Category Archives: Local

The Britannia Homework Club

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Who are you?

We are a non-profit society that draws its students from Vancouver’s 3 poorest neighbourhoods – Strathcona, Grandview-Woodlands and the Downtown East Side.  Our mission is to support the academic, social/emotional and financial needs of youth at Britannia Secondary, struggling to graduate and achieve post-secondary success by providing free tutoring, fresh fruit and snacks, and bursaries for post-secondary education.  Each year, approximately 370 students attend Homework Club, and we have provided between $3,000 and $9,000 worth of bursaries each year.  This year, we had a shortfall in funding and appealed to a variety of sources in hopes of securing enough money to sustain us this year, and expand in the future.  We entered the Aviva Community Fund for a chance to win $150,000 and last week, found ourselves in the semi-finals.  Our plans for the money can be found on the Aviva website www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf11198 and you can learn more about our organization at www.wix.com/ksleary/homework-club

How is your organization fun?

Nutella, Nutella, Nutella!  It’s what the kids line up for, and probably one of the few ways to make homework fun!

What is your organization’s superpower?

Blasting through obstacles like homework, finances and social/emotional problems to help kids in need.

How do you use it to build community?

While we work primarily with high school aged youth, the program has broader benefits for families and communities as younger siblings and parents see the powerful benefits of school attendance and success. By strengthening families HWC also promotes effective community capacity building because strong families are the building blocks of strong communities.

Exhibition Unites Energy with Art and Motion

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[Editor's note: sometimes Kurt and I get pretty darn busy with work, life, and Kurt's lifelong plan to ensure that Johnism becomes the ideology of the next 100 years. For these reasons, we will occasionally copy and paste press releases from cool organizations and call them "blog posts" - right now is one of those times].

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VANCOUVER: eatART presents an exhibition illuminating the connection between art and energy through photography, paintings, performances and art-in-motion at the Great Northern Way Campus on December 15th.

Exhibits include interactive touch sensitive sculptures, a wearable walking machine, the first walking electric vehicle, and a 50 ft electromagnetic snake.“We define energy as the exertion of vigour or power, and the vitality and intensity of expression,” said said Emily Hamilton, Curator and Co-executive Director of eatART. “Energy manifests through art through mood, emotion, movement, materials, narrative, connection with the viewer, and sources of power and light.

eatART is a volunteer-run charity organization that provides space and support artists, performers, engineers, and robotic sensationalists to gather, network and collaborate. “We give artists the opportunity to demonstrate their explorations of energy and sustainability, promote their message and to gain exposure,” added Ms. Hamilton.

The Hangar is the event space sponsored by the Great Northern Way Campus. Located in the Centre for Digital Media Arts, it echoes the narrative of this exhibition: an industrial past with an educational present.

ART WITH ENERGY

DATE: December 15th

TIME: 7 to 11pm, 6 to 11pm for Media

LOCATION: Great Northern Way Campus, The Hangar, map

ENTRY BY DONATION: All proceeds go to the eatART Foundation to support the artists.

ARTISTS:

  • Michael JP Hall – Realization
  • Vincent VanHaaff – Resonance
  • Leigh Christie – A New Industrial Utopia
  • Frederick Brummer – Dimension X
  • G?Bikes – Powering the Party
  • Raul Casillas – Entanglement
  • Jonathan Tippett – Prosthesis: The Anti Robot
  • mondo spider - The world’s first walking electric vehicle
  • Mark Illing – Clones are People Too
  • The Cooper Bros – Panoramic Photography
  • Titanoboa project – 50ft electromagnetic snake
  • Peter Holmes – Water Portraits

Website: http://artwithenergy.tumblr.com/Exhibition | www.eatART.org

©2009 eatART Foundation

 

Community Decision Making

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Last night I had a beer and a chat with a man who is is wise beyond his years. He shared with me some great ideas about decision making in organizational environments, such as charities, social enterprises, businesses, the government, the non-government, and neighbourhoods. My friend argued that there are four kinds of decisions that we make:

  1. The ones that the leader/boss makes with no input. “Alright, sailors, I burned our ships so that you will feel a great sense of commitment to this land and, most importantly, to me, Hernan Cortes, and not that jerk Governor of Cuba!”
  2. The ones that the leader/boss makes with consultative input to/from a team. “Hey, Vancouver, we’ve developed a plan to put bike lanes everywhere. Just a heads-up. Drive carefully!”
  3. The ones that the team/people make with consultative input to/from the leader. “Hey, boss. Because I’m a Millennial and I like to customize things, I created my own performance review based on my specific skills and interests – it just feels more me, you know? Would you have some time to review it before we use it to measure my awesomeness?”
  4. The ones that the team/people make with no input. “Dear CEO of our company, I just averted a potentially horrendous brand-epic-failure on Twitter by engaging the customer immediately and solving their problem right away; this involved giving them a free service/product that we make/provide.”

