Vancouver Fall 2012: The Late Night Zone

I don't normally suffer from insomnia. I've heard friends who do suffer from it describe it and it certainly doesn't sound like what I get occasionally, which is "can't fall asleep in a timely fashion". It's very rare for me to be woken up for any great amount of time in the middle of the night. Strange noises will wake me up (I'm hyper-sensitive to it), but once I've identified the noise I generally fall back to sleep.

Maybe it was the vacation, maybe it was sleeping in a strange house, but I went to bed at about midnight and woke up around 3 am. And I couldn't get back to sleep. In my groggy state I decided that, since I was on vacation and didn't need to be anywhere the next day (at least until the evening) to have an adventure. I got up, got dressed and left the house.

Now this was a time of day when even the late-night clubbers and bar habitués have gone to bed. The city was, aside from people who had to be up, deserted. My travels included the Commercial/Broadway area and (after a quick cab ride) downtown Vancouver.

What did I see? A handful of other people walking around late; Lots of Vancouver municipal workers running around maintaining things (changing lightbulbs, fixing signage, emptying trash). Mostly what I saw was empty side streets. Oh, and the inside of a Tim Hortons, where I had a breakfast sandwich.

I did this until dawn, at which point the first commuters where entering downtown. I took that opportunity to take an empty train back out to Commercial and went back to bed. This time I slept until the crack of noon.

Vancouver Fall 2012: Adventures on Commercial Drive

Humanity is walking by my window.

I'm sitting here at the window of the Stormcrow tavern. Outside on Commercial drive the light rain has stopped (for now – it is Vancouver afterall) and people are our and about on a lazy Friday afternoon.

Kitsilano has the beautiful people, but Commercial drive seems to have everyone. In the last five minutes I've seen beautiful people, ugly people, old people, hippies and many many Italians (Commercial drive used to be Vancouver's “Little Italy”, and the number of cappucino shops, Italian deli's and old guys watching Soccer is still way above the average).

Mostly what people are is real. I haven't seen anyone who doesn't look like they have a backstory, which of course everyone has. Still it's nice to see it. The businessman downtown wearing his suit and carrying a briefcase has a backstory too, but you can't see it because he's wearing the uniform. He's playing a role.

Three girls walk by. One is wearing a faded army surplus jacket that has been lovingly repaired. I picture her picking it out of a surplus store. A guy dressed “urban” walks by. Hoodie and shorts, the sort of fellow who knows his hip hip the way I know my eighties. Two kids are walking with him and they're both dressed and look similar enough to him that at least one must be his son. His world is much different from me, but he and the kids walk with confidence and I sense that he's a good father. What are the kids going to be like when they're grown up? Differnt from me. Different from dad.

The number of old folks I see on the street is huge. And so many of them are completely unconcerned with their gray hair. And so many of them are healthier than I'd have expected – the west coast lifestyle has its benefits. Not everyone is healthy of course, I see a lot of people in wheelchairs. Again, no one seems to make a fuss about people in wheelchairs. Make way because that's the thing to do, but certainly not noteworthy.

The cross section of people is not something I encounter much in Calgary, possibly because I spent my life in my routine when in Calgary. I occasionally get to the Beltline, which is the closest equivalent neighbourhood, but it's not the same. I suspect it's simply because Calgary is not as diverse as Vancouver, so Calgary's most diverse area is simply not going to compare to Vancouver's most diverse area. I think another big part of it is I'm on vacation in Vancouver, so I have the time to observe these things, wheras in Calgary I'm peroccupied with my own life. It's a big part of why I want to retire out here – To have this feeling most of the time, without having to worry about work all the time.

Stormcrow itself is something I like – it's a bar that specifically caters to the nerd crowd. Shields, swords and devices decorate the walls. There's steampunk guns, BSG propaganda posters all over the place. Shelves have RPG manuals and choose-your-own adventure books. A big screen TV is behind me playing Thor. The other night it was playing an old Godzilla movie (that included giant praying mantis' and Minizilla!). If the sound were on I wouldn't be writing this, I'd be looking the other way. The servers often wear costumes. One is dressed as a witch (and she's hott! And I suspect it was at least partially not a costume), the other night one was in ren faire/gypsy chick/elf garb.

Sadly, aside from occasionally having creme brulee on the menu, the joint's menu is kind of bland. I think they're going for a whole medieval tavern vibe, but people's palates are more diverse now – especially their target audience. Keep the hobbit food, but add some gastro-pub fare too. Please – I don't want an excuse to go elsewhere.

So it's a nice place and it's pushed Calhoun's out of my mind as the place to be and to sit quietly and write. I'm in a coccoon of warm embracing nerdiness while looking through a window on humanity. Can you imagine how much this appeals to my INTP nature? I can sit back and let my mind chew on the greatest puzzle of all – people.

Vancouver Fall 2012: Really, the Whole Town is a Wet Spot.

After spending Friday afternoon at Stormcrow tavern, I met othelianna for supper at the Clubhouse. My directions for getting there weren't the best and we ended up dining later than I hoped.

We did get to Rio with time to spare for the East Side Spectacular, the Wet Spot's quarterly-ish cabaret show. Joining us were somejauntypolka, bognaustroglum, KS and FM. This was good and bad in that I was happy to get people out for what I remember being a really good show, but I was disappointed that the show wasn't as good this time as last.

It's not so much that some of the acts were bad; some were, but some were bad last time too - it's a a variety show, not all of the acts can be brilliant. I think it came down to three things:

• The house band, which opened the show, wasn't nearly as good as the one for the June show. This got things off on the wrong foot.
  
  
• They kind of half-assed the video segments of the show. This could have been improved simply by starting and stopping these items in synch with the performers exiting and entering the stage.
  
  
• The secret guest, CR Avery, wasn't to my taste. Which isn't to say he was bad - he was a very talented performer who performed stuff I don't like. If that were all it was, I'd have enjoyed it for the experience of it. Unfortunately he wasn't getting the response he wanted from the crowd so he started a) getting pissed of, and b) trying to manipulate the crowd with obvious crowd manipulating tactics. Stuff like "Make some noise east Vancouver - you're so quiet I'd think you were north Vancouver", the rough equivalent of using the Calgary/Edmonton rivalry. I don't like being manipulated, and when I detect it I dig my heels in.

Which is not to say it was an awful show - the burlesque was really good; the female singers: Cass King of the Wet Spots and burlesque performer Noelle Pion both did a wonderful job (Noelle in particular has a great set of pipes). The comedy and the juggling were also good.

In the end I think the room just had a different vibe this time. Everyone was more into it last time and this time they weren't.

Personally the first time I experienced it I had no idea what I was in for and it was all new and fabulous. The second time I was super nervous that the others were going to enjoy it, which made it hard to just enjoy it myself. Hmm - I could use that statement to describe early sexual experiences too, which is a weird little insight into my personality. Wet Spots indeed.

Overall I'd rate the first show at 80% and this one at 60%. I'll certainly go again if a trip coincides with the show, but I might not make it coincide like I did for this trip.