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Snakes and Ladders

2009-04-10T17:22:00.003-04:00

Near the intersection between Guy and de Maisonneuve, as I recall.

Eye Ear Spy Vocalize Silent

2009-04-02T16:54:00.005-04:00

Yes! That's right! I have a camera now! Maybe, just maybe, things will start happening around here. I broke the lovely little gadget in by immortalizing a few more Spy Ears whilst wondering around downtown today.

This one was taken just outside the Guy-Concordia metro station. I pass this one almost every day on my way to and from school, and I've been itching to capture it for ages now. Features an interesting variation of the phrase, too.

This one I was delighted to spot on the side of a building anyone who has spent a good deal of time in downtown Montréal should recognise - the Cheap Thrills used record shop on Metcalfe.

Jeezy creezy but I'm a crap photographer.

It's been a long long time...

2009-02-14T13:35:00.005-05:00

... Hasn't it? So much for regular updates, am I right?

I'm hoping to find another opportunity to wander the streets with a camera but up until this point chances have not been forthcoming. Wandering I can do - it's the having a camera part which has been somewhat more difficult. Nevertheless I am determined. Have discovered interesting new trends in Montreal street markings - does the name "Jim Joe" tickle anyone's memory? I've been seeing it all over of late. Furthermore have discovered new Spy Ear Vocalize Silents, some with slight modifications - such as the "Spy Ear" on its own, or "Eye Spy Ear Vocalize Silent" (just outside the Guy-Concordia metro station; I can't for the life of me recall whether or not it's still there even though I pass it nearly every day). They're disappearing just as rapidly as they're being put up - often I will pass by a place I photographed last summer and the phrase will have been washed off or painted over. It irks me to think that I could be missing some entirely simply because I haven't the time or the energy or the will to hunt them down.

In any case, I know better than to make promises, but I'm trying, really.

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Man

2008-10-05T23:02:00.007-04:00

Wowie, but it's been a long time, eh? Life caught up with me all of a sudden. Shan't bore you with the details. Instead, here's my next offering for you lovely folks - no Spy Ears this time, though there may be a few more on the way. I've had some people write in and so I've got a better idea of where to direct my hunt in the future.

I found this a long time ago while walking past Vanier College in St-Laurent. Being someone who has read far too much Found Magazine, I'm always on the lookout for potential gems on the ground, and I recognised this as a photograph at once, even though it lay facedown on the sidewalk. I loved it so much that I kept it in my backpack for quite some time, and coming across it again accidentally would never fail to brighten my day. I think it's time to share it with you now:

5 things I adore about this photograph:

1. how concentrated that little guy is
2. the big ol' apron
3. grubby fingers
4. how big and clean that kitchen is - the cook in me is jealous
5. plaid curtains!

I apologize for the quality of the photograph - I do have a scanner but getting that thing to cooperate with me is no task for the weak-of-heart. Currently it's on strike. Oh, technology and all your wonders: where would I be without you?

I also "have" a better camera, but the better camera belongs to my better half and is currently unavailable to me. I will upload a better quality image when possible.

What to expect in the future: an exciting comic! Notes! Some strange thing somebody was leaving in plastic bags on people's lawns which smells rather strongly of cigar smoke! Yaaaaaay!

So, hey, I might actually be uploading fairly regularly from here on out. You believe me, right? Right?

Haha, yeah, don't count on it.

Spy Ear Vocalize Silent

2008-08-27T19:26:00.011-04:00

Lately I've been noticing instances of a very particular graffiti phrase popping up all over Montreal. Its origin is a mystery to me, as is its meaning, but after having seen it four or five times in a one hour walk downtown, I decided to spend a day walking around the city, photographing each copy of the phrase that I found and recording its location. I suppose I felt the need to do so because the repetition of the phrase fascinates me, or because I often hope that by photographing such things (messages scrawled on bathroom stalls, scratched in subway windows, doodled on abandoned scraps of paper) I can record in some way the person that made them, their mindset and intention, regardless of how mundane that may be. It still interests me. Or it could just be that as a huge fan of Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49", I am predisposed to be obsessed by such things. In any case, this blog was created to record humanity being human, and if this isn't an example of that, I don't know what is. Some of the images are rather blurry, as I was in something of a hurry towards the end of my foray, and I apologize for that.

I had expected to find the first of the graffiti'd images downtown, but instead I was absolutely shocked to find it written on the side of the grocery store I stopped by in order to pick up a bottle of water before heading downtown to explore. This is the same grocery store from which I buy food every week, and it's miles away from where I first saw the phrase written.

On to downtown. Didn't take me long to find the second one. This was on Rue St-Denis, on this block of whatever at the front of a shop called "Orientale".

After rubbernecking more than even the tourists, I managed to capture two more, these within feet of each other, both outside a Couche-Tard on the corner of St-Denis and Maisonneuve.

These next three were all found on St-Dominique, which was where I'd first seen the phrase written.

And these last ones were found on St-Laurent, all within a block of each other.

I plan on keeping my eye out for more on my future forays into the city, and I ask any and all Montrealers to do the same, and to let me know if they find anything, either by photographing it themselves and sending the images to me, or by recording the location (street and building number or nearest intersection) and letting me know; both can be sent to easypeasyeasypeasy (at) gmail (dot) com. I want to know where this guy (girl?) has been. Probably seems freaky and obsessive of me, but mostly I'm just curious.