From favelas to Van-velas

Favelas. Oh yes, the favelas.

For the uninitiated – these are the slums, the skid rows, the dodgy ‘hoods of Brazil. Many people will be familiar with them from Brazil’s most famous movie, Cidade de Deus – or City of God. Perhaps some hardcore cinephiles will also recognize favelas in 2007’s Tropa de Elite, or Elite Force – somewhat of a flip-side version of City of God, in that it approaches the favelas from the cops’ point of view. Both are high-octane films that will make you feel like you’ve had too much coffee.

Everything old is new again

 
In the library on Saturday, I was struck by an odd sight - this one. A student, probably from China, hunkered over her studies in the ultra-modern downtown Vancouver library, while through the large window, on the side of the building across the expanse, sits a photo of the old library, complete with ladder and buzzing flourescent lights.
I had to look at this scene for a moment before realizing what it was: it was the old, juxtaposed with the new. Quite striking.

Coffee conundrums

Yesterday morning – a fair, drizzly Monday morning in Vancouver – I woke up and realized there was no coffee left in the house. None of the caffeinated kind, anyway.

On a normal day, I’d panic, pull on my jeans and head straight to the neighbourhood JJ Beans for a half-pound of fine espresso.

After all, my espresso machine is hungry, daily, and consumes quite a bit.

Twin towers of recession and global warming

It’s been somewhat of a bizarre week.

I write this with hungover head – a battalion of mojitos marched its way into my exposed brain and wracked joyful fury on my sensitive head overnight, and left me shuddering in its wake.

And now, I look at things in retrospect, namely two things: global warming, of which I have written already in my last post on Dec. 1, 2007 (bring on thy criticisms – I know I haven’t been a regular writer as of late), and the economic recession.

These twin towers of current events are more powerful than the fall of the twin towers on 9-11 will ever be.

First snow

Well, there was the thaw back in the spring, and now the chucklefest that some people called Vancouver's summer this year has officially come to an end. After weeks of teasing us with several sunny, cold days and a couple nips in the butt by Jack Frost, Mother Nature has finally decided to treat us with a bit of old man winter.

Vegansexuals!

You know that feeling that you've seen everything, and then something comes your way and you get surprised? Sometimes it's a refreshing experience, realizing that there's indeed more out there in the world than you know about. And then, sometimes, it's a disillusioning experience, when you are struck by the thought that there's so much more out there to figure out and you haven't even begun to scratch the surface; hence, so much more to overcome.

And then, the third feeling you may have is utter astonishment and disbelief. This is what I felt when I read a story about vegansexuals.

The birthright of the kidney stone

My first kidney stone, at the tender age of 35, at midday on Wednesday, April 18, delivered me two things in aplenty: Pain - a whole lot of it - and contemplation, after the fact.

The pain part is pretty obvious. The stone decided to make its presence known when I was about 5 minutes away from my bus stop just off Main and Southeast Marine Drive, and I felt a nice little tinge of pain in my left side, just above the hip. Thought it was just a cramp, and walking it off would do some good.

But no. It kicked in a bit more, and peaked in a big way as soon as I arrived at work. There I was in my full glory, on my knees, hunched over the toilet, biting my knuckles to somehow ease the pain, sweating buckets and wanting to vomit, unsuccessfully. There I was for about 20 minutes until I got a ride to ER from my good co-worker.