The Speed of Nanaimo

Slowing Down

Victoria city council has a new proposal  for the province this week suggesting that B.C. reduce the speed limit on residential streets from 50km/h to 40km/h.

I don't think it's a good idea for Nanaimo.  Not because I believe the roads are as safe as they could be, but because I don't think it'll achieve the result intended.

In theory, reducing the speed limit is supposed to make people take their time and pay attention, giving people more time to react in our neighborhoods.

But the speed limit isn't the issue, it's enforcement of the law.

Now I'm not saying that the police aren't doing their jobs.  Far from it.  In fact, I think the police in Nanaimo do a tremendous job.  Especially when you consider the size of the city.  But I think when it comes to speed enforcement, things have become a little "wild west" around here.

Sheriffs vs. the collective Speeders of Nanaimo.

In Nanaimo, the philosophy among drivers doesn't seem to be "don't speed" as much as it is "don't get caught speeding".  And if you know the areas the police tend to be, you can get away with speeding fairly often, it seems.

For example, if you routinely do 20 or more over the speed limit on the Old Island Highway near the Fire Station, then you're crazy.  Police are always there and you will get caught eventually.  I see at least 2 cars pulled over there a week.  More in the summer.

But, if you go two blocks down in front of Terminal Park Mall, you can easily do 80 in the 50 zone.  People zoom past me all the time on that stretch because no one observes that it changes from highway to city on that block.

I rarely see someone pulled over on that stretch.

Again, I totally get that the police can't be everywhere at once.  It's a big city and some areas will be overlooked.

But I have a solution.

Decoy cars.

You know how you get people to slow down?  Make them see a police car.

You ever see how the highway looks when there's a police car in the mix?  Everyone slows down.  No one dares to pass the officer.  It's almost ridiculous to see.  It's completely opposite to how our roads usually look.

So, what I propose is to take the old Crown Victorias that would normally be sold off at police auctions and do everything you would normally do to them before selling them to the highest bidder.  Leave the lights on it but disconnect anything to make the lights and sirens actually work.

Then once a week take a few of them and just park them in highly visible stretches of problem areas.  If you got some volunteers to sit in them and make notes, you would get some great data on how it works and where it works, while making the car look like an active police vehicle.

I think it could work.

Mix up the patterns so people don't get into routines with those cars too, and then carry on as normal with regular enforcement.

I bet it would at least help with speeding tourists in the summer.  And it wouldn't cost all that much either.

But reducing the speed limit won't work.  At least not the way the government intends.

People who never get tickets and are usually good drivers will end up being the most effected, and for the most part what you'll get is people doing 20 over instead of 10.

What you want is something that will make a lot of people think about the consequences of speeding and then adjust their actions.

The fear of getting a ticket can be just as good of a deterrent as actually getting one.

What do you think? Good idea or a bad idea? Let me know in the comments below.

Slash

 From Guns to the Sword

Slash's latest album, Apocalyptic Love is one of the best albums to come out in the last 12 months.  He just released the third single from it, Anastasia, and it wouldn't be a stretch to predict that it'll do just as well as the first two.

It's been a crazy ride for Slash.  From his beginnings with Guns n' Roses, to his time with Velvet Revolver and of course his various side projects, he's been a continued presence in rock since the late 80s.

Now, in 2013, Slash may be in his best form ever.  

Let's start at the beginning.

Guns n' Roses

If you don't recognize the name, you certainly recognize the songs.

Sweet Child O' Mine. Paradise City. Welcome to the Jungle.  I could go on and on.

To call Guns n' Roses one of the most successful bands of the late 80s and early 90s would be no exaggeration.  All 5 albums recorded with Slash between 1987 and 1993 hit the top 10, and combined have sold nearly 100 million copies.

Yeah.

Looking back, the thing that always amazed me about Guns n' Roses is that they managed to stay together for as long as they did.

