the official grace & cello blog

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.

so cbc is doing an ultimate canadian commuter challenge right now (on the radio), and it is really starting to bum me out a bit.

first of all, statistics canada apparently recently released stats that show that 75% of canadians use their vehicle for all trips from home!!!!! this blows my mind … call me innocent, since i use my feet for 95% of all trips from my home. …. apparently this number is up from 66% in the early 90s, which means despite an increasing environmental discourse throughout society, we continue to mire in serious structural obstacles to sustainability …

 i mean really … if 75% of people use their cars everytime they leave home, we have a LOT of work to do in order to build towards sustainability. because, like it or not canada … cars are not the future. biodiesel is not a green alternative (if it is used as a replacement for filling our cars, and maintaining the status quo).

the funny thing is, i think many people of my generation, and maybe even more so with the generation a bit younger than me, i think we instinctively know that what we need is big, serious change … and not just silly band-aid solutions (like alberta’s new climate change solution of putting carbon emissions in the ground instead of dealing with them).

one such area of change will have to be a re-designing of our cities so that at the very maximum 25% of people use their cars everytime they leave the house. even this seems like too much to me. … perhaps 25% of people use their cars 25% of the time they leave the house, and for the rest they use healthier, more enjoyable technologies … liking walking, or biking. … or walking 5 minutes to the train, then taking the train. or, jumping on some other form of sustainable mass transit (be it on water, in the air, or in caravan).

what we need in order to achieve sustainability is that 75% of canadians leave their house on foot everytime they leave the house. what we need are cities structured in such ways that light, jobs, homes, services, biodiversity and areas of relaxation all mingle freely and widely across the city. we should always be a 5 minute walk from a form of public transit, and that transit should never take more than 2-4 minutes to arrive after we get to the stop.

these things are do-able … all it takes is imagination, design and planning.

i have a friend who tells me repeatedly that we have to admit that sometimes (or often) we just NEED cars to get around the city. other forms of transportation just aren’t as practical.

my response is always the same: this is true, but only because our cities were built that way on purpose. we planned it that way !!!

the good news is: we can plan for other ways too, and no it is not too late just because the city already exists.

c’mon canada …. let’s wake up! we need to create collective initiatives for ensuring our cities, and city planners keep pace with changing global realities, and with the growing wisdom of newer generations of canadians who see that our lives can be better … and our heath, quality of life, and planet will all be the better for it.

c. 

… i wonder what it will bring?

 i am hoping it will bring a year full of innovative and clear-thinking, where world leaders, but especially world citizens (who thereby force their leaders), decide that enough is enough, and changes start to take shape.

you know, changes in the way we deal with human / environment relationships … like, we seem to have serious relationship problems when it comes to our love / hate affair with the planet. but this can change, and i am excited to see more and more people looking to make these bridges towards sustainability. so yeah … for 2008, i hope to see us all moving more in that direction, where the environment, responisble commerce, and wise-living start to take the lead in people’s lives.

i am also hoping that the apparent resurgence in community, and designing for community will continue to gain momentum. iconic buildings in metropoles are not enough, and maybe not even what we need at all … but places designed with public and civic conviviality in mind are definitely needed.

we need to put a cap on the suburbs … as in: no more. enough is enough. suburbs kill planets. it’s not rocket science.

and let’s start making our downtowns places where people live, feel safe, curious and alive … 

 let’s start to dream again, like back in the days when the World Expos actually meant something, and inspired people to dream large, noble dreams that took into consideration all of humankind. …

ya ya, i am not saying that all was rosy back in the day, just that i liked their ability to think innocently, and make big plans about where the world could go. … they were side-tracked by money-grubbers, it is clear but we don’t need to be.

… gotta run … more rambles later !

so canada disappointed yet again at bali. inspired by the united states, the harper government is working diligently at thwarting any efforts aimed at managing for climate change. simply put, the harper government is more interested in short term profits then long-term sustainability.

so interesting that the bali conference comes just at the time that eastern canada is experiencing one of the most beautiful winters in recent memory. many of us had between 40-50 cm of snow yesterday, and so everything in this part of the country seems to harken back to the good ol’ days when everyone played hockey on outdoor rinks, when people bundled up to spend evenings outdoors, and when snowed piled as high as your head was a regular occurrence.

as i was walking down some of the most beautiful wintery street scenes you could imagine — with the roads full of walkers and cars, and the sidewalks overrun by 8 foot tall mounds of snow, like some sort of invasion of snowfort sentinels — i thought about how canadian winters are likely to be a thing of the past in the next few decades, and how the passing of such a neat way of living was something to be missed certainly.

