Times Advocate, 1993-08-04, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, August 4,1993
Publisher: J m Beckett
News Editor. --A-01en *lane
Business t 1111ger: Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord
Publication Melt Registration Number 0386
$11132 .`RIPTION RATES: CANADA
6111111 1w40 miles (e5 km.) addressed
to non iettsraldner addresses $30.00 plus $2.1.0 O.S.T.
Outside 40 miles (85 kin.) or anyietter savvier address
$30.00 pins $30.00 (total 60.00) + 4.20 O.S.T.
Outside Canada $68.00
Robbing Peter, paying Paul
is a bitter pill to swallow for
many public service employees.
Sure, they'll tell you they may be
earning more than they would if they
were in a similar private sector job.
They may joke about how in the old
days, ;one *entered the public service to
suffer a fewzyears and:get enough expe-
rience -to: getout into a more profitable
business. Nowadays, one works ..in the
private: sector until you canget a "good
job With the :government."
This Social Contract may be changing
all that. NotVonly!are :mit ypublic °em-
ployees facing down a 'very -real cut in
pay, butthat -paycheque has little
chancelof increasing :overhe ?text few
years.
Whether anyone considers them over-
paid zor not, they've still-: signed. o -
gages, bought _cars, =and .set up a life-
style they now Shave to afford on one
twentieth less:pay - and it won'tgetany
better-until.atleast 1996.
• But: the goverrunent'sincdebt, you say.
The .deficit won't go 'away 'by -itself.
Reslraint•:isiihe key to: An .economic re-
covery. And -the Science Centre .des-
perateiy :needs a mew theatre.
W:hat,.a new theatre? Yes, .according
to Premier Bob Rae's speech :on July 7
.at the ifelladicligel Gallery, Social.Con-
bslet funds will be going to ;help up-
grade the science centre, at a cost of
about $7.5 million.
"And we're - ceding a new IMAX
theatre for The `Science Centre, and a
wonderful= tw -addition to the Science
Centre, which will be the most 'signifi-
cant capital addition in the last 25
years," Rae told :his audience.
"And we're able to do these things, and
I say this in the presence of many public
sector employees who are -here, we are
able to do these things because we have
been asking and been seeking .and
achieving a -sense of restraint from peo-
ple Who -are working in the ppttblic.,sec-
tor."
What :happened to deficit reduction?
This pastweek - wehave -also seen out
local MPPs proudly announce vast .sums
of money *o support a. newisewer pipe-
. line in _Exeter,-Tenovations 'to the Duron,
Country P.lay►house, a -pool house tin .Lu -
:can. Other ,such is . are
=blazing across the province as part of a
'mew job creation scheme that will once
-againput-money in the hands of civil en-
gineeratuid:cruthsctors.
Some snayillaud-.this .program to get
money ut ntO*heprivateaectDr - build
things, put peopleo.work,heys!e.
.But the timing ins -a little...ill-
advised, given the sacrifices being asked
-of 'the public service at this .particular
time.
A.D.H.
The zucchini explosion - Part 2 of
Last- week I told you what the
zu, hini explosion has done .to
us a. td for us. Here are a few of
my readers' responses and reci-
pes, for you to try out and enjoy.
Good luck, and as usual: no
guarantees!
From Kay Raddysh in Toronto
came this charming letter:
"I make a whole lot of differ-
ent zucchini fruit loaves, and
they're O.K. But my zucchini
and parmesan souffle is lovely
and delicious. This year I've
also made zucchini marmalade
with oranges and lemons, sugar
and Certo. And a mixed jam
with zucchini, peaches, pears,
pineapple and strawberries, sug-
ar crystals and Certo. I don't •
cook by measurements, I just
use my judgement all the time.
Hope this will help you to get
rid of your overload."
Bertha Crowe in Davidson,
Sask., writes:
"Our young generation is
spoiled, eating a lot of junk
food, and our nature foods don't
appeal. So we have to have
methods. The kids tum their
noses at zucchini, so I fool
them. I put zucchini in every-
thing, even in their skhocolate
cake. They don't know The dif-
ference. They eat it all and say
it's their favourite."
From Nettie Apthorp in Blen-
heim, Ontario:
Zucchini -Spaghetti Soup
3 medium onions, minced; 3
garlic cloves, minced; 3/4 cup
olive oil, 5 pounds small zucchj
ni, thinly sliced; 3 tomatoes,
peeled and chopped; 2 table-
spoons basil, salt and pepper, 3
cups vegetable stock or chicken
broth:. 2 pounds uncooked spa-
ghetti.
Saute onion and garlic in olive
oil in a big saucepan. Add zuc-
chini rounds, tomato, season-
ings, and stock. Cover and sim-
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Hessel
mer over low heat for 2 hours.
Add short lengths of spaghetti
and continue simmering another
10 min. Serves 12.
From Martha Friederic of Ar-
borg, Man. come(, this practical
advice:
"My suggestion to this zucchi-
ni epidemic is simply to split
the clubs lengthwise and lay
them outdoors to dry. By the
time the snow flies, you will
have first-class logs to bum in
your fireplace. Make sure the
•rain doesn't touch them, as that
usually spells disaster and is not
very pleasant to one's nostrils."
Another westerner, Paulette
Bedard in Dauphin, Man.
writes:
"Being a farmer's wife, I grow
them, but usually feed them to
the livestock once hay feeding
starts with no available green
grass to be had, otherwise they
won't eat them. My poultry,
once housed, will eagerly de-
vour the seeds and fleshy parts.
By the way, you can remove the
fleshy parts first before drying
the shells. The inner flesh
makes good fertilizer when dug
under ie the garden in the fall (to
grow more zucchini)."
