The Citizen, 2002-07-24, Page 5Final Thought
Never give in, never give in, never, never,
never, never — in nothing, great or small.
large or petty — never give In except to
convictions of honour and good sense.
• — Sir Winston Churchill
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2002. PAGE 5.
Other Views
Let's
I n the early days of radio, people regarded
wireless talking as a mysterious form of
communication. Some listeners thought it
necessary to leave windows open to receive
radio waves. The BBC's first program in 1922
was followed by a slow repetition of the
information, so that listeners could take notes
if they wished.
- News item. Toronto Globe and Mail
As a guy who spent 30 years working in
radio, you'd think I'd know just about
everything there is to know about the medium.
Not so. Some of the simplest things about
radio baffle me.
Why for instance, when I'm listening to an
interview, do I hear the host say, "Please make
your answer brief because we're running out of
time."
Why is he running out of time?
Because it's 7:28 a.m. and the news comes
on at 7:30.
My question: who cares?
Would you mind if the .bews started at 7:32
a.m. instead of bang on the half-hour?
Wouldn't make any difference to me.
The reason for radio's near-fanatical
devotion to the clock is because radio is
scripted right down to the second. Every
newscast, every interview, every commentary
and commercial you hear is, or has been read
off a sheet of paper or a computer screen.
And why is that? Why couldn't radio be
more natural? It's just people talking, after all.
Garrison Keillor has a theory about that.
Keillor, aside from being a master of talking on
the radio, is author of a book called WLT: A
Radio Romance.
In the book. Keillor speculates that the
ntario's two main parties are
quarrelling over who has flip-flopped
most and the answer is pretty much a
toss-up.
New Premier Ernie Eves and his Progressive
Conservatives are trying to pin the label on
Dalton McGuinty and his Liberals, who lead in
polls, although now only narrowly, with an
election due next year.
McGuinty had attracted notice criticizing the
Tories for planning to privatize the
provincially-owned hydro • transmission
network, although they have now decided to
sell only a minority interest.
But the Tories have found McGuinty said not
long ago he thought government should
privatize it to provide some competition, while
leaving the province overseeing its operation.
The Tories also are recalling McGuinty
complained it was not the government's job to
provide a code of conduct in schools, when
Eves's predecessor as premier, Mike Harris,
was bringing in such a code.
The Liberal leader has suggested recently,
however, schools should be required to instill
discipline and respect as a mandatory part of
their curriculum, which sounds much the same
as the Tories' scheme,-He appeared to have
been moved to some degree by his own 17-
year-old son being mugged in the street.
McGuinty has opposed giving business more
tax cuts -until services are better funded, but
told business leaders he is 'all for lowering
business taxes.'
The Liberal leader also volunteered he liked
the idea. of bringing back photo radar, to catch
lawbreaking motorists, which the Tories
abolished, but when asked, said he has no
immediate plans to do so. Tories are
complaining he wants to have his cake and eat
it.
Marking McGuinty as a flip-flopper would
problem with radio is that it was invented in
the wrong order. "It belonged to, the age of
bards and storytellers who squatted by the fire,
when all news and knowledge was transmitted
by telling".
Keillor figures that the written word, by
coming first, hobbled radio.
. "Literature had taken radio and hung scripts
around its neck, choking the free flow of
expression that alone could give radio life.
Scripts made radio cautious, formal, tight,
devoted to lines. But radio is not lines - radio
is air!"
Maybe Keillor is onto something; maybe
'he's just blowing hot air, but wouldn't it be
interesting if some innovations that we take for
granted had been discovered in a different
order? If, say, the electric typewriter had been
invented, before the computer printer? - -
"Marge, look at this! As soon as you hit a
key you get your hard copy! You don't have to
wait for the printer to spit it out!"
Or what if eyeglasses had preceded contact
lenses instead of the other way around? Can't
you hear the ads? "All new, totally portable
eyeglasses!
Put 'em on or take 'em off whenever you
like! Say goodbye to sticking annoying,
painful chunks of plastic in your eyes!"
help the Tories because, while Harris's far
right policies have declined in popularity, his
stature as a politician who announced policies
and stuck to them, so the public knew where he
stood, remains widely praised as a model other
politicians should follow.
But Eves and his Tories are on shaky ground
when they point at the Liberals for flip-
flopping. Eves for example went along with
selling the hydro transmission network until
large opposition to it developed.
Eves has postponed tax cuts that had been
scheduled by Harris, although he was a key
figure in drawing up a law that was supposed
to prevent successor governments causing such
delays.
Eves has not the slightest objection to same-
sex couples marrying, although he and Harris
once fought tooth and nail and won a notorious
by-election opposing rights for gays.
Eves's government is now even talking of
bringing back photo radar, claiming it was 'big
brother' peering into residents' lives and was
designed to rip off their cash rather than help
road safety.
Parties inevitably and legitimately change
policies because of changing needs and.
resources. Voters often accept them and Eves is
benefitting in polls because they like his more
moderate policies. But parties also sometimes
have lost support when they were seen to
reverse dramatically because of self-interest.
