a book you folks should check out for sure

Hi. I am a teacher, and I sometimes write book reviews which our

library posts on its blog. Below is a review of a compliation of

short stories called metatropolis, edited by John Scalzi. Definitely

worth checking out with the unique bike references.

Rick

metatropolis

I'll start right off by highly recommending this compilation of five
futuristic, eco-agro short (roughly fifty pages each) stories. Two
are set in locally in Cascadia, described as a corridor extending from
Portland north to Vancouver.

Fortuitously, reading these short stories with Straphanger (in
particular, the chapter on bike use in Copenhagen) fresh in my mind
was a real bonus. Three of the stories feature bikes as the preferred
mode of transport because most citizens simply cannot afford
fossil-fueled or electric vehicles In one, there is a bunch of
bike-riding eco-terrorists laying siege to Detroit: their strategies
reminded me of the Critical Mass demonstrations we often see on
Vancouver's streets.

Another aspect of this compilation which left its mark in my
imagination is the way certain motifs/references flow through the
stories despite radical differences in setting and character. The
editor, John Scalzi, shares interesting info on the group
brainstorming/editing sessions the authors engaged in through the
writing process.

Check it out! With all the discussion currently surrounding the
Enridge Pipeline, making very clear the fact that fossil fuels are not
going to disapear from the energy market any time soon, this
collection gives us an intriguing, albeit pretty darn bleak, glimpse
into what future generations of Earthlings have to look forward to.

~Thanks so much for the review Rick! I'll be sure to check that out. Super, I want more book reviews on this blog :-) It reminds me we haven't even mentioned Critical Mass San Francisco's 20th Anniversary this past September. I think Chris Carllson must have put something out to commemorate that. Sorry for the dereliction of duty, CM readers, I'll be sure to let you know when I check that out.

I'm not sure how Critical Mass could resemble "eco-terror" but that will be interesting to see that story. I do hope it's not a bleak dystopian future. Those books are a bit of a tired trope... though something that our Christian based culture certainly enjoys: (Depeche Mode Lyric) Everybody's waiting for Judgement Day, so they can go, "Told ya so!"  (A guilty pleasure of mine for instance is reading Douglas Coupland describe post apocalypse Vancouver locations that I personally know)

One of my favourite things about Miriam Webster's 1998 novel, The Age of the Bicycle, is that it is not dystopian even though that is the genre. From Chunk 666's manifesto (I highly recommend their fun zine): "People think that the post-apocalyptic world will be all rough and tough, hard living and scrabbling for survival, but that's not true at all..."

~RUSL

Velopalooza 2010

The people at the Velolove list are moving towards this:

Velopalooza

June 4 to June 13, 2010

Put more community fun into Bike Month. Check out the velopalooza website.

Great Stop Sign Video

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

If only this were considered here in BC. This video is from Oregon where last year a change to cycling law was being considered. Unfortunately, the law did not pass. In practice, however, this is a great video explaining how it works in the real word, legal or not.

I wish this guy would also make a video like this about stopping at red lights. In 2005 Idaho updated their law so that cyclists could treat red lights as if they were stop signs. I haven't heard any complaints about it working there. And a video like that would go a long way towards bringing the debate about cycling in the city in line with reality.

However, I'm not sure what angle such a video would argue. This Yeild don't stop video uses the trendy idea of energy conservation as the structure for the argument. We commonly argue for the CM way of going through red lights as a group. This doesn't really apply to individuals. I think some kind of Safety based narrative could be used but unfortuntly the trends in safety thinking aren't as positive as those in energy conservation. With safety thinking we still have a lot of superstition. Evidence based analysis is still very much on the fringe.

Anyway, I thought this video was really great. Besides being well argued, the visuals are brilliant and really help make the points.