As luck would have it, yesterday a few of us gathered to watch Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars Trilogy. Something about the weather and the close-cropped inner city living had us hankering for his sunny, open panoramas.
Today, absent-mindedly trolling through YouTube, we came across this Once Upon A Time In The West/Arcade Fire "My Body Is A Cage" Mash-up created by jthelms.
Stunning.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Calgary City Transit Parking Fees
We've talked about parking fees in other posts, and the fact remains that increasing (or in this case implementing) parking fees is one of the easiest ways for civic leaders to reduce the number of cars in a given area. Easiest, not necessarily the best, and easy because essentially parking fees can be equated to a tax on the poor. Since the poor always outnumber the rich, they tend to lose out when the laws of supply and demand are put on objects of universal desire.
What makes the city's plan less than altruistic is the fact that the parking fees were started in the suburban LRT Stations, farthest from the city's core. Despite attempts to redirect city traffic through the city's 1990s GoPlan, the vast majority of traffic goes from the periphery to the core. The suburbs already force Calgarians to sacrifice distance and time for affordable housing, now they are being asked to endure their monthly transit fees doubled. Of course, the rationale is that those who would need to park daily, would be encouraged to take the bus to the station - provided transit ran effective services to their neighbourhood.
What makes the city's plan less than altruistic is the fact that the parking fees were started in the suburban LRT Stations, farthest from the city's core. Despite attempts to redirect city traffic through the city's 1990s GoPlan, the vast majority of traffic goes from the periphery to the core. The suburbs already force Calgarians to sacrifice distance and time for affordable housing, now they are being asked to endure their monthly transit fees doubled. Of course, the rationale is that those who would need to park daily, would be encouraged to take the bus to the station - provided transit ran effective services to their neighbourhood.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hail and Farewell!
We'd like to announce that ourfriend and colleague, Bassano del Grappa, is moving on. The global economy might be tanking, but it seems our staffers have never been in more demand. del Grappa recently announced that he would be leaving to work for a major human rights organization in Montreal after Easter. Alice Beceval and Lionel Harpsted will also be leaving to go work for NGOs in Northern Alberta and we wish them the best of luck. Beceval and Harpsted routinely offered us insight into the workings of television media, and del Grappa was frequently one of our go-to-folks for avante-garde art and music, and in depth social analysis. He promises that this "cosa nostra", as he lovingly referred to The Daily Wenzel, will not be the last of his literary endeavours, so we eagerly await whatever he has in mind.
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