“Skeptical” is one of my favorite words.  It sounds kind of fun and hiccup-y, but really it’s serious.  Also, I’m a big time skeptic.  I require unassailable proof before I jump on anybody’s belief bandwagon.

That said, there are a few phenomena that I would really like some scientists to get to work on.  I think they might all be grouped as come kind of extra sensory perception or the ability to sense “psychic energy”.  Yeah, my skeptical self has a hard time typing that.  But you know how you can tell when someone is looking at you?  I don’t think that the explanation has to be supernatural. It could just be a part of nature that science has gotten around to explaining yet.

Yesterday when I was walking home from work, I felt another kind of psychic energy.  The streets were more crowded than usual, and people’s voices were more boisterous than usual, but there was another kind of palpable energy coming from the folks headed to the Superdome for the game. It was very similar to the energy you feel in the grocery store when people are making hurricane preparations.  It seems like I felt it as soon as I left the office, and it got stronger as I walked by the black and gold dressed fans.

Until the scientists figure this out, I’m going to assume it’s some atavistic trait in our genes, buried deep in our brains.  I’m going to call it the anticipatory anxiety axis.

Members of NGOs defending the rights of animals got naked on a huge piece of plastic and painted their bodies with red paint.

Dozens of people from defending animal rights organizations took part the last week in a protest in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid.

They wanted to send the message that is not elegant anymore to wear clothes from animal skin.

The protesters defied the cold weather and rain and stripped in the street on a huge piece of plastic.

According to Spanish newspaper “La razón”, they painted their bodies with red paint to symbolize the animals killed by the fashion industry.

Legendary skateboarder Steve Caballero was in the building

Artist hard at work!

1 lap

Miata vs. Elise @ Streets of Willow Springs

photo by alex romo

>:3

~chean

Walking to work today, I saw no fewer than five promotional postcards for someone named “DJ Trashy”.  In addition to wondering if all the good DJ names have finally been taken, I couldn’t help but notice that DJ Trashy was living up to his name, littering up the place.

http://nextgenwalkthroughs….

Modern Warfare 2 Spec Ops guide to getting all 69 stars, veteran difficulty (when applicable)

Guide by Beer_Baron

http://nextgenwalkthroughs….

Modern Warfare 2 Spec Ops guide to getting all 69 stars, veteran difficulty (when applicable)

Guide by Beer_Baron

Colored by moonlight
Her hair glows, reflects the light
Is it cold out there?

Le 20 novembre dernier, les escarpins-addict françaises se sont données rendez-vous pour la 2ème édition du Championnat National de Course en Escarpins au Palais Brongniart à Paris. 96 filles, chaussées de talons de 8cm minimum se sont affrontées dans une course relais de 3×60 mètres. Le but de cette course n’était évidemment pas de gagner une médaille d’or mais un bon de 3000 euros à dépenser sur le e-magasin Sarenza. Ce genre de compétition a déjà eu lieu à Bruxelles en juillet 2008. En attendant une deuxième édition belge, voilà une vidéo des fashion sprinteuses.

A couple friends of mine, who’s names I will not mention until a later date, are writing a book together. One of them asked me to do a short write-up about our (Intentional Gatherings) time with the homeless on the streets of Ft. Worth for them to publish in the book. It was so reminiscent to think back two years ago and write out our story. Hope you enjoy…

On Becoming Homeless…

For a group of white, middle-class, suburban kids the journey we were about to embark on would prove to be quite shaping. We had been exploring what life as a follower of Christ should look like based upon what we found in scripture. It was not long after that we “broke it off” with our beloved pew, and said “goodbye” to the church as a building. While we stayed closely connected to the Body of Christ as a people we refused to allow that to hinder us from intentionally spending more time with non-Jesus followers than we did followers. From Starbucks and other “third spaces” to our neighborhoods, schools, and jobs we began exploring a life on mission outside the context of the bubble we had so unknowingly been seduced into previously.

As we devoured the scriptures communally it was not long before we noticed a theme throughout Jesus’ ministry of service to the poor and needy; not to mention His commands to us, as His Body, to take care of them. At this time in our lives ministry to the homeless was not the “hip-&-cool fad” it has become today. As we began seeking ways to live out these Gospel principles found in scripture we learned about what we would soon label the “modern-day leper colony”. About 20 minutes from our comfortable suburban homes, tucked quietly under the intersection of several major highways near the downtown area, we found what would soon become a place our souls longed to be. The majority of Ft. Worth’s homeless population called this area just off East Lancaster Boulevard “home”. For the most part they went unnoticed, and were ignored by society. Those who knew they existed steered clear of the area, or pointed down from the overpass as they attempted to teach their kids a lesson about “responsibility”.

