LA Beyond Cars and High Speed Rail

On July 29, 2010 LA Beyond Cars opened at the Jewel Box Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. The exhibition is a multi media presentation offering ideas and concepts behind High Speed rail and how it will be integrated into Los Angeles along with proposed urban landscapes of the future. Here is the link for the exhibit running through August: http://railla.org/2184

The exhibit drew enthusiasts from all walks of life interested in one thing: how do we plan to move about in this congested metropolis and what are the proposals, visions and solutions being offered? This exhibit is sponsored by Rail LA so it is focusing on High Speed Rail which California will be given $2.25 billion dollars in funding by the Federal Government. Want to get from Downtown to San Francisco in 2 hours and 38 mins? Check out the website for High Speed Rail from Maps to News: http://cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/ More on this topic later. For now, check out some pics from the opening night and take a trip to see what your city can look like in the near future.

LA Beyond Cars Exhibit - Jewel Box Theater - 525 S. Flower Street. Los Angeles, CA




City of the Future - Los Angeles circa 2106 , Eric Owen Moss Architects





Presentation by Park 101. How about green space floating above the 101 so you can bask in the sunlight and create community space?



Interactive landscape of Los Angeles by James Rojas.











Film loop still on what a High Speed Rail station will look like. (Alex Thompson's and my head not included).

Piggy Back Yard

AB1998 - Bye Bye Single Use Plastic Bags!

Main Entry: ¹plas·tic

Pronunciation: \ˈplas-tik\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin plasticus of molding, from Greek plastikos, from plassein to mold, form

Date: 1632

From the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Can we mold or form our habits to NOT use plastic bags because of our addiction to convenience? Research indicates that plastic has at least the same shelf life as a Twinkie and possibly a longer half-life than uranium. The truth is nobody knows how long it takes for plastic to completely biodegrade, nobody has been around long enough to witness it. Either way, you should get the picture, it is not a good thing. (Please do not tell me about the jobs it creates...i have already lost my voice screaming and may have to resort to exaggerated twitching which can get very ugly). Even partially starch based biodegradable plastic will have done the damage to marine life by the time it breaks down in five months.

So what the heck is a person to do? For starters, just take a reusable bag with you to the store. Always. Have one with you at all times, whether you are on bike, bus, foot, train, taxi, car or airplane....just like a tampon, they can be small and tucked away. (Yes, tampons without a plastic insertion thingamajigee).

Are you completely devastated by the BP oil spill and find yourself posting about it on Social Networking sites, wishing you could stuff Wall Street Bankers, BP CEO's or Sarah Palin down the pipe? Well, plastic bags need petroleum to be produced. Enough said.

Keep yourself up to date on AB1998 - A bill started by Assembly Member Julia Brownley of Santa Monica.

Check out the below to take action and educate yourself more:

http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/current_legislation/ab1998_10