POLITICAL ANALYSIS FOR BEYOND ROBSON One of my main writing focuses as Editor of Vancouver-based online publication Beyond Robson was to highlight and analyze municipal political issues and promote discussion about them as a result. Each political piece I wrote was deliberately framed as a question to directly involve readers in the opinions I conveyed. Salient issues included Toronto’s G20 protests, the effect of the HST on Vancouverites’ lives and the local dialogues that arose from its implementation, and a public smoking ban from the Vancouver Parks Board.  I was gratified by the interesting responses and discussions the articles below inspired through reader comments and social media outlets. Can Vancouver Learn Anything from Toronto’s G20 Protests? “…And if the G20 protests have taught me anything as a Vancouverite, it’s that our fellow Canadians in Toronto are sick of being quiet about it. For that, I tip my hat to you, Torontonians. Thanks for giving us Vancouverites something to think about — something to tweet and retweet about — something to be pissed off about and debate each other about. Every time someone says the term “G20” these days, I feel like our collective consciousness as informed citizens grows a bit. In many ways, these protests and their bungled management has made many of us more engaged than ever, and that’s the real silver lining in the G20 cloud.” Anti-HST Petition Officially Hits 400,000 Names. Does This Mean Something To You? “…My opinion? As a former student of political science, I am wary of the ultimate motives of those on both sides of this battle. Both sides have so far failed to convince me one way or the other, because it appears to me that both Pro-HST advocates and Anti-HST protesters are guilty of both fear-mongering and the dissemination of biased information about a tax with a legacy that is, so far, hard to quantify… However, as Vander Zalm recently said (I never thought I’d actually be quoting the man, but here I go), the high numbers on the Anti-HST petitions are notable because the petitions allow people to “have an outlet. They have a way of expressing their frustrations… they feel they can get involved in bringing about change… and that’s a wonderful thing.” If nothing else, I find it hopeful that Vancouverites can be galvanized in a statistically significant fashion to participate in political activities such as the signing of a mass petition — even if that galvanization may be based merely on opposition.” Did You Know Smoking Will Be Banned in Vancouver’s Parks on September 1st? “…In conclusion, when I reflect about the various facets of this motion, the political science nerd in me starts to worry about the potential ramifications of over-implementation, Vancouver’s “no fun city” status, and over-strident government regulation of public spaces — all problematic factors which could infringe on personal liberties (and actions). However, I did find that Vancouver will certainly not be alone in the implementation of a ban this far-reaching; there are over 90 examples listed in a well-catalogued Wikipedia article of similar bans occurring worldwide…” Do You Care that Vander Zalm is Going to Court Over the HST? “…I do believe it is important to verify the HST’s validity as it concerns our Constitution. Vander Zalm’s attorney argues that the “HST violates core principles of the Constitution by allowing for taxation without representation because the federal-provincial pact to enact the tax was never ratified in the legislature”. If this is indeed the case, Campbell deserves to feel the power of the Courts. The question of Constitutional and representational validity is more obtuse and metaphysical than ruminating over the affect of taxation on individual’s lives (or lack thereof), but it’s just as important a discussion.”

POLITICAL ANALYSIS FOR BEYOND ROBSON

One of my main writing focuses as Editor of Vancouver-based online publication Beyond Robson was to highlight and analyze municipal political issues and promote discussion about them as a result.

Each political piece I wrote was deliberately framed as a question to directly involve readers in the opinions I conveyed. Salient issues included Toronto’s G20 protests, the effect of the HST on Vancouverites’ lives and the local dialogues that arose from its implementation, and a public smoking ban from the Vancouver Parks Board.  I was gratified by the interesting responses and discussions the articles below inspired through reader comments and social media outlets.

Can Vancouver Learn Anything from Toronto’s G20 Protests?

“…And if the G20 protests have taught me anything as a Vancouverite, it’s that our fellow Canadians in Toronto are sick of being quiet about it. For that, I tip my hat to you, Torontonians. Thanks for giving us Vancouverites something to think about — something to tweet and retweet about — something to be pissed off about and debate each other about. Every time someone says the term “G20” these days, I feel like our collective consciousness as informed citizens grows a bit. In many ways, these protests and their bungled management has made many of us more engaged than ever, and that’s the real silver lining in the G20 cloud.”

