Vancouver: First observations on moving back.

Well, this is my 5th day back in Vancouver and I'm finally settling back into the groove again, despite not having a place yet to call my own. I have found a place over on 4th Ave. which is pretty old, but great location. I cannot believe how damned expensive everything here is now. Rent is higher than shit. You're lucky if you can find a crummy basement apartment for under 1,000 bucks a month. We're gonna be paying 1,100 bucks, which is way too much for the apartment itself, considering the condition it's in, but we're paying more because of the location. Safeway 2 blocks away, library is a few blocks away, organic food shops, fresh fish shop, great restaurants, cool shops, including Zulu Records, about one of the only good record stores left in Vancouver. The other being Scratch, which is pretty good but not great.

I went to A&B Sound and they have hit rock bottom. I used to remember A&B being the best store in town. Now it is complete shit. They have nothing now. Just a top 40 store now. And Bob Bell is still there. Poor Bob. Still hanging in there. HMV is not much better. But at least they have an OK DVD selection. Looks like I'll be using mailorder from here on in. That's one thing I'll miss about Japan, tons of great record shops.

There's still tons of assholes bumming change, some of them the same people I saw 10 years ago. Fuck. Like, have some respect for yourself and do something, anything. Some of these buttsteaks actually get mad if you don't give them change, like we're supposed to be responsible for their well-being and financial support. I don't mind helping people at all if they're going to make an effort to help themselves. If not, forget it.

OK, the next thing is this. Why the hell does every second person have their Starbucks EXTRA DAMN LARGE coffee while they're walking? This is not just in the morning, but all hours of the day. Do you people realize how ridiculous you look? Stop supporting Starbucks for chrissake. It seems like everyone is under a permanent Starbucks spell. Don't be a slave to their shitty coffee and fake atmosphere, support another small privately owned coffee vendor. Sheeeeeesh. What would be the % of people who have their personal XL coffee containers? Pretty high I think. Nothing wrong with drinking coffee, but when I'm out walking, I can't avoid being bombarded with that damned ugly logo.

Next is all the development that's happening. Who the hell is designing some of these new buildings and apartment complexes? They look embarrassing. I've never seen so many tacky buildings in one city. Some of these places are going up so fast using cheap materials, they'll start falling apart in 10 years.

That's most of what I've noticed since I've been back. Not to sound all negative. Vancouver really IS a beautiful city, if you removed all the super arrogant egos (and there are many of them) and all the damn panhandlers and junkies, we might just have something. Half the people in the city look like they're either in a permanent Starbucks coffee trance or wigged out on coke and heroin.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Blackberry cellphones are gay. And turn off your stupid ringtone when you're taking public transit. It's rude and no one wants to hear it.