The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 20

THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6. 1991 This year, putsSIc TV really is counting on 'viewers like you i measures in a New York state budget that includes $6 billion in cuts, "I have to be careful in my criticism," Bates says. "The governor is trying to protect main-line services, such as education." The Pittsburgh station, in lobbying to reduce its budget cut, has pointed out to state legislators that WCFE is chartered as an educational institution. Although often cited, along with "jumbo shrimp," as the classic example of an oxymoron, educational television aimed at students from kindergarten through Grade 12 is what WCFE provides during its daytime schedule.

Bates says that with New York trimming its public-school and library budget by 10 per cent and funds for the state university system by less than 4 per cent, 28 per cent is an excessive wallop for Channel 57. "We're saying there ought to be a bit of equity," Bates says. "Whether the argument will carry the day, I don't know." In Vermont, public-TV lobbyists will play politics by trying to persuade Democratic legislators to amend cuts imposed by a Republican governor. Public broadcasting of the schedule PBS offers," Bates predicts. "We don't want to do it, but we may not have much choice.

I don't want to alarm my staff, but we've put the word out that nothing is sacred and everything is on the block." Bates says WCFE may increase its fundraising efforts by adding "mini-drives" one-nighters or weekend marathons. "But you can't do it so often that you turn people off," he added. "It's a delicate balance." Vermont ETV conducts more annual fund drives than the Pittsburgh station. Viewer contributions account for 44 per cent of Channel 33's $4.9 million budget, as opposed to 22 per cent of the $2.6 million at WCFE. Vermont ETV is back on the Vidcotron cable system after a year's absence.

But Curran says she's not expecting a windfall during the current drive. "Our Canadian contributions seem to be up so far," she says, "but the economy is in rough shape on both sides of the border. With two PBS stations asking for money on both of Montreal's cable systems, we're cautious." centres that welcome Russian and Ethiopian immigrants. Quote of the day: U.S. Congress-person Helen Bentley, a Republican from Maryland, recently took part in a House committee meeting in which people were fretting about tourists coming into the U.S.

with AIDS and infecting Americans with this strange ailment. Here was her contribution to the debate: too, think we need to put a lid on the number of victims coming into this country. Maybe we can have them state that they will refrain from having sex at all. You know, chastity and all that sort of thing." decades ruling the review roost It's fundraising time at PBS. Once again, the forces of quality television have been deployed for an all-out assault on viewers' wallets.

Fred Rogers and Luciano Pa-varotti want your money. So do Pierre Francy, Alistair Cooke, Captain Kangaroo, Diana Rigg, Bill Movers and Big Bird. Pledge breaks, those gosh-awful 10-minutc interludes during which PBS seems to be hijacked by terrorists from the Home Shopping Network, suggest that public television is the last line of defence against the forces of TV darkness. Denied our support, Yo-Yo Ma would be playing Feelings for spare quarters in subway stations while Louis Ru-keyser would be scrubbing car windows on the Bowery. The cup-rattling is especially shrill this year, the whining and pleading tinged with particular fervor.

Times are tough all over, and money is tighter than ever at the two PBS stations available, via cable and rooftop antenna, to Montrealcrs. The governors of Vermont and New York have proposed massive cuts to state public-broadcasting appropriations. The stations are Arnold Schwarzenegger The kind of filing that makes you think Humvee Montreal Symphony Orchestra, with soloists Tzimon Barto, piano, and Michael Laucke, guitar, conducted 'M 1 5 Ats-ii lew work ami" sow Mm, ma 8 mm a a vj ar ing in Vermont and New York cuts across political lines. While the CBC and the British Broadcasting Corporation have suffered funding reductions at the hands of Conservative governments in Ottawa and London and Channel 33 is being victimized by a Republican governor, Cuomo is a liberal Democrat, often touted as his party's best presidential prospect. There's an old joke that defines a conservative as a liberal who's been mugged.

With Vermont and New York taking an economic beating, state governors are obliged to become fiscal conservatives. Government spending is being slashed across the board. 'Hard times' "These are hard times," savs Ann Curran of Vermont ETV. "Public TV has its needs, but state budgets also have to allow for single mothers who need food supplements. These are not easy choices at all." Gerald Bates, general manager of WCFE, was reluctant to describe his station's funding reduction as disproportionate to other harsh quits after DOUQ CAMILLI the French deconstructionist version of the auteur theory of Ingmar Bergman's middle period, etc.

etc. Every movie, in other words, is a springboard for an unwelcome and eye-glazing exhibition of her own 4 i i tiimn 1 SALE PRICES has friends at the state house, but no one at Vermont ETV is expecting miracles. Instead. Channel 33 executives like those at WCFE are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. "Our priorities arc to keep shows on the air and give viewers the number of hours they expect to sec every day," says Vermont ETV's Curran.

"But there's no way to absorb a 25-per-cent state budget cut without making program cuts." Shows cost more Bates and his WCFE staff are studying their options in dealing with the New York budget cut. Dropping programs or shortening the broadcast day are obvious ways to save money, but Bates fears tampering with the on-air product would have an adverse effect on viewer support. The general manager says WCFE faces an increase of 1 50,000 in the amount of money it will have to pay for PBS network shows next season. Added to Channel 57's state budget shortfall, the increased program cost is crushing. "It may force us to buy just half ation for the acronym HMMPWV, which as you know stands for High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle.

