Monday, February 15, 2010

Siamese Sightings *UPDATED*

A fun side-effect of the 2010 Olympic games has been an increase of public art in the Vancouver streets.

Before raining cats and dogs, I made a bonus raindrop to add to the Olympics-inspired sights:


This cat and dog duo are non-identical Siamese twins. Behind them, some rings from the Games:


Would you like to play a game?

I placed the Siamese Raindrop in an undisclosed location, within walking distance of some public art. Here's a clue to its secret spot:
"These twins are lit by the flicker of regal planetary rocks circa 1050, and share a bird's eye view of Vancouver-before-Vancouver."
If you're near Vancouver, you're invited to find the Siamese Raindrop! Bonus: the first photographer of the Siamese Raindrop will receive a mini prize I crocheted. Your photos can be emailed or shared on the WooWork.com Facebook page.

If you're far from Vancouver, feel free to guess! I'll feature the first best guesser in the next blog update, along with the first best photo.

See? We crafty people can compete in games too!


UPDATE - Feb 24, 2010:

Before game's end, I received this email from Annette in Ontario:


I was awestruck by such an accurate guess, especially from out-of-town!

Here are Catalina and Alfredog at their previously-undisclosed location, enjoying their bird's eye view from a tree near Regal Hotel:


The clue's mention of "flicker" suggests my Flickr photo account, which includes a map to the Siamese Raindrop. "Planetary rocks" refers to the Planet Rock store across the street from the Regal Hotel. Along with those details, Annette's description was spot-on!

Congratulations, Annette! You win Gold in Guessing, so I'm sending you this mini raindrop I made:


And thank you for the great guesses from karen, Kate from England, and *birdee* from Singapore!

Here's a video of more public art on "Vancouver-before-Vancouver" street during the 2010 Olympic games:


By the way, when I was up in the tree, I noticed a familiar face:


Woomi returned safely from space!


Small world, eh?

Thanks for playing the Siamese Sightings game!


UPDATE - March 19, 2010:

Annette gave a tour of Wawa, Ontario to the Mini Raindrop! Here are her fun photos and descriptions:

Raindrop reads the plaque below the Wawa Goose (who is wearing a knitted scarf!)
Raindrop hangs with the Goomees
Raindrop over the Trans-Canada Highway
Doesn't the Mini Raindrop look happy in its new neighbourhood? Thanks, Annette!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Raining Cats and Dogs

In Vancouver, we're sensitive about our reputation as a rainy city. In 1998, many Vancouverites became enraged when actor David Duchovny joked, "Vancouver is a very nice place, if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day."


With the Olympic-sized attention arriving here soon, our rainy self-consciousness has resurfaced.

I thought it might be therapeutic to crochet some raindrops. So I made 14 of them, stitched cat and dog heads on each, gave them names, and felt well-adjusted again.

Raining Cats:


Raining Dogs:


To share this rain therapy, I searched for a public space to hang these raindrops. I chose the Davie Village Community Garden because it's the downtown site of a yarnstorming from sunny last summer:



Photo by ChromaticRat on Flickr

Photo by danielabsilva on Flickr

After some rainstorms, Jessica Glesby's knitted wall has seen sunnier days:


The wooden trellis above the garden, however, remained clear and that was where the Raining Cats and Dogs found their new home last week.




My girlfriend MJ was videotaping while her mom guided my installation of the raindrops. Here's a video of the stringin' up process!


The cat and dog faces are enjoying the sight of human faces looking up at them for a change.


(There are more photos on my Flickr. I'll update this blog post as the Raining Cats and Dogs installation inevitably evaporates.)

As all eyes focus on Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, I hope these raindrops show that we Vancouverites can be proud of the rain that makes our streets shiny and our lush trees grow.




If we remain a little insecure about our rain, our citizens can try repeating MJ's defiant catchphrase: "Yeah, it rains in Vancouver. So what?"

We're just dancin' and singin' in the rain!



UPDATE - September  9, 2011:

Find out what happened to the last raindrop here!

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