Cascadian Caravan and Party to the Peace Arch, July 1st Weekend

Join us as we begin a series of Cascadian Gatherings throughout the Pacific Northwest, beginning in Portland on June 29th, Seattle on the 30th, and ending with a regional convergence with others from Vancouver and around British Columbia on July 1st at the Peace Arch, on the Canadian/US border. Music, food, speak outs, T-shirt, bandana, patch and flag making! Many other events (maybe a game of 'Capture the Doug'?). We'll also have a series of collaborative art projects that everyone will be encouraged to help us create as we travel.

The Peace Arch remains the last place in the Northwest where citizens of any country can come together without any identity papers and affirm their love of place, not as merely Canadian or US, but as Cascadian. Rising to a total of 20.5 meters, 67 feet it is inscribed with "Children of a Common Mother" on the United States side as well as "Brethren dwelling together in unity" facing Canada and underneath both, within the arch itself it reads "May these gates never be closed".

July 1st is Canada Day, July 4th US Independence Day, and so we have chosen this weekend, and the symbolically important Peace Arch to celebrate the things that make the Pacific Northwest unique. An inter-dependence that transcends national and state boundaries and unites us together. 

• Portland: June 29th
• Seattle: June 30th
• Peace Arch: July 1st

Details will be added as soon as we get them confirmed. If you can't make the events in Portland or Seattle, hold a gathering in your city or region and join us at the Peace Arch. Show your support, and we'll get you added to our list of events. We are also looking for organizational partners to help us put on this event. If you, or a group you work with would like to help contribute in any way, please just contact us and let us know.

We will be working to try and provide everyone with ride-shares and crash space if they need it, so just leave a comment or message us directly and we'll try to get to you. Also, if you are planning to attend and have extra room in your vehicle please contact us.

So, come meet your fellow Cascadians, no passports necessary.

For more information, contact us directly at cascadianow@gmail.com and RSVP on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/events/394256853949269/

First Spokane Cascadia Now! Meetup this Friday, May 25th

Spokane will be having their first Cascadia Now! Meetup on Friday May 25th, 4pm at the Riverside Park by the Post Street Bridge.

The first gathering will be pretty informal and will mostly be getting acquainted with the other supporters for Cascadia and setting some short term goals.

More information and directions can be found on our Calendar events page our contact Patrick Adams directly at patsamorionadams@gmail.com 

Photo credit belongs to Tony Grabenstein

Portland Timber Army and Cascadia Feature Prominently in new Adidas Commercial "A New Revolution"

"Revolutions are born from simple ideas. Insights that become emotions. Desires that become innovations. Systems that unleash true potential. It's time for a new revolution..."

Albeit it for a soccer advertisement, one can't help but love the subtle context that Adidas has placed their new 'Revolutionary Smart Soccer' product line into.

The Portland Timber Army play a starring role, front and center in the new commercial which focuses on midfielder and forward Darlington Nagbe, set against a sea of waving flags, obscured in a green haze. Other players who appear include SKC's Teal Bunbury, FC Dallas' Brek Shea, and Real Salt Lake's Javier Morales.

Shot over the course of several days including the Timber Army's 1-0 win over Kansas City Last month,  over a few events including Timbers 1-0 win over Kansas City the piece is meant to premiere Saturday during the Chelsea-Bayern Munich Champions League Final on FOX.

For more information read the original blog post from the Timber Army or see if you can spot the Cascadian Doug Flag below:

The Cascadia Monthly - May Edition of our Newsletter Released

In this May Edition of the Cascadian Monthly:

• Visions of Cascadia, a Shared 2012 NCECA Ceramics Exhibition
• 2012 Cascadia Poetry Festival Held in Seattle
• What is Cascadia?
• This Month in Cascadia History
• New PBS Show Public Matter’s situated in the Hypothetical state of Cascadia
• Ernest Callenbach, author of Ecotopia and Early Visionary of Cascadia, has passed away
• Stay Ready! A Cascadian Guide to Earthquake Preparation
• Sustainability
• Merchandise Updates: New Muted/Subdued Doug Patch, Cascadian Flags Restocked
• New Cascadia Now! Radio Program
• A Brief History of Cascadia 1846-1952

[gview file="http://www.cascadianow.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Cascadian052012.pdf" height="600" width="100%"]

Anyone should feel free to download, print and distribute as they see fit.

