Comments on Boss Around a Canadian!

The vast, vast majority of Canadians don't shoot guns, and even more likely have never even held or seen one (except perhaps in a museum case). Certainly not someone actually FROM Vancouver.

It always cracks me up (as a Canadian) being asked by the Canadian border guard whether I'm carrying any guns. Yeah right.

It's OK, we're just brought up differently.

Dear Strangerites,

Maybe it's time to update and reissue your Stranger Guide to Seattle book? I find it invaluable to loan to recent arrivals to the Emerald City...and you should add a Portland book, too...

and sadly, many of the businesses in the old book are gone or changed names..

@1: No time to start like the present, right?

I've been thinking about joining the revolver club at school; surprised me to know there was one.

Slightly off topic but you reminded me that my most favorite breakfast joint is dead and gone. RIP: Baker's of Lake City

BAKER'S IS CLOSED?
Where will I get an ice cream sundae shaped like a panda bear?

Gloria: It's just so funny how different it is 'here' vs. 'there'. Not bad, not better, just a totally different.

The pent up desire to visit the local gun club is virtually non-existent.

Growing up you're basically taught -- whether misguided or not ECB -- that it's the RCMP's job to keep you safe.

And generally, it holds true. In fact, gun related deaths in Canada have been cut in half in the last 30 years - 2.6 deaths per 100,000, down from 5.9 per 100,000 in 1979.

And anyone/everyone that really does want to go hunting or fire off a few rounds at the local gun club can have at it. go figure.

Factoid - Annual Firearm Deaths:
U.S.: 30,136 (2003)
Canada: 816 (2002)

Gloria: It's just so funny how different it is 'here' vs. 'there'. Not bad, not better, just a totally different.

The pent up desire to visit the local gun club to crank off a few rounds is virtually non-existent. Guns shows? Can't ever remember ever seeing/hearing.

Growing up you're basically taught -- whether misguided or not ECB -- that it's the RCMP's job to keep you safe.

And generally, it holds true. In fact, gun related deaths in Canada have been cut in half in the last 30 years - 2.6 deaths per 100,000, down from 5.9 per 100,000 in 1979.

And anyone/everyone that really does want to go hunting or knock off a few rounds at the shooting range can totally have at it. go figure.

Factoid - Annual Firearm Deaths:
U.S.: 30,136 (2003, homicides accounted for 38%)
Canada: 816 (2002, homicides accounted for 18%)

Hey David... why is the current Last Days online for February 19? We're a bit past Feb 19, are we not?

And anyone/everyone that really does want to go hunting or fire off a few rounds at the local gun club can have at it. go figure.

Around the lower mainland (that's Vancouver and the Fraser Valley sort of area), it would seem that the popular shooting ranges are old quarry-type sites up the forest service roads. There are targets, old couches, more targets, and piles and piles of shells. I only saw a couple people on the sites last time I was up, but they sure looked popular.

Michael @ #2 is both right--and more relevant to what the person who wrote Schmader originally was asking.

They wanted to know if The Stranger published a "general guide to Seattle" in a magazine-style format that is available for free in the same places that The Stranger is...and the answer is no, not currently.

Not only does Vancouver have something like this, but so does SPOKANE (of all places) with their "Annual Manual" published by the Pacific Northwest Inlander.

I had two days to kill in Spokane, picked up this Pacific Northwest Inlander "Annual Manual" at my Motel 6 (because I've got that kind of cheddar, peeps) and felt that it was hipper than a "Where" magazine would have been.

I actually thought that The Stranger's "Guide..." was surprisingly earnest for the bitter black-hearted publication I've come to know and love.

Might be a job better suited for Seattle Metropolitan? (Sample Headline: Best Cheap Eats in Town: Mini-Burgers at Cascadia)

pg

PS--You should have written back and said "Sorry, everything I know about Seattle I learned from reading SkyMall."

Sasquatch Books used to put out a useful cheap eats book (based on Weekly Reviews). The Stranger should fill that void (though eGullet.com is where I go to ask people where good places to eat can be found).

Monkey: Last Days is always about the previous week, so the column we published March 1 (the current issue, at least for a few more minutes) deals with Feb 19-25. After the new issue goes live tonight you'll see a new column, reporting on the week of Feb 26. See how that works?

Uhm, yeah, I knew that. I forgot for a second that it was Weds and not Thurs. Now I'm sad cuz it's not Thurs.

THANKS Amy KH. I'm going to go drink coffee and listen to The Cure now. :(

Prague, Milan, and Budapest (to name a few cities) have something called "Spy Map". There is a guy who goes and lives in each city for around 1 year and gets to know the cool bars, underground clubs, great clothing stores etc. He makes these little mini maps with a guide book, showing where everything is. Its like travelling with a local everywhere you go. They are damn helpful. And FREE. (You do have to look kinda hard to find them as they are in exclusive places, and I believe the guy prints them all out himself.

Wench,

'old couches' and 'old quarry-type sites up the forest service roads'. Sounds well organized - something every Vancouverite is just aching to do.

Like I said, anyone who wants crank off a few rounds can always have at it. Just go register a gun, grab a six pack and as many boxes of shells as you can get your hands on, and go to town. (or rather go out in the woods). Nothing stopping ya.

I love Wade's. Ladies night on Thursdays! You haven't lived a sitcom-style life until you've posed with a cowboy-style revolver and shot from the hip at a paper target.

now more than likely to be out of date...

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Guide-Seattle-Smartest-Obsessive/dp/1570612560

Hey David, the first rule of The Hideout is that You Don't Talk About The Hideout.

