Category Archives: Getting Places

99 Ways to Leverage Our Humanity – Part 3

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[Editor's note: I must start by saying that what unfolds below is a team effort - thanks to everyone who has contributed to this list! So, for better or worse, many parts of the world have been recently occupied - and in some places, like Vancouver, this may or may not be coming to an end. Many elements of the Occupy Movement have issued demands. Personally, I see many problems with demands, as they imply binary-negotiating and/or unchangeable beliefs. Personally, I see more value and possibility in ideas and collaborative brainstorming - though this is a much harder process for certain. Some other folks share a love for collaboration and they have kindly offered their ideas in world-changing list-form. So, without further ado, here is part three of a four-part series that is meant to get our community thinking about how our brilliant, passionate, inspiring, adaptive, funny, delicious, healthy, and innovative humanity can make the world a better place. Thanks for the memories, everyone!].

How can we leverage our humanity to solve the world’s problems?

Here are ideas 1-25. And here are ideas 26-50. And here are ideas 51-75:

  1. Hike.  Get out in nature’s bosom.  Commune with the forest spirits.  Skinny dip.  Roll in dirt.  It’s clean.  Sit.  Listen.  Yell!  Pee your name in the snow (men only, I think).  Play capture the flag.  Know Nature.  Know Its value to you personally.  Because you can’t want to protect something if you don’t even know what it is.
  2. Cycle.  You’ll see more and feel good.  Buy rain pants and suit up.  You’ll be dry under you clothes (and naked!).  Be visible.  Cyclists are the future:  fuckin non-motorized, non-electronic cyborgs on wheels.
  3. Draw.  Not for art’s sake.  For communicating.  Long before we wrote, we drew.  On cave walls and on bark and hide.  Appreciate the symbolic nature of signs and symbols, and the miracle that allows all humans to interpret them.  Ed Emberley is a prophet.
  4. Drink.  Water.  H2O.  Its ubiquity only adds to its many mysteries.
  5. Learn.  A language.  Or several.  Or even just a smattering of words.  Knowing another’s tongue is the quickest way to break the ice and will allow you to more easily understand ‘the other’.
  6. Objectify.  Be partial.  Know that your opinions are opinions and based on what you believe you know.  Do not mistake passion for rightfulness.  Choose to be emotional; do not make emotional choices.
  7. Listen.  You talk too much.  Listening allows for ideas to reveal themselves to speakers who may not even know they have such ideas.  If you can’t listen, pretend to listen, as this often has the same effect.
  8. Keep.  Imbue physical objects with meaning.  A ring, a rock, or even a house.  We are physical creatures living in a physical world, not virtual avatars.  Don’t tear down old buildings.  Believe in ghosts and spirits.
  9. Teach.  To teach is to learn well.  Whether it be abstract or practical knowledge, by teaching it you will learn it deeper, and it will become you.
  10. Smile.  In monkeys it lowers tension and creates group harmony.  We are all monkeys.  Faking is acceptable as it often leads to the real thing.  Emotions and your facial muscles are inextriclaby linked. You can fool your own brain.
  11. Don’t.  Don’t do anything.  Eke.  Survive.  Be simple.  Learn the art of inertia.  Laziness is godliness.  The planet will thank you for it.
  12. Think critically. Do not accept things for what they are and ask lots and lots of questions.
  13. Perform. Sock puppets, Shakespeare, Improv, and Musicals are great ways to tell stories as well as tackle the pesky problem of fearing public speaking.
  14. Dance with people. And, to quote a wise man named Jim, “never let the rhythm control your dancing.”
  15. It might’ve been said before but it bears repeating: learn another language. This will help when you visit other places. And it will really help you visit communities not just tourist attractions.
  16. Have heroes and role models who exist in the real world, not the hyper-sexed and overly violent fictional worlds of so much media.
  17. Send handwritten thank you cards. First, because it’s the right thing to do. Second, people love getting mail and, let’s face it, the cards are outstanding advertising for your personal brand!
  18. Be skeptical and question authority. This doesn’t mean rebelling against anything and everything; it just means that you shouldn’t take everyone at their word all the time.
  19. Strive to be a bit more of an armchair economist so that you can understand – and share knowledge about – the complex workings of the global financial system.
  20. Commit to keeping the complex complex. Sometimes simple solutions come at the erosion and sacrifice of necessarily complex and important things.
  21. Remember that the things you own end up owning you. The only logical solution here is for you to give your things away so that they can own other people.
  22. Take off/out your headphones and/or earbuds and listen to the world around you. This will expose you to funny things, interesting things, and things that will inspire you to engage members of your community in conversation.
  23. Collaborate. Like a symphony. Working together is the only way that we’re going to pull ourselves out of this mess.
  24. Find common ground with someone who has a totally different worldview than you. It’s possible. I mean, Kurt and John do it every day on this blog!
  25. Recognize that humanity’s adaptability will see us through tsunamis, earthquakes, peak oil, and the zombie apocalypse; however, there will be catastrophic collateral damage and many of us will not survive the next 100 years. Try your best to be okay with this fact and also try really, really hard to not be a weird survivalist who makes people super uncomfortable while riding the bus…

