Where:  Crab Park at 8:00PM
When: June 29th, 2013
Who: Bunch of VHSers and other people
What:  Bike ride with LEDs

Why hello there all you sexy bike ravers. We here at Bike Rave would like to share with you our plans for this super mega awesome DIY bike party. There’s some important info in here. Please take a few minutes to read through!

THE COVER-OUR-ASS-DISCLAIMER

We are not responsible for your safety; YOU ARE!

We have done our best to ensure that the route is well lit and wide, but it does involve a little riding on the road. We should attempt to obey all traffic laws. If we get split up, we can rejoin at one of the several stopping points along the ride, so please stop at red lights and stop signs.

When riding on bike paths, watch out for oncoming riders and give other bike ravers room, since most of us will probably be swerving a little. In previous years, a few people have gotten hurt due to being intoxicated. While we can’t tell you what to do, we ask that you try to avoid getting so wasted that you smash into people and cause them to get hurt. If you’re riding with someone super drunk, try to encourage them to ride at the back of the pack.

It would be wise to expect to interact with the police at some point in the night. They showed up last year and rode along quite peacefully. If you choose to drink while riding, you should try to avoid being incredibly obvious about it because they’ll make you pour it out. If you are one of those folks who likes to yell obscenities at the police whenever you see them, please stifle that urge for the duration of the ride to avoid drawing negative attention. Try smiling and waving instead. Wear a helmet and all that other safety/legal junk too!

Finally, if you feel like helping, we welcome folks to bring bike tools or first aid equipment just in case. Bikes For All bike shop will be at Crab Park to provide some last minute repairs. Given the size of this years ride, we’ll be very excited if you have current first aid and bring some first aid supplies along!

Remember, this is a DIY event. If you aren’t comfortable taking responsibility for your own safety, or you feel it is acceptable to put others at risk for your own amusement, this would be a good event to sit out.

Lastly, pick up after yourself. Your Mom probably won’t be around to clean up after you (although if you can get her to do that we’d be stoked). There will be garbage and recycling bags at the gathering area, and there are public waste bins all along the route.

Now, on to the good stuff!

THE MUSIC
As usual we’ll have a 5 hour long DJ mix for the event, and it will be available for download from a variety of sources a week before the ride. Put the mix on your MP3 player of choice and make sure it’s charged up. Strap some battery powered speakers to your bike. Just before we start the ride, we’ll make an announcement via megaphone to get everyone with a sound system to gather in one spot. Then, we’ll do a countdown and all hit ‘Play’ at the same time. Voila, synchronized rolling rave!

If you aren’t sure where to find speakers for your bike, here’s a few options:

http://bit.ly/L3rRFU
http://bit.ly/L3rT0t
http://bit.ly/LP6est

Pretty much any electronics or music store will have something that you can bungee to your bike, ranging from $15 to $500. Part of what makes this ride awesome is that no matter how spread out we get, if we have enough sound systems, everyone still gets to hear the music! As an added bonus you can now rock music on your bike for the rest of the summer!

THE LIGHTS
Part of the fun is getting your bike decked out like a late 90’s candy kid. Corner the market on glow sticks, EL wire, bike lights and anything else shiny or blinky. Let’s light up the entire city!

Most dollar stores have glow sticks, and some party supply places sell them by the case. Almost every bike shop in town has cool lights. Places like Lee’s Electronics can help you build awesome LED lighting rigs for your bike if you’re so inclined.

THE ROUTE
We’ll be meeting at Crab Park at 8:00PM and starting the ride at 9:00PM sharp. The map of the route can be found at: http://i.imgur.com/R4V3m.jpg orhttp://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/bike-rave

We’ve planned a few stops along the way to do some dancing:
- The underpass at Devonian Park
- Second Beach in Stanley Park
- The band shell at the Plaza of Nations
- Under the Terminal Avenue viaduct
- The black-top oval at Strathcona park

If you’re going to be late, we’ll be easy to find. Ride the route backwards, or even in the right direction if you like. We’ll be incredibly slow, loud, well lit and silly. By the second stop the ride just becomes a big mess of bikes arriving and leaving. Dance for a while at a given spot, then move on to the next.

THE WEATHER
If its nice out, we ride. If it’s iffy, we ride. If its raining a little and likely to clear up, we ride. If it’s pouring, we don’t ride. If you aren’t sure, show up anyways. Someone will be at Crab Park from 730pm til 930pm to let people know if the ride is cancelled. Fingers crossed! If the ride does end up being cancelled due to weather, it will be rescheduled for Saturday, July 27th.

Questions? Contact us at ravebike@gmail.com

Rubber side down, Rave side up!

Note to all media outlets: We kindly request that you do not publicize this event unless you are willing to emphasize all the key points of this message. Contact us at the email address above for further details.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/events/171801719649605/

Like to BREAK things? Visit the Vancouver Community Laboratory for your chance to smash a car! For just a few dollars, you can take part in a scrumptious pancake BREAK-fast, WRECK a car, have your mind BLOWN by local art / creations, and PLAY a giant claw game! Wreckage form the car will be used by local artists for materials, and all proceeds benefit the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire.

All ages. Entrance by donation.
Saturday, May 25, 10 am – 5 pm
1907 Triumph St.

Click here for information & updates via Facebook

More information at Vancouver Maker Faire

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HACKER MOVEMENT BLOSSOMING IN VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER – DIY is alive and well in Vancouver.  On June 1st, the Vancouver Hack Space (VHS) will relocate from the Downtown Eastside to a new home at “The Bunker”, 270 East 1st Ave.  Amidst ongoing evictions and closures of community organizations, the Vancouver Hack Space is picking a careful path to sustainable growth.

