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People always ask me, where did The Grickle Grass Festival come from? Well gather around children and let me tell you a little tale.

Three and a half years ago a group of crazy kids all lived in a house, fixated with the address number of 379. We sat around, drank wine and talked about how we were going to change this city...which was (and still is) our world.

How, was the looming question that was still to be determined. Little did we know that TBD would change soon. All of us had just graduated college and just waiting for our start. But after a few months we were tired of waiting and decided that we were the ones that were going to have to initiate the change.

On one fateful night the discussion came up of how you can rent The Children's Museum to throw parties. This would be perfect! We could get a few of our musically inclined frineds to play some sets and we would dance and laugh to our hearts' content in the halls of the place that kept many of my own personal childhood memories.

It all sounds so simple right? Book a large building, fill it with people, music and booze... Piece of cake!

That first year we found out we could get the museum a mere two months before the first ever Grickle Grass *gulp*. However, the group of 379 - which we were now calling ourselves at this point, had already put together our first music event 'A Night at The Manor' in a month - and it was a huge success (by our standards)! Of course we could fill a musuem with a capacity of 600, right...? *Nervous laughter*  But we realized that James Earl Jones was right. If you build it - they will come... no, not dead baseball players and Ray Liotta. But London, this city full of amazing people, was looking and craving more than what was being offered at the time.

Soon, a few others joined our merry tribe and we realized we could help educate kids as well - change their viewpoints on food and the environment. Not only would we change the way London parties, we would have the opportunity to teach young people about sustainability. It all fit so well together.

Then came the issue - what do we call this thing. The Sustainble is Obtainable fest? Hmph, doesn't have that ka-pow we wanted. So we turned to our good friend Dr. Seuss. The book, The Lorax, embodied the very message we were trying to convey. There is Grickle Grass, Thneeds and Truffala Trees! Grickle Grass rang a bell in us... the Grickle grass could grow at a musuem on Wharncliffe Road! After many scribbled pages of sheet paper, and votes and study groups (our friends with the promise of beer) - The Grickle Grass Festival was born! (You may see our homage to The Great Lorax in our Grickle Grass logo.)

With minimum time and minimum funds we somehow pulled it off our first year. We pretty much hit capacity and only heard rave reviews. Dare we say it was a success? Sure our credit cards were maxed out and we were exhausted... but you know what - it was completely worth it.

Our group has grown and morphed over the past few years. New apartments, new jobs, engagements and babies - no longer are we planning in a cramped apartment with bottles of wine. But in real office spaces and passing life stories and new babes. And just as we have grown, so has the festival. This year we are receiving incredible support through sponsorships and booking bands we could have never dreamed of having three years ago.

So I have to give a big thank you to everyone who has supported us, volunteered at our hectic events and most importantly believed in these crazy dreams. We look forward to seeing you all at Grickle Grass next weekend (May 26) where we can all celebrate together, drink and be merry!

Peace, love, 379

Have you ever been a part of a bike posse?

I have had the opportunity a few tmes in my day and I must tell you, it’s good fun. 

Riding a bike in a group is a great way to spend an evening.   You can meet new people, connect with friends, explore new parts of your city, watch the sun set over the beautiful Thames River, get some exercise, and it’s free!  All you need is a bike and preferably some snacks if an impromptu picnic break happens (which I can assure you, will happen on every ride).

To be clear, this is not a protest; it is a fun social activity that takes place on bikes.  All are welcome to join. We’ll mostly stick to bike trails and paths to keep things simple and safe for everyone involved.

The only rule will be to respect your fellow riders and all other street users – that includes pedestrians (including those hard core runners), rollerbladers, and drivers.

When: Wednesday’s at 6:00 PM

Duration: 2 hours at the most

What to bring: Your bike, a friend, a drink, and a snack if you'd like.

Where: Ivey Park at the Forks of the Thames, near Simcoe's Landing.

This is part of an ongoing series of what it is like to live a “car-free life”. Having recently sold my car and not having regular access to one, I’ve chosen to share my experience and thoughts on things that are relevant to this lifestyle. You can find the growing list of articles here.

Over the past ten years I’ve found myself driving less and less. There have been times when I’ve own a vehicle and used it as my primary mode of transportation, but as years have past I’ve found myself opting more and more to take alternative forms of transportation.

It wasn’t until I was on vacation a few times over the past years that I realized why I much prefer an automobile free lifestyle.

Paris, France

Back in 2005 I found myself lucky enough to be living for part of the summer in Paris, France. There by chance or happenstance, each and every day for a month I explored the City of Light via various modes of transportation. Bus, the metro, les pieds and on a couple of occasions bicycle, I discovered all corners of the city, the historic places, the business district, even the suburbs, by means other than personal automobile.

At the time I knew living in Paris was something precious and over the years I have come to appreciate it more and more each and every day. It wasn’t however until I was back in Canada, driving a car/truck to and from school/work/play every day that I really understood what was so important about my time spent in Paris.

The View.

