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Driving in Portugal is like the wild west of Europe. After eight days behind the wheel of a rental car, there are no highway laws that I saw being observed except two. Driving in Portugal is like the Wild West of Europe Everyone should go to Portugal. It's a beautiful and colorful country whose people are honest, placid and cordial. Plus you get to drive like a maniac and nobody even notices. While I was there, Lisbon made seat belts cbmpulsory and if you’ve ever seen the way taxi drivers tear around that city you‘ll know this law will have the same effect as tougher gun laws in Bosnia. l. O ultimo a chegar e um ovo mole which translated means last one there is a rotten egg! 2. Beep twice and you can do anything your creative and criminal mind desires. A stop sign in Portugal means take your foot off the accelerator until you‘re through the intersec- tion. Speed limit signs are strictly adhered to by horse-drawn vehicles and motorcycles with more than one family on board. And a yield sign is like the green flag in racing, it begins the Machismo 500 (A Portuguese man will yield to anoth- er driver but only if that other driver is armed and has his siren on.) Passing on hills is okay. Passing a car on the right is always a real surprise for the guy in the rental car. Passing on curves is fine provided that if you are the operator of the vehicle which careens off the edge and over the cliff you must present your passport upon landing in Spain. Passing a car a short distance hom an oncoming truck is popular and apparently permitted as long as you remember to beep twice. Just so we're clear on this, in Spanish bullfighting they kill the bull but In Portugal they only tor- ture the postmaster with a cattle prod. Portuguese conneio means post office. After watching a thousand peo- ple drop letters through a slot, I though that if the Portuguese con- sidered this a sport, in a few years they'd probably all be curling. have Just returned from a holi- Iday in Portugal. a country that . offers up the most boring bull- fights in all the world. At least I thought they did. I must have sat in that building for four hours with no action whatsoever until it was explained to me that corrida means bullfight in Spanish and in . COMMENT REGULAR TRANSIT, CARE4WAhl 8 COMMUNITY BUS SERV|CES NO TRANSIT SERVICE ON MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 1993 t=czzz=z===== The staff at Oakville Transit Wishes Everyone A Safe Weekend! W. Aldusrmams, Manager of Travel: ttpttratahms Odwile Transit, 480 Wyn-oh: Road For the tourist in Portugal CALENDAR OF TOWN HALL MEETINGS COUNCIL tl STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS Wednesday, July 28, 1993 HOLIDAY SERVICE SCHEDULE Special Meeting of Council 7:30 p.m. Council Chambers Re: The Social Contract (a portion of this meeting might be in-camera) 'drgt'i5' Oakville Transit 81 5-2020 SEE "Beep! Beep!" from behind signi- fies the beginning of the chase scene in Bullit. You veer to the right shoulder, the oncoming truck veers to his right shoulder and the passing vehicle screams by on that part of the road we in Canada know as the double white line. I'm only making some of this up. Last year with 2,455 deaths and 70,600 injuries caused by car acci- dents, Portugal leads Europe in these categories by so much, other countries would have to include possum and raccoons just to catch up. Seriously, if this ever becomes an Olympic event, the only compe- tition Portuguese drivers will have are Japanese Kamikaze pilots. As I read those statistics, I had to keep reminding myself that this is a country that doesn't get ice or snow. In Portugal. the road Runner is not a fictional cartoon character. it's a model for driving excellence. And all this wouldn't be half as bad if the roads were two lane high- ways instead of paved-over oxen paths tiered on the side of moun- tains. 1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD . OAKVILLE, ONTARIO . Uhl 5A6 All the world's TOWN OF OAKVILLE 845-6601 HOLIDAY GARBAGE COLLECTION There will be no garbage collection on Monday, August 2, 1993 Monday, August 2 Tuesday, August 3 Wednesday, August 4 Thursday, August 5 Friday, August 6 Ngrmgl Pigk-un Hgligay Btptigitttd Pigk Tuesday,August9, 1993 Tuesday, August?, 1993 Wednesday. Aug_u_st 4, 1983. Garbage must be placed at the roadside by 7:00 a.m. PUD lot of trouble distinguishing between the green and red sides on his sign. Unfortunately a speeding motorcycle had been waved through by the flagman at the other end. He could go onto the shoulder but in Portugal - this is a dishonor to the family, most of who are already mourning other drivers. I had nowhere to go but onto a fresh layer of tar that hadn't been rolled. There we were hurtling directly toward each other, The game was pollo (chicken). He was a typical Portuguese drive (Randy The Macho Man Savage) and I was rep- resenting Canada (James Dean with a nose the color of my little Maple Leaf Pin). I won't tell you who chickened out. I will however tell you that if you rent a black Fiat Uno from Eurocar at the airport in Lisbon, the one that has a lot of tar still rattling around in the wheel wells - the shocks are shot to hell! (Another problem of Portuguese drivers is that many of them are very short and stocky and they can't see over the steering wheel. Not all Portuguese men are short. In fact some Portuguese men are very tall and muscular and it's to these guys I prefer you didn't show this col- umn. Thank you.) Administrative Services Committee 7:30 pm. Bronte Room C6mmunity Services Com 7:30 p.m. Oakville Room Planning & Development/Council 7:30 