Ernest Hemingway

Apologies for the lack of blogging yesterday... I was feeling about 50% so I went to bed instead! So today one of the other girls at the hospital brought her new kitten to get her first vaccines. She'd been abandoned in a box by the side of the road. Do not adjust your sets...

She's a polydactyl cat (congenital condition where the animal has more digits than normal. Ernest Hemingway was a BIG fan of them, and would only have polydactyl cats at his home in Florida. They are the only cats allowed to live in the preserved building to this day.

This picture is for free :)

Plug for Eimhin

Want to get your hands on some grrroovy, unique, dotey artwork? well get yourself here and you too could be the proud owner of such works as...

Go onnnnn, be the envy of all your friends! :)

Hamburger Mary's

There are some good diners around this city. I accompanied a couple of lady friends to Hamburger Mary's after a get-together last evening. It's not a bad spot, and pretty busy considering it was 1 in the morning. I'm a sucker for a good 50's interior.

I was especially enamored with the jukebox roulette lamp hanging over our heads... WANT!

Gotham

Exclusionary Signs

Most of the Chinese restaurants around here (of which there are LOADS), have sandwich boards like this outside... I don't really feel like I can go into a place when the only thing I understand is "Parking at Rear"... I'm fairly certain it says more than that.

Street Heart

Goats that get spells of dizziness...

Vertigoats

Canada's Next Top Chef

Yep, that's me. Dee Dwyer I hope you're reading this.. I am somebody who would rather live on popcorn than prepare and cook myself a nice meal. Laziness plain and simple. I don't have the passion for food that others have. So I usually go around to their place for my dinner! That, and rely on my poor shackled-to-the-kitchen partner in crime..

But today that ALL turned around. I made a D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S mushroom risotto for dinner, and just now have completed making homemade chocolate covered honeycomb!!! I seriously couldn't be more proud.

This is the honeycomb before I smashed it into bits... I almost wept I was so happy. Then it became this:

There may be some hope for me after all......

Happy Joy

Sad Face Used Furniture? That's on the other side of town.. next to Monkey Queen.

SJDK (O.M.G)

Just been to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the Commodore tonight.. It's the second time I've seen them and at the same venue. She is UNBELIEVABLE. Actually the word isn't even strong enough. I've had a feeling of missing out on something wonderful since I never got to see James Brown before he passed away. But honestly I think she comes a seriously close second to him in his hayday.

This is the view from our friends Mags and Kenny's new apartment. It's quite the scenic spot.

Evening Barbies and Cats

So this evening after work I went over to my friend Jodie's place to visit with her, our friend Sandy, a bottle of wine and her cats Tia and Baxter. Her cats are skinny but super healthy.. they just eat what fills them and then leave the rest for later. They make me feel inadequate in my care of Leeroy... he's like the Vegas Elvis to their young Mississippi Elvis days.

Tia loved my shoes.. bless her. They stink to Bejesus but she made me feel more than welcome.. Unfortunately Leeroy was at home stuffing himself with an opened and unattended can of catfood...

He was later outrun by a mouse in our flat.. true story.

Easside

More east side cross action.. this time in wood, also featuring the ubiquitous East Van hipsters in the background. Painfully cool.. I don't care, it's hip to be square.

Treme

Have I mentioned New Orleans before? I can't remember if I've discussed (at length), my probable love for it... but I think I love New Orleans. It's only probable because I've never been there, but have a raging desire to go... for as long as I can remember. The HBO series, written by those responsible for 'The Wire', is pretty great in my opinion. As for the music.. well it's second to none.

NEON!!!

S'All Good in the Hood

Real estate mogul Bob Rennie commissioned artist Martin Creed to install his artwork as part of a restoration project. The Wing Sang building is the oldest building in Chinatown. The phrase “Everything is going to be alright” is a reference to the 2010 Olympic games (and fear of), and also a hopeful message to the Downtown Eastside in general.

I had to take the picture from a block away, over the top of Sun Yat Sen Gardens... It makes me smile every time I see it.

Jamie Lidell

He was only o.k. this time.. it felt a bit forced to me. But I'm not the  biggest fan of his new album either so maybe that has something to do with it.

Get better Jamie... and stop consorting with those crazy Scientologists. 

Evening Flock

"It's never over,
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over,
all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her,
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter,
It's never over,
She's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever."

Ah Jeff, there'll never be another quite like you. Shame I was too young to have gone to a live show....

Use the Force

I like when venues are imaginative with their stamps for re-entry. It's boring to have the name of the place branded onto your flesh for one night only. It's far more exciting to take on the persona of a jedi warrior (or Star Wars entity of that ilk). I am not Luke's father though.

Sta-chews

Two Small Men...

This is one of the best moving company names I have ever seen.. Next to "Twomey to You" which cracks me up EVERY time, and also "Ahhhhhso Easy" moving company. The last is owned by an Asian guy obviously hamming it up for the neighbourhood. Why is it that moving companys can have such funny and thought provoking names?

Well I've come to the conclusion that they must be some of the most interesting and intelligent people on the planet...

Could be wrong though.

Concrete Rainbow

Sun in the sky, rainbows on the ground. 

Beaches

I love days off.. I get to hang out at places like this to blow the cobwebs away...

Italian Day

It was Italian Day on Commercial Drive today. It used to be a fairly regular occurrence apparently, but the last one was in 1982... The sun came out briefly after a number of hours of rain. So we made a dash to the Drive in our window of sunny opportunity. There was a really good vibe around the place, and loads of people wearing Italy football jerseys. 

The African, Asian, Jamaican, Portuguese, Canadian, Native (and Irish) neighbours were all out in force. This man stood out to me for obvious reasons.. he was by no means the only man in white trousers though.

Noice.

Dreamy Daze

I hope to someday have a fabulous home filled with lovely little pieces of furniture like this. I am somewhat obsessed with cupboards and dressers however, and I fear I may just be surrounded by them. I might have to flip them over to turn into beds, and throw a few cushions on them in place of a couch.

Everything will be a shade of blue/turquoise/pastel green. I will also probably have more animals than days of the week.. Ahhh roll on the lottery win!

Quote of the Day - Mutant Dog

On discussing a curious mix of dog, a lady remarks "Yeah, my dog is half German Shephard, half Border Collie, and half Corgi"... Emmmm

Shad

Just been to see this guy.. very entertaining but very short... the set I mean, not the man.

I was a bit disappointed in him to be honest, but as usual the bathroom graffiti kept me entertained

What's the best joke?

I love a good joke.. unfortunately you have to trawl through a lot of bad ones to get to them. Gary Larson is a good one for the jokes. I will never forget this one for it's comedic simplicity. 

I like this house a lot. It's nestled amongst a lot of houses known as Vancouver Specials, which are HIDEOUS things. They're all over our neighbourhood unfortunately, but you get the odd little gem like this one to rest your weary eyeballs.

I Wish I'd been at Zaire '74

But I was minus 7 years of age.. so I guess I'll just have to get over it! We watched the movie 'Soul Power' a little while ago which documented this historic event which was to take place as a precursor to the 'Rumble in the Jungle'. This is one of my favourite parts.

I also loved the part where Sister Sledge were rehearsing. They look like they're about 12.

Recommended viewing.