The Urban Condition with B-Town

Canada’s “New” New Government

2008-12-02T01:32:00.005-08:00

Goodbye Emperor Harper, hello Prime Minister Japhilles LaDieppe of the Bloc Canadien.
It looks as though the current Parliament will change… not through another grinding and expensive election, but through an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
The makeup of Canada’s Minority Parliament has meant that if the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois work together they effectively have more seats than the two-term minority ruling Conservatives. The NDP and Liberals under the negotiation of former 1980s NDP leader Ed Broadbent and 1990s Lib PM Jean Chretien have brokered a 30 month agreement to become a coalition party. Their combined 114 (77 Lib 37 NDP) votes would be held up by the Blocs 49 votes. This will give the coalition association 163 votes to 143 Conservative and 2 conservative leaning independents.

What does this mean… in the short term?

A Governor General that Earns her Money:
The Governor General, Michelle Jean, as the official head of the Canadian State has little to do but get free flights, dinners, galas and read a throne speech written by someone else. It is only in these minority parliament situations that a Governor General as representative of the Queen of Canada must make actual decisions even legal precedents about the dissolution of parliament into a new election, which grouping of MPs will make up the next government, or whether or not to force a government to stand after a non confidence vote. This situation is seen by some as a constitutional crisis, but it will likely come to her siding with the Government towards this coalition. Since voters in Canada do NOT vote for a 'government' or a Prime Minister but for an MP, there is no constitutional crisis. This shift will actually present a precedent of Canadian Parliamentary democracy at work.
Another Election:
If the Conservatives’ arguments that a) their party by having the largest share of MPs in parliament is the only rightful governing body, or b) the inclusion of a openly separatist party as the governing body is not in the best interest of confederation, are successful, the Governor General may choose to call a general election. An election in this situation would likely happen in January and be blamed on the opposition. They would pay dearly in the election that would send a majority of Conservative MPs to Ottawa.
A Prorogue of Parliament:
If Stephen Harper decides to prorogue parliament, essentially shutting it down to a later date likely in January, it would be damaging to all sides. It would be the public that would most likely be hurt. While many are upset that the opposition parties are distracting from the economic crisis at hand by threatening this constitutional crisis, if Harper suspends a democratically necessary parliament at that time of crisis it could be politically disasterous for him. On the other hand, the suspension could buy him enough time too seed a feeling that this coalition business is an attempted bloodless coup and a waste of valuable time for the Canadian public.
A Dissolution Reversal:
The place where this coalition could blow up is mainly with the Liberals. While under Stephane Dion Canada’s Liberal Party has made a shift to the left and it was generally those liberals that were elected, some are vehemently opposed to the socialist policy of the NDP and even more opposed to the Bloc’s nationalist core. These right wing or extremely federalist Liberal members may find themselves disillusioned by this coalition. They might in the coming days, weeks, or months be compelled to break away from the Liberals as independents or even cross the floor and join the Conservative caucus. It would only take 9 of these floor crossings to bring parliament to a tie. An action of this type could bring us right back to where we were at October 14th.
The first parliament in 25 years that represents the majority of voters:
The vote tallies for the Bloc, NDP, and Liberals combined is effectively 55% of all counted. The last time a government broke the 50% popular vote mark (not counting the NDP propping up Martin’s Libs here and there in 2004) was Brian Mulroney’s 1984 pounding. It usually takes only 40% of the vote to give a party a commanding majority.
Prime Minister Dion:
The 30 month agreement is currently under the direction of Dion, who has been given the lowest mandate to govern by a Liberal leader since John Turner in 1988. This should have spelled political death for the man, but he has a few maneuvers left in him. Stephan was undermined and billed as a weak leader firstly by his language barrier, but by secondly his insistence that there be consensus within his party and between other parties. It is this second weakness that may have initiated this coalition and may be what keeps it together. He has officially resigned and will leave after a scheduled leadership convention in May, so the future Liberal leader may not share his sense of cooperation, but for now all of the potential candidates are in on it.