Newfoundland, Canada

In 2007, for the first time in my life I chose to rent a car while on a 10 day vacation in Newfoundland. There visit friends and celebrate their wedding, I found myself 100km from where I landed with only a handful of choices in how to get where I needed to be.

The only real choice to get where I was going was to rent a car. Bus was too irregular in scheduling, boat was too awkward to get where I was headed and taxi was simply to expensive. Given that I wanted to go sightseeing when not involved in wedding duties a car (at the time) seemed to make the most sense.

While driving around for 10 days, to and from the cottage where I was staying, from bay-to-bay, tourist-spot to tourist-spot, and back to fly out again, I continually felt like I was missing something during my journey. It wasn’t until I returned home that I realized what that something was that I was missing.

The View.

The View

While both vacationing and living my every day life here in London I’ve found that the thing I miss the most when driving an automobile is the experience and interaction I have with the environments I find myself within. I call this entire experience, The View.

The View is a very different thing if you choose to walk, bike or take public transit from point A-to-B compared to if you choose to drive an automobile. The ability to interact with the world around you, hearing, smelling, touching and engaging with your environment is almost completely lost when you’re locked inside a personal automobile. Only typically concerned about getting where you’re going as fast as possible, when people drive (or at least for myself) there is a lack of opportunities to properly and effectively interact with the spaces around you. Typically there isn’t any chance at all.

To me, The View is something that is needed to truly appreciate your surroundings and the places you call home, that without it you cannot ever understand why things are the way they are, why people act the way they do, and why some things work and others do not, in terms of cities, environments and the societies that interact with them on a regular basis.

Designing for Humans and the Walkable City

Some cities and environments are built with the pedestrian in mind; they are easy to navigate, make it pleasurable to walk a single city block and promote active lifestyles. Other cities, sadly, are not built this way at all; they are built with the car in mind resulting in environments that are meant to be experiences at 50km/h, at a glance.

Until we start to design better cities, environments and the places we call home, it is difficult to convince people that walking a block in OId East Village is more pleasurable that driving the same stretch. The people you can meet, the things you can see or the positive experience you can have are often lost to those inside their cars and are things only privy to those who make the conscious effort, outside the automobile, to experience them.

My Favourite Thing

Perhaps my most favourite thing about living a car-free life is the opportunity I am presented with to interact with the environments I find myself in. From knowing the back-alley ways to get to point A-to-B, to seeing new murals pop-up, meeting shop owners and having a better understanding of why an area/place/shop/person/etc. is the way it is, not diving on a daily basis has allowed me to become fully submerged in the places I call home.

While there are certainly some people who could care less to know what their city actually entails, how it functions and why it is the way it is, I for one don’t believe you can call a place your home or experience it for what it truly is until you take the time to get out of the confines of your car and start to experience The View.

The first few articles that I’ve written in this series haven’t been all that practical, dealing with the day-to-day functioning of not having access to an automobile. I hope that in the coming weeks I can comment on some of the little things, here and there, that not having a car impacts on a daily basis. For those who are looking for the other side of things, the bad and the ugly to compliment the good, I’ll be commenting on the negatives of not having a vehicle because there certainly are many things to be said.

This is part of what seems to be (don't hold me to this) an ongoing series of what it is like to live a "car free life". Having sold my/our car and not having regular access to one, I appear to be writing articles that are relevant to this lifestyle. You can find them here on Fuse, although I don't know the best way to direct you to find a listing of them all. I'm lazy that way.

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When I made the decision to live a car free life, a decision that was a few years in the making, I did so never with the intentions of being considered a saint. What I mean by this is that by living a car free life I am in no way trying to say that I am perfect, in any way, or that I am better than others who choose to live different lifestyle.

At the same time, I’m not trying to be a preacher either. I’m not doing any of this to try and convince anyone that this is the best way of live and I’m not writing about or sharing my experiences to convert anyone either. I’m simply doing what I’m doing, living car free, because it fits my lifestyle and who I want to be. Thats it.

For those of you interested, Madonna del Ghisallo is the patron saint of cycling.

Credit Where Credit is Due

 With all of that said, I’ve been more and more conscious over the years of the fact that although living a car free life may be a large lifestyle change for some, it is on the other hand the lifestyle that many (perhaps most people in the world) have lived for their entire lives.

I think it’s important to acknowledge the people who have lived car free lives, either by choice or by necessity, for the majority of their lives, as it is these people who make the decision to convert to a car free life easier for people like myself.

Those Before Me

 There are a number of populations that live car free lives and have for years that I think are important to point out as they illustrate that although a lifestyle without a car may not be glamorous to some it can be a viable way to live.

Students, while it is understood that this is not the case for all of them, have historically lived relatively car free lives. Yes, there are the students who may be driving a $50 000 vehicle on their parents dime, and there are those who are driving cars that barely turn on, and everything in between, but for the most part I believe students live car free lives.

Outside of first year, when a great deal of students will live on campus (if this is an option) many students get to and from school, jobs, entertainment and groceries without daily access to a vehicle.

