Drink Water Week Advertised on a Toilet?

I posted this on Twitter a week ago but decided not to post on my blog, but now I change my mind! Bike to Work Week, yes. Butt Out Week, yes. Mental Health Awareness Week, yes. But Drinking Water Week? Isn't this just common sense? And how about not just a week, but for the rest of our lives!!  Drink water people!! I also thought it ironic that the advertising for Drinking Water Week was on the side of a public toilet.... leaves a bad taste in your mouth, no?

Evil Genius Sideshow Bob Makes an Alley Appearance!

I like how the rust on the dumpster matches the red brick of the building. I've been noticing more and more dumpster art recently as I walk the alleys.....it makes sense to find Sideshow Bob in a dark alley planning his next evil yet elaborate revenge plan against Bart.  Look at that evil-scheme smile!!

Old Beetle, New Beetle, Blue Beetles

I happened to notice two blue VW Beetles parked across the street from each other, 30-40 years apart in age. Even the blue is pretty close in tone isn't it? The major difference? The yellow stained mags of the old Beetle.... reminds me of old tea stained teeth!!

Crow Highway Mural in Strathcona

Another spectacular mural in the Strathcona areas of Vancouver.  This one stood out because of the black-and-white with  blue sky colour scheme, as well as the fact that the woman in the mural is Asian.  After doing some research, I found out that Mrs.Lowe is the name of the woman, and her daughter Vanessa, an artist, still lives in the building and contributed to the mural.  Click here to find out more information about the mural, the artists, the original picture that the mural is based on, and an unobstructed view of the entire image.

As for my pictures, it was hard to get a straight on shot because the side of the building itself is fenced in, and all along in front of the mural is parked cars.  So I took some shots along the outside of the fence, as well as from within the parking lot, trying to find unique angles. 

The top image I decided to monochrome the entire mural so as to simplify the busy fence and parked cars. Notice how it looks like she's looking over the fence? The second image, I cropped out the vehicles along the bottom and changed the angle of the image to line up to the building across the street. 

Thanks to Vincent Dumoulin, Vanessa Lowe & RestART for the Crow Highway Mural!!

Motorcycle vs Bicycle: Off the Line!!

Off the line, I was sure the motorcycle would be faster than the cyclist, but as you can see, human power is still faster than machine power. Perhaps the motorcyclist was more concerned about the straightness of his back than beating the cyclist!!

Cool Bike in Gastown

I'll be starting a new blog with a good buddy of mine soon.  Unlike my random pictures of random things, this blog will be more focused.  I'll let you know once we get it up and running...... thanks for viewing and thanks for your support thus far.

Incidental Double Backwards Portrait

The beauty of photography is that it captures reality and illusion.  We don't see life as a still, but a constantly moving and shifting scene.  If I took a video of this very same scene, this split second frame would have come and gone without it being odd or amusing. But you freeze the moment, we capture an illusion.  This is why viewing a picture of a bullet shooting through an apple, frozen wings of a hovering hummingbird, or an athlete crossing the finish line is always captivating. It's reality, but still looks surreal.

In this picture, I really hope he's just looking for change for the meter......if only I had a video of this scene, we could find out for sure!  But the moment has come and gone, never to be repeated, and all we have is this frozen scene to keep us guessing......

Backwards Portrait of 1959 Impala

Look at the back of this thing!!  the 1959 Chevrolet Impala 2 door coupe was an amazing car, but it only lasted 2 years.  The next generation wasn't as cool, as upper management wanted a more conservative look.  One thing they changed was the rear lights, thinking the '59 was too bold and futuristic! 

This was truly the golden age of the American auto industry.  Think of the '59 Corvette, '59 Bel Air, '56 Thunderbird, all beautiful pieces of art.  Even the Europeans were coming out with amazing cars: 1958 Lotus Elite, MB 300SL, Porsche 550 RS Spyder.  I wish car manufacturers had the same sense of aesthetics and inspiration and boldness that they expressed back in the 50's and 60's. More 2 doors, more curves, and more convertibles please!! Stop making SUV's and cross vehicles!!

Green Adidas Gorilla Billboard

Have you seen this billboard around town yet? The green gorilla behind the dude doesn't make a lot of sense, but the green really makes the image pop. I found the Adidas commercial on  Youtube, and I'm even more confused. He goes from a basketball court to a nightclub, and besides the gorilla, there's a blue eagle, a red dragon and a pink poodle? Anyway,  there really isn't a lot of green on the shoe to begin with......ok, I'll stop analyzing it. It is what it is, it's a shoe!! Obviously it worked. I took a picture of it, researched it, watched their commercial, went to their website, and now I'm posting it on my blog. Adolf Dassler (get it, Adi-Dass), you're a smart man!!

Open Kitchen Design is Open Business

I notice more and more restaurants have an open kitchen design, just as more and more homes and apartments connect an open kitchen that flows into the living and entertaining space. It's sort of like allowing us to look inside the workings of a machine, or allowing us to look back stage.  It's comforting to me, as if the restaurant is saying: We have nothing to hide, please watch us as we prepare your food!!  This was up in Whistler at Crepe Montagne, our favorite breakfast place while in town.  Check them out.  I think they do chocolate fondue in the evenings.......