A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Love Letters To East Van And The Curse Of The Violent Douchebag

5312190456_1f0afe16d4_o

by Sean Orr | Beware the Granville Shitshow: drunken douchebags are now sucker-punching bystanders. To death. And it’s not just dudes being douchebags: Do you know these women?

On September 19, 2015, at 25 minutes after midnight, two young women were yelling racial slurs and harassing non-caucasian passengers on the lower concourse level of the Granville SkyTrain Station. Another woman politely asked them to stop and was attacked by both women; punched, knocked to the ground, kicked and grabbed by the hair.

Meanwhile, Parts of Vancouver SRO hotel haven’t had heat for three weeks. Thank goodness for all this balmy El Nino winter we’re having…

Went to a climate march, waited half and hour for a bus ride home: Pipelines and elites: The politics of greenwashing in Vancouver. The Mainlander deftly links climate change politics with perpetual displacement.

It matters because the people organizing against displacement in the DTES are the very people disproportionately affected by the economics of climate change, many of whom – like Peter Deranger – ended up in the DTES because of resource extraction and environmental destruction throughout BC.

This is not what the city’s housing is meant for’: Airbnb and Vancouver’s rental housing crisis. This sucks for people who can’t find a place to live. For the record, it also sucks to live below an Airbnb apartment. We grew three heirloom tomatoes on our little roof garden plot and the Airbnb-ers renting  the loft above us stole and ate them. I mean, who does that?

The most East Van thing ever: Dear Dan Mangan: From the evicted ghost of the Bicyclette Rouge collective house.

Please do not be surprised if you find you wake up occasionally to see that someone has slept on the backyard platform we built, under the rainshelter we built. Everyone who knows this house knows they are welcome to show up any time and sit under the cedar tree or make a cup of tea or have a nap.

Maybe Dan can make it a historic site and they can have tours wherein the occupants can espouse their radical agenda(s)!

Satire of the day: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation takes out second Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

14 photos of crazy Black Friday line-ups in Vancouver. Wherein Vancity Buzz blends humour with self-awareness. Who knew?

Related: Black Friday brawl videos are how rich people shame the poor.

Craigslist of the day: Looking for christmas party to attend. Bonus: “Compensation: To be discussed.”

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.