What if cable TV had come before the old
12-channel, rabbit-eared model? Imagine
having the convenience of only 12 channels to
monitor, instead of 178. Imagine not having to
wade through a TV guide the size of the Hong
Kong phone book just to find out if Law and
Order is on tonight.
Or how about telephones? Imagine if
cellular phones had been invented before pa)
phones.
What a breakthrough. No more humping a
lump of plastic around on your hip or in your
purse all day. No more annoying interruptions
in the middle of conversations or while you're
riding the bus.
No monthly charges. No more annoyingly
cutesy-poo ads featuring Jamie Lee Curtis or
Candace Bergen.
All replaced by a series of handy, tasteful
public telephone kiosks, where for a mere two
bits you can call anyone in your listening area
- or you can call Pop in Pensacola and reverse
the charges.
Most important: you can call out; nobody
else can call in.
Edgar Degas, the French painter and
sculptor, had a nasty feeling about the
telephone right from the get-go. Once, he was
invited to dinner by a friend who had just had
one of the new-fangled contraptions installed
in his home.
In order to impress Degas, this friend had
arranged to have someone telephone during
dinner. The phone rang, the friend jumped up
to answer it, then returned to the table,
beaming with pride.
"So that is the telephone," Degas mused
sourly. "It rings and you run."
New Democrat premier Bob Rae abandoned
several cherished party policies, the most
notable being government auto insurance,
when he concluded public opposition would be
too large, and lost traditional supporters and
others who felt he abandoned principles.
Lyn McLeod, Liberal leader in the 1995
election, wavered on a promise to support gay
rights when Harris tapped a well of opposition.
She was dogged wherever she went by gay
activists waving placards denouncing it as a
flip-flop, which gave her an image of being
easily swayed.
But the most notable flip-flop of recent times
was by a Tory premier William Davis, who
won an election partly by refusing to the end to
extend provincial funding of Roman Catholic
high schools, but granted it just before he
retired in 1985.
Davis was seen as wanting to repay the wily
G. Emmett Cardinal Carter, who had turned
the other cheek and even publicly praised the
premier, but his reversal helped get his
successor booted out of office.
The danger to McGuinty is he may be seen
as dithering and indecisive. Eves, who has
made many important decisions, may seem he
is changing merely for votes and will do
anything to win an election.
Call it child's play
Do you remember as a youngster
when you would watch the older
children play and wish you could
join in? Do you remember the frustration of
seeing others appearing to have so much fun,
but you were too little, too slow, or too
inexperienced for their games?
We've all been there, particularly those of us
with older siblings. So you would think that as
someone old enough to make the rules or at
least tag along without being a nuisance,
things might have changed. Not so — at least
in one instance.
For years I have watched and wondered. I
have let my shyness and reserve hold me back.
I have let myself be excluded, and found
excuse upon excuse to not do something which
I have always believed I would find
entertaining, Well, this kid is finally ready to .
play.
Last week, I took my first golf lesson. I was
embarrassed, awkward, tense, and by the end
of it fairly tired.
And it's been a long time since I've enjoyed
myself so much. I knew I would. There is
something about golf which has captured my
attention for a long time. My father and
brother took up the game decades ago, and I
recall mentioning to them that I wouldn't mind
if they would let me accompany them
sometime. They, on the other hand, did mind,
feeling that I wouldn't be quite up to par.
Thus returned humbly back to my childhood
and to watching the grownups have all the fun,
I more or less gave up on the idea.
However, you can't keep a good plan down.
Invited one glorious sunny day to play with the
big boys my desire to be able to hit the links
without looking totally inept grew ever
stronger. So, finally getting up the nerve, I
made the decision and booked my lessons.
Of course, I've heard all the negatives about
the dumb, frustrating game of golf. What's so
great about hitting a ball, then walking up to it
and hitting it again? But, then again, how
dumb is it to push a puck on the.end of a stick
towards a little net? Or get on to snowmobile
and drive really fast until you get to one point,
then turn around and do it again? Or carry a
ball up a field without getting buried under
bodies?
The enjoyment of sports and other activities
is in what suits our abilities and personalities.
Golf, by sheer dint of its increasing popularity,
has proven to be the most adaptable to these
abilities and personalities. Firstly, what other
'physical activity • puts you in such an
esthetically-pleasing environment? On a
perfect day you have sunshine, fresh air, the
azure blue sky and the lush green of the
fairway. Only the birds accompany the quiet.
And, if you manage to stay Jut of them, you
can even see the perfection in pristine sand,
sparkling water and majestic trees.
Contrary to popular belief, it's good
exercise. The minimal time I spent in my first
day, proved to me that golf is a great low-
impact routine which involves a cardio-
vascular workout with muscle building and
toning. In fact, I once read that walking an 18-
hole course is equivalent to walking about six
kilometres.
Golf is a social game — a great ,date on a
great day with friends, or an outing for fathers
and sons, mothers and daughters — or a game
to play alone.
No question, I have a lot to learn. I will
never be a great player, likely not even
particularly good. But, for me golf is child's
play - fun, exercise and the outdoors.
o back to the future
Flip-flopping contest a toss-up