Submit related Cascadia content, articles, events or contributions to our editor Adam Munson at

desolatesorrows@gmail.com

Previous Editions of the Cascadia Monthly:

May, 2012

April, 2012

Submit Your Idea, Upvote, Downvote and Help us Choose a New Cascadia T-Shirt and Hoodie Design

cmDRe

Working through the Cascadia Subreddit, we have begun a three step voting process to help us choose a design for new Cascadia T-Shirts and Hoodies. Anybody interested can vote HERE.

Registration for the site takes under 3 seconds, and then a new user can upload, submit their own ideas, as well as vote other designs that has already been proposed.

The merchandise will be created by the Cascadian screen printing company Kotis Design, who created the first batch of T-Shirts and Hoodies. Aside from being available for purchase online, will be funded through a Kickstarter that we begin in early May, which will serve as a pre-order for stickers, bumperstickers, T-shirts and hoodies, and to try and drop the cost as low as possible.

So here's how the process will work:

1. Upload your ideas as soon as possible! If you already have an image, you can either upload it to the photo hosting site Imgur for free, or go to Kotis Designs website where you can preview how it would look on a T-shirt or Hoodie. After that, just submit a link in the comments section on our post.
2. Vote on other people's ideas by May 2nd
3. Favorite Ideas will be taken, and worked by the graphic design team from Kotis to be printed on several types of garments (T-shirts, sweatshirts etc.)
4. Early in May we will begin a one month Kickstarter campaign to help us raise money to do a bulk order, which will drop the price as low as possible. Prices will sit at-cost (and whatever is reasonable for the printers of course), with any extra money going into creating more merchandise. Cascadia Swag will also be available for purchase anytime through an online store we will be setting up, or directly from their website, as well as patches, stickers, flags and any other merchandise people can think of.

New PBS Show Public Matter's to be situated in the hypothetical state of Cascadia

In the tradition of the groundbreaking PBS series Ethics in America, PBS has launched a new series called "Public Matters with C.R. Douglas" which incorporates the sophisticated but entertaining Socratic method to tackle subjects such as gay marriage, legalizing marijuana and corporate influence over government. In each episode, Douglas convenes a panel of public officials, policy makers, academics, journalists and other leaders, and challenges them with provocative but fair questions about the topic at hand. Throughout the program, C.R. Douglas and his guests frequently refer to "Cascadia." No, they're not talking about Cascadia, Oregon. Nor are they referring to the community college in Bothell. Cascadia is the name for the hypothetical state where their situations are set.

Unlike traditional lines of questioning that often result in perfunctory answers, the Socratic method uses the hypothetical reality of Cascadia, to create unusual situations and rhetorical inquiry to elicit well-reasoned responses. The interviewee is challenged to think about an issue from a different point of view than his or her own. Rather than just being asked to state a position, guests must explain and defend it too.

In reality, Cascadia refers to the entire region of North America encompassing the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. By setting our hypothetical questions in a fictional state, we allow guests to broaden the discussion and analysis beyond the confines of reality, and both pose and answer the larger questions of, "What if...?

The first episode of "Public Matters" examines the controversy surrounding gay marriage. Washington has just become the seventh state in the nation to approve same-sex marriage. But opponents promise to mount an effort to repeal the law in a referendum vote in November. Both sides are digging in for what appears to be a protracted fight over this contentious issue that strikes at the core of our state's values, and raises intriguing questions of morality, equality, politics and faith."