Anti-HST Petition Officially Hits 400,000 Names. Does This Mean Something To You?

“…My opinion? As a former student of political science, I am wary of the ultimate motives of those on both sides of this battle. Both sides have so far failed to convince me one way or the other, because it appears to me that both Pro-HST advocates and Anti-HST protesters are guilty of both fear-mongering and the dissemination of biased information about a tax with a legacy that is, so far, hard to quantify… However, as Vander Zalm recently said (I never thought I’d actually be quoting the man, but here I go), the high numbers on the Anti-HST petitions are notable because the petitions allow people to “have an outlet. They have a way of expressing their frustrations… they feel they can get involved in bringing about change… and that’s a wonderful thing.” If nothing else, I find it hopeful that Vancouverites can be galvanized in a statistically significant fashion to participate in political activities such as the signing of a mass petition — even if that galvanization may be based merely on opposition.”

Did You Know Smoking Will Be Banned in Vancouver’s Parks on September 1st?

“…In conclusion, when I reflect about the various facets of this motion, the political science nerd in me starts to worry about the potential ramifications of over-implementation, Vancouver’s “no fun city” status, and over-strident government regulation of public spaces — all problematic factors which could infringe on personal liberties (and actions). However, I did find that Vancouver will certainly not be alone in the implementation of a ban this far-reaching; there are over 90 examples listed in a well-catalogued Wikipedia article of similar bans occurring worldwide…”

Do You Care that Vander Zalm is Going to Court Over the HST?

“…I do believe it is important to verify the HST’s validity as it concerns our Constitution. Vander Zalm’s attorney argues that the “HST violates core principles of the Constitution by allowing for taxation without representation because the federal-provincial pact to enact the tax was never ratified in the legislature”. If this is indeed the case, Campbell deserves to feel the power of the Courts. The question of Constitutional and representational validity is more obtuse and metaphysical than ruminating over the affect of taxation on individual’s lives (or lack thereof), but it’s just as important a discussion.”

1 year ago  View Larger Image

A PHOTO-BASED REFLECTION ABOUT HIV/AIDS ACTIVISM IN VANCOUVER This was a piece published for a local HIV/AIDS organization PANOS which featured a photograph and short piece I wrote about my experiences as someone who had worked with several educational HIV/AIDS non-profits in the city. The intention of my piece and other featured pieces on the site? To be “a mosaic of words and images, building into a living inventory of HIV-related experiences. Each personal narrative comes from someone whose life has been affected by HIV/AIDS and our aim is to build a deeper, more nuanced understanding of AIDS today.” From Dubstep to Understanding “I continue to be amazed by how much misinformation exists about this disease and its realities. Even in a prosperous city like Vancouver, with high quality-of-life and education rates. To this day, when I tell well-informed friends about my work with HIV/AIDS organizations, I still get appallingly ignorant questions such as ‘What if one of them touches you?’”

A PHOTO-BASED REFLECTION ABOUT HIV/AIDS ACTIVISM IN VANCOUVER

This was a piece published for a local HIV/AIDS organization PANOS which featured a photograph and short piece I wrote about my experiences as someone who had worked with several educational HIV/AIDS non-profits in the city. The intention of my piece and other featured pieces on the site? To be “a mosaic of words and images, building into a living inventory of HIV-related experiences. Each personal narrative comes from someone whose life has been affected by HIV/AIDS and our aim is to build a deeper, more nuanced understanding of AIDS today.”

From Dubstep to Understanding

“I continue to be amazed by how much misinformation exists about this disease and its realities. Even in a prosperous city like Vancouver, with high quality-of-life and education rates. To this day, when I tell well-informed friends about my work with HIV/AIDS organizations, I still get appallingly ignorant questions such as ‘What if one of them touches you?’”