Axl Rose is (and always has been) a little bit nuts.  I mean, the guy incited a riot in St. Louis because someone in the crowd had the audacity to record the show.  He literally jumped into the crowd, wrestled the camera away from the guy, and then stormed off the stage announcing that the show was over.  Dozens of people were injured. Police wanted to press charges, but nothing ever really came of it.

And that's just one of the many stories.

All throughout this, Slash continued to help write hugely popular songs, keeping the group in the spotlight.

If it wasn't for Axl practically pushing Slash out the door by introducing a new guitarist to the mix, he might still be with Guns n' Roses today.


Slash's Snakepit

When Slash left G n R he took drummer Matt Sorum with him and together they formed Slash's Snakepit.  It actually featured a lot of songs that Slash had written for Guns n' Roses, and did fairly well, eventually selling 1 million copies.

If it had received the attention that the fading Guns n' Roses records got, it probably would have done even better. 


Velvet Revolver

Most of Guns n' Roses (minus Axl) got back together in 2002 for a tribute concert, and afterwards decided that they would give the whole being a band thing a chance again.

But they needed a lead singer.

Axl was out of the question, but Scott Weiland was no longer working with Stone Temple Pilots, so the match seemed perfect.  Together they recorded two albums as Velvet Revolver, Contraband and Libertad, but by 2008, Weiland wanted to return to STP, so Revolver kinda fell apart.

They actually haven't officially broken up, but it's safe to say there won't be a teary eyed reunion anytime soon.


Slash today.

So, that catches us up to the last 3 years.

Since 2010 Slash has been working as a solo artist, writing and recording music for himself while inviting guest artists to lay down vocals for him.

His self titled debut featured a ton of big names including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy of Motorhead, and Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother.  It even had appearances from Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.

Adam Levine and Slash

The album is a who's who of music.  If you haven't heard it lately, give it a listen.  It's remarkable.

Of all the people Slash worked with on the album, he enjoyed working with Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge the most.  According to Slash they share the same work ethic, and together produced one of the first album's biggest singles, By The Sword.

So it only makes sense that on the second solo album, Apocalyptic Love, all 13 tracks are Slash and Myles Kennedy working together.

The album's first two singles, You're A Lie and Standing in the Sun have both charted in the top 10, and it seems pretty likely that their latest, Anastasia, will do the same.

The Future

Slash has said that he has no intention of rejoining Guns n' Roses, or any Scott Weiland project in the future.  Not because of any ill will, but because he enjoys working as a solo artist.  He has said that writing music now is easier than it's ever been.

I can imagine.

And while nothing has been confirmed yet, Slash has mentioned that he's writing new songs all the time, so another Slash album is a definite possibility.

 You can follow Slash on Twitter here.

And be sure to join Mike Lang for Fresh Tracks Sunday at 6pm on www.1069thewolf.com  He'll have more on the brand new single.  

Pie

A la Mode

It's March 14th today, also known as Pi Day.

It's a math thing, I think, 3.14 and all that, but it also reminds us of the delicious food that tends to take a backseat to cake.

No one ever blows out the candles on their birthday pie, and we don't gather around the office to cut the pie whenever someone hits a milestone.

That's a shame.

So today I'm counting down the Top 5 Pies!  Here we go!

5. Cherry Pie

4.  Blueberry Pie

3. Strawberry Pie

2. Pumpkin Pie

1. Apple Pie

Phew, I'm stuffed.  And I didn't even include any of the meat pies that I could have put on this list!

Which pie is your favourite?

Happy Pi Day!

Remembering Video Stores

DVD Void

We're at the end of an era, and you may not have even noticed it.

Look around Nanaimo and tell me, what's missing?

No, the statue of Frank Ney is still there.

What's something that you used see in every other mini mall but is getting rarer and rarer?

Video stores.

It almost feels like every major video rental store closed it's doors at the same time, doesn't it?  It's as if one day it was a booming business model and then the next they were all gone, leaving empty buildings and going out of business signs in their wake.

