When I Wasn't at the Rock Show
I'd hate to give the impression that all I've done since I got here is go to rock shows and soak my right foot with pale ale.
On one of my first days in Vancouver I went for a walk along the seawall and sat for a while to watch the seaplanes float into, and labour to get out of, the harbour. It kind of reminded me of a cigarette ad from the '80s where a light plane floats into the alps to the sounds of the Blue Danube. It was a B&H ad I think. Looking across at the huge urban reserve, Stanley Park, with the snow capped mountains in the background, I find it hard to fathom why I didn't know just how beautiful this place is. Sure, everyone says Vancouver is really nice but I guess it doesn't really sink in till you sit by the seawall with the Blue Danube on repeat in your head. I walked past the little mariner near the park and saw a couple of small house boats that looked like cottages plucked from the country side and floated on the water. I also saw a guy lying back on his yacht enjoying his retirement.
This is the Vancouver I'd like to remember, not the one full of bums begging for change. They can be quite aggressive. Often, when you give one some change they'll say "do you have any more?" Apparently they've just brought in a law to curb aggressive panhandling but I'm not sure of the details.
I've tried to figure out the best way to deal with the situation. I don't want to be entirely uncharitable but I pretty much ignore all of them now (making eye contact or talking to them can be a bad mistake). I give a little change once every couple of days but I think if I was here long term I'd either pick one local bum to "sponsor" or just hand out a couple of quarters to one random bum a day.
I read in one of the many free newspapers here (there must be a dozen) that the number of homeless have doubled in the past three years. There are now about 2100, of which half are on the streets at any one time. The largest group are found in the area around the Firetrap (230 were counted there). A third of the homeless are native.
The other annoying thing about Vancouver is that they don't fill your pints to the top. I don't know why but they just don't. Where's the law against that? So I've taken to calling them "almost-pints" but I'm yet to work up the gall to order an "almost-pint". The cheapest beer I've had so far was at the punk club where I found the $20. That money would buy you 8 almost-pints of the house beer, which is roughly equivalent to Geelong Bitter (for those of you familiar with dodgy Melbourne bars).
Other things I've noted about this place (looking in the notebook given to me by Southo's mum) are:
Canadian cigarettes smell like pot (that's when they aren't actually pot)
Polygamy is apparently legal (the paper had a thing about rejigging taxes for polygamists)
They have yellow school buses just like on tv (well I thought that was cool)
There are bloody limos around (I'd hoped the place would have too much class for that)
The standard of background music in pubs and shops is generally better than anywhere else - of the modern rock variety. (I've heard Interpol, Radiohead and the like a lot. I also heard a Metallica cover of Black Sabbath's Paranoid which was interesting)
I get offered "buds and 'shrooms" all the time. One guy asked if I needed " 'shrooms for the U2 concert". I felt like saying, "if I had to go - yes!"
On one of my first days in Vancouver I went for a walk along the seawall and sat for a while to watch the seaplanes float into, and labour to get out of, the harbour. It kind of reminded me of a cigarette ad from the '80s where a light plane floats into the alps to the sounds of the Blue Danube. It was a B&H ad I think. Looking across at the huge urban reserve, Stanley Park, with the snow capped mountains in the background, I find it hard to fathom why I didn't know just how beautiful this place is. Sure, everyone says Vancouver is really nice but I guess it doesn't really sink in till you sit by the seawall with the Blue Danube on repeat in your head. I walked past the little mariner near the park and saw a couple of small house boats that looked like cottages plucked from the country side and floated on the water. I also saw a guy lying back on his yacht enjoying his retirement.
This is the Vancouver I'd like to remember, not the one full of bums begging for change. They can be quite aggressive. Often, when you give one some change they'll say "do you have any more?" Apparently they've just brought in a law to curb aggressive panhandling but I'm not sure of the details.
I've tried to figure out the best way to deal with the situation. I don't want to be entirely uncharitable but I pretty much ignore all of them now (making eye contact or talking to them can be a bad mistake). I give a little change once every couple of days but I think if I was here long term I'd either pick one local bum to "sponsor" or just hand out a couple of quarters to one random bum a day.
I read in one of the many free newspapers here (there must be a dozen) that the number of homeless have doubled in the past three years. There are now about 2100, of which half are on the streets at any one time. The largest group are found in the area around the Firetrap (230 were counted there). A third of the homeless are native.
The other annoying thing about Vancouver is that they don't fill your pints to the top. I don't know why but they just don't. Where's the law against that? So I've taken to calling them "almost-pints" but I'm yet to work up the gall to order an "almost-pint". The cheapest beer I've had so far was at the punk club where I found the $20. That money would buy you 8 almost-pints of the house beer, which is roughly equivalent to Geelong Bitter (for those of you familiar with dodgy Melbourne bars).
Other things I've noted about this place (looking in the notebook given to me by Southo's mum) are:
Canadian cigarettes smell like pot (that's when they aren't actually pot)
Polygamy is apparently legal (the paper had a thing about rejigging taxes for polygamists)
They have yellow school buses just like on tv (well I thought that was cool)
There are bloody limos around (I'd hoped the place would have too much class for that)
The standard of background music in pubs and shops is generally better than anywhere else - of the modern rock variety. (I've heard Interpol, Radiohead and the like a lot. I also heard a Metallica cover of Black Sabbath's Paranoid which was interesting)
I get offered "buds and 'shrooms" all the time. One guy asked if I needed " 'shrooms for the U2 concert". I felt like saying, "if I had to go - yes!"
posted by woden pete @ 1:11 AM
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