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- mn. mo Ie J ai 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, November 10, 1987 One Co Woman's View by Chris Carlisle David Stevens doesn't have to worry about thieves breaking in- to his house and slashing his art. He does, however, face the possibili- ty that they might boil it. Stevens paints on rice grains. As impossible as it seems, the [l- linois man can paint the Statue of Liberty on a single grain. But why would he want to? There's no understanding the human mind, but some of us just can't leave a challenge alone. Stevens first painted on a tiny rock because he was bored and like 'Mount Everest or whatever mountain that was, his wife's ceramic painting supplies were there. After his first rocky seascape, someone told him the day he could paint the Statue of Liberty on a grain of rice was the day he'd buy Stevens' art. A new career was launched. ( But it's a dangerous career. At least if vandals slash canvasses, there's a chance they can be restored. But how to restore a pot full of sticky, gooey rice where the colors have all run together into some king of unappetizing abstract"? You couldn't even eat it for fear of toxins. And should Stevens exhibit his wares in a studio, it would be a security nightmare. It's rather difficult to unobtrusively make off with a three by four-foot canvass from the wall, but what of a grain of rice? You could carry it out under your fingernail--especially the unmounted masterpieces. Just how do you mount a grain of rice anyway"? Onto the end of a telescope perhaps? His sales pitch could be just that--a free telescope with every purchase of rice art. : Imagine the horror if Stevens had mice in his house. How long would his masterpieces last if left lying around unprotected? When he announced his paintings were being gobbled up as fast as he could produce them, he probably wouldn't be kidding--or smiling. Never mind the mice, consider the family pets. Suppose a jar of finished rice grains was knocked over, spilling "canvasses" all over the kitchen floor. In a frantic scramble the hungry dog and cat would race to the scene. Before our valiant artist could retrieve his ~ work, half of it would be irreplaceably lost to the animals' stomachs. Trying to make a living painting grains of rice would be nothing but frustration. Picture a damp rainy day in a studio with a leaky roof. A customer wanders in to order a large "canvass," prepared to pay the premium price. Stevens works to get the delicate scene done as the rain stops, the sun comes out and the puddles in his studio disappear. All around him the air is drying out and lo and behold, so is his grain of rice which has just shrunk to a small. And what a dilemma the poor man would be in if the family in- come dried up too. The cupboards are bare and every last ounce of food in the house has been eaten--except the artists' little bag of blank rice canvasses. Do they boil up the last bag and eat or does he keep on painting, praying that success will come and he'll sell a grain before starvation wins? If they eat the rice, they have nothing and no hope left. If he paints the rice and it doesn't sell, it's inedible and they still starve. / But just think if the idea caught on. He's sold one grain for $30, although most of his work goes for $5 a grain. Think of the money to be made in a single pound of rice. (Turn to page 8) Letters Union leaders lose, not workers To The Editor Big union leaders should be ashamed of how they re opposing freer trade Bob White of the autoworkers, Shirley Carr of the CLL and Jeff Rose of the CUPE are all indulging in irresponsible scaremongering over the freer trade pact They make Chicken Little look like Rambo. They have no confidence in the creativity, entrepreneurial ability and capacity for hard work by (Canadians Big union leaders want Canada as a protectionist backwater where they can continue to collect their $1 6 billion in forced union dues each year. "The jobs of big union leaders are on the line. not those of workers. Dog control by-law (From page 5) post a sign I can be held liable if my dog hurts someone, who is trespass- Ing on our property, because | was aware my dog could post a potential threat. No dog is safe to a stranger. Peo- ple, and especially children should be taught by their parents not to ap- proach strange dogs or any animal for that matter. With respect to Councillor Christie's remark about children go- ing door-to-door, no child should be going door-to-door without adult accompaniment. As far as I am concerned it is more the people's fault, both owners and strangers, when a dog attacks someone. If your dog roams or you live in a densely populated area, yes, your dog should be confined. All [ am really trying to say is that the by-law will not necessarily solve the problem. I feel I am a responsible dog owner, but I have no intention of tying up my dog when he does not leave our property and the whole purpose of having him is to keep strangers away. Are we next going to fine cat owners if their cat ruins someone's roses" Sincerely, Maureen Hall Scugog Township - Ls] =m Viewpoint by John B. McClelland i (From page 5) significance of Remembrance Day. ~The letter contained a reference to the Rev. Col. John Foote B.C. Of course that should have read V.C., and V.C. stands for Victorian Cross, the highest award for gallantry in action. One reader phoned the office to say that the single typo detracted from the overall letter. I tend to agree. There are typos, and then there are typos. This was one of the latter. We also want to say sorry for a mix-up in the Greenbank