The idea here is that the most effective decisions for a thriving community come from the fourth point – when in possession of a strong vision, a clear set of principles, and a wicked-awesome plan, everybody in a community knows what to do and work/business/advocacy/change/governance happens as efficiently as it does strategically as it does quickly.

And then there’s the terrible state of our poor little planet and the important decisions that need to be made in order to sustain not lose half of the Earth’s population in a tsunami-nuclear-firestorm-hurricane-drought-war.

After chatting with my friend I came home and watched the video below, which was shared by my awesome sister.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of our global team making most of the decisions seems like the best solution for the many complex problems that lie before us. And, yes, I realize the incredibly/ridiculously complicated nature of doing this. And I also recognize that it’s time to try something new and ridiculous. Because the boring old stuff ain’t working.

Russian Warship Visits Port Metro Vancouver

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Last month, in the week leading up to Remembrance Day, Vancouverites were treated to the odd sight of two warships tied up at Canada Place: the Canadian destroyer, The Algonquin and, much more bizarrely,  the missile cruiser Varyag, the flagship of Russia’s Pacific Fleet. The sight was so outlandish not only because it was the maiden visit of warship to the port, but also because the Varyag bristled on all sides with huge missile tubes.

As I stood gawking over the rail one lunch hour, busily snapping pics along with dozens of other tourists, I couldn’t help marvelling how totally out of place this menancing Cold War relic looked next to the white sails of Canada Place and in the relatively peaceful confines of Vancouver’s harbour. “Does Varyag’s Captain know Vancouver is ‘Nuclear Free Zone,’?” I wondered.

After a bit of Google-ing, I quickly learned that the ship’s days of packing nukes  are long over. Fair enough. Apparently, its chief duty is now to toodle around the North Pacific and create closer ties with other navies, including Canada’s. Also all fine and well, but I also can’t help wondering if Russia also relished a little show of strength on Varyag’s visit. After all, Russian’s Arctic ambitions are as well known as those of any nation, including our own. (See my last post, Harper Makes Shipbuilding History, for more on that).

I have to say I felt relieved when  Varyag pull up anchored. Once it and its plume of amazingly noxious exhast faded on the horizon (sorry, but apparently the Russians have zero environmental standards for their navy), I felt relieved. Port Metro, Victoria, Gregor Robertson can we maybe think twice before allowing warships on useless missions darken our harbour?

 

 

The detachment of Pacific Fleet vessels took course for Vancouver on October 15 after the Russian-US military exercises “Pacific Eagle-2011.”

Digital Fill – Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation Infographic

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In the past we’ve written a few articles about the Dr. Peter Center and Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation and what they do for a community of some of our most marginalized and sick citizens. We’ve detailed how the DPC has been a leading advocate for drug policy reform and harm reduction in the ongoing battle to convince our conservative federal government that Canada’s current policy of criminalizing drug use just doesn’t make a lot of sense, neither from a “law and order” or from a health perspective.

Recently the DPC released a groovy new graphic which sketches out all the great work they do everyday with folks. It neat because it effectively maps out the wide range of services provided by the centre. Have a look and prepare to be inspired. If you’d like to kick in some money there way this holiday season, you can do so here.

Charity and Community – Hand Outs and Cheapskates

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I was just approached in the office to buy a raffle ticket for $10, three for $25.  The prize was a trinket that I’d never keep.  The reason for the raffle: a guy who works here was just diagnosed with prostate cancer and was headed into surgery today.  One of his friends/co-workers was collecting money for his family, just a bit extra to cover take-out and gas back and forth to the hospital.  It probably won’t amount to much, but it’ll help.  I’m sure it’ll be really, really appreciated too.

It’s Movember this month and I didn’t carve a moustache from my beard.  I probably should have and now feel a stab of guilt for not raising money for finding a cure.  Prostate cancer.  Life’s great kick in the balls. I’m really lucky; I haven’t been forced to think about cancer very much.  All my friends who have had cancer have survived and are still surviving.  Invincibility is still attached to my aging youth.  But cancer, or whatever fate, is out there and none of us know if or when we’ll have to face our battle.  Will your community be there for you when it happens?  Is giving now just flimsy good-karma insurance?

When I consider the raffle, my mind moves to the big campaigns – the posters and runs, pink ribbons and testimonies from survivors.  All this to encourage society to search for a cure.  I’ll admit to not giving as much money as I should.  Logically, I know how important it is.  Emotionally, I feel for the millions of people this affects.  But when I see the campaign by the Canadian Cancer Society I don’t feel connected.  I don’t know the people.

Ah, and there it is.

There’s the problem.

My problem is the problem so many face.  We don’t know people in Mogadishu who are struggling with drought and joblessness.  I don’t know anyone in the favelas of Sao Paulo either who don’t have clean running water.  There are so many people in need, so many folks on the street in urban Canada, struggling communities in our north…the list is overwhelming.  Who gets my charity dollars and how much should I give?

