Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-06-19, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2008. PAGE 5.Bonnie Gropp TThhee sshhoorrtt ooff iitt Just be No disrespect intended to a Canadian idol and with all due deference to the musical tastes of my home and native land, but… …was there ever a musician so incongruously misnomered as Feist? My dictionary defines ‘feisty’ as ‘spirited, plucky and pugnacious’. That is not what I hear when I turn on the radio and some DJ is playing Feist’s megahit “1,2,3,4”. What I hear are the papery, whisper-thin vocalizations of a depressingly typical modern pop singer – bland, unprepossessing and non- boat-rocking. Feisty, I don’t hear. I’m not saying every singer has to melt the microphone like Janis Joplin or James Brown, but could we at least have a little truth in advertising? It’s not Feist’s fault. Most pop music nowadays sounds aimless and unfocused and about as enticing as a slot on Stephen Harper’s dance card. But then, I’m spoiled. I grew up in a time when pop music was everything it no longer is. I was around when the Beatles came to Montreal, Bob Dylan played Ottawa and Elvis did Vancouver. When a roly-poly black guy with a big smile and a flat-top haircut blistered the keyboard at The Club Embassy in Toronto, I had the best seat in the house. The black guy was Fats Domino. I was the bartender. And when the Stones played Vancouver last week? I was there too. What? You didn’t know the Stones were in Canada? Relax. They still are – if you can get to an Imax Theatre. Imax is showing Shine A Light, filmmaker Martin Scorcese’s homage to The Rolling Stones. If you haven’t yet seen Shine A Light I can boil my advice down to just ten words: See it, see it, see it, see it, see it. The film is riveting – especially on a six- storey high Imax screen. Particularly in this limbo land time of musical mediocrity when the top 10 hit parade is infested with the lame and lamentable ululations of wispy warblers and tentative twitterers. But then, the subject matter of Shine A Light is fabulous: The Rolling Stones. What a crew. We get to see lean, grey and wolfish Charlie Watts laying down a drum beat like tracer bullets from a .50 calibre machine gun, just as he has for, oh, the past half century. And there’s Ronnie Wood, sulky and mischievous, hunched over his guitar looking like a demented meth addict, tearing off lick after electrifying lick. But it’s hard to take your eyes off Keith Richards, tottering around the stage like a shambling Gothic ruin. Half Captain Hook, half drag queen, with beads, feathers and Chinese coins threaded into his rat’s nest hair, his eyeliner highlighting the coulees and canyons of his incredibly weathered face. And Mick Jagger. Sir Indomitable, Inexhaustible Mick. Prancing and pirouetting like a teenager. Hardly in a sweat, never mind out of breath. He pinwheels and grandstands through number after number, criss-crossing the stage like a punk Baryshnikov, leaping over drum kits, ducking under camera booms, singing, dancing, dancing, singing… And I find myself, my bulk curled arthritically into seat 20, row M, thinking: Holy crap! He’s a senior citizen! Well, so he is. So they all are, the amazing, eternal Rolling Stones. An inspiration to all greying Boomers poised on the cusp of Geezerhood.. Grace Slick, who sang with The Jefferson Airplane and was no slouch herself when it came to getting off a wicked lick, took in a Stones show last year and later sneered to a reporter that “Going to a Rolling Stones concert was like watching rotting fruit.” Good line – but sour grapes, Grace. The liver-curdling truth is that the Rolling Stones, after more than 50 years and countless thousands of performances, can Still Do It. They can still make us remember, especially in an age of bland and fuzzy, wet-puppy-nose pop – what an awesome force real rock and roll was. And is. And they remind us that Neil Young, another geezer rocker, had it right all along. He sang: “Hey hey, my my. Rock and roll will never die”. Arthur Black Other Views No moss on these stones Premier Dalton McGuinty was breezing along without a care in the world, but now has a few that could keep him awake nights. The Liberal premier had been relaxing, with opponents unable to lay a glove on him, after he won majority governments in two successive elections, which is rare in recent Ontario politics. Now he has to worry first because the province’s economy is sputtering like an engine running out of gas which, when it happened before, invariably hurt premiers. Ontario has lost close to 200,000 jobs in manufacturing since the Liberals were elected in 2003 – it also was losing before – and they have been replaced mostly by low-paying jobs, barely enough to pay basic needs. Some of the causes, including the weakness of the U.S. dollar that forces that country to pay more for Ontario-made goods and the failure of North American auto-makers to produce competitive, energy-efficient vehicles, are beyond McGuinty’s control. He can be faulted for giving hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. auto-manufacturers without adequate guarantees it would be repaid if they failed to maintain jobs. Voters have a history of penalizing premiers when the province gets in economic downturns. Liberal premier David Peterson called an election a year early, trying to get the vote over before a slump started, but voters also saw it coming and he lost the election and his seat. New Democrat premier Bob Rae was in government throughout a recession he had never been in a position to start, but many voters associated it with the New Democrats and hold it against them to this day. Progressive Conservative William Davis, after compiling a more successful record, twice was reduced to minority governments during an economic