Some of my personal faves.

I like to call this number (above) the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Intimidation Suit”. The Austrailians did everything right here. Their opponents were probably left wondering, “Are these guys really ‘turtles in a half shell’? And if so, ‘do they have turtle power too?!’Pretty neat stuff. All part of the Australian amazing game plan to compensate for their lack of snow at home.

Personally, I don’t find curling very interesting. Probably because I never watch it for long enough to get into a ‘match’ due to my inability to comprehend anything that’s happening. With so many know-nothings like me apt to reach for the channel changer, Team Norway clearly knew what they were up against and came out with these funky attention grabbing harlequin curling clown pants. Hurry Hard Norway, way to build your curling community.

I’m at a loss for words with this one. But “brilliant” is the first one that comes to mind. This body-hugging spectacle of luminous spandex could do nothing but dazzle spectators and judges alike. Sure, the Ukranians made themselves easy targets with this creation, but let’s face it, it was a ballsy, all-or-nothing move which made them stand out from the pack. They flew in the face of figure skating couture convention. And I applaud them for it.

Ah, the Russians. Off the ice they set the bar pretty high with their street couture, which was flamboyant, stylish and boldly told the world that “watch out we’ll be seeing you in Sochi!” You just couldn’t miss them in any crowd, particularly since they often moved in coordinated packs.  They also took Olympic Swag to a whole new level, with caps and fannie packs for added punch.

Lastly, there was us and our mittens. Something like 3.5  million of these things were bought before and during the Olympics. Well done HBC. Well done Vanoc. I have to say, these hand warmers were a master stroke of fashion and functionality, who wouldn’t want to keep their hand warm and wave the maple leaf at the same time?

Goodbye Olympics. You were fash-tastic and you will be remembered fondly.

Who are you?

I am Kelly Anne Elizabeth White and I’m full of surprises. Allow me to explain. One could assume, given my exceptionally British name, that I am in fact English. Although I love tea, Coronation Street and custard I am in fact a proper Canadian mosaic of ancestries. Indeed my grandparents immigrated to Canada from none other than Holland, and the Caribbean and decided to settle in the beautiful city of Montreal where I was born thirty years ago. Surprise number two, I’m actually almost 30! I know, I know…my youthful features are deceiving.

As for my career, I’m a health educator who promotes student wellness at a university. I did my M.Ed. in health education because I believe good education leads to good health, and both lead to a happier life. I’m one of a handful of people with a Canadian degree in this area and my specialty is health literacy which I tweet about here: http://twitter.com/healthliterate

2. What do you do for fun?

I enjoy trying out new recreational activities. Recently I’ve discovered a hidden talent for sailing. Yes, these scrawny limbs can tack like you wouldn’t believe. You may have seen me last summer, cruising Jericho while singing “Ais the boys that builds the boat, Ais the boys that sails er!”. If it weren’t for my crippling sea sickness I’d probably be racing yachts in the Mediterranean full time. I also enjoy commenting on CBC news stories and then counting how many readers give me a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. I won’t tell you my on-screen alias though, it’ll mess with my stats. I also enjoy cooking meals, listening to music and keepin it real.

3. What is your favourite community and why?

If you’ve seen my first Gumboot video about the North Shore, you’ll understand why North Vancouver is my favorite community. Walking by the ocean, or hiking in the mountains or doing both on the same day is pretty remarkable. So is the annual Caribbean Days festival that I attend every summer at Waterfront park. I get to connect with my Caribbean roots while indulging in the food, music, bevvies and people that are at the festival each year. It may not be the classiest event on the North Shore (bring your camera for the after 6 pm crowd in the beer garden…) but everyone is welcome and good times are guaranteed.

4. What is your superpower?

My superpower is name-that-tune. I can identify a song within milli-seconds or a few beats on low volume. I store so much musical information in my brain that people call me k-pod.

5. How do you use it to build community?

I use this superpower to help me start conversations with people I don’t know. Like if I’m at an event or function and I hear a song come on I can say to my neighbor, “hey, i love this song, don’t you? whatever happened to Chumbawamba anyway?” and just like that, you’ve got yourself a conversation. I’m not sure if this necessarily builds community…but as one of music’s greatest living icons once said, “music…. makes the people….come together. yaaaa”. (Madonna), and I definitely agree with that!

