6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday September 17, 2000 T h e Q a k v m e B eaver Ian Oliver, Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher N orm an A le x a n d e r , Editor Kelly M ontague, Advertising Director Steve Crazier, Circulation Director Te n C a s a s , Office Manager M ark Dills, Production Manager Riziero Vertoili, Photography Director M0tro*and Pnnting. Pubishng & Ostrtxjtng Ltd. ncJuctes: Ajax/Pickenng News A^ertser. Alston HaakSCtXfio; Barne AcKanca Banyfo Bay The Week Bolon Enterpnse. Brampton Guarden. Birington Post. Burington Shopprtg Naivs, City Parent. Coin^voodAAfasaga Connection. East "fork Mrror. Erin Artrecate/Courtry Routes. Etotxnke Guardan. Ramborouc^i Post, Georoetovn indopendent/Acton Free Press. Huona Busness Times. Kingston This Week, Lindsay The Week. Markham Ecnormst & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishme Mrrtx. Mtton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News. Napanee Glide. Newmarket/Auora Era-Barrier. Northumberland News, North York Minor. OakvAe Beaver. Oakvie Shopping News. Otdtmers Hockey News, Orifa Today. Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week. Oven Sound Tribune. Peterborough The Week. Peton County GukJe. Richmond Hit/ThomhilAteughan Liberal. Scarborough Mrror, Slouffvia/Uxbridge Trtxna Forever \bung. City of M arkGuarden RECOGNIZED FDR EXCELLENCE BY; O THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FDR; T*M H A o n tk r f a m c if W I & T Y mWr W vm ca Q w m f` e s e a · tH E : 9 V TTERFLY WfeLCOME^P' a g o n - B R O N t t nu, © '7olie © 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O nt L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 S K i li « iU Bell FuNd T V A U C T IO N rtCawite Editorials Q u e s t io n o f d ig n it y Just when we thought federal politics couldn't get more banal, Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day proved us wrong. We refer to Day's piloting of a per,, , , ,, , It all all goes to show show you you that that the the sonal w ater craft to an O akanagan It goes to national political arena really I Lake beach-side press conference on notional isa aboys boys"club cluband andwe wemean mean P Tuesday. is There he was, resplendent in wet boy in its true meaning. § suit and at 50, sporting a buff bod. Since Sincewhen whenis ismachoism machoismaa f How nice for him. prerequisite to .* FINAL QUESTION; THE LEADER OF THE FEDERAL NDP kJS NAMEDWHAT i T A H E # TMa i,'s th, C Way , things,are TM circa ^ lead a country? athletic, or at least appear to be athletic, you're not in the game (to continue the sports analogy). Who can forget the sight of Prime Minister Jean Chretien waterskiing this summer and all the press attention that feat garnered. Thank goodness 61-year-old Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark hasn't returned to his Alberta roots and tried to ride a bull in a rodeo. It all goes to show you that the national political arena really is a boys' club and we mean b o y in its true meaning. Since when is machoism a pre requisite to lead a country? Is there no politician out there with some class? Someone like former Prime Minister Lester Pearson, for example. One wonders where this leaves NDP leader Alexa McDonough as she tries to get some notice in testosterone-driven Ottawa? Will she get a per sonal trainer, don form-fitting jogging shorts and a crop-top or even better, pose in a bikini? It's time our `leaders' put away the toys and got down to business. 2 0 0 0 C an ad ian p o h tic s -if y ou re not jy WHY NOME OF TH E CONTESTANTS WON THE MILLION DOLLARS,EH? i Spinal Tap reprise well worth checking out "We may be gods, or ju st big marionettes... " -- Spinal Tap (from The Sun ,, Never Sweats) S ixteen y ears a fte r its u n re m arkable debut, the cult classic com edy "T his Is Spinal Tap" is making a triumphant return to the atres (and is also being released in DV D w ith an h o u r o f add ed footage). Filmed in deadpan documentary style (a rockumentary, if you will), the largely ad -lib b ed m ovie -- directed by Rob Reiner who also stars as narrator Marty DiBergi -- follows the flagging fortunes of a fic titio u s, ag in g , B ritish heavy metal band whose desperation to stave off extinction is taking comic turns. As legend has it. Spinal Tap formed in the psychedelic Sixties. The three main band members -- D av id St. H ubbins (M ichael M cK ean ), N igel T ufnel (C h risto p h er G uest) and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) -- had per formed with other bands, including The Originals and, later, The New Originals, before coming together. Over the years, they went through a series of drummers whose fates ranged from choking to death on vomit to spontaneously combust ing ("D ozens o f people sponta neously combust each year, it's just not widely reported."). The rockumentary catches up w ith S pinal Tap ("O ne of E n g lan d 's L oudest B ands!") in 1984, as they are m aking their L* "t K| E fc liU -. f j* :J g JUNIPER ANDY p um pteenth spandex-clad com e back. Their 12th album, Smell the Glove, may or may not be released (alas, the band has record company woes) and they are preparing to embark on what they are certain w ill be a trium phant A m erican tour. It's not to be. Metal fans (even Tap Heads) can be fickle. In the fast-fluctuating world of rock `n ro ll, S pinal Tap is y e ste rd a y 's news. Or, as their harassed manag er, w onderfully played by Tony Hendra, says: `Appeal is becoming more selective." To put it mildly, the boys are greeted by mass indif ference th at R ein er m ines into comic gold. By the end o f the d isastro u s tour, solo careers are on the minds of the players. S t Hubbins will go on to write a musical based on the life o f Jack the R ip p er (Saucy Jack); Smalls will play the North England pub circuit with various Tap cover bands; and Tufnel, who once told Marty that a song he was working on was "influenced by Mozart and Bach -- it's sort of in betw een those, it's like a Mach piece really," will create a classical trilogy called Clam C aravanS pinal Tap w as su c c e ssfu l beyond anyone's wildest dreams. While few people actually went to theatres to catch the madness on the big screen -- apparently, the movie's satire sailed over the heads of many early audiences -- it has had a long, profitable run in video. In fact, the whole effort was so successful that it eventually blurred the lines between fiction and reali ty. In 1992, the band reunited and performed a series of real concerts (the Break Like The Wind Tour). Spinal Tap is a must-see movie. It c o n ta in s m any m agical moments. Like when the band gets lost in the bowels of an arena, as they try to find their way on stage. O r w hen the en d earin g ly thick Tufnel explains how the numbers on his amplifier go to 11. Or when the band is visited on stage by an 18-inch replica o f Stone Henge (they were expecting an 18-foot replica). The movie is also chock-full of memorable performances by both the lead acto rs and su p p o rtin g p lay ers such as B runo K irby (whose love for Frank Sinatra and disdain for Spinal Tap are equal parts overwhelming). Then, there are cam eo s by the lik es o f A njellica H uston, D ana C arvey and Billy Crystal. As the Tappers themselves once remarked: "It's a fine line between stupid and clever." And Spinal Tap is very, very clever.______________