Category Archives: Occupy Together

Photos from Occupy Vancouver first night/second morning

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Since Flickr will neither allow them to be viewable to the general public nor respond with anything like a solution via Support, I’ve decided to go ahead and upload all the photos here instead. Buh-bye Flickr!

You can read what I had to say about the evening in this previous post.

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So there’s my WordPress-specific slideshow from the Saturday night to Sunday Morning of Occupy Vancouver. I meant to get down there last night as well, but instead I blew up my friend’s blog and had to spend much time recreating it at WP.com (note to bloggers: DO YOUR BACKUPS!!!! Or you make the babby raincoaster cry).

Once again, however, the best shots are not mine. The BEST shot is this, from Jazmin Miranda:

Donald Sutherland is Canada's Spirit Animal

Donald Sutherland is Canada's Spirit Animal

Occupy Vancouver: Flickr-ing signal

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For some reason Flickr has made my pictures from yesterday visible only behind a sign-in. Terrific. Will upload all of the images directly to WordPress from now on.

There will be a slight delay…

Occupy Vancouver Day Two (Night One) Photos

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Yes, I suck as a photographer. But I was there, and here’s what I saw, and below are my notes.

Flickr has hidden the photos behind a sign-in, so there will be a slight delay. Sorry. Bloody censors! Okay, guess what” That was entirely my fault. Should be fixed now. Sorry, Flickr!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

The first thing I noticed on my way to Occupy Vancouver was that last night the Bay took the perfume out of the window displays, whereas on Friday night they hadn’t. Goddam those fucking Chanel #5 hooligans, spoiling midnight window shopping for the rest of us! Bloody one percenters!

Stopped for a few minutes to listen to the band the Sons of Granville. If you haven’t heard of them, you will. I don’t even LIKE live music, and they stopped me in my tracks. Let’s just say I’ve never seen a viola player go Full Jimi Hendrix before, but it was not something I’ll forget quickly (nor will the knees of his jeans, I’m thinking). Not sure what you’d call the music: roots rock on a viola, acoustic guitar, and percussionist who played a speaker? Something like that.

The scene was quite different from the night before, with perhaps 30 small tents (some, yes, staked, but mostly nowadays you don’t need to stake the tents because tension keeps them up) and maybe a thousand people when I first arrived. Perhaps 600 by midnight, hanging around and listening to some guy rock out on the mandolin. Yes, there were a lot of dreadlocks there; how’d you guess? Heard that the police asked them to shut off the amplification at 11pm (there was a brief panic on Twitter as “the cops are moving in” but that’s all it turned out to be). There are two expensive hotels overlooking the protest grounds, and I suppose there must be noise bylaws about such things, even though I noticed the Hotel Georgia had only one window lighted on the side facing the Art Gallery; they’ve obviously put most of their guests in the inferior-view-having East side of the building, so they don’t have to stare at dirty hippies all day.

In related news, our old friend Rumour has some more news: that the new Superman movie is scheduled to be filmed at the Art Gallery and many protesters have been given to understand, somehow, by persons nameless, that the protest will have to pack up so that the (very expensive) show can go on. They seem quite resigned to it, which surprises and disappoints me. Surely this is the very thing for which movie production insurance was invented! Take those bastards at AIG for millions, Paramount! Solidarity!!! Stand fast! Supes would want it that way!

The cops were hanging out, being cool, and not appearing to take much notice of anything. There was a resolution made while I was there that the cops should stay out of the tented area unless their presence is specifically requested there; not exactly sure whether the cops replied to that or even if a response was required, but I’d expect cops will do their jobs, and if that means wading in, they will so wade.