My Three Favourite Things About Kelly Anne White are…

1. Her sparkling smile. If eyes are the window to the soul, then Kelly’s smile is the door to her enchanting personality. You can’t have a bad conversation with her because she is just so quirky, positive and delightful.

2. Hand-talking. Kelly could’ve been the best flight attendant in the history of the profession, but she embraced the world of health promotion and now uses her directive gestures to influence the health and wellness of tens of thousands of university students.

3. Storytelling. Sparkling smile + Hand-talking + Quirkiness = amazing storyteller and on-air personality; the Daily Gumboot staff can only hope to harness her style and skills again in the not too distant future.

As told by John Horn…

A last look at the Games. Vectorial Elevation and Robson and Granville following Canada’s victory over the USA. Photos courtesy of Vaska037 and Van Felt.

walking around downtown vancouver on march 1st smelt and tasted like waking up in your house after a party during which you’d ended the evening being carried off to bed while strangers enjoyed the contents of your refrigerator and cupboards.   the feeling had to be expressed.

where are Mukmuk and the gang now?  is there some retirement home for ex-olympic mascots?  are they sipping tea and playing bingo with Misha and Waldi?  do they compete for the image consulting contract for the as yet unknown Sochi 2014 mascot (although who was that large blue creature at Sochi house?)  how many young Vancouverites are waking up, and sadly placing their new, favourite marmot at the back of the closet?

this rather partisan video should be interperted as such, and recall that it was completed prior to the release of the actual 2010 provincial budget.  rather than accompanying it by writing yet another informative article about the impact of the Olympics on the provincial budget released this week, here is an abbreviated list of informative discussions:

the Tyee

Globe and Mail

National Post

the budget documents themselves

and the NDP’s response

As a key media outlet for the 2010 Olympics, the Daily Gumboot is excited to bring you our “Olympics Neighbourhoods” series. Here’s how it works: each week, Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, and Editor-in-Chief, John will profile a different Vancouver neighbourhood with a specific focus on things that might interest out-of-town visitors who arrive in The Couve for the Olympics. We will do this between now and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and the story will be told be the Gumboot’s editors asking and answering the five questions below. These are the straight goods that you can’t get from VANOC, the Ministry of Tourism or the City of Vancouver. Let’s get to it!

1. Where is this neighbourhood exactly, and how do I get there?

JOHN: Merville is a mysterious and secret neighbourhood that exists between the West End and Stanley Park. Few Vancouverites have ever truly found this hidden gem of a community. Unfortunately, it is unreachable by public transit, although a quick hike or bike ride through some of Merville’s amazing trails will get you into the community’s heart in no time at all!

KURT: If you want a real answer, I’d suggest typing in Courtenay, BC into Google maps. Then go a little into the bush and presto, you’re there.

2. Why should a tourist/traveler be interested in it?

KURT: My favorite part about Merville is the streams. I can remember several happy occasions where I had the opportunity to A) float down them and B) dive underneath the rocks and through carved holes in the riverbed. No, I’m not on acid. There is such a place and its called Nymph Falls.

JOHN: The Merville General Store is probably one of the coolest, most eclectic places in Vancouver. Colourful local characters who never, ever leave this hidden community pull up a bar stool and engage as many tourists and newcomers as possible in conversations that run the gamut from inspiring to downright weird. Merville also yields spectacular beeches, lush pastures and forests, as well as one of the most diverse mushroom populations in Coastal British Columbia. Finally, it’s the gumboot capital of Canada, which may or may not have inspired a couple of editors back at the beginning of this project.

3. What good and/or unique things are there to eat?

JOHN: As I said before, there are mushrooms galore! But if fungus isn’t for you, I recommend sampling some other amazing treats from the 100% local bounty of Merville. A lot of people here live off the grid (and some don’t like strangers shooting film on their porches, apparently), so their diet consists of truly local beef (we saw two or three cows during our trip), chickens and other fowl, pigs, goats, sheep, small-to-medium-sized-rodents, shellfish and non-shellfish, and a wide variety of roots, tubers and berries. The culinary highlight was probably stumbling across a gentleman who was harvesting some winter squash that he was planning to serve with heaping portions of rabbit stew. Yum yum!

KURT: Another great place to check out is the Atlas. Make sure you order their chicken focaccia sandwich. And also make sure you bring an appetite. John once finished second in an international hot dog eating contest (at least that’s what he tells me) and he still has trouble eating the whole sandwich.

