Night Lights thanks! + video + Digg

Thank you everybody who donated or volunteered for Night Lights on Saturday! Despite frigid conditions, we actually succeeded at our goal of making the dazzling string higher than the CN Tower, because at about 10:30, it was accidentally launched into the sky :)

Check out this awesome video (and you know, maybe a little Digg love? ;-)

http://digg.com/odd_stuff/LED_Art_Installation_Tops_World_s_Tallest_Buildings_Sorta

The recovered LEDs (most of them) will be reused for a top secret December art installation that will be publicly viewable for at least a week!

Stay tuned for a big announcement from us soon about the future of Newmindspace, as we invite all of you to a special town hall meeting asking the community to take a larger planning role in the Urban Playground Movement.

Newmindspace
http://www.newmindspace.com

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Night Lights: Higher - tomorrow! final info

Tomorrow night, we will attempt to create an art installation that is higher than the CN Tower. Over the course of four hours, we will slowly raise a glowing string by balloons, attaching brightly coloured LEDs every foot or so. Throughout the event, the dazzling string will reach dizzying heights and drift gently in the wind.

Join us for an evening of LED stargazing, hot chocolate, and music from Xofer and Dingokiller.

Dress warm, bring a refillable mug, and be ready for a free afterparty (and the spirited subway trip there with friends.)

NIGHT LIGHTS: HIGHER
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22 2008
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FRONT CAMPUS
15 KING'S COLLEGE CIRCLE (College & McCaul)
7 PM - 11PM

Direx: Exit Queen's Park subway via NW entrance, walk NW through the Medical Sciences walkway to front camps OR: Spadina streetcar to College, walk east to the U of T gates and walk north along the cobble path to the field

http://www.newmindspace.com/higher.php
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=93665280021

VOLUNTEERING: Simply show up a little before 7 to volunteer :)

STILL NEEDED: 1 patio heater, 1 more folding table

SAFETY: Transport Canada and NAV Canada are aware of this event and have notified control towers in the area.

REUSE: After this event, the LEDs will be reused for a top secret art installation in December.

HELP: Spread the word to your friends, blogs, newsletters, Facebook feeds.

LOVE: Why we do these events :)

Newmindspace
http://www.newmindspace.com

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Christmas in Remembrance Week

I received the below text as a forward from my father. I hadn't really thought about it before, but now that i have I find it extremely disrespectful. Please read the following, and think hard about what retailers are doing. You don't have to agree with every mission our military goes on, but please keep in mind, without them we wouldn't have many of the things we do now.

Sir,

Please note, today is November 8, 2008, three days before Remembrance Day. We call it Remembrance Week.

As you may know, I sent the embedded email below to a major retailer last year.

“I walked into a major retail store tonight and found it festooned with Christmas decorations. I felt all the golds and reds and greens diminished the blood red of my poppy.

I said to the teller, "I realize it is a corporate decision, but I think you should hold off on Christmas until after Remembrance Day." She expressed equal dismay at the display. I went home, found the retailer’s website and sent them the email below.

Dear retailer,

It is 6 days before Remembrance Day. I will spend those days teaching my students the meaning of sacrifice, honour and grace.

You will be making a buck.

WW1 - 66000 dead for you,

WW2 - 45000 dead for you,

Korea - 516 dead for you,

Peacekeeping - 119 dead for you,

Afghanistan - 71 dead for you.

Could you not grant us the dignity of holding off on your Christmas Decorations until Nov. 12?

Those 71 men and women will not be shopping this year.

I don't want to punish retailers. I'm just disappointed. I've never taken such action before, but I'm sharing this with everyone on my list. Perhaps it could become a movement.”

The only reply I received was:

"Thank you for your e-mail.

A Customer Service Representative will respond to your e-mail as soon as possible.

Customer Service"

No further contact was ever made.

With the lack of follow up, I forwarded my email with the accompanying remarks to my entire list of correspondents. As it turned out, the email circulated the country and was duplicated to a number of retailers.

Nov 8 2008

I bought another poppy last night from an 86 year old veteran, standing in the cold outside the door of a store. I also attended a school Remembrance service yesterday, where another elderly gentleman, who was accompanied by his attendant from a nursing home, wept openly in great heaving sobs as we read the Honour Roll.

