Thanks to an alert reader, it has come to our attention that the induced miscarriage project we reported on a few days ago was a hoax. Aliza Shvarts, the artist responsible for the induced miscarriage project, was apparently shitting us; personally I think it’s just as effective, while at the same time being way less gross. (Blood and vaseline? Yick…) The ‘project’ still sparked a lot of debate for a lot of people on a myriad of topics. I’m thrilled.

In other news, this is my favourite old ratty sweater (beware, photo is three years old; sweater is older). Spring is springing in Vancouver. I went for a great fast-paced bike ride yesterday with a friend - and was left craving more. So many of my pals like slow, leisurely rides, but I like to go super fast. I also really enjoy turning left at roundabouts. The precise control of skirting them in a three-quarter circle on my track bike is quite delightful.

When I went to see Why? at the Media Club in Vancouver on April 16th I was totally blown away by the opening band, Brasstronaut. I didn’t have the money on me for an EP at the show so I contacted Brasstronaut’s vocalist and keyboardist, Edo Van Breemen, who hooked me up this week. I highly recommend checking this band out if you like jazz, or indie, or indie jazz, or good music in general. I think it’s quite lovely.

Another band that I somehow just started digging today is Mose Giganticus out of Philly. They deftly combine elements of electronic synth, punk and metal for some truly amazing songs. If they’re coming through your city, be sure to check them out; they’re touring this June.

I’m currently trying to raise funds to get to San Francisco Pride this year. Want to help fund my hot babe habit? Of course you do.

Hey - if you’re in a link clicking mood anyway - I love Andrea Gibson. She makes my heart go thump-thump.

A castle…

Microblogging service Twitter helped an American protester, a UC Berkeley student, get out of jail in Egypt. James Buck was photographing a factory worker protest when he, along with a bunch of Egyptian blogger-journalists, was arrested and thrown in jail. According to the Mercury News article, Buck texted “ARRESTED” to Twitter - a message that was instantly received by many of his Twitter “followers”. They then proceeded to give him advice on how to deal with the situation.

To Buck’s credit, his main concern is that as a white American he got out of jail with few problems, while the Egyptian journalists and bloggers that he was arrested with, as well as his translator, are still being detained, many without charges.

Behold - the power of intarweb!

In other news, I finally saw Persepolis - it’s been in theatres 14 weeks, so I obviously fail at seeing the associated movies of books I’ve loved - and it was amazing. It’s the beautifully and evocatively animated autobiography of Iranian Marjane Satrapi’s coming of age during the Islamic Revolution… so if you’re at all political, or artistic, or sentimental, or into movies, and you haven’t seen it - do.

Six Masai warriors from Tanzania are running the London marathon to raise money (and awareness) to find a vital water source for their community. Seriously, we are such pussies; these guys are totally badass. Isaya, one of the runners, is quoted as saying “If we have no milk or meat, we cut the cow’s neck and let out the blood to drink. If I drink enough blood — maybe two or three litres — it gives me a lot of energy and I can go for days without food or water.”

These guys will also run for days and nights on end looking for water. That’s dedication…

Which brings me to my point. People all over the world suffer from a lack of clean drinking water. In Shanghai, the poor drink from a river that stinks so bad you can hardly breathe the air around it. All over Africa, people will drink from polluted wastewater sources - because they have nothing else. Water Aid says that 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water; that’s one sixth of the world’s population, more than three times the population of the USA. They quote something like 5,000 deaths per day due to unclean water.

And yet here - in North America - where we have permanent access to clean, safe drinking water (hint: it comes out of your kitchen and bathroom taps, and heck, even your garden tap) - we are the world’s largest consumers of bottled water. In 2007 in the US alone, 8.82 billion gallons of water were consumed. If bottled water is sold for about $1.79 per 750mL, let’s do some math - $83,675,340,000 spent on bottled water. In 2007. In just the US.

There’s a good assortment of water treatment organizations out there, but for an organization like Global Water, it can cost as little as a few thousand dollars to install a long-term safe water solution for a community.

That’s not even taking into account the amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste that results from this overconsumption of what’s basically filtered tap water anyway. Also, I can’t actually find any stats on how much water is used in the bottle recycling process, but it’s a lot.

So hay! You don’t have it so bad. I dare you to drink tap water. If you’re concerned about the levels of fluoride or other minerals in your drinking water, buy a filter, and petition your local government officials to stop fucking around with your water supply. Not everyone has as many options as we do… oh, and maybe donate some of that money you save from not consuming Nestle brand water in a “recyclable” bottle toward safe water projects worldwide.

This has been a public service announcement.

I’ve probably listened to “Oh Yeah” by The Cliks five times in the last two days.

Got a couple of rolls of film developed from the Dominican Republic. Photos are slowly making their way up onto Flickr, as well as a few portraits I’ve taken lately.

Did you participate in Earth Hour? It was a symbolic gesture, but it shows some solidarity in the face of a problem we have only the smallest ability to solve. Remember, kids, turning off your lights when you leave the house will help save the planet! Apparently Vancouver’s consumption only fell 3.5%, but in Calgary energy consumption spiked up 7% during Earth Hour… thanks for your dedication, Alberta. (There was a hockey game on.)

If you haven’t heard yet, emo kids are being targeted in violent attacks in Mexico.
NYPD officers beat and arrested some non-violent Buddhist Free Tibet demonstrators in front of the UN.
Good nuclear power? Brian Gordon’s article means we should all go mine Thorium OMG.

Painted yesterday afternoon and like every time I take the time to get my art stuff out and actually start working, I realize how much I love it, how much I need to do it. I just wish I had the dedication the rest of the time, or maybe so much inspiration that I couldn’t do anything but work. I like to think that if I had a studio devoted to artwork, with all my stuff out and at the ready, I’d get more work done, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. My laziness knows few bounds.

Go listen: If you ever have a chance to dance to Kasey Riot you will be more than pleased. But I recommend not listening to her mixes while at work, because they will make you wanna dance, which sucks when you are sitting in an office chair. It’s painful, really, how badly I want to “bust a groove”.