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ManifestHope:DC

ManifestHope: DC is the Georgetown installation of some of the most inspiring visual art produced during Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency. Judges for this juried exhibit include Shepard Fairey, Spike Lee, and Eric Hilton (of Thievery Corporation), among others. Who says art and politics can’t mix?

ManifestHope:DC from Phillip Barron on Vimeo.

From the website:

Art plays a pivotal role in creating cultural momentum. The MANIFESTHOPE: DC Gallery celebrates that role and shines a spotlight on artists who use their voices to amplify and motivate the grassroots movement that carried President-Elect Barack Obama to victory.

MANIFESTHOPE: DC gathers together a diverse array of the nation’s most talented visual artists under one roof to mark this monumental achievement in our nation’s history and encourages artists and activists to maintain the momentum to bring about true change in the United States.

Along with its partners, MoveOn.org Political Action, the Service Employees International Union and Obey Giant, MANIFESTHOPE: DC, will issue an inspiring visual call-to-action, encouraging a redirection of public energy toward true reform in three key areas:

• Health Care Reform
• Workers’ Rights
• The Green Economy

The MANIFESTHOPE: DC Gallery will be open to the public in Washington, DC for the days preceding the Presidential Inauguration, Saturday, January 17th, 2009 through Monday, January 19th, 2009 between the hours of 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Art exhibition management will be provided by our Washington, DC gallery partner, Irvine Contemporary.

We Are One, This Land is Your Land

We Are One, This Land is Your Land from Phillip Barron on Vimeo.

Kicking off Obama’s inauguration celebration, Pete Seeger — along with numerous other stars and artists including Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, Beyonce, Usher, Stevie Wonder, U2, Herbie Hancock, Mary J. Blige, and Garth Brooks — performed at today’s We Are One celebration.

new arrivals

Clockwise from left: Shepard Fairey’s iconic HOPE poster, recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery; We Are One concert/inauguration welcome event; Adams Morgan kiosk with notes to the incoming President.

Biking Autopia

In his 1973 essay ”Autopia,” Dutch novelist Cees Nooteboom wrote that Los Angeles ”mixes images of vulgarity and vitality” and ”conveys the feeling that it stretches to all sides around you, but never looks down on you or presses you down, an open world that forms itself as a unity despite its fragmented appearance.” (NYTimes)

Enjoy these photos from a recent trip, with my bike, to Los Angeles. Words to come later.

bike shop’s security camera captures LA temblor

Bicycle Film Festival, Los Angeles

The What Cheer? Brigade crashes the 2008 Bicycle Film Festival in Los Angeles. Enjoy the video, complete with a monkey playing drums, nudity, infrared, and a blinkie in the tuba.

Bicycle Film Festival, Los Angeles from Phillip Barron on Vimeo.

Ross Harris has a video of Sunday’s block party.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

An update to his 2006 and 2003 videos.

Please Don’t Involve Fellow Passengers In Schemes To Extort Disability Funds

I posted a hastily written short story at Helium.com to test their platform. Read it here if you are curious, or download a pdf here.

seaway at sunset

 

Dan Besse: another cycling-friendly candidate for Lt. Governor

After profiling Hampton Dellinger, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, as a Bull City Biker, several readers encouraged me to contact Dan Besse. Besse is also a candidate for the second-in-command position, and he has a good reputation in certain bicycling circles for the work he’s done to extend Winston-Salem’s greenway system.

I offered to profile him as an honorary Bull City Biker — honorary because Besse, 53, prefers Triads to Triangles and running shoes to clipless shoes.

Bike(s) you own and ride regularly: I’m mainly a runner–but at any given time I try to have an old used “clunker” on hand.  Ironically, I don’t mind pedaling harder so that I don’t have to take the trouble to deal with multiple gears.

What’s your primary flavor of riding? Exercise and short trips.  Mostly on the street.

What’s the length and frequency of your average ride?  Highly irregular.  My biking goes up when my knee is acting up, and my running mileage perforce comes down.

Why did you start riding and why do you still ride? As a kid I walked or biked everywhere for fun and independence.  Now, it’s great exercise.

What’s the most unusual thing you’ve seen while out for a ride? Well, there was the day when I rode out of town about 30 miles only to realize that my smooth swift ride was with benefit of a stiff tailwind.  On the way back, I saw 30 miles expand to about 300–or so it seemed.

How would your world be different if you wake up tomorrow and there are no more cars? It would be time to buy a better tire pump.

What’s one thing Durham could do to become more bike friendly?  Marked bike lanes on more roads.

What will you do as Lt. Governor to make bicycling a more viable transportation option in North Carolina? I’ll be happy to help push the state legislature and DOT to boost funding for bicyling projects.  I’ll also press them to follow through on the policy of including pedestrian and bicycling features on every project where practical.  A more aggressive state program to link cities and towns via greenways with multi-purpose paths is needed as well.  (Expanding our greenway system has been a particular project of mine for years.)

As a Winston-Salem City Council member and a leader in regional transportation efforts, I am seeing increasing attention to alternative transit efforts–and I am doing my best to continue this trend.  We should increase cooperation between local and state levels in implementing biking-friendly programs and development planning.  Planning and policies which include walkable/bikable communities and transit-oriented development should be linked to state transportation funding.

Tailwinds to both Dan Besse and Hampton Dellinger’s campaigns.

It’s refreshing to have candidates running who recognize that a bicycle is more than a child’s toy. Given the rising price of gas, a state known for sprawl, and a relentless war fought over oil, it’s perhaps not surprising that cycling (as a transportation alternative to single-occupant driving) is a political issue. Nonetheless, NC DOT still behaves as an extension of the automotive industry, and putting some progressive leadership in the Governor’s and Lieutenant Governor’s offices will provide some needed redirection in setting transportation priorities.

Early voting started this morning and runs through May 3rd. If you’re not registered to vote, you can register and vote (through early voting only) all at once — Durham County calls it One-Stop Voting. Early voting/One-Stop Voting locations in Durham are:

Durham County Board of Elections
706 West Corporation Street
Monday to Saturday, 9AM to 5:30PM.

North Carolina Central University
Parish Center Meeting Room, formerly Holy Cross Catholic Church,
1400 South Alston Road
Monday to Saturday, 9AM to 5:30PM.

North Regional Library
221 Milton Road
Monday to Saturday, 9AM to 5:30PM.

And the primary is May 6th.

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