The Citizen, 2003-12-03, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2003. PAGE 5.
Other Views
Oh, the games people play
Don’t get me wrong, I like Frankie. I
meet him downtown a couple of times
a week for a coffee and we have good
chats....sorta.
The truth is. Frankie is a bit of a wet blanket.
The original Eeyore. His name should really be
Gus. As in Gloomy.
Yesterday. I hauled up a stool next to him at
the coffee shop, gritted my teeth, forced my
lips into a rictus smile and said with as much
enthusiasm as I could muster, “How’s it goin'
Frankie?”
“Oh. same old, same old” he moans.
“There's nothing to do in this town.”
Well, I snapped. Came undone. Went postal.
“Nothing to do?” I shrieked. “Whaddya
mean there’s nothing to do? Have you thought
of seeing how many somersaults you can do
between here and Fulford Harbour? How
about lashing a rope to the bumper of a
firetruck and seeing how far you can pull it? Or
if it’s a cardiovascular workout you want, why
not pogo-stick up the inside stairwell of the
CN Tower? “
Frankie was getting nervous now. edging
towards the exit. “Yeah,” he said, "those are
all...really good ideas. Well, look at the time,
willya. I gotta go.”
Frankie thinks I’m nuts, but in fact I was
just reciting some of the routine ploys people
have performed to get their name in
the latest edition of the Guinness Book of
Records.
The Reverend Kevin Fast (five foot nine. 270
pounds) of Cobourg, Ontario is in there for.
pulling a 30-ton Goliath fire truck 100 feet
using only a rope.
And a New York health food store manager
Liberals reason to eliminate third party
Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals
are making the downsized New
Democrats less heard in the
legislature, but they have a much more
ambitious agenda.
This, although the Liberals would never
admit it. is to reduce the province’s three-
party system to only two, themselves and
the Progressive Conservatives, which would
make the Liberals the natural governing
party — as they are in Ottawa.
The Liberals would not admit it because
they cannot make a speech without boasting
they are ushering in a new era of democracy
not seen since the golden age of Greece.
They would not want to be seen as using
their big majority in the legislature to gel rid
of a system that has existed for 60 years and
enabled voters to choose among more
parties and a wider range of policies.
The Liberals have stubbornly dug in their
heels in and blocked the New Democrats,
who lost two seats in the October election so
they no longer are designated an official
party, from receiving funds commensurate
with their needs for research and opportuni
ties to ask questions in the legislature.
Liberal backbenchers in fact overwhelm
ingly support allowing the NDP more help,
which is another example the democracy
their party promises has not fully arrived
But the Liberal hierarchy has visions
dancing in their heads in which there would
be no NDP that matters. The benefits to the
Liberals would be huge.
Since the 1940s Ontario has had a system
in which the Tories, Liberals and NDP or its
predecessor, the Co-operative Common
wealth Federation, have been able to
influence elections and it is one of the few
provinces with a three-parly system.
Arthur
Black
by the name of Ashrita Furman is the guy who
pogo-sticked up the CN Tower stairwell AND
somersaulted continuously for a distance of 12
miles, 390 yards.
Truth to tell, Furman is a record-setting
legend. In fact he holds the Guinness record
for being in the Guinness Book of Records - 72
entries in total, all of them mind-boggling.
It’s amazing what some people will.do to get
attention - and it’s not always a slot in the
Guinness Book of Records they’re after.
A couple of months ago. a British artist by
the name of Mark McGowan wanted to bring
public attention to the problem of student debt.
Did he write a letter to the editor?
No.
Did he don a sandwich board and picket the
Ministry of Education offices?
No.
Did he strip down to his skivvies and call a
press conference?
No.
What he did is roll a peanut from his studio
in southeast London all the way to the front
door at Number Ten Downing Street.
With his nose.
McGowan spent eight hours a day and most
of the month of September schnozz-bunting
his peanut along the sidewalks of London.
Eric
Dowd
From
Queen's Park
One major result has been that the Tories
have dominated. They had governments
under premiers George Drew, Leslie Frost,
John Robarts and William Davis for 42
unbroken years up to 1985 and, after a
break, for another eight years under Mike
Harris and Ernie Eves until the October
election.
Not once in this lime did the Tories win a
majority of the voles cast. They won
because the votes against them were divided
between the Liberals and NDP.
Minorities in the Liberals and NDP
occasionally proposed the two parties merge
as they grew frustrated with the long years
of Tory rule.
But they failed, particularly because New
Democrats felt they had loo many
differences with the Liberals and many ol
their cherished policies would be submerged
in a party the Liberals would dominate.
The two parties were able to join only to
vole out the lories alter they lost their
majority under premier Frank Miller in 1985
and replace them by Liberals led by David
Peterson once when lhev committed
themselves in writing to implementing a
long list of NDP policies.
But the Liberals used this leg-tip to gain a
strong looting in government and (he NDP
would find it difficult to co-operate again
When he got there McGowan handed the
(other) nut over to an official along with a
letter asking Prime Minister Tony Blair to
accept it as payment in full for his student loan.
Yeah, that should work, Mark.
