Hey, as long as an agenda is ALL they're shoving down my throat.... :ifyouknow: :troll:

http://i.imgur.com/4lHoWqy.jpg

I'm all for gay rights and equality, support anyone's decision to live their life by their own identity, have plenty of gay and bi friends, and I live in the West End.

But for fuck's sake, this rainbow just looks terrible. I think the Burrard Bridge is one of Vancouver's coolest landmarks, and I think it's beautiful; I get to look at it outside my window every day. It's a classy, historic piece of art.

You wouldn't put a Hawaiian lei on Michaelangelo's David or paint Mardi Gras beads on the Mona Lisa. Just leave it alone, dammit.

:facepalm:

Gay dads turn to 'hero' sister in surrogacy struggle - British Columbia - CBC News

So wrong, yet if you say anything... you're a closet gay?

I live downtown. I planned to meet my dad for Father's day brunch and hit up Mccleery golf course before this farce. Sure the UN didn't care yoga day was coinciding with a Hallmark holiday, but I suppose they didn't think an idiot politician would close off a major traffic artery to celebrate it (i.e. score political brownie points).

Doing yoga on a dirty oil-slicked asphalt with an incline on both sides is healthy? How about the myriad of other options for a venue in this city (parks, beaches, squares, gymnasiums, stadiums) that 99% of yoga practitioners would have no qualms about. And as a plus, won't block traffic!

I don't really consider these events a sign of Vancouver being a "fun" city. Most large cities have fireworks, most large cities have parades. I watch them and they're nice events for what they are but really they're just a part of living in a metropolitan area. A city becomes "fun" when the inherent culture promotes creativity and spontaneity in it's cultural/artisitic/nightlife offerings. The city's old-school protestant roots show in City Hall's antiquated liquor laws/closing hours. It shows in the corporatized,gentrified, and generic options for nightlife. It shows in it's rampant NIMBYism, which is a direct result of City Hall's downtown "living first" policy which results in retirees and fussy busy bodies moving into the downtown core and then proceed to complain about noise. A stupid yoga event on a bridge on a Sunday morning doesn't mean shit to most people.

That's funny, I don't think I was being political at all in my post. I actually voted for the Liberals in the last provincial election. I was also bewildered by the amount of hate that Christy Clark got in social media and possibly attributed it to the sexist bias we have towards female politicians. But after this stunt and her supposed "self-deprecating" tweet I now see how much of an opportunist hack she is. Unfortunately we don't have much of an alternative as to who to vote for.

Anyway the people have spoken, why are we still arguing about it? :toot:

The whole point of "gay rights" is to publicize the fact that many LGBTQ people are unable to "just be themselves" and "live their lives quietly" because of discrimination, hate, and dealing with people's backward religious views that somehow give them a right to pass judgment on others.

This is why "Pride" exists; maybe it has gone a little overboard in the past few years, but it still has roots in an event where members of the LGBTQ community are able to actually be themselves, and be surrounded by others dealing with the same struggle, without fear of public backlash. It's also great for the straight community to show their support of LGBTQ issues (more girls for us straight guys, amirite?!).

Personally, there are a lot of things in my mind that are "worse" than being gay. I'd rather my future son brought home another man than bring home a lifted pickup....:heckno:

Or complaining about a bridge closing for a few hours early on a Sunday morning? Forget NIMBYism, people who could not possibly in any way be affected by the bridge closure were still bitching about it.

You'd never know it with how upset everyone got about it.

Well I was affected by it, I bitched about it, and now it's gone. :fuckyea: There's NIMBY for stuff that will actually make the city better which is dumb. And then there's NIMBY for stupid ill-thought out shit like this.

I think the reason most people are really flabbergasted by it isn't the traffic issues. It's because it's just plain fucking stupid. Yoga on a road isn't a good idea. Especially if it costs money. If they wanted to make an event in a park, even though it costs taxpayer money and I'm not even slightly interested, it's something fun for people to do, which is cool. We are talking about yoga on a fucking road..... That is a garbage idea no matter how you want to spin it.

I see it from an artist's point of view and it was an amazing idea, here's why:



1. It was on the Summer Solstice.

If you were plenty baked going "ommmmmm" just as the sun rose above the horizon on the one day where the sun would rise earliest and set latest, it would be a magical experience. Keep in mind the Burrard bridge is a high-elevation landmark with holes in the side of the walkway that would have illuminated the crowd.

It would have looked spectacular just at sunrise. Picture it...

Just as dawn's rays pour through the slots in the stone bridge, you look around and see nothing but strangers of all shapes, sizes and ages, bathed in the golden light; all ommmm'ing together.