p.m. Council Chamber CH. Ellis, P.Eng., Director of Public Works Tuesday, August 3 Wednesday, August 4 Thursday, August 5 Friday, August 6 Saturday, August 7 DI mmmee THE OAKVILLF, BEAVER -Un OAKVILLE CLARIFIES ITS POSITION ON EMPLOYEE AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION July " 1983 Oakville is proud of its history of working in consultation with all of its employees and the Public to provide quality service to the community. You will have undoubtedly heard much lately on the status of Social Contract negotiations and the role which the Association of Municipalities (A.M.O.) has been playing on behalf of all Ontario municipalities. On July 13, 1993, the Association of Municipalities (A.M.O.) passed a resolution containing amendments to the recent NDP proposal for a "municipal sector framework plan". The AMO resolution addressed amendments in three areas; further reductions to fiscal targets for municipalities and improvements in financial conditions; preservation of management rights and council control and the maintenance of local decision- making autonomy. In order to ensure there is no misunderstanding, the Town of Oakville would like to clarify its position on management rights and council control. We believe that the current structure existing in Oakville local government is appropriate and does provide the opportunities for all employees, union groups and the Public to contribute their ideas and suggestions on any matter relating to Town business. Ultimately, the decision as to what action is to be taken on them rests with Council, your elected representatives. We will continue to encourage on-going co-operation and participation from our staff, both union and non-union, in working with Council and senior management to find solutions to problems and to make the Town's operation more efficient and thereby reduce costs. Just recently, a special Task Force comprised of union members, management staff and Councillors, generated more than 60 suggestions to improve our operation and save money. These suggestions were approved by Council; a number have been implemented and m.o.re will be implemented in the near future. Community input is always welcome, with a special emphasis from the public, Town staff and Union groups as part of the Town budget process. These suggestions are considered by the Budget Committee and Council, in approving the final budget each year. In conclusion, the Town of Oakville believes that the current interactive approach to consultation provides the proper framework to have adequate input from union, staff, ratepayer groups and residents before any decision is made by Council. In Oakville, this process IS working well. Ann Mulvale, MAYOR _ '/ hen it comes to art, Niil' everyone likes to gripe. Just look at the recent acquisition by the National Gallery of Canada of the Mark Rothko painting. Now, anyone who has ever gazed with wonder at the sheer luminosity of a Rothko painting wouldn't think of questioning the purchase, much less the painting itself. A Rothko painting shines like few others I can think of. When the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo had its excellent Abstract Expressionism exhibit a few years ago, there was Rothko front and centre. And, against the backdrop of the others of his time who blew the world away in the 1950s with their fabulous stuff - like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffman, Arshile Gorky and the like - the Rothko works stood out. They were mag- niricent. His works have always been large and loose... they have a constant sense of movement. of depth and color. And when he Rothko painting a bargain at any price "ttrr- even $1.8-M . - . --.-"---------------.-..-.----.--..------ _______‘ - v â€"-â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"_â€"hâ€"'â€"_â€"_â€"_â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"~‘â€"__J was painting in that exciting time of American painting in the 1950s, there were few to match him. In fact, no one was doing the things he was attempting to do at that time. So, should we not embrace the fact we have our own Rothko painting in the national art gallery? Should we not feel grateful that we have people in Ottawa with the foresight and the courage to take on the critics and the moaners and just buy what they believe to be a painting of importance? The role of a national art gallery should not be to purchase only 'safe' art... the kind of rep- resentational stuff that may be more easily understood, but per- haps not be so lasting or filled with such impact. There is something about a PARTY CRUISES ALSO AVAILABLE _IALL DAN 333-3675 11L?'fULLY EQUIPPED BOAT H. E. Henderson, TOWN MANAGER ates for GrouEs of l-50l Rothko painting that stays with you long after you have seen it on the walls in a gallery. And for a painting to have that sort of impact, it is well worth the ticket price. Now, I suppose if they were buying that now-famous urinal by old what's his name, I wouldn't have the same enthusi- asm. To be sure, some of what goes by the name of contempo- rary art is downright dreary and just plain awful. But Rothko can open up the doors to appreciate a whole new world of art in'the time of an exciting art movement down in the States, At the time, it took the world by surprise. So we should be equally filled with wonder and surprise that we are fortunate to have acquired it. Be thankful. We'll actually have some good art to look at in a few years. We won't be known as some provincial backwater willing only to invest in mediocre talent - we went a little bit further to acquire a painting of shining luminosity and real worth. by Steve Nease