4. What can I do for fun in this neighbourhood.

JOHN: Merville has one of the weirdest community traditions I’ve ever seen in my travels – which include history books, television shows and face-to-face adventures around the world. The locals love to rock fight. I don’t know how to explain it more simply, other than to write this: find someone else in the ‘hood and throw rocks at that person. Typically, the first rock is a warning shot and might not actually hit the person. After that, it’s game on! Like I said, it’s weird.

5. What are your three favourite things about Merville?

1) It’s a real place. If you’re only in town for a few more days, forget the Olympics and try to find Merville. This unique, hidden and quaint little community has a lot to offer and is a once-in-a-lifetime place to visit. In exchange for my telling you the community’s location I would accept hockey tickets. It’s worth it. Trust me.

2) Adventure. Whether it’s getting in a rock fight, evading curmudgeony locals or careening through a breathtaking forest, Merville has all sorts of spectacular outdoor sights to experience in a myriad of different ways.

3) Olympic Spirit. Did you know that 100% of Mervillians support the Olympics? Also, Canadian Hockey Defenseman, Brent Seabrook is actually from the tiny Stanley Park hamlet of Merville! True story. Before moving to Delta/Tswwassen, Mr. Seabrook honed his hockey skills by shooting rocks against trees with his grandfather’s hockey stick.

With the Vancouver Olympics behind us, the countdown to the next games in London, England begins.  While the Olympic stadium is taking shape, I’m not too sure how much the people of London are paying attention to the games at this point.    The willingness of some British newspapers to attack Vancouver suggests that some have forgotten they are coming under the limelight next.  London is a city with many great neighbourhoods and as you can imagine, they are not planing to bulldoze buildings in historic Westminster to build an aquatic centre.  Instead, they are using the games to “revitalize” the Lower Lea Valley, a post-industrial landscape, situated between four inner-suburban boroughs in the East of London.  For this reason, the games are out of sight and out of mind for many Londoners.

A century ago R. A. Bray described West Ham “as that of a spot somewhere near London to which people went with reluctance if they had business there, and from which they returned with joy as soon as the business was over.”[1] Sadly, I don’t imagine the average Londoner would describe it any differently today and most probably only know it as the home of a football club.  Half a century of rapid industrial and population growth in the second half of the nineteenth century transformed the once green wetlands of the Lower Lea River and Thames Estuary into a dirty manufacturing suburb with a range of social problems that matched the extensive environmental degradation (for more on the history check out my research blog).  Despite this troubled history and the scarred landscape it left, I would still suggest travelers to London should venture eastward and see a different side of London from the regal and imperial parks and buildings in Westminster.  The Docklands Light Rail lines make it easy to travel around East London and they are above ground, so you can see where you are going.  Most of the sites listed below are within walking distance of a DLR station.

Here are a few highlights:

• The Olympic Park:  While the stadium is visible from a lot of places in the Lower Lea Valley, the park is blocked by high blue walls.  The best views are from the elevated Dockland Light Rail trains traveling from Stratford to Bow.  You can get off at the Pudding Mill Station for a longer view.  The building is starting to accelerate and each time I visit more of the buildings are taking shape.  You can also see the two Back Rivers that flow through the Olympic park and the massive piles of contaminated soil that the organizers promised to clean on site.
• 
• Abbey Mills Pumping Station (Cathedral of Sewage): This amazing building located alongside a polluted stream and old factories looks really out of place.  It is even more bazaar when you realize its function: to pump sewage through the massive main drain underneath the green-way path you’ve just walked on to find this Victorian relic.  The architecture provides a reminder of the civic pride  created by an integrated sewage system in the 1860s.
• 

• Three Mills Island: This is the oldest remaining tidal water mill in England.  There have been tidal mills on the Lower Lea since before the Normand Invasion in the 11th century and the House Mill building dates back to the early 18th century.  You can also admire the massive gasometers just south of Three Mills and contemplate the changing scale of industry between the 18th and 19th centuries (or you can wonder why Jim spends his time contemplating such things).
• The Royal Docks and the Excel Centre: The former docks provide an excellent opportunity to see the process of revitalization already underway, as the warehouse have been replaced with a university, an airport and a large conference facility.  The Excel Conference centre will host some of the Olympic events and this is one of the better places in town to find a cluster of nice restaurants.
• The Thames Barrier: Taking the train out to the amazing flood barrier bring your past the handful of remaining industrial sites in West Ham, including the Tate and Lyle sugar refinery.
• The Lea Towpath:  If you are lucky enough to be in London during nice weather the many tow paths along the old canals are great locations for walks.  You can walk north along the River Lea miles, all the way to Waltham Abbey if you are feeling really ambitious.
• 

