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8 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, June 8/2005 Basic Black by Arthur Black Welcome to blogworld Last winter I wrote a column in these pages about snowmobiles and why I happen to loathe them. I said that they were noisy. I pointed out that they were polluting. I mentioned that they were a pain in the butt (and the ear and the nose) for non-snowmobiling folks who have the misfortune misfortune to live near overused overused snowmobile trails. I opined that snowmobiles were a noxious blight on what remains of our unspoiled winter wilder- nesses here in Canada. Readers responded... enthusiastically. I received two emails congratulating me on having the temerity to diss the powerful snowmobile snowmobile lobby. (Hell, I didn't know there was one.) I received two dozen emails and letters from dissenting snowmobilers taking me (in some cases, justifiably) to task for inaccuracies and overstatements overstatements in my column--all column--all pointing out what they perceived as my mistakes in firm but reasonable arguments. And then there were the others. I received hundreds upon hundreds of emails from a group which, for purposes of brevity, will henceforth be referred to as drooling, sub-moronic goons. They were snowmobilers snowmobilers too, I guess. Although from the illiterate illiterate howls and schoolboy/scatological schoolboy/scatological ravings, I have to assume they hired someone with a functioning brain to type the emails they sent me. They called me every obscene name I have ever heard and one or two that were new to me (and I used to be a sailor). They swore they would picket my public appearances and hassle my editors to get my column column removed from the newspaper. Some even promised to come looking for me some dark night with tire irons and malice aforethought. aforethought. . What made it even more pathetic is that someone in this Cro- Magnon fraternity forwarded forwarded my address to several snowmobile websites websites in the U.S. with the suggestion that they 'swarm' me with responses. responses. And swarm me they did. The Guest Book section section of my website all but Classified Business Directory 11 IB This space won't last for long... only $7.09 per week for one year! Call now to book 905-983-5301 ■■ : IIB LARRY JACKSON PLUMBING & WATER CONDITIONING • Pump Repairs & Installation • UV Lights . • Water Softeners • Free Estimates For Friendly, Expert Service Call 905-983-6214 1 Fine Finishes by T. Osmond COMPLETE Furniture Repair and Restoration Caning • Vcnccnng • Carving French Polishes & l/Vichci Rcpan 905-786-2477 Experience You Can Trust Pro Painting Why Wait... Book your spring work now! - Excellent Rates - 905-983-5761 Clifford Francis GRUNDY'S COUNTRY UPHOLSTERY 3375 Cone. Rd. 7 (905) 983-9874 www.grundysupholstery.com BRYON GRUNDY STOPFEl «SHEET Nil! ■' " ; i: Hi, 'We're here to serve you' ROBERT E. JACKSON Heating • Electrical Air Conditioning Authorized Consumers Gas Dealer Independent Lennox Dealer Furnaces • Air Conditioners and Appliances Main Street, Orono 983-6221 Ill 1| 1 I I 111 II illiiiiiiill iiiii li j it! ill U Orono Town Hall "A beautiful heritage hair The perfect venue for your family or corporate gathering Call 905-983-5903 or 905-983-5230 to book your event Complete Residential Renovations, Additions and New Structures Windows • Soffit • Interlocking Waterproofing • Doors • Roofing Ceramic Tile • Siding Eavestroughing • Chimney Repair - Specializing In Stona Facing - FREE ESTIMATES Call Mike Bonneau Mobile: 905-435-4181 Home: 905-983-9005 6495 Leskard Rd., Orono LOB 1M0 Bin Service For Renovation, Clean-Up and Metals Call for prices Transfer Station Mon.-Fit 8-5*$aturday 8-12 Auto Wreckbhs and Used Cars JOE MENDONCA Manager Phone: 905-987-4636 91 Cowanville Rd., Newcastle, ON L1B 1L9 Orono Veterinary Hospital Dr. Derek de Haan Dr. Mathew Stephenson 30 Cobbledick St., Orono LOB 1 MO Tel: 905-983-9010 Fax: 905-983-5308 I & T Carpenters • Licensed • 27 Years Experience • Custom Homes • General Contracting • Additions • House Trim • Stairs • Decks •Windows «Doors • Barns And all carpentry- related work. IVAN JONES TONY FANARA Orono 905-983-5303 Hampton 905-263-9988 HANDY MANNS New Home Construction Renovation Reproductions Cedar Products 905-983-5633 or 5341 Orono Cemetery Co. - Since 1880 - Remembering the past... Honouring the future. • Planning • Inquiries • Plot & Niche Sales • Rental of Chapel for Services For more information call 905-983-5908 or 905-983-9571 HI ; ill I; Clarington Beech Centre 26 Beech Ave., Bowmanvllle Modern Facility Historical Setting Weddings, Banquets, Meetings (30 to 250 people) Self-catering kitchen. 