Let's hear it for the other candidates!

With a municipal election pending in Vancouver, there has been much talk of increased homelessness on the Down Town East Side, the lack of social housing in the city and cost overruns on Olympic venues. Media coverage and the rabble at street level have focused on the proposed strategies of NPA candidate Peter Ladner and Vision candidate Gregor Robertson. Who we haven't heard a lot about, are the thirteen other candidates running for Vancouver's top job. And my friends, there are some real gems among them.





















Take Patrick Britten (top Left) from the Nude Garden Party, a self described healthy recycler, businessman, janitor, ratepayer, green thumb, and ecumenical ecdysiast (look those two words up if you don't know them- you will not be disappointed.) The rest of his profile, as you might imagine, is totally unintelligible aside from the bit about an aerobic civilization optimizing in biomass; that part was totally clear.

R.H. Maxwell N. Bur (top middle) is running on a campaign of no "gay parade" and no illegal drugs in Vancouver. This guy is clearly off his rocker. What would Vancouver be without illegal drugs and gays?

Then you have Betty Krawcyzk (top right) from The Work Less Party, who may or may not show up to work if we elect her.

Golok Buday (bottom left) would bring to the mayoral position a wealth of experience in 'joking, philosophizing, auditioning as a child actor and online pamphlateering.' I am not sure what online pamphlateering is, but it sounds annoying and I would like him to stop. His profile goes on to say that he comes from a long line of "active artists, humanists, and entertainers; also scientists and possible athletes." Possible athletes?

All I can say about Mike Hansen is nice hair dude. Fuckin' right on!

And then there is Joe Hatoum (bottom right) who received permission from his mum to stay up late on election night.

Surprisingly, if photos are anything to judge a mayoral candidate by (as clearly they are,) the only marginal candidate that doesn't come across as a total wack-job is the guru of ganja, the principal proponent of pot, Marc Emery. He photographs well for someone recently released from a US penitentiary.

Shout out to my home boy: You remember when we partied on Parliament Hill?!? Word!

Hipster Olympics

This video should explain a lot for those of you living in rural Canada and other areas spared from the hipster movement.

Suspicious Cyclist in the Nexus of Irony?

Originally I sat down to write about being refused entry to a bank because I was wearing a suspicious bicycle helmet (I kid you not, I was told my bicycle helmet was suspicious and that I couldn't enter until I removed it) but I have been distracted by my current location in what I believe to be the nexus of irony, the focal point of hip in Vancouver.

I am in a coffee shop in the triangular block north of Broadway, between Kingsway and Main. To my right is a young woman knitting, of all things, a brown doily. She is wearing a blue sweater with silver pearls spaced evenly apart in a grid pattern across her chest. She is in her mid 20's. To my left is a guy wearing another sweater (hipsters love ironic sweaters.) His is bunchy and brown with a crocheted horse on the back. He is wearing skinny jeans, tired baby blue converse sneakers and his ironic facial hair just made me throw up in my mouth a little.

Yeah, I am being a total snob. But you know they are judging me for typing on a PC. I counted five Macs in here at one point and only one PC, my own. This is most definitely the nexus of irony and all things hip.

For more analysis of hipsters and their ironic movement, see Enid's post on March 1st 2008.

Moments of Zen: If Jon Stewart has them, why can't I?

I recently dropped out of Facebook (again) and Plenty of Fish (for the first time, but I will probably rejoin and then drop out again, in a process of realization that there are no decent men to be had in real life or on the internet - more on my enviable love life later, much later and defitely outside of this parenthesis) in an effort to create more free time. Got that? I've got lots of time because I am no longer oogling other people's photos. Hence my recent blogyness.

But about moments of zen, I'd like to think that they could become a ongoing feature of this blog, much like uglyness is an ongoing feature of J's face. But we'll see; J's face is a consistent act to follow. Moments of zen are documentations of the things that make me stop and take notice.

I had a moment of zen the first time I noticed the quadrilingual election placards of the NDP in my riding. I know I am not supposed to be impressed by this kind of thing, I live in Canada and I have all my life, but I still think things like this are cool.