Dan Craven provided this video of a bicycle ride through Albany’s Washington Park during the Holiday Lights fest:

The last three times I’ve been on my Xtracycle in Washington Park, it has rained on otherwise sunny days. The most recent time was today, when it rained only while I was in the park.

After careful scientific observation, and with an appropriately American amount of avarice, I have come up with the following proposal:

People Of Albany!

For $5 per day, I will pledge NOT to ride my Xtracycle through Washington Park, thereby ensuring nice weather.

Please note, this does not mean $5 per person per day, merely $5 per day. At that rate, given Albany’s population of 90,000 people, you’ll only have to contribute once every 18,000 years. Seems fair to me. Look for a PayPal button soon.

I went to see Gloria Steinem speak tonight as part of a panel on the intersection of feminism and labor sponsored by the Capital District Area Labor Federation. I went there on a bicycle, the thing a fish needs like a woman needs a man.

On the way to the event, I rode through the lovely Washington Park. I saw several other cyclists, including Ron (pictured below), who stopped to talk with me about the Packet Boat (Xtracycle). There’s a beautiful pond in the middle of the park with what looks like a Victorian Era bridge over it. I also spotted a stage which would be perfect for Shakespeare. I hope that’s part of what they use it for!

I stopped for a few minutes at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial as I was leaving the park, then continued down Henry Johnson Boulevard to Washington Avenue. I hung out at the main branch of the library long enough to grab a bunch of Vonnegut and take pictures of the bikes parked out front. Then it was off to the Unitarian church-type-thing for the panel discussion. Followed, in fine cycling fashion, by flautas y salsa verde at El Mariachi.

Here are three good one-liners from Gloria’s talk tonight:

• “I’m going to make a button that says: ‘The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off.’”
• “When God looks like the ruling class, we’re all in deep shit.”
• “Let’s make this the first meeting of the post-racist, post-nationalistic, post-patriarchal, post-monotheistic age!”

UPDATE: Prairie Wells from the Capital District Area Labor Federation sent me a better photo from the event:

From left to right: Dr. Alethia Jones, Hon. Barbara Smith, Gloria Steinem, Renee Gecsedi and moderator Susan Arbetter (Photo by CDALF staff)

Prairie also told me that Gloria Steinem never said the “fish…bicycle” line — it was Irina Dunn, an Australian educator, journalist and politician. I pedal corrected!