I went to my first Critical Mass Bike Ride last Friday and was so appalled by what I saw, I bailed early.

As an experience, it was rather exciting. Roughly 200 cyclists gathered at the corner of Spadina and Bloor, and once everyone is ready, we set out down Bloor heading East. However, I realised early on that this thing wasn't organised at all. The mob was being guided by whomever happened to be at the front and more often than not, people in the front didn't know this. The result was a slow moving blob rolling through the city.

Now in most cases, I wouldn't consider this a big problem. If we can have Sunday Drivers, I don't see a problem with Meandering Friday Cyclists. However, the mob also made a point of expressly not obeying street signals. And when we reached Yonge & College, a large group of them decided that it'd be appropriate to just stop right in the intersection, blocking a long line of traffic including a street car. It was at this point that some stupid woman next to me started shouting gleefully: "Block that streetcar! Block that streetcar!". I took my bike off the road, waited for the spectacle to finish (complete with one asshat stopping to play a trumpet in the middle of the road) and then headed home.

It's important to note here that I'm a fan of street parties. Hell, New Mind Space's "Flight of Fancy" was one of my favourite events last year. But cycling is very different. Cyclists in this country work very hard to be respected on the road. We're constantly claiming that we should have the same respect as other vehicles and in exchange for that respect, we agree to follow the same rules other vehicles do. Actions like this will only serve to give non-cyclists ammunition against us and that's something we don't need.

Blocking a few cars maybe, but a whole street car with 100 people on it? That's assholish.

The face of the anti-war movement in the United states has resigned in disgust over lack of action and comtempt she's received from both the Republicans and democrats:

I have tried ever since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

Cindy Sheehan, CBC.ca

I wish I didn't understand her reasoning... but I do... all too well.

I received a postcard from Ari today from Germany:

Guter Tag from Berlin Dan! I hope that you are doing ok without me! I have been good! A great family has taken me under their wing and are letting me stay with them in Germany.

I have seen the sights and I think I am ready to move on! I will email you from my next stop.

Please don't worry, I am fine!

Now Ari has already returned (on the 24th, sorry I forgot to post about the event) and the postcard is dated for the 22nd, so it's a thin line, but it checks out :-)

This video is fucking brilliant. It's an argument about copyright and the problems with the concept of "fair use". Worth the 10 minutes of your time if only to see how it was impressively stitched together.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was unbelievably bad. It should be noted here that by "bad" I mean really, really bad. Not quite Eyes Wide Shut bad, but very much three hours of badness I want back from my life.

You'd think that with the millions of dollars they spent on this flick, that they could have sprung for a writer. The guy who thought that it'd be cool to have Jack talking to little dancing clones of himself should get punched in the teeth. The only thing worse than the overall plot, was the back-assward ending. Seriously, for your own sake, stay away.

I heard a story on CBC radio today and thought that I would share.

Way back in the 60s, when it was still illegal to sell condoms and pregnant teens were ejected from school as a matter of course, a fifteen year-old girl met a nineteen year-old boy, had sex, and conceived a child.

Her father was outraged and insisted that the couple marry immediately, and the school banished her from the classroom without a second thought. But despite all of this mess, one of her teachers, at that time a young man in his early twenties, went the extra mile and came to her house after school to tutor her and help her finish her classes.

The young couple are still married and have been for over forty years. The teacher remains a family friend.

Here's to all the teachers who go that extra mile to make things right.

The TPSC's Art Attack! exploded tonight with a mass-deployment of art posters targetting a single ad installation: Astral Outdoor's "Info Pillars".

Essentially 7' tall, illuminated ads scattered around the city masqurading as information kiosks, these ad pillars are going to swell in numbers thanks to City Hall's new deal with Astral for the purchase of street furniture in the city. Given that the decision on this contract will be made tomorrow, it seemed only fitting that Art Attack's target this year would be Astral's iconic waste of space and energy... and it was fun.

I put a few of my shots up on Flickr (none of them are really good enough to include in my own collection, but they give you an idea) and I'm hoping there will be others. If you live in Toronto, look for the ad pillars and see if our art remains.

Just when I think the world is going to hell because of apathy on the environment or international relations, you read about some dumb-ass people that prove that the species is fucked regardless.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives have reached a new despicable low. After months of accusing the opposition of stalling the democratic process in the house (which is their job, to criticise the ruling party's policies), a playbook is released to the media outlining the Conservative strategy in how to essentially stifle democratic debate.

NDP MP Libby Davies was quoted saying that this was proof that the Conservatives "have had a plan all along and not just any plan, a 200-page playbook on how to frustrate, obstruct and shut down the democratic process" and Bloc Quebecois MP Monique Guay accused the Conservatives of "flagrant lack of respect" for the democratic process.

Only in Canada would the release of evidence this damning not be enough to humiliate a party in an immediate election. Someone, please prove me wrong. This is fucking criminal.

"Scientists, now united in agreement, were once the greatest climate change sceptics.", Check out NewScientist's latest special on climate change: a series of myths scientists around the world have debunked:

Because time is running out. We need to be debating how to achieve the drastic cuts in CO2 emissions that are required to reduce our impact on the climate, not wasting time endlessly rehashing a debate that was largely settled half a century ago.

Take a few minutes and take a look if you can: Climate change: A guide for the perplexed.