905-697-2856 ! CHATTERTON ELECTRIC RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL POLE LINE CONSTRUCTION Dave Chatterton Orono, Ontario Tel: 906-983-6646 If no answer: 906-983-6940 exploded with an infestation infestation of Grade Six level filth and bile. Welcome to Blogworld, Blogworld, where anybody with more spare time than brain cells can log on to the Internet and trash the subject or object of their choice. No need to know the facts. No need to worry about fairness fairness or objectivity. Just go on line and vent. As CNN analyst and blog victim Jeff Greenfield says, the extra attention can be a good thing. Greenfield gets thousands thousands of emails a week - many of them toxically abusive. But he doesn't much worry about what he calls "the baked-potato brains who say you're a media whore... The freedom that it gives to anonymous anonymous twerps to spew out invective... that's just part of the process," Greenfield says. Which is true. In Blogword, everybody gets their veiy own column, column, and who's not in favour of democracy ? But it comes with a responsibility. If you use your space to talk potty mouth like a ten-year-old street urchin, you cheapen cheapen the medium and reveal yourself as a none-too- brightjerk. I have no problem with legitimate criticism - the more the merrier. Neither has this newspaper--which newspaper--which is why ifs called a newspaper and not a Papal Edict. But for the sake of discourse--keep discourse--keep it reasonable. reasonable. Keep it civil. And please don't threaten me. You look REALLY stupid stupid when you threaten me. All I can say to the legion of legitimate and rational snowmobilers out there is--look around, folks. If this is the company you keep, perhaps you should consider consider switching to curling. curling. P.S.: This experience has left me with a new respect for thinking, reasonable reasonable snowmobilers. But I still think those machines you ride are an abomination for the environment. environment. , ' i j i i •. -1 1 ~ -, i - i ' L-L--i-aUBSgiBSEjS Book picks for the month of June from the Clarington Public Library The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr The famous literary duo Holmes and Watson are brought back to life in Carr's latest offering. Holmes and Watson are enticed by Holmes' brother, My croft, to join him in Edinburgh, Scotland. Two rather gruesome murders have been perpetrated at the Royal Palace of Holyrood. Fearing that these murders might be connected connected to. a plot to assassinate Queen Victoria, the trio set out to solve the mystery. Adding tension to the situation situation is the fact that the murders are almost identical to another vicious murder that occurred three hundred years earlier at Holyrood--the slaying of David Rizzio, Mary, Queen of Scots', music tutor and confidante. Are there ghosts about? Are the styles of the murders just a coincidence? What other secrets are lurking in the ancient towers? Using his usual logic and ingenuity, Holmes endeavors to keep the Queen safe and, if necessary, necessary, put the ghosts of Holyrood to rest. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Do you get tired of those memoirs and tell-all tales that just bring you down? If that is the case then you ought to enjoy the Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life because it is a refreshing change. No addiction recovery ramblings. ramblings. No coquettish celebrity confessions. No whiny wordy waterworks. Amy Rosenthal has decided that her ordinary life is worth sharing in an encyclopedic form. Literally from cover to cover and from A-Z we learn about her experiences and her musings about life. RED DUST: a path through China by Ma Jian In 1983, at the age of 30, artist Ma Jian found himself divorced from his wife, separated from his daughter, and betrayed by his girlfriend, He was under surveillance surveillance at work and by the police, facing possible arrest for "Spiritual Pollution". Shaken, Ma Jian found he had lost his inspiration to write or paint and was severely disillusioned with the confines of life in Beijing. So with little more than a change of clothes and two bars of soap, Ma took off to the remotest parts of China in search of himself. Filled with incredible scenery and experiences that are very little known to the Western world, this memoir provides a powerful read.