I paid a visit to More Than Movies yesterday.  It's a privately run video store that's been around for 20 years but is selling off it's stock to prepare to close forever.  I used to visit this store when I was a teenager.  It was just around the corner from where I lived.

It was a somewhat nostalgic experience.  DVDs lined the aisles.  Literally 1000s of choices.  It would take a long time to discover exactly what was there, but you could tell that it had been stocked by someone who loved movies.

Sure, there was everything Val Kilmer had ever made...

...but there were also all these hidden gems.  There was even a section called The Top 200 which featured all the greatest movies in one place.  All 200 choices were titles I could certainly get behind.

Organized by genre, title and era, and I could physically pick up each one and look at it, too.

But honestly, it was the first time I had been in any video store in a long time.

It used to be part of my weekend ritual.  Go in early on a Saturday, find two movies and a video game and your weekend was planned.  You could even pick up popcorn, candy or chips on your way to the till.

But, as has been the case with a lot industries, the internet has completely changed the experience.

Sure, you can still rent movies, but now you can do it online, instantly, with no worry of getting there and finding that the movie you wanted was already rented.

Remember what that was like?  You'd say, "Hey, that new Jim Carrey movie is out on DVD today.  Let's go rent it!" and then go to the video store.  You'd get there at 4pm on Saturday and realize that 50 other people had the exact same idea hours before you did, so now you're stuck watching some Fran Drescher nightmare.

I'm not sure if there is a way to save the video store.  There are just so many other more convenient ways to rent movies now that don't involve late fees or product scarcity.  I can even download movies on my smart phone.

But if you get the chance, pay a visit to More Than Movies or a video store in your area.

Even if only to remember the way that it used to be just a few years ago.

Oh, and you can find More Than Movies on Facebook here!

Mother Mother Mayhem?

They say it started with a big bang.

Mother Mother aren't really known for being a trouble making band, but lately they've been seeing an awful lot of the police.

It makes me wonder just what it is that they're up to.

The first incident came on March 2nd when an unmarked police van pulled them over in a Tim Horton's parking lot.

I'll have a double double, a chocolate glazed and one Canadian rock band to go, please.

Of course there are plenty of jokes that can be made here.  Did you hear the one about the police officer that pulled over a Canadian rock band at Tim Horton's? They were doing donuts in the parking lot.

The band has declined to comment as to exactly why the police pulled them over, but many believe that they may have been trying to smuggle baked goods into the US.

Dastardly.


Now, if this was the only incident, I'd probably think nothing of it.

But, it happened again today.  Literally less than an hour before I started writing this the photo below was posted on Mother Mother's Facebook page (with a stylish Instagram finish, I might add).

Officer, what would you say if I told you you'd look pretty as a watercolor?

Some say that the officer simply wanted the band's autograph.

I say, Mother Mother are up to something.

I don't know what it is, but obviously the police got a look at the band and thought to themselves, "Those punk kids are up to no good."

And who am I to argue with the long arm of the law?


In all seriousness, I bet it's a driver with a lead foot driving through parts of the country they don't usually visit and getting caught up in speed traps that most locals manage to avoid.

As long as their string of speeding tickets doesn't lead to an increase in ticket prices, I think it'll be okay.


In other Mother Mother news, it looks like Infinitesimal will be the group's next single.

They put out a press release for it this week that included a link to the dictionary definition for the single, just in case you needed help pronouncing or defining the title of the song. 

They've already had two hits off of their new album The Sticks, and I would say that Infinitesimal is a strong contender for the third.

You can follow Mother Mother on Twitter and Facebook.

Hopefully they won't receive any more police visits on their tour.

Checking Daylight Savings

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings is a drag.

You get settled into a nice routine of when you go to bed and when you wake up and then this strange relic from a different time creeps up and throws the whole system out of whack.

Why do we observe it?  Who's idea was it in the first place?

Well, I looked into it, and here's what I found.


The Idea

It all began back in New Zealand in 1895 when a guy named George Hudson decided that he wanted more hours after work to go outside and enjoy the sunshine.  You see, he was an avid bug collector (something people did before video games, I guess) and found that his afternoons ran out too quickly to enjoy his hobby year round.