This is as good a place as any to remind people that you can download Civil disobedience guide and you should so do. It’s fascinating reading, and quite up-to-date, as the date on it is September 23rd of this year. It even gives a list of things you should/should not bring to a demonstration, and here is an excerpt (click to enlarge):

What to Bring to a Protest from the Guide to Civil Disobedience in BC

What to Bring to a Protest from the Guide to Civil Disobedience in BC

There, don’t say I never did nothing for ya. Also, if you add baking soda to the water in your bottles it’s better for staving off dehydration AND rinsing tear gas. Just sayin’. I learned that by reading the WHOLE document, as I’ve already mentioned you should do and if not, what have you got to do that’s more important, eh? You just never know when you’re gonna get tear-gassed lately.

Speaking of servicey protest posts…I learned something useful while frittering away the seconds (we live on internet time now, baby) over at LolJulian, the Julian Assange Fangirl Tumblr. This is: what is up with all the bloody chanting? Seriously, I was getting worried this was some sort of indoctrination procedure, but it turns out to be something not only benevolent, but useful too: the human microphone. I don’t feel stupid, though, because Julian clearly didn’t know what it was either, till someone explained it to him.

from ImNotASlag:

Since Julian Assange’s speech at Occupy in London yesterday, people seem to have been freaking out about one specific thing: the crowd repeated everything he said.

Now, everyone who is shouting “he thinks he’s the messiah!”, “who does he think he is, God?!”, “he’s become like a cult leader!!!”, “it’s like that scene from Life of Brian!!!!1”, take a moment and read this.

There’s something called the ‘human microphone’, you may not be familiar, I wasn’t either until a few days ago, but let me fill you in. It’s when a crowd of people repeats everything the person speaking to them says. That’s basically it. It’s been done plenty of times at many protests and such, and especially at several of the Occupy protests round the world.

Amongst many others, Slavoj Žižek and Michael Moore are fairly well known names who have spoken to Occupy protesters, and the crowd repeated everything they said also, you can find videos on YouTube.

If you still don’t believe me and just want to pick on something else Julian Assange has done, just watch the video above. About 1 second in you hear a woman shout ‘human mic!’ and again a few seconds later. Julian starts his speech 8 seconds in, and is quickly interrupted by the crowd repeating what he had said. He looks a bit confused for a moment, then a couple seconds later, at about 11 seconds in, someone out of the frame apparently informs him as to what’s happening.

So, what is it they say on Mythbusters? Oh, right, busted.

Right then. Still sorta creepy if you’re not expecting it.

By the way, who’s this Mike Check they keep yelling for? He sure is popular.

I did climb out on the lions to see what was on their eyes, but it was only hearts, no actual words. Someday a shrink is going to lecture me about my tendency to see patterns and layers of meaning where there aren’t any, but that day is not today. In any case, the lions have love in their eyes, awwww.

Which is as good a place as any to mention that the Occupy Vancouver site is overlooked by skyscrapers housing HSBC, the world’s largest bank, the Toronto Dominion building, the Four Seasons, the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, and, off in the distance, the Royal Bank building. Kitty corner is the building that used to and may still house IBM.

Sad that the last photo in the set is of the memorial water fountain that was put in place during the early years of the last century to provide drinking water to the urban poor.

The actual fountain has been removed.

Occupy Vancouver Day One Point Five

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Too much for just one post, so you get a bonus! UPDATE: actually, Flickr doesn’t want you to see these inflammatory photos, so just scroll up to one of the posts where I told Flickr to go fuck its censorship-happy Yahooligan self and uploaded the pix to WordPress.com. Should I ever get a break, I’ll sit down and repair this post. UPDATE: Done. Turned out to be my fault for setting them as Moderate in the uploader. I didn’t even know you could do that.

Vancouver Occupied by Carnivores

I spoke to the same security guard that I encountered yesterday and tonight instead of being nervous, he was … stoked. That’s pretty much the only word for it. He was stoked! Far from fearing the Anonymous masks, he was now focused on the community-building in situ, something he’d heard about but never seen for himself. The democratic process was impressive: the security woman at the medical tent, who couldn’t have been more supportive if she HAD been wearing one of those masks, told me they’d come to six resolutions, there was a free food tent (donations accepted) and it had been uniformly peaceful, to the obvious disappointment of a couple of standers-by.

