Repset broke the news on the Dates and Locations for the Metro Jam Qualifiers happening this summer. Top 3 riders from each spot will go on to compete in Metro Jam in Kingston August 30th. If you aren’t sure what I am talking about check out my blog from a couple weeks ago here.
From Repset:
July 12, Chinguacousy Skatepark, Brampton ON
July 19, Iceland Skatepark, Mississauga ON
August 2, The Forks Skatepark, Winnipeg, MB
August 16, Legacy Skatepark, Ottawa, ON
There will be beginner and expert divisions at the contests, but only the top 3 from the expert division at each contest will qualify for the amateur finals at Kingston Metro.
A great crew of pro riders will be in attendance at the events as well. Tony Hamlin, Tom Dillon, Jay Roe, James Steele (Kink Bike Co.), Kym Grosser, Jaumell Campbell, Harrison Boyce, and Chris Silva (MacNeil Bikes) will be present in Brampton and Mississauga. Riders scheduled for the other dates will be announced shortly.
Brian Hunt just posted this awesome video from the Toronto BMX Jam that went down a couple of months ago as part of the Toronto International Bike Show. Check it out!
Last week and article appeared in the Toronto Star about Catalytic Converters being stolen out of SUV trucks in GO station parking lots around the GTA. Which, as you can imagine, would be a very big problem for the owner of that vehicle. A GO Station Security Guard was interviewed anonymously, and stated that it was a fact that many vehicles are the victim of theft everyday at GO Station Parking lots across the Toronto Area. A GO PR-type person then stated that the security guard was misinforming people, and that the number of thefts is actually very very small. (I am not going to get into to much detail here and quote numbers, as it is all outlined in the article linked below.)
To people who had had their vehicle broken into, stolen, or vandalized at a GO Station Parking lot, this is like a slap in the face. GO Transit’s stance is to pretend like its not happening, and lie to the public, to make the lots seem safe. My boyfriend Dave’s vehicle(s) has been stolen once, second time broken into, stereo stole, and vehicle damaged so badly it was a write off, and then third time, his brand new vehicle had it’s window smashed out, only for the would-be thieves to find there was nothing inside. All 3 of these incidents happened within about a years time.
Well, Dave decided not to let the first article go unnoticed, as did a few other people. Within a few days, The Star had emails, Dave’s included, and phone calls from angry citizens demanding GO Transit to take a harder look at security at GO Transit parking lots. In response, The Star published a second article with responses from these concerned citizens, and encouraged victims of GO Transit parking lot theft to come forward and the the real numbers become apparent. I urge you to do the same! If we do not speak up, and put some pressure on GO Transit to fix the problem, they will just keep pretending it’s not real.
Two days ago I ran into Jay Miron and heard the most exciting news of the summer! But, sadly, had to keep my mouth shut until the official press release dropped sometime yesterday. So now, without further delay, I can officially yell with joy- METRO JAM IS BACK!!!!
After a 2 year hiatus, Metro Jam, one of the biggest BMX contests Canada has ever seen, is back! Hosted by Ten Pack BMX (Jay Miron), this years event will be bigger and better than ever! Metro Jam 2008 will take place officially in Kingston, ON, over 2 days, August 30-31. With a series of qualifying events taking place in cities across Ontario leading up to the big event.
In 2006, Tim DaSilva lost his life building his dream. Tim was a Champion BMX racer, headed for the Olympics. His passion was selfless though; it seems every kid who met Tim, now talks about how he helped them, or how he touched their life and really made a difference. This passion, and his eagerness to help others in the sport he loved, led to designing and building the ultimate BMX track in Halton, ON. Sadly, during the building of his dream, a tragic accident occurred, and Tim passed away. Tim’s friends and family could not let that dream fade though, and with over 300 people helping, the track was completed and opened up last year.
So the track was open, Tim’s dream was a live, and Tim’s friends and family could take comfort in knowing that their son was continuing to make a difference in the lives of young people, and the sport he loved would continue to thrive and progress in Ontario.
Towards the end of last season though, there was some trouble. The land that the track was on, is privately owned but is a part of the Niagara escarpment and because of that the track was forced to close until further notice.
