Everyone Froze Except Him Seedance 2.5 Prompt: A cinematic city crosswalk packed with people frozen mid motion: a cyclist suspended, a pigeon stopped in mid air, coffee frozen mid spill, newspapers hanging in the wind. Only one young man moves naturally through the crowd. The camera tracks backward, then slowly orbits him. He touches suspended water droplets, shifting them slightly. As he walks past the camera, the entire world instantly unfreezes and returns to motion. Realistic daylight, natural clothing, cinematic depth.

One year ago today I received an email from a father that his 21 year old son Anthony was walking in a crosswalk in Huntington Beach when a car hit him going 60 mph then left the scene in a hit and run. His son shattered both legs, broke all his ribs, his collarbone and much more. The father was so grateful his son was alive, but being he and his son are both gym rats that love to follow me, he asked me if I could email him some words of encouragement to help lift his spirts up as he lay in the hospital. I did him one better. Being that it was so close to me, I immediately called all local hospitals looking for a trauma center with his son in it. After calling 5 hospitals, I found where he was and drove over to surprise him. I knocked on the door and walked in to see the biggest smile on Anthony’s face as he said “No way!”. I explained to him that his father emailed me and I decided sending him an email just wasn’t enough that I had to come see him. Anthony has spent the past year with family up in Seattle going through a brutal recovery but is back down in SoCal by me this week and I can’t wait to see him. Please continue to keep this young man and in your thoughts and prayers. 🙏🏼

Happy Halloween, Las Vegas. We're keeping the streets spooky and safe tonight! 🎃 Trick-or-treaters, remember to stay visible, use crosswalks, and look both ways before crossing the street. Drivers, slow down and watch out for little ghosts, witches, and goblins. We hope your Halloween is filled with fun, frightful delights, and plenty of treats!

You can judge the soul of a civilization by how it designs its cities for people who cannot see them. Have you ever noticed the raised yellow bumps on train platforms and crosswalks around the world? Many people assume a government agency invented them. In reality, tactile paving was invented in 1965 by one Japanese man named Seiichi Miyake, who spent his own personal savings in Okayama to create concrete blocks with raised dots and bars because his close friend was losing his eyesight. By 1967, the city of Okayama installed them outside a school for the blind, and within a decade, Japan National Railways made them standard across every station in the country. Wait until you look at the top of a Japanese beverage can. Because aluminum cans of beer, chuhai cocktails, and sparkling water feel identical inside a refrigerator or vending machine, Japanese breweries embossing tactile Braille characters reading Osake, meaning alcohol, directly onto the top metal rim beside the pull tab so visually impaired citizens never drink alcohol by mistake.

Virginia high school students wanted to help their peers identify speedy and safe walking routes to school. They developed SafeWalkr, which combines data from Google Maps and street databases to map crosswalks, traffic and sidewalk coverage.

My grandfather in Florida sits in an armchair for eighteen hours a day. He tells me he feels like a discarded ghost. In Tokyo, an 83-year-old retired carpenter stands at a four-lane crosswalk at 7:30 AM. Green volunteer sash. Bright yellow safety flag. At 7:40 AM, forty elementary school children turn the corner. They don't ignore him. They run toward him like he is a rock star. "Good morning, Grandpa Kenji!" "Look at my new eraser!" The old man beams with fierce, protective pride. He raises his yellow flag, steps into the road, halts three lanes of city traffic with one hand, and high-fives every single child as they cross safely. In America, we put our elderly away in facilities to die of loneliness. In Japan, we put a flag in their hands and make them the guardians of the future. He doesn't have an empty life. He has forty reasons to wake up before dawn.

Mount Royal! Canada! Spectrum Street Epistemology! Mats are down. @peterboghossian @FrancesWiddows1 @_CryMiaRiver Come play! Faculty of Arts, next to the Progress Pride crosswalk. Until 3:30.