1 year ago  View Larger Image

ARTS AND CULTURE COVERAGE, BEYOND ROBSON One of the categories I focused on as Editor of Vancouver-based online publication Beyond Robson was the city’s underground arts, culture and music scenes — especially those run by local community groups and collectives and guerrilla in their grounding. The four featured articles below I am quite proud of, both for their content and because of the interesting local discussion they provoked via reader comments and social media dialogue. The Case of Vancouver’s Disappearing Independent Bookstores “…Something’s rotten in the state of Vancouver, and it’s not Denmark. It’s the fact that our independent bookstores are dropping like flies this year — one by one falling into bankruptcy oblivion, their once-loved books haphazardly auctioned off like aging cattle. The most recent casualty? Biz Books, on Cordova St, to be closed in August…” What is the Status of Guerrilla Street Art in Vancouver? Jerm IX, S. Vegas and V-TARP Show Us What’s Up. “Is street art thriving here, I wondered? It seems like there are some truly beautiful mainstream/legal pieces being funded (such as the Paint Your Faith wall in that formerly-depressing empty lot on East Hastings) as well as some innovative (but less legal) installations inexplicably being erected at random locations. But what do these isolated examples say about the overall passion of local guerrilla/street artists here, about their motivations, about their experience and talent? It was time to ask the experts — especially because both Jerm IX and Vegas grew as fledgling street artists in cities other than Vancouver.” Fact: Vancouver’s Defiant, Innovative Underground Music Scene is Anything but ‘No Fun’ “…These places feel strangely reminiscent of scenes we’ve read about, whether in cyberpunk sci-fi worlds created by our own William Gibson or accounts of the underground acid house scene in 1990’s London or Chicago. They become popular through online dialogues, closed Facebook event pages and group phone texts at midnight. They feature fascinating and re-emergent styles of music, mixing together various influences not heard in Vancouver’s “real” venues, and equally fascinating crowds. They’re haphazard, sloppily-managed, last-minute, sketchily set-up, and completely exhilarating because of it… they are representations of the Vancouver I love — the Vancouver that’s hopeful, always looking to improve itself, and completely unafraid to branch out and create its own form of amusement.” The Vancouver Public Space Network Shows Us How to Stick it to the Streets “…Do you ever have moments where you just want to claw out of your cubicle, scamper out onto the sidewalk and scream at the top of your lungs while brandishing a large metallic cowbell? I often get that urge myself…”

ARTS AND CULTURE COVERAGE, BEYOND ROBSON

One of the categories I focused on as Editor of Vancouver-based online publication Beyond Robson was the city’s underground arts, culture and music scenes — especially those run by local community groups and collectives and guerrilla in their grounding. The four featured articles below I am quite proud of, both for their content and because of the interesting local discussion they provoked via reader comments and social media dialogue.

The Case of Vancouver’s Disappearing Independent Bookstores

“…Something’s rotten in the state of Vancouver, and it’s not Denmark. It’s the fact that our independent bookstores are dropping like flies this year — one by one falling into bankruptcy oblivion, their once-loved books haphazardly auctioned off like aging cattle. The most recent casualty? Biz Books, on Cordova St, to be closed in August…”

What is the Status of Guerrilla Street Art in Vancouver? Jerm IX, S. Vegas and V-TARP Show Us What’s Up.

“Is street art thriving here, I wondered? It seems like there are some truly beautiful mainstream/legal pieces being funded (such as the Paint Your Faith wall in that formerly-depressing empty lot on East Hastings) as well as some innovative (but less legal) installations inexplicably being erected at random locations. But what do these isolated examples say about the overall passion of local guerrilla/street artists here, about their motivations, about their experience and talent? It was time to ask the experts — especially because both Jerm IX and Vegas grew as fledgling street artists in cities other than Vancouver.”

Fact: Vancouver’s Defiant, Innovative Underground Music Scene is Anything but ‘No Fun’

“…These places feel strangely reminiscent of scenes we’ve read about, whether in cyberpunk sci-fi worlds created by our own William Gibson or accounts of the underground acid house scene in 1990’s London or Chicago. They become popular through online dialogues, closed Facebook event pages and group phone texts at midnight. They feature fascinating and re-emergent styles of music, mixing together various influences not heard in Vancouver’s “real” venues, and equally fascinating crowds. They’re haphazard, sloppily-managed, last-minute, sketchily set-up, and completely exhilarating because of it… they are representations of the Vancouver I love — the Vancouver that’s hopeful, always looking to improve itself, and completely unafraid to branch out and create its own form of amusement.”

