HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-11-18, Page 5International Scene
By Raymond Canon
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1998. PAGE 5.
Hook, line and
stinkers
There are basically only two types
of fishermen: those who fish for sport
and those who catch something.
Anon
Let me declare my bias right at the start: I
don't fish. I live on the ocean about 25 yards
from water that teems with salmon, ling cod,
halibut and a host of undersea leviathans I
couldn't even identify. I have watched, from
my back porch, blue herons gobble down,
and bald eagles snatch up, fish that would
have been mounted on a plaque, back in my
native Ontario.
My new neighbours fish. Rich Americans
spend thousands of dollars a week to fly in
and drop their lines in water not a half mile
from where I sit.
And yet I don't fish. And I'm not exactly
sure why.
I used to, back in Ontario. I can't count the
number of times I have stood up to my
unmentionables in cold Ontario rivers,
courting hypothermia while trying to coax
something — anything with fins — out of the
water. A jerk at one end of a line, waiting for
a jerk at the other.
I think fishing doesn't appeal to me any
Let's go fora walk
Last year I took you for a shopping trip
around Frydek-Mistek. This year I would just
like to take a walk with you without being
concerned about what we have to buy or do.
There are some pleasant walks in the
vicinity of my home and, since the weather is
nice, we will not have to take our umbrellas.
Well, here we are on our way and you've
already noticed the flagstones. They can be a
problem but sidewalks like we have in
Canada are all but unknown here.
You will notice on the other side of the
street that they are fixing the stones that have
become loose. When everything is level
again, they will spread some light brown dirt
over the top and let the pedestrians gradually
work it down into the cracks as they walk
along.
I guess you call that public works
participation.
You heard that loud noise, didn't you?
Don't pay any attention to it. It is just one of
the city buses going through the sound
barrier. I think bus drivers here have to have
served in the tank corps and taken kamikaze
training. I saw Jacques Villeneuve over here
a couple of weeks ago teaching them how to
take the corners faster.
You notice a lot of people out with their
longer for the same reason that I can't
imagine shooting ducks in a barrel. The thrill
is gone.
When I was a kid it was just me, a bamboo
pole and a tomato can full of worms.
Fishing's just not like that anymore.
Nowadays fishermen have radar scanners
to tell them where the fish are; charts and
maps to apprise them of the shoals and holes
where lunkers like to lurk.
They have hi tech boats and an array of
lures and baits, custom-tested by fish
biologists. They fish with down riggers that
could lift a submerged Buick off the bottom.
High technology has destroyed the cod
stocks on our east coast and decimated the
salmon stocks on our west coast.
Fishing — be it commercial or sport — just
ain't cricket anymore.
The latest piece of weaponry in the anti-
fish arsenal? The "Aqua-Vu". It is, if you
can believe it, a video system comprised of a
miniature TV camera connected by a cable to
the end of the angler's fishing line.
Its inventors claim that Aqua-Vu allows
fishermen to "actually see how fish are
responding to the bait they are using."
Swell. Why not take ALL the mystery out
of the pastime — just lob a live grenade over
the gunwale and net whatever floats. up?
Which we may not be all that far from, by
the way. You ever watch Canadian
little children. Well, I've noticed that too.
Czech parents tend to spend more time with
their children than most North American
parents do and, from what I have seen, they
are also stricter here than they are at home.
A mother on maternity leave can have as
much as four years leave from work, if she
desires. Nor all of them do this but it•is
available.
Remember what I told you about crossing
the street? Well, not much has changed this
year. The crosswalks are well marked, but
don't count on Czech drivers stopping for
you. there are a few polite ones but they are
in the minority.
You say you haven't seen many single-unit
houses. That is because most Czechs in the
city can't afford a house. Even with both
husband and wife working, an apartment is
about all they can afford.
We are going to have coffee with a friend
of mine, so you can see what the inside of an
apartment is like.
Well, I am glad that you enjoyed our visit
with my friend. You were surprised at having
to take off your shoes and put on little
slippers. That is quite the custom here.
I'm not sure who has the cleanest houses —
the Swiss or the Czechs. As a matter of fact, I
take off my shoes when I go in the house in
Canada, so I am quite comfortable with
Sportfishing'? It's a TV show in which your
hosts, all decked out in camouflage gear and
the latest in angling gadgetry, natter at the
camera as they cast for fish.
Typically, they catch about 85 fish per
program and I never could figure out just
how they managed to be so lucky.
Until I read about the court case in
Trenton, Ontario last spring. Two of those
fishing star hosts — Henry Waszczuk and
Italo Labignan — pleaded guilty to charges
laid by the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources.
