Transportation

More mosaics - more things you don't notice when you're driving. When I was looking up information on the last mosaic I stumbled across, google told me about another mosaic project in downtown Vancouver, this one instigated by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association. There are 18 of these mosaics in total, each one approximately one square metre. They were created by mosaic artists Liz Calvin and Bruce Walther. This one's called Transported Through Time, and is situated near the corner of Burrard Street and Smithe Street.

Post title from this song by DJ Alexis Freites.

Vandal

When I took this photo this morning on Cordova Street near Abbott (across the street from this photo), I had no idea what Vandal Team Supreme was, I just thought the sticker looked odd and interesting next to the fire department connection on the side of a building. Google tells me it's a group of graffiti artists. There is a tag on one of the connections - maybe it has to do with that.

I just thought it looked kind of cool.

Post title from this song by YUNYU.

Lost in the Supermarket

The weather for the last several days here has been dismal. People have taken to calling it Junuary, what with all the rain and gloom. So I look for other ways to put a smile on my face, and one of the things I love most about Vancouver, especially living downtown, is being in the midst of such a multi-cultural environment. On any given day I hear about a dozen languages spoken around me in my neighbourhood, and today I passed by this sign on Seymour Street. I don't know what the Arabic says, but I love that it's paired with a shout-out for Mexican products in the same store. (Foodness Supermarket)

Post title from this song by The Clash.

On a Bicycle Built For Two

Was biking around the downtown business district today and came upon a happening at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This immense, solar powered tricycle, (called Daisy, apparently) a part of eatart.org, was giving people rides around the plaza on the Georgia Street side of the Gallery. Also there were the Gramorail and a DJ tent blasting fun dance tunes - powered by people pedaling stationary bicycles. It was delightfully unexpected - the carnival atmosphere put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

Post title from this song by Nat King Cole.

Also, this post was supposed to go up yesterday (Sunday) but I neglected to hit Publish. I've been a little busy with my new business venture, and things have slipped through the cracks here and there. My apologies. This week will be better!

Waffle House

This brutalist building, once the home of MacMillan Bloedel, at one time a powerhouse company in Vancouver's economy, is one of Arthur Erickson's early buildings at 1075 Georgia Street (at Thurlow Street). The concrete structure, opened in 1968, looks to me like the setting for a fascist overlord's empire in a futuristic movie. Stark, solid, and unapologetic - and starting to show a few cracks in the facade.

It's locally referred to as the concrete waffle or the waffle building.


Post title from this song by David Wilcox.

Tea Ceremony

Met a friend at her office near Granville Island yesterday, and we walked to a nearby Japanese spot, Sawa, for lunch. I'd never been there before. Sawa is located in a concrete building and looks like just another hole in the wall lunch counter sort of place, until you venture in past the menu board and down the stairs into a simply but beautifully decorated back room. Around the centrepiece here is a square seating area - a communal table for people who come in alone to sit together. Lovely.


Post title from this song by Shan Di Orchestra.

Note: this was supposed to be Friday's post. Clearly I'm not very good at typing in the date when I'm scheduling a post.

When I'm Cleaning Windows

Another photo from my wanderings around the Central Branch neighbourhood downtown, this one's the Westin Grand Hotel on Robson Street at Homer St. I liked the almost sinuous lines of the building's curves, with the tiny dangling window-washer to give it the human element.

Post title from this song by George Formby.