–

Masthead photo courtesy of Kurt Heinrich, who is awesome.

Broad Minds or Empty Pockets: perspectives on travel

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It’s almost a year today since my boyfriend and I arrived back in Australia after an epic two year travel adventure across Canada, the United States and South East Asia. Ironically, it’s also taken almost a year for us to pay-off the epic credit-card debt that we amassed on our travels.

Both these milestones have got me thinking lately about whether travel is worth both the effort and the expense. There are plenty of reasons to avoid or put off traveling, and they’re usually based on either your community or your career.

Why would you leave all your friends and family to go somewhere where you know no one? And what if something happens to your mum or dad while you’re away?  All your friends are having babies – shouldn’t you be settling down too?

Then there’s your career – what if Craig from Level 7 gets the promotion you want while you’re away? And how do you hide two years of ‘no-fixed-employment’ on your resume?

There’s no question that travel is difficult, expensive and importantly, it’s also completely intangible. But the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

During our travels we were lucky enough to live in one of the world’s most livable cities during one of the world’s biggest sporting events. We met amazing people that totally changed our perspective on life, and we experienced being part of numerous communities that we would never have seen at home.

But that doesn’t mean it was all sunshine and rainbows. We also arrived in Vancouver in the midst of a global economic meltdown, when hiring non-Canadians on short-term working holiday visas wasn’t a particularly attractive option for most employers. We had no jobs, no contacts, nowhere to live, and we had days when we came very close to forgetting about the whole travel idea and going home.

But once we managed to clear all the hurdles, we had an experience that will probably be the highpoint of our lives for quite some time to come.

Sure, we probably could have put down a deposit on a house with the amount of money we spent, but then we wouldn’t have a ton of amazing memories, some wonderful international friends, a much stronger relationship and the kind of self-awareness that only comes from being turned down for 30 jobs in the space of two months.

I think the best option when it comes to travel is to apply the grandkids rule. When you’re old and grey and having your food spoon-fed, what are you going to be telling your grandkids about the way your lived your life? Are you going to tell them about the great new outdoor setting you bought in 1992? Or the project you worked on in 2001? Or are you going to tell them about the time you had your Pringles stolen by a monkey in the Borneo jungle?

No amount of tangible ‘things’ will ever surpass the food you’ll taste, the people you’ll meet, the things you’ll see and the knowledge you’ll gain.

Vacation Planning – Community Style

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As I write this I am between vacations. Yesterday I was basking in an unseasonably warm fall day in Algonquin Provincial Park. Tomorrow, I’m heading to Cape Cod and later in the week to Boston. It is my reward for a September void of days off, as work gobbled up every weekend between Labour Day and Thanksgiving.

Once the Lonely Planet or some other off the shelf travel guide was my only tool to plan trips. But increasingly, the paper books have given way to the Internet. Odds are by now you already know about the many travel websites offering deals and feedback from a community of previous vacationers. If not, you should look into it. This is increasingly the way most people I know make their travel decisions. But beyond the basics of the where to stay and what the key attractions are the Internet is offering way more. For Jim and I this means that we are getting to know and even starting to contribute to online communities around two of our current main vacation interests: canoeing and beer.

The traditional guides for canoeing in Ontario are park maps and a single prolific author on canoe routes, Kevin Callan.  These are still great resources to access, but choosing the right trip at the right time of year is the key challenge in planning a successful trip. Online paddling communities, such as Canadian Canoe Routes offer a forum to share trip routes, provide advice, and learn about seasonal differences in a region. Other sites like Virtual Algonquin and Algonquin Map provided more specific details on Algonquin for our trip planning this summer and fall. These resources have meant we were able to get off the beaten track in August when some parts of the park get booked to capacity and let us know when to check out the most popular lakes, like Canoe Lake, without being steamrolled by the crowds.  As new canoeists, it meant were were able to have multiple great vacations in our first year.