We began taking regular trips to the streets in pursuit of being obedient to what we felt God was instructing us to do. We became students of those who had “worked” there for many years, as well as the homeless individuals we sought to “serve”. We learned very quickly how ignorant we were to the real needs of these people based upon the real reasons they were there in the first place. It did not take long to realize the abundance of tangible resources available to the homeless on East Lancaster. From churches to various non-profit, and government organizations the basic needs of the people on the street were met with excess. They did not need our Wendy’s dollar menu burgers, or our hand-me-down fashion from the closet.

A man named Michael Hatcher became our close friend and mentor. Michael had been “ministering” among these people for years, and taught us everything we know about working among the homeless in Ft. Worth. He and his family had moved into the “hood” several years before, and were dedicated to seeing lives transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus. Michael was known on the streets as “The Rev”. He was someone the people trusted, respected, and would give their lives for. Michael walked the streets during the week ministering to these people. He helped them get their ID’s, jobs, bus passes, but most importantly he gave them himself as a friend. We naturally followed in the footsteps of our mentor. We made a commitment early on: while countless others brought material goods to hand out to the people of the streets we vowed only to bring ourselves; a “hand-up” not a “hand-out” if you will. While others handed out food and clothes we sat on the curb to listen. Conversations led to prayer, topped with hugs, and a side of comfort knowing they had made a new friend. You must understand that many of these people had not engaged in conversation with another human being in years.

Things were going well, and we were seeing fruit from our labor. However, there was still something missing. While we had close relationships with our new friends on the street they knew we came from our comfy suburban homes, and would return there after our short time with them on the streets. We could not truly relate to them. Around that time several twenty-something’s from our newly formed “organic” church community felt a strange pull to move in, and “set up shop” among our new friends from the streets. We all began praying that God would provide a house for communal living among the poor…

By the grace of God our little crew of 15 broke college-aged kids began to make quite the impact on East Lancaster. We had organized the annual “Art-n-the Park” celebration, birthed the “Unity in the Community Network” of organizations who served among the homeless in Ft. Worth, and had the attention of many in the city. We still felt we had so much to learn. After all, we were in this for our new friends on the streets, and God’s ultimate glorification, not our own narcissism. Michael Hatcher decided that we needed to know what “life on the streets” was really like. He and his wife put together “Ghetto 101”, and about 10 of us agreed to a weekend we would never forget; a weekend our parents would not be happy to hear about…

We knew that we had to “be in their shoes” to really know how to best serve them. We had no idea what it meant to sleep on cold cement without a wallet full of plastic, or a cell phone to call mommy and daddy when things got rough. Our weekend began with turning in everything we had come with, a cold shower in the Day Resource Center, and a hopeless search through a box of clothes that would be our only possessions for the next two days. For those two days we were on our own in this place we had deemed the “leper colony”. Luckily, we had made many friends who “showed us the ropes” and “had our backs” if things got weird. We ate what they ate, walked where they walked, begged where they begged, slept where they slept, collected cans for money, and endured life disconnected from the rest of the world. The weekend was incredible. We learned a lot, gained the respect of our homeless friends (Who now saw that we were “for real”), and scared the mess out of our parents.

After eight months of praying God decided it was time. We found two duplex’s on the same property. Two of the four units were for rent, and they were cheap. By this point our organization, Intentional Gatherings, had gained its non-profit status, and donations were coming in from people who believed in the vision of the “I.G. House”. We moved two guys into one unit and four girls into the other. It was then that we truly began to learn the in’s and out’s of homelessness, and how to attack the problem at the root. We were in a neighborhood about a mile from the “leper colony”, which was full of the “working poor”. (Those who are not-yet-homeless, but hanging on by a thread) The primary focus shifted from the already homeless to the almost homeless; the work among the already homeless continued, and the relationships that had been made were fostered. The “I.G. House” crew grew close as they lived in tight-knit Gospel centered community, and sought to make a difference in the neighborhood in which they resided. As the crew grew they eventually took over three of the four units on the property. From weekend kickball tournaments to front porch after-school tutoring & Saturday morning breakfast in the yard this group of immigrants was serving Jesus in a way previously foreign to us all.

We had finally learned that in order to make a true impact among a people we had to “incarnate” ourselves among them. We had to put ourselves in their shoes, eat what they ate, sleep where they slept, and live life in their context. It was then that we truly gained a door into their lives. We refused to simply come from the outside bringing in the “answer” to life. We brought our lives to the inside of their lives, shared life, and discovered what the “answer” was with them. Thank you Jesus for “incarnating” yourself among us, sharing in our lives, and teaching us of yourself, the answer.

New reviews on the hot apps coming soon – Stay tuned.

Holiday Food Fail

Picture by: dunno source. Submitted by: Hans Gruber via Fail Uploader

Taken in St Ives, Cornwall. Sign put up by local Council

Tayari Plaza – Intro Cutscene

Mombasa Streets – Finding the Recon Helmet



Elyse Parker, Director Public Realm Section, Transportation Services, City of Toronto

November 26, 2009 at UBC Robson Square. Last of the SFU City Program “Changing Gears” series

The idea of creating better streets is tied into both dealing with climate change and creating a more livable city. Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, has 2.6m residents and is a result of the 1998 amalgamation: half of that population was born outside of Canada.

On May 25, the City examined a change to Jarvis Street. The area has been “intensifying” and the engineers were examining alternatives to the reversible centre lane. The best alternate was to eliminate the fifth lane entirely and add bike lanes and sidewalk width. The removal of the fifth lane would add 2 minutes to vehicle travel time. The debate lasted seven and a half hours. However, this approach is preferred to that adopted by New York City. That means that change happens slowly, but that is because it is democratic and intensely political. In NYC the process is one driven by executive action.

Clean and Beautiful City

Mayor David Miller introduced a five point action plan -

• sweep it
• design it
• grow it
• build it
• celebrate it

Much of the city was showing a lack of continuous maintenance. The new approach required the planners to sit down with solid waste management which in itself was an innovation. The objective was to re-establish civic pride. “No one could save us but ourselves”. The city has a complex management structure, which meant that in many places it was not clear who had responsibility for a given public space. The idea was to  ”find a home for orphaned spaces”.

Neighborhood beautification – The first example was the Bathurst Wilson mural. The wall was a sound barrier for Highway #401, which was painted after the famous Seurat picture of a beach. This is a process started to create places, bottom up, with change through small actions: doing not talking, but that will happen in all 44 wards of the city.

The next project was at Senlac and Burnett (unfortunately not on the City web site so far as I can see)  a neglected intersection where what instigated change was the support of city. It was succesful due to the speed of action which she described as  ”urban acupuncture”

What Makes a City Great? – Mayor David Millar’s vision for the City (the link is to a pdf file) commits the city to spend $100,ooo per ward on improvements to the public realm.

Take BAC 13

St Clair W TTC Station was a major project (which a web search shows was not free of controversy)  which was made possible by a “convergence of owners”. Her presentation relied on images which are not on line.

She then spoke about “boulevard transformation” essentially inserting small strips of green along Sword Street between the roadway and the sidewalk. She that this simple act of replacing bare dirt with grass had  significant community impact. The work was done by the city but the community had to accept responsibility for maintaining the boulevard. The picture she showed was just of grass but she said that other types of planting would have been equally acceptable.

She argued that actions such as this are a real tool for community development. She then cited the Jameson Ave photo project – an outdoor gallery of photographs on tree planter boxes which features local residents

The Rexdale Drainage Swale, on the other hand, replaced the usual grass median with an open planted ditch designed to slow water run off and through increased permeability recharge local ground water. She remarked that the engineers who design and maintain such places are some of the lost “hard nosed” of the city employees, but they seem to have been won over to a more green approach to storm drainage.

One of the main sources of action came from the need for a new street furniture contract. The city choose to seek a new, co-ordinated contract  as set out in the  Vibrant Streets guidelines. This is an advertising based system which will see 25,640 pieces of street furniture installed over 20 years at a cost of $1bn. This is the largest harmonised system in the world. The Public Realm Section was created as the formal unit to take responsibility for the revenue stream from this program. It is dedicated to be spent on beautiful streets, pedestrian projects and  street furniture (bus shelters, waste bins, newspaper boxes, benches etc).

