east van picto graphs

 contingent upon a new theatrical rendering

from west coast reduction, the stink continues...

mainlining to the sweet bone of contention,

locking the metal door behind irreversible lives...

 his popsicle head's off to the crewlest cut of all to

roll down the commercial grade of sharpshooters...

before they carve her up in her flattened state with

a farcical warning neatly drawn in driedberry blood...

in the mystical event that she is still missing nearby

such dis-missives must be obeyed beyond the pale...

and so must an elder legionnaire of foreign means

slump wasted on the back stairs of mitigated loyalty...

a piece of rust toast smeared with milk flames torn

from the corrugated trunk of her stomping grounds...

when does it stop for this whirring craziness to land

upon the concrete implications of a single domicile...

ravaged reMains

There is a section of Main Street between the gentrified so-hip SOMA stretch and the beige colonizing of Chinatown that has been dying a slow death amidst drawn out efforts to revitalize the area...
Some indecorous vestiges of the seedier elements still standing, but barely...

tosi time toss

 Sandwiched between the Chinatown cacophony of East Georgia and Keefer Street on Main Street sprawls the cavernous premises of the nostalgically real italiano deli and import foodstore of TOSI and Company...

I have never known of its existence until walking by the other day and noticing the grimy and haphazard window display - or rather, non-display of boxes and cans with seriously faded labels and dusty plastic canisters! 

I had to ring a bell to be let in and I walked into a murky time warped chamber filled with an epicurean jumble of a more peasanty persuasion from another era - I don't believe the shelves and counter tops have changed much since like about 1910!

In a Vancouver that is constantly in flux and nestled in a Chinatown that is losing its original lustre, this throw-back of an authentic italian pioneer enterprise was an unexpected and oddly delightful stumbled upon discovery for someone who has only lived here for over 30 years!

[when we were waiting to pay for a package of tagliatelle, the character from central casting behind the counter was speaking in italian on the telephone to Signore Tosi Jr. himself to ask for instructions about when to plant the chicory seeds that the customer ahead of us was buying...

needless to say, it was slightly jarring to walk out the door of this time-[and scent]-muddled yet shabbily atmospheric food emporium of the TOSI family and be right back in Vancouver Chinatown again!]

denaturalization

the slow and laboured denudation of the American Hotel on the derogated part of Main Street...

the inevitable dénouement lying in a pile of gutted and discarded bricks...

the deployment of developmental mercenaries has been activated...

the wenonah

 

The Wenonah building has sat comfortably on the southwest corner of Main Street and East 11th Avenue for close to a century now...

The elegant neo-classical doorway to the apartments has been maintained and adds a grace-note to this side of the building on East 11th that houses a theatre studio and a massage and therapy centre on the street level...

The residents have also greened this section of the sidewalk with lush plantings...parting for a back view of the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church on East 10th Avenue...

Many of the casement windows still retain scenic and intricate stained glass panes adding sparks of colour and light to the solid brick façade...

[I would like to know more about the Wenonah - if anyone out there has information about this building and/or knows someone who lives in the apartments, please do let me know...thank you!]

MAIN-taining

Main Street a few blocks north and south of Broadway has evolved into a hub of hipness so mainstream it has lost some of its hard-earned edginess - and has inevitably acquired the flash flood of corporate chain and condo development dredging...
And yet on a sunny fall weekend during another one of its frequent street festivals - SHIFT? SHRIFT? SIFT?? - the essence of the Main of yore faded in and out of my consciousness, like an old movie that hasn't quite finished unreeling...

[note the new incongruous TIM HORTONS (in the above window's reflection) now ensconced in the cool old marble and glass bank building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Main]

[glue-splotch pattern left after the sign was taken down when the store had to close from damages of a fire next door and a few over]

[during the street festival, the resident of this apartment posted this heartfelt note that was barely visible from the street below - no one paid any attention by turning the music down!]

[where the fire had started and razed, now waiting for a new configuration of commerce]

[but gracious living still goes on around the corner...*]

*more images of the WENONAH in my next post...

fire on main

what was once Zocalo [above] and other eateries at Main St. and Broadway...