The Clinamenic Co-Living Diary

shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
So you did see Stan.
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i think that's what he means by co-living

was in vancouver last week and accidentally stumbled into hell again, on a stretch of road right next to the old downtown bit. found out afterwards that i was exactly, precisely in the addict part of town. still shocking the eighth time or whatever that you see it. it's weird how similar it looks to hogarth i think. there's some kind of action everywhere you look, someone hunched over double, someone trying to take the tire off a bike wheel, someone hitting a bong, groups of people sitting on the sidewalk. these little known bits of town where everyone with these problems congregates and everyone else avoids. on top of how sad it all is there's this sense of disorder. for this one in vancouver it's mad how close it is to tourist-land and fancy bakeries and so on. there's like an invisible border you step through.
 
shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
the west coast is such a particular thing i think. the cities at least. so much money in these towns now, they are all so expensive. there's a particular light they have in common and these distinctive sunsets over the sea. but it's also absolutely on the edge of the world. really remote from the from the bulk of america to some extent. especially the northwest, but more noticeably from the rest of the world. ten hours to tokyo in one direction, ten hours to europe in the other. i don't think people realize it. these places are remote and mostly naturally blessed as well, the sea, the beaches, the mountains. such a total contrast to the eastern seaboard which if it could be expressed as a sound would be grinding truck brakes and which feels totally central, connected and in tune with the rest of the planet.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
shakahislop said:
i think that's what he means by co-living

was in vancouver last week and accidentally stumbled into hell again, on a stretch of road right next to the old downtown bit. found out afterwards that i was exactly, precisely in the addict part of town. still shocking the eighth time or whatever that you see it. it's weird how similar it looks to hogarth i think. there's some kind of action everywhere you look, someone hunched over double, someone trying to take the tire off a bike wheel, someone hitting a bong, groups of people sitting on the sidewalk. these little known bits of town where everyone with these problems congregates and everyone else avoids. on top of how sad it all is there's this sense of disorder. for this one in vancouver it's mad how close it is to tourist-land and fancy bakeries and so on. there's like an invisible border you step through.
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I remember that part of Vancouver, stumbled into it by accident with my parents and suddenly we became the target, everyone within a mile or so in every direction lurched slowly towards us to try and eat our brains... or maybe just ask for money I dunno. It was actually intimidating for a minute or two, felt those outstretched hands were gonna pull us under a sea of desperate humanity.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Exactly like a zombie film... the ragged clothes, diseased flesh, shambling walk towards the living etc I dunno if Romero et al were inspired by these kinda places but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
Exactly like a zombie film... the ragged clothes, diseased flesh, shambling walk towards the living etc I dunno if Romero et al were inspired by these kinda places but it wouldn't surprise me.
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yeah that's it. I was trying to put my finger on why some of it feels so familiar. I was thinking that some of the visions of apocalypse in American film and books seem to take this kind of homelessness as a starting point
 
Murphy

Murphy

cat malogen
shakahislop said:
i think that's what he means by co-living

was in vancouver last week and accidentally stumbled into hell again, on a stretch of road right next to the old downtown bit. found out afterwards that i was exactly, precisely in the addict part of town. still shocking the eighth time or whatever that you see it. it's weird how similar it looks to hogarth i think. there's some kind of action everywhere you look, someone hunched over double, someone trying to take the tire off a bike wheel, someone hitting a bong, groups of people sitting on the sidewalk. these little known bits of town where everyone with these problems congregates and everyone else avoids. on top of how sad it all is there's this sense of disorder. for this one in vancouver it's mad how close it is to tourist-land and fancy bakeries and so on. there's like an invisible border you step through.
Click to expand...

did part of a postdoc in Vancouver, takes some processing

even then it was nothing like today, plenty of work within key services though, one option out Grim Britannia I just don’t know if such an insane city can heal in any meaningful way other than needle exchanges or sti testing and naloxone kits

interesting re your border concept - physical, psychic - as you have to feel the fear (or at least let its uncertainty register) how at risk you may be in reality, while being unfamiliar with the zone geographically .. think there was a thread on boundaries or thresholds but it might have a different title
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
shakahislop said:
yeah that's it. I was trying to put my finger on why some of it feels so familiar. I was thinking that some of the visions of apocalypse in American film and books seem to take this kind of homelessness as a starting point
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Though I never heard anyone say that- Romero's films are often described as an attack on mindless consumerism.

Maybe this is more life imitating art.
 
Clinamenic

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
We had a crackhead follow one of our female housemates up to our porch, where he began touching himself in a trance-like stupor. Eventually she told him to buzz off and he did.
 
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