“The last three or r four days of the dying’ year z are e.
= traditionally the time when modern prophets. of
all shapes: and sizes come into iheir own. They =”
’ differ from the prophets and soothsayers « of old in —
at least two respects -- the latter did their thing all
the year round, not just at New. Year's. (or.
whatever the pagan equivalent. happened to-be); «. “A
and they were frequently: made to answer for. their i
wo ‘boo-boo' s, sometimes in the most painful ways. uF

‘The full-time ‘prophets of

those. earlier. days: lived
‘pretty dangerous lives. The
populace - being unable to
“read and having no TV. -
_ shung on their every word and
checked out every prediction:
as zealously as we check the

-- weekly lottery results. You

had to be really good to stay
in the business at all.

~ Even if your. prophecy was _.
“tight on, you could still get —
~ dnto a lot of trouble. The -

ancient kings, princes and
other establishment

members were very positive |
-- thinkers. They hated hearing _
bad ‘mews, especially fit
looked as though it might be = J.
‘true; and they. had a nasty &

fave Bi ‘him intact to buen at.
‘the stake. Itsa ‘wonder’ that.
SO. many: fellows went in for.

_ habit of cutting off the ears of
‘the. messenger who- brought
it. 3 2

Tf the news was. s really b bad, :

: they | often ..didn’t” bother

- about his ears but cut? off his —

head instead. Or they might the Profession’ of Prophet in.

eae” oe

‘Page 6, Décember 27, 1978-NorthShoreNews

‘They

those days, ‘but. { ‘suppose. |
they hi had i their. r good moments 2

2 comparison,

* Some” of. ‘them

_) estate. newsletters - -- operate

ona. regular’ year-round —

. Newspaper,

7 ‘These. New ‘Year crystal-
xe _gazers invariably have well-.
paid jobs to support them in
- the-style they like during the
other 364 days of the year,
which: ‘makes. them, for all ©
-” practical. purposes, immune.
-.to the effects of their. own

prophecies. But their ulti-

"mate: trump. card is the fact |
; 7 that. they'c can never be found
- out. a

“Nothing, after all, is —

"transitory. than yesterday’ Ss
let alone last —

week’s. You can have your

detailed’ and doom-laden .
forecasts for the coming 12
deposited on the -

_-months ~

- ; later.”
“Tike —
investment. “analysis, bank
presidents and writers of real _

you can forget: ‘it.

~ doorsteps of tens or “hun

-dreds of thousands of faithful -~

--- readers: on. December. (29°
with ‘the’ absolute. assurance:

* oday’ S- :

prophets | have it. all. their ¢ own

- way.

that less than: five per cent:

“will be able to lay their hands

on what. you said seven Gays

‘After. a, month you’ re e home _
free until. the. following —
December 29th rolls around.

: ~ basis. But the :vast majority Even if you've predicted that.

.. . favor us: with their: forecasts
~~ only: ‘between: “Boxing Day
~~ and New Year’ 's Eve,:mainly.
-. lpecause this i is often a slack
-. time for -news;:and harassed
-. ewspaper - editors. have - to
find. something . to. fill the |
‘Space between. the ads.

John Turner. will -oust. Ed
Broadbent from the leader- :

ship of the NDP by April Ast,
“Almost

George ‘Alexander == ‘the

; ‘columnist we fired a year ago
’ because nobody at the News

_ had ever actually seen him .
- (all -his: columns had ‘to be ©
2 ghost-written by the editor of .
.. the day) --. got in ‘on the New

Year prophecy act: late in his

_ disreputable. career. Around
- this date he used to. have |
_.**Alexander’s Almanac’’-for - -
mo the: coming year ghost-writ-
~ ten for him. I looked up his —
final effort in the North Shore
"News of December 28, 1977.

George's Ss predictions | for
the 12‘months now ending

covered — a wide Tange’ of

“strikes
; North Shore’ councils .
year’s. ‘weather. -

- business outlook. : os J EE

: Trudeau. and
Stark Bill. Bennett ®..
unemployment: ‘and: inflatio
-eivil:service -groorth “.
“and” lockouts.

> With the. “penefit. of. St
. weeks of. hindsight I checked ©
. George’s nine -main. -
prophecies for. 1978, ‘marking
“each of them on.a scale. of
_ nought to 100 for. accuracy. T
Bot a bit of a shock.
everyone else will have.
forgotten -- and.the handful _
who haven’t won’t remember —

where ‘they heard the ‘rumor.

out |:

correct.

lockouts,

the ° wrong Prophecy-.

7 about. the state ofthe world
as. poor. old. ‘George ' ‘could’.
-. Chalk up a score like that. > else. ee ae Boe
‘presumably | from talking: to) 2.
' the cat‘as he dowtied a few of ~
his habitual fiightcaps | -

. maybe w we e should tead: all the ;

the oS tho

: >. longer ‘thai
7 especially: if. they’ re unpleas,
ant...

