i remember having the avalon milk as a kid. we would always bring the bottles back and get new ones. the difference in their milk is night and day. they also used to have ice cream cakes which were i remember to be quite good.

Look familiar?
That 2way mirror to his office always scared the shit out of me cause you never knew if he was watching.

http://theshotokanway.com/images/ima...arthy%2015.jpg

Who knew we were being trained by one of best in the world?

http://www.theshotokanway.com/interv...tmccarthy.html

The weightroom in the back smelled like shit from the stagnent air and sweat. Sempai Larry was an asshole when Sensei Pat wasn't teaching.

^^^ whoa!!!!!!!! buddy, thats a good find!

Ya i found out a few years after i was done there (still very young, like 10), that he was world renowned. CRAZY....
Used to walk to Shitu Ryu by myself at age 5, walk accross the street to Churches on the way home, grab a corn on the cob, and karate kick the cutout of ROCKY they had inside... remember that shit... "Churches, we fed Rocky". bwhahahaha.

Laser Illusions :thumbsup:

That place was awesome until they closed and I had nothing to do with the 3000 tickets I saved . FUUUUUUUUUUUU

Shito Ryu Karate. Lots of Kung Fu places, too in Vancouver. One used to be on Jackson Street. Just north of Hastings. The place was below ground. So cool to find out this stuff.

pic fail, sorry

I went to that place also and you know what happened to Pat Mcarthey apperently he told everyone he was gonna move to China to learn more but my friends dad was his doctor and he didn't go to China he went to jail for drugs or something I can't remember the whole story it's been so long.

Out of the blue, the wife wanted Pizza King tonight so I did a google search for the phone number and found out that they have been around at that location on Broadway since 1984. Wow. And the army/navy surplus store next door with the Gorilla in the rain gear has been there for a while too.

Interesting....

haha i had full week binges on pizza king, good pizza and pasta FTMW!

Asians sure know how to make awesome value for food!!! :D

What happened to Pizza 222?

are you referring to 222-2222? LOL i grew up eating that shit. earliest memories of ordering pizza :P

Wow! You're a real vet!

When I went to Britannia, Bill Vance had retired several years ago. And you're right - the demographics at Britannia have significantly changed even after I graduated 7 years ago. The Arts department pretty much imploded upon itself and teachers who once cared, are now retiring and there is no longer a band program.

The lower portion of Strathcona was later on (late 90s) rented out as a private pre-school as Kindergarten enrollment was low. It was once funded by the city and federal gov't but since then, no funds were allocated to keep the program. My brother was a victim of this where we had to pay for pre-school when we lived at the Maclean Park Projects.

Living at the Maclean Park Projects, I recall Chinatown being so vibrant and full of culture/history. Now, it's an empty wasteland with million-dollar condos being built as we speak. Stores like Ho-Ho Grocery are gone, Fung's is still around but called something else, and the ol' Benny's is still alive and kicking. :)

Going back to Chinatown, there use to be a chinese newspaper that had their printing press in the basement. I was very young when my grandmother worked at that place.
I'm thinking it might be that unit just south of the Corning pharmacy.

I remember hanging out downstairs where the printing press was and how there were underground tunnels all over chinatown. Both my parents worked and in the summers I got to hang out in chinatown.

If you go down some of the streets, you can still see the purple coloured glass tiles. I'm thinking I was prolly around 5 when I was shown those tunnels and have just the vagest memory of them.

Another thing that has changed over the years is produce row. Just south of Venables, near the gelato place, is Malkin ave where most of the produce wholesalers in Vancouver are located. On of them, Van Whole, use to be located on Union st, a lot closer to the heart of chinatown. Of course, that warehouse has long been torn down and replaced with other buildings.

They also pay their employees pretty damn well. I can't think of any other job where unskilled labour pays up to 32 with benefits.

Nope, I think Gum Gook Yuen is still there, but on Pender a few doors away from the BMO

The one on Main used to be called Wah Dut Kee

Aiya!! Fung's. I remember that place. That was the first and only time in my entire life I stole something. It was pearled candy. I felt so guilty about it and it haunted me. Many years later. Like 20+ years later, I went back and paid for the candy. I explained to the old lady behind the counter why. She tought I was nuts, but it cleared my conscience. I never stole anything in my life except for that one time. I'm not Christian so I can't ask for forgiveness.

Anyway, Benny's is owned by Italians, yes? I know them. Actually everybody knew them.

So, bcrdukes, if you graduated 7 years ago, was Victor Guy still kicking around?

The fire hall just north of the produce warehouses never used to be there. I also remember a certain sausage company that had a factory outlet on either Williams or Napier. Just a block or so east of that rather large park on Venables. Googling that area, I see it is called Strathcona Park now, but I swear it was called something else before. It had a track and a grandstand. The grandstand was where guys took their g/f for you know..... anyway, I used to go by the sausage place on my way to Brit to get their famous pepperoni sticks. I have forgotten the name of the place. Someone remember the name?

Back in those days walking to and from school was no big deal. I bet if kids nowadays had to walk that far, they'd die of a heart attack. LOL.

When I was 14, we were playing baseball at that park. This was back in 91 and it was already called Strathcona park. Even back then, there was a huge prostitute/drug problem. Like today, there were condoms and condom wrappers all over the place as well as disgarded needles.

Doing some research for an RS thread about old racetracks in the 604, that track was actually used as a race track back in the 50's. IIRC, it was called the False Creek Stadium.
http://www.canadianracer.com/track-d...&extra=history

http://www.canadianracer.com/track-d...&extra=history

An interesting read. Didn't know there were so much racing in Vancouver before 1960.

I always thought it was a track, as in the track and field kind. The things you find out.

Yeah, Benny's is Italian. They live around the corner on Princess Ave and I don't think the store is going anywhere anytime soon.

And yes, at the time I was at Brit, Victor Guy was still head of the Arts department. After I graduated, he decided to retire in 2003 or was it 2004? I don't remember. His wife, who taught at Templeton, had cancer so they decided to take it easy and went traveling all over the place. Everything is okay now. He's currently playing in his quartet all over town while running the North Shore Community Band.

yea.. during my work experience week, i drove by there, guys from the park board told me the same thing. it was a mini track of sorts back in the day... hmmm u must go sideways to go fast i guess!

That's to deter the formation of a union

So, if you know that much about him, you must be a former band student of his?