A l'Hotel d'Europe

There are plenty of photos of Vancouver's flatiron-style building, the Hotel Europe, out there. As I walked past it on a stroll through Gastown this afternoon, I took a quick snap of this ironwork protecting some pipe/works and the doorway on the Alexander Street side.

Post title from this song by Narmine Ducap (link in French).

Kaitlin

I don't know if this is genuine sentiment, cynical marketing, or public art. Snapped this poster at the corner of Granville Street and Robson Street this afternoon, on a rare sunny winter day. The word "Williamsburg" at the bottom of the poster makes me suspect hipster tomfoolery.

Post title from this song by Matthew Pfeifer.

Support

I love big infrastructure projects, and find it fascinating when you can see the bones. This is one of the support structures for the five sails at Canada Place, close up. Another support, in the background of this shot, gives you and idea of the scale of the thing.

Post title from this song by Deadmau5.

Les Feuilles Mortes

We had a terrible summer, weather wise, but autumn this year in Vancouver has been spectacular. Here's a sample of the fall colours taken from my apartment window looking over Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park in early morning light. Gorgeous.

Post title from this classic song.

Uncovering a Lie

Stumbled over what I thought was a manhole cover on Beatty Street near Robson Street, and then I noticed the words "Collected Memory Dispersed" in the glass centre. A bit of googling later, I discovered this is one of a four part public art project by Jill Anholt and Susan Ockwell called "Uncoverings" installed in 1998.

Post title from this song by Iris Aneas.

The Last Marathon of Terry Fox

 

A while back I wrote about activating my mental detonator every time I walked past the Terry Fox memorial adjacent to BC Place. I know I wasn't alone, because recently the eyesore that was there has been replaced, and I have to say I like the new one much better. It was designed by Douglas Coupland, and to me is much more representative of the man and what he stood for.

Post title from this song by Group of Seven.

Ozymandias

Another grey day out today, so I thought this broody bit of black and white would be appropriate. Another Biennale piece, this one's called Eros Bendato Scrippolato by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. It's located in a cobblestone square in Yaletown. There's something Ozymandian about it, which appeals to my science-fiction post-apocalyptic sensibilities.

Post title from the poem (here recited by Ben Kingsley) by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

For the 'Nucks

Vancouver is a hockey-mad town. When Canada won the Olympic gold medal in men's hockey in this city last year, the streets immediately filled with jubilant people. Yesterday, our team, the Vancouver Canucks, won a hockey game against the San Jose Sharks, securing themselves a spot in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. If you're not Canadian, this likely means not much to you, but if you were in Vancouver last night when Kevin Bieksa scored the game winning goal in double overtime, you would have heard the screams of celebration all over the city. It went on for hours!

I can only imagine the joy this vehicle owner must have felt - snapped this quick picture last Wednesday with my iphone as I was walking past this car parked near Rogers Arena, the Canucks' home ice.

Post title from this song by Chris Penton and the Superfans.

Hammock

We've had a grim spring so far. Endless rain. Cool drizzly days. It's depressing. I even posted on flickr a shot taken from my apartment window of the murk and cloud, titled: This is what despair looks like.

However, on a rare sunny day last week, the first day I actually got out on my bicycle this year, I happened upon a couple of enterprising souls who had managed to string up a pair of hammocks on this piece of public art. I'd been meaning to get a photo of this sculpture for months, as it's near my neighbourhood, and very close to this and this. Glad I had my camera with me!

Post title from this song by Elevator Suite.

Anyone for Tennis?

We had an unusual snowfall - unusual for this late in February - a couple of days ago. Yesterday morning I looked out my living room window to this accidental (or maybe not?) giant game of tic tac toe on the tennis courts in Stanley Park.

Post title from this song by Cream.

Horse and Rider

This sculpture, called, simply enough, "Equestrian Monument" by David Robinson, is part of the Canada Line Public Art Program. It's located outside the Yaletown-Roundhouse station. Rather than try and get a shot of the entire horse and rider, I was taken by the way the light was hitting only the rider's face, so I pointed my iPhone lens in that direction as I walked by.

Post title from this song by Share.