Sometimes the inspiration for oddball
pranks is decidedly spiritual. A Buddhist priest
in Japan by the name of Genshin Fujinami has
spent three months (actually, 100 consecutive
days) of each of the past seven years, rising at
midnight and running 18 miles, pausing 250
times along the way to pray.
And no Lycra body suits and Nike runners
for this marathon monk - he did it wearing
only a robe and straw sandals. Total distance
covered in seven years: 24,800 miles.
Fujinami's ordeal is. believe it or not. a
Japanese tradition dating back to 1885. In the
past century and a bit. hundreds of monks have
tried to duplicate Fujinami's feat. Only 46 have
made it.
What is it that drives people to such
behavioural extremes? A craving for fame in
many cases - but not always. Ashrita Furman,
the dean of goofy gambits, says, “The
Guinness Records are silly in and of
themselves, but they give me an opportunity to
meditate and learn things about myself, about
endurance.”
They can also teach you the importance of
doing your homework. Last month, a
Californian by the name of Jim Hager set a
world record for eating M&M candies with
chopsticks. He picked oft 115 of the slithery
little goodies in three minutes.
Alas, the judges at Guinness Record
disqualified Hager. The original record had
been set with Smarties.
McGuinty’s Liberals would gain if voters
could choose between only them and the
Tories, because New Democrats’ views are
closer to Liberals,’ despite many substantial
differences.
This is notwithstanding the fact NDP
activists dislike Liberals more be.cause they
see them as posing falsely as caring for the
poorer-off, while the Tories cater mainly to
the well-heeled but are at least honest about
it.
The NDP obtained an average 25 per cent
of votes for much of the past six decades and
after §ome leaner years increased to 15 per
cent in the recent election, and has been in
government in Ontario, something its
federal party never achieved.
The Liberals underlined their eagerness to
attract the NDP vote in the 1999 election,
when many voters were primarily motivated
by wanting to get rid of Harris. McGuinty
argued that only his parly had a chance of
beating Harris and a vote for the NDP would
be wasted.
McGuinty also will have noted that in
Ottawa, when opposed virtually only by
those on the right wing. Liberal govern
ments have high longevity. He may think he
could be premier lor life
Letter
THE EDU OR.
I hank you to including my letter to the
editor in your paper recently We have had
several new families interested in hosting a
child as a result
We appreciate yom continued support
Sincerely,
Lynn Dawe
Huron County /or Children of Chernobyl
Bonnie
i £
The short of it
A link to the past
For the past dozen years part of my job
has been to assign the various photc/ops
and stories. And it has been with
amusement that those covering these things
have noticed certain assignments going to the
same person year after year. It happens so
often, as a matter of fact, that when reporters
find themselves covering a regular happening
for the first time, they mention it.
However, with so many activities occurring
regularly in one of our communities, it’s rare
for a reporter who’s been working here any
length of time to find herself in one of those
communities for the first time.
Yet, that is exactly what happened the other
day, to, and I find this even more surprising,
me. Since first joining the staff of The Citizen
1 have logged many miles and seen many
places throughout the larger community of
northern Huron. After almost 15 years 1 was
sure Fd travelled every highway and county
road, as well as many dirt ones, from
Dungannon to Molesworth. Auburn to
Winthrop, and all points in between. I was
even pretty sure I’d been to this particular
place before, that is until I drove into it.
It was then it dawned that my memories of
St. Helens, come from the many pictures other
staff have taken of this quaint hamlet. For a
moment, and to my great amusement, 1 was a
little disoriented when 1 realized that 1 didn’t
know where I was going. But, let’s face it, no
one is going to stay lost long in St. Helens.
Taking a few minutes to look around me, I
was struck by the hamlet's rustic charm. And
that impression only went deeper as 1 entered
the newly-revitalized WI Hall. With stage-top
kitchen, cheery colours and wooden plank
walls, floors and ceiling, the building is a
treasure. Thankfully, a group of concerned
local citizens recognized that and worked
tirelessly to keep it from sinking,
It is a story typical of other hamlets in the
area. The history behind the community halls
alone makes them worth preserving. But it is
their role as the heart of the places in which
they sit, that makes them central to existence
there.
And in each community, from Auburn and
Londesborough, to Walton. Cranbrook and
Ethel, to Belgrave and St. Helens, the
importance given to maintaining this integral
part of the rural way of life, has prompted a
variety of rejuvenation projects, fundraising
efforts and promotions.
But the most important aspect of keeping
these buildings viable is usage. Locals loyally
rent them for family and social functions.
Boards and organizations responsible for
upkeep host euchres and dinners to bring
people in and cover costs. In a time when
volunteers are already stretched to the
maximum, they Find the hours necessary to
sustain their community halls.
Certainly, if the day came when it was no
longer feasible to keep the doors open, the
world would continue. There are other
facilities. But none have the distinct charm ol
these community halls. Like the one-room
schoolhouses, within the walls of which you
can still hear the chatter of children, these
places arc not just buildings.
As someone who enters inside them and
imagines couples gaily dancing while
musicians tinkle the ivories, pluck (he strings
and fiddle then hearts out on the bumble stage,
who imagines bo\ socials and Christmas
pageants it cheers me to see these links to a
simpler lime