As expected, it was fairly left-leaning, although there was also a strong Libertarian presence and they are attempting to keep the livestream as apolitical as possible. They’ve come up with a statement from the General Assembly, which is basically everybody there who wants to vote, which is basically EVERYBODY THERE. That should put paid to the “if they can’t say what they want in 140 characters, forget it!” people. What ever happened to good old manifestos, anyway?

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15TH, 2011 VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

Occupy Vancouver – A Non Violent Movement 
for Social, Economic and Political Change 

We, the Ninety-Nine Percent, come together with our diverse experiences to transform the unequal, unfair, and growing disparity in the distribution of power and wealth in our city and around the globe. We challenge corporate greed, corruption, and the collusion between corporate power and government. We oppose systemic inequality, militarization, environmental destruction, and the erosion of civil liberties and human rights. We seek economic security, genuine equality, and the protection of the environment for all.

We are inspired and in solidarity with global movements including those across the Middle East, Europe, and the Occupy Wall Street / Occupy Together movement in over 1000 cities in North America. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.

We humbly acknowledge that Occupy Vancouver is taking place on unceded Coast Salish territories.

We are committed to an inclusive and welcoming space, to addressing issues of oppression and discrimination, and to creating an environment where all the 99% can be heard and can meaningfully participate. We are also committed to safeguarding our collective well-being – including safety from interpersonal violence and any potential police violence.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a working statement that we know will evolve as #OccupyVancouver grows and flourishes. Our demands and our dreams are not limited to this statement as we have many ideas and solutions. As stated by #OccupyTogether, no one group, person, or website could ever speak for this diverse gathering of individuals. However, the General Assembly on October 8th reached consensus to accept these broad principles as a starting point and there will be further discussion on October 15th at 10 am at the General Assembly at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

And as for resolutions of the General Assembly, well, they are all nice people, they are letting anyone speak, they are willing to consider any and all positions and objections and amendments, but remember:

No one rules if no one obeys

No one rules if no one obeys. Your moment of Zen

While we’re on the subject of Deep Thoughts, here are some by Brian Revel, who eloquently said what I’ve been too restless to articulate. It’s worth the time to read the whole thing, but here’s a taste:

The Occupy Wall Street movement that is slowly gaining steam in New York City is the change that I have been anticipating for much of my lifetime.

I have warned that a ‘revolution’ is coming. But on the other hand, I have called for change. I admit I have vacillated between embracing a world where the corporate agenda has lost its influence and ‘selling out’ to secure my economic future.

The revolution is upon us. It won’t be a Storming of the Bastille sort of revolution- or so I still hope. It’s going to be organic and more peaceful a la Gandhi; it will be in the numbers of participants, rather than in any violence that the change will take place.

Indeed, it will gain moral strength with every act of violence committed by those defending the status quo. Sadly, the defenders of the status quo is the role the New York Police Department is fated to play out.

REAL, deep and profound change doesn’t happen with a convenient sound bite or even a speech.

It happens because people vote with their feet. It may seem that what they are doing is unfocused right now. But as people slowly realize that their economic interests are being compromised by forces beyond their control and that all they have to do is stop what they’re doing and assemble to be counted, the momentum for change will accelerate.

We are not yet anywhere near a critical mass for spontaneous ‘revolution’ but I cannot help but keep my eye on this movement. Hell, I might even get on a plane and fly to New York to go see what is happening for myself. Seriously. This is the real thing.

Are we at all surprised it’s happening now? The largest demographic in the American population is the kids of baby boomers. They are unemployed, endebted and mad as hell. They see their parents retirement dreams vaporized. Their futures appear condemned to a losing battle against organizations that get rights but bear no responsibility for their actions. They see injustice everywhere and they have the time on their hands to affect the change they need to rebalance the wrongs.