Travel guides for good beer seem to be few and far between in published form. But online there are thriving beer communities offering advice on the best places to get pints in whatever town you might be in.
My favourite is Beer Advocate – offering listings and user ratings for breweries, eateries, bars, retailers and u-brews. It offers a crash course in great craft beer no matter what city in North American you are in.  Another great resource is The Beer Mapping Project, helpful for thirsty travelers to get acquainted with the local beer landscape.  And there are what seems like countless more resources, recommendations, and reviews out there to guide the way to better beer rather than large scale commercial brews that I could just as easily find in the bar around the corner from where I live.

The Internet is now my main gateway to traveling. It lets me get closer to communities that share my interests and gain more intimate knowledge of a space that I will only be in for a short period of time. And very little of this knowledge, advice or tips would be available to me without the previous travelers or generous locals that took the time to share and document their experiences. Bon voyage!

Pedal Etiquette – Drivers are too nice!

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Most weekdays see me ride my bike home from work. And the lovely and talented Michelle Burtnyk-Horn rides to and from work every day. Recently, we had a chat about similar problems that we were having with drivers at four-way-stops.Long story short, many of you drivers – most, I would argue – are being too nice and needlessly accommodating to cyclists. You stop, wait and wave us through intersections when it is not our turn to proceed.

This over-accommodating behaviour is dangerous.

Through the power of MS Paint I have constructed four graphic renditions of common cyclist-motorist issues that arise at four-way stops.

Scenario 1 – The Setting

This is a standard 4 Way Stop, much like the ones that dot the 10th Avenue bike-friendly street in Vancouver.

Problem: motorists do not go through a 4 Way Stop instersection when they’re supposed to, which is dangerous.

Solution: obey traffic laws, especially if cyclists do not!

Scenario 2 – Fake Go, then Stop!

Problem: The motorist arrives at the intersection first. Out of the corner of their eye – or because of sweet safe-driving-skills – they notice an approaching cyclist. The motorist moves forward and then stops. And then lurches. And then stops. Nobody knows what to do.

Solution: When it’s your turn to move through the intersection, please move through. Trust that cyclists will stop at stop signs. Because we will. Those are the rules.

Scenario 3 – Left Turn FAIL!

Problem: a cyclist signals a left-hand turn through a four-way stop – or a two-way stop; similarly to when a car begins moving forward after the vehicle opposite of it begins moving through the intersection, the cyclist above pedals forward with left arm perpendicular to body, signalling a turn. The thing is that the motorist opposite of the cyclist stops, which probably isn’t what they would do for a car signalling a left turn.

Solution: when it’s your turn you proceed through the intersection, good sir/madam.

Scenario 4 – Total Stop-Start Disaster!

Problem: a cyclist approaches an intersection where three cars are waiting; they all take notice of the cyclist – who is, incidentally, nowhere near the intersection – and all lurch, stop, lurch, hesitate, move, stop, and stop some more because, for some reason, the motorists think that the cyclist is just going to power through the intersection.

Solution: business as usual; whoever gets to the intersection first goes first. If there’s a tie, then the honour goes to the motorist on the right, etc.

Conclusion

Here’s the deal. Riding a bike has a lot to do with momentum. It’s way harder for a bicycle to get going than it is for a car. You know, on account of all the delicious oil cars use to go faster. For this reason, cyclists will slow down when approaching 4 Way Stop intersections while maintaining forward movement in order to time their passage in a way that syncs with the regular order of how things move through the intersection – you know, the way cars always do it. Motorists, do not be scared or apprehensive of such two-wheel, rolling timeliness. And remember that bicycles are vehicles, too. For when you stop and start and wave cyclists through when it’s not their turn to go through a 4 Way Stop – well – this makes things more dangerous for everyone.

As with toddlers, cyclists love boundaries. Please, drivers, be sure to give your road-sharing neighbours appropriate ones.

Since when are bike helmets cool? Since right now, and that’s awesome!

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“Helmets” and “style” aren’t words that I naturally associate.  Until now.  The bike helmet has become an extension of personal style.  This is good news for our cycling community.