This year I am again offended. I should note those same stores are again decorated early, as are a large number of others. This is a tough year for retailers. It was tougher for the 27 families who have lost sons, husbands and fathers since our last Remembrance Day. TV stations that provide poignant Remembrance Week programming, bracket it with Christmas Parade advertising. I looked farther and realized municipal decorations are up, and private homes are also ablaze with Christmas wreaths, trees and lights, and it’s only early November, It seems that all that has changed since last year, is the count of dead Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, which is now up to 97.

I’ve realized this is not an issue with retailers, but a cultural feature. We get our lights up early to avoid the cold. We start buying earlier to spread out the cost, and retailers are merely reacting to compete for those dollars. I don’t mind unlit early strings of lights, or Christmas stock on shelves. I just don’t want our attention diverted for a scant few days with blazing lights, inane seasonal music and needless glitter.

Let a poppy in the window be our symbol for the first 10 days of November. This can’t be legislated nor imposed. It must be heartfelt.

Do you feel perhaps, we could make it a national tradition to delay plunging into the orgy of Christmas consumerism until after we have paid respect to our fallen on November 11? Can we give less?

Bruce Davidson CD

Chatham ON

Now I'm not one to normally forward random emails i get from people, but this really struck a chord with me. I don't care if Bruce Davidson is a real person or if he actually wrote those emails to the retailers. The fact is, Christmas items started showing up before Halloween. I for one, would support legislation banning the retailer Christmas extravaganza before November 12th. Show some respect people.

Stock Market crash prevention

from 365 DAYS OF DUCT TAPE

Will it correct? Will it keep going up? Is it destined for a fall? What does the Federal Reserve Board say now? Reinforce the stock market with enough duct tape and stop worrying about a crash.

Night Lights: Higher Than the CN Tower - Nov 22 (tentative)

Following "Night Lights (2006)" and "String of Diamonds (2007)," we thought it was time to tackle the highest goal: create an art installation that is higher than the CN Tower.

Newmindspace, Rothko Institute, VelcroRocket present:

NIGHT LIGHTS: HIGHER
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22ND 2008
U OF T FRONT CAMPUS, 15 KING'S COLLEGE CIRCLE
7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=93665280021

We have calculated the weight and we can definitely pull this off if the wind cooperates.

Dress warm, fuzzy and illuminated :) Hot chocolate, glowsticks and Newmindspace t-shirts will be available.

*** WE NEED YOUR HELP ***

Please donate in advance to make this happen. If there is not significant assistance beforehand, we'll have to cancel.

http://www.newmindspace.com/donate.php

Every $20 donated will get you a Newmindspace shirt in your choice of size, colour and design!

Shirt pics: http://newmindspace.com/tshirts.php

*** DIRECTIONS ***

Nearest subway: Queen's Park.

Take the College streetcar to McCaul, which is just east of Spadina. Walk north through the University of Toronto gates and straight up the cobble street to a giant field.

"Keeping it hardcore, hour after hour
Taking you higher than the CN Tower"
-MC Jumper

*** LOVE ***

This will wrap up our outdoor season for 2008! Look for one more indoor jam before the end of the calendar year ;)

Newmindspace
http://www.newmindspace.com

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Darryl's weaving lackies

I was talking to Darryl today, cause Nick wasn't responding, and Darryl was apparently just slacking off and not doing anything,

So I says to Darryl, "Your company just makes fabric...right?"

And Darryl says,"well we dye the yarns, weave the product, mend any flaws, scour the goods, dye the woven goods, chemically coat the rolls, apply various laminated backings to the goods, cut the rolls into smaller pieces, or slices if they are for vertical blinds, or pleat them if they are for a pleated blind...but yes, we just make fabric."

Then I said, "OK. Savannah and I were wondering last night, i thought that's what they did but couldn't remember. I also can't recall how we got on the subject."

And Darryl says, "Because Darryl is amazing. That’s all the reason you need."

Then I was all like, "Yes, that's right, now I remember. We were having a conversation about how amazing Darryl is."