What does this mean… in the longer term?
A New Conservative Leader:
If this coalition is successful for more than a month the knives will be out for Harper within the Conservative caucus. Calls for resignation would follow, as many of the fissures concerning the takeover of the Progressive Conservatives by the Reform Party can be traced to Harper. He will go or the conservative alliance may be broken.
Crisis for Confederation or Quebec Nationalism:
The Bloc Quebecois is threatening to go federalist or at least soft on sovereignty with their renewable agreement to hold up the Canadian Federal Parliament for at least 18 months. To some on either side of the sovereignty debate this will be seen as a betrayal. Their inclusion might either introduce legislation further legitimizing a Nationalist agenda or may induce a more cooperative nature of Quebec politics within Canada. It might even reduce the sovereigntist attiudes of Quebecers through such inclusion. It is a risk that Gilles Duceppe has seemingly taken on by signing the shared agreement. If he is incorrect support could quickly bleed to the NDP, Liberals, or a more adamantly Quebec nationalist party.
A United Left:
This coalition could represents a new era in Canadian Parliamentary democracy where cooperation leads to action for the common good. An alternate long shot is that the coalition could lead to a new party in Canada that represents social democratic and progressive ideals within a big tent. It may need a charismatic figure to raise up the hopes and cooperative nature of Canadians in the coming tough times. It may be an Obama figure that comes out of the Liberal leadership convention or farther down the road, but that leader could broker cooperation between these left of centre voices into a future election. I don’t see that person yet, but they could be on the horizon.

Coming Again Soon

2008-07-12T13:12:00.002-07:00

Soon I will be making posts again. Things have been brewing.

I have completed my Master's project.
I have graduated from SCARP.
Now with Master's and Cap in hand I am looking for work.
also... Loads of political crap has been happening on both sides of the border.
Locally politics and development has heated up.
... and I have moved, repeatedly.

I have and did have lots to talk about, and will be sending more out soon.

But, before that happens I need to get back to work finding, ... you know... work.

There Ain't no way I'm getting out of this one without smelling like theses

2007-05-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm in the begining throws of my final masters project work.
So again I'll hope you guys will understand why I'm not updating all that much lately.
But soon, I'll make some posts and a movie night or two.
Soon I'll post pieces of a paper on Noir and Urban Design, but not today. Today, I'm finishing my internship for the City.

Movie Night soon: Hanzo the Razor II: The Snare (1973) and Hanzo the Razor III: Who's Got the Gold (1974)
Both Samurai Dirty Harry sexploitation flicks with a Funk Soundtrack. Hanzo is crude, violent and loads of fun.
I'll keep you updated when I find a venue and a time.

BAD F*****' DUDES RIDING PUBLIC TRANSIT!!

2007-03-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

SUNDAY MAR. 11th

The following post I gratefully recieved from BJ. Oddly enough his movie choice closely matches my and other planning geeks love of subways in film. So this sunday the B&B Proudly Presents:

7pm

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3

A group of armed men take a subway train full of people hostage and declare that they'll kill a hostage a minute if their demands aren't met. The transit cop there to deal with the hostages and the beauratic red tape is Walter Mathau, who we love simply for being being Walter Mathau, and it's always grand to be loved for just simply who you are. Leading the hostage takers is Robert FUCKING Shaw. Now there are not many actors you can refer to and and honestly throw a 'fucking' in their name without cheapening it, the icon status has to be tough as nails. Even James Cagney, one of the toughest, meanest little bastard of the gangster golden age, made queer little movies like Yankee Doodle Dandy (writer's confession: have never seen Yanke Doodle Dandy, but it's a musical, musicals are for sissies, like Ewan McGregor, a sissy with a big schlong). John Wayne was too much of the protector. No it's rare actor that qualifies to have their name interrupted by a cuss (common though cussing is now, but hell it's been constant throughout my living history, so...), they have to be tough as nails and capable of doing anything. Any one of these actors could play a phenomenal Punisher, and I'll tell you it ain't Thomas Fuckin' Jane. To tell the truth I don't think there's a living working actor right now who'd deserve it. I got a short list of all time here:

LEE FUCKING MARVIN
CHARLES FUCKING BRONSON
HENRY FUCKING SILVA.