With September comes back-to-school and with that, more traffic on the bike routes.  In the past three weeks, I’ve seen cyclists wearing snowboarding helmets, full-face BMX helmets, shorty motorcycle helmets, equestrian helmets, and an old-school aviation helmet (seriously).  These are in addition to the usual mix of standard racing helmets and contemporary multi-sport helmets.  Yes, Vancouver gets slammed for its’ lame fashion.  But lots of cyclists are style-conscious and their helmets complement their look.

I’ve been a cyclist for a while and have never felt cool wearing my helmet.  It’s your basic model with a visor and it’s just fine.  But when I wear it, I am well aware that I won’t be winning any style contests.  I like wearing a helmet, I don’t resent the helmet law, and I respect everyone’s right to choose to wear one or not.

Some cycling advocates argue that the helmet law prevents people from riding.  I’m not sure why but I guess it’s because they’re put-off by having to wear something dorky.  Or maybe helmets are uncomfortable for some.  Or maybe some are just uncomfortable with being told what to do.  Whatever the reason, better helmet options means more people are wearing them.  Lately, the helmet-free cyclist stands out from the mini-peloton at stop lights on 10th Avenue.

When I’m due for my next helmet, I’m definitely going to shell out the dough for something more stylish than what I wear now.  I see my cooler self in a super cute cherry-red glittery action helmet with a bright “One Less Car” sticker on it.  Make a fashion statement with your helmet?  Absolutely.

Helmets…they’re so hot right now.

English Bay’s Bulk Carriers Revealed

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Ever notice that Vancouver’s English Bay skyline is constantly littered with those, squat, red-hulled ships? Or maybe not. They’re  such an omnipresent feature of our surroundings, that we pay them little heed despite their importance.  Each of these modern-day merchant ships, or “Bulk Carriers”, doggedly cross the Pacific laden with Canadian commodities. In recent years, they amount to a ceaseless conveyor belt ferrying coal, potash, grain and softwood lumber to hungry markets in China.  So hungry in fact, that softwood lumber imports to China exceeded those bound for the U.S. this spring. Exports to China were up 157 per cent by volume over the same month last year.  Each of those sticks of wood was carefully stowed in English Bay’s bulk carriers.

While their economic usefulness to Canada and B.C. is undeniable, I am more interested in how the technology of these ships have evolved into the monsters we see today. Before the advent of steel, steam-powered ships longshoremen loaded the cargo into sacks, stacked the sacks onto pallets, and put the pallets into the cargo hold with a crane.

A lot has changed since then.Today, bulkers make up 40% of the world’s merchant fleets and range in size from single-hold mini-bulkers to mammoth ore ships able to carry 400,000 tons of deadweight tons.  A number of specialized designs exist: some can unload their own cargo, some depend on port facilities for unloading, and some even package the cargo as it is loaded. Most the ships loitering outside of Stanley Park are in the “Handymax” class capable of carrying 10,000 tons. They are part of a fleet of over 6,000 similar vessels worldwide.

I’m not sure what their direct contribution to community building is other than that, as we stroll the Seawall, we all enjoy looking out at them. To me and to so many others, they consistently evoke the romance of the high seas and of exotic destinations. No amount of sheer size and technological sophistication can change that.

Bike Share in Melbourne Lacks Traction

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About 12 months ago, the City of Melbourne introduced a new bike share program for the Melbourne community. Based on similar highly successful programs in places like London, Montreal and San Francisco, the program provides easy access to 100 bikes at 10 stations across the city.

But one year on, rider numbers have fallen well short of expectations and debate is currently raging in Melbourne about the long-term viability of the program. It seems 25,000 Melbournians will happily turn out for a city parade to congratulate Australia’s first Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, but only about 250 per day actually want to get on a bike themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I think bike share programs are an awesome idea. I spent an amazing week in Montreal cruising around on a Bixi bike, and there are numerous successful examples of bike share programs across the world that are both utilised and adored by local communities.

So why is Melbourne different? Firstly, it’s got to do with helmets. Helmets are compulsory in Australia and the fine for not wearing one while cycling is hefty. So you’d think that helmets would be available to rent with the bikes right? Wrong. Australian law also mandates that if a helmet is rented, an inspection and sterilization must be completed after each rental, which is clearly not going to happen.

As a result, share-cyclists either need to rent a helmet from a bike rental store, or buy one from vending machines located near the bike stations. The other option of course is to carry a helmet with you on the off-chance that you might want to cycle, along with a spare pair of trainers in case you need to go running, and a clean pair of underpants in case you get hit by a bus.