Conspiracy Theory

While waiting for a friend on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery the other day, I grabbed this quick shot of what seems to be a permanent fixture (don't let the temporary set up fool you) on the plaza on the Robson Street side of the gallery. These guys are always there trying to convince passersby that 9/11 was an inside job. Although I will admit I haven't looked very closely at their literature and I've never visited their website, I'm not one for conspiracy theories. On my personal baloney meter, this group sits right about the same place as these guys.

Post title from this song by Steve Earle.

Black Mark

On the 27th of December, there was an apartment fire in my part of town. Fortunately no one was hurt, and most of the damage was contained to one suite due to the building's concrete construction. It was an exciting evening in the neighbourhood! As I was out for a walk the next day, I grabbed this quick shot with my phone. Two weeks later, despite several restoration company vehicles parked in front every day, it looks almost exactly the same - there's now plywood in the window. I can't imagine what the inside must look like, and how hard it must be for the folks who live there to be suddenly homeless for a while.

Post title from this song by Samuel F. Scott & the B.O.P.

Meat

About two blocks away from where I grabbed this photo, there was more graffiti on the same bike route. This one slightly more sinister in nature than the whimsical tone of the first one. Here the bicycle rider has a chicken on a leash, and the words "Slave Meat".

I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.

Post title from this song by Robyn Hitchcock.

Time Travel

Walking along the seawall near the Cambie Bridge recently, I stumbled across this bit of public art I'd never taken notice of before, despite the fact that it's been there for four years. It's called "Time Top" by Jerry Pethick. It's comprised of this vaguely spaceship-looking piece, combined with a 1930s comic-book strip by William Ritt (who at this time has no wikipedia page in English, but oddly, does in French) and Clarence Gray, carved right into the granite stone of the seawall's edge. A mad scientist type has invented a machine, the Time Top, designed to travel through time and space. Apparently, it's washed up here on the bank of False Creek.

Post title from this song by Behrouz.

For Making Art

Been a while since I posted a Biennale piece, called "Joe Sola Is Making Art". This one's suspended near the escalators at the Yaletown-Roundhouse Canada Line station at the corner of Davie St and Mainland St. The piece is by, obviously enough, American artist Joe Sola.


Post title from this song by Mal Blum.

Roaming Dragons

Beginning in the fall of last year, the City of Vancouver has allowed street food vendors to proliferate. We always had hot dog carts, but following the lead of other west coast cities like Los Angeles and Portland, Vancouver's street food scene is expanding. One of the leaders of the pack, and a personal favourite of mine is the Roaming Dragon. The guys at the truck, often found at farmers markets on the weekend and usually parked curbside on W. Georgia near Thurlow weekdays, have an infectious enthusiasm for food. Their menu is limited, but everything on it is delicious. Snapped this quick picture of the corner of their truck's awning as I waited for my order (Korean short rib tacos & lychee basil lemonade) one clear day back in October.

Even if I wasn't posting here regularly, I was still taking photos with the intention of using them for this blog. I'm so happy to be back at it - didn't realize how much I missed it!

Post title from this song by Full Service.

Sign O' the Times

 

I've posted about the Woodward's building before, and its iconic W sign. The old sign that sat atop the Woodward's store for decades was removed before the original building was demolished, but it was too decrepit to return to service atop the new construction. A new sign, a replica of the old, was put there instead. I didn't realize until recently that the old sign has been installed as a public art piece on the ground adjacent to the new building. It's a relic, pockmarked with rust, red paint flaking, but I'm glad in a self-servingly nostalgic way that they kept it and have put it on display. I managed to find an angle, while walking through that area one day, that included both signs, the old one at ground level, and the new shiny one perched atop its tower. On the left is the new residential Woodwards development.

Post title from this song by Prince.

Shadow on the Fog

Woke up to a foggy morning out my windows today. For a moment the fog was so substantial in one spot that my apartment building. lit from the rising sun on the other side, cast a shadow on it. I'd planned to go to the top of Grouse Mountain today. Hope the fog clears or there will be nothing to look at - and nowhere to point my lens!

Post title from this song by Saxmourtzoukos.

Market Fresh

In the past I've posted here a couple of shots from land-based vantage points that included the small ferry boats run by False Creek Ferries and Aquabus that transport people to and from Granville Island and other points around False Creek. Today, on a stellar sunny winter day, as I was touring around with some friends from out of town, I finally got a chance to take a picture from one of them. From the water, then, a shot of the Granville Island Public Market as we approached by boat.

Post title from this song by Broken Social Scene.