The Struggle Between 6 Wheels and One Traffic Lane

Vancouver journalists must love writing about the ongoing feuds and mutual resentments between the city's cyclists and motorists, because once again the issue has been in the limelight of the media all summer. So far we've survived 3 critical masses, allocated a cycling lane over the Burrard St. Bridge and endlessly debated the merit of a shared roadway. The pedal heads have once again gained momentum for their cause, but as always the drivers are 3 lights ahead, counter attacking the issue and standing up for their right as the dominant and therefore most important method of transportation on our city roads.

And why shouldn't they? Over 3 quarters of Metro Vancouverites rely upon a vehicle to get around, they have an incredible influence on the economy (for better or for worse), and is usually the fastest and most convenient way to get around. And lets not forget what most commuter cyclists and most environmentalist usually do not grasp: Some people NEED to drive. We'd all love to live closer to work or the store so that we could bike or walk, but since a growing proportion of affordable homes are being built at the other end of the highway, I'd argue that these people have no other choice but to drive. From real estate agents to soccer moms, some of us were born to be behind the wheel.

But as for the cyclist's themselves, they have been busy reaping in the many luxuries the city has given them this summer:

-In May BCAA introduced North America's first Bike Assist Program, offering complete roadside assistance for commuter cyclists.

-In July the city begun its bike lane reallocation trial on the Burrard Street Bridge, closing the east side sidewalk and southbound curb traffic lane, opening it exclusively for bicycles.

- In August, the North Arm Bridge built for the Canada Line Skytrain features a bike and pedestrian path below the tracks, offering a safe journey into Richmond and Vancouver without any interference from traffic. Even cyclists want to hop aboard the Canada Line, each train is equipped with 2 spots for bikes.

Despite this progress, Vancouver's cyclists insist to demand more attention from the public with by staging the Critical Mass on the last friday of every month. With a "more sustainable than thou" mentality, thousands of cyclists parade through busy downtown streets disrupting traffic all in an effort to promote environmental conscience commuting and cyclist's rights. While this may fun for cyclists who get to take over the streets for an afternoon and revel in the media's attention, its hell for everyone else. It is selfish, unwelcome, and entirely unneeded in this city especially since the city has recently made enormous strides to accommodate cyclists in every aspect of their commute.

But perhaps we all need to know our place. To the drivers: Just realize that the times are once again changing as societies, governments and urban planners are learning to free up some space on the road to cyclists. But to the cyclists (especially the ones in Vancouver): You've been given SO much in the past year - don't take it for granted, and remember that this a process, not a goal.

My first exposures to big city action

So I've been living in Toronto for 6 months now (well, much longer if you count living in residence at York U, so it doesn't quite count), and have really relished experiencing life in a big city... on a Canadian scale at least. The truth is that the city is extremely small peanuts to other metropolitans in the western hemisphere, but their infamous and yet oblivious egos and self-righteousness certainly help fill that population void. But I digress...

Back to big city life. This year I've come across some good events and stories, including witnessing my first street fight in downtown. My sheltered upbringing in a Vancouver suburb paralyzed me from doing nothing other than stand from a distance with a naive stare on my face, but I witnessed it nonetheless!

Toronto has no shortage of crazy shit going down. Earlier this month, a massive crowd of Tamilian-Canadians clogged downtown and Dundas square for 12 hours protesting against some genocide the Sri-Lakan government is guilty of. I had a quick chat with one of the protesters, but I had a tough time following what he was saying due to the fact that he had a picture of a severed head on his sandwich board...

I came across one of the craziest stories in the press last weekend. As the story goes, three teenaged boys were standing around on the subway platform waiting for the train when they were randomly pushed  by some guy off his meds onto the track just as the train was arriving to the station. One of the boys kept his balance, but the other two weren't so lucky. With the incoming train screeching on his brakes, one of the kids stuck on the track reacted to his spidey sense by pulling himself and his friend (who was stuck on the track) safely under the platform just before the subway breezed by them. The guy who pushed the kids was chased by foot and eventually tackled by a TTC fare collector through the streets. Just image being in that station when all of that shit went down.... wow!