And Robert FUCKING Shaw. I haven't seen that many Shaw films, hell only two. He was the heavy/mark in The Sting and he was motherfucking QUINT in JAWS. If he only made one movie and it was Jaws, he'd still be Robert FUCKING Shaw, maybe with a purer 'fuck'. And Mathau, he doesn't need a cuss in his name, his very presence gives you, at least, the slight inclination to rent Hanging Up, even though you know you'll hate it.

9pm

Bullet Train

It's Speed, but on a subway! Some nefarious no-gooder has planted a bomb on a high-speed train which will explode if it goes below 80km/h. And SONNY FUCKING CHIBA is in it.

B&B Presents: Ecological Apocalypse II: Nature’s Revenge

2007-03-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun the last time around, I have decided to do a second round of Man Vs. Ecology Pictures.
Again, it is going to be a documentary saddled up next to a Cheesy B-movie.

7:00 pm

Manufactured Landscapes (2006) Canada

I usually do not do this, but I will use the text out of the studio’s promotion to give you an Idea. It is just that eloquent.
“Manufactured Landscapes is a feature length documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky makes large-scale photographs of ‘manufactured landscapes’ – quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams. He photographs civilization’s materials and debris, but in a way people describe as stunning or beautiful, and so raises all kinds of questions about ethics and aesthetics without trying to easily answer them.
The film follows Burtynsky to China as he travels the country photographing the evidence and effects of that country’s massive industrial revolution. Sites such as the Three Gorges Dam, which is bigger by 50% than any other dam in the world and displaced over a million people, factory floors over a kilometre long, and the breathtaking scale of Shanghai’s urban renewal are subjects for his lens and our motion picture camera.
Shot in Super-16mm film, Manufactured Landscapes extends the narrative streams of Burtynsky’s photographs, allowing us to meditate on our profound impact on the planet and witness both the epicentres of industrial endeavour and the dumping grounds of its waste. What makes the photographs so powerful is his refusal in them to be didactic. We are all implicated here, they tell us: there are no easy answers. The film continues this approach of presenting complexity, without trying to reach simplistic judgements or reductive resolutions. In the process, it tries to shift our consciousness about the world and the way we live in it.”

To give you a further idea of the quality of this Doc., when I was in T.O. during the Toronto International Film Festival in September I was in an elevator with a bunch of film makers who were raving about how visually astounding this film was. When I checked it had been sold out almost right away.

9:00 pm

Gojira tai Hedorah AKA Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) Japan
For a bit of fun at the end of the evening I want to show this classic and campy Kaiju monster battle. It had not been released yet during the last Ecological Apocalypse night.
The Gojira series, especially the original, is one of the best for popularizing concern over threats to the Earths Balance. Lost in the 1950s American Version is that Godzilla started out as an anti nuclear testing statement, especially due to the activity in the pacific during the Cold War. This 1971 version directed by Yoshimitsu Banno was more intended for children and the ecological statement is fairly weak. Keep in mind that weak usually lends to more laughter. In this version: Gojira, defender of the Earth, has become a national phenomenon, akin to the Loch Ness Monster, especially for children. The monster has been ingrained into the Japanese consciousness. However, the Japanese citizens and industrialists still do not realize that destroying the balance of the Earth will summon the millennia-old protector. The story follows a young boy who finds a creature, which thrives on toxic waste, naming it Hedorah, a pun on the Japanese word for sludge, hedoro. This monster sucks on smokestacks, oozes at the screaming populace, and belches poisonous fumes. In his dreams, the boy wishes for Gojira to defeat Hedorah and for people be persuaded to stop polluting the earth. Gojira, as the great protector of the planet’s balance, fights the monster in a rage against humanity’s destruction of his ecology.

If Manufactured Landscapes is unavailable, I will alternate with:
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) USA a blockbuster disaster flick about climate change.

B&B Presents: Wack History Month

2007-02-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

This Sunday we present an alternative to the innane speeches of the Oscars. Most of my friends are geeks who focus on either film, politics, or history, this Sunday we get to have a surreal mixture of all three

7:00 pm

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004 / 2006 ) (- it took a while to be distributed and was eventually picked up by Spike Lee)

What if the South had won the War?
Directed by Kevin Willmott in the voice of a BBC documentary film crew, this mockumentary is a must for the historically or politically inclined. The hilarious, yet chilling, version of history posits what the last 150 years would have been had the Confederates won the American Civil War. The most frightening aspects are the ties to actual events both past and present in American policy and culture, replete with commercials.