The Vancouver Public Space Network Shows Us How to Stick it to the Streets

“…Do you ever have moments where you just want to claw out of your cubicle, scamper out onto the sidewalk and scream at the top of your lungs while brandishing a large metallic cowbell? I often get that urge myself…”

1 year ago  View Larger Image

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF A LOCAL, VANCOUVER-BASED PUBLICATION Inspired by my inherent love for community-building through the lens of quality independent media, in 2010 I was the Editor of Beyond Robson, a popular multi-author Vancouver publication focused on blog-style coverage of local city news, ideas and opinion that featured the writing of over 40 young writers. Here is one of my articles about Vancouver’s various descriptions of the 2010 Winter Olympics as seen through the eyes of international media. Many of the articles I wrote for Beyond Robson involved a great deal of interesting reader discussion in the comments section, and this article is an example of that. “In the aftermath of yesterday’s (unarguably epic) celebrations and revelry, with hundreds of thousands of ecstatic cityfolk from all sides of the Olympic debate together in the streets, in an urban explosion highly reminiscent of that of Chicago on the night of Obama’s election… I think many of us Vancouverites, whether anti-Olympics protesters or pro-Olympics advocates, are now wondering one thing as we nurse our hangovers: what will the world really have to say about these Olympics? Most importantly, what is the world’s opinion about Vancouver as a city through the Olympic lens?”

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF A LOCAL, VANCOUVER-BASED PUBLICATION

Inspired by my inherent love for community-building through the lens of quality independent media, in 2010 I was the Editor of Beyond Robson, a popular multi-author Vancouver publication focused on blog-style coverage of local city news, ideas and opinion that featured the writing of over 40 young writers. Here is one of my articles about Vancouver’s various descriptions of the 2010 Winter Olympics as seen through the eyes of international media. Many of the articles I wrote for Beyond Robson involved a great deal of interesting reader discussion in the comments section, and this article is an example of that.

“In the aftermath of yesterday’s (unarguably epic) celebrations and revelry, with hundreds of thousands of ecstatic cityfolk from all sides of the Olympic debate together in the streets, in an urban explosion highly reminiscent of that of Chicago on the night of Obama’s election… I think many of us Vancouverites, whether anti-Olympics protesters or pro-Olympics advocates, are now wondering one thing as we nurse our hangovers: what will the world really have to say about these Olympics? Most importantly, what is the world’s opinion about Vancouver as a city through the Olympic lens?”

2 years ago 

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF A MULTI-AUTHOR FOREIGN POLICY BLOG From Sept 2009 to March 2010, I was the Editor of a paid multi-author blog about Canadian foreign policy called ‘Canada’s World.’ The blog featured articles related to our nation’s foreign affairs and I was responsible for contributor management and image promotion. In fall of 2009 I initiated a full re-design of the blog’s interface, making it more interactive and discussion-based for its readers — a move which brought up the readership by 50%.

EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF A MULTI-AUTHOR FOREIGN POLICY BLOG

From Sept 2009 to March 2010, I was the Editor of a paid multi-author blog about Canadian foreign policy called ‘Canada’s World.’ The blog featured articles related to our nation’s foreign affairs and I was responsible for contributor management and image promotion. In fall of 2009 I initiated a full re-design of the blog’s interface, making it more interactive and discussion-based for its readers — a move which brought up the readership by 50%.

2 years ago  View Larger Image

AN ARTICLE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY AND LOCAL IDENTITY Your Province Through Your Lens This is an article and photo essay written for The Tyee about the results of a photo pool challenge I coordinated through Flickr and what they indicate about local community-building through social media-based photography. It was my first article to include personal viewpoints from those involved in the article’s topic (in this case, some of the winning photographers of the challenge speaking on their thoughts about democratic media and Flickr). “What’s most compelling about the winning photos is the fact that they share spots unknown to the casual tourist. They are taken in the photographers’ homes, in their backyards, and at their favourite weekend hideaways. From a crumbling roller coaster at the PNE to highly saturated shots of city streets, they showcase varying renditions of our province firmly rooted in each photographer’s sense of place and community. In doing so, these photos show us just how multi-faceted our province really is.”

