RANT/RAVE

No, you clean it up!

This is to the woman who saw it necessary to call me and complain for 10 minutes about the unkempt appearance of her block, near Burrard Bridge in the West End. I listened to you and agreed that it sounded in need of attention. However, when I suggested that you could be part of the solution by adopting your block and helping clean up, you were quick to come up with the excuse that you and your husband were far too busy to do that. All of my volunteers, like most residents of Vancouver, lead quite busy lives, thank you! What the West End needs is more people who are going to walk the walk, rather than simply complain about how things are deteriorating then fail to do their part and pitch in. If you are one of those who are willing to help out, why not drop a line to westendcleanup@gmail.com? We have lots of spots for volunteers.

John Merzetti,

West End Cleanup

Dirty ol’ Davie

Has anyone looked down while walking on Davie Street? Of course you have, because it’s the only thing that stops you from falling on your face. My god, those sidewalks are in bad shape! You practically need hiking boots to traverse the ups and downs of different scabbed-together materials laid down by a public works department long since retired. This street has a lot of foot traffic. I would hate to attempt it in a wheelchair. When can we hope to see a badly needed overhaul?

Scott

English Bay exodus

Symphony of Fire compensation: Has its time come? Local residents are about to endure the onslaught of a quarter-million people each evening of the upcoming fireworks at English Bay. Perhaps the organizers could offer a hotel room, far removed from this annual display, for the four nights involved, similar to when the car racing used to be at GM Place. Residents of English Bay have to endure road closures, bus cancellations, et cetera, apart from the festivities themselves and clean-ups that continue until three a.m. each night of the fireworks.

Eric, Rantline Caller

Gold-medal neglect

I cannot wait until the 2010 Olympics comes along, but not because I’m looking forward to them. Personally, I’m against the whole idea of the Olympics when we have better things to be spending our money on — namely, residences for those who don’t have any, better health care, et cetera. However, it will be interesting to see the reaction of the worldwide community when it comes to Vancouver and sees how disgusting it is in the downtown core, when it sees people sleeping in front of the seniors centre or around the building at 333 Dunsmuir. It will be interesting to see their reaction when they see homeless people sleeping in church entranceways. Let’s face it, Vancouver has nowhere to go but down once the Olympics happen and everyone sees how the city treats its poor and homeless.

Anonymous Rantline caller

The hip-hop don’t stop

This rant is addressed to the jerk who lives on the first floor of a four-storey condo near the Coast Plaza Hotel. For the past four days, you have been blaring your hip-hop music for all of your neighbours to hear. Summer is finally here, and we don’t need you to add to the general noise level of the West End. If you are hard of hearing and need to turn your stereo up to 11, at least close your windows so we don’t have to listen to it. It’s warm out and we prefer our windows open, but can’t do so with this aural onslaught going on. At the very least, move your speakers away from the window. I notice your filthy blinds are always closed — I guess you don’t want the world to know what a first-class asshole looks like.

Mark