Then we have the transient populations, however you wish to define them, that generally, from my knowledge, do not have the resources, or in many cases the need, to have access to a vehicle on a regular basis.

These populations are able to live their lives in absence of a vehicle and still manage to go about their daily lives.

There are many other groups that have ‘always’ lived car free lives; the blind, the disabled, those who have lost their license, those who live in areas where having a car doesn’t make sense. These are the people who have come before me and my decision to live car free, and in many ways have made my choice an easier one to make.

The Importance of These People

 I say that it is the populations listed above (and those that I failed to mention) that make it easier for me to make the transition to a car free life and I strongly believe this.

There is the general motivation and ‘can do’ attitude associated with making the change that these people bring. If other’s are doing it and have for some time, why can’t I? I’ve been a student for most of my life and most of those years were lived without a car; I could do it then so why not now?

We have the services and infrastructure that these people have created, over time, even if they don’t realize it. By living car free lives all of these years, these populations have illustrated to governments at all levels that sidewalks are needed, public transit is a must, that bicycle infrastructure may be as valuable as traditional transportation infrastructure, and that living car free is a viable way to live.

Without people who have chosen to live these types of live styles before me I cannot even begin to imagine what services may or may not exist in cities to cater to those who choose not to drive. In such a car centred culture here in North America I can only think of cities where cars would be given 100% of the priority, leaving nothing for anyone who chooses not to drive on a daily basis.

So these populations, the ones before me, who have been living car free lifestyles for sometime, they are the reason I was able to consciously make the decision to go car free.

Those to Come

Although it is solely my prediction and nothing more, I have a feeling, if current trends are any indication, that in the coming years more and more people will be going car free and at a rapid pace.

Between the rising cost of oil, increasing insurance rates and lifestyle changes, I can see more and more people making the switch and when they do they won’t be saints, just like me, they will simply be people trying to live their lives in a different and perhaps better way, although this will be up to them to decide.

The ‘Environmental’ Factor

Many people will choose to go car free regardless of the physical location they are in but I think it’s important to mention the environmental factors that play a role in someone’s decision to go car free.

There are certain cities where it only makes sense to live car free; New York, Paris, major metropolitan areas, in their downtown cores. The public transit exists in these areas to support a car free life style, and the costs of owning and maintaining a car are generally increased due to parking costs, insurance and everything else associated with living in an area such of these.

On the other hand there are cities that are more sprawled out, where all paved roads lead to Home Depots and WalMarts, where sidewalks exists in very few neighbourhoods. It is these cities and communities where it is simply impractical to live car free.

While this is certainly a topic for discussion all on it’s own, I think it’s an important one to mention as it gives the context for which many people may choose to live car free.

The Point of it All

I’m no saint for any of the choices I make, including going car free. I make plenty of stupid choices, many daily, but they are mine and mine alone.

There are many that have chosen to live car free before me and there will be many after me as well, so I’m not special just like each individual before me, on their own, weren’t special either.

I chose to make this transition because it was what I needed to do, but it was a decision that was made easier because of the so many other people that have been doing it for so long.

On July 2, 2011 Hands is very excited to release the new Eaux Neaux/Graham Carter Split.

Taylor Everett, Eaux Neaux, releases his most cohesive and polished works to date. Standout tracks like Colours and Hidden Illness showcase Everett's maturing production style and a heart on his sleeve lyrical delivery. 

Texas resident Graham Carter adds 4 tracks of arpeggiated nostalgia that, at times, channels the vocal heros of the 80's. Far from being a retro throwback, Carters tracks are firmly locked in the here and now.

Preorder at the Hands site HERE

Plus check out and download the other Hands releases for free.

Have you ever imagined how to make downtown London a better place? This is something I do all the time. Several months ago I had an idea: what would happen if I took my furniture, set up my apartment in a downtown public space and lived there for one day? Today, we find out.

I have set up my apartment complete with a living room, dining room, and back yard and will be living my day in the pedestrian lane-way between the Covent Garden Market and Dundas Street. My objective is to show Londoners what happens when public space is designed for people. By making this normally void public space my home for the day, I hope to reveal that good design brings good behaviour.

I acknowledge that there are many talented planners, engineers, and politicians working hard to make the necessary changes happen. I also acknowledge that the changes cannot come soon enough. I hope that this act will inspire all those working to create high quality public spaces for people to continue the fight, despite the many challenges ahead.

Downtown London is lacking in public spaces designed for people. Striving to reduce pan handling and other types of “bad behaviour,” the downtown core has unfortunately been designed to deter people rather than welcome them.

Making public space uncomfortable for the “wrong” type of people makes it uncomfortable for everyone. All the efforts made to remove park benches, add spikes to ledges and blast classical music has clearly not worked. The bad behaviour persists and the good behaviour remains elusive.

I invite everyone to come and share this experience with me. Have a coffee, read the paper, discuss London’s latest sinkhole, play some badminton or just observe. If you can’t make it today, come to Dundas Street between Wellington and Ridout this weekend to experience it as a place designed for people at Car Free Festival.

Ryan Craven