View Olympic Neighbourhoods in a larger map

The numeral 1 is the first number in our counting system.  Primary, singularity, and importance are all attached.  In the same way, humans generally prioritize their personal existence and survival as the most important.  Is this related to the “I” experience? Could we re-brand the “I” to be something else?  Would community-building, fundamentally related to the prioritization of others before yourself be helped if we could escape the tyranny of I.

I will not pretend to be an expert in academic-semiotics.  Semiotics is the study of communication and meaning.  One of the more accessible and interesting branches of semiotics deals with the idea of signs and signifiers.  Wikipedia notes:

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), the “father” of modern linguistics, proposed a dualistic notion of signs, relating the signifier as the form of the word or phrase uttered, to the signified as the mental concept. It is important to note that, according to Saussure, the sign is completely arbitrary, i.e. there was no necessary connection between the sign and its meaning.

The signifier is the scribble on the page, or image, or collection of vowel sounds.  The signified is how we interpret and impart meaning onto that visual or verbal sign, and is arbitrary.  Arbitrary means freedom.  In the light of this knowledge, let us consider our famously divisive friend Rene Descartes and his best known:

cogito ergo sum
je pense, donc je suis
i think, therefore i am or i am thinking therefore i exist

His ‘I’ is a unity of mind and body — existence is based on thought.  I am also not an expert on Descartian philosophy.  However, to me this means the body and mind are one and the same.  Mind is limited to the experience of bodily feeling.  You, and your thoughts are dependent on the very existence of your body.  Now, for a semiotic experiment:

I think therefore I am

Replacing I with E.

E think therefore E am

What does ‘E’ mean?  Right now it is meaningless to the majority of individuals.  What if we design meaning into E.  And that meaning is something about how you are not just you.  Your personal survival is dependent upon the survival of your community, and all that sustains it.  And by community, E means everything from small bugs, microbes, birds, plants, small children, grass, light, water, clean air, evil humans, good humans, your family, to dirt and everything around you.

Try it for awhile:  intentionally replace all thoughts in your head that include the ego-tyrant ‘I’ with E, defining E for yourself as a total experience of community, something like that described above.

Extrapolate this to a larger group.  A community is no longer a collection of individuals, all half-working towards a common good, and half working towards their own self-advancement.  Rather, you are the community.  In every thought, every sentence, every spoken word, you are community. It is no longer possible to exist outside of this.

Sounds totalitarian, a little too like Orwellian doublespeak eh?

Yet, if the world is as Marceau Merleau-Ponty describes, “glowing with meaning radiating from within”, our world might start to radiate with community.

The 6th-ever DDP gets underway

Well, fellow Vancouverites and citizens of the world, the Olympics have drawn to a close. They swept this fair city with their upper-middle-class sensibility, polarized audiences across BC, inspired heavy criticism, inspired heavier drinking, encouraged athletic excellence, obnox-ified Canadian pride, and generally left us all reeling.

Love them or hate them, there was something undeniably awesome about the energy the games brought to Vancouver. Be it through political protest or exuberant celebration, communities were galvanized and Vancouver’s many social silos crumbled in the wild 17-day melee of sport, art and culture. And beer. Enormous issues aside, the games quickly became one big party.

Now, of course, BC is set to weather the $8 billion hangover. Throwing a 3 million- invitee party for 17 days runs a hefty tab, the extent of which will only be known tomorrow when the BC budget is announced.

Which is why it’s somewhat ironic that my fondest memory of the Games cost almost nothing to produce, required no lining up, and was only marginally sanctioned by VANOC. I’m talking about the Decentralized Dance Party I attended on the Saturday following the opening ceremonies. And, pseudo-Olympic-dissenter that I am, I have a bold claim to make: it changed my perspective.

Uphill Sidewalk Skeleton: Look for it in 2014!

The Decentralized Dance Party (DDP) works something like this: Tom and Gary, BFFs with a die-hard love for parties and a penchant for throwing them, pick a time, location, and costume theme. This information is spread virally, though their website and expansive Facebook group, and when the crowd assembles over 100 ghetto blasters are distributed. Using a radio transmitter to project crowd-pleasing playlists to an empty radio station, the boom boxes act as far-reaching speakers.

