Walking around Gay Ottawa

Drolet, who is developing a gay history walking tour of Ottawa (contact him via DanielDrolet.com for updates), says he was the "young kid who hung out with the activists," so he had a chance to witness Ottawa's transformation to a more accepting city.

ABOVE: The post-war era of the 1950s and 1960s was an era of great paranoia. A machine called an “electro-psychometer” (similar to a lie detector) was employed to determine the sexual orientation of civil servants. In this very conservative era homosexuality was a taboo and it was assumed knowledge of that fact could be used against an individual and force this person to collaborate with the enemy. The government intended to protect itself and subjected hundreds of civil servants to tests on this notoriously unreliable device, also referred to as the “fruit machine”. See it at the War Museum, Ottawa.

National Arts Centre puts music online

Dozens of performances by the National Arts Centre Orchestra will be available on the internet for free, starting Canada Day.

The NACO has chosen more than 150 recordings from its own past for an online project it calls NACO Musicbox.

It gives listeners a chance to hear how the orchestra has evolved from its days under Mario Bernardi through to current conductor Pinchas Zukerman AND DOWNLOAD PERFORMANCES.

"We do have this large archive that is there. It's like a museum or art gallery that never opens its doors," said Douglas Sturdevant, who helped select the music to be made public.

HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK TO THE NAC MUSIC ARCHIVES

It ain't the meat, it's the motion!

Contrary to the pop culture notion that hot looks and masterful technique are what matter, the study released yesterday in The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality found the real essentials are emotional connection between partners, communication and focus.

The study, led by sex therapist and University of Ottawa psychologist Peggy Kleinplatz, identified key components to great sex that were universal among those surveyed.

They include: being present, connection, deep sexual and erotic intimacy, extraordinary communication, authenticity, vulnerability, interpersonal risk-taking and exploration.

The study is titled The Components Of Optimal Sexuality: A Portrait Of "Great Sex."

Glamtastic Adam Lambert in Rolling Stone

(ED: I haven't really been a follower of American Idol, but Adam caught my attention with his full-on performances! Bravo Adam!)

American Idol’s glamtastic runner-up Adam Lambert opens up in the next issue of Rolling Stone, speaking frankly about his sexuality, though he doesn’t think his revelation is particularly shocking.

“I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay,” Lambert says in the new issue of Rolling Stone, hitting newsstands this week.