I am grateful to Marguerite
Mills in Perth Ont. for this reci-
pe:
Zucchini pickles
(lots of them)
Combine 30 cups thinly sliced
zucchini, 6 cups sliced onions in
large bowl or pail. Add 18 cups
water (or simply attach hose),
and 1 cup pickling salt. Let stand
for 3 hours. Add 3 cups white
sugar, 3 teaspoons celery seed, 3
teaspoons mustard seed, 3 tea-
spoons turmeric, 1 teaspoon dry
mustard. Bring it all to a boil in
the largest saucepan or kettle
you can find and let it stand for
another hour. Then bring to a
boil and let it boil for 5 minutes
or more. Pack into all the steril-
ized jars you can find an seal.
PS: If you still have more zuc-
chini, do it all over again, but
this time triple the recipe."
Other suggestions and recipes
I receivefi included everything
from zucchini muffins to zucchi-
ni ice creast, from zucchini
quiche •to zucchini shrimp su-
preme.
Which proves how resourceful
we Canadians are. When we're
half frozen to death and buried
under huge snow drifts, we say:
"Eh?" andrganize a winter car-
nival. Whr1n we're buried under
an avalanche of zucchini, we
say: "Eh?" and pickle them or
feed them to the cows. Which
confirms my belief that this na-
tion is going to survive no mat-
ter what. And on that hopeful
note, my friends, I'll leave you
till next week.
Speak out!
Letters to tit'; editor
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sir
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macauley
Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St.,
Exeter, Ontario, NOM 138 by J.W. Eedyr Publications Ltd.
Telephone 13i3235.1331
Q.S.T. RR1o521oess
The drawing room arts
This would fall under the
"whatever happened to..." cate-
gory, but I have to admit I've
been troubled by it from time to
time.
Whenever reading literature of
bygone eras, particularly when I
was in school studying such eso-
teric things as Late Restoration
comedies, I would continually
be reminded that women used to
faint, often.
Why don't women do that any-
more - or . perhaps more to the
point, why did they ever do it at
all?
I've asked around and I've
been told many things. I even
understand a women's magazine
a few months ago even ran an
article on theawbject, without
drawing any conclusions.
I reached some conclusions on
my own, but I doubt if there are
any concrete answers.
When I speak of fainting, I
don't just refer to the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuriett
when sickly people were passed
off as upper society. When no
one faced life with any medicine
as good as an aspirin, ,and the
only remedies usually involved
leeches or mercury. I under-
stand wtmen frequently fainted
right up into this century. I'm
told that at screenings of the
1925 version of The Phantom of
the Opera, women would actual-
ly swoon at the sight of the
Phantom's unmasked facc.
When I watched a tyrannosaur
munch on a human being in Ju-
rassic Park a few weeks ago, I
don't think anyone passed out;
Hold that
thought...
By
Adrian Harte
and I'd be willing to bet that
scene was a lot more scary and
realistic than any spooky make-
up a black and white silent film
could offer. Are we just tough,
jaded, hardened folk of the late
20th century? Is nothing on the
silver screen capable of making
us go weak at the knees? Is the
viewing experience not as in-
tense as it was in the 1920s?
There's more to it than that, no
doubt. I've been offered some
medical reasons why women
don't faint anymore. Doubtless
women, and men, are able to be
healthier than they've ever been
before.
Then there's corsets. I can
only imagine, but I would guess
that rearranging one's innards
with a silk and bone straight-
jacket would make one a little
1 lightheaded for a good part of
the day.
Butthen again, we can't ignore
one obvious conclusion: that
most swooning was contrived.
Flopping onto the floor, back of
the hand held to the forehead,
was a good way of getting atten-
tion, or diverting attention from
elsewhere. Known as "the
drawing room arts", women
teamed how to politely insult
their hostesses, and how to stra-
tegically faint.
If a conversation was heading
for an unseemly revelation, or if
someone was about to ask a
question that should go unan-
swered, a young woman could
"faint", putting a quick stop to
the conversation.
What fun. How much more
elegant than telling someone to
go away, or mind their own
business. And no.doubt it rein-
forced all notions about a young
woman being a delicate young
thing.
That may be the best reason
for why fainting is a lost art: it
is no longer needed. That
doesn't necessarily mean our
culture is all grown up, and we
have abandoned all stupid social
mannerisms.
I mean, what would future
generatic think of us if all that
survived u's were our beer com-
mercials?
Sick of political views
Dear Editor:
For the very fust time I am in
agreement with Mr. Gibson .(Re:
I my 28, 1993) when he says
th E. Greb wrote a very good
et- nd "blasted" him. Unfortu-
nately. Mr. Gibson still doesn't
m to get the picture and Ms.
reb was too polite to spec it out
or him. Well I'm not so polite so
I'll make it very plain.
It is very nide to call Mr. Rae,
"Boy Scout Bob and Mr. Peterson,
".mumbles" and
to make fun of
the way Mr.
Chretien speaks,
"dese, dem modal)
dose" is nothing
short of raeiat prej-
udice, something the goverment
you support Mr. Gibson has spent a
lot of money trying to wipe out.
If Mr. Gibatm mast spread his
partioular brand of propaganda he
should get a aopp box And stand on
a corner where be won't have a
captive audience. Thank God we
don't all think like Mr. Gibson nor
do we vote like him.
Perbsips the bottom line is that if
you can't say anything good about
those people, Mr. Gibson, then
don't say anything at alt because
quite frankly, Mr Gibson, a lot of
us are sick of your political views.
Yours sincerely,
FranRitchie.