• Questionable Public Art: A Vancouver Seawall Odyssey (with quite the preamble)

    Questionable Public Art: A Vancouver Seawall Odyssey (with quite the preamble)

    Not here, of course. I’m referring to the other side of the Seawall. Come with me! The unthinkable has happened: against every odd outlined in my last grumble-fest regarding this particular time of year, I have leaned into summer. Yes, indeed. And I have not just accepted where I live (the West End), but I…

  • Of Final Things: Death and Burial in Mark Brandenburg, 1500 – 1800

    Of Final Things: Death and Burial in Mark Brandenburg, 1500 – 1800

    I‘ve been a bit preoccupied by Life this past week, and I’m really doing my best to churn out some writing, but it’s been a challenge. In the midst of some family matters, some external concerns, and some priorities being shuffled around, I have to say that focusing on output has not been an easy…

  • Brutalism in Vancouver.

    Brutalism in Vancouver.

    I am not referring to the job market, the cost of living, or the misanthropy of the residents in my particular neighbourhood, although any of those would be perfectly acceptable as material for this topic.  I am talking about an architectural movement that has been an object of mild fascination for me ever since I…

  • La Pura Muerte: The Dastardly Conclusion

    La Pura Muerte: The Dastardly Conclusion

    Lots and lots of happy dramatic license employed in this entry.  Oh, and header photo taken at the dinner I had with Jem the night before I stared down both the red guy and his pitchfork, and the robed one with a beard and a mighty forefinger.  Were we ever so young?? And that dinner…

  • La Pura Vida? La Pura MUERTE! (Part One)

    La Pura Vida? La Pura MUERTE! (Part One)

    (Header pic: Francisco de Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters) I feel as though I haven’t been posting as regularly as I should here, because based on what I’m seeing and hearing, there has been a steady increase in readership and / or curiosity: thank you endlessly and kindly for checking out my scribbling,…