A dispatch from Spacing public art editor Leah Sandals:
Kalisse de tabernac! I went to Montreal last weekend and witnessed a kind of recent addition to the tam tams, that impromptu drumming-and-dancing-and-frisbeeing-and-whatevering gathering that happens on sunny sunday afternoons on Mont Royal. This addition is a completely unregulated midaeval-style battle for everyone from Harry Potter-struck kidlets to oldtime D&D fanatics who just never said die. Their shields, swords, daggers, maces and spears are all made from duct tape. Canadian Tire (or excuse me, Rona) must be making a killing off this newfangled public play trend. And my brother tells me these guys are making the dudes at nearby smoothie bars a fair bit richer as well. Un mead boost avec to wheatgrass, s’il vous plait.
On a less hilarious but no less important note, I also noticed that Montreal streets are sporting a way nicer solution to bicycle parking than those in T.O (see photo below). Some street-parking spots have been blocked off completely for the lesser of wheel. There’s even a fairly sturdy fence around the space so no angry drivers can attempt to tip the rack over. Now if only they’d build a parking space for my trusty imaginary steed to rest after our valour-filled battles against local 5-year-olds…
–Leah Sandals
8 comments
that sure is a lovely idea…if only the bike racks themselves weren’t so awkward and hard to use!
The sword fighting has been around for a couple of years. Suprisingly, it’s not as chaiotic as it looks. There are a number of different games – capture the flag, all-out battles, and some team based event that I don’t understand. They also have rules. It takes a certain number of hits in a number of different places to be taken out. Different types of armour also have a role. So, not as crazy as it looks.
Are the swords entirely duct-tape? My friends and I started doing similar things last year. For our swords we used PVC piping that we cut to size to fit pool noodles from Zellers, then wrapped them in duct tape. Soft, but you could still get a good hit off. For the shields we just put duct tape around discarded election signs that use that corrugated plastic. Lots of fun, and people on the street were usually pretty happy to join in.
No, the swords are more than just duct-tape. From what I’ve seen, they’re mostly PVC piping wrapped in foam and duct tape. The shields are a little more elaborate, though. I remember them involving large sheets of plastic and such.
I always thought the highlight of the swordfighting matches were the bow and arrow guys. They’d stand behind the action and try and pick off the swordsmen. Their arrows were tipped with large balls of duct-tape.
I actually prefer Toronto’s bike poles to those, which in the photo at any rate appear obtrusive and ugly. I think Toronto’s racks are nicely functional, and at any rate, they are advertisement free.
I agree with Bob – I prefer Toronto’s ring and pole too. While I like the idea of an entire parking spot for bike parking, it doesn’t seem like the space is being used efficiently there.
“Some street-parking spots” is the operative term. Vast majority of bike spots are still on the sidewalk, unfenced.
Also, keep in mind that Montreal is now administered as a series of boroughs (or arrondisements) and when it comes to stuff like this, each borough does their own thing.
I agree with the above posters. I just moved from Toronto to Montreal about 3 months ago. Toronto is significantly more bike-friendly than Montreal.
In Toronto, it’s never difficult to find bike parking. The racks are everywhere, if if there isn’t one where you want one to be you can call the city and there will be one installed in a week. There are plenty of bike routes crisscrossing the downtown area, and there are bike bus and taxi reserved lanes.
In Montreal, there are very few bicycle parking spots, forcing cyclists to find a double headed parking meter. Near large shopping centres, there are often small racks that can hold four or five bikes. I’ve only seen a large rack like the one pictured here once, and it was full to capacity. I have no idea how you managed to take a naked picture of one.
There are very few dedicated bike lanes in Montreal, and where there are bike routes along major roads, cyclists have their own bidirectional right of way off to one side of traffic. If a cyclist wishes to cross traffic, he must dismount and cross walking. If a cyclist wishes to go straight through, he must still stop for traffic in case someone is turning across his path, as motorists cannot see cyclists because of the isolation.
Furthermore, Montreal police do not have a registration program for return of stolen bicycles. Theft is a massive problem here. Poor quality bicycles often have two or three locks to ensure that they are secure, and that’s no guarantee of safety.
Don’t even get me started on the Quebec potholes. I would cry tears of joy for smoothly paved asphalt once more.