St. Alphonsus Rectory, Kildonan Drive, Bronx Park & National Cash Advance

St. Alphonsus Rectory, Brazier Street and Donalda Ave.

View of Kildonan Drive from Hazel Dell Avenue

View of Bronx Park Community Center from the East Kildonan Lions Club Seniors Park

National Cash Advance, Henderson Highway and Sydney Avenue, formerly Video Stop

As long as I can remember I've liked the St. Alphonsus Rectory. Even though it was probably dated within a few years of its being built, the design is charming and it fits right in in East Kildonan.

A view of Kildonan Drive from the end of the street that I grew up on. If you were to continue down Kildonan Drive you'd soon arrive at Fraser's Grove Park, a fixture of any East Kildonan childhood (at least on the west side of Henderson Highway). The hacienda-style house on the right has always been a favourite of mine and is unique among the post-war style homes of most of EK.

The newly-built Bronx Park Community Center, finished just last spring. I played one season of soccer for the Bronx Park Bruins before I realized that I wasn't really any good at it. This building is a big step up from the former community center, which was built in yellow-painted cinder block and feature almost no amenities whatsoever. It's a welcome addition to the neighbourhood. Behind me in this picture is the Red River, which will be featured, I'm sure, at some point in this series.

National Cash Advance came into the neighbourhood a couple of years ago. Much to my disappointment it supplanted Video Stop, which was a great little video store that I frequented throughout junior high and high school. I still get a little bit angry every time I go past it. I also worked for one summer at that KFC/Taco Bell. I thought that it was gross.

Henderson Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Henderson Seventh-Day Adventist Church in North Kildonan

Being back in my old neighbourhood again has conjured up some strange emotions. Not bad, just strange. I love my city, and I love my neighbourhood, but, like they say, you can never go home. The Kildonans of my childhood are different because I am different. Part of my homecoming has been this experience of sadness over the realization that Winnipeg went ahead and kept growing and changing regardless of my presence or absence. She and I need to get to know each other again. 

Because busyness and change pushed the names project into the background and I'm having trouble scrounging up the will to keep it going, I've decided to start a new, less structured project about Winnipeg. I don't know how many pictures I'll do, or when exactly I'll post them, but I'll do my best to post at least a couple a week. Hopefully this will get some hits going on the old blog again. 

Here is the first picture: Henderson Seventh-Day Adventist Church, on Henderson Highway, near where I grew up. This church is right on the main drag through my neighbourhood, and only a few blocks away from my old elementary school. On the other side of the wall there is Henderson Highway. The church must have gotten itself a new sign in the last couple of years because you can see the old sign off to the right of the photograph.

A Day at the Zoo

It's been a while here hasn't it . . .

To update: I'm in Winnipeg now and have started my new job. A job-type job. I've also been hanging out with my family quite a bit, since I now can do so. One of my hangings out with family was spent this past Sunday at the Assiniboine Park Zoo here in Winnipeg. I went with my sister and her husband as well as their two kids. You'll notice that these pictures feature neither family nor exotic animals. I mean no offense to either, my sister's family are all lovely people, and the animals were nice too, but, like I said to my sister on Sunday when she asked why I was taking pictures of such odd things:

I have my obsessions.

One of many oddly modern structures at the Zoo.

Faux Asian.

Detail.

Birch outside of the the lion enclosure.

Camel enclosure.

More modern structures.

Detail.

I've noticed buildings in this style around Winnipeg; it seems to me
like a uniquely northern modern style of the 60s and 70s. It makes me
think of the National Film Board of Canada for some reason.

Day #48: Roger

Here is a second version of Roger, with more sensical lines. This design calls attention to the quasi-palindromic nature (at least in the letter shapes) of the name. 

In my comment below I cited Weingart as an influence, but I've second-guessed that. 

Check these out.