slump. McGuinty could face the same erosion in popularity. The Liberal government could face huge public wrath also over its shortcomings in tackling the infection C. difficile, which is believed to have killed at least 260 patients, and possibly many more, in Ontario hospitals since mid-2006. This compares to 44 killed by the SARS epidemic of 2002-3, which produced alarms and investigations. The Conservatives have asked for a public enquiry, but the Liberals, who have been slow even collecting information, have refused. It is difficult to think of a widespread, lethal problem that is so little known and the Liberals cannot bury it under a rug forever. Governments that feel unassailable often get arrogant and the Liberals are risking this by holding meetings across the province supposedly seeking information to help draft a strategy to combat poverty, but often refusing to admit the poor and activists, who might clutter up proceedings. One was a former New Democrat minister, Jenny Carter, a frail, grandmotherly type who would be the last person in the world to incite violence, but was thrown out on her ear. The Liberals have never explained how they came to invest and lose $100 million in shaky sub-prime mortgages in the U.S., which started the current world credit and financial crises. At a time when the public is more conscious of public waste, this can be revived to embarrass McGuinty. McGuinty also has shown a tendency to get involved in issues he could, and would, be politically smarter to stay away from. Some of his MPPs are warning him this cannot help their party. The prime example was his proposal the legislature drop its recital of the Christian- based Lord’s Prayer at the start of its daily proceedings and replace it with something that more reflects the province’s diversity, which prompted widespread protests. This could not be called a revolt, but backbenchers know their communities and should be listened to. There was no huge demand to drop the Lord’s Prayer. Previous premiers also have been unable to resist pushing personal ambitions. Conservative John Robarts, after learning from experience what the public will accept, said his philosophy had become “when in doubt, don’t”. This could be a useful watchword for McGuinty. Eric Dowd FFrroomm QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk It was a lovely spring evening, a vibrantly vital ending to a day that had been one of consolation and sorrow. Having attended a funeral, my husband and I found ourselves capable of little more than quiet contemplation. And with the full recognition of a schedule ahead of us that allowed no chance for respite the rest of the week, we were in full agreement, as late afternoon seguéd to pre-twilight time, that we were going to do absolutely nothing. Finding the weather in full co-operation with our need to feel life’s goodness, we made our way to the deck to sit and simply allow ourselves to be. If I ever needed a reminder why I hate winter and live for the warmth and beauty of the warm seasons this day was it. Music and gentle breezes chased away stress and gloom. Sunny skies awakened weary spirits and a tuneful cardinal encouraged a smile to dreary faces. A time to unwind is a rare opportunity for most everyone. As such, they are not taken to full advantage. Drained as much from emotion as from the muggy heat, it was easy on this day to relax and appreciate every moment of down time. Also, given the way we had spent the afternoon, it would have been wrong not to. As the clock co-operated too and minutes ticked by with an unusual summer-like lethargy, we found ourselves in more profound conversation than is typical of my honey and me. Topics bordered on the urbane, not a common thing for sure. And while there was still teasing and laughter, it was undeniably more subdued. Soon I noticed an unfamiliar feeling. I believe it’s called a sense of calm. And with it came a somewhat heightened awareness of things around me and their beauty. I became cognizant of the fact, any time our chatter faltered, that the space was ably filled by the serenade of a variety of chirruping outdoor ministrels and the gentle percussion of rustling leaves. In tune to time’s slowed pace, I found myself entertained by a spider’s circuit around the table’s edge. I watched his apparently aimless travels without the jittering jumble of details that generally occupy my mind. Equally fascinating was the sky’s changing face as fluffy white clouds, then dense grey ones took turns skimming across the oceanic blue. I watched this too for a time, mind clear and refreshed. It was an amazing few hours, the kind that inspires a spiritual connection to this world, that makes you feel better than well. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, and again, it is important to mind, body and soul to take some time to breathe. Granted, the first few minutes were a challenge. I had shut the door on everything, but everything persistently tried to push back in. Thoughts of work and commitments threatened to disrupt. But as I got further into my repose the more peaceful it became. Forgetting everything that had to be, should be, or recently was done, actually made forgetting easier. And as the dizzying vortex was replaced by quiet thoughts and appreciation, the list of what was there to enjoy kept growing. I always know the birds are there; I hear their song and smile. I’m ever aware of what the sky promises for that day. And I treasure the much- loved faces of my family. But none of those always get the attention they deserve, and that’s sad. Life has a way of filling our days too quickly, and it’s far too short already to race through it. Find the ways to slow it down and just be. Clouds on horizon for McGuinty Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise.