VELOCITY.

Uplifting sunday video clip… Playing for change, a musical...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:28:08 -0500

Uplifting sunday video clip…

Playing for change, a musical movement from all over the place. It sounds like they have a mobile recording studio and they also hold benefit concerts. So adorable.

QUOTE OF THE DAY.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:59:36 -0500

“The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.”

— Gloria Steinem

— Carla

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:47:00 -0500

— Carla

GE’S ANIMATED SITE. “Ecomagination” is an...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:12:00 -0500

GE’S ANIMATED SITE.

“Ecomagination” is an interactive flash site from GE that educates about alternative energy. I thought it was worth sharing because they are making awareness a lot more personal entertaining.

— Carla

FINDING THE HUMANITY IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:37:00 -0400

The views are great, but despite its setting, [Vancouver’s] downtown has the cold, generic feeling of a developer’s boom town.

— Knute Burger, “Vancouver is Shangri-Not”

I can’t help but notice how lately, anti-Vancouver articles and rants are rampant in both journalistic and blogosphere-based realms of discussion. Writers sling insults at Vancouver’s ‘vapidity,’ its coldness and its fake tendencies — and these insults are especially directed towards the city’s downtown core.

I’m all for criticism when it is constructive (as many of the anti-Olympics signage and security dialogues have been), it can be essential for fixing what’s going wrong and helping create a better world. However, the anti-Vancouver rhetoric I keep hearing from all sources is starting to remind me of a pack of cats (older cities) attacking a squirrel (Vancouver) just because he happens to have a shiny new winter coat, without actually realizing that squirrel might have had some chestnuts (good ideas) to share with everyone.

Disregarding my assumption that cats can even eat chestnuts, I’d like to defend downtown Vancouver from my own perspective — from someone who actually lives there, in the West End, on a dense urban street lined with old trees next to a city park. It is one of the most friendly, community-drenched places I’ve lived in — my street is filled with the sounds of human laughter, residents blasting obscure 90’s dance mixes and joyful dog barking at all hours of the day and night.

I think I’ve said enough in Vancouver’s defense, however. A better way to display the downtown community I have grown to love is through some photos — mine and two others — of Vancouver as I see it. Here they are.

You can find tranquil places to be alone even when you’re downtown…

Yet, a few blocks down the road - a busy urban street. Image by Flickr user ‘TPower.’

And then you can walk down to events like the Gay Pride Parade — one of the biggest in North America.

Dogs are everywhere in the West End, especially in the summer. Image by flickr user ‘Harry2010’.

And I always find small things when I look around this area of the city that make me happy - like the christmas tree on the top of the building at the end of this alleyway.

Or like an impromptu flash-mob Zombie walk in the heart of downtown.

…Or a dog show down the block from your apartment. (image by WestEndDogShow on Flickr.)

This is the Vancouver I think of when I read stories about what downtown is to other people. Of course, each opinion is based on one’s own personal perception of reality, but I believe that other cities have a lot to admire about Vancouver’s West End and downtown core.

—Kat

Blood Lamp by Mike Thompson… What if power came at a cost to...

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:05:00 -0400

Blood Lamp by Mike Thompson…

What if power came at a cost to the individual? The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment. For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the tablet, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is. (via)

I think this is such an interesting idea. Sometimes it takes a very different method of information to bring about awareness. I want to see more examples like this one!

— reposted by Carla.

What Does War Mean to You?

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:26:00 -0400

As Canada continues to be involved in futile (and yet unavoidable) missions in Afghanistan, and Obama evades setting a specific date for U.S. forces to leave Iraq, war has been on my mind. It will continue to plague me simply because its complexities will never cease to amaze and overwhelm any opinions I set out trying to make about it all. I have only two things to say, and they aren’t in my own words.

One is in the form of a quote. The other is in the form of images found recently which, when viewed together with the quote, conceptualize just how convoluted my feelings about war are right now. I leave the rest to you, to think about and come to your own conclusions.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is … spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children … This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity itself that hangs from a cross of iron.”

— President Dwight Eisenhower,
the first U.S. president to talk in length about the danger of North America’s Military Industrial complex.

—Kat

image via user hitrecordjoe — Carla

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:48:00 -0400

image via user hitrecordjoe

— Carla

The Importance of Greenwash Guerrillas and Good Old Fashioned Ruckus-Raising.

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:01:00 -0400

So, last month during Climate Week in New York, a group of young climate activists and enthusiastic shit-starters who call themselves the “Greenwash Guerrillas” caused a ruckus by dropping a massive banner directly in the path of UN delegate motorcades and limousines. The offending banner denounced the UN’s support of the Cap and Trade system (which provides economic market-based incentives for reducing one’s carbon emissions) and generally stirred up a lot of confusion on the road.

Checking out the Greenwash Guerrilla’s blog, it looks like they’ve executed quite a few initiatives rooted in principles of civil disobedience and ruckus-raising (ideas shared by other public nuisance-providers such as the US’s Ruckus Society, Greenpeace, and the ever-amusing Yes Men.) They’ve hijacked the British Museum’s Michaelangelo exhibition, crashed the Carbon Traders Conference, and have even thrown two pies in the face of Thomas Friedman (yes, they actually dared. Unbelieving? Check out the video.)

I have very mixed feelings about direct-action groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas — I always find myself wondering if their actions actually resonate with those they are trying to convince, or whether they just ‘preach to the choir.’ The pragmatist in me is unappreciative of statements which dilute complex issues down to black-and-white principles of ‘corporation vs. citizen’. However, this being said, I also must add that despite my misgivings, I have a lot of admiration for them as well.

Why? Why do I admire groups of young people who start shit, who piss policy makers off and champion lost causes, who refuse to follow basic societal laws and norms, who yell out their ideas loud and clear, and who sometimes fail to accomplish anything beyond perpetuating already existing stereotypes about ‘young anarchists today’?

There’s pretty much one main reason. I respect the fact that groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas, whatever their politics, are actually doing something about this all. They aren’t sitting at home watching TV and bitching to their friends about how the world’s gone to shit — they’re out on the streets, making threadbare banners to fly in the faces of the world’s most powerful policymakers, dressing up in white suits, throwing homemade flyers into crowds, and baking pies to throw in the faces of economic folk heroes.

By putting themselves out there so obviously, these disobedient groups are getting directly involved in our civil society. Their passionate actions exhibit the anger, unrest, and anxiety that we all feel when we hear about recessions, climate change and global injustice. They are arrested, derided, laughed at, and sometimes hated — but they continue to exist.

In a way, I believe that youthful fringe civil-disobedience groups like the Greenwash Guerrillas are our generation’s representatives. They might not be able to provoke policy changes, and they might not ever be able to run for civic office. However, they conceptualize the ideas and opinions of thousands of silent young people and cause those ideas to EXPLODE in the public’s face — in offensive, abrasive, and often gloriously triumphant demonstrations of defiance.

— Kat

THE DIRT POSTER

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:38:00 -0400

New York Based artist Roland Eriner Tiangco provides an interactive approach to the display of an extremely applicable message in his project titled the ‘Dirt Poster’:

Here, the poster really speaks for itself. By manually applying ink on spot-varnished paper, the spectator takes a direct, hands on role in unveiling the pertinent statement.

—Viv

Seeing is believing right?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:22:55 -0400

Seeing is believing right?

FINALLY, AN ACADEMIC ARTICLE THAT REPRESENTS OUR GENERATION AS WE TRULY ARE.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:25:00 -0400

—————————————————————————————

I was just forwarded this article by a friend and I couldn’t help sharing it. In a time (Canada has a looming national election coming up) when there seems to be countless articles condemning people our age for ‘not caring enough,’ and for not getting more involved in this process, an article like this one (entitled “Youth Culture is Renewing Democracy, one Click at a Time” ) is truly a breath of fresh air.

Its amazing to see an academic-based public policy institute (specifically, CPRN- Canadian Policy Research Networks) take such a strong stance in actually DEFENDING today’s youth on topics like engagement and participation in society.

A few excerpts from their article which is based research they have done on modern civic engagement of young Canadians (believe me, I think you’ll find the excerpts worth reading, and maybe even a bit gratifying.)

—————————————————————————————

… “our researchers found that youth are not only highly engaged in global and local civic causes, organizations and initiatives, they are savvy communicators, sophisticated networkers and soundly and demonstrably committed to democracy.

“Young people define political engagement in markedly different terms from previous generations, focusing more on individual action than institutional participation.

“Young Canadians are more active in political demonstrations than their older counterparts, volunteer in higher numbers with organizations they care deeply about, mobilize impressive and effective social and political networks online and off, and are more likely to engage in “consumer citizenship” – boycotts and buycotts – as a form of political expression.

“The youth are not “uninformed” about civic life, as is often claimed, but gather and share information in highly specialized and niche communities and from alternative sources beyond the traditional broadsheets. In many ways, the youth of today are more informed and more media savvy than their parents or grandparents were at the same ages, and have higher specialized and more diverse sources of information from which they draw.

It is time for the political landscape to embrace youth as partners in civic and democratic renewal in this country… Youth want to know that their voices are heard and that their participation matters. Let’s take a lesson from young Canadians and work together to reinvigorate our democratic institutions.”

—————————————————————————————

wow.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you, CPRN, for conceptualizing our thoughts as young people so well, and then effectively disseminating them to a larger audience.

As a young person who has a lot of respect for the passion and drive of my peers — and for our potential to make this world a better place — I salute you!

—Kat

(images found by ache.)

an exploration of human emotion on a global scale

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:01:00 -0400

an exploration of human emotion on a global scale:

click the title link to see what everybody’s feeling.

“At its core, We Feel Fine is an artwork authored by everyone. It will grow and change as we grow and change, reflecting what’s on our blogs, what’s in our hearts, what’s in our minds. We hope it makes the world seem a little smaller, and we hope it helps people see beauty in the everyday ups and downs of life.”

I love what this project is aiming to do. It’s putting things in perspective, using our new media, the big giant internet, to help us approach understanding…they narrow it down and fit right into some spot in your heart.

—Carla

LIU BOLIN the “Invisible Man”

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:17:00 -0400

I just so happened to come across a friend’s blog that featured an artist who takes a ‘chameleonesque’ twist on urban photography. His name is Liu Bolin and he can work on a single photograph for up to 10 hours, perfecting his concealing coloration, using his body as a canvas to disguise himself into the background.

His ability to blend into things such as the Chinese flag, walls with graffiti, dilapidated buildings, old fences and even Tienanmen Square provokes one to think twice about everyday surroundings. He delivers a message from an objective standpoint, directing focus to the problems of ordinary existence, by revealing truth sans embellishment.

Examples of work shown below:

Bolin said his inspiration came from feeling like a social outcast. “Some people call me the invisible man, but for me it’s what is not seen in a picture which is really what tells the story… I experienced the dark side of society, without social relations, and had a feeling that no one cared about me, I felt myself unnecessary in this world.” [via]

I think his story is what really makes his art distinctive. His exposure to the “dark side of society” and experiences of social neglect is something many of us identify with. What I found most intriguing was that Liu Bolin’s work actually started as a protest against the government, who shut down his art studio in 2005. It’s encouraging to see once again how innovative creativity can emerge through a positive act of retaliation.

- Viv

ON TOWN HALL HEALTHCARE HATRED, NAZIS, AND WHY YOUTHFUL HOPE IS STILL ESSENTIAL

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:51:00 -0400

So, i’m sure most of you have already seen the epic clip below from one of the USA’s town hall meetings addressing healthcare in the past few months, wherein which the debate disintegrates into a yelling match about whether America is becoming a Nazi-run state. Many of these so-called ‘discussions’ have involved equally heated (and often horrific) confrontations between policymakers and citizens, and many have ended in physical violence.