2. The breeze.

The burrard bridge has a very nice breeze coming in off the water. The problem with yoga in a park is the bugs, allergies and the uneven surface. Ever tried to do yoga on a non-even surface?

I bet half the people going "WTF would you want to do yoga on a gross, oily surface for?" probably have never done yoga themselves!



3. It promotes a healthy activity.

Yoga is not just for the body, in fact, much of it is for the mind. The poses you hold force you into uncomfortable states and that discomfort in a group setting gives you a definite feeling of being part of a collective over the individuality you feel in a gym. When you're being a bro and curling 50s with your sweaty mullet thrashing about as you grunt and fart your way to bulging biceps, the struggle is an individual one and no sense of comradery is fostered. Doing yoga on a bridge at the crack of dawn on the solstice would have helped you to feel closer and more connected with Vancouver and Vancouverites.



4. Yoga is an activity for literally everyone

Toddlers to decrepit seniors, yoga can be performed by nearly anyone of any physical state. People in wheelchairs can even participate! The beauty of yoga is that it celebrates body movement, the discomfort of life, the acceptance of your own limits and fosters connections with people you otherwise would share little to nothing with.

It was also... free!



But hey... don't listen to artists, what do we know?

Listen instead to the general public that merely looks at a road and goes:

"Ugh! That's going to cost money!
"Eww! That's dirty and gross!"
"What! That's on aboriginal day, what an insult!"

http://i.imgur.com/d78B7Z9.jpg

??????

Not sure if you realized that you just argued against your own point.

A city becomes "fun" when the inherent culture promotes creativity and spontaneity in it's cultural/artisitic/nightlife offerings.

This is exactly what this event was.

It shows in it's rampant NIMBYism, which is a direct result of City Hall's downtown "living first" policy which results in retirees and fussy busy bodies moving into the downtown core and then proceed to complain about noise.

Once again, that's exactly what happened.

By your own definition, you proved his point?

Free to attend.


Sure it might cost a few bucks to police and clean up, but I think it was a worthwhile event.

How is doing Yoga on a bridge a cultural or artistic offering? And before you say anything you do realize that the lululemon-clad Yoga practiced here in the West has almost nothing in common with the spiritual roots of it in India. As far as I'm concerned it falls under the same category as the Naked Bike ride and critical mass bullshit we had to deal with a few years ago.

Like I said, I'm all for NIMBY against stupid shit like this.

It was going to cost 150K.

Yes, and?


It is like people don't mind that real estate is completely unaffordable but dear god if you try and put on an event to make this city more livable, die in a fire!

Did you even read my post?


You are the anti-christ of hipsters!


Doing yoga on the bridge and watching the sun rise while guided through poses would have been a beautiful sight to behold. What an amazing time and place it would have been out in the fresh air, surrounded by people just acknowledging that event with you in their own peaceful movements.


Being in that moment just as the run rose would have been a very wonderful experience.

Thanks! :whistle:

Sunrise is set to be at 5:07am on June 21st. The event would have started at 8am when the sun is already high and blazing.

For everything else you can have the exact same experience at Vanier park or English Bay without dealing with irate drivers with air horns or Native protestors with drums.

It was scheduled to start at 4am and run until 11am... :derp:

Road closures were to begin at 4am and the attendees were to be invited starting at 8am for an 8:30am start. Did you think the traffic was just going to part ways and have drivers sing kumbaya? FailFish

You put a roadblock on the approach to the bridge, it's empty two minutes later...

If only if it were that simple, otherwise why do road closures for Celebration of Light start at 4pm for a 10:30pm show?

I really hate to link vancitybuzz as a definitive source but all the official sources are taken down already:

Burrard Bridge to shut down for massive Yoga Day Vancouver event

scroll down to see the start time.

:seriously:

Because it's dozens of square blocks of multiple different neighborhoods and you want people to be able to walk in and set up their spot early?

Seriously - and I know this is hard, but use your brain for a moment - if you stop traffic coming onto a bridge, at 4am on a Sunday, how long is it REALLY going to take for the bridge to be completely empty of cars? If you use your imagination, like Mr. Rogers taught you, you can probably visualize all 30 seconds of this happening as four or five cars exit to the surface streets at each end.
:toot:

Are you in charge of traffic management at the City of Vancouver? I mean seriously do you think I was in charge of this? What the fuck do either of us know?? The official event page (when it was up) said it starts at 8:30. Sure if you went and showed up with your yoga mat at 4 am I'm sure you'd get a bunch of cops telling you to come back in 4 hours.

Why are we even still arguing about this hypothetical sunrise at a non-existent road closure occurring at a non-existent event? It's been cancelled after public outcry at it's stupidity. We won, you lost. End of story. :smug:

The government has no money for schools or hospitals so where did they get the money for this?