Panelists in the first episode will include:

• Dan Savage
• Joe Fuiten
• Ed Murray
• Joseph Backholm
• Pepper Schwartz
• Jennifer Shaw
• Gerry L. Alexander

The first episode and more details of the show can be viewed on the PBS website at: http://kcts9.org/public-matters-cr-douglas

Information and text from: http://kcts9.org/public-matters-cr-douglas

Ernest Callenbach, author of Ecotopia and Early Visionary of Cascadia, has passed away

Author and early Cascadian Visionary Ernest Callenbach passed away at his home Thursday, April 16th at the age of 83.

Ernest Callenbach, a film scholar and environmentalist who wrote the cult favorite Ecotopia, a 1975 underground classic that inspired generations of environmentalists and readers yearning for an ecologically sustainable society, died at his home in Berkeley, California on April 16th. His work predicted with uncanny accuracy a world where recycling is commonplace, food is locally grown and energy comes from the sun.

The cause was cancer, said his wife, Christine Leefeldt.

Ecotopia described a utopian future in which an ecologically sustainaible society was set into the former states of Washington, Oregon and northern California. It was a hopeful vision of what industrial society must become if it was to survive, and became an inspirational story for many throughout the 1980′s and 1990′s.

Callenbach gave a vivid, comprehensive, positive look towards an Earth’s future where those care about sustainability were able to have a say. White bicycles sit in public places, to be borrowed at will. A creek runs down Market Street in San Francisco. Strange receptacles called “recycle bins” sit on trains, along with “hanging ferns and small plants” and a female president rules the country, from Northern California up through Oregon and Washington.

Highly imaginative and at the same time down to earth, the book sold nearly a million copies in more than nine languages, it was the the first book to be set into a politically and socially independent Pacific Northwest, writing at the period in the early 1970′s when geographic and environmental explorations into bio-regionalism were just beginning to be identified by organizations such as the Planet Drum Foundation and sociologist David McCloskey, who would later go on to define the Cascadia bioregion.

Today, the book is increasingly assigned in college courses on the environment, sociology and urban planning.

Callenbach is survived by his two children, five grandchildren and two brothers, and will be greatly missed.

New Muted / Subdued Cascadia "Doug" Patches Available

dougpatchsubdued

2" x 3.25" Douglas Fir Cascadia flag patch, in subdued colors like those worn on camouflage or battle uniforms in the military are now available at http://foomart.com for $3.00 each or four patches for $10.00.

All orders come with free 1st class shipping within the United States. Patches come with iron-on backing, but it's recommended that you sew the patch on as well.

The patches were designed by user binkitt over on the http://reddit.com/r/cascadia subreddit, so all thanks go to him for spearheading this project.

They can be purchased directly from the website, or email muted.doug@gmail.com with any problems or questions.

As always more information about Cascadia related merchandise can be found in our merchandise section at http://cascadianow.org/merchandise

Cascadia Now! Radio Program begins this Saturday

 Cascadia supporter and talk radio host Zane Levin will begin hosting a Cascadia Now! Radio segment every Saturday from 10pm-12pm streaming live from http://houseofsound.org/programs/111-cascadia-now. Talk Radio with a Secessionist Slant - Join us each Saturday night for a funny and provocative conversation. We'll discuss news and events from the region, the country, and around the world. What do we want? Cascadia! When do we want it? Now!

During the show, you can all in and talk with Zane using these numbers or chatlines:

TALK TO THE HOST

CALL IN: 503-575-9344 Web IM: CHAT NOW AIM: houseofsoundpdx Yahoo!: houseofsoundpdx GTalk: houseofsoundpdx@google.com

More information can be found on their website: http://houseofsound.org/programs/111-cascadia-now

And don't forget to give them a like at: http://www.facebook.com/CascadiaNowRadio

First Vancouver BC Meetup April 28th

Join us for the first Vancouver BC CascadiaNow meetup, to be held at Steamworks Brewery in downtown Vancouver on Saturday, April 28th at 4pm. It should be pretty informal, so feel free to join if you are interested in the idea of Cascadia, or would just like to swing by for a beer.

If you'd like further information, feel free to contact Andrew Perry at zentonil@gmail.com or for directions view our calendar event page.