Ah, yes - it's fall. Let the cliches commence!

But, at least there's a little adventure to go along with this shot. It was taken on the grounds of what used to be one of the largest psychiatric hospitals (actually, probably the largest) in B.C. The past tense is due to the fact that, like governments in a lot of places, a series of our provincial governments, starting in the early 1980s, decided that all the folks who used to live here could do just as well out in the "community". If you want to get an idea of how well that bit of idiocy worked out, go back into this blog's archives and look at shots from the Downtown Eastside. There won't be many shots of the folks who live there, but you'll get a pretty good idea of their living conditions.

And, you know what's really charming? Vancouver's hosting the 2010 winter Olympics. Remember how well China did this year trying to hide its less-than-ideal side? Yeah, well, keep your eye on Vancouver. Sometime over the next year the Powers That Be are planning to vacuum up all the poor souls they so unceremoniously turfed out of this hospital and drop them right back in. Temporarily, at least. Just till the tourist bucks have come to town. Meanwhile, the hovels these folks currently live in are being rapidly converted to expensive condos. What's going to happen in 2011? These folks are going to once again be turfed out of Riverview so that it, too, can eventually be turned into condos. Nice world, huh?

Oh! I almost forgot the adventure. Right. So, I was out there with my good friend, Dr. Flynn. She's actually a psych doc and has worked at Riverview, so she knows the place. Well, O.K., she hasn't worked there in a few years, but... Anyway, we arrive, drive around looking for suitable photographic material - Paula wants to photograph the place in all four seasons - and finally park. Right next to a security guard's car. With the security guard in it. Naturally, we blithely ignore his presence. Well, after about 5 minutes of uninterrupted shooting, said guard wanders over to Paula to tell her we can't take pictures. I was about 30 feet away, doing my best to ignore the guy. And feeling increasingly aggressive. Gees - I was reminding myself of a dog I once owned - bite first, ask questions later. Paula, however, was calmly talking to the guy (must be why she's good at being a psych doc, huh?), which gave me time to cool off. Good thing, too. He was a very nice guy and the rule he was enforcing was, damn it, legitimate. It seems the hospital folks are worried about people coming in, taking pictures of the joint that include patients, and posting those pictures on the internet for anyone to see. Kind of an invasion of the patients' privacy, right? Yep - right. So the three of us chatted for a while about the hospital (it's got some truly nifty buildings), the sad state of psychiatric care in the world, and other issues, and then Paula and I drove off, looking for other photographic fodder.

O.K., not exactly 007 material, but...