news by Iva Phoenix last week. A paragraph was transposed and ended up out of context during the mechanical make-up of the page. Sorry about that one, too. It was one of those weeks. A Closing Thought: There are three things that can give any young man or woman a running start in this competitive world ---- good manners, good speech, the habit of reading. The humblest home can assure these; the costliest school cannot. These left-wing, big union leaders want government to be able to 14x more, spend more and regulate more without facing competit)ye pressures. What is most shameful about the opposition to freer trade by big union leaders 1s that theyre not even representing the view of workers who are forced to pay union dues to them. A recent national poll by Globe/Environics found that 46 per cent of union members supported freer trade while only 38 per cent op- posed it. Yet Bob White spent $400,000 of the forced dues of workers in dou: ble page ads across the country op- posing freer trade. Bob White's spending spree is a good example of why Merv Lavigne launched a constitutional court challenge to the use of forced union dues for political parties and causes. Bob White and other big union leaders are violating the basic political freedoms of hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers by using forced union dues in this way. For these workers' sakes, we hope that Merv Lavigne is successful in stopping this repugnant practice. Sincerely, David Somerville - President National Citizens Coalition Act of cruelty To The Editor: I live in a small community where most of the people are warm, friend- ly and caring. Some of the joys of living here are the country at- mosphere, the friendly people and the closeness to nature, which brings me to the reason I am writing this letter. It seems that one of our most re- cent town members is not very car- ing and downright sadistic. Back in the spring a man from our town found two baby Canada Geese aban- (Turn to page 8) Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten A BALANCING ACT There are very many interesting aspects to the newspaper business, but there are also some jobs which are not so pleasant. : One of these jobs, is to attend and report on a family tragedy, and in the past couple of weeks, I have been called on to attend two fires. In both cases, no one was injured, but the thought of being there to report on the incident as family members watch their hopes and dreams for the future going up in smoke does not make me feel too good. I guess I would have no chance to work for a big city daily paper, where the most important thing is to 'get the scoop,' and beat your competition to the story. Reading reports in the dailies, when families have lost loved ones in accidents, fires, murders, always makes me wonder if the reporters have any conscience, or feelings towards the victims as they scrape and probe for the most intimate detail to make "their" story the best. I've been to many fires in the past 20 years, some of them ending in tragedy, as a loved one dies in the blaze, and others were only material goods are lost. In both cases, the loss is tremendously difficult for the families, and for them to see a photographer or reporter standing by taking pictures, and asking questions while their property is going up in flames must be hard for them to understand. : But unfortunately, it is the job of the communi- ty newspaper to report the news, whether it be good or bad, for those happenings are a part of the history of the area. At the Star, we try very hard to make sure we do not present a picture of '"'doom and gloom' each week when the paper rolls off the press, and I feel we achieve a good balance in our news reporting. We are happy to cover the cultural activities, the successes of our school kids in basketball, hockey, literature, science and track and field; the cheque donations to many worthwhile causes; the bazaars. the festivals, new business openings etc. These are all "good" news stories that are of interest to everyone living in our community. But unfortunately, there are also the tragedies, and if we did not report these things, we would be accused by our readers of "'not doing our job," and they would be right. So it takes a gentle balancing act by the newspaper to include items of interest to all segments of the community. We know it must be dif- ficult for those families who are in the midst of a tragedy, but we attempt to handle each incident with as much compassion and feeling as possible. Our aim is not to play on the misfortunes of others, but to provide the essential and true details of the incident, thus avoiding rumours and untruths. There's a familiar saying, 'it's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it," and this is probably as true as any when it comes to the job of reporting tragedies. THE ULTIMATE SIN ['ve been committing the ultimate sin this past few weeks ...... teaching my daughter to drive! Although she has been driving (with her begin- ner's licence) for over a year, it was only recently she decided to take her driving test. She asked me if I would help her with her driving, and if she could use Nancy's car because it was automatic. Of course we answered, yes! So for the past month, at least once a week, Jan- nine and [ have been heading out for a driving ses- sion. There really wasn't much for me to teach her, although we did spend quite a bit of time learning to parallel park. Last Friday was the big day, and guess what" That's right, the first snowfall of the season covered the roads with a white, slippery blanket. (Turn to page 8) ow im fc