Critics of the program have also suggested that the city might have put the cart before the horse in creating the program, and that the money should have first gone into providing safe cycling infrastructure in the city before we start providing the bikes.

Melbourne isn’t an easy place to cycle – bike lanes are few and far between, and where they do exist they are narrow, un-segregated and prone to random disappearance when the roads get too narrow.  Throw in trams, hook turns and generally inconsiderate drivers, and riding in Melbourne can seem like a bit of a suicide mission.

But regardless of the issues, I prefer to live in a city that supports bike-sharing than one that doesn’t, and hopefully the program is at least educating the Melbourne community about the ease and efficiency of using bikes for short trips. Now if we could just get Le Tour guys using these bikes, maybe their popularity would increase…

The Laser: the Peoples’ Boat

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The editors of this fine publication have asked that I periodically pick a boat, ship, vessel – whatever – and say why it’s awesome, curious, noteworthy, etc. (I’m supposed to do this in 25 words. #Fail on that one.) Anyway, I’ve agreed, but I want to make it that I am NOT an expert of all things nautical. I just love boats and so am indulged accordingly.

Laser I in Cottage Country

 

For this installment, I’ve picked the trusty, feisty Laser. This dinghy is like the Mac of the sailing world. It’s no-frills, user friendly design will have you heeling close-hauled in no time. I learned to sail on this boat as a twelve-year old, mostly by myself on a little lake in Quebec.  It’s also a cheap and portable boat, ideal for creating organic sailing communities in urban centres. City dwellers can store them easily and sailing clubs can diversify their membership away from large yacht owners with a little fleet of lasers which are cheap to maintain and very durable.

Lastly, did you know it was designed in 1970 by a Canadian, Bruce Kirby?

Community on the Juan de Fuca Trail

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47 kilometers of West Coast awesomeness!

Last week, John and I went on an adventure in the wilderness. After weeks of accumulating supplies, preparing menus, going on test hikes, and becoming far too acquainted with the staff at MEC, we set out on the Juan De Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. Mentally – and somewhat physically – prepared for the 47 km, 5 day hike, what follows is a daily synopsis of the ups and downs (literally and metaphorically), our observations about community we found on the trail, and some stories and anecdotes that are just, well, funny.

Bear Beach looks good early in the morning.

Day 1: China Beach to Bear Beach

Filled with excitement and anxious to get started, we threw on our packs and headed towards the trail from the China Beach parking lot … only to be stopped in our tracks by a number of minor, let’s say, incidents. Incident #1: John realizing his water bladder, attached to his backpack, is empty … which subsequently made sense when we noticed that the back seat of the car was soaked. Incident #2: Michelle checking her pocket for the map to give it one last look, only to realize it’s nowhere to be found. Good thing it turned up … in her father-in-law’s pocket! Incident #3: Backcountry camping fees? Strictly enforced and payable at the start of the trail? Needless to say, we knew nothing of backcountry camping fees. To add to the confusion, we received five different answers from five different people about how we could pay and how much it was – luckily, the parents-in-law come to the rescue, making up for the near-fiasco with the map. Despite the multiple incidents, we head out on the trail (half an hour later than expected), arriving safe and sound about 4 hours later at beautiful Bear Beach.

This was one of the 15 or so times that Michelle walked up during the Day 2 experience. Also, love the pink!

Day 2: Bear Beach to Chin Beach

By 10am we had packed up our wicked awesome camp site – complete with giant table – and were striking out on the trail behind a group of Japanese tourists, Team Texas and a hardcore young man who was, apparently, doing the entire trail in three days. The kid was moving fast.

For seven hours – over about 12 kilometers – John and I hiked up and over about 15 different headlands. This basically meant walking up for about 150-200 meters, looking around at the gorgeous, lush and spectacular scenery, and then walking down for about 150-200 meters. And then we crossed a creek. And then we did it all over again. Other than expelling a combined 30 liters of sweat and starting to feel our packs weighing on our shoulders in achey new ways, this part of the trail was an achievement of epic proportions with very little collatoral damage to our bodies, minds and/or souls. By 7pm we settled into a delicious meal of quinoa next to a modest little fire and watched seagulls feast on shellfish under a misty sunset.

The 16 kilometer marker was a long, long, long time coming. Mostly because we either missed marker 15 or it's missing along the trail. Needless to say, we stopped for lunch here.

