THIS MAY be running contrary to the guidelines in my job description, but as a general rule, I loathe nature shows. ECO iNFO These strong feelings are deeply rooted in disturbing childhood experiences. . Take, for example, Old Yeller, which I will classify as a nature show in as much as the main characters are mammals of the non-upright variety. I was approximately six years old when I was coerced into view- ing this movie with my moiher and sister. Even at that tender age, I had a strong suspicion that any picture involving animals would include very sad scenes (Bambi taught me that), and I firmly refused to be a witness to them. I fost. My mother should have listen- ed. All J recall of the plot today is that it involves three, 1 think, animals trying to find their way home from a great distance, and one or more of them meets their demise en route. What I do remember, however, is sobbing my way out of the theatre and onto the street, my crying intermixed with hurled curses directed towards the pecple who had dragged me to the tear- jerker in the first place. On the other side of the family tree I had a father who would bellow for my presence in the rec . Imax takes rare look at mountain gorillas room, causing me to drop whatever I was doing and dash down, only to find that he wanted to show me the part of the Na- tional Geographic special where the lion eats the gazelle, or the snake ingests the frog, or some other predator chews on some other still-struggling victim. Somehow I could never evoke the properly fascinated response of the true nature show addict. Coupled with my _ strange distaste for viewing animals in pain was the boredom factor. This, I believe, is brought on by the fact that most nature shows seem to have the same hushed soundtrack that you'll find on televised golf tournaments, wherein no one says anything for several minutes on end, and on- screen movement is limited to rustling tree leaves or golf flags, depending on which type of show you're watching, but personally | find both equally coma-inducing. All this is by way of explaining that for me to enjoy any sort of nature program is high praise for the producer indeed. The Imax corporation has once again given life to an experience that the vast majority of us will never have in person. This time, their subject is the mountain gorilla, the creature researched intensively by Dian Fossey before her 1985 murder at the Karisoke Research Station that she had founded. Featured in the new film play- ing at Science World’s Omnimax theatre, the mountain gorillas of: Africa number only slightly over 300. They are of a magnificent, proud, personable species that is almost exhausted. Their home is on the border of Rwanda, Uganda ani Zaire, in a reserve that is 350 square kilometres. It’s not large, but large enough for their needs. However, the park, while much-valued by the local farmers on its borders, is currently being disturbed by ongoing guerrilla warfare. Much to the sorrow of everyone invoived in the production, the dominant male silverback gorilla featured in Mountain Gorilla was inadvertently shot by soldiers camping out in the forest. As anyone who sees the film POPPY, A female goriila, keeps a watchful eye on her infant in the new imax flim Mountain Goria. will guess, the loss of the primary male in a family grouping is an unsettling one. The females who have and are bearing his children must scatter to find another family while unai- tached males wander in the hopes of finding females to begin their own grouping. While the plight of the moun- tain gorillas is sobering, it isn’t allowed to overtake the sense of wonder and fun that the gorillas in the film bring to us. We witness the vulnerability of a young gorilla with its mother (she doesn’t even let her newborn out of her arms for several months after its birth) and the ab- sorbing play of the children as they grow older. We see the attention-getting ploys of an adolescent male trying to win-the females away from the dominant silverback, and the results as he is chased away from the group permanently by the an- noyed females. Cash Counters are a convenient way to get cash fast at these locations: Chevron Town Pantry * Main & Mountain © Keith Rd. & 3rd Street We are given a glimpse into the history of European contact with the mountain gorillas, which evolved from the desire to kill and collect specimens, to the recogni- tion of the animals as sentient creatures that should be studied and protected. Mountain Gorilla plays at the Omnimax theatre at Science World daily at 11 a.m., noon, J, 2, 3 and 4 p.m., and Saturday evenings at 5, 7 and 8 p.m. It’s sponsored by the Nerth Shore News, through the Van- couver Area Newspaper Network, and CKNW radio. Tickets are available at Science World or by calling TicketMaster at 280-4444. Or, you might get lucky and win free tickets — or even a trip to San Diego — by filling in the contest entry found in last Wed- nesday’s North Shore News and in the next two Wednesday’s as well. Good tuck! Wolo CORRECTION - NOTICE Page 10 Men's & Boys’ _ 12-speed bike will not be available (no rainchecks). . We apoiogize for any in- convenience this might . have caused aur Woolco . customers.