Tuesday, August 31, 2010

new kicks

From Schmidt & Weston blog

I am big on walking. When you have a camera, it's the best way to see things. It is also the fastest way to learn a new city, because you notice things and then you are less likely to get lost (because you get lost more... at first). It does make for poor driving instructions since one way streets are not really an issue for peds.

As a result of my walking everywhere, I go through sneakers surprisingly quickly. These are my latest. The brand is Keen, if such things are important to you. I like them because they meet three important criteria for sneakers in my life; 1) they have to be comfortable 2) I have to be able to run in them, because sometimes when you walk places, you find your self running slightly late - gotta make up time 3) Due to my vanity, sneakers must always remind me of being 4 to 10 years old, the days before puberty. I'm not sure what that says about me, but the more my feet look like Ernie's (from Sesame Street. Sometimes they showed his feet. Always sneakers.) the happier I am.

Oddly, I took this photo of my feet while on a historic hippy walking tour of Kitsilano, in Vancouver. The walk sucked ass. There was no stories about hippies to speak of, at least nothing specific. The leader let anyone come along, which means that money spent on tickets was wasted. Most of the people were old, which is fine, but as a result of being a group, lost all sense of other people using the sidewalks or even the roads. I'm still not sure if this is due to the average age, or just the inability of groups to have any situational awareness.

Me and C were embarrassed most of the time for being apart of such a large group. We stayed until almost the end because we thought that the truly good stories would come at the end. They did not. The message seemed to be that true hippies were here in the 1960's but these kids today with their environmentalism and wearing of the black and the tattoos were not worthy to have the word hippy bestowed upon them. Oh, and that the only acceptable architecture for Vancouver is that victorian or edwardian look. Well built modern cement houses with high efficiency were deserving of a scolding.

Okay, I'll admit that none of this was actually uttered aloud.... just the vibe I got from the group leader's tone.

Ironically, there is nothing more fascist than hippies... (neo-hippies are the worst, but most hippies tend towards rules, in my experience) especially hippies that "were there, man... you don't know, man."

I got bored and started taking pictures of my feet. It made me happy.

Monday, August 30, 2010

salmon are a big deal these days

From Schmidt & Weston blog

Everyone is talking about all the salmon around Vancouver town.

It's a pretty big deal.


Friday, August 27, 2010

UFC should include bears

From Schmidt & Weston blog

Lately doctors in Canada are creating quite a fuss about this mixed martial arts sport that the kids like to watch these days. I don't really get it. Hockey and skydiving and BASE jumping and horse racing and probably even chess have all resulted in unnecessary deaths, but I don't hear anyone calling for a ban on any of those. The argument is that both boxing and MMA has the goal of hurting the opposing player. Well, clearly these doctors haven't been watching sports movies, cause every football movie I've seen has some dialog involving 'destroying' or 'killing' or 'mess them up' thrown about.

From Schmidt & Weston blog

These two grizzlies live in a compound on Grouse Mountain. I didn't come across them in the middle of nowhere. That would have been infinitely cooler. Bears seem pretty happy playing UFC themselves. The match ended after not so long because one bear decided to play with a bone instead. I tried to imagine that it was the femur of one of the loud tourists that dotted the paved paths of the mountain. Said tourists and myself (I'm a local now with a season pass, no longer considered a tourist in this Vancouver town) watched this bear fight with the same thrill as a bunch of frat boys in a bar watching UFC. I'm not specieist, so I have to accept that if I'm gonna watch grizzlies fight it out and enjoy the excitement, I can't really get all holier than thou over men doing the exact same thing. Grouse Mountain resort is certainly making money off bear fights.... so what's the difference?

From Schmidt & Weston blog

I don't think the doctors should get so upset about mixed martial arts. I do think bears should be added to the match every now and again. It would make the sport seem less homoerotic.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

a special offer from schmidt and weston

From Schmidt & Weston blog


From Schmidt & Weston blog


From Schmidt & Weston blog


From Schmidt & Weston blog

If you would like a calendar featuring more photos of this slug, contact me. At the very special price of 19.95, this 9 month limited edition slug calendar is the perfect gift for an expectant mother.

For a movie about a more different slug go to here.


Monday, August 23, 2010

I made this too


Here is Say Wha?! from August 11th. Sara organized her third evening of horrible writing read aloud. Again, I got in for free because I happen to have a camera... and a computer.

It made me laugh.

nobody rocks 8 days a week

From Schmidt & Weston blog

When I walked by, nobody was even close to rocking. Not even in the back alley.

It was 9:10am on a Saturday, but still, if you can rock a full extra day than exists, why should the time of day be a factor?

Liars.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

this other cat i know

From Schmidt & Weston blog

This is my brother and sister in law's cat. She has a name and it's India. One time she broke her jaw. Mostly we get along.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm 37 today

From Schmidt & Weston blog

My sister in law Bonnie made this for my birthday. I don't think she knew that I have an affinity for those simple stars. I will even buy Sapporo beer on account of the pretty gold star on the bottle. So it all worked out and there is only a tiny bit of it left now... I'm about to go and finish it off.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

handrail at night

From Schmidt & Weston blog

My new hobby is taking long exposures at night. It's less difficult with a tripod.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

a clown

From Schmidt & Weston blog
Clowns are strange.

From Schmidt & Weston blog
They never inspire confidence.

From Schmidt & Weston blog
Most times they are just scary and unacceptably happy.

Monday, August 9, 2010

pigeon doing advanced air navigation

From Schmidt & Weston blog

I've met a lot of pilots. None of them have been brave or stupid enough to fly through wires like these crazy ass birds do every damn day.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

above the tracks

From Schmidt & Weston blog

We live near this bridge over the tracks, which is the best place to watch trains from. Also, the boats, ships and planes.


Friday, August 6, 2010

26 East Hastings

From Schmidt & Weston blog

My new bus route to get me to my new home takes me through East Hastings. It is a sad landscape, but it is always interesting... which I've noticed sadness often is.

I am also fond of the contrasting sentiments written on the walls; "Fuck the Police" and "I love you". I would like to pretend that it was written by the same person, but that seems unlikely.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

a box of free

From Schmidt & Weston blog
Sometimes, too many times, free stuff isn't worth it.

From Schmidt & Weston blog
Free bricks are available all over the damn place.


me

Thank you for visiting. I live in Vancouver now, but I've lived in other places too. I take photos and make short films about things and people. Please comment and be argumentative. It amuses me.

My main website is schmidtandweston.com

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