9:00 pm

Wild In the Streets (1968)
Max Frost, a 24 year old charismatic rocker, has just successfully lowered the voting age to 14 (Something I’ve been in support of for years), and he’s now rolling the wave of popularity from a babyboom majority right to the American Presidency. Following the 60s edict of “Never trust anyone over thirty”, his first presidential edict turns the new hippie state to a totalitarian hell for anyone over thirty by requiring them to live in retirement homes where they are force fed LSD.
This psychedelic exploitation flick riled a generation and it has Richard Prior in it as a character named Stanley X.
I wanted to show some Blaxploitation Flicks focussed on the Black Nationalist movement to match up with the CSA, but instead Wild in the Streets seemed to be a much better fit with the themes of CSA. If I can't get wild in the streets, fear not... I will book it with My first choice. The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) about a Black CIA agent who works throught the system to set up the Nationalist cause behind the backs of his own agency.

B&B Presents: Samouraï Noir

2007-02-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

February 11, 2007
This Sunday night we present two films about non-Japanese hitmen obsessed with the Samurai Code of Bushido.

7:30 pm

Le Samouraï (1967) France
Jef Costello is a perfectionist hitman who never gets caught. After a hit gone wrong with surviving witnesses and an ever elusive alibi, Jef is backed into a corner. His code of solitary honour predisposes him to complete his task, yet under an air of the inevitability of death. Jean-Pierre Melville’s use and deconstruction of the American Noir Genre in this picture has heavily influenced other film makers. John Woo noted that everything about Le Samouraï is perfect, and was a central inspiration for The Killer (1989).

9:30 pm

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) USA

Acclaimed writer and director Jim Jarmusch was also heavily influenced by Le Samouraï in the development of Ghost Dog. The story follows an African American hitman, played by Forest Whitaker, who is self-retained within the local New York mob and strictly follows the Bushido code of Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai. When he becomes expendable can Ghost Dog maintain his code of honour and still confront his mob superiors? Jarmusch’s films often capture and are based around moments, yet his slow direction style in this picture is balanced by a beat heavy soundtrack compiled and composed by Wu Tang Clan’s the RZA. This is one of my favourite films, even though I haven’t seen it since it came out. I’m exited to see it through new eyes along with its French inspiration.

The B&B Presents: Christian Scare Films

2007-02-03T15:15:00.001-08:00

Just in case anyone questioned my fears of religion... This Sunday, I will be presenting two recent flicks about when Evangelism thinks too much of itself and goes too far.

7:00 pm

Jesus Camp (2006) USA
"Onward Christian Soldiers!" A documentary on the not so innocent side of Evangelist Summer camps. The Trailer proved terrifying.

9:00 pm
1950s Christian Scare Films
As a treat, and only if there is time, I will show some Christian Documentary Shorts from the 50s. I hope these documentaries prove to be edifying, if not hilarious.

9:30 pm

Saved (2004) USA
"They without sin cast the first stone." When a girl in an Evangelical Christian highschool winds up pregnant she finds herself becoming ostrasized and demonized, by her classmates and former friends. Maculay Culkin shows up as a Blastphemous Parapalegic. I am told this one's very funny.

Let me know if you're gonna make it out.

B&B Presents: Ladies Night

2007-01-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the second night of previously screened (at this movie night) films by B-town. Tonight is all about the ladies getting their sweet sweet revengeance. Two beautifully filmed, yet violent pictures from Asia.

7:00 pm

Lady Vengeance (2005) South Korea

Chan Wook Park’s final episode in his lauded Vengeance Trilogy. Started in 2002 with Sympathy for Mister Vengeance and followed up by Old Boy these independently watchable films are known for their cinematic beauty intertwined with violence. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is said to play like a heady opera of wrongful imprisonment and elaborate brutal revenge.

9:00 pm

Lady Snowblood (1973) Japan
This film from the Toho studios a favorite in this house for the Japanese Exploitation genre stars one of our favorite actresses of the 70s Meiko Kaji. Kaji - with her distinctively capturing looks of death - plays Lady Snoowblood who, through the brutal slaying of her parents, lives for only one reason, bloody revenge!

