Archive for August, 2008

Ah the convenience of convenience stores…. If you live in downtown Vancouver they are everywhere…. sometimes…. in the case of Granville street you get two or three to a block. They all offer a variety of services, ranging from fairly normal to strangely obscure. The ones that have illegal beer off sales are my favorite and I don’t even drink beer. Some of these stores will sell you an amazing mix matched six pack (1 molson, 2 coors, 2 wildcats, 1 kokanee) if you ask… it’s like a beer version of those mini single serving cereal combo packs you take camping.

My all time favorite store is the one with the crazy organized shelves. I never actually go inside but I always admire the organizational masters work from the street. It must be hard to keep the shelves this neat with a steady flow of crack head customers but that’s what makes it so special.

Max’s Deli

I think this place is heaven sent for bachelors and those that like to eat like one.

While it is up on the price scale, the sandwiches (which I didn’t eat today, therefor don’t have a photo of) are about the size of your head. They’re massive. If you’re not a sandwich person there are so many ready to go meals at this place it’s almost absurd. Also, the desert cabinet is something out of the Willy Wonka factory and will give you a cavity just looking at it so beware.

There are a couple of these bad boys around the city: 8th/Cambie & Oak/16th

Every time I go to a show at the Orpheum (most recently to see Beck and Band of Horses) I can’t help but spend at least a portion of my night simply staring up in wonder at that massive, fancy chandelier that’s hanging smack dab in the middle of the place. Originally a vaudeville theatre that opened up in 1927, the entire building stands as a testament to old-world quality design, construction and attention to detail, as the chandelier is just the tip of the iceberg of pure fanciness contained within it’s walls.

One of my teachers asked me if i wanted to join the trivia team because she saw i had a mind for completely useless and random facts. i jumped right in with it and soon found my niche, and with the mathematicians and the physicists, our ‘Reach for the Top’ team ended up tying for 3rd in the province…not bad if i say so for myself.

So everybody, check out vancouvers trivia scene!

http://www.knowledgenetwork.ca/reachforthetop/index.html

New Hip Hop doesn’t do a lot for me these days. But early to mid 90’s Rap does.

Well some new stuff does, but you know..

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time where I was subjected to 2 overlapping era’s of incredible music. As one was ending, and another beginning, Liquid Swords was released amongst a slue of groundbreaking Rap albums. It was still all so new, and being a kid in that time meant there was endless possibilities to being the person you were going to become. For me it created well-roundedness, open-mindedness, and a tie to 2 different lifestyles that had otherwise been segregated in years prior. Besides the few genre defining albums that are so apparent they’re not even worth mentioning, Liquid Swords was part of the birth in stand alone culture for our generation. Skateboarding, art, life in general i guess.. none of it would be the same without albums like this one. It was really something to have lived it, and to have re-lived it Wednesday night. I’m still glowing from this.

GZA did the album front to back, just like you remember it. Here’s a little taste. I apologize for any motion sickness, but when the beat dropped shit went crazy.

There may be another video floating around on YOUTUBE if you’re interested. Better quality and not to mention it’s a ODB/WuTang throwback! I planned on doing this Thursday, but time has been pressed while getting ready for THESE.

Happy Birthday Bob!

When I moved into Mt. Pleasant, it was pretty gnarly, like looking over my fence and seeing BJ’s go down kinda gnarly. It sometimes was gruesome!
Kingsgate Mall was like ground zero. To this day, I still call it Hell’s Gate, but that’s another topic altogether…

Right across from Kingsgate was this harsh crack house/low rise, that was super scary… I didn’t even want to drive by. But then it got torn down, and I wondered what would happen next? Stucco condo, blue windowed high rise, half way house?

Not at all! Wood and metal styling house. It changed the neighborhood overnight.
Way to drastically improve the neighborhood with one building!

COLOR MAGAZINE, LIVESTOCK, eS FOOTWEAR PRESENT
‘MINI RAMP JAM & COMPETITION
Sunday, Sept.14 outside of Livestock (239 Abbott St in Gastown) 1pm-7pm (contest starts at 3pm)

Don’t be confused, it’s an event within an event at the 3rd annual LIVE BLOCK party & BBQ. Enjoy DJ’s, complimentary drinks, Japanese tapas by Guu and skate the 4 ft eS mini ramp for your chance to win cash. Starts at 3pm! Presented by Color Maqazine, Livestock, and eS Footwear.
no charge, all ages

First off let me state that I ain’t no sexist. So if you’re a broad you might wanna click HERE before continuing through this post. So like have you ever gone to the Morrissey and been totally blown away by the hand dryer in the mens room? literally!? You could sail a schooner with the gusts that thing kicks out! It’s like Dizzy, Miles and Sweets are behind the wall runnin things!

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Only a couple blocks away from my house is the row of shops called Dundarave. Its the oldest area of West Van back when it used to be just summer cottages for wealthy vancouverites. home to 4 coffee shops, 3 art galleries, a farmers market and a mellow attitude, exept for the angry chinese guy who runs the local market (been rippin me of for a decade). The outside tables at the restaurants are a great place to hang and takin all the characters that roam the streets. A couple of my friends work at the IGA on the corner, so its real good fun to go and mess up the produce displays. So, as a 4th generation west vaner i gotta make sure my hood is repped right.

i mean, how many other hoods have an equerry?

awesome

Yeah…that’s right….you guys are sleepin’ on your own hoods….maybe this will get you started…

I’m not singling anyone out…I just found I had photos of this place….

Sunrise is probably my favourite produce place in the city….When I first moved out, I’d go to this place weekly. It’s the cheapest produce I know of and it’s pretty quality stuff. I often see restaurant owners buying their shit there. They also got a stacks of grey market borderline stuff like boxes of cliff bars and yves products that are just about to expire….all for….you guessed it…cheap cheap…

What I enjoy even more so is the clientel. There’s a ton of old ladies that remind me of my grandmother and great grandmother, but they are ruthless. They cut in line, elbow you, and when you’re standing there wondering what the hell just happened….they’ll fart. I don’t know if there’s anything more adorable than that. Sometimes too you’ll see some kid working there for the summer battle a junkie over a banana, sometimes the kids win…sometimes they aren’t so lucky…..

I’m not even going to mention Riceworld across the street…that’s a post all to itself….

Over to you Craig….

This Saturday Livestock will be releasing their double label shoe with DVS at all of their locations. The model is called the Rico and it comes in waxed black canvas…

And semi-patent leather…

For $65.00 you can’t really go wrong with these.