I’ve chosen to buy the raffle ticket this time.  I felt moved to do so.  It was direct.  It was for a guy who works with us.  If I didn’t give, I don’t think I’d be doing justice to my community.  It was real.

But what of the others?  Where do I go for these answers?  I feel like I’m there, ready to give.  Now what?

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Awesome masthead photo by derekp

Gasoline

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I’ve been driving more lately.  Between a September packed full of work events, a commitment to camping every month since April (and hopefully every month through to March) and starting yesterday a transit strike in York Region, I’ve been seeing the inside of my car a lot more that I’m used to lately.  And that means a lot more trips to the pumps and consequently a reminder of the hate-love relationship that many people experience with gasoline.

Like many things gasoline is complicated.  It has enabled us to live the lives we are now – as a cheap, portable fuel that drives us, our lifestyles, and our economy.  And while the local (as in where we extract oil from) and long-term (as in climate change)  impacts can be devastating, our adoption of gasoline powered engines was considered a cleaner alternative to horses and coal.  And, as I recently was reminded at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the discovery of gasoline resulted in a significant decline in whaling at a time when whale population depletion was getting critical.

But as you likely already know the ending of the story isn’t looking as good.  Oil is a finite resource, prices at the pump are climbing and climate change is already happening.   Whether these crises significantly affect the way we live in 30 years, 60 years, or even in 100 years, is yet to be seen.  And all the driving we do takes away time from our family, friends and community.  The time we’ve relied on gasoline for how we live, move around and feed ourselves will only be a short blip in human history yet it seems completely normal to so many of us.

To not end on a negative note, even though I’ve generally been feeling pretty blue the last couple of days, I’ll quote the band Po’ Girl and their song “Gasoline” that I listened to on my slow drive home on the 401 today.

Gasoline gasoline
It’s dragged on too long
What should have been
A weekend affair
Cause there are stories to be told
And that’s what we’re made up of oh
All the stories in our hearts cause in our hearts
Is what we are

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Masthead photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe

 

VanValley is delicious!

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I signed up for the VanValley Buyers Club in July and it’s been such a fabulous experience, I had to share.  We paid about $600 up front for 17 weeks of amazing produce.  Each week, we’re pretty much set for fruit and veggies except for a few extras here and there, like California grapes and avocados from Chile.  I’ve always supported the philosophy of community supported agriculture (CSA), but this is the first time I’ve been directly involved.  And it’s been awesome to be a part of.

From their website, the focus of VanValley is to provide buyers club clients with the best LOCAL produce at competitive pricing. We believe that through food and supporting sustainable LOCAL food systems we are also building relationships and community (http://vanvalley.wordpress.com).  VanValley started this year and from my perspective, it’s been a smash hit.

We’ve signed up for weekly delivery of organic produce before and I didn’t love it.  No matter how many cool-packs were included in the bin, the produce would always be a bit sad by the time I got home from work to fetch the delivery from our sunny front step.  Unfamiliar produce would often end up in the compost as I didn’t know what to do with it. And it was expensive.

In contrast, VanValley offers value, convenience and fun.  Volunteers staff a pick-up table at our local coffee house from 4 to 7pm once a week.  That means we can peacefully make our way there after work.  Most evenings, we go as a family and end up chatting with neighbours and the amazing volunteers while we’re there.  And usually, we munch on farm-fresh cucumbers from Surrey or peaches from Keremeos on the walk home.

Administration has been seamless from the start, which I must admit was a pleasant surprise.  I’m not sure why, but I expected a period of working out the kinks.  There wasn’t one and I’m still impressed by how efficient the process is.  Members of the Buyers Club receive a weekly newsletter that includes a list of the produce we’re getting, recipes featuring that produce and news from the farmers.  Plus, there’s a trades box at the pick-up location and I love that.  We have lettuce in our edible garden, so we can swap out greens from our weekly box and replace it with something that another member passed on (like blueberries – yum!).  It’s such a simple idea and it makes for an even better experience.

It’s been wonderful to eat seasonal produce.  We loved the radishes and stone fruit through summer, the tomatoes and potatoes as we approached Labour Day, and now the deep purple beets and beautiful green squashes as we settle into fall.  It’s such a natural way to eat and so incredibly satisfying because the food matches the season.

The beauty of supporting local producers and sustainable food systems has become somehow less important than the experience of participating in community in this way.  We signed up because of our politics, but interestingly, our ideological motivations have sort of faded into the background because the practice makes perfect sense and the experience is just so darn great.

Like most Vancouverites, I’m already looking forward to next summer.  And our next summer will definitely include VanValley.  In the meantime, I’ll go back to shopping on the Drive for my organic produce.  And I expect that I’ll buy California grapes and avocados from Chile less often than I did before.

Masthead photo courtesy of Augapfel.

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.