HE MIDWAY was a place where you were never sure that what you saw was really what was there to sec. Before the big show rolled. into town, the little show rolled on and on night after night after night, We sal in our booths, against a back- drop of balloons ‘and bottles and bas- kets and plush pooches of questionable pedigree, selling fun. — Behind us the roller coaster rattled up hills then roared down them. People screamed, Gunfire echoed down the midway as tin ducks died again and again, and outraged gorillas and wounded ‘grizzlies roared as beams of light opened Ted wounds in their chests, The regulars slid along the tarmac between puddles that looked dark and shiny like leather. “You're. next!’ we’d shout, and they’d shoct us vacant stares. And the fat lady watched it all, hold- ing her sides, rocking back on her heels, opening her big, red, mechanical lips to let out that maniacal Jaugh. She was twelve feet tall, towering over all from her perch atop the Fun House where twisted mirrors. offered ticket holders a novel spin on reality. The oblique reality of the Fun House and the carnival came to mind recently when I watched Mick Jagger prance around the screen, his image teflected in mylar mirrors then caught by cameramen and bent into all manner of grotesque. shapes; and it came to mind once again in. a recent conversation with-a frend — a Doctor of criminol- ogy and. prominent conservationist whose intelligent analysis gives me faith in his perspective. .My fricnd had been at the rally in Victoria over the issues . swirling ‘E.. around Clayquot Sound. His account of Perit was completely ‘at Odds -with’ the “portrayal given on- the, BCTV News . Hour, whose coverage made the’ rally : look like a mob scene in downtown ” Paris at the flashpoint of the French — Revolution. Deja Vu: I recalied the “time we — Nalives and well informed _protesiers assembled.a quiet picket line to protest the proposed pesticide trials on the Skeena Islands. by the. Federal - Pest Management Institute. . A loud, well-intentioned, but - uninformed man showed up and began ranting. He was drank. Shortly there- after a cameraman contracted to BCTV arrived ‘and went right to our "uniformed friend who gave him a loud and obsure interview. Before any of us could give him an accurate picture of - the issues, the cameraman was gore. I "recall this event every time The News Hour. provides a clip .of some misquided young kid with dyed green hair at a logging road blockade. ‘ wonder too about the fidelity of the BCTV coverage of the romantic cs- — capades of the the leader of the opposi- tion and his heart throb, Ms, Tyabji; i is . it accurate? Is it necessary? In the same light, I question the ac- curacy of the recent coverage of the . what BCTV has dubbed a Tax Revolt ‘as ihe News. Hour shows shots of ral- lies peopled by the poor victims of the NDP’s last budget, the poor and dis- posed of Shaunessy, Kerisdale, ‘Vic- toria and West Vancouver. The BCTY tells us of rallies for four thousand people in Vancouver and takes ‘special. pains to tell us how speakers took the message of outrage to overflow crowds outside the halls. The impression created is that of a pro- vince in turmoil. But is it? Is a rally of - four thousand in an area populated by over a million really that significant. A few years ago, Billy.Bennett’s Sockred Government brought down legislation that put over forty thousand on the ‘streets. Now, that was significant, bul - itdidn’tsecm so on the BCTV News, The Fifth Estate has 4.difficult job. Time and space make it impossible to give a comprehensive report on a com- plex issue like a provincial budget or a The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 14, 1993 - Page Ci Bluebacks first big They did it! The Terrace Bluebacks pulled out their first tournament win of the scason on home turf in front of a Terrace crowd at last week’s Copperside Invitational Swim Meet. They edged out the Prince Rupert Rapids by seven points - 891 to 884 — to take the team first. “Tt. was. their - first’. victory of four regional meets hosted here in Terrace, - The Kitimal Marlins, usually the strangest team in the zone, finished fur- ther back with 718 points. Bluebacks coach Mike Carlyle called it a good mest and a strong turnout despite the fact many swimmers were sick. "We were really pleased with the resulis and: somewhai surprised that we did pull out the win,’’ he said. “Some of the kids were still sick but swam really well,’’ he said, adding some spectacularly fast times were recorded. In the age 9-10 girls division, Audrey Erb earned a gold on aggregate points and Terrace’s