AN ARTICLE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY AND LOCAL IDENTITY

Your Province Through Your Lens

This is an article and photo essay written for The Tyee about the results of a photo pool challenge I coordinated through Flickr and what they indicate about local community-building through social media-based photography. It was my first article to include personal viewpoints from those involved in the article’s topic (in this case, some of the winning photographers of the challenge speaking on their thoughts about democratic media and Flickr).

“What’s most compelling about the winning photos is the fact that they share spots unknown to the casual tourist. They are taken in the photographers’ homes, in their backyards, and at their favourite weekend hideaways. From a crumbling roller coaster at the PNE to highly saturated shots of city streets, they showcase varying renditions of our province firmly rooted in each photographer’s sense of place and community. In doing so, these photos show us just how multi-faceted our province really is.”

2 years ago  View Larger Image

AN ARTICLE ON CANADA’S FOREIGN POLICY AND VIRTUAL YOUTH-BASED COMMUNITY Virtual + Physical = Global I wrote this article as a part of a ‘Rethinking Canadian Foreign Policy’ feature for ForeignPolicyCamp on The Mark, an independent newspaper out of Toronto. The feature included articles from writers like Shauna Sylvester, Daryl Copeland and John Monahan. My article was about my observations as a Millennial-aged young person in the activist world learning about how technology, new media and citizen-centered policy can combine for empowering results. “I am a part of a group of young adults who have grown up with a consciousness located simultaneously in both physical and virtual communities. Often, when one is an adept user of social and interactive media, one’s virtual cyberspace communities are just as enriching and stimulating as those in the physical “real world.” As a result, my generation’s conception of nationalism is increasingly marked by an awareness of a larger, internationally connected virtual community – one that transcends old ideas of state-based identity. Like many people my age, I see myself as both Canadian and global in citizenship – and I am equally interested in what’s going on in each community.”

AN ARTICLE ON CANADA’S FOREIGN POLICY AND VIRTUAL YOUTH-BASED COMMUNITY

Virtual + Physical = Global

I wrote this article as a part of a ‘Rethinking Canadian Foreign Policy’ feature for ForeignPolicyCamp on The Mark, an independent newspaper out of Toronto. The feature included articles from writers like Shauna Sylvester, Daryl Copeland and John Monahan. My article was about my observations as a Millennial-aged young person in the activist world learning about how technology, new media and citizen-centered policy can combine for empowering results.

“I am a part of a group of young adults who have grown up with a consciousness located simultaneously in both physical and virtual communities. Often, when one is an adept user of social and interactive media, one’s virtual cyberspace communities are just as enriching and stimulating as those in the physical “real world.” As a result, my generation’s conception of nationalism is increasingly marked by an awareness of a larger, internationally connected virtual community – one that transcends old ideas of state-based identity. Like many people my age, I see myself as both Canadian and global in citizenship – and I am equally interested in what’s going on in each community.”

2 years ago  View Larger Image

A POST-MODERN MULTIMEDIA ESSAY “A Multimedia Exhibition of Atrocity Exhibitions” This was a 6 part, multimedia-based essay discussing postmodern books, films and resources as they relate to William Ballard’s famous novel The Atrocity Exhibition. “It is my hypothesis that post-modern, Ballard-esque versions of the future are inextricably linked and dependent on the visions of writers and other visionaries, just as futuristic visions are dependent on the various forms of cultural expression which are available at the time.”

A POST-MODERN MULTIMEDIA ESSAY

“A Multimedia Exhibition of Atrocity Exhibitions”

This was a 6 part, multimedia-based essay discussing postmodern books, films and resources as they relate to William Ballard’s famous novel The Atrocity Exhibition.

“It is my hypothesis that post-modern, Ballard-esque versions of the future are inextricably linked and dependent on the visions of writers and other visionaries, just as futuristic visions are dependent on the various forms of cultural expression which are available at the time.”