Fast forward to today: the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) is forcing the family to flatten their son’s dream in 60 days (from the end of April 2008) or the owner of the private land (Halton Place) will face stiff penalties. It seems somewhat unclear what the NEC’s real motives are, but there has been some muttled quotes about permits and farming. This seems completely ridiculous. In the society we live in today, with so much polution and litter, and condos going up every 5 seconds, these people have nothing better to do then tear down the dreams of some BMX riders? We aren’t building waste processing plants here, we are talking about a dirt track for kids to get out and ride their bikes on and be active!
I invite you, in fact, challenge you, to join the facebook group here, and more importantly, sign the petition here. You don’t have to be from the area, you don’t have to race BMX bikes, but if you have anything in life you are passionate about, and/or have ever lost a loved one, you can understand.
Finally, I leave you with this video by Brian Hunt. Take 5 minutes and watch it, its remarkable.
Lately I’ve been really into looking all over the place for inspiration and creativity. Today I came across this unique art endevour and thought I would share…
Open-Contentsis a project by Toronto based glass artist Brad Turner. It is an attempt to link the physical world of arts and craft with the voluntary electronic community. As an installation of 26 hand made bottles, collectively representing the letters on a keyboard, participants are encouraged to submit their own message, via website, to the character of their choosing.
You can write anything you want: a few words, a story, a letter, a secret, or confession, a text-message, an observation, whatever moves you.
For every electronic submission, the message will be printed and kept within the corresponding bottle. As the bottles fill up, the grouping ceases to be a collection of glass, but rather a collection of personal gestures. Reflecting the nature of online participation, these gestures are recorded and archived, while only a few will be discovered.
It’s really just a fun piece of art that anyone can participate in. There are more details on the site, check it out!
I was recently listening to The History of Hip Hop, on The Rub. This is one of the most complete collections showing the evolution of hip hop, year by year, from 1979, ending 20 years later at 1999 (which I think, not-so-coincidentally, is pretty close to the time that Hip Hop died).
This collection is one of the best I have ever heard and will take you back to a time when Hip Hop was full of talent, thoughtful lyrics, and some meaning, unlike this less than innovative trend we’ve been seeing over the past 8-10 years where 90% of hip hop is about bling, hoes, and Diddy-fied commercialism, not to mention that every other new hip hop song sounds exactly the same, and the art of “sampling” has turned into “borrowing” entire songs/tracks. But I digress…
If you haven’t already, check out The Rub, and The History of Hip Hop. My personal favourites are 1997 (it was a good year for the WU!) and ‘94, but really all the surrounding years take me back! (hey, I’m not all that old what can I say) The late 80’s leave me with fewer songs I remember, but definitely worth a listen as you can really see the evolution of hip hop and when a song does come on that you know, nothing beat jamming to the real old school flava! (yes I said flava)
I also found 2 interesting articles that are worth a read, and answer the question, is Hip Hop dead?
It recently came to my attention that my favourite place to get tattooed started their own blog. I’ve been tattooed by Brian (who has moved) and Dave has been tattooed by Lizzie, and my friend Alison has had work done by Tyson. It’s safe to say that any of the artsits at Passage are awesome and they all do great work. If you are thinking of getting a tattoo I suggest you check them out! Check out the new blog: http://passagetattoo.blogspot.com/
My cover up by Brian-
Lizzie’s work on Dave- His first tattoo-
Tyson’s work on Alison-
I came across a really great plug-in for photoshop today. It’s the ReDynaMix HDR plug-in for photoshop, by Media Chance. It enhances your photos like you wouldn’t believe and also comes with Orton and Black and White Filters that will make even the most drab and boring photos look amazing.
I’ve had a chance to play around with it a bit tongiht and it was really cool easy to use. Just like the website claims, it takes the ordinary, to the extraordinary! You can use the presets, or make your own custom settings. A free trial (watermarks your images) is available, as well as the full version for only like $16. Check it out here. The .exe is a link at the bottom of the page.
Here is a sample of what I did tonight:
BEFORE
AFTER
And here is a sample showing some colour, taken from the website:
The Action Sports Coalition will be hosting an art exhibit at the Gladstone Hotel during the International Bike Show, March 7-9. I will be exhibiting *something* at the show, along with many friends from the BMX community. It’s a great opportunity for amature artists to exhibit some of their work, and it’s coming together really well and I think the collection of BMX and Bike focused works will be interesting and worth a look. Here’s the poster, let me know if you are thinking of coming by!
