Dance by takeSomeCrime, via David John at You have been here sometime. Question: Is the relationship between the decor and the moves inversely proportional – the sketchier the room, the better the moves are? Or is the room just irrelevant? Is this decor Canadian, or is the Canadian location just incidental? Are these questions rhetorical if nobody answers them?

Almost everyone in Canada knows this animation from the National Film Board of Canada. It’s by John Weldon, 1979, with music by The McGarrigle sisters. The NFB has always been a brilliant organization, and now they’re offering Canadian films and animations for free in their iPhone app. Watch this and The Big Snit on your phone. For free. Long live public arts funding in Canada.

From the Canadian Design Resource. Late 70s Quebec vase from the Sial company.

I’ve liked this building from childhood, but somehow I managed to see it with fresh eyes recently – I was late for an art event there, it was dusk, I was tired, the entry was deserted and somehow I suddenly noticed how ridiculously beautiful it is. It houses the Museum of Vancouver and the H.R. MacMillan Planetarium, famous in part for the Led Zep and Pink Floyd laser light shows which everyone steadfastly refuses to attend with me. I’ve been trying to get someone to go with me for years. The building’s shape probably references both flying saucers and the finely woven hats of the Salish First Nations on whose traditional lands Vancouver squats. The architect is George Hamilton and the building was completed in 1968; the stainless steel crab fountain (turned off for maintenance when I took these photos) is by sculptor George Norris. Click photos for more information.

and these shots by ChimayBleue on Flickr:

I’m not sure why I bought this last week, considering how much I dislike flags, flag waving, or any other patriotic or nationalist behaviours, or sentiments, or merch, but it was somehow appealing when I saw it in the fabric rack at VV. Probably because it was crumpled, faded, orphaned, abjectly inexpensive, and weirdly, touchingly orange. Also, since it dates from the 1970s, it has all these beautiful old elements – a high quality braided rope, a nice hem, and a real wooden toggle. It’s Canada Day today, and I’m posting this photo not out of nationalism but in memory of the spirit of outward-looking, border-ignoring internationalism that Canada briefly tried for in the 1970s, right around the time this flag was made. Maybe once we are rid of our current narrow-minded, inward-looking government, we can try for that again. Happy July 1st worldwide to everyone, and may things be nice wherever you are. Sorry about Celine Dion.

One last Vancouver house by Arthur Erickson. The house was built for and is still owned by the painterGordon Smith and his partner Marion. They have carefully maintained it over the years, in keeping with Erickson’s original design and intention. There’s an interesting article in Vancouver Magazine about the difference between their informed maintenance and the slow degradation of Erickson’s nearby Graham House, which was demolished in 2007. For another painter’s house in West Vancouver, see the BC Binning house here. All photos are from Arthur Erickson’s site and are by Ezra Stoller, John Fulker and Steven Zhen Wang.