And they make their flower-power parents look like kids making daisy chains in their sophistication and connectedness. To the establishment, they are truly dangerous and the first management tool to diffuse their frustration is extinguishment: to simply ignore them.

Three Little Pigs by Jerome Kashetsky

Three Little Pigs by Jerome Kashetsky

Remember that in BC the gap between the top 1% and the other 99 is larger and faster-growing than in the US. Remember also that Canada has more billionaires per capita than any other nation, and that Vancouver has more of them than any other city in Canuckistan except possibly Toronto. And hell, anybody who lives in Toronto instead of Vancouver is already suffering enough, right? Amirite?

Sorry, protests r srs bzns.

Goddam Organizers cheaped out! OccupyBakeries!

Goddam Organizers cheaped out! OccupyBakeries!

Should you wish to Occupy Grocery Stores on behalf of Occupy Vancouver, here is the wish list from the food tent:

Food tent donations needed

and the wish list for the rest is topped by: INTERNET! If you have one of those Wind, Mobilicity, Telus, etc, internet sticks and you would like to donate it, please do. If you’ve got the makings of your own mesh network or what have you, please hook up with the Media Committee. And here’s the rest of the wish list:

Media team

walkie talkies

press passes

whiteboard

printer, ink, paper

tables, chairs, media tent

rocket stick (prepaid)

Boom mic and stand

extension cables

super long internet cable

4 power bars

External hard drives

SD cards

Apple laptops with final cut pro

PC laptops with premier or AVID

HD cameras

Cables (USB, FireWire, etc)

flip HD camera

Any other film/video equipment (lights, generators, Gaffer tape, power cables,

umbrellas

tarps

scissors

duct tape

saran wrap (for waterproofing)

re-usable rain ponchos

Dell 1525 Batteries with Rapid Chargers

Double A and Triple A Batteries

HDSLR and Video Camera Rain Covers

generator (1000 watts minimum, 2000 is good)

two 4G hotspots (clearchannel is good brand)

recommended microphone:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=tascam+tm-st1&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

laptop of 2.4ghz core 2 duo or greater. this will work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200327

-K

For the Kids Zone

toys

rubber maid containers

musical instruments

tarps

twine

large plastic water containers

childrens books

cd player, portable radio

batteries

WILLINGNESS TO COME PLAY

Requests for the KIND KITCHEN

Rubbermaid containers

power cords

hot plates to make warm yummy vegan food

reusable plates, cups and cutlery

12′ x 12′ tarp

coffee maker, toaster, microwave, mixer

coolers

plastic bins

serving bowls

Food requests

prepared foods, soups salads, fruit & veg

caffeine free hot beverages, hot chocolate

The Education Station

NEEDS A TENT / CANOPY and chairs

MEDICS AND SECURITY TEAM

Walky Talkies

White Boards

If anyone has any of the following items and is willing to donate or loan them for Occupy Vancouver, please email occupyvancouvercontribute at gmail.com

Occupy Vancouver Shit is Fucked Up and Stuff

Occupy Vancouver Day One

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Who IS that masked man?

Who IS that masked man?

Julian Assange: no wonder I love this man

Julian Assange: no wonder I love this man

Oh Julian, the Sexy Jedi look suits you.

Actually, you have to respect that; the man is under house arrest (still no charges laid, please note) and still he comes out in solidarity at the OccupyLondon protest, mask and all. And here’s me, staying up till 4am removing all my ID and sign-in apps from my iPod and thinking about taking off my nail polish to be less recognizable. Live and learn!