Places you're not supposed to talk about shouldn't have fascinating websites detailing their existence.

@ #5: Kids love my Cookie Puss!

there was a secret bar in new orleans back in the mid90's called the Hi-Ho. situated in the bowels of the ninth ward, you'd have to stand at the door and knock until someone peered through the curtain to let you in. the huge wooden door was blocked on the inside by a giant 2x4. the place was set up like 3 or 4 seperate living rooms. people were free to smoke weed and basically get loaded. is there such a place in seattle?

If I had Canadians to entertain this weekend, I'd take 'em to Key Arena to watch the Seattle Thunderbirds take on the Chilliwack Bruins. Canadians love that hockey, and! Prize blimp! and! Beer!

On a sad/related note: the T-Birds are moving to Everett. Only 4 games left to play in Key Arena. Time to figure out what to do with that venue.

correction: the T-Birds are moving to Kent, not Everett.

the only kind of food you can't find better examples of in Vancouver already than in Seattle is Mexican. Send them to South Park, White Center, or that taco truck on Rainier. If you like Indian, stay in Canada.

Carollani wrote: "I love Wade's. Ladies night on Thursdays! You haven't lived a sitcom-style life until you've posed with a cowboy-style revolver and shot from the hip at a paper target."

I'd rather stay home and just fuck.

In Queen Anne --

Happy hour or brunch at Pesos at Mercer and Queen Anne -- Meat market, yes, but a must see in its own way. Both happy hour and brunch are good deals and good food. Dos Equis draft.

Mecca for loud beers. Leather jacket time, if you brought one.

Crow for dinner on 5th Ave N

10 Mercer, if you want to try to swank it a little.

Uptown Coffee for coffee

Upper Queen Anne - Cafe Ladro or Oh Diablo for coffee.

Hilltop Ale House -- to see where the people who have the families and the dough to put 'em in a house up there go to get pub food and good beer selection.

Tons of restaurants -- give one a whirl.

I have never shot a gun in the US but I have in Canada (at a can)
Dick Burger (after having some beers and you are really hungry)
And it is not true there are no good Mexican food places in vancouver there are lots. You just have to look outside of downtown Commercial Drive or up on Victoria Drive.
But I do like Gorditos on 85th (have not tried the Queen Ann one)
Funny thing is I never use the Georgia Strait Best of section to find interesting things in Vancouver. I just get out there and discover. When in Seattle I do the same.

Oh my god, 20, I wish there was a Carvel's somewhere in Washinton. The closest one is in Reno.

Awesome. I think that's totally funny.

please do not send poor hapless visitors to bellevue, let alone for guns.

the one and only serious place to buy a serious gun anywhere in the area is BUTCH'S GUN SHOP here, on aurora, no less.

The obvious merits of gun control aside, and keeping in mind the tourista recipient of our advice and their assumed predeliction for the "Seattle experience", I'd have to recommend Butchs Gun Shop (Winona and Aurora @ Greenlake), for the following reasons:

1) The vibe. Prior to the smoking ban, the man I assume to be Butch chainsmoked inside while discoursing on his wares. Ashtrays were conveniently placed for those patrons wishing to indulge. Now Butch paces outside chain smoking and looking as if the worlds passed him by. Heartbreaking, but poignant. No word on whether he'll pose for a photo, but if you fancy a smoke......

Also, the door has a guard gate of the variety seen in hood movies. A friend remembers this gate being unlocked to admit patrons, then relocked behind there entry during the early 90's. Apparently they didn't want the atmosphere getting out-and no testament of great trust in my friend.

2) Our visitor may well be looking not just for any gun, but for that ONE gun.

If so, Butch will kindly place you on a waitlist if the piece isn't in stock. I myself just recently was called on a 1911 longslide I'd requested 11/04. Sadly, I am undercapitalized at this point.

3) Its convenient from their hotel, just 9 minutes up Aurora from QA. Why showcase our congestion? Take the drive just prior to sunset if it rains-you'll take in a breathtaking vista to your left as you cross the bridge headed up.

@1 - bull. Canadians own more guns per capita than Americans. But they only use them for hunting. And more Canadians have had military service per capita than Americans.

I know. I was in the frickin Canadian Armed Forces (Army) for seven years.

And I knew a lot of Vancouverites who could shoot - in fact, I lived in East Van, went to college in North Van and Burnaby, my brother went to UBC, and there are tons of Canadians who can shoot all around.

They just don't shoot other people except during wartime. And many don't lock their doors when they're home - because they don't feel unsafe like Americans do.

'Will' So you can shoot a gun; maybe your brother can too. In fact, if you were in the Canadian Army I hope to god that you can.

However, the notion of your average Vancouverite being even remotely interested in cranking off a few rounds at a gun range -- totally hilarious.

Hey what's say someone ask this guy?

to your BUTCH'S list, rob, allow me to add:

4) the salesmanship. i went in to buy some mace at BUTCH'S and in doing so witnessed a guy talking with (i assume) Butch about a gun for home security. seems the guy wanted something more for show than for actual shooting. Butch scratched his head a second (no doubt wondering why anybody wouldn't want to shoot a gun), then took down some kind of short shotgun looking thing off the wall behind him and said, "well now, THIS [insert loud "cha-CLICK" sound of Butch cocking the gun] is a sound EVERYBODY knows." ummmm...SOLD!!

Hi Jim. You letter i received. Thanks! Photos is GREAT!!!!

Hi Jim. You letter i received. Thanks! Photos is GREAT!!!!