Stephen Harper fails as the fifth Beatle. Prime minister displays hypocrisy by chumming with artists his govemment has hurt By Jay Schreiber, Arts Editor shook the United States and called for the government’s help, then they would be there. Remember 9/11? Or Hurricane Katrina? How about that Florida election thing? Our government simply doesn’t care about the arts, and that’s a flat out truth. If Kanye West were a Canadian, he would be on television right now spewing out his views on how “Stephen Harper hates artists.” Unlike Bush’s neglecting to pay attention to the situation in New Orleans, Stephen Harper purposely went out of his way to eliminate just about all artistic expenses that cut into Canadian tax payer’s pockets. The damage? About $44 million in |: there were a catastrophic event that How about when you meet with all your political buddies, Steve? The majority of those are not televised and usually it ends up costing a lot more than any artistic event does. Second, where are these rich musicians? Are you talking about Nickelback and Avril Lavigne? Famous musicians will be famous and have money coming in just so long as they have a name to go on. What Harper is cutting from the arts affects those who are young and learning the piano, or taking dance classes, or being trained in classical theatre. I can guarantee that they are not rich. Harper sat down at the piano with popular children’s toy Yo-Yo Ma, and performed The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” at a “rich gala.” What a hypocrite. What’s worse? His overall “The man who took a hatchet to the arts has now proven himself wrong by registering with ordinary people at the same kind of gala that he believed no longer needed to exist.” programs and financial support, and not to mention robbing this country of an artistic identity. Harper’s reasoning for cutting so much financial support is just about the biggest load of bullshit to come out of Ottawa since their attempt at a CFL franchise. Harper stated, “When an average person sees a bunch of rich musicians at a gala celebrating themselves, I just don’t think that’s something that registers with ordinary people.” My first objection to this is calling events “gala celebrations.” Where are these galas? What is a gala? As far as I’m concerned, the only “gala” type events we have are award shows and televised performances. These are put on TV for the general population to see, so saying that no one benefits from it is a bunch of garbage. approval rating went up! The man who took a hatchet to the arts has now proven himself wrong by registering with ordinary people at the same kind of gala that he believed no longer needed to exist. Way to go, Stephen. What Harper has successfully done is told everyone not to eat from the chocolate cake, and then let people like him finish the last slice with Yo-Yo Ma. That tool! Harper is only the next in a long line of world leaders that have done something out of character to boost approval ratings, like Mulroney chumming it up in rhyme with his Irish brother Ronald Reagan, or Trudeau’s prancing antics with a rose on his lapel. I can imagine that a publicity stunt gone right is one of the most satisfying feelings that a human being can have. a Tua The Lost Symbol lives up to the hype By Garth McLennan lollowing a successful book is no R= task, and it is rare that the sequel is as good as its predecessor. Following one of the best-selling books of all time is something else entirely. But that is exactly what rock star author Dan Brown has done with the recent release of The Lost Symbol, the next instalment of a franchise that spawned The Da Vinci Code, which has sold approximately 80 million copies to date since its original publishing in 2003. The Da Vinci Code rocked the world with its explosive allegations against the Catholic Church and has subsequently become one of the most well-known books of our time, and a multi-million dollar movie franchise starring Tom Hanks and its own institution. It is understandable then that The Lost Symbol was released with a considerable amount of hype. After all, it earned a pre-release cover story in Maclean's magazine and is already one of Amazon’s best-selling books of the year and became the fastest-selling adult book in history with an astounding one million copies sold on its opening day. The Lost Symbol isn’t just hype though; it is a great read worthy of the instalment that came before it. Just like The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol is a gripping novel that melds a number of genres. While it is primarily a classic mystery, it also is filled with action, adventure and in Dan Brown fashion, plenty of factual history. The Lost Symbol is canonical to The Da Vinci Code, and this time it follows Robert Langdon as he races through Washington, D.C. in search of his mentor Peter Solomon and uncovers the hidden secrets and mysteries of the Freemasons and the birth of America itself. Like all Brown novels, The Lost Symbol is structured in short, two to three page chapters that almost always end on a cliff-hanger, and will have you burning to read more. At 528 pages it is a longer than The Da Vinci Code and the actual writing is much improved. Once you get into this book you will not be able to put it down as it doubles as a thrilling story as well as a very interesting read about secret U.S. history. All of the characters are well rounded and easy to like or hate. Langdon once again makes for a compelling and realistic hero that is easy for the reader to connect with. After the initial introductory period the book moves quickly with the pace of an action-thriller. There’s little doubt that The Lost Symbol will an all time best seller some day soon and be made into its own blockbuster film. This is one book you don’t want to miss. 15