Next Week: Religion is Scary!
Jesus Camp and Saved

I Assure You We're Open

2007-01-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted on the blog for some time, but I assure you I am still alive.

More posts to come.

The B&B Presents: Gang Colours

2006-11-25T01:12:00.000-08:00

This Sunday is going to be a bit different from previous Sundays, and before that Mondays, in that we are going to program both films that BJ has seen before, but it’s OK because I have not. This double bill is all about the Gang War…so… Come out and Playyy….

7:00 pm

Switchblade Sisters (1975) USA
“Mothers... lock up your sons. The Switchblade Sisters are coming!”
From the director of Coffy and Foxy Brown, so you know it’s gotta be a girl gang movie of the highest caliber and with a bit of stylistic charm to boot. It focuses on the “Dagger Debs” a snarling ladies auxiliary of the “Silver Daggers”. Both are embroiled with infighting and defending their turf from rival gangs and the new threat of a community action team.

9:00 pm

The Warriors (1979) USA
“There are Armies of The Night. They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber the cops five to one. They could run New York City. Tonight they're all out to get the Warriors.”
The gangs of New York all seem to be wearing themed costumes in this late 70s battle royale from the point of view of a small time gang that has been set up in the killing of one of the major gang bosses in the city. They have to face off with Yankees themed rogues holding baseball bats, Roller Derby punks, and of course the gang of Marcel Marceau Mimes.

Extra points for those who come in costume for any themed gang - real, fictional, ridiculous, or a mixture of all three.

The B&B Presents: Ecological Apocalypse

2006-11-18T22:19:00.002-08:00

After a somewhat tenuous run these days Brendan – and a reluctant BJ - have decided to try to give Sunday night movies another chance. Also, for the first time, members of my department have been invited. We hope too have a good turnout, because tonight we are showing the thrills and chills of climate change. In a double bill that starts off serious and later turns a bit wackier.

7:00 pm

An Inconvenient Truth (2006) USA
The immensely powerful and honest and from all accounts accurate portrayal of climate shift made yet to date. The fact that it focuses on - Inventor of the Environment and First Emperor of the Moon - Al Gore should not be something that scares you off…

This portrayal is way more charismatic than any of the spin on him as former vice president and former next president of the United States from years past. Do not also be run off due to the fact that it is a movie about a power point presentation… Think of it more as a well-edited concert movie with more engaging action going on than environmental groupies and guitar solos.

9:00 pm

Slipstream (1989) UK
Mark Hamil’s first foray back onto the silver screen since the Star Wars franchise is as a badie villain cop in the future, trying to recapture his prisoner from a bounty hunter who intends to get the bounty for himself. This all likely mediocre story unfolds on a planet Earth devastated by human generated pollution, floods and ravaging winds known as “the Slipstream”, and where humans are left only as small pockets living in canyons and where kites that pick up on these high powered storms are the most reliable form of transportation.

It was a hard decision of what to add as the second half of the double bill, two other top contenders were, and, if Slipstream is terrible without any B-movie hilarity, still are:
Gojira tai Hedorâ AKA "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" (1971) Japan
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) USA

Recap New York Trip Part III

2006-10-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

I know this is a month late but here goes nuthin'
After leaving Toronto for the first time I headed to Peterborough or as others have referred to it – with little exaggeration and including the self-deluded evil – as “Pleasantville”. My cousin’s wedding there went off without a hitch… even though it was all filmed by “Life Network” – she’s months pregnant and a show dubbed “Wedding SOS” got her set up with a new dress.What scares me though is a sense of racism I felt exuding from a relatively middle class educated Ontario population there. I had a long and excruciatingly heated conversation with my uncle who is a driving instructor (and should fucking well know better) phrenologically explained why Asians made for bad drivers due to peripheral vision (replete with finger assisted slanty eyes). Don’t get me wrong I called him on it, with an explanation of Phrenology and its connection to eugenics theories.