Toronto is a member of the c40 Group which was created from the observation that national governments are falling short on the necessary action to deal with climate change while cities are getting results.  One of its first initiatives was to set up a Sustainable Transportation Plan.  Dr. David McKewen, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, recently released a report stating that traffic related air pollution contributes to about 440 premature deaths and 1,700 hospitalizations per year in Toronto. This clearly demonstrates the health benefits of moving to a more sustainable transportation system.   The Toronto Walking Strategy will, among other initiatives eliminate ten right turns on red (its most controversial proposal). She said that this is not just a feel good campaign. We know that getting people to walk more, and safely, is one of the few things we know will reduce the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

She talked about the  guiding principles (which can be downloaded as a pdf from the previous link) and showed a map of the incidence of diabetes in the city which is strongly correlated to the outer parts of the city which are auto oriented. The way to tackle this she said  was through the  Transit City Priority Neighbourhoods. The plan is to greatly expand the reach of good quality transit by switching to surface light rail rather than the cities earlier approaches based on subways and ALRT (which had stalled due to high costs). There is she said a “walkability challenge” of the outer parts of the city. The first priority is keeping children safe: giving priority to car traffic means road death is principal cause of child mortality. The most vulnerable people are the elderly and the young.

Young and Dundas “Barnes Dance”

How clear was my running trail

the first in a pilot project that sees the city clearing snow on a priority basis from Coxwell to Lower Sherbourne in the east end and the Humber River to Bathurst in the west, each a stretch of just over five kilometres.

It sounds like a small thing – a trail length of 11 kilometres compared with the thousands of kilometres of roads the city clears every snowfall. But the decision to clear the Goodman may indicate that the city bureaucracy is growing to
understand the needs of cyclists and pedestrians. And initial reports show the newly cleared trail is having a transformative effect on the lives of the winter athletes.

Jane’s walks – “An annual extravaganza of urban love” . Kensington Market is closed to cars on last Sunday of the month in Summer. Toronto Islands are car free year round, and the two downtown universities (Ryerson and UofT) are looking at street closures.

The city organisation has split the cycling and pedestrian areas and the emphasis for cycles is for bikeways that are continuous and connected. They intend to concentrate on infrastructure and will introduce bixi bikes next spring. They have also built a “bike station“, will provide secure bike parking at all TTC stations and have erected 16,000 post and ring bike parking devices

Selected Q&A

(I have only recorded questions that got a substantive answer. Where she said she would get back to questioners, the question has not been recorded below)

The first question referred to a Spacing Magazine article which contrasted the  elected vs executive  approaches in Toronto and New York.
She replied that beautiful streets are non-partisan, but the tension has been about active transportation. The suburban  councillors are dubious about such approaches in their wards compared to the downtown councillors.

“I would love to just do it!”

2    ”What is going to happen to car dependent suburbs?”

One of the strategies is the transit city plan, and the tower renewal programme which redensifies neighbourhoods and adds more shopping uses. But it is an uphill battle

3    Street furniture – what is the city’s ability to control where those things go?

Lot of concern to us and city council. The “Vibrant Streets” document issued at the time of the request for proposals was very specific about this issue  and how much advertising can be on the furniture. It is not allowed on bins or benches. We work with the street furniture company on location and we meet with the city councillor and the adjacent land owner(s). The city has the absolute right of refusal on ads.

4   What about temporary public spaces? Can they have a transformative impact on community?

Kensington Market is exactly that. But we do have to get more sophisticated how we do these things

5   You mentioned the breakdown of the silos in your department. Is that happening elsewhere?

Toronto is moving towards an integrated service delivery model.  We are at the tip of the iceberg. We have the resources to implement these things. I am one of 13 director champions for the 13 neighborhoods. We add another layer of thought for social services in the priority neighborhoods.

6 The need for more public toilets -

Toilets are part of the street furniture program. In addition a local by law requires that stores over a certain size must provide a public washroom -

7  Are newspaper boxes a blight or a source of revenue? We have heard about the need for more  freedom of expression and the papers are  ”pushing back” on multi publication racks (mpr)

We don’t have any mprs up yet. We are aggressive on licensing and management.  We are now seen as a way of saving costs. We won’t have them everywhere and we will monitor and enforce licences. As well we will provide the boxes and maintain them.

8  The City of Vancouver has tried to integrate programs. On priority neighborhoods, who gets them and how it is prioritised?

The ability to redevelop streets especially  old heritage streets only comes with new development. The determination is based on statistics and excludes  downtown simply because that area has better access to social services. There are 44 wards and our job is to serve everyone – keep detailed lists and always try to balance – dollar value is not always an indicator of effectiveness of performance. The source of funds is only from development charges on neighborhood streets. The only capital fund is on arterial roads.

9   TIF?

Capital financing is not the biggest problem – new programs for BIAs – Bloor St – may happen on major street but not for neighborhoods

10.  Does the introduction of a bike lane improve streets?

Not aware of that

11. Wayfinding?

Currently none – but eager to develop one

12   Healthy walk proposal?

An academic idea not yet implemented.

