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The Citizen, 1992-04-08, Page 5Arthur Black THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8,1992. PAGE 5. Oh, Canada! Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity. - Marshall McLuhan You probably don't know Joe Rosenthal, but I bet you know his work. Joe was an Army photographer assigned to accompany U.S. troops during the assault of the island of Iwo Jima during World War H. That's where Joe Rosenthal took one of the most famous photographs of all time. It happened on February 23, 1945. American Marines had just captured the highest point on Iwo Jima, an extinct volcano called Mount Suribachi. Joe's camera recorded the event. His famous photo shows a rag tag gaggle of battlewom Marines tugging and hauling an American flag into the upright position. It's a remarkable photograph. You can smell the fear and the sweat and the cordite. And you can taste the triumph. Sure, it's corny. The photo is as jingoistic as a half time Superbowl exhibition or a march by John Phillips Sousa — but you'd have to be dead not to be moved by it. It's the most quintessentially American photograph I know. wl International Scene By Raymond Canon Let's hear it for... I have already expressed my annoyance at the high level of criticism which is currently prevalent in this country and, in response to people who complain about the lack of good or positive news to be found in newspapers, or any other element of the media for the matter, I am going to provide just that. I do not expect this to be picked up by any of the wire services but every little bit helps and it may even make somebody's day. I could start out by mentioning the excellent performance of the Olympic hockey team at the recent competition in France but the media has already delved into that, albeit somewhat reluctantly at times so I will use this only as an opening salvo. There were other things that I liked about the Olympics, with the general handling of the broadcasts heading the lists. Messrs. MacLean, Williams et al were more often than not providing consistently better coverage than their counterparts in the United States, some of whose reporters seem to have forgotten why they were there. American jingoism can get a bit repetitive at times and it was nice to see the high level of coverage by our commentators. Our army may not rank among the biggest in the world but it is worth noting that it almost always gets called upon to form part And then there's Canada. What kind of photographs might Joe Rosenthal snap if he was around today and we could hire him to cruise the country with his Hasselblad catching the mood of Canada? Well, if we wanted to stay with the flag theme, we might have sent Joe to the town of Gaspe, Quebec to record the visit of Jacques Parizeau a few weeks ago. The leader of the Parti Quebecois was in town for meetings, some of which took place in the Gaspe city hall. A thoughtful municipal employee lowered the Canadian flag flying over city hall, so as “not to offend” Monsieur Parizeau during his visit. At the time of this writing, Gaspe was a small town in Quebec, which was a province in a country called Canada. But perhaps the Gaspe Flag Dip wouldn't offer enough drama for Joe Rosenthal. Better we should have sent him on tour with the National Arts Centre Orchestra last month. To celebrate Canada's 125th birthday, the Orchestra toured the country, playing in 32 concert halls from Vancouver to Newfoundland. In 26 of those concert halls from Vancouver to Newfoundland. In 26 of those concert halls they planned to play O Canada as a finale. The other six concert halls — all in Quebec — asked them not to. Like good Canadians, the National Arts Centre Orchestra acquiesced. “We didn't want to politicize (the concerts) said the orchestra manager. of a peace-keeping force sent off by the United Nations to keep some of the more savage elements of our planet from tearing each other apart and killing a lot of innocent people in the process. We can justifiably take pride in the performance of our military in the Gulf War; we can take even greater pride in the workman-like performance which Canadian soldiers demonstrate when they are sent out to keep waring factions apart. They don't get much coverage in the press; they are certainly highly respected by the United Nations where it counts. Some Canadian firms shake off the effects of the current recession and go about the task of selling our services and products on foreign markets. In this respect a slowly declining value of the Canadian dollar helps but it goes without saying that a drop in the exchange rate alone will not do the trick; the companies have to get out and sell their goods in the face of foreign competition. The company does not have to be a corporate giant to do this; a case in point is the Watford Roof Truss which has not joined in the collective wailing but has made the lower exchange rate work for it by increasing its sales to the U.S. My hat goes off to this company; it is refreshing to see such activity. The following bit of news may not have made the front pages but over the years an increasing number of Canadians have been getting rave notices for their performances in the world of the arts. Some of them are so busy that they are almost to the point of making guest visits to their homeland. Over the past little while, I have noticed such names as guitarist Leona Boyd, pianists Angela Hewitt, Jane Koop, Jon Parker, cellist Ofra Hamoy. Tenor John Vickers is still considered to be one of the great tenors One of the concert venues that asked the orchestra not to perform O Canada was Baie Comeau. At the time of this writing, Baie Comeau was the home town of Brian Mulroney, who was Prime Minister of a country called Canada. But it isn't always a French-Canadian finger on the trigger that shoots this country in the foot, consider the fiasco at the constitutional conference in Vancouver, back in February. Here we had representatives from all of Canada, Quebec