Back to T-Dot:
Toronto didn't enthuse me yet again... and I had such high hopes this time.
I did get a little thesis work done. I spent some time at City Hall and met up with a few Urban Designers there. Here's a shot of Dunas Square, the pride of T.O. ... a place that is very similarly situated in the city as Robson Square... its on Yonge. JP tells me its great when there's programming, but nothin was happening there when I got there. It seems to be another minimalist "square" But I got to see JP. He, me and my mum ate sushi and got drunk on sake well into the night. JP’s Living in the basement in a nice mixed residential neighbourhood in Toronto’s core. Just outside of Chinatown. And he’s got a Urban Social Economics office that make me jealous. Here he is kicking me out of it.

So then it was off by train from Union Station.Getting across the border was fun... There is someone out there that is using my name including middle initial as an alias. I was pulled off the train by three armed border patrol at Niagra falls and put into a room where they tried to convince me to slip up that my name was Josh. Held the train up for an hour and a half. No harm done or rubber glove treatment.
I learned that I don’t know my own height in centimeters, and that US border guards can’t convert metric either.

Day 1: Toronto

2006-09-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

My 4:30 am Wakeup for a 7:00 am flight meant that I ran on 3 hours sleep today, as I was up late into the night looking for my passport (I couldnt find it so that was a wash anyway) and packing. WestJet instead of an in flight movie now has inflight TV with commercials. I don't have TV at home and spending the morning watching daytime TV on a plane didnt thrill me. Needless to say, I got some reading done on the plane.
I spent the Afternoon after I landed getting into Downtown. I noticed right off the bat that, even though Surrey is Surrey, Greater Vancouver hasn't been ravaged anywhere near as much as cities back east by freeways. Outside of the downtown is a wasteland of multilane car dominance. At least our suburban wasteland has some trees.

I still dont have the Transit system figured out here, and I got screwed on the transfer system twice. The operators and station attendants are really uncourteous. Uncourteous is being diplomatic. (They laughed at my mom for not being able to get herself and baggage through the turnstyles at Union Station and wouldnt give any advice on how to get uptown, or that we needed to get a transfer there at point of payment and not where it makes sense, like near the bus you want to get on.)

I tried for the life of me to find contact information for JP or Jessica-Karen, but it all is out of date, and for some reason I can not get into the clubhouse forum (where most of my friends update their contact info) because the link is Banned in the hotel.
If any of you guys can help with infos that would be great.
Today is another day in Toronto so I'll try not to look as happy as I did to be here as yesterday... I think they sense it and try to mess it up for you.

The City that Never Sleeps for the Guy who seldom does

2006-09-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

I'll be gone for the next two weeks while I attend my cousins wedding in Ontario. It will prove to be interesting as she is 4 months pregnant and one of her bridesmaids got the bright idea to call life network. So yeah, I'll be on Reality TV as the kin from the West.

After the wedding, my mom and I are running off to New York for the 25th annual Mother-boy. Where we will compete with high society types for the coveted motherboy trophy.
Actually My momma and I have been wanting to go to the big apple together since before I was 10. We have similar adventursome tastes in food and art, so I'm pretty stoked.
As for my thesis this trip will provide adequate sustinence. I'll probably spend some time doing plenty of sketches of random places and buildings and a requisite cross sections of the Rockerfeller Centre, Bryant Park, and Palley Park.

So yeah, any ideas what else to do or look at would be appreciated.

B&B Presents: Wong Kar Wai: Hong Kong present, past and future.

2006-08-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

Yet another week of BJ MIA (actually he’s just at a family get together), and another week of hopefully not too little / hopefully not too late programming by Brendan. This week, we continue a journey into the deft and artful works of director Wong Kar Wai that some of us left off at C-Beans a few weeks back.

SUNDAY AUG. 13th

7pm Fallen Angels / Duo Luo Tian Shi (1995):
In a multilayered and surreal Hong Kong nightscape a disillusioned hit man on his “last” kill deals with his feelings for his partner, a drifter searches for her ex-boyfriend, and a mute breaks into stalls in the Kowloon Night Market.

9pm 2046 (2004):
The fantasy future world of his writing allows a sci-fi author to connect with the love that fate would not allow him in the 1960s past. The much acclaimed continuation / fan service of the much more acclaimed In The Mood For Love likely does not need you to have seen the first. It is to be a visually exquisite meditation on romance, remembrance, and regret.