“We’ve been growing steadily since 2008,” said Jeff Davis, a VHS Director. “We moved to successively bigger spaces in 2009 and 2010, but we’ve been bursting at the seams for a while now. We finally found the right space to keep growing in.”

With rent being so high and condos so small, many people in Vancouver don’t have a space to explore their creativity and build things — lots of roommates, no garages, and no basements. A shared space like VHS is an essential part of keeping Vancouver creatively interesting.

With Vancouver Mini Maker Faire — the brainchild of VHS members and the local Maker Movement’s largest event — coming up in June, VHS is expecting another influx of new members. Last year, VHS saw a 60% increase in membership immediately after Maker Faire. “This is a natural evolution for VHS – we’re doubling every 20 months with no signs of slowing down,” said Dan Royer, VHS member and president of Marginally Clever Software.

“This new ground-level, wheelchair-accessible space on a well-lit street should help VHS become more welcoming and inclusive,” said Colin Keigher, VHS’ Head of Social Engineering.

VHS has become known as Vancouver’s techno-friendly crafters’ paradise, providing a shared workspace, tools and materials, and frequent skill-sharing workshops. The member-funded organisation has amassed an industrial laser cutter, free-range 3D printers, CNC milling machines, and crafting supplies including electronic components, fabric, and thousands of wheels. Member projects are diverse, and include laser-cut sculptures, autonomous robots, nerf guns, puppets, and homemade root beer.

VHS is a member-run non-profit society which has a wide range of tools for anything from crafting to electronics prototyping and robotics. It aims to provide a physical space where almost anything can be created, and like-minded people can gather to share knowledge, skills, and equipment in a collaborative atmosphere.  Read more about VHS at: http://hackspace.ca.

For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact VHS Press Relations at http://vancouver.hackspace.ca/wp/contact-us/

###

The Bunker is located on 1st Ave, 1 block east of Main St. To get there via the skytrain, get off at the Main St/Science World station, walk 1 block south along Main St to 1st Ave, then walk 1 block east to 270 E 1st Ave. It’s also directly on the bike route, and there is free (and plentiful) street parking. The main entrance is at the rear of the building, but we will have the roller-door at the front open too.

To summarize:

• 45W (OLD VHS): Decommissioned!
• 270 E 1st Ave (aka The Bunker, NEW VHS): Almost operational!
  • But don’t expect to be able to work on your projects at The Bunker just yet.

Want to sit in a blue chair? Too bad! Want to use the MAME box? Nuh-uh. Want a screwdriver with interchangeable bits? I don’t think so. Fridge to keep your drink cold? Not any more!

(The amazing thing about the word “but” in a sentence is that it negates everything that came before it. For example:)

BUT!

If you want to 3D print or solder, we got you covered. If you want to craft, draw, drill, saw, bend, glue, cut, or invent, we’ve got your back. If you just want to put things in boxes so the movers can go quicker, that’s cool too. Maybe you’d just like to sit on that grey couch one last time and soak up the ambiance. Please, here, I saved you a seat.

Doors officially open from 19:30 to 11:00. Bring your project or your curiosity, just git on down to la Ve Hash Hess.

Details

After 18 months of searching, VHS has finally found a new home!

Our space behind 45 West Hastings served us well, but we’ve outgrown it and it is time to move on.  As of June 2013 our new home, affectionately dubbed The Bunker, is at 270 1st Ave E, Vancouver.  The new space is 2800 square feet of ground floor, wheelchair accessible, solid concrete awesomeness.  We share the building with the offices of Kokoro Dance and with Catriona Jeffries Gallery.  The Bunker is on a designated Vancouver bicycle route, it’s an eight minute walk from the Main Street Skytrain station, and it has onsite and free on-street parking.

Look for this sign

Schedule & Coordination

We’re busy moving this month. Tuesday open nights are still happening and will be very strange. Please follow our mailing list and watch our events calendar to make sure there’s someone at either location when you visit.

The weekend of the 4th we plan to move all the big gear – the fridges, the MAME machine, the couch, the stuff in storage.

The weened of the 11th we plan to move all the less used but still sizeable tools – lathes, desktop CNC, drill press, and so on. We also plan to recycle anything we’re not taking to the new space.

The weekend of the 18th we plan to gut the old space down to the studs. This is where we will need the most people.

And You

We’d love your help to get the new space ready or to move stuff to the new location. Join us for some making, hacking fun!

You can find out more about the move by reading our Wiki page.

If you want to help and can’t be here in person then please donate to help offset our move costs.

VHS needs boxes!
More boxes than you can box a box at. Seriously, it’s a lot. Anything bigger than a fat house cat or a microwave, smaller than a dishwasher.

Friday the 10th is recycle night
Come down and help figure out what we’re getting rid of and how we’re getting rid of it.

Friday the 17th is box & label everything night
If your stuff isn’t out it will be labelled “Property of VHS” because I’m lazy and indifferent.

Saturday the 18th is the big move day!
We’re stripping the space down to the studs and moving every small thing to the new location. Do you have a van, truck, rickshaw, or blimp? We want you!

Read the Wiki page and join in.

Let’s recycle some 3D printer plastic.  Good for the Earth.  Good for each other.

The last 3D printer meeting was so much fun we’re doing it again, but extending to include all things CNC and CAM also!

Bring your printer, bring your enthusiasm, bring your questions, bring your curiosity, bring a snack. We’ll be talking about the future and learning from each other. Come see what the molten edge of technology is all about.

Goals for next month’s meeting:

• Get the Makerbot running
• Get SolidWorks up and running so we can design and print a part on the spot
• Document the processes for using Makerbot and Tantillus in the Wiki so people can learn on their own
• Finish the Prusa sitting above the arcade cabinet?
• Learn how to use the small CNC milling machine