included, gathered to find some way to stitch up the bursting seam of our country. A national treasure by the name of Maureen Forrester stands up to spiritually cement the group by singing the National Anthem and ... she sings it only in English. Later she says she'd have been happy to sing half of it in French, but nobody asked her to. Oh, Canada. Has the world ever known another nation so afraid to sing its song and show its colours? Don't get me wrong — I hate knee­ jerk patriotism — that “my country right or wrong” crap that generals and politicians spout just before they send children off to die. But surely there must be something — call it Pride of Family? — that sets you and I apart from Americans and Russians and asteroids and geraniums. Isn't there? of the opera world while Tafelmusik, the famous baroque ensemble from Toronto draws little but outstanding reviews on its foreign circuit. Its list of recordings has become impressive to say the least. I am always pleased when I hear some of my American friends/relatives inform me that by and large they find Canadian radio programming superior to what they find on the local networks. C.B.C. stereo comes in for its share of praise in the U.S. where it has developed an increased following. All in all we must be doing something right. Even such unlikely candidates for fame as the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada have come in for accolades from their counterparts to give the most accurate statistics of any of the industrialized countries while John Crowe, governor of the Bank of Canada is looked upon with envy by world economic organizations for the way in which he has run the Bank's policies over the past few years. A lot of Canadians may not agree with such an assessment but central bankers come in for praise so seldom that it is nice to see one of them being singled out for accolades. If Canadians are not too excited about this success right now, they may thank him some day for his accomplishment. Finally, I have yet to see any indication in the foreign press that our country has ceased to be one of the most desirable places to live in the world. Faults we may have, and Canadians are all too prone to point them out but we continue to rate high as a country with an acceptable standard of living. George Bush may not like our social welfare net but many Americans would not agree with him. I will forgive him this time since I don't think he realized what he was saying. Sounds like just more politics to me. TheShort of it By Bonnie Gropp Bridal showers, an archaic custom In the late '60s, folksinger and poet, Bob Dylan vocalized that "the times they are a changin'". This weekend it became apparent to me that that's the only thing that hasn't changed. For example, this weekend my family and I went to the movies, a once inexpensive form of family entertainment. After dropping $33 we realized that this is something that no longer exists in the 90's. One of my most vivid memories as a youngster was going to the movie theatre with my parents. It left me with impressions, that though unrealistic were fairly innocent. I grew up believing life was a song and dance; I have since learned a song and dance is what we usually get in life. I thought Ann Margaret was the most beautiful woman in the world- no change there- and I hoped I could grow up one day to marry Pat Boone. Okay, so maybe my feelings for Pat have changed, but at the time it was a pretty obvious infatuation for a young girl. Not so, the heroes of today. The movie we saw was the much hyped Wayne's World. The music was heavy metal, the girl a karate chopping Cantonese singer in skin tight clothes, and the leading man, a scruffy, semi-illiterate. While these examples may be a bit extreme, they demonstrate how different people are from 30 years ago, particularly women. By choice or necessity, women today are more aggressive and therefore not as content to play the passive role originally assigned them; men are less the white knight. Keeping this in mind I want to discuss what I feel has become a rather archaic custom, the bridal shower. Until the liberating decade of the 60's, the idea of women gathering to shower the bride-to-be with kitchen appliances, household gifts and pantry items was a societal staple that seemed to make sense. Today, in these emancipated times the concept, however, seems antiquated and sexist. After all, today’s men spend almost as much time doing laundry, vacuuming and cooking as the women, so shouldn't they share in the receiving and opening of gifts as well? While men have their stag parties, women gather in a room to play games, hear readings and share words of wisdom. Nothing wrong with that, except it's just a little outdated. We have become accustomed to more lively pursuits. I don't suggest that women are now seeking the type of raucous fun that the men enjoy, but the idea of such tame parties doesn't suit the image of today's women either. Showers, someone once said to me, are to keep the great-aunts happy. The differences in the generations was evident during one of the games when we had to share secrets on how to keep your marriage happy. As one aunt said, "Do everything together", a young cousin replied, "But make time for girls' night out." Another aunt offered that it's important to leam to like his hobby while another cousin suggested, with a chuckle, to make sure he learns his place. I know I'm not alone in this; I have yet to speak to any women my age who enjoy showers. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if you thought today's bride was enjoying it, but one glance at her while she was wearing her bowed hat, said she was not really having a good time. The times continue to change, women continue to change, but this is one thing that doesn't seem to keep pace. For whatever reason, the bridal shower continues to live. For the record, I adamantly told my attendants I did not want a shower, for the reasons above and because it is a big expense for them as well. They gave me one anyway.