Montreal snow

Avenue de Kent

Van Horne

I finally got out the camera and took a couple pictures this morning. Just going outside to face the piles of snow requires effort. Most sidewalks in this neighborhood are buried under snow. Good luck on the side streets. There's enough room for one vehicle to drive through. Forget about trying to park; it's next to impossible, unless you own a plastic hut or paid to have your driveway plowed.

happy holiday

drawing by Lohbado

Dreaming man wishes you all sweet dreams, happy holiday, happy friendly gatherings, happy quiet time, happy relaxation.

slum apartment

sink and hot plate

top of fridge

bathroom

Lohbado wandered into an apartment the size of a storage locker. The tenant gave him permission to photograph a few details. The rent is high. One pays for the privilege of living indoors. It's better than living on the street. Landlords have to survive. The tenant gets depressed and stops cleaning the place. It's easy to sink into depressive inertia, to spend days inside, sleeping, watching a DVD and sleeping some more. I got depressed just visiting the place, the low ceilings, the smell of decay.

Eighty per cent of the man's income goes towards rent. After paying rent, there's eighty dollars left to pay for everything else during the month. There are little survival tricks. Don't use toilet paper. Wash your clothes in the bathtub. Get food from the food bank. Never go beyond walking distance. If you can find a cheap bike, that would be nice. It costs nearly six dollars for a round trip on public transit.

Sometimes a man has trouble holding and keeping a job. There are psychological issues. One could take medication. As one becomes lower economic caste, doors close. People turn away in disgust. Such a person learns to keep a low profile.

This apartment is luxurious compared to some other places I've seen in much worse condition. The ratio of what one pays and what one receives in return increases with the level of one's destitution. You pay increasingly more for increasingly less. 

vintage camera items

Fotax Mini from Sweden

Good luck trying to find film for the Fotax. The camera is from about 1948. Also, I haven't been able to figure out how to open it. Maybe it's jammed from years of sitting on the shelf.

I remember my father using photo-flash lamps, blinding blue light, a popping sound, in the early sixties.

tire pattern in snow

First snow here to stay, it melted a bit, then froze. The street is slippery in places.

Have some cherry juice and a biscuit.

change in the weather

Yesterday, I walked to the plaza and took a photo of the parking lot before going in. There was something picturesque about the sheer desolation of the scene. Today, a layer of wet snow covers the streets of Montreal.

weird door

green door

radio

There's no connection between the two images. Sometimes the mind makes unexpected associations. Perhaps this loose couple will give birth to a new concept.

ah, so

maybe success

don't forget to smile

Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok

full jobber bushman

The full jobber bush man drill bits can handle most lengths.

just add peanut butter

bathroom tile

keep it clean

add peanut butter

evening sky

A mondo mystico progression occurred as Lohbado stood in the bathroom. To make supper, all he had to do was just add peanut butter. After, he looked out the window.

garbage day

Garbage day is often quite the adventure. One of the garbage men commented on how it looked like an entire living room on the front lawn. Those men are real athletes. They lift a lot of heavy material and keep the place tidy.

happy couple

What does it mean to be a happy couple? What is the shelf-life of romantic love? What happens when romance fades and one is forced to deal with the other person? Why is it so difficult for people to get along? What do people expect from each other when they become a couple?

The Grumblers Group

Join the long and troubling tradition of grumbling. We invite you to wallow in worry. Proclaim every little irritation and mental discomfort. Holler as loud as you can, to drown out other grumblers and to draw attention to yourself. After all, you are you, the most important you on the planet. The you of you is more important than the billions of other yous, because you are the only you you. There’s only one you you, whereas there are seven billion other yous. The rarity of you you makes your you all the more precious. If only other yous would stop and realize there’s only one you! Then maybe the other yous would give you the attention you need!

Oogalitarian

June 2009, taken during Lohbado's last day in Kangirsuk

Let me repeat, once again, the origin of the name Lohbado. A gray-bearded man heard the sound of a subway train getting louder. The train burst into the station in a roar. Within the loud noise, he heard a voice shouting: Lohbado. Lohbado. Lohbado.

Drool flowed from the side of his mouth and soaked his beard as he strained to hear more Lohbado.  In the broken wind of the train, he heard a riddle: Tell me now quickly, what is your name? I need to know your name. There's something riddle-like in a name, especially when you forget your name. It's dangerous to not know your name.

My name is Lohbado, the one who drools through his beard.

Look at the wheels of the train. Watch as the doors slide open. Look at the mouth of the tunnel. The subway train goes in one end and out the other. The secret lines in the hole, opening, zero, oh. Oogah!

    Oogah exploded in his ears. The accelerating and various other noises joined together to shout, in such a way as to be understandable within his sound-consciousness, Oogah. Oogah begins with two Ohs, zeroes, openings or passage ways. It balances on the G spot, Oh on one end, Ah on the other. An epistle to the Oogalalians in an Oogalitarian society, open your heart and mind. Don’t hesitate to pass through the Oh.

How would you like to be remembered

Over the hill is fine. At the top of the hill, look back on years of confusion, ups and downs. Pause for a breather.

walk on the quiet side

woman from a beauty salon sign

I walked to the bank this afternoon and withdrew some money from the instant teller. It was enjoyable to walk slowly in the sunshine. There must be come sort of magnetic attraction among people. It often happens, when I’m strolling along, a person suddenly steps right in front of me and blocks the way. While walking down the hill, suddenly a young woman, wearing strong-smelling perfume, stepped in front of me. I couldn’t get around her. So I accepted the fact that I would be following her down the hill, our vibes interconnected. If she didn’t like it, she could get out of the way and let me pass. I lacked the stamina to sprint around her. I didn’t want to follow her. That’s how it ended up. This happens often.

autumn flowers

That's it, another summer over, another autumn begins. As I get older, it becomes much easier to slow down and enjoy the flowers along the way.

happy

Ok, so what is happiness? Cha cha cha, OOO Cha. Relax, say hello to a friendly cat, smile, be friendly.

relaxing

on the back balcony

in the park

The relaxation of summer is over. September came in with wind and rain. Time to go back to classes.

family visit

Once in a while it's fun to visit people you haven't seen in a long time. I hadn't seen Mary in about thirteen years. It was a lot of fun to relax and talk about things.

dream hostess

welcome to the dream

The door opened, a dream hostess appeared, welcoming you to wake up and explore the world of dream while you sleep, or to enjoy the dream-like nature of reality while you don't sleep.

doing the laundry

Gotta keep up with the laundry. Don't let it pile up, otherwise it's going to take a lot of machines to clean those clothes.