13   Swales and storm water management

The funding makes the difference: we can add on to the base funding to make innovation possible e.g. the first truly green parking lot

14  What is the relationship with the parks department? For instance, Cloud Park has degenerated as has the linear park along Front St in the distillery district.

We are aware of that are we are trying to get better maintenance. We need to connect people with the street and we have been impressed by recent work in New York.

15   Community Consultation

We will not put any dollars into projects if they are not willing to maintain the project but this is a “gentle persons agreement” which may not be enforceable, but the city councillor usually has an interest.

UPDATE Saturday November 28, 2009

In a nice piece of synchronicity, when I turned on the radio this morning, Stuart McClean was reading his story of Emil, the homeless man, who created a garden in “One of the planter boxes on Bloor Street where the city put a small tree and sometimes water”. The story also appears in one of his anthologies of stories from the Vinyl Cafe. Recommended.

At the beginning of this week, Darren Jones, President of the Pleasant Plains Civic Association, posted the information below concerning Sherman Avenue on the Georgia Avenue listserv.  Looks like the project is moving ahead at a steady pace.

Sherman Ave. Working Group – 65 Percent Planning Meeting
Monday, November 23, 2009
Latest Update – 14 people in attendance

-Planning completed in Jan. 2010 (planning must be done by Feb. 2010 to qualify
for federal stimulus money)

-Construction should start in June 2010 and be completed in 15 to 18 months

-Construction will be done in 5 phases (tentative direction of construction):
*Phase 1 – Barry Place to Fairmont Street
*Phase 2 – Fairmont Street to Harvard Street
*Phase 3 – Harvard Street to Irving Street
*Phase 4 – Irving Street to Lamont Street
*Phase 5 – Lamont Street to New Hampshire Avenue

-Contractors will block off 1/2 of the road during construction with limited
parking

-Eight bicycle racks along the Sherman Avenue corridor

-More trees added

-Bus pads/stops will be moved at:
*Girard Street in both the north and south dierctions
*Lamont Street in both the north and south directions

-90 percent meeting will be held in January 2010

www.ddot.dc.gov/shermanavenw

Darren R. Jones, President
Pleasant Plains Civic Association

I spent a lovely Thanksgiving relaxing, first at home, and then with friends down in the Treme. It was a crisp day, but the sun was shining, making my bike ride on the Surly quite perfect. The streets were incredibly quiet today; I guess by the time I got myself on the road it was already dinnertime for everybody else. A year ago I hadn’t met a single one of the folks I broke bread with tonight. And looking at that room, full of incredibly smart, clever, and attractive folks who know how to cook and know how to dance, I felt really, really thankful. It’s good to have a gang, and the gang was (almost) all there tonight. I rode home, again on empty streets, and thought about how much can change in a year, grateful that this year, it was all for the better. I stopped on my ride home to take a picture of this white wicker couch on Baronne near Terpsichore. I see this white wicker couch with cardboard seats every time I ride up this street, and that’s often. Sometimes it’s moved closer to the corner, other times further down the block. I’ve never seen anyone sitting in it, but I know some people must. I hope they had a good Thanksgiving, and I hope they get some good weather for sitting out here this weekend. I got back on my bike, pedaled the rest of the way home, thankful for so, so many things, including that smooth asphalt on Louisiana. I am lucky, and I am grateful.

Manhattanhenge Sunrise (Source: David Reeves)

When posting about the Manhattanhenge sunset earlier this year, I had found information from Time Out New York that the sunrise edition would occur on 11/30 . There does not appear to be any official astrological confirmation online regarding when this year’s sunrise is, so I’ve decided to be an astrologer and do my own math. As we know, the dates of Manhattanhenge are linked to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In 2006, the sunrise Manhattanhenge occurred on December 5th. The equinoxes fall on the same dates in 2006 and 2009, so by my calculations, sunrise Manhattanhenge should also occur this year on December 5th. If anybody knows the answer, let us know!

Also, apparently the Manhattanhenge sunrise is a key clue to last night’s CSI episode, in which they claim the date to be 12/5/2009. Try both dates if you’re die hard, and send us your photos at untappednewyork@gmail.com: 11/30/2009 @ 7am and 12/5/2009 @7:05am. Regardless, it seems that even viewing it on dates in the vicinity gets you a similarly spectacular view.

Running down Wilson Street yesterday afternoon, I passed a man walking his dog while reading a book. They were going along at a nice easy pace, and they both seemed incredibly content. It’s heartening to see two creatures reach a happy compromise for their needs.

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