Randee Armsirong picked up the bronze. Armstrong also qualified for ‘AAA’ age group provincial championships: to be held in Vancouver in mid-July, Marina Checkley brought home. a sil- ver in the 11- to 12- year-old girls divi- sion, And Shawna Thompson finished sixth in her division but managed to quality for 'AA’ Junior. . Provincial * Championships in Victoria in carly June. Terrace swept {he medals in the. age 15+. girls, with Tori Mackenzie taking ihe gold, Denise Vanderlee winning the silver and Aimcc Peacock, who missed half the meel due to illness, collecting bronze, On the boys side it was Tom Demetzer winning the gold medal in the 7- to 8- year-old division, Nine- to 10-year-old action saw Tristen Brown take silver and Jason Kumpolt take bronze. Kumpolt also qualified for ‘AAA’ provincials. ‘Garth Coxford topped the 11- to 12- year-old boys division, winning gold, and Chris. Kerman picked up the bronze — his first regional medal. Forty-three’ swimmers attended the meet, ‘Carlyle. said about 15 local swimmers have-now qualified to go down to the Junior Provincials and.another cight can go to the “AAA provincials, ‘We're improving. as the year goes along,”’ he concluded in surveying the club’s performance. Garth Coxford ——— THE LOGGERS CALLING THE SHOT: Terrace skp R Ron- Sparks barks commands to his Terraca Curling Club last Thursday night. Sparks rink was facing down the Sweepers in the ‘opening round of 'A’ event in the Loggers Bonspiel at the rink of Tom Turner. The Kalum Killers slaughtered the Saints 8-4 in OPOY floor hockey tourna- ment action last Monday. The Saints might have been bloodied afterwards, but they were far from dead, They were undefeated and had held down a 5-0 record going into the clash with the Killers. The two teams had spilt their lwo previous meetings. The Saints, having lost to the Killers, had to play again that night —- against Wolverines, Their performance, if not-sainlly, was certainly stellar. tion kept the teams close. The score was 6-5 for the Saints going into. the final minute of the third period, Kuiper called a penalty shot because a Saint had pulled the net off its moorings when the Wolverines had @ clear shot on this time 7 Strong goaltending and hardhitting a ac- . With one minute to play referee Devon Kalum Killers wipe floor with Saints oal. ° John DeMedeiros took the penalty shot forthe Wolverines, streaking in on net to score after a quick deke to his lef. - The Saints, however, didn’t like the way he did it, . The referee, however, faced the wrath of God and ruled the goal stood ~ tying the game at six goals apiece. Spectacular saves in the final minute kept both teams in the game, With three seconds left-in the clock, the ref gave the Saints a two-minute pen- alty after one of them charged an op- ponent and elbowed him In the head. The Wolverines went into over-time on the power play and both teams came back on looking for blood. There were many close calls and out- standing saves by the goalies. The Saints managed to. kill off the two- minute penalty and then, with just under twa minutes left in OT, they came in, storming the Wolverines net, Mike Bennest’s lightning wrist shot found {ts mark behind the Wolverine goalie and the Saints were victorious, They spent last weekend polishing uip thelr halos (and probably sharpening thelr sticks) in preparation for a best-of- three final with the Kalum Killers this week. The finals opened with two games Monday night. Results. were not avall- able at préss time... 2” A third and deciding game (if neces- sary) will be played: Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in the Thornhill: Comnmabaty Centte. : : MORTAL COMBAT: Floor hockey players with the Kalum Killers and the Saints did battle in OPOV floor hockey tournament action last week in . @ bid for a berth in the finals. The Killers beat the Saints to ‘advance, but were to face the Saints. In a best-of-three final rematch for the title this week. The fans, at left, delighted In some of the hits and brawls of the game, and generally took cover behind arow of chairs. heated environmental issue like Clay- quot, but, nevertheless, integrity and clhics insist good ‘joumalists must rend -a event down to ils essentials-and con- struct an accurate: portrayal. Instead, it ; seems, the media often adopls the tech- | © niques of the’ adverilsing biz in their ~<-geal to package and sell news to a pub- _ He made less ‘skeptical by over ex- “| posure to the tube.: > [)) This Js .the ‘midway. media, media “Swith bent’ mirrors and with the [ dynamics of the carnival — the kind of that amuses the Fat at Lady.