don’t get me wrong, winter isn’t always fun. but, there is something so incredibly unique about life when it exists in a deep freeze. the communities, people and stories that emerged out of that harshness and cold are as beautifully impressive as the birds and little critters that managed to adapt to that harshness and cold. i mean, c’mon … when canadian winters no more freeze our little noses off, we’ll have lost something as precious as the most cold adapted bird on the planet … (the common redpoll):

i know there are many who think that canada without snow might be a nice change from all the challenges that come with the white stuff, but walking around our wintery streets lately (a type of winter that we haven’t seen in what seems like a long time) reminds me of how much beauty there is in a cold-adapted life.

anyway, as a quick hopeful note … seems that harper’s government has mis-managed somewhere as of late. they have lost their important lead on the liberals, and quebec seems less enamoured … could it be that their pitiful performance at bali was a bit like shooting themselves in their feet?

here is a book worth reading. … i am sure most people who would stumble across this blog probably know a lot of the stuff in this book, but there are always things to learn. for example, did you know that tomatoes have 200% more sodium in them then they did in 1950? that’s interesting … do you want to know why?

there is one thing that is abundantly clear … that certain parts of life (namely, ‘life’) should not be industrialized. more harm than good comes from industrial agriculture, and this book, the end of food, does a good job of explaining why.

c.

hey all, busy-busy at grace & cello getting all of our goods shipped off to lovely boutiques near you!

a good mixed tape is needed at this time of year, so check this out! very good, indeed …

: )

c.

running around to ship off the first of our fall 07 orders on friday and it was absolutely blazing hot! it felt like the hottest part of summer … it reached 33 degrees celsius (91 degrees fahrenheit), but with the humidity they were saying it was 40 C (104 F)!

i love that sort of heat. we were ‘perspiring’ just standing around!

then today (sunday), it was cool and fresh, and i could feel that moist, damp autumn feel … like at any moment it would open up and rain and not stop for a full month. a month-long deluge is what i was imagining, but instead the clouds blew over, the sun came out and it was 24 C (75 F) again! ahhh, life is good.

and in fact, life is good. i couldn’t help but thinking this as i walked to le marché jean talon this morning (when it was still fresh and cool) … changing leaves, that ‘back to school’ feeling everywhere you turn, and a sneaking suspicion that any day now we’ll all be hunkering down for the winter (watching movies in organic pajamas, and watching the snow fall!).

maybe it was just the excitement of the market that had me lovin’ life … i love the jean talon market, and being surrounded by all that vegetable productivity! the only sad part of the market is that most of the stuff is not organic … there are only a handful of producers we can actually buy from, but we like the look and feel of all that food in one place … and all the people! (and to be fair: they do have a pretty decent organic selection … ).

random thoughts before sleep …

night!

: )

despite a fear that i am harping on the same subject for too long, i can’t help but exclaim: ’how wonderful is the autumn, really?!’ … c’mon, it’s incredible!

i feel fairly certain that this can’t just be a canadian thing … but i am starting to think that all the people around me are the most happy and carefree in autumn — not summer! isn’t that funny!? there is no way around the fact that even when canadians complain about the cold, they don’t want the heat … what they want is this glorious in-between.

they want 21 degrees celsius in the daytime with sunshine and blue skies, and they want the mornings and the evenings to be cool. they want to be able to enjoy being outdoors in the daytime, but they don’t want to sweat (canadians hate to sweat, i’m not sure why!).

they want to wear sweaters and feel cozy, but they don’t want it to snow … not yet, at any rate.

(they also want new clothes — and ours are coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled!).

i find it all so interesting. all this time i was assuming that the world loved summer! … silly me.

c.

ya … one of those nights. more than a week of family visits, seeing friends from childhood, being in a place that you come from and can always go back to …. does something to a soul, no? it definitely isn’t a bad feeling i come away with when i go home, but certainly a mix of wonderfully important, complex, beautiful and slightly troubling feelings!

and for whatever reason, bedouin soundclash comes to mind, perhaps this song in particular … well, or this one!

i am not sure why, or how, but his voice almost does something … almost reaches some point of success; almost … and that just seems incredibly familiar to me. that sort of sloppy forward momentum full of sincere belief, innocent promise and simple beauty. i don’t think it’s important that he gets there or not … i just find it absolutely wonderful that he is looking that way, and throwing his voice with so much intent!

oh, the hope!

looking back on summer i think: how quickly it passes. looking ahead to the cosiest season of the year (autumn), i sigh with tired anticipation: oh, how perfect; just what i needed …

speaking of which, thanks for the photo by druppelgewijs, reminding me that putting one’s feet up is always in order.

c.