Mercer Quality of Living Ranking

Every year Mercer (some big consulting company) uses all the data they collect over the year so make a list of the top 50 cities to live in. The ranking is judged on everything from social stability to education to climate with everything in between. I think an interesting thing to note is that 5 Canadian cities (I think they only included 5 in the ranking) are above any US city. New Zealand also did quite well with Auckland and Wellington (4th and 12th respectively) both in the top 15. Vancouver (4th) is the top Canadian city, with Ottawa (14th) and Toronto (16th) just behind. Anyways, here is the list, or check out the whole article here.

Base City: New York, US (=100)

Rank 2010	City	Country	Qol index 2010
1	VIENNA	AUSTRIA	108.6
2	ZURICH	SWITZERLAND	108
3	GENEVA	SWITZERLAND	107.9
4	VANCOUVER	CANADA	107.4
4	AUCKLAND	NEW ZEALAND	107.4
6	DUSSELDORF	GERMANY	107.2
7	FRANKFURT	GERMANY	107
7	MUNICH	GERMANY	107
9	BERN	SWITZERLAND	106.5
10	SYDNEY	AUSTRALIA	106.3
11	COPENHAGEN	DENMARK	106.2
12	WELLINGTON	NEW ZEALAND	105.9
13	AMSTERDAM	NETHERLANDS	105.7
14	OTTAWA	CANADA	105.5
15	BRUSSELS	BELGIUM	105.4
16	TORONTO	CANADA	105.3
17	BERLIN	GERMANY	105
18	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA	104.8
19	LUXEMBOURG	LUXEMBOURG	104.6
20	STOCKHOLM	SWEDEN	104.5
21	PERTH	AUSTRALIA	104.2
21	MONTREAL	CANADA	104.2
23	HAMBURG	GERMANY	104.1
24	NURNBURG	GERMANY	103.9
24	OSLO	NORWAY	103.9
26	CANBERRA	AUSTRALIA	103.6
26	DUBLIN	IRELAND	103.6
28	CALGARY	CANADA	103.5
28	SINGAPORE	SINGAPORE	103.5
30	STUTTGART	GERMANY	103.3
31	HONOLULU	UNITED STATES	103.1
32	ADELAIDE	AUSTRALIA	103
32	SAN FRANCISCO	UNITED STATES	103
34	PARIS	FRANCE	102.9
35	HELSINKI	FINLAND	102.6
36	BRISBANE	AUSTRALIA	102.4
37	BOSTON	UNITED STATES	102.2
38	LYON	FRANCE	101.9
39	LONDON	UNITED KINGDOM	101.6
40	TOKYO	JAPAN	101.4
41	MILAN	ITALY	100.8
41	KOBE	JAPAN	100.8
41	YOKOHAMA	JAPAN	100.8
44	BARCELONA	SPAIN	100.6
45	LISBON	PORTUGAL	100.3
45	CHICAGO	UNITED STATES	100.3
45	WASHINGTON	UNITED STATES	100.3
48	MADRID	SPAIN	100.2
49	NEW YORK CITY	UNITED STATES	100
50	SEATTLE	UNITED STATES	99.8

Andy

Mike Tompkins: Fireflies - Accapella Cover

New video is up of Mike Tompkins doing a cover of Fireflies by Owl City. The video was made in my own back yard (literally, it was filmed behind my house), with the help of my brother and Graham Beasley. The whole song is done only with voice mouth and some drinking glasses.



Check out some of Mikes other stuff on his Youtube page.

Andy

Lansdowne Park Redesign Proposals

Lansdowne Park/Stadium/Farmers Market/Arena/Giant Parking Lot/.... well you get the idea. Anyways, the area has been the subject of some controversy when a plan to turn it into a shopping mall (more or less) was proposed. Since then the city has hosted a design contest to allow for proposals for better use of the area. Those proposals are now available to see and comment on at the City of Ottawa Website.


Some interesting ideas to mention are a 100 tall statue/fountains which changes it's state depending on the season, turning the Aberdeen Pavilion into what looks like a biosphere/greenhouse, a huge boardwalk that turn into a bridge that reaches across the canal to Echo. So check it out HERE, and tell the city what you think, all in all, no mater what it's going to end up pretty nice.

Andy

Felt Gridlock with 3-Speed Fixed Gear Hub

That's right all you hipsters, fixed gear with gears. The original internally geared hub maker Sturmey Archer is now making a new fixed gear 3 speed hub the SX3. The hub comes in multiple colours so you don't have to worry about it clashing with the colour scheme of your bike. So if you want a fixie but don't want to give up your gears this might be for you. It comes stock on the Felt Gridlock.




Andy

Kinky Rail Jam: Edelweiss Finals

A few weeks ago I went up to Edelweiss to judge the Kinky Rail Jam finals (all girls rail jam series). It was good to see all the girls throwing down and really feeding off each other. A lot of people were trying and stomping new tricks and it was great to see all the positivity. Anyways, here is a video from the day.

Rugged Riders: Kinky Rail Jam 2010 FINALS - Edelweiss from Rugged Riders on Vimeo.

And you may be able to see some pictures HERE

Andy

Mean Tangerince Music Video

So good friend's of mine, the boys of Mean Tangerine just got a music video up on this little thing called Much Music. I know it's not a lot, but I feel like it's a good start then maybe someday they will make it big and get on Youtube.

You can check out the video on Much right HERE, or just watch it below

Mean Tangerine - Shadow (2009) from Graham Beasley on Vimeo.

Check out the boys back in our home town of London here, or when they come to Ottawa this summer.

Andy