All of a sudden it’s a mobile dance party in the streets.

And on Saturday, February 13th, that street party represented the very best of Vancouver’s 2010 events. It was open to everyone, totally free, and completely steeped in fun. Beginning with a rousing rendition of “Oh Canada” at 6pm in Yaletown, the party snaked through the downtown core, picking up hundreds of rogue dancers as it moved. There were trampoline competitions, uphill skeleton races, giant sing-alongs and an overwhelming sense of inclusion.

For a few hours radical, non-partisan community was forged in the heart of the world’s most commercialized event.

It was some powerfully fun stuff.

The author demonstrates the Decentralized Dance Party Spirit

I don’t mean to suggest that a mere dance party can right the highly publicized wrongs of VANOC. I’m also not blindly endorsing the street partying that happened during the Olympics. I witnessed some very dodgy, near-riotous crowds during my forays, and I can’t say I’m sorry to see them disperse.

Luckily, decentralized dance partying is not a spectator sport.

1) Who are you?

my name is virginia weiler. i’m a stay-at-home mom to a 3 year old light of my life, wife to the most patient man i know, and sort of a social entrepreneur involved in discreet rabble rousing for issues i care deeply about. i love the outdoors – and once spent 3 months in the rockies and new zealand learning to mountaineer, rock climb and kayak – as a “vacation” after working hard on three different economic development initiatives in BC.

2. What do you do for fun?

for fun, i like to go meetings:) most recently, i’ve been going to alot of election planning meetings (www.voteaction.ca). what i really like to do for fun is get my husband to help me rearrange furniture late at night, take our son to the park and chat with the incredibly cool moms in our neighbourhood – who manage to do important stuff in community and in their work, while cleaning sand from their noses and cutting up apples into very small pieces.

3. What is your favourite community and why?

my favourite community is right where we live on commercial drive, and i think its because it has such an incredible diversity and alive social fabric, where the street buildings are mostly just 2 stories high, and its full of people who care about changing the world, but are still in touch with their inner (or outer) rebel.  but home is where the heart is, and i’ve loved just about every community where i’ve lived. its where you get to know the streets, the shopkeepers, the best place to get coffee, and you want to read the stuff on the notice boards.  years ago i lived in the yukon, and the practise was to stop your truck in the middle of the highway when you saw another truck you recognized, and chat for 20 minutes. it was another fabulous community except for the country and western music and even that grows on you after awhile.

4. What is your superpower?

my superpower is staying up late with the elves and getting work done after our house has gone to sleep … but really, i think my superpower is being able (mostly) to see someone else’s point of view. maybe it comes from growing up in a diverse family (business/labour/academic; right wing/left wing; and loads of passionate discussions and arguments), or from spending alot of time operating heavy machinery in the north after university, but i’ve been saved by my superpower a few times.  its a handy tool for getting stuff done.

5. How do you use it to build community?

in my experience, sometimes amazing things happen when people with very different backgrounds and perspectives find a way to work together to make “change happen”.  i use my superpower to listen and then try and help all of us around the table hear what is being said.

My three favourite things about Virginia are…

1. Her friendly personality. It’s pretty self explanatory really. Virginia is a very friendly and thoughtful person. She’s always smiling and if you’re lucky enough to meet her on the street, odds are she’ll be smiling.

2. She used to operate heavy machinery up north. It’s something not all of us can say we’ve done. And it’s certainly something that adds yet another dimension to Virginia. Unlike many Vancouverites, she’s actually been out of an urban environment, giving her a great understanding of what’s going on around the rest of the province.

3. Her service and her vision. Virginia has sat on the Vancity board in the past and is running for the board in the future. Unlike sitting on, say the board of TD Canada or HSBC, sitting on the Vancity board requires a lot of work for very little renumeration. Endless hours of paperwork, reading and sitting in sometimes tedious meetings is a key part of the job. Virginia does all of this because she has a vision of what Vancity is and is committed to making that vision a reality. Her commitment to the credit union is admirable.

As told by Kurt…

The Gumboot would like thank the Globe and Mail for capturing this story. It’s a neat sort of community that enjoys flash mobbing. In fact the Gumboot’s own friends Yuki and Phil apparently participated in this flash mob!