Streets of KW

6/16/2013 – Today was Open Streets Waterloo! I started the day with biking around the Westmount Golf area, ending at King and Erb just in time for Open Streets Waterloo! 

When I left the house this morning it looked like the event might get rained on, but by the time I arrived, the skies were clear, the sun ways out, and the streets were filled with people.

There were dancers, hola hoopers (that’s so a word right?), jugglers, wrestlers, and of course various musicians!

Ever played street scrabble? Ever played street scrabble with googly eyes involved? Anything goes on street scrabble! My friends Ashley and Amanda [and the Bad Idea Bears] have an awesome summer project of putting googly eyes on various parts of Waterloo, to symbolize the cartoon nature of Waterloo. They post pictures and blog about their adventure here, so check out their awesome work!

Also, not sure why, but I seem to keep finding myself on top of scooters these days! Today I got to take an free spin on one of these scooters! The lovely folks at ZiP EcoRide brought out their bikes and were letting the public try out their bikes! No pin-up girl attempts this time, but I am really enjoying these scooters. Of course, I do believe if I did the Streets of KW project on one of these, that’d be cheating 😛

The next Open Streets Waterloo happens on July 20th! Please come out and enjoy the fun! I’ll be there, I believe I will be on official business volunteering for the event! Look forward to it!

6/15/2013 – Before my bike route today, I went and checked out Waterloo Mini Maker Faire! It was very exciting to see all the various creative people who name themselves as makers; from 3D printing, LIDAR, to knitters, steam punk contraption designers, giant cupcake makers, woodworkers, metal smiths and so much more. It was really an event not to be missed!

I had a blast there and took some silly shots. One of my most memorable displays there was ThalmicLabs.  Their cool new technology allows for a new degree of human-computer integration that could revolutionize the way we interact with our technology. I can see so many cool applications for this! I’m really looking forward to seeing their first pro-types due to come out early next year! Check out a short video of how their product works here!

Then there was David Ribble, who is a woodworker! The stuff he creates is made out of wine barrels! Based in Ktichener, if you’re interested in antiques, collectables, or have some furniture you’d like repaired, I think this is your man! I’ve included his email address in my post so give him a shout!

I have only highlighted some of the individuals I ended up interacting with during the event, however every one of the maker’s creations is truly unique and shows us the boundless creativity and talent within the Region of Waterloo. I’m truly proud and honoured to have been part of this experience!

After checking out all the wonderful things at the Faire, I continued up the street and completed a short route for the afternoon. It was actually the route I wasn’t able to complete the other day due to a tire failure halfway through! In the end, things tend to work out.

Looking forward to riding more tomorrow. The weather isn’t terribly promising, but I’ll be there rain or shine!

06/09/2013 – So I had some minor surgery done and was told by my doctor to not exercise for a whole week! I had spent the time staycationing at my parent’s house. I was bored out of my mind!! I was eager to get back to cycling the minute I got back into town and was allowed again, only to be caught by a cold that left me bed-ridden for 3 days…

But!! Now. I’m. Back. [Baby]. And I’ve got so much pent up energy from being sedentary I’m going to be hitting the pavement again full swing~

Today was the Grand Porch Party! The Grand Porch Party covers a number of blocks outlined by Dawson Street, Euclid Avenue, Alexandra Avenue, and Roslin Avenue where musicians play on the porches of specific houses. Visitors gather around on the streets, on the front yards (and even one backyard this year!!) and listen to the music played by local artists. I love events like this! It was so lively and seeing so many neighbours out and about reminds me that we really live together as a community.

Here’s a shot of everyone gathering around one porch, listening to music! Please bookmark the Grand Porch Party website if you missed it this year. This is an annual event you’d definitely want to partake in. The weather was beautiful!

I spent about 3 hours at the Grand Porch Party and checked out as many artists as I could. I was saddened when the event ended. I didn’t have enough fun yet! I met up with some friends there and did some silly memes (Youtube Video of how to create Hadouken Shots). 🙂

So after the festivities of the Grand Porch Party, I went on my way to bike that subdivision (after devouring a DQ Blizzard). I biked 19.4 km today and was surprised that it didn’t tire me out. I was expecting to be very exhausted due to not having done any exercise in almost two weeks, however it appears that my body used the rest time and got stronger. I don’t remember 1hr22min of bike riding to be this easy! Go me 😀

On my way home, I stopped by UpTown Waterloo and saw this drum circle happening! Turns out is it hosted by Creation Africa and they are meeting here at UpTown all summer for public drum circles. The constant beat of the drum, decorated by the embellishments brought into the circle by each drummer was incredibly moving. I had never been part of a drum circle before, so when invited to drum with them, I jumped at the opportunity. If you’re interested in getting in on the next drum circle event, please check out their facebook page for even updates! I’ll definitely be going back to this, it was amazing!!

All in all, I’m happy to be back in the game, so to speak. Looking forward to biking more this summer. Please feel free to come out and bike with me, or if you have any suggestions or ideas about my project, get in touch!