Disposable cameras are randomly placed all over the world. Participants take photos and return the cameras to Anonymous Photo Project.

We have to remember that although hateful and anachronistic, The Westboro Baptists must be allowed to protest. The most powerful documentaries aren't Michael Moore exposes, but the ones that let the subjects speak. Jesus Camp for example, or more topically, Fall From Grace about Fred Phelps, leader of the group that will be here next week. Then there's Citizen Sam and the now infamous "I will tear out his throat" line. That is why I link to The Province, Covenant Zone, Get Moving, and Vancity Buzz. Let them, like JZ in quoting The National Post, hang themselves with their own rope.

Firstly, I applaud the new mayor-elect for striking directly at a problem that has plagued Vancouver for years.

But my suggestion? Don't make pledges.

Frankly, most people I know aren't too concerned about the election. While I'd like to blame society for the lack of voter mobility among my Gen X/Y counterparts, I know it's really just because they're lazy. And high.

Essentially according to the blurb we received, "each weekend leading up to Christmas, beginning November 28th, the Canada Line Holiday Shopping Trolley will pick up and drop off at convenient locations along the future Canada Line route, helping you to Shop the Line and find those unique gifts while supporting your favourite local businesses"

Observed:
Columbia/Hastings
Gang of cops hiding behind corner in fluorescent vests waiting to pounce
Crazy loads of fabric toted by bedraggled women
hundreds of news cameras
Traffic backed up forever
woman in crowd yelling into megaphone yelling "we're not going
anywhere" or something of the like for the duration of the protest
"Sports" walkmen and discmen feature prominently
hundreds in alleyway behind hastings oblivious to everything
a "White Fang 2" denim jacket sported proudly by a grizzled native
a hulking, disheveled tranny swaying beside me grinning ear to ear and
holding a 4-liter bottle of industrial cleaner?!?

Canadians Demand Democratic Media

In both Toronto and Vancouver people have taken to the streets to engage fellow residents in the media and communication issues dealt with at Media Democracy Day. In Toronto citizens put together a cardboard TV prop and asked Toronto residents to tell people on camera what they think is missing in media. Those grassroots media anti-moguls will be back out on the corner of College and University at 5:30PM on October 23rd.

In Vancouver, citizens disgruntled by the fact that they live in one of the most concentrated media markets in North America blanketed streets and public spaces with posters bearing bold simple statements: "Whose view"? and "Whose Voice"?

Kim Elliott, one of the organizers of Media Democracy Day Toronto and publisher of rabble.ca, recently noted, "truly, if there is one thing missing from the big media it is the diversity of voices and perspectives so crucial to ensuring that no one set of interests - largely the corporate interests of the highly concentrated media giants - can drown out all others."

Late October marks the 8th consecutive year of Media Democracy Day activities in Canada. Media Democracy Day (MDD) is a multi-city forum including panels, workshops, training sessions and speakers addressing media and communications issues. The street actions of citizens in Toronto and Vancouver are part of the buildup to upcoming MDD events in each city.

What the hell is going on?

Well, now there's a website. And while your logic is completely faulty (What's so different about a website and a facebook group?), at least now - for whatever reason - you can get off your ass and check out this website which seeks to end Vancouver's historical problem of early closing times.

Down the hill is a tiny restaurant called The Narrow. Interestingly, this is on the route of Walk Number Two, but if you're not paying attention you'd walk right past it. Indeed, perhaps the only clue is a subtle black logo on a piece of rusted sheet metal next to a dorr where you sometimes see smokers gathered. The moody, windowless room is a true speak easy, hidden behind an art gallery next to a busy intersection in a post-industrial landscape. Also on the aforementioned walking route at Fraser and Kingsway you'll find Les Faux Bourgeois tucked away on a side street next to an odd triangle of grass created as Kingsway slices diagonally. I haven't been as it just opened, but it looks cute.

So what does this mean for Canada? For B.C.? Surely the late, great, Vancouver Housing Blog had it right- this is the bursting of the housing bubble. But is this The Crash? Are we going to see the effects immediately? Am I just some misanthrope who envisions crumbling streets, flooding, and gangs of wild children on bikes stealing gas to trade for candy?

The deja vu is getting closer too.
The loop is closing.

Everywhere is a feeling I've been here before.
Alas its the orb's tilted axis

30 falls and counting.
This is the future we were waiting for...

All black-rubber-boots bruising yellow maple into the cobblestones;
A pang of dusky autumn light, long shadows
Weighty tomes and dreams of new denim jeans
Soaked whiskey business-grey skies
Glow tired in Summer's drawn out battle
Tail lights streak the oil slick asphalt;
A heavy scent of leather attache and London Fog

Anything. Even loose-leaf paper and pink rubber erasers.

These bloody days I'll remember forever: Blood red skies, burnt bridges, and embers.
I remember, I was looking out into a brick alley, this one, and staring at the insects as they swam in and out of the dirty ochre dusk like fireflies along a solitary Cuban road . That's important somehow. I don't know why. My hard drive's been erased. My memory card is full.

These bloody days I'll remember forever: forever they seemed to drag like honey in the cloro-floro-carbons. They've stained the sunset and they've stained my windows.