So, he wrote a paper and submitted it to some philosophy society.  Nothing was done at that time, but the seed of an idea was planted.

George Hudson - what a dapper fellow.

Put into motion

Daylight Savings began in World War 1 as a way to conserve the use of coal.

Germany and it's allies started it, and soon the other side was doing the same thing.  Back then a lot of energy was used for lighting, so if you changed the clocks around a little bit, the savings were significant.

Most countries abandoned it after the first World War, others waited until after WW2, but here in North America it's still going strong. We still change our clocks twice a year because of it.

Oh sure, blame the Germans.

Modern Day Problems

Daylight Savings was probably a pretty good idea when people tended to work the same shifts, and when we used inefficient forms of energy, but the world looks a lot different now.

People work 24 hours a day, get up and go to bed at different times, and lighting uses a lot less energy than it once did.

In fact, some people are saying that Daylight Savings costs more than it saves.

David Biello wrote about it in Scientific American in 2011.  He says that it makes people tired which has a wide variety of effects, including an increased number of accidents and serious impacts on health including an increased risk of heart attacks.

Even cows don't like it, with dairy farmers saying that cows give less milk after the time change. 

You got me up early for this?!

Why do we keep it? 

That really is the question, isn't it?

Many countries have already stopped observing it.  Russia put a halt to daylight savings back in 2011.

 The tricky part for Canada is our neighbor to the south.  Isn't that always the way?  We can't really stop daylight savings here unless the US agrees to go along with it, too.

Can you imagine having to adjust your clock every time you travel across the border?

You'd have to double check your schedules for anything you wanted to watch on an American network, too.  3pm Pacific Time? Is that Canadian or American?  Ugh, just what we need, another exchange rate. 

Mostly the whole thing makes me grumpy because I lose an hour of sleep this weekend.

If we decided to observe only the Fall Back part of daylight savings twice every year, I'd be okay with that, though.  I always wake up feeling so well rested on that Sunday. 

But it doesn't look like we're getting rid of Daylight Savings anytime soon.

So don't forget to set your clocks one hour ahead before you go to bed on Saturday! 

It's the little things sometimes

Buttons

In December I moved into a brand new apartment. 

It`s so rare to be able to rent a place that no one has ever lived in before that I guess it's a little bit silly to be complaining about something so minor.  But, here we go.

This drives me nuts.  

When the elevator was installed they messed up the number pads, so the number on the button you press doesn't match up with the floor you're heading to.  So, if I press "3" it actually takes you to the fourth floor.  

What you see there is the "solution".  Painters tape with marker on it.  

Doesn't exactly scream "luxury living", does it?

But, it gets better.  The digital display that shows the floor is also wrong, so guess what the solution is.

More painters tape.

Is that really a solution?

How is it possible that it's been like this for 3 months now? I appreciate they've identified that there is a problem, but I find it hard to believe that it takes this long to get the elevator installers back out to fix it. Maybe elevator technicians are in high demand here on Vancouver Island. 

It's still far better than my last apartment.  I was on the 14th floor and there were days when neither elevator worked.  You ever carry two cloth bags full of groceries up 14 flights of stairs?  

Okay, one more thing while I'm talking about the elevators.

Notice the beautiful blue surrounding the panels in the first two pictures?

I get that the building is still in it's final stages of completion and that there are still people working on the landscaping and on the building itself. But does the blue move-in cloth have to be up in the elevator all the time?  It's never taken down.  Not on the weekends, not in the middle of the month.  It has been up since we moved in back in December.

Look how nice the other elevator is.  

Why wouldn't you want both to look like that as often as possible?

Of course, it also has the same button solution.

Overall, the elevator thing isn't the end of the world. I'm only in it for about 2 minutes a day.

But boy does it drive me crazy.



Nice job on the landscaping, though.  I can't wait to see it when it's finished.