National Post, January 21st, 2006. My Toronto. p.T05
"Reclaim the City, One Party at a Time"

LORI KUFNER AND KEVIN BRACKEN
URBAN GAMES AND TRANSIT PARTY ORGANIZERS

Lori Kufner and Kevin Bracken are the impetuous young imps behind all manner of public fun in Toronto. The two 19-year-olds started newmindspace.com less than a year ago, but already their subway parties and Capture the Flag games have a devoted following. Their Faerie Tale streetcar party tonight promises to be an enchanted evening involving knights, maidens, elves and sundry other mythical creatures. Kufner is from Markham and Bracken is from New York.

A STREETCAR NAMED FATE
BRACKEN The first time I came to Toronto was for a rave, a Happy Hardcore party. I was so amazed by the city, I thought I should just live here.
KUFNER We met on the Queen streetcar on the way to a rave.

DOWNTIME ON QUEEN WEST
KUFNER I definitely [spend a lot of time on] Queen Street. A little west is more hippy and east is more polished. I like either. I like to go into candy stores and find the most unusual vegan candy that they have.
BRACKEN We shop on Queen West. I rarely venture east of Spadina. I like to shop on Broadway in New York. We go for coffee in the Queen and John area -- independent places like Radical Roots.
KUFNER I don't actually like coffee. I like juice and smoothies.
BRACKEN I really like to get breakfast at this place on Queen Street called Shanghai Cowgirl. It's a great diner. I like bagels in the morning, especially New York bagels.
I like walking around the Annex. I like the architecture of the laneways. I find it uniquely Torontonian. The Financial District is great because of the tall buildings.
KUFNER I spend a lot of money on ribbons. The best ribbon store ever is Mokuba. It's Japanese. I wear a ribbon every single day. I make my own clothes, but I don't use patterns. I like making costumes because you can go all out. I've made a lot of tutus. I love fairy wings and tiaras. I have at least 15 fairy wings that I've worn in the past year.
We have a friend who works at Spy Lab on Queen West. She's great at helping us look for clothes. She actually assists Robin Williams with buying his hats.

PARTY TIME
BRACKEN We go to parties -- the kind that take place in abandoned warehouses -- more than we go to regular bars and pubs. We like a party atmosphere that is colourful, blasting music and all night dancing. Cherry Beach is a great spot for an after-party in the summer. Our parties usually go to 5 or 6 in the morning.

CREATING THEIR OWN PLAYGROUND
BRACKEN There's not a lot for younger people to do in Toronto, which was something we were plagued by. A lot of our events grew out of our quirky dates when we first started seeing each other. Neither of us was old enough to drink then.
KUFNER We had to come up with our own things that were cheap and fun. We went bowling on top of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. We flew kites at midnight. We jumped on trampolines. Eventually we started throwing subway parties. Our events are always all ages and almost always free.
BRACKEN We want to show that the subway can be glamorous, fun and interesting.

PLANNING THE SPONTANEOUS
BRACKEN We've always wanted to create art, and thought our art could be public and urban. There is a different message behind each of our projects. Capture the Flag has a very clear reclaim-the-streets message.
KUFNER We spend a lot of time on the Internet looking at what other people are doing. We read blogs like Torontoist and Spacing daily.
BRACKEN I always feel very anxious before our events. We don't know how legal they are. We never actually ask for permission.
KUFNER I'm pretty negative during that time. But that's just so I don't get disappointed. I know that it'll be fine, I just don't want to be let down. We also don't know if anyone will show up.
BRACKEN But now I think we're creating a culture. A group that is willing to assemble in large numbers.
KUFNER I feel like they're our people. Like if we sent out a time and a place like 10 hours beforehand, people would be there.
BRACKEN Torontonians are really hungry for adventure. They really want something cool to happen in their backyard. As soon as we think of it, it sort of imagines itself into existence.
KUFNER One of the reasons we started doing this stuff is because we really wanted to be invited to this kind of thing.
BRACKEN It seems like people are relying on us for the next project. We'd like to rely on them. If someone has a great idea, we'd love to be there. We'd love to help.

comments: 111.  This is page 1 of 6.

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