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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11. 1986 PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mir:d of man." - Thomas Jefferson Advise and Dissent Shadow puppets rekindle [EXPQL.' child-like wonder by BiW Bramah in a topsy-turvy complex world it's sometimes hard to reawaken the-child within us. To recapture the delight and surprise children feel when they see something that captures their Imagination. I watched a group of wlde-eyed chlldren visting the Puppet Centre in Willowdale. They were squealing in admiration at some of the 500 or so puppets that pack the place. And they had something to squeal about. These weren't your ordinary run-of-the-mill puppets. There were shadow puppets from China, a magic monkey from Indonesia, a puppet from Nepal with five faces. There were puppets everywhere - some of them more than 300 hundred years old. Some of them 10 feet hightl The Centre is a Museum started in 1981 by the Puppetry Association. There are a couple of hun- dred members who live In varlous parts of the province, and some of the more unusual puppets are on loan from Individual members. The children's tour guide was Nancy Kyle, director of the Centre. In simple terms she was giving her 5 and 6-year-old guests something of the history of the anclent puppets. I don't thInk they heard a word she said. They would interrupt frequently pointing at the puppets and laughing with glee as their teachers tried In vain to hush them up. 1 shared their feelings, but was also interested In hearing about such things as an 18th Century Punch and Judy, a ferocious looking bear and a larger-than-life size Mrs. Perlwinkle sitting on a toadstool. Then we all moved into what's called the "han- ds-on room" where rules and regulations are forgotten. Several small puppets were scattered around the floor and the children dashed to them eagerly. Some of the older ones put on an impromptu performance at a puppet stage set up over a cor- ner. Nancy was saying the TV has greatly Increased the popularity of puppets, and some old TV favorites now make their home In the Centre. Rusty and Jerome from the Friendly Giant are there, as well as *Howard the Turtle from Razzie Dazzle, and Fitzgerald Fleldmouse from Maggle Muggins. The Puppet Centre Is the only museum of Its kind In Canada, and gives you a glimpse of the craftsmanship and ingenuity of mankind down through the centuries. It's another of those interesting nooks and crannies around Ontarlo that few people seem to know about. THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell Mike returns in two weeks WITH OUR FEET UP 0f yuppies I speak, and the world left in ashes in their wake. I sing of a generation born in numbers too great to bear, into a world not ready for them. Of a generation once lost and then found again by market researchers: Baby Boomers. But first, in a peculiar twist of logic, let me talk about yuppies. The term stands for Young Urban Professionals. Thus, yup and yuppy. It is a term that could have been coined only by a yuppy itself. (Note: not him- self or herself, since the whole concept is both unisexual and asexual if not bisexual.) (When I first heard the term yuppies I thought it referred to a new line of pet food - say, like Puppy's Yuppies. Or a new brand of shoes, say an advanced space-age version of Hush Puppies.) But no. By classic definition, a Yuppy could be anybody under the age of 35 who is or aspires to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer (if female), or a stock broker. Especially a stock broker. You can tell Yuppies by their brass mail boxes, their brass wall plug plates, their brass plant hangers, and their brass brain plates. A real Yuppy has her/his first Visa card bronzed. The next marketing venture aimed at this group, by the way, will be brass charge and credit cards. Another hallmark of the Yuppy - or aspirant - is wicker. Wicker furniture, wicker plant holders, wicker baskets, wicker wall hangings. And wicker minds. The sheer genius of the wicker marketing in- dustry has been due to the inherent qualities of both Yuppies and wicker. Yuppies love quaint specialty stores and trends and would rather throw wicker away rather than dust it. The answer, then, is to buy new wicker - which in turn will collect dust and be given the heave-ho. Any understanding of the Yuppy phenomenon, however, requires a dissertation on the whole generation known as the "Baby Boomers". This is the generation that destroyed North America. The Yuppy is simply the distillate of the worst/best of a disposable generation. To wit: after good ol' World War II, soldiers came home to wives and girlfriends. Historians are not exActly.surgwhat ity's theylpred,\hie aWyin Europe or whereyer, but they continued to do it in spades when they arrived home. At the same time the government introduced production bonuses called the Baby Bonus. This Baby Boom lasted for 24 years. This caused a big bulge in population graphs of the time, much like a big frog swallowed by an ambitious snake. Due to their numbers, Baby Boomers destroyed every institution in society of the time. First came the hospitals. Maternity wards just weren't big enough. Babies were born on surgery wards, outpatients clinics and barber shops. Hospitals eventually caught on, and expanded, just about the time that the baby boom ended. For that reason, naternity floors now are empty and you can end up having an appendectomy in the delivery room. Next came the schools, and in succession, the whole education industry. Ten years into the boom, for example, the province of Ontario was so short of teachers that they took almost anybody- and often did. Many people who had been given social promotions out of Grade 12 were offered a six-week summer course. Thus qualified, 18-year-olds were sent out into the world to be principals in one-room schools. In turn the Baby Boomers destroyed elementary schools, high schools, universities, the job market, the housing market and going fufl circle, are now causing another delayed baby boom of their own, by producing, late in life, babies who will be placed in wicker bassinets. This generation gave us the sixties, flower children, herpes, sit-ins, protests, the peace movement, long hair (on guys), 17-year-old Earth mothers, pot and student loans. Faced with the humbling choice of getting a job or staying in school, increasing numbers of Baby Boomers decided to stay in school. Many emerged, years later, properly aged by student loans and pot, with a degree and a profession. Some were doctors. Some were lawyers. Those not smart enough to be either doctors or lawyers became stock brokers and took money from doctors and lawyers. They all became known as yuppies. All lived happily ever after, with wicker wives and brass hubcaps. Then they all got divorced and voted forBriln Mulroney.