George’ s average ‘score
‘worked -out .at’ 69: ‘per cent.
Four of. his’ nine
. predictions hit.a straight 100 |
‘per cent. Two were 60 per
cent right,:and two others 50.
per cent. He ‘laid one: ‘big.
-round egg. on strikes: and .
which - he. said |
would set all-time. records:
but this was simply a matter -
_of the wrong year rather than:

Ifs someone.’ ‘as. 2 Winewed “G optimists, | a lousy year. for

"pessimists. and’ -much ‘the
. Same ‘as: 1978 ‘for:, “everyone -

~ Year. to: all: ‘of you,
s ‘same. fone EE Ok

‘Levesque and = dur 1g

em ‘may- be
ght.- At. Teast. as” tight” as
-George’s. “The: nice. thing,
» is that: ‘we don’t
member them any
“we © wish.

It’s. highly - unlikely,
anyhow, that we'll recall ‘who
said them seven days ‘from

. mow. “And. the. -worst has .a
: happy | habit ofr not # happen:

~ Modern “prophets never

-had (it ‘so. good. They can _
predict whatever. they like

. without. fear of-losing their —
ears or. their. heads, or of .

being. ‘burned: alive at the

_ stake: No fear of: losing their
jobs, either. In. fact,’ I was
‘sorely. tempted ‘to join ‘them
“myself -- until 1 found I'd run
out of. space. - So. ‘the best
FOCUS can ‘do for. you - this .

time is. this one-line © Preview

of. 1979:

tt will be a. great year . for

And a. very” Happy | New
just the

For most t of my life 1 I have oe

. lived aa the: -Seawalk.
2 rd hide.

inthe

| . “General ‘On sunny ‘days like ~ “y . :
‘to ‘lie ‘stretched: out: on the ~~.
‘rocks. In ‘the: rain. Tr ‘shelter,

~beneath the apartment. Folk... |

‘in: the. houses: around - feéd an

me regularly: I am as free as _

‘the © wind. “When I: was

handsome, pure white, and. : ; Pe

virile I -had. many feline -
friends;. that was until the .
terrible day I was catnapped. ee

7 Her friends called her oS

Dorothy.. At first 1 thought

she was just going to take me-

fora ride.in her car. Jam. *

‘sure ‘she was trying to be
kind. Never did she realize
how much ..I valued my
independence. To begin with
I was quite excited. She
brushed, fed me, and intro-
duced me to her girl-friends
-- my, my, they were
charming; very good for a
handsome fellow’s ego. One
frightening day, however, I
was taken away in a cage.

‘Never before had my
freedom been restricted in
such a frightening way. Off
we sped in a car. /

The stoff at Peter
James would like: to
wish you all a very
Merry’ Christmas | &
Happy New Yenr For

ou
your convenience we
are taking ap-
pointments for
Sunday, Dec. 24 and
Sunday Dec. 31.

Soon we arrived in a noisy,

dimly-lit, closed in building. .

 Peter.James
from VIDAL SASSOn

1562 Marine Dr.
West Van.

a 926-8322

cats,

and- fiendish, noisy

“Fy barking dogs. Soon: crowds
‘.. started to arrive. Hundreds.

and. hundreds’ of | “staring, |
va! ‘pointing, ‘shouting, -men, —
women and children. ‘From -
_ conversation I-understood we:

were in a. place called Park
Royal. In my mind it. was .

Hell. From out. of the crowd

stepped a. big man: and» a

. fady:

. cad

“Now that i is what L call ; a.

4. real cat,”” and he pointed a

‘Here I could hear music. All
around in cages were other

Tt

The newest
Designer frames,
quality. guaranteed
lenses, and
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-. ~~ Pierre Cardin, Oscar. de la Renta, ae
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7 @6sGiloria Vanderbilt, Christian Dior

pas
HE NEU

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into the corner of my cage I

= cringed.

white tom cat..from among
the strays. Would you Spay

him please?”

The next days are filléd. q
weakness, |

with horror, :

depression. However, I

stubby finger at me. Back

: - Once more I was whisked -
Hee away in. another car. We ..
~ Stopped at a building. A man.
». in a.white coat came out. I
»__ heard the big man say:

- setildd down’ at. the home’ of

. the: big: ‘man and: his: ‘wife. 5
‘They: were kind to me; too
kind. Iwas over-fed; mauled, _
fondled.: “Admiation’ at: first:
was fine. After a few ‘weeks ”
though I started to yearn for

old _life.. ‘Never was. I

‘allowed ‘outside . alone. :-I

longed for the.sun, wind and -
_ sea. Every moment I. was

watched. As each day passed.

“We've just got’ this fine —

I. got.
"miserable. The heat - of the
- house ‘suffocated me.
petting and lifting. made me

el

more and -more

the

nervous.

One: summer - evening the

; back door was. left” ajar. 1

Condon n Bboy a

1 : ‘ ‘ ‘
a” * .
we mr
‘ ”
ya 4 \
cal
’ x f
ie p i
: " "
‘ :
' .

The dF £

“made a bolt fi for fret a a a

Within ; a few. days 'F was.
pack on my Seawalk.’For the _
- first few weeks I. hid in the.
“bushes. 1° hardly - ‘dared © to.
‘move out lest I was. 5 catnap-

ped again.

It is great to be . home. “My

friends. are happy to.see me.
back... ‘They feed ‘me as.
before. I notice one change,
“however. oo oC !

_ My ‘attractive feline
friends do not seem to have
the same appeal. I wonder

what went: on while I was
__away? - fetal has

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