At first I found these videos amusing — in a ’haha, look at how ignorant and angry people are!’ way — but the more of these i watch, the more anxious i feel about what may be left for us at the end of this, at the end of the slurs and yelling matches.

Why am I feeling anxious?

Perhaps its because I’m seeing the distribution
of more and more incorrectly applied, startlingly
racist images like this one:

(image created by Dr. David McKalip, Town Hall Protest organizer, founder of “Doctors For Patient Freedom” and “Cut Taxes Now,” and speaker at several GOP “virtual town halls”.)

Or perhaps it is because of two
troubling things I’ve noticed about
the conduct of those who came out
to these meetings:

(ONE)

first of all, a startling number of these respondents appear to know very little about what so-called ‘socialized’ medicine really means, and how that would be manifested in Obama’s plan. as shown in the above (and now legendary) video, one woman flatly states that she believes anyone who supports this plan is “supporting a Nazi policy.” why are so many people screaming out their hatred for a plan they know nothing about? has the general north american society disintegrated to the point of irrelevance and ridiculousness, where citizens do not take the time to research initiatives before they decide to act out against their implementation? i suspect that our society has NOT disintegrated to the point of no return — rather, those who have educated themselves, who have actually read obama’s articles and increasingly panicked and downtrodden statements regarding his proposal — have decided to stay home and opt out of this issue almost entirely.

(TWO)

second, as a member of VELOCITY blog, i feel a sense of chagrin at the obvious lack of people under the age of 30 at these town hall meetings. sure, municipal politics is sometimes dismissed as a realm for the elderly — a ‘fact’ which i have found in my own involvement in vancouver’s municipal politics to be quite false — but what worries me is that these town hall meetings are being watched carefully, and regurgitated through mainstream media every day. where are the voices of those who are not coming to the meetings out of personal rage — who are hopeful for our collective north american future and proponents of a system of healthcare that is more equitable and sustainable for all citizens regardless of personal wealth? what is it that keeps people our age from coming to these events — from having our thoughts heard over the anger of the mob?

i hope that every American young person who is reading this —
who has taken the time to understand what an equitable healthcare
system could mean for the U.S. and for themselves, as students and
young professionals and members of families — will make the effort
to come out to one of these town hall meetings in their town or city —
and prove to the world that not everyone is misinformed and hateful of
change. the world is watching — and many of us who are watching are
younger (and more hopeful) than one may think.

—Kat

BC’s Recognition and Reconciliation Act

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:37:00 -0400

So I was just attending a regular lecture in my sociology class one day in July, when my classmate approached me to tape an interview for a project she was doing for work.

Her project was just to try and learn how to edit a video and she just so happened to choose her topic on “BC’s Recognition and Reconciliation Act” where she basically went around to 10 people asking a few interview questions.

The questions were along the lines of: have you heard of the act, what did you know, how you think it might benefit the community, that sort of thing. Results from her project showed most people are unaware of the act. So basically, no one really knew what it was, people were confused, people didn’t know who it helped and who it would hurt. Out of the Aboriginals who did know about it, many are skeptical, few supportive.

Myself included having never heard of this before (until my friend mentioned it), prompted me to do some personal research on the matter just to learn more about it. Was the BC government actually making an honest effort to recognize the aboriginals? Exactly who and what are the motives behind this? Who’s in charge of carrying it out? What are the incentives, and what ever happened to it?

According to the information bulletin on the First Nations Summit website, The Act proposes that:

“the government promised to introduce recognition and reconciliation legislation that will “further the implementation of the New Relationship” and acknowledge that “Indigenous People have long lived throughout British Columbia and that this fact does not require proof.”
In the coming months, we expect the government will fulfill its commitment by introducing legislation that recognizes Aboriginal title within our traditional territories and affirms our right to share the benefits and revenues that the resources in these territories can provide.”

It sounds like a great initiative, seemingly well planned out and convincing. However, while reading on, what I found out was that the First Nations Leadership Council was to “secure commitment from the Province of BC to develop and introduce Recognition Legislation in the Spring or Fall of 2008”. That obviously didn’t happen because since then proposal has been under review. Issued March 2009, was a “Statement from the Province of BC … to delay the introduction of the Recognition and Reconciliation Act to allow time for further consultation and discussions with First Nations communities and industry.”

