I did a lot of stuff this weekend. Tops on my list was meeting Bre Pettis (yes the guy who does Make Podcasts). He is a really cool guy, friendly and with a great sense of humor. I met him along with a lot of other very cool people at Podcamp Boston 2. I also saw a stunning and wonderful cyborg lady. I also went for several very nice bike rides. Specifically I was part of my first ever critical mass. For those of you who don’t know critical mass is a peaceful and rowdy reclaiming of the streets by bicyclists.
Basically a ho-billion bikers take to the streets in an “unplanned” gathering and ride around having a wonderful time. Because they reach a critical mass (get it) they take over the roads and are able to use the roads for what in my opinion they would be much better suited for, riding you bike. For me it really was unplanned I had no idea there was going to be a critical mass (I was not on the cool list), but one came by and I was on my bike, and blam mass ho!
This seemed to be a special Halloween themed mass ride because I saw a lot of very cool costumes and lots of people dressed up in a million fun ways. There was screaming, and chanting, and singing, and one group of bikers had what seemed to be a full drum set made from buckets and old pipes clamped to the front of their bikes. It was so much fun, I must have looked like a goof with my a smile from ear to ear.
I also was part of an anti-war protest. Don’t let anyone tell you that the anti-war movement is dead. There were thousands of people out in the rain this weekend marching and letting their voices be known. It all culminated in a big rally on the Boston Commons, with singing and dancing. By the way if anyone ever asks you what the opposite of war is, tell them art.