They cost $28,000 each and have a top speed of 65 miles per hour. So why does Arnie want one? "One of the reasons he's interested in the vehicle is he thinks it suits his image as tough and strong," said a spokesman for LTV which makes the things. an Isn't free enterprise wonderful? Isram Travel, a New York City travel agency, is now offering "Project Patriot" tours to Israel. You get to visit a Patriot missile site, and a military base, as well as MIKE BOONE TV RADIO hoping viewer support, in the U.S. and Quebec, will offset the budget cuts to some extent.

But it's doubtful recession-racked viewers can cough up all the dollars that are about to disappear from Vermont ETV-33 and WCFE-57 operating funds. Richard Snclling, governor of Vermont, wants to trim 25 per cent off the $1 million (all figures are in U.S. funds) annual appropriation for public TV. New York governor Mario Cuomo has proposed cuts that would reduce WCFE's operating funds by about 28 per cent, or $634,389. The attack on public broadcast- ael calls it Great news! Pauline Kael is finally retiring! The long-winded movie reviewer of The New Yorker, now 71, will still contribute the occasional wordy opinion piece (known in the trade as but she will leave the magazine's main reviewing duties to Terrence Raf-ferry.

Kael has spent the past 69 years or so seeing movies and boy, she makes sure you know it. Everything she sees, even if it's just Police Academy III, is relentlessly compared with the early work of Antonioni, measured against the standards set by D.W. Griffith, dragged through assorted references to various Bulgarian tractor movies, bounced off 4 1 iv fiW. i 'y 'r4 7 a peat tomgtit. Part ot the Air Canada series.

cinematic background. She's a showoff who thinks she's writing for 500,000 other movie critics. She's contemptuous of the general audience. This contempt manifests itself another way, too: She regularly denounces popular movies and raves about only antique or foreign or obscure films. Good riddance.

Arnold Schwarzenegger wants some new wheels. To be specific, the actor has made inquiries at the Pentagon about where he can buy a Humvee, the Jeep-like vehicle used by U.S. servicemen during the recent Persian Gulf news events. Humvee is the general pronunci END SATURDAY, MARCH fill r4A vll r' 1 vsO pfl i LTLl LJ L. Ji.ri,JL.a'li Levi's Red Tabs-531 slim, and 501 button '4 fly in triple wash, bleached, White, Black Plus Medallions and Sears exclusive Brown -''V Tabs All styles in sizes inseams 1 Reg.

4r Ea 4lsv Re ptces shown are Sear pnees 8 ARTHUR KAPTAINIS "GAZETTE MUSIC CRITIC Th'e-Montreal Symphony Orches tra enjoys a strong worldwide repu 'tafion for its Derformances of 20th century scores, but as a promoter of new Canadian music at home it much to be desired. The situ-i-atiort reached a new comic low last with the premiere of Bulerias, tientos farruca. the third move- men; 01 a oncieno namenco tor guitar and orchestra bv Michel- Georges Bregent. -Jri .1987 this composer supplied the with a highly incomprehensible work called Trad-Sens Concerto, so the orchestra cannot jgnorance. Granted, the ear-; nurnbrng polytonal density of 1987 -haS -been replaced in 1991 by an espousal of the New Accessibility, -at -least a blandly Iberian variety i Flatrienco cliches composition and com-; puter science, the language of infor- tnation is less important that its gic and cohesion.

Bregent's meandering l0-minute medley of fla- menco cliches was palpably what programmers know as "garbage The- soloist, not inappropriately, rwasT Montreal guitarist Michael 'laucke, who seemed to be enjoying jumself. He began with a five-min-Ijite" miasma of approximate solo I'striimtnings, to which a handful of percussionists were required to clap accompaniments. They vcould "not have looked or sounded rnore embarrassed had they been weanrig propeller beanies. Bountiful colors -Paid to beat time through this fi-lasco was a young American conductor, Carl St. Clair.

When en- trusted with real music he made a Ifine.account of it: his elastic podi-; urri sfyie was well suited to the exot- ic rhjihrns of Enesco's Romanian 'Rhapsody No. 1 and the sinuous Jines-of Ravel's Rapsodie Colors in these works and in Resptghi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suite tJo. 1 were bountiful and rich. I The other guest was Tzimon a-tall. handsome pianist of un-; clear nationality known in the business as a Firebrand.

There were man luuuies in nis per-; formanceof Rachmaninoff's Rhap- sody on a Theme of Paganini. some some extreme. But there was no denying the crispness of his articulation, the vividness of his tone and the extraordinary sparkle ofdecOrativeseaiiences. It is a work Jhaf hpcHs new hlrxv)- it pot wr? 30, 1 99 iC.U. V-V, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, WHILE QUANTITIES LAS1 I imi ceo ATUcmmicc OTA-rrrn muu ri iamtiticc i AC -t- i ljivi i iiiii Ji nuv i vurin ui mi i i i i i nv Prices include 4 1 advertised or displayed do not GST or applicable Provincial tax your moneys more SATISFACTION OR MONEY REFUNDED WE SERVICE WHAT WE SELL COAST-TO-COAST SEARS 1 DEPARTMENT STORE CREDIT CARD HOME OF KENMORE, DIEHARD, CRAFTSMAN Sea's Canada Inc Reg or was refer to Sears Prices Ville St-Laurent: la Place Vertu.

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