and lethargy that comes with a hangover. As the volume of groaning from discomfort, mixed with the unappealing sound of morning nausea after an evening of fun reaches new heights, the quest to find a cure for my fellow students and I commenced.
I quickly discovered that there are two distinct schools of thought in hangover academia: hangover cure and hangover prevention. Prevention is focused on measures you should take before the liquid falls down the hatch; cure focuses on what to do when you’re crawling out of the next-morning hole of discomfort and misery.
Wikipedia, my initial research pit stop, set the benchmark for the salient prevention and cure recommendations. Wiki describes hangovers as “the experience of unpleasant psychological effects” after drinking. The most common recommendations for prevention were eating a big meal, drinking a glass of water between beverages, and keeping to one type of beverage throughout the evening: your hangover will be worse if you sample all the bar has to offer.
As cures, the most common advice I discovered was to drink as much Gatorade and water as possible. Taking an Advil to curb the headache, while digesting a simple carbohydrate-heavy meal is an effective way to attain some energy without increasing queasiness. Some more nuanced strategies I discovered were drinking coconut water and eating sardines and chasing them with pickles (the food version of your routine the night before).
Through my research, the only recognizable pattern was variety. There are many different things one can do to prevent or cure a hangover; each individual experiences a hangover differently and thus there is no one singular cure. Of course, the only way to truly prevent a hangover is to peel oneself away from that can of beer, bottle of wine, or mixed drink.
But, since complete abstinence is seemingly not an option for many of us who have engrained the college culture of work-hard-play-hard so deeply into our identities, I sought to reevaluate my understanding by attacking the source. I went to my fellow students to ask them how hangovers affect their life.
First, there is the responsible, enviable consumer, who does not experience hangovers at all, such as Whitney Smith (U3 Management) “I don’t get hangovers because I practice hangover prevention: I put coconut water in a smoothie or I have a Gatorade when I get home.” On the other hand, Jessica Firestone, U3 Management, walks away from a hangover feeling defeated “[hangovers] make me lazy and unproductive—I sleep in much later than usual so I waste away my day.”
And then there are the exceptions. There are those who find a way to appreciate hangovers, and those who even respect what hangovers offer us.
Roxanne Voidonicolas, U3 Psychology, claims, “I actually enjoy hangover days. I indulge on all of the things I know I shouldn’t but want to. I watch TV for 18 hours straight and don’t move. Most importantly, hangovers renew my zeal for life— after being so immobile, I look forward to a day of productivity.” Like Voidonicolas, Jan Roos, U3 Management, understands hangovers in a positive light: “Hangovers are God’s gift to the true animal. They weed out the weak. If it weren’t for hangovers, talking to people at bars would be as inane as talking to them in the day. You need them to make sure the only people doing whiskey shots at 5 a.m. are the men and women of bravery and character.”
There you have it. You can have a big meal before you go out, drink a sports drink before bed, or have a big breakfast when you wake up in the morning—all the while being acutely aware that these procedures may not even work. Or you can learn to love hangovers for what they are: an excuse to relax all day, or a Darwinian method of abolishing the weak. Picking a coping method will be your first step from departing from that age-old weekend lie you tell yourself and your friends: “I’m never drinking again.”
Canadian premiers are like janitors: you’re not always sure how they got into the building, or how long exactly they will stay. Yet unlike janitors, our provincial leaders get six-figure salaries and don’t always leave the place clean. In Canada’s federal system they wield a fair amount of power, and some of them serve chunks of land bigger than a whole host of countries. The least we can do is know who they are. So here, in as much time as it takes to read a column, is all you need to know about every provincial premier. Kind of.
Ontario’s up first because of its sway in national politics, but more importantly because Toronto will be annoyed if another province starts first. Their stalwart Liberal man-in-charge is doing his job for the third time around, although voters have cautioned against complacency through recently giving the province its first minority government in decades. Dalton McGuinty is the archetypal Canuck Liberal in that he’s socially progressive and fiscally either/or, depending on the situation.
Next up, we swing across the country and the political spectrum to introduce one of Canada’s four female premiers: Alberta’s Progressive Conservative, Alison Redford. As Eastern Canada continues its perpetual preparation for a neo-con zombie invasion of homophobic cowboys from Alberta, it might be healthy to notice that their leader is defying gender roles. Her province’s largest city, Calgary, is also, oil business ‘n all, one of Canada’s greenest.
To the right of Alberta (this little lecture comes with geography, too!) lies the Land of Living Skies, which is monopolized by Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party. Mr. Wall leads a province that was disillusioned with its far left, so its centre-left had a baby with its centre-right which is called left-right. To avoid confusion, their Manitobanneighbours to the (geographical) right have continued with their just-plain-left party for more than a decade, Greg Selinger ably taking the helm in 2009. That same year Selinger’s New Democratic Party colleague Darrell Dexter took power in Nova Scotia. They are the only two just-plain-left party leaders in the country.
We’ll keep the superhero vibe alive here as we move from Darrell Dexter to Christy Clark, who is a feisty premier for a province—British Columbia—that is often stereotyped for its laid-back scene. This so-called ‘champion for families’ joins Newfoundland and Labrador’s Kathy Dunderdale and Nunavut’s Eva Aariak to round out the female premiers. In a nustshell, the former has battled to maintain the popularity of her predecessor while the latter has continued to fight her territory’s startling high rate of suicides.
Like Saskachewan, the Yukon has its own party. And like Saskachewan, political creativity ran a wee bit thin during the naming process; Darrell Pasloski leads the Yukon Party. He is trained as a pharmacist and is almost never seen without a goatee. His partner in northern governing is premier of the Northwest Territories Bob McLeod, who has served on hockey league boards and—just in case anyone is tempted to stereotype all northern activities as involving snow or ice—is president of a golf club. It’s not clear to southern Canadians where they play.
The premier of New Brunswick was born and studied in the U.S.A., but chances are David Alward speaks French since his province is our only constitutionally bilingual one. His maritime neighbour Robert Ghiz governs Canada’s province of long bridges, and red-haired heroines, Prince Edward Island.
That leaves us with Quebec’s own Jean Charest. This man’s CV includes time in a national Conservative cabinet, as well as defeating a Parti Quebecois government while leading a Liberal party. He is both the longest currently-serving premier in Canada and the first Quebec leader to usher in a minority government—in 2007—in over a century.
There you have it, folks. The people who attempt to put the provincial houses in order day in and day out, laboring in the shadows as international news dominates headlines, plowing ahead despite the world’s cruel indifference. I’m kidding; read the Globe and Mail or watch CBC and you’ll meet our heroes all the time. But now you’ll recognize them.
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Sofia Markusfeld / McGill Tribune
Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune
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