Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Merlo's Clear-cut Update
Well... There isn't one.
Beyond these snapshots.
No answers, no 'additional information'...nuthin'.
More than two months since the first limbs were sawed off the trees in preparation for the clear-cutting, it remains a mystery. I sure don't see what was suggested in Mr. Merlo's 'explanation' way back when:
When asked about the bulldozers that have been spotted on the property, Merlo said he is simply “leveling off” the land to make it look neater.
“There used to be a cherry orchard there and we had let it grow over,” he said. “We’re just clearing out the underbrush so that we can seed that land and mow it.”
An increasingly forgotten, growing-over mystery.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
I'm not even going to bother sending this to the Editor at The Stoney Creek News
Culled from the July 1, 2010 edition of the Stoney Creek News:
Seriously, Message to G8/G20 protestors
Was it just me, or did anyone else notice the majority of protestors at last week's G8/G20 summit were in their early to mid-20s?
Oh, to be 25 again, and have all the answers and wisdom to know what's right and wrong.
Ten years from now, as they sit on the back deck of a postage stamp house in suburbia, with a volvo station wagon parked out front and their children glued to their X-box, I hope they all come back and tell us how bad our democracy and capitalist economy works.
So. It would seem that the Stoney Creek News is branching out. Trying something new. (Not because it's perfected what it does, mind you. That notion is just plain...silly.)
Specifically, that Managing Editor Mark Cripps -the Group Managing Editor for all the area Metroland publications- has taken up...
...satire.
I have to assume it's satire. Otherwise, I'd have to regard this bit in his latest edition of 'Tales From The Crypt' as being the most ludicrous, the most farcical, egregiously condescending, the least professional -never mind ineffective- bit of soapboxing I've read so far in 2010.
But assuming for a moment that Mr. Cripps has not undertaken a stylistic morph into a satirical state of mind, even when the bit in question is tagged onto a 'humourous' piece, then there's a few things I'm compelled to say:
1) Mark, you're sounding OLD. Didn't you recently turn 40? How come you sound 60?
2) Are you painting ALL protestors with the same brush here? If so, are we going to retroactively paint the 60s Vietnam War protestors this way? The civil rights protestors of the same era? What about the current batch of protestors in Iran? See, I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt, assume that satire was indeed your intent, because I know you realize that most protestors, no matter what era we're talking, no matter what geographical location being examined, have youth on their side. Without getting into this too deeply, I'm sure you realize that most 'older' people get too bogged-down in their own lives to be able to think outside paradigms and conventions, never mind the proverbial box, never mind being able to conceive of aligning themselves with even the suggestion of the notion of dissent. (Still, I have to ask: When was the last time you felt impassioned about something that veered from the path of least resistance? And no, your current travails with backyard bunnies don't count.)
3) Of course, by the same sarcastic token used to dismiss all of these 'youthful' protestors and their 'wisdom'...does this mean that everyone else in fact has all the wisdom, possesses all the answers? You know; your generation, mine, our parents'...? By extension, does this mean that we've actually gotten it all right, to the extent that there's no need for a discouraging word to be whispered, let alone declared via a bullhorn?
Seriously, Mark. Seriously.
Letter to the Editor, Stoney Creek News: Mark Cripps' Column
For the second time in recent memory, Managing Editor Cripps has gone off on car flags. Specifically where the World Cup is concerned. "As I’ve stated before, I hate those car flags. It drives me nuts that people are so proud to fly the flag of another country over our own Maple Leaf. Last week after Serbia won a match against Germany, while historic, Hwy. 8 in Stoney Creek became a sea of Pan-Slavic colour. I don’t remember seeing the same parade when Canada won Olympic gold in hockey."
Or, as he stated back on May 20: "The one thing that really bugs me about the World Cup is how some people in Canada all of a sudden become residents of another country."
Though Mr. Cripps' version of 'whiny' has its admirable aspects going for it, I don't think it's quite becoming a person his size, his age, or his gender. Nevertheless, what he's been venting over did resonate with me.
Back in 1982, I was still living in Stoney Creek. And I remember distinctly my reaction to hearing the blaring car horns, listening to the cheers from vehicles as they sped by on King Street, the raucousness of the Italian community when they beat Germany 3-1 for the championship: I was incensed.
It ticked me off enormously that these so-called 'Canadians' were so jubilantly -and so clearly without a mute button- broadcasting their love of mother-country. In fact, I can still recall the invectives I muttered only loud enough for me to hear.
Two decades later, I was working in London, England during the 2002 World Cup. And I think that it was during this month-or-so that my feelings about 'pride of nationality' changed. (My views changed a lot on identity while I was living in the UK, but that's for another time.) In a word, my stance softened dramatically.
I remember when Cameroon accomplished their lone win of the tournament, how Oxford Street was filled with green, red and yellow flags, the sound of whistles being blown, horns being honked, everyone, not just those from Cameroon, joining in the celebrations. (Well, maybe not the Saudi fans; the score had been 1-0.)
I also recall the spirit of the city the rest of the month, how even as England struggled, even after it had been knocked out, it could be described as 'joyous'.
Maybe Mr. Cripps doesn't grasp that there are two things going on here with the World Cup. The first is, obviously, a gathering of teams from thirty-two countries. But more importantly...and this is where his hockey comparison takes as bad a stumble as some of the best thespian efforts on the pitch...it's a football (read that: 'soccer') competition. So we're talking a global language. Unlike ice hockey, which is at best, an esoteric tongue in comparison.
As much as I'm a proud Canuck, I recognize the limited appeal of our national winter sport. So I don't expect all Canadians, especially someone who has no innate affinity for the game, to express what Mr. Cripps is expecting them to when Team Canada is playing. I learned this first-hand; I supported 'The Three Lions' in English pubs with co-workers for World Cups in both football and rugby, but I never pretended to feel as impassioned as my hosts did. (Even though I'm only one generation removed from being British, and there's a town in England bearing my name.) Expecting for hockey the same reaction and level of enthusiasm from 'non-native Canadians' as they manifest for football is, at best, naïve. (I have to ask: Have you lived anywhere other than Canada, Mr. Cripps?)
Some years back, a Canadian waited dockside for a US Navy ship to come into the Norfolk, Virginia shipyards at the conclusion of a deployment. His wife was on board, an officer. And while all manner of boisterousness was going on about him...flags, air-horns, the works...this gentleman was awaiting the ship in his own quiet, inimitable way. Well, eventually, he was approached by someone, someone who also had a family member arriving. "Hey! Why aren't you making any noise? You should be making some noise! Come on; show some respect!"
Mr. Cripps, that's who you've reminded me of on both occasions you've chosen to step up onto your bully pulpit and declaim as to how Canadians 'should' be behaving.
So my wish to you is for some opportunities to 'soften'. I'm sure you have it in you; just don't try quite so hard, OK?
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