B&B Presents: Noir in the Key of B

2006-08-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Just found out that BJ had no plans to hold a movie night this week; for shame. But have no fear, cuz Brendan while posting late still wants to make it happen.

SUNDAY (as in tomorrow) AUG. 6th

7pm The Maltese Falcon (1941): Yes, John Huston’s directorial debut which adapted Dashiell Hammett’s classic noir novel to the screen and served as the launch pad for a then still relatively unknown Humphrey Bogart. The film became the archetype for the hardboiled private detective story and only existed because the 1930s pre-code version couldn’t be re-released due to sexual content. Bogie plays Sam Spade, a PI hired by femme fatale Brigid -Mary Astor. I have not seen this movie since I was six or seven - there is photographic evidence that after seeing the Maltese Falcon I had a fedora wearing Popeye candy cigarette smoking stage until I was nine – and may burst into glee with seeing it again.

9pm Brick (2005): Brendan, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt,- from 3rd Rock, a sharp outsider is thrust into the noir underworld of high school when he investigates the disappearance and death of his ex-girlfriend, Emily. The gritty noir directorial debut of Rian Johnson is self conscious of its roots. Dialogue, while swift and smooth, sounds like it’s out of those dramas of the 30s/40s. The soundtrack is eerily entertaining. And, who can resist a main character based on Bogart who shares the same name as you.

Birthday Barbeque Or/ I turn 24.

2006-07-14T00:54:00.000-07:00

Eventhough today (Bastille Day) is my birthday, I would like to see you guys out at Kits beach on Saturday for a beach BARBEQUE.
When: Saturday July 15th 3:00 pm most cookin' and eatin' as of 5:00 pm
Where: the Kits Beach picnic area (North of the Wartermark consession area and adjascent to the volleyball nets)
What: BBQ (some Burgers and libations provided, but bring food if you can) If you don't know what to bring, call me. GAMES (Volley, Frisbee, Pirate driftwood fort play). SUN (Weather permitting, otherwise we will change venues to a houseparty in east van).
Hope to see you there.
Call me for details.
I'll also be out at the Pic Pub tonight with bands and such.

Cinema Paradiso on 'The Drive'

2006-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

One of the projects I have been running in the past month is to develop a cinema under an overhang that's part of an autobody shop on the drive. I'm running a two night (down from 6) film festival about how urban space is experienced and recaptured by us as city dwellers. It will be presented under the cover of the Hi-Light Autobody Shop on Commercial Drive at East Third Avenue the weekend of the 17th and 18th of June. Admission will be free.
The Program is as follows:

Saturday June 17th
5:00 pm Band

6:45 pm Metropolis (1926)
Fritz Lang's epic futurist classic of a robot led worker revolution helped define how we see the modernist city in science fiction film. Set in 2026, when the populace is divided between working classes, living deep underground, and the rich, who enjoy their skyscraping city of splendour. 124 min.

8:58 Amelie (2001)
Jean-Pierre Juenet's whimsical love story set against the beauty of central Paris. Audrey Tatou stars as Amelie, an imaginative young woman trying to find happiness for others through happenstance. 122 min.

Sunday June 18th
Car Free Day on Commercial Drive

4:30 Band

5:30 Band

5:50 End of Suburbia (2004)
The American Dream of tha spacious home, the neatly kept yards, and a multi car garage... who could argue with that? But, can world supply meet the demands of these suburbanite lifestyles? This documentary asks these along with what can be done before the consuming maw of the suburbs devours all that's left. 78 min.

7:15 Ikiru (1952)
Akira Kurosawa's masterwork of comedic tedium and the beauty of humanity. A bureaucratic city planner of the worst kind discovers that he has terminal cancer and, without telling anyone, sets out to change his life. 143 min.

9:40 Run Lola Run (1998)
Lola has 20 minutes to find and run 100000 deutchmars across the city to her mob debted boyfriend before his fate is sealed. A driving techno soundtrack builds as the camera follows Lola through the streets of Berlin. 81 min.

Trying not to wash out of Grad School.

