the official grace & cello blog

check out this company that will be rolling out its all-electric SUVs and SUTs in 2010, they are called phoenix motorcars.

you can reserve one now, and hopefully if everything goes well you’ll be driving one in 2010!

if you’ve visited this site before, you might have recognized that i am not a fan of the automobile … not in our cities anyway. a fantastic film like who killed the electric car frustrates me from two levels … the first being that we have the technology available to have zero-emission cars, but the car companies don’t want them to roll out … so they keep them from us. if you haven’t heard of this, watch this documentary …

the second level being that electric cars aren’t even the answer! … they are simple the worse-case scenario that we should allow ourselves. there are countless other environmental and social consequences that our car culture contributes to. roads are a huge issue for wildlife and waterways, and in the cities they take up so much space that room for people and their kids is very limited.

if we didn’t have to build so many roads for cars, what would we do with the space filled by roads today? look out your front window and imagine that as a grass (wild grasses, not lawn) covered lane, with more trees, some wildflowers, and maybe a small creek flowing by … the point being: there doesn’t have to be a road there.

not only would such alternate uses of roads make life more enjoyable, it would make being a kid so much wonderous … just run out the door and there is a world ready to explore and run around in, where there aren’t cars zipping by every 2 seconds … kids should catch frogs, not car exhaust when they are playing outside with their friends.

… my very convoluted point being that electric cars are not the answer. the answer is that we need to replan our cities, creating transportation systems that allow us to live without automobiles on a daily basis. we need to do this for the environment (there is no doubt), but also because it will improve our lives, it will bring beauty back into places that are currently rather ugly, and because it is simply a better way to live.

… but in the meantime, we still need to get around while our cities are being reimagined … and to do that, we should only be using all-electric cars (hybrids are not enough).

so, put your name on the list, and drive one off the lot in 2010!!

ps - there are a bunch of electric car options out there, some smaller than these … do some searching and see if you find something that interests you! … this treehugger article might be a place to start …

c.

… for three saturdays in a row, the city will be shutting down some major thoroughfares. the idea being to reconsider the idea of the road … from something used by destructive, ugly pollution machines to something that ressembles a park …

there isn’t a day that goes by that i don’t long for parts of montreal to do the same, although with greater vision. i say pull up the asphalt on some neighbourhood streets, and turn them into green zones, with grasses, shrubs and flowers giving our kids (and adults) places to play.

the time for roads is done in my opinion.

… and yes, there will be adjustments that need to be made … figuring out deliveries for businesses, and helping those with limited mobility and/or large parcels get around … but these are small problems that can be solved …

but first we have to give ourselves the right to solve these problems, and make our lives more liveable.

here is the article on new york’s experiment.

“j’avais envie de répondre à Nayadja Aghatourane, de hurler à travers la nuit chaude que l’étrange est la forme que prend le beau quand le beau est sans espérance, mais je restais bouche close, et j’attendais.” — antoine volodine.

hey, check out this video!

it is of a planned city to be built outside of abu dhabi … all green. carbon neutral, “zero” waste, no cars (more or less), and all made within a futuristic, up-scale (yet traditional) sort of way.

here is the article that goes along with it.

whether you agree with all their plans or not, it is this sort of thinking and imagining that we need to do more of, because ideas like masdar city will only lead to other ideas that will then lead to others …

and in my opinion, that what we need most right now in terms of urban planning. and interesting that this is coming from the middle east.

north america is certainly not the leaders in this sort of thinking, but i sure wish we could be (and i’d love to be on the planning committee!!).

c.

have you ever heard of zaproot? it is a “green video-network” and i have only recently discovered them. actually, i have already watched a couple of their episodes, and i think what they are doing is definitely worth checking out and passing around.

the current episode is about the “green” (heavy on the ironic, or sarcastic) building that is going on in dubai, as well as the ubiquity of corn in the diet of north americans.

anyway, check it out … and if you have similar links, please pass them along!

c.

hi all,

yes! … we were on tv, and it was fun (i have to admit it).

and so was greenloop, one of the lovely boutiques that supports grace & cello.

check it out!

 c.

being the hip and fun folks i know you are, i am sure you have already visited bitstrips.com.

i just found out about it today (on today’s q, actually … i’ll out my source, i’m not proud!). anyway, i thought i would check it out. it is pretty fun … i was just fooling around with the software, and although it took me a bit to get the hang of it, i really had fun. (here is my first finished product … you can also visit it on the website and leave comments if you like (although go easy on me, it was my first go!)).

(click on image to enlarge)

give it a try! you can make your own characters, invite friends, make your settings and everything. animation for the whole family!

c.

so, i have pretty much become addicted to q … the arts & culture show on cbc radio 1. everyday at 2-3:30pm, jian ghomeshi takes us around the globe on a talkshow voyage of everything artsy. video games; indie, classical and jazz music; film (docs, shorts, indie and big-time); literature, poetry, whatever-trevor …. he’s got it.

it’s like letterman, but with more interesting subject matter … and of course it’s on the radio.

…and what about radio? how can it be that this medium is still going strong? i don’t know really, except to say that i find the radio incredibly comfortable and warm. listening to a good interviewer discuss books, politics or video games with an knowledgeable guest while i toil away in the kitchen, or clean up, or even work on the computer … there is nothing nearly so cozy about the television.

anyway, this monday on q will be another fun day. the boys from the ultimate canadian rock band, sloan, will be in the studio. as well, a relatively well-known political pundit will be discussing his new book, “i don’t believe in atheists” … and of course there will also be all the other tidbits and snippets that make up a typical airing of q.

so tune in! … and check out their virtual museum. it’s pretty fun, too.

c.

have you seen this commercial?

as a long-time bike commuter, i have to admit that i’ve never been the biggest fan of wind (since it always seemed to be a head-wind, for some reason).

 this commercial makes me re-think my biais against this misunderstood green-powerhouse.

 :)

c.

i am not american, and so won’t be voting this year in their elections (primary or otherwise) … but wow! … what a fun year it has been already. i don’t know who i would vote for, since all the front runners (of both parties) are impressive in their own right.

nonetheless, i am posting this link of obama’s words being turned into song, not because i think the americans should or should not vote for him, but simply because i think it is nice to see that a politician’s words again inspire to the point that artists use them to create art … and, it is true as well that it is nice to see a politician attempting to bring all folks in a nation together instead of treading in the whole right/left and them/us rhetoric.

hey, i don’t know anything about who would be the best nominee, or the best prez … but i do know that this is pretty neat.

… and, that it is nice to see that american politics are fun again!

so if you are american, i wish you the best this time around! … it ain’t gonna be easy, but it should be memorable.

c.