And finally, today allegations of a residential cockfighting ring in a Toronto suburb has recently surfaced. You couldn't write this kind of stuff if you wanted to.... 

From A-Roids to AIDs, baseball has had a rough week.

The reputation and credibility of the MLB and all its players has taken yet another blow to the baby maker as their poster child, Alex "$27.5 million a year" Rodriguez, admitted earlier this week to using steroids back in 2001-2003. When I came across the story for the first time, I reacted a similar way when it surfaced that Lance Bass of N'Sync admitted being gay: "This is news to everyone?"

What makes his situation even worse is that in an 2007 interview he flat out lies, saying that he never took steroids, nor felt the pressure to do so. In the recent Sports Illustrated interview where he comes clean, he turns his story around completely saying that in fact he did take steroids to alleviate the tremendous pressure of performing. Sorry kids! Thats what you get for playing ball in "loosey-goosey era"! 

What a dick. 

The way American athletes are smeared these days is all backwards. Phelps gets caught taking a bong hit (while apparently looking like a pro doing it) OFF SEASON at some frat boy's dorm room, and he's considered worse than Hitler. He's lost sponsorships, upcoming tournament eligibility, and may even be charged by the police. The worst A-Roid is going to get is a small suspension (if that) and boos the rest of his career, where he should be getting the boot from the league and all record books post 2001. If only Katie Couric was apart of Congress, then we'd have some real dirt on him....

But alas, the heat was taken off of A-Roid if not for a day, as former All Star Blue Jay Roberto Alomar was slammed with a 15 mil lawsuit on wednesday from an ex-girl friend claiming that he gave her AIDs. Yikes. This whole steroid scandal has just become a lot more easier to deal with in comparison, has it not?

I know Robbie, it's been a tough week for all of us.

Mulling over the carbon footprint of the American Dream...

On Jan. 20th, America gave themuch anticipated boot to George W. from the White House and welcomed their 44th president - Barack Obama! (insert ecstatic 'wooing' here). Before settling in his new digs (and airing the place out of old people smell, no doubt), Barack delivered yet another speech that made the world stand still.  

Talk to any environmentalist/green professional and they will tell you in a feverish tone that Obama is expected to be the long awaited leader who will usher in a green revolution to the United States, the type of leader that the country has been despicably lacking for the last 8 years. He's made promises for more renewable energy, more public transit, less dependance on foreign oil - all that good stuff. As a budding green professional myself, I'm pretty stoked over the fact that this will be happening over the next 4 years, and that I will finally start to hear about positive environmental progress from an American president, instead of one who's done nothing else than make his country the laughingstock of the global environmental community.

However, there is one part of Obama's speech that rattled me a lot. About half way through his speech he boldly states that "we will not apologize for our way of life" - echoing Dick Cheney's arrogance when he said "The American way of life is non-negotiable". 

Now the United States has much to be proud of - they have built their country on freedom, prosperity and genuine hard work. No question. But having an unapologetic population of 300 million+ (a mere 5% of the world's population) who consumes 25% of the world's resources and who leads the world in per capita carbon emissions could be tad bit worrisome. Maybe it's time for the Obama administration to rethink things through and consider for once the massive carbon footprint that the American Dream has  - but I doubt it.

I'm sure an intelligent individual such as Obama realizes it, but knows he wouldn't dare touch the subject or else he'd be maligned worse than Al Gore. 

And besides, isn't it an American's God-given right to drive his Yukon 2 blocks to Wall Mart to fill up on flimsy imported electronics, bottled water tapped from municipal water facilities, and hamburgers that required more water to produce than what's in the Mississippi River?? This jackass from Arkansas sure thinks so.

Nature: 1, Feeble, Man-Made Aircraft: 0.

Never doubt the power of nature my friends.

Earlier this week we heard about the incredible story of US Airways flight 1549 crash landing on the Hudson River. Pilot Chesley Sullenberg, aka Man of the fucking Hour, saved his ass and the rest of his 155 passengers by playing it cool and crash landing after two migratory birds got sucked into the engine. Geez, someone earned his retirement.

Since their were no human fatalities, I think it is in good taste to point out this simple observation: Two birds managed to disable two powerful jet engines. Mighty impressive for a measly bag of bones and feathers, non?