Ok so this might sound a little bit odd, and perhaps even a little bit piggish, but what they hey, i just have to be me.

   I went to see the movie Birthday Girl yesterday.  You know, it being bad movie friday and all, and all reports to date had certainly agreed with this fact.  (It wasn't actually all that bad, but it certainly wasn't good either.  if i was reviewing it right now i would be giving it a tepid.)
   Before we can continue i must tell you that i have, in my bedroom a black iron bed frame purchased from our fine friends at IKEA (why do they always capitalize that name? i wrote it with only a leading cap first and it just looked wrong to me). It is a gorgeous bed that i am very happy with, and not just because of how functional for tying, um, things, to.
   So, as the main character is setting his home up for the arrival of his mail order bride from Russia (the basic premise of this film) played by Nicole Kidman i notice that my very same bed is being delivered to his home.
   At this moment i must confess that i like Nicole Kidman.  I will grant you that her taste in men and religions is a little questionable but in spite of her thinness i find her quite attractive (read hot) and really quite talented.
   Skit a few frames forward in the movie and we are shown this rather nice image of a naked nicole kidman tied to MY BED.  Did you get that? MY BED.  I can walk into the other room and i can picture her there, because i have seen her tied to MY BED.
   Ok, there may have been a small thrill here for me. Maybe. 
   And no, i won't promise that after the movie comes out and the celeb porn cappers get their way that i won't be looking for this image obsessively.  But i can promise that i will not send it to any of my friends trying to claim that i have slept with Nicole Kidman.

   Ok. so i'm annoyed, disturbed and perhaps even a little perturbed.  I am not a huge fan of architecture and wouldn't know a 'beautiful' building if it jumped up and bit me on the ass.  This does not, however, stop me from appreciating beauty and knowing what i like. 

  The Vancouver Art Gallery is housed in a gorgeous historic type building that at one time used to be the Court House for Vancouver.  I have long enjoyed looking at this building just for the sake of what it looks like.  I had just begun to accept that the long banners and signs that accompany a new exhibit at the gallery are an acceptable marring of the building when they decided to make a slight addition to the back.

   See, it's a nice building.  The wings fit in nicely, the two lions set if off beautifully.  However, this is the back and what appears to be an entrance in the middle isn't one.  In fact, once you reach the top of the stairs you can not even get to the door as there is a nice fence running across. 
   In their continuing, and i suppose not always misguided quest for customer service they have added a rather large sign that is glaringly visible from no matter how far away i look at the building.

   See, it is even actually helpful.  I guess. But so is the fence and the obviousness of it not being the entrance.  The big sign, to me, is ugly.  It annoys me.  It irks me.
It makes me wonder what sort of obfuscious management we have making the decisions at our fine gallery.