2 years ago  View Larger Image

AN ESSAY ON VIRTUAL HACKTIVISM ‘Fictional Hacktivism is Unbound’ This essay about the correlation between contemporary global hacktivism (also known as Net-based activism) and literary science fiction entitled has been published in several formats, both online and on sites like the SCIENCE FICTION & THE CITY blog. I also created all images attributed to the essay in its original format. “I aim to prove that cyber hacktivism has transformed itself from something fictional into something exhilaratingly and terrifyingly concrete, creating an unstoppable, placeless community/city of activists and hackers from all spectrums of political life prepared to act en masse. While a hacktivist initiative entirely unified on the global scale has not yet occurred, I predict it is only a matter of time before it does.”

AN ESSAY ON VIRTUAL HACKTIVISM

‘Fictional Hacktivism is Unbound’

This essay about the correlation between contemporary global hacktivism (also known as Net-based activism) and literary science fiction entitled has been published in several formats, both online and on sites like the SCIENCE FICTION & THE CITY blog. I also created all images attributed to the essay in its original format.

“I aim to prove that cyber hacktivism has transformed itself from something fictional into something exhilaratingly and terrifyingly concrete, creating an unstoppable, placeless community/city of activists and hackers from all spectrums of political life prepared to act en masse. While a hacktivist initiative entirely unified on the global scale has not yet occurred, I predict it is only a matter of time before it does.”

2 years ago  View Larger Image

A MULTI-AUTHOR BLOG ABOUT YOUTH-BASED COMMUNITY “Today’s Millenial, ‘Dot Net’ Youth Generation: Apathetic and Alienated or Subversive and Innovative?” I wrote this essay as the Founding Editor of VELOCITY, an acclaimed multi-author blog about Millennial youth activism, to be redesigned as an online magazine in 2010. This essay has been featured in news articles about youth apathy and has also been published on periodicals like Jettison Quarterly, an online magazine based out of Chicago. VELOCITY is a blog about civil society — it focuses on vibrant and inspiring projects and ideas that young people are creating in their own communities. It has over 600 registered followers on the Tumblr.com blogging interface alone and gets over a hundred pageviews a day.  It has been featured in various news stories and on other blogs across the country. Essay excerpt: “Youth activists, movers and shakers DO exist today— we just may exist in a more fluid, ever-shifting, and hard to define realm than our predecessors did at our age. We are loudly and proudly in existence at a variety of protests around the world, we engage in culture-clashing activities, we read zines and ride bikes instead of cars, we go to see politicians speak and have beers with them afterwards, we fight, debate, argue, and resist what we dislike on blogs, twitter, facebook and livejournal. We are thinking of new ways to engage, new conceptualizations, and new types of inspiration— and we are not silent.”

A MULTI-AUTHOR BLOG ABOUT YOUTH-BASED COMMUNITY

“Today’s Millenial, ‘Dot Net’ Youth Generation: Apathetic and Alienated or Subversive and Innovative?”

I wrote this essay as the Founding Editor of VELOCITY, an acclaimed multi-author blog about Millennial youth activism, to be redesigned as an online magazine in 2010. This essay has been featured in news articles about youth apathy and has also been published on periodicals like Jettison Quarterly, an online magazine based out of Chicago.

VELOCITY is a blog about civil society — it focuses on vibrant and inspiring projects and ideas that young people are creating in their own communities. It has over 600 registered followers on the Tumblr.com blogging interface alone and gets over a hundred pageviews a day.  It has been featured in various news stories and on other blogs across the country.

Essay excerpt: “Youth activists, movers and shakers DO exist today— we just may exist in a more fluid, ever-shifting, and hard to define realm than our predecessors did at our age. We are loudly and proudly in existence at a variety of protests around the world, we engage in culture-clashing activities, we read zines and ride bikes instead of cars, we go to see politicians speak and have beers with them afterwards, we fight, debate, argue, and resist what we dislike on blogs, twitter, facebook and livejournal. We are thinking of new ways to engage, new conceptualizations, and new types of inspiration— and we are not silent.”

2 years ago  View Larger Image

About:

This site displays a sampling of my freelance writing, as well as design projects I have done for political parties, non-profits and NGO's in Vancouver and London. As KAiBRAY, i focus on graphic design, social media consulting and community coordination for social change-based organizations.

The goal? It might sound audacious, but I believe open source technologies have the potential to promote positive, enriching civil societies both locally and globally. My work aims to prove this in its own small way.

If you are interested in working together and want to hear testimonials from past clients, please get in touch via email or twitter.

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