We are all Anonymous now. The institutions that we’ve built, paid for, worked in, with, and against, have become like those sentient robots in the old movies: we built them to help us, and instead they’ve enslaved us. They’ve taken away our very humanity, so that we really ARE anonymous, so much so that there’s a general push on the part of our organizations to force us to carry identification at all times, because the institutions control the access to indentification and thus to identity itself. They first depersonalized us and then told us we had to carry our serial numbers at all times. Without ID, you essentially don’t exist and you cannot claim any rights in our current climate. Not when things like the Patriot Act exist, when the governments of most Western nations collaborate with bloody dictators to circumvent the Geneva Conventions. Go on, carry your driver’s license, and realize that ICBC is collaborating with the Vancouver Police Department to provide face recognition software so you can be tracked, even while obeying the law. Just in case the government needs something on you. And don’t forget that the gap between the richest 1% and the rest is larger and growing faster in BC than it is in the US, and that Canada has more billionaires per capita than any other nation.

Long ago I wrote about the Manual of Afghani Jihad and the Japanese Kamikaze documents, and said that if our world had anything as spiritually compelling as those documents, we would solve most of the world’s problems. Alienation would be a thing of the past instead of the universal constant.

Well now alienation is a weapon.

Anonymous and similar groups have answered that call. Here is their manifesto, in video form, from that pinko muckraker Charlie Chaplin. Why not? We’ve heard from George Carlin and Fran Lebowitz on Occupy Wall Street. Why not Charlie Chaplin?

Dude has it going on.

While we’re at it, let’s hear from Oscar Wilde on Occupy Everywhere:

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

– Oscar Wilde

Occupy Comics!

Occupy Comics!

Here’s a slideshow of Occupy Vancouver shots from News1130 (and hey, if you’re done with your Nony mask, I could really use one! Hint! Hint! I’ll be the one walking around without a Nony mask!):

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Nice work.

There’s a fantastic roundup of shots on TheCrunchyBanjo, far better than I could ever do, so DO take a look through them all. Here’s just one:

Occupy Together at Occupy Vancouver by Max Hirst

Occupy Together at Occupy Vancouver by Max Hirst

And an aerial view of the protest:

Occupy Vancouver from the roof of the Rosewood

Occupy Vancouver from the roof of the Rosewood

and a rather poignant Anon:

Anonymous Janis Joplin at Occupy Vancouver

How IS Bobby McGee these days?

Let’s see what the Powers That Be have to say about this…hmmm, how about asking the head of the Bank of Canada, a former Goldman Sachs-er:

Demonstrations like the Occupy Wall Street protests, which will hit Canadian cities this weekend, are a “democratic expression of views’’ and “entirely constructive,’’ Mr. Carney said.

“It makes it more tangible, the challenges that that economy is facing, and it makes it more important to demonstrate success on issues such as financial reform,’’ he said.

The words that Mr. Carney applies to the civil disruption carry extra weight because the Harper government is pushing for him to become the next chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a group charged with co-ordinating the overhaul of international banking regulations. There is widespread fear that, the more time that passes, the tougher it will be to muster political enthusiasm for reforms, against which the financial industry is lobbying furiously.

Mr. Carney has been a fierce critic of the industry backlash and has vowed to counter it.

What is this? I can’t even…I think my brain just broke. Even the 1%ers are on our side.

Here are some cool, free-use logos for the 99%. If you see Conrad Black using them, well just take them away from him. He’s a stateless, convicted felon desperate enough to try anything, tho, so be prepared for ninja moves. Slooooow ninja moves.

I am the 99 percent

I am the 99 percent

The 99% has a significant sub-percentage of hipsters. Well, what else are you going to do but protest if you’re an over-educated, underemployed or unemployed person who cares about what the world is coming to and worries that if you don’t speak up NOW, you may miss your chance forever? You protest. And then you party.

http://twitter.com/#!/cameronreed/statuses/125372402166272002

Radically awesome.

and now, more from My Imaginary Boyfriend, Julian Assange.

Want to know what the future looks like, Vancouver? It looks like OccupySpain, that’s what it looks like. And this is what THAT looks like:

Spain looks pretty occupied to me

Spain looks pretty occupied to me