Alarm Clocks Kill Dreams

We made the right decision spending Father's Day at the second annual Car-Free Commercial Drive Festival instead of heading south to the Seattle Premium Outlets. The weather held, and in spite of a local's (and co-worker's) prediction that the area will be flooded with tourists from Surrey, the family and I had a great time. I didn't notice too many Money Mart or "As Seen On TV" patrons in the area.

We took the SkyTrain and a connecting bus. It goes without saying that automobiles weren't welcome at the event: the six blocks along Commercial Drive from East 1st Avenue to Venables were pedestrian-only for the day. Outside this zone were Fratelli European Bakery [closed!] and, perhaps a sure sign of gentrification, Starbucks and Cobs Bakery. The bus was diverted to run parallel to Commercial along Victoria Drive. We got there at noon.

It was a great opportunity to break in my new Converse "Baboo Ox" sneakers, a Father's Day gift. I was worried that the toe box was going to be too narrow, like the Vans I tried on on Saturday but that turned out to be unfounded. Six hours on my feet and no pain. (Note: Betty also bought me a whole bunch of Underarmour gear. Great stuff!)

With the two kids in tow and the crowds, I couldn't capture everything on "film"—stores with interesting-looking window displays that we didn't step foot in: Sativa Labyrinth, purveyors of gothic goods, fetish items and hemp products; the hippy Beckwoman's, "because my father never owned a business and I'm not a man"; the Kid's Zone play area, the stalls and activities at the two parks and spilling onto the side streets—all these went unrecorded. Herewith, however, an account of some of what we did see.

Mosaic taken early in the day. You can still see the storefronts.


Mosaic as above, but taken a bit later in the day.


Roller derby musical chairs.


Crowd near Venables.


Donair meat


Crowd #2


Crowd #3 (with wide angle attachment)


Soccer fans at one of the many ristorantes.


Calamari at Lombardo's.


Salmon pizza at Lombardo's, made and cooked right in front of us (our table was near the counter).


Quintessential Drive #1


Quintessential Drive #2


Quintessential Public Dreams #1


Quintessential Public Dreams #2, Recycle Lady on stilts.
This picture's for the boys. Click on it for a sizeable blowup. Ain't I nice?


Car-free theme


Crowds, looking toward the North Shore.


Quintessential Drive #3


Urban Empire


A taste of Europe.

The title of this blog entry is taken from a tee shirt being sold at the Work Less Party table. I asked the person manning the booth whether this was part of the Slow Movement—I had just finished reading Carl Honoré's In Praise of Slow. Indeed it was I was told, except that Carl's book was one work he didn't care much for. While I looked at the shirts, he chatted about an upcoming party with two women friends wearing "Dyke Walk Ottawa" tees. Nearby, a man sported a paper bag hat emblazoned with the slogan "Satan Drives An SUV". The smell of pot was pervasive here at Grandview Park.

Boy, did I ever feel out of place.