peak-society: a grave survival guide: Where to...

peak-society:

a grave survival guide: Where to go in Vancouver B.C. Vol. 1

1. Macleods Books (located on West Pender)
Macleods is insanity, literally everyone who works there has some unattainable english degree and apparently also an impressive memory. You’ll need help navigating around this cramped book jungle if you are looking for something in perticular. I have learned that it is better to go there with nothing in mind, you’ll end up leaving with something regardless. Masses of good books, they have a standard for what used books they will buy. The prices are always decent for the product and they carry a lot of hard to find first editions. It is worth checking out just for the look of the place. A maze of literature.

2. Spartacus Books (located on East Hastings)
I volunteered at Spartacus for awhile but found my work schedule not able to work around the shifts available. Spartacus is a historical monument to the Vancouver leftists. It was opened by a professor from UBC and American war resistors almost 40 years ago. It is a volunteer run book store that carries all radical literature and also acts as a safe space for the vulnerable residents of East Vancouver. It has free computers to use, plenty or resources, free childrens books, and a 24 hour free phone that was made after residents of East Van had no more pay phones to use when they were in need of help. Spartacus is a must see for anyone who is looking for new or used radical literature or wants to see how community works on the East Side.

3. Vancouver Public Library (located on Robson Street)
Unless you really like port town architecture of hard to walk on cobblestone or shiny sleek modern apartment buildings, the only cool building we have in Vancouver is our library, not only does it carry millions of amazing books and run a lot of amazing programs, the building is entirely green roofed and has an atrium. It is designed to look like roman ruins and you get dizzy walking around in circles through the floors but it is worth checking out.

4. Bo Kong Restaurant (located on Main Street)
Bo Kong (recently renamed Whole Vegetarian) is vegan Chinese food that gives you all the tastes of Chinese food without the gut rot afterwards. It is a great place to take a lot of friends, the more people you have the cheaper it becomes. Make sure to order the pine nut fried rice and the black bean bean curd.

5. Stanley Park
I know, I know. Its typical. Please forgive the tacky touristy stuff. If you ignore the totem poles that were so ignorantly placed by the Vancouver council (the Coast Salish people who are native to the Vancouver area did not carve totem poles and find them insulting to the true history of the indigenous people of the area) it is actually kind of a cool place. The Vancouver Aquarium is located there and regardless of your views on zoos it does a tremendous amount for raising awareness about the state of our oceans and also does an impressive amount of releases after nursing aquatic life back to health. It is also just a beautiful place, if you catch Vancouver on a rare non rainy day, biking around Stanley Park makes for a perfect afternoon.

6. Audiopile Records (located on Commercial Drive)
Audiopile is my personal favourite record store. Geoff, the large bearded man who runs it, does a fantastic job of not selling crap records. He doesn’t carry the latest bullshit indie record, he doesn’t give a fuck what pitchfork had to say about something, he solely stocks what he knows his costumers want. Once you make your first 2 purchases he will have a general feel for your taste and will actually set aside records he thinks you might like for the next time he sees you. Plus they are always playing something good. Geoff said he wanted open the record store he wanted to shop at when he was young, thats why the music is good, the records are decently priced and it is open all the time.

7. Astoria Pub (located on East Hastings)
The beer is cheap, the jukebox is full of all your guilty pleasures and pool tables are in decent conditions. This is my jam. Located in the midst of East Hastings, Astoria caters to the young and broke. Frequently booking punk and indie bands but also hosting skateboard nights where half the bar is suddenly a half pipe and Man Up nights featuring all lesbian acts. Astoria is my favourite bar, even if I have to wait twice as long to take a piss due to girls in sequins doing lines of coke off the toilet.

8. Grouse Mountain
Once again, tourist shit. But it is so fucking beautiful. Going up to Grouse and looking down at all of Vancouver makes you understand why Vancouver has been considered the most liveable city in the world for so long. The view is stunning, and I guess for the athletes out there it is an ok ski hill and has awesome hiking trails.

9. Rio Theatre (located on East Broadway)
The Rio is my favourite theatre, though the have very limited space for playing movies, whatever they choose is usually good. Its hard to find somewhere that plays smaller films in Vancouver but the Rio plays great films! And its cheap! They also have show times just for parents with kids, and they always have amazing all nighters and back to backs of your favourite trilogies and series. There is always a thought provoking documentary to appease the masses of East Van as well.

10. Prophouse Cafe (located on Venables Street)
Prophouse is the place to get coffee. The espresso machine is as old as time itself and actually looks like some insane rendition of early sci fi space ships. There is a record player and a room full of a couple thousand records and you are free to through whatever you feel like listening to on. There are also instruments just sitting there waiting for you to jam away on and no one minds how awful you are. Books spread every where in order to encourage you to not bring your laptop. It is hilariously decorated with some sort of fetish for jaguar figurines. There are antiques everywhere. Also all the goods are backed fresh daily from scratch, you will not find a better scone in North America.

Reblogged for noob reference.

*Edit. Plus, might I mention I found my 1909 copy of Capital I at Macleod’s and that there a scene from The NeverEnding Story was filmed? Yes, I might mention that.

(via grave-wisdom-deactivated2012042)

Posted: Friday December 30th, 2011 at 12:22am
Originally posted by grave-wisdom-deactivated2012042.
Notes: 58