THE SOAPBOX CARMEN MARIE FABIO
Clown and out The recent phenomena of creepy clowns showing up at inappropriate times and places (as opposed to appropriate times and places) seems to have a number of people on edge, not only because of the proximity to Halloween, but because clowns themselves are just downright creepy, even without the chainsaw and/or hatchet. Now complete with its own Wikipedia page titled 2016 Clown sightings, the reports range from August to October in North America and overseas, and document dozens of incidents for robberies and assaults on kids and adults. Turn to the person nearest to you right now and ask them if they like clowns – they’ll say no. If they say yes, then run. Revulsion of clowns seems to heavily outweigh any attraction to them, so much so that there’s a pathological fear referred to as ‘coulrophobia’ and while it’s not yet recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, its sufferers – judging by social media feedback – exist in great numbers. I fully understand. I once got into a fight with a clown in a grocery store and while no one was actually hurt and no arrests were made, I discovered that day that I have an edge and clowns have the ability to push me over it. (Yes, I’ve told this story before but it bears repeating.) I was wheeling my then very young son through the aisles of the newly opened locale and the owners were fêting the event with balloons and clowns who prowled the premises looking for unsuspecting children to entertain. My lad, who had been stacking up soup cans and Jell-O boxes building an imaginary city as he quietly rode along in the cart, instantly burst into tears, curled up in fear and hid his face after glancing over my left shoulder at the clown who, unbeknownst to me, had been following me and making visual clown-like overtures in my boy’s direction. My polite but cold smile did little to dissuade him and, moments later, my comment of, “He’s not interested” was also met with continued attempts to entertain my child, tears now streaming down his cheeks. Only my final shout of, “Back off!” as I pushed his colourful clown shoulders with my palms got the message across. In retrospect, I guess I was lucky that he stayed in mime mode and didn’t push or yell back at me, only frantically flapped both his hands in the air as if to say, “Okay, okay!!” That same son, who’s now grown up to be an aficionado of odd, experimental music and ‘noise art,’ once came home with a CD scoured from the dusty shelves of the second-hand store by the hardcore hip hop band ‘Insane Clown Posse.’ It’s rare that I’ll prohibit any music without giving it a fair chance but I couldn’t even make it through the first freaky song before pulling the plug. Although horror author Stephen King aptly personified our innermost fears of clowns with his book It, the fear of clowns taps into a much deeper neurological response coined the ‘uncanny valley,’ a term for the brain’s natural revulsion of anything that looks close to human without actually being human. Google it, it’s fascinating. So, if you don’t like clowns, you’re not alone and in very good company. If you actually like them, I’d love to hear why. Only I ask that you submit your response by email. If you show up to explain yourself in person, I can guarantee that I’ll be unavailable to meet with you. Partially revisited – portions of this column were originally published September 19, 2013.
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YOUR LOCAL JOURNAL
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Landslide
Continued from page 3 “It’s a minimal risk. It’s not like something is going to happen tomorrow morning,” Deschênes told Your Local Journal. “As we’ve already told the citizens in the second zone, we’re going to go through the same process, ask for subsidies because people can’t afford the entire cost. Houses haven’t lost their value and citizens can build on their land provided they ask the city first. The only thing is that new houses can’t be built. It’s not as problematic in the first area. We’re really anxious to get the work done and we will keep people informed,” said Deschênes The landslide zone in Saint-Lazare’s Chaline Valley was also expanded although the town didn’t have the figures on hand to indicate how many additional houses are affected, said Grimaudo, who also downplayed the landslide potential. “Is Chaline Valley in imminent danger of a landslide? No. The new maps show that there still isn’t any danger. We now have more precise mapping which will make things more clear. Has the situation changed? Yes. The only thing that has changed now is the Minister of Public Security has said there is reason to look at stabilization solutions and now is the time to start looking at them.”
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The town is still considering the kind of stabilization work that is necessary for Chaline Valley, although the municipality is not ready to begin any kind of work at this time. “The stabilization issue is a whole different issue,” said Grimaudo. “The reality is the MRC knows now that there has to be stabilization done. We’re working with them into the how’s and why’s and when’s regarding the stabilization.” MRC Communications Manager Simon Richard said that while municipalities will have to adhere to the new Schéma regulations, it is up to each municipality to determine how best to approach the problem because of the unique topography in their respective areas. A ministry official confirmed that soil erosion along the base of the Quinchien River in Saint-Lazare is a problem that could exacerbate the situation. The issue was raised by resident Constantinos Markakis who expressed concern that water flow from new developments could cause the river to rise further and result in more erosion. “Right now we don’t know,” said Grimaudo, adding there’s no way to know what could happen or whether the spillover effect from the retention basins could impact the river until more studies are done. “In the interim at the last council meeting, the town passed a resolution for some funds to do verifications on all the affected lots in Chaline Valley to see if it is feasible and necessary to maybe eventually bring in a sewage system to eliminate the septic tank weeping fields. This would be just a preventive measure,” said Grimaudo. “The residents asked us to do something about this, to clarify the problem and help them understand and that’s what we’ve done,” Grimaudo added.
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