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The Times Advocate, 2006-09-20, Page 44 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, September 20, 2006 ocna =CNA Editorial Opinion n = MISIM TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the Financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs. Canada Jim Beckett — Publisher Deb Lord – Production Manager Scott Nixon — Editor 4 Published by Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • 519-235-1331 Peter Winkler -General Manager, Southwestern Ontario Division EDITORIAL Haggling finally ends It's about time. The municipality's struggles to receive compensation for the mess that was the construction of the Exeter branch library are finally over. As you'll recall, the original contractor for the library, Pegdon Construction went into receivership halfway through construction on the Main Street building, resulting in the library sitting as a half -constructed, empty shell through the winter until a new contractor could be found to finish the project. In the meantime, costs went up and the municipality had to continue to pay rent to house the library in the old Canadian Tire building on Main Street until the new library was finished. To cover the increased costs, South Huron had to take out a $500,000 loan, on which it had to pay interest. The library eventually opened in November 2002, a year and a half late. What followed were four years of negotiating between the municipality and Guarantee Company of North America, the company that held the bond on the library. Guarantee disputed some of the damage claims South Huron was making in its quest for com- pensation. But it's finally settled. South Huron has received $475,000 from Guarantee and the library loan is final- ly paid off. It's money the municipality was rightly owed — after all, isn't that what insurance is for? Hopefully the book can finally be closed on this issue. Big changes? The new South Huron council could be radically dif- ferent from the one ratepayers have been accustomed to over the past several years. With Stephen Coun. Harvey Ratz's announcement Monday night that he won't seek re-election, council loses another voice of experience as Ratz's decision to retire follows earlier announcements that Mayor Rob Morley and Deputy Mayor Dave Urlin will not seek re- election. These are three voices who have a great deal of experience on municipal and county council. Those who fill their shoes will have a steep learning curve. We're already assured there will be a new mayor and deputy mayor in South Huron. With new candidates fil- ing their papers every week, there could be several other changes, too Nominations close at the end of September. About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on Holidays. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription sales (519) 235-1331 24-hour automated attendant (519) 235-1336 Fax number for all departments (519) 235-0766 Subscription Rates One year rate for addresses in Canada: $40+GST Two year rate for addresses in Canada: $72+GST One year rate for addresses outside Canada: $140 Call (519) 235-1331 to order a subscription. Supernova? I don't think so Some comments and observations need to be made in the wake of the final episode last week of "Rock Star: Supernova." I make it a personal policy to not watch any of these so-called "reality" television shows. First of all, they have nothing to do with reality, at least not any reality I've ever been associated with (being stranded on an island, eating worms, etc.). Secondly, the only reason the networks produce this drivel is because they are cheap to make — no annoying, talented actors to pay, just annoying, talentless "normal" people who crave attention. But last week as I was channel surfing, I came across the finale of this "Supernova" thing and decided to see who won (hey, I like watching a train wreck as much as the next person). The Canadian won. A Canadian also won the INXS cir- cus a few months ago, which means this country is pret- ty good at producing these fake rock stars. A couple of things — rock 'n' roll is sup- posed to be cool. Rockers are rebels and out- laws and they definitely shouldn't be running their own television shows in search of band members. Television is not cool. In fact, it's decidedly uncool. One of the reasons the best rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin, never appeared on U.S. television is that they were too cool for TV. They were also too busy making great albums, touring and engaging in a bizarre combination of obscene and lascivious behav- iour, most of which was illegal and should have seen them thrown in jail. That's rock `n' roll. That's the way rockers are supposed to be. Sorry, but the gang who make up "Supernova" aren't rockers and they aren't cool. They cashed those chips in as soon as they signed a contract with a television net- work. Hey Tommy Lee, you know what you are now? You're a corporate shill. You sell cereal, donuts and feminine hygiene products to the overfed masses of North America. Congratulations. Thanks for never giv- ing us the problem of confusing you with the words "artistic integrity." Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne? They're not musicians anymore, they're television per- sonalities. I'm not sure that's what they originally intended to be, but that's what they are now. Kind of sad when you think about it. How come you never see interesting, talented and intelligent musicians on these shows? Where's Neil Young's show? How about Tom Petty? Oh I forgot, they actually have artistic integrity and they still write good songs. They've continued to remain vital artists, unlike those mentioned above. And they're too ugly for televi- sion. Did Zeppelin replace drummer John Bonham when he died in 1980? No, they did the only sensible thing — they broke up because they knew the band would be a shadow of itself without him. The Who had a different philosophy, replacing Keith Moon with a less talented drummer, making some bad music, breaking up a few years later and then reuniting every few years to sing 35 year-old songs and make millions. When origi- nal bass player John Entwistle died a few years ago, it took The Who two days to replace him and start a new tour. A nice display of loyalty. They still call themselves The Who, even though there are only two original members. You can see them at the John Labatt Centre in London for about $150 a ticket. As for INXS, they were washed up when origi- nal singer Michael Hutchence was still alive; after he killed himself under somewhat questionable circumstances, they should have called it a day. Instead they decided to have their own TV show and choose a new singer. How middle of the road of them. The INXS show and the "Supernova" show have absolutely nothing to do with rock 'n' roll and everything to do with show business — there's a big difference between the two. When Supernova picked its winner last week, the rest of the band jumped on stage and they played one of their new songs, an abomination called "Be Yourself." I was able to tolerate about 30 seconds of it before I hit the mute button, walked over to my stereo and cranked up some Zeppelin. Real music by real musicians. What a concept. 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The Times -Advocate Team Publisher Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 EDITOR Scott Nixon ext. 105 REPORTERS Pat Bolen ext. 113 Nina Van Lieshout ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Elaine Chipchase ext. 102 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 103/114 Heather Bilcke ext. 103 Kelly Gackstetter ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Marg Pertschy ext. 111 Heather Clarke ext. 206