Day 3: Chin Beach to Sombrio Beach

MICE! That’s right. Focusing a lot – perhaps too much – on nefarious bears and cougars, we underestimated the chewy vigour of some other four-legged creatures who live on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. During the night, a gang of wild mice gnawed through our packs in search of delicious treats. Luckily, no trail mix or my candies were harmed.

This hike was similar to – but not the same as – day two. We went up, up, up a lot right away, but there wasn’t as much repetition. Also, a kilometer of the hike took place along about a flat and groomed old logging road. Quite a nice respite!

Arriving at Sombrio Beach, John and I learned a lesson about “maps” and “distances” at Sombrio. The 20.7 kilometers listed on the map got us to Sombrio Point, not the beach itself. No, to get to the beach we hiked with our tired legs (in utter silence, which says a lot) along a sheer cliff, through some slippery, smelly muck and up, over and around two coves. Though the trail wasn’t actually all that technical, this is the place where – because of sheer fatigue – we could’ve died quite easily because of one little misstep (or perhaps because we let our guard down against the roaming packs of radioactive ninja mice that the Juan de Fuca Trail might possibly yield).

Oh, and Sombrio is the place where we started having deeper conversations with our new friends, the Texans, who were particularly impressed by the awesomeness of our campsite and my very pink hiking attire.

John relaxes by our very awesome campsite and even more awesome fire at Sombrio Beach.

Day 4: Sombrio Beach to Payzant Creek

Before leaving Sombrio we stumbled across a family of sea otters.

Waking up to the sound of crashing waves might be the best sound. Ever. Follow that with a delicious Spanish Frittata breakfast (thanks, MEC!), coffee, and a flawless pack-up, and we found ourselves setting out happily for an apparently “moderate” (according to aforementioned “map”), albeit long (13 km), day. The day was, actually, quite moderate – if one were to compare it to the gruelling terrain of the previous two days. Compared to day one, it was definitely harder and almost twice as long.

The hike itself was gorgeous. We left the comfort of the coastline for the more mysterious woods, finding ourselves surrounded by old growth trees and cooler temperatures. Setting up camp in the middle of a rainforest, mist and sunshine streaming through the myriad of trees, was one of the memorable moments of the trip. Team Texas wandered in a few hours after us – we felt a bit better about how incredibly sore we were after seeing them limp and drag themselves into the campsite. As we weren’t allowed fires in the woods, Day 4 was an early night – we were asleep no later than 9:30pm (which was probably a good thing, as it allowed our bodies to recuperate from the pain we had inflicted upon them).

The towering trees around Payzant Creek!

Day 5: Payzant Creek to Botanical Beach

A bittersweet day – a mere 7 km and we would be back in the real world! While we were looking forward to a homecooked meal and mostly, well, not smelling, it was sad leaving the calm, relaxing and awe-inspiring wilderness. This short four hour hike out, with lots of boardwalks and more and more hikers as we got closer to Botanical Beach, included a permit-check by a BC Parks Ranger/Warden/Guide/Hero as well as many fun chats with our Texan friends as well as Jonathan, a lone hiker from Winnipeg who was just downright delightful.

 Final Reflections

Since monkeys jumped down from trees, crossed the svannah, killed all the dinosaurs, and turned into people we’ve had a very interesting relationship with nature. We’ve worshipped, groomed, destroyed, restored, protected, developed, and celebrated the Earth during our time here. And that might be the coolest thing about getting out into nature and away from so much urbanity – a simple and fun five days in the woods is enough to remind any city dweller that people are a part of the natural environment and it’s a part of us. Taking time to appreciate this relationship is as important as it is enjoyable.

Thanks, Juan de Fuca Trail for being so darn enjoyably natural!

 

Bike Lanes and Post-Cold War Lithuania

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We’ve all heard Vancouver’s bike lanes have caused a bit of “stir” recently. But all the opponents out there should remember it could be a lot worse. Don’t believe me? Check out what Arturas Zoukas, mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania recently did to a car that had “parked illegally” in a bike lane.

According to Gawker (where I found this little gem) Zoukas:

combined the focus on sustainability of 21st-century urban administrative practices with the focus on tanks of 20th-century Soviet-style urban administrative practices and took an armored personnel carrier to the streets for a video in which he ran over a Mercedes-Benz parked, illegally, in a bike lane… The run-over was all staged, which is disappointing, but it doesn’t make the sight of that car being crushed any less sweet. Mayors: This is how you may.

Don’t believe it? Watch the video. Bloggers just can’t make this stuff up.