No. 0623 - 23 Oct 2011 - 17:21:40The gradual disappearance of the Public Telephone from the landscape suggests a shift in the value of privacy now that the personal mobile phone digitally documents our every movement and location.
Showing posts with label human being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human being. Show all posts
07 June 2012
R.I.P. Public Privacy
No. 0623 - 23 Oct 2011 - 17:21:40The gradual disappearance of the Public Telephone from the landscape suggests a shift in the value of privacy now that the personal mobile phone digitally documents our every movement and location.
03 December 2011
11 January 2011
04 January 2011
27 December 2010
16 November 2010
Homeless
No. 0248 - 08 Jul 2010 - 20:41:04When homeless people are put into single-occupancy hotel rooms or social-morass housing, they are being warehoused. Those folks (the silent majority that actually populates the DTES) who are merely old, poor, and crippled and who choose to live downtown, close to necessary services and facilities, are also vulnerable to the invalidating properties of the hotel and social housing industry. The lack of home causes alienation and unhappiness in human beings; the willingness of a society to profit from it provides more of the same.
14 November 2010
Tsunami
No. 3962 - 30 Apr 2008 - 10:15:31From within an overwhelming wave of change; Aung San Suu Kyi has been released, in Burma (Myanmar), after many years of house arrest.
11 November 2010
Sacred Ground
No 8249/1 - 25 Dec 2009 - 07:36:06Angel and unknown soldier ascend into collective memory on Remembrance Day.
06 November 2010
Community Action
No. 4379 - 17 Mar 2010 - 15:18:29Gastown, Vancouver
Where I am situated offers a birds-eye view of the surrounding area and the sky above. Having become sensitive to the cries of gulls when an eagle is spotted overhead, I assumed this to be the case during a noisy altercation one afternoon as I grabbed my camera. However I failed to spot one of the large high-flyers who make their home in a Strathcona church steeple or in the tall trees of a nearby park. Upon re-examining this picture, and struck again by the number of crows involved in a fracas they generally avoid, I spotted a lone character, different from the rest, in the bottom left-hand corner. As a new and untried birdwatcher I can only ascertain that this bird has the size, colour, and tail feathers of a smallish raptor; a hawk or harrier perhaps.
The sudden and brief appearance of wild creatures in the urban core is always a surprise and delight especially given the context of downtown habitation which is as far from natural on so many human levels.
Where I am situated offers a birds-eye view of the surrounding area and the sky above. Having become sensitive to the cries of gulls when an eagle is spotted overhead, I assumed this to be the case during a noisy altercation one afternoon as I grabbed my camera. However I failed to spot one of the large high-flyers who make their home in a Strathcona church steeple or in the tall trees of a nearby park. Upon re-examining this picture, and struck again by the number of crows involved in a fracas they generally avoid, I spotted a lone character, different from the rest, in the bottom left-hand corner. As a new and untried birdwatcher I can only ascertain that this bird has the size, colour, and tail feathers of a smallish raptor; a hawk or harrier perhaps.
The sudden and brief appearance of wild creatures in the urban core is always a surprise and delight especially given the context of downtown habitation which is as far from natural on so many human levels.
29 October 2010
18 October 2010
26 August 2010
19 August 2010
18 August 2010
02 August 2010
Local Hero
No. 3210 - 31 Jul 2010 - 10:16:30Gastown, Vancouver
Here is a man with a mission; a downtown character who is recognized for the ball he has tucked under his arm at all times (except when he has a clear shot at a kick down an empty stretch and somewhere in my files is a picture of him doing such a thing at 05:00 on a snow-covered Hastings Street). He practices pride of place on his daily tours of the neighbourhood; picking up every bit of trash he sees in his path and stopping only for a cigarette or to do a spot of calisthenics with the aid of his football. He is a fine example of a person making the best of a tricky situation while maintaining his humanity. Somebody should validate him for his effort but this is 2010 and the system has been thoroughly campbellized.
Here is a man with a mission; a downtown character who is recognized for the ball he has tucked under his arm at all times (except when he has a clear shot at a kick down an empty stretch and somewhere in my files is a picture of him doing such a thing at 05:00 on a snow-covered Hastings Street). He practices pride of place on his daily tours of the neighbourhood; picking up every bit of trash he sees in his path and stopping only for a cigarette or to do a spot of calisthenics with the aid of his football. He is a fine example of a person making the best of a tricky situation while maintaining his humanity. Somebody should validate him for his effort but this is 2010 and the system has been thoroughly campbellized.
25 April 2010
12 April 2010
01 April 2010
Poisson d'Avril
No. 6532 - 01 Apr 2010 - 08:34:12Gastown, Vancouver
An April Fool or poisson d'avril (April Fish) is an annual stand-in for hoaxes and practical jokes. Sources point to the change in calendars and the confusion over when to celebrate New Year's Day, in 15th-16th century Europe, as the cause of this mostly harmless condescension. Earlier historical references to the day suggest the reason is part of a human propensity to play jokes and pranks and embarrass the gullible.
Beware a slap on the back that results in wearing a paper fish for other's amusement and remember that the game is over by 12:00 PM. The paper salmon in the photo above is courtesy of the former Salmonopolis.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