***begin recap of conversation about Darryl***

I was like, "I wonder what he does at work? Wouldn't that be so fascinating to find out what he does all day every day?"
And Savannah was like, "Totally! Darryl should totally be life casting. In fact, we should spring for the mobile gear for him!"
And I was like, "I don't think that's a good idea, he wants to be 'net anonymous now."
And Savannah was like, "Oh that's right. I forgot how the homo-erotic forest scandal of 2008 scarred him and caused him to go underground."
And then Peanut came in and was all like, "I miss your friend Darryl, he was the best!"
And I was like, "Peanut go back to bed or you're grounded!"
And Peanut was like, "WAAAAHHH!!!!! I MISS DARRYL! I MISS THE SUNFIRE!"
And then the cats came in and did a little soft shoe routine with top hats and canes.
And when I got hungry and I went and made a sandwich.
But I couldn't eat the sandwich, cause it had eyes, and kept staring at me every time I went to take a bite.
So I put the sandwich in a sock, and left it on the balcony.
When I woke up the jack-o-lanterns had devoured the sandwich, and most of the sock...they had bits of sock in their teeth.
I was like, "Hey jack-o-lantern, you got a little something in your teeth."
But the jack-o-lantern was rude, and just sat their grinning at me with sock bits stuck in it's rotting teeth.
And I was like, "Damn you rude jack-o-lantern, damn you and all your little pumpkin friends!"
And the phone rang, it was the police.
The police called to tell me that I was being racist towards jack-o-lanterns, and if I continued they would arrest me for hate crimes.
So I was like, "Sorry little piggy, I'll never be mean to a jack-o-lantern again."
Then the police hung up, didn't even say goodbye, kisses, I love you, nothing.
Then I went to staring out the window at the jack-o-lantern, silently curing his existence and it's delicious fleshy pie-ness.
And I waited.....

Then I got an idea.
I wrote a goodbye, so long, farewell note with my wrong hand.
I then snuck out on the balcony and pinned it to the jack-o-lantern, and before it could do anything about it i threw it off the balcony where it landed in the grass with a muted squishy thud like noise.
I laughed at the demise of the jack-o-lantern. But the laughing didn't last long.
As I turned to reenter the house the other jack-o-lantern sat silently screaming in terror with a horrified "you just ate my cat" look on it's face.
So I says, "Listen up other jack-o-lantern! If you don't keep your candle lit mouth shut about this you're going into a pie!"
And the other jack-o-lantern stopped screaming and sat silently contemplating the compost bucket and the potted potatoes.
So i went back inside and went to bed, never to speak of the incident again.

***end recap of conversation about Darryl***

And that's how it all went down.

It's a hard road to justice. Sometimes it means blueberries.

"Welcome Back America" Tonight in Dundas Square

You can bet we'll be in Dundas Square tonight, celebrating with the rest of the planet, enjoying a rare, sweet moment of unity with (almost) all of humankind as we join together and look forward to the brighter day coming.

The gist: After CNN announces the US election result tonight, make your way over to Dundas Square for a big party.

We will be there doing what we do best.

***

From Spacing: http://spacing.ca/wire

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=31607817887

If the rest of the planet could vote, Barack Obama would win the American 2008 election in an unprecedented landslide. It's safe to say that much of the world is waiting anxiously for the Obama victory - think of the 200,000 people that saw Obama speak in Berlin last July.

The United States has lost moral support and sympathy around the world over the last eight years. The Obama win is a chance for a new start and to patch up both its reputation and its international relationships. We need to send a big fun signal of good faith that we're ready to have them back. Let's do that by gathering together in our public squares to celebrate this new era and show our American friends they are not alone in the world.

Here's how it will work: When CNN declares victory (since it's the news organization most internationally available) head to your city or town's main square where public celebrations usually take place. If it's a square with a big video screen maybe they'll broadcast results so you can go early, or watch the victory speech after. Like when your sports team wins, it's better to celebrate in public with everybody else.

In Toronto, head to Dundas Square. It's got the space, those big TVs, and after every hockey championship, it is naturally filled with people.

See you there!

Newmindspace

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