2006-06-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have had a hectic last month trying to finish the groundwork for my thesis and to complete a condensed version of a urban design methods class. Mostly I've learned that if I don't sleep I don't get things done... Such as updates to this blog, which as im told is actually read, by more than 3 people. I didn't think people were reading it because no one commented in the dialogue sections. Do so. I'd actually apreciate answers to the questions I'm usually asking, even short / funny / sarcastic ones.
Other than that I've still got a large workload, but my head finally feels like it's above the water.
- B-Town

New Thesis Project: Robsonstrasse

2006-04-28T23:09:00.001-07:00

So I’ve figured out my new thesis subject: A redesign of ROBSON St., particularly the blocks between the Library and Broughton, to make it a proper and grand centre to the city of Vancouver. Some may think that I chose this new subject so that I could sit on the street all summer with a sketchbook picking up hot tourists… they might be right. I don’t like Robson so much, probably because it is so corporate, that there isn’t a place to sit, and that everybody gets crammed onto too thin of sidewalks. My intention is to look at more pedestrianized street like those in Europe.
I don’t like Robson so much, probably because it is so corporate, that there isn’t a place to sit, and that everybody gets crammed onto too thin of sidewalks. My intention is to look at more pedestrianized street like those in Europe.

So as a favour so that I can do a better project and make Robson a better place can you guys give me some ideas on what Robson St needs or could do without.

(Last project Whistler Village, BJ let me know that Whistler needs more Black people. So I designed a statue of Kanye West posing in front of a statue of Rosa Parks, Also designed a statue of White legislators debating Black history month)

Avatars

2006-04-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

Yay for avatars.... I've been trying to make a drunk tintin for a While, but the redshirt variety will do nicely for now. I don't know why, but Tintin has always been one of the characters that I see as mself, maybe it was because he was the nice-guy, youngish Bogart/ Indiana Jones. Speaking of which, lets put up a pic of Ol' Humphry for good measure. Oh, and should also go for another good flick for my room mate Maria, "Z" from 1969 (Social Democrats, being killed by the military, now thats a concept I can beleive in), and lets also throw in the Blues Brothers, as I can always believe in them.

and as for my personal passion of streets and things, lets through in a detail from Edward Hopper's Early Sunday Morning (My favorite painting).

Kevin Falcon wants to fuck with Translink

2006-04-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

So who's gonna get control of this system anyway?

In addition to his push towards a doubled freeway system, our local Minister of Transport wants to go ahead and change the structure of the Largest local body ($1+ Billion per year) in Greater Vancouver t be directly appointed by the Province.

I have argued that there is too much of a democratic deficit in the body as it stands (since they are not actually directly elected and have no real juristictional power) , but this is getting on the side of ridiculous.

What are your thoughts?

(Note to the geeks the system in the map is of the 1999 Plan which still messed up from the original 1996 and 1976 Livable regions plans shows Broadway as the Central Expansion... and if you notice RAV is very far away..., but that is another post all together.)

What Do You Call Soul Food?

2006-04-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

I'm of the types, that calls the local food that people would eat instead of eating home cooked is the soulfood. So, for me in Vancouver, that means Pho, Sushi, Dim Sum, and suprisingly good dollar pizza (I hear it is nowhere near as prevalent elsewhere). Mind you, that could be a direct result of a direct lack of concentrated black restraurants and shops in Vancouver, let alone population. So, with that in mind, what is Vancouver's "Soul Food". Should I be looking harder for Grits and Collard Greens, or does this go beyond cultural boundaries...?

I guess a less theoretical question would be this... what is the best, cheapest, meaningful food in Vancouver that you can't live without?

2006-04-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Under New Management: B-Town

This will be a series of postings, comments, rants, ramblings, and images about issues of the design, politics, music, arts, and foods that both makes up and drives the Urban Condition.
As for me, I am B-Town, an urban designer at UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning In Vancouver. My defining distractions are conjoined penchants for quality food, entertaining and dubious films, and blues, soul, & funk. So far the closest I've come to mixing all of these effectively has been with "the Blues Brothers" (1981) and "Block Party" (2006), and mixed with a bowl of Vancouver's own Asian oriented soulfood, Pho.

Other Urban Geeks, should feel free to strike up debates and conversation on the comments section... My goal is to periodically put out a subject or current issue to be hashed out by all of us afflicted with the urban condition. You know shit like, what's below.

So, Welcome to the Urban Condition, its all in how you live it.