On top of being postponed, update on the status of the act is extremely vague as demonstrated in an interview with Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister George Abbott. It makes it extremely difficult to assess the situation as “no decision has been made”.

In response, this is what Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, had to say in an open letter issued July 31:

“what is disturbing, even enraging, to those who raise this concern, is the Province’s inability or unwillingness to substantively change from status quo behaviour, especially since 2005… legislation is not needed for the Province to change its conduct, by providing different honourable recognition-based negotiation and litigation mandates consistent with the New Relationship Vision and decisions of the Courts… New opportunities for reconciliation must emerge.”

In short, this made me realize a couple things such as, why is this not made more public? And why is it so hard to find accurate information on the matter? Perhaps it’s in the nature of the topic, but as a result I’ve come to realize that this is our business as it also pertains to us as a community.

On an optimistic note, it’s good thing that there are people that are continuously taking a stand and facilitating discussion. It’s encouraging knowing someone our age is taking on the issue and talking about it. If it wasn’t for my friend who approached me with the subject, I wouldn’t have known about it. Just shows the positive effects of sharing ideas, providing another effective example of how they can spread.

-Viv

“I’m always convinced that most of all of the good ideas that you ever receive come from grassroots people that live it, breathe it and know it.”

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:51:00 -0400

- Quote By David Senter

Coming across this quote, I’m reminded of the amount of power and magnitude of impact that can be demonstrated simply through grassroots activism.

The encouragement of like-minded people to come together for a common cause can initiate a natural and spontaneous social movement. What seemingly starts as a minor protest can then be spread through media and ultimately change laws. It can be as small as expressing a point of view amongst peer groups, or in the form of a well organized event tackling a major political issue.

It’s always comforting for us young people who feel compelled to make a difference in our community, knowing that the most powerful way of sharing of ideas are exemplified through our actions in how we live our lives.

- Viv

advice from a modern folk hero

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:52:00 -0400

“The first step - especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money… the first step to controlling your world is to

control your culture.

To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.”

Chuck Palahniuk

1980's CHILDREN'S ADS.... AND US

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:19:00 -0400

..Stumbling upon this (now) shocking 1950’s Marlboro ad, i try to remember exactly what ads WE grew up surrounded by as kids in the 1980’s.

It’s funny how advertising seems to convey normal, commonplace images when I pick up a magazine today, but when I find old ads from previous decades they look eery and antiquated— like snapshots of what we were told to look like and be like, in another time.

Did the ads we were surrounded by as children actually impact how we saw the world— what we tried to aspire to— what we thought was desirable— which traits we saw as attractive? I can’t help but wonder how much those ads may have impacted our adult selves.

a 1980’s princess— did these ads appeal to girls only?

a 1980’s cheerleader— is this what we dreamed of being?

1980’s kids— perpetually white and attractive?

did ads like this make us the ‘now’ generation?

…More troublingly, I wonder if i STILL subconsciously subscribe to the lessons and imaging we were fed in magazine and TV ads we grew up with as children. I still find myself wishing sometimes that I had smoother hair, just like the perfectly coifed blonde girl I remember from 1980’s juice ads as a child. Do we all continue to absorb messages and social cues from advertising even now, as young adults?

These questions are not easily answered, but being conscious about the impact ads may or may not have in our lives is something I certainly think about a lot.

—Kat

ON CONDEMNATION AND SELF-PERPETUATION

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:31:00 -0400

.

“…We condemned them, our children, for seeking a different future.We hated them for their flowers, for their love, and for their unmistakeable rejection of every hideous, mistaken compromise that we had made throughout our hollow, money- bitten, frightened, adult lives.”

— June Jordan, a prolific black poet/activist

is condemnation of the younger generation a self-perpetuating legacy?
will we condemn the generation below us for their strangeness, for their new ideas?