It appears they were caught "jigging" —
hooking fish in the body, off-camera — so
that they could re-hook them in the mouth
and retrieve them with the cameras rolling.
It cost them $1,800 in fines plus, I would
guess, any credibility they ever had with
legitimate anglers.
I have to confess that I find a silver lining
in this black cloud of a story. I think it's
heartening that after a couple of centuries of
humans using every trick in the book, fish
are still so wily that a couple of professionals
equipped with the latest gear, are reduced to
cheating to make their fishing trip look
successful.
It seems Italo and Henry forgot the one
cardinal rule for a successful fishing
expedition. It's a matter of timing.
You have to get there yesterday.
doing it here.
You noticed a lot of people out in the
middle of the afternoon. Czechs have to go to
work very early in the day and finish at about
two or three o'clock. What you saw were
people doing the day's shopping on the, way
home, since they don't do a week's shopping
as we do in Canada.
They also like to take their dogs for a walk.
Dogs are popular here. Czech dogs cannot
pronounce the letter "w" so they have to say
"voof, voof" when they bark instead of
"woof, woof'. The ones that might bite you
have to wear a muzzle.
Did you notice all the little gardens near
the end of the walk? The price of food being
what it is, Czechs like to grow some of their
own food whenever possible.
Did you notice that we didn't see many fat
people here? Although the Czechs enjoy
food, they are able to work off any excess
calories.
Each country can teach others a lesson or
two. Perhaps this is one that the Czechs can
teach us.
A Final Thought
Any subject can be taught effectively in
some intellectually honest form to any child
at any stage of development.
— Jerome Seymore Bruner
The
Short
of it
By Bonnie Gropp
Regretting extravagance
Oh, I wanted it so badly. The dress wasn't
in my budget, but I knew the money was
coming. It wasn't that I couldn't survive
without it, but I hadn't had something this
nice for a long time and by gosh, I deserved
it. I only needed to make the purchase, then
hang on until the bank account received its
next transfusion.
Unfortunately, unforeseen misadventures
and mishaps resulted in a financial
bloodletting of horrific proportions causing
me to regret my extravagance.
It's a situation which most of us, I'm sure
have experienced. Wanting, desiring,
craving. High expectations, lavish lifestyles.
Champagne taste on a beer drinker's salary.
In the lucrative 1970s and early 1980s
there were those who enjoyed a level of
materialistic indulgence. It was evident, not
just in our homes, but in our communities.
We developed, we grew, and we built,
bigger, better, best.
However, that mindset in today's fickle
economics is, to my way of thinking a little
irresponsible. Last week I attended the
public meeting for the proposed Huron
Bruce Recreation Complex, a $7.5 million
multi-use facility. Incorporated into it will be
an indoor pool, meeting hall, arena, squash
courts and fitness centre.
Community spirit and commitment are
commendable commodities and far be it
from me to suggest I would know more than
a panel of experts. However, listening to the
group at the meeting, while I compliment
them on their vision I have to ponder
whether it is clouded by the same ideallistic
fog that blankets Joe Blow's common sense
on occasion.
The committee touted a belief that such a
centre is affordable. Notwithstanding what is
to me a terrifying $7.5 million estimate,
there are the ongoing operation costs. The
panel, foresees at worst a break-even
situation. The pool and arena currently run at
a deficit, so while a higher one is expected at
the new facility, the sense was it will be
outweighed by the benefits. These will
hopefully be supplemented by the fitness
centre and meeting hall.
Halls, the panel member stated, make
money. Yet, just as an example, Brussels
one of the busiest rural community centres,
was so financially stressed not that long ago
that they obtained a liquor license which
enables them to profit from any function.
Even with this extra income, it is not enough
to keep the entire facility running in the
black.
I was surprised at the meeting to hear
virtually no opposition to the project. Surely
someone out there agrees with me that
getting everything you want, rather than only
what you need, in this case assuredly a hall
and an arena, can be a costly error in
judgement. Because, while I'm certainly no
expert, I just can't see this as a situation
where anyone wins.
Firstly, I believe tax dollars coming for the
supporting municipalities will increase. I
believe the majority of people in the
municipalites are not interested. I believe
this type of centre won't encourage enough
usage to pay its way. It will encourage
enough, however, to hurt other facilities and
private enterprise which might have
benefitted from the growing business
community the panel boasted about. I
believe that rather than filling a need, a
1970's materialism has indeed fogged
common sense. I believe that, too late, the
extravagance may cause regret.
Arthur Black