CicLAvia: 10/10/10

Hey cycling peeps of LA. Dust off your bike and come on out to ride 7.5 scenic miles on the streets of LA on Oct 10, 2010 from 10am to 3pm. The 7.5 miles route will be completely shut down for social integration and no cars will be allowed. CicLAvia will be open to all walks of life including bikes, pedestrians, strollers, skateboarders, roller skaters, dance troops, dog walkers, street artist, etc. I hope we will bump into a breakdancing battle just like the old days with the brown paper cardboard on the pavement so the dancers can perform those fancy head spin moves. This is an experimental event just like the ones that was in NYC and Columbia where for a few hours, the city has rezoned the streets for the community usage and enjoy the area without cars. Wooo hoooo!


More info:
http://www.ciclavia.org/

AltCar Expo 2010 & Steven Lam Photography

we are so excited and honored to announce Steven Lam Photography will be the official photographer for the Alternative Energy & Transportation Expo aka AltCar Expo. Here at Steven Lam Photography we are very passionate about alternative energy usage. We ride our 100% electric Vectrix Maxi-Scooter to work. We also love to ride our hybrid Giant bicycle and our Sanyo Eneloop electric bicycle to our studio. Our electric scooter and bikes have helped reduce our gas guzzling car usage down big time. We have reduced carbon footprint ourselves simply by alternating our mode of transportation on a weekly basis. About 90% of our local errands are now being done on our bikes like the groceries shopping, going to the farmer's market, pharmacy, picking up take out, and even the hardware store, etc. We are not only saving money on gas, we are also reducing the wear and tear of our cars. Best part, we are having a ton of fun riding our bikes around town with the added side affect of staying fit and healthy. We are looking forward to see what AltCar Expo 2010 will bring us. Our studio will be shooting throughout the event, coverage will include press day and the general expo days from key note speakers to special guest speakers. Of course best part of it all is we will have a chance to shoot some of the worlds most advance electric advancements in the science community. Woo hooo!

This year's expo will be one of the biggest, brightest and most promising expos to date with amazing products being featured like the all new Nissan Leaf which is 100% pure electric. It's not a hybrid of any sort, Nissan has proved to the world that there is a demand for electric vehicles aka EV and Nissan is rolling the Leaf out big time with full production models available soon. You can also take a test drive on the Leaf as well. Another exciting highlight is the Mini Cooper will also be joining the green movement in style with the introduction of their own 100% electric Mini Cooper call Mini E. These are just two of the exciting highlights from the expo. There are lots of other vendors on site at the expo showing so many alternatives ways to add a bit of "green" to your life. And if new EV is not your cup of tea then there will be other vendors showcasing their gas to electric conversion models giving you ideas on how to breathe new life to your vintage car. Best of all, admission is free to the AltCar Expo making it 100% affordable to the community. So please come on down to see what's new, what's good for you and what's on the horizon of the green movement.



Nissan Leaf Test Drive / Drive Electric Tour @ AltCar Expo

https://www.drivenissanleaf.com/Event/EventDetails.aspx?eid=1


Nissanusa.com


Mini E

miniusa.com


AltCar Expo 2010 info:

Dates:
Friday and Saturday, October 1 & 2, 2010
10am to 5pm


Venue:

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3209
310-458-8551

Parking is $9.00 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Free bicycle valet available

altcarexpo.com

santamonicacivic.org

Honbachi - Growing Plants in Old Books

The creative media firm of Tokyo Pistol aka TP along with a local flower shop created Honbachi. Hobachi means growing plants in old books in Japanese. Exactly like the name implies, this wonderful conceptual organic juxtaposition was cleverly engineered for the "Hana to Hon" ("Flower and Book") exhibition at Saburo Miyamoto annex of the Setagaya Art Museum. This is a great idea to re-purpose those really old books that have gone through way too many uses that it can no longer be used for it's purpose. Rather than just tossing it in the recycling blue bin, the concept of Honbachi will help breathe new life and purpose into these old books by giving a new plant a place to grow. As the plant matures, the book itself starts to deteriorate giving all of it self back to the plant. what a wonderful way to witness how magnificent and precious the circle of life's energy that is being transcend from one to another right in front of your eyes. Ideal plants for the kit are simple house plants like pilea, wire vines, and kalanchoe. The process begins with finding books at old book store that are deemed unusable, the book then gets cut by hand creating a rectangular receptacle for the plant. The gutted paper is then used for wrapping the kit for shipping so nothing gets wasted in the process. Maybe one of these kit can be planted in the classic children's book titled The Giving Tree. Paying homage to the book's concept and it's deep meaning of love and life. Although the homage idea is a sweet suggestion, it might not be practical since Honbachi's success depends on thick books. We would love to see these Honbachi as a centerpiece at a green/DIY/botanical garden wedding theme. Or maybe just making your own kit to give them away as your alternative green DIY wedding favor. we are certain your guests will fancy these lovelies for months.

Unfortunately, Tokyo Pistol's Honbachi kit is only available exclusively in Japan due to it's content of live plant and soil, these kits can not be shipped internationally due to agriculture quarantine safety and hazard laws. But we hope this will help inspire the DIY in you to make your own Honbachi creation for your office and home the next time you come across a book that has past it's prime and deemed physically battered and unreadable. Give that book a second chance.

FYI - If you are planning to keep your Honbachi kit indoor, make sure to just water a few drops till the soil gets moist so the plant and the book do not get over watered leaving the book soggy. If you don't trust yourself to this duty, may we recommend using a plastic plant tray or liner on your Honbachi.

More info at tokyopistol.com/goods/honbachi.html

26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day

Hey peeps, Saturday September 25th, 2010 is the 26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to noon. This is a much needed effort and we need all the help we can get. Last year, there were more than 80,000 volunteers that participated in the statewide beach clean up and helped removed 14 million pounds of trash. For 2010, CCCD is expecting to reach 100,000 helping hands. If you love the beach as much as we do and want to give back to mother nature, please come out to any california beaches and help pick up debris so we can all help heal the bay together. Think of this as a pay it forward with all of your future beach activities like riding your bike on the beach, picnics, volleyball, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, camping and just enjoying that wonderful walk on the beach.



More info at (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html

http://www.healthebay.org

http://www.signuptocleanup.org

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/DocServer/icc2010report_regional_CA.pdf?docID=6001