Duelling "Obama" cafes set up on the same block in Toronto

David sez, "When it launched early last month, the Obama Cafe, at 1226 Danforth Avenue, was the city's first Obama-themed business. But it wouldn't be alone for long: just a few doors down, at 1236 Danforth, an internet shop formerly known as the United Internet Cafe got a new red, white, and blue sign of its own, and a new name, just in time for the American president's trip to Ottawa: Obama Cybernet Ltd. (or, if you go by their website, which advertises that 'yes we can help!' with your computer needs, the Obama Cybernet Cafe."

Lipstick on a Pig (Thanks, David!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Funny • politics

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Nadreck

This is the start of a strip of Danforth that I and my cronies have long labelled “the Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. Almost all of the businesses are either weirdo or cheapo and are usually both. A typical block would have: a shoe salesmen’s guild headquarters; a foam rubber wholesalers (note – not suitable for crashing your Bat-copter into!); a used occult-book store, a craptastic restaurant with a yellow “warning” advisory from the health board and a couple of cats in the window; a used vinyl record store; and so on and so on. Because of the presumably low rents it’s a combined incubator for stores based on new ideas and a palliative care facility for dying ones. Some quirk of geo-economics has kept it that way for decades.

The optics, especially around sunset, can be quite striking. The Danforth is arrow-straight for miles along that section and the sun hangs directly over the west end. You, and your block-long shadow, can see nothing but shabby two-story strip malls from one horizon to the other. You can easily believe that you’re in one of Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot comics.
Nadreck

UPDATE: I was moved by this thread to have a sunset stroll along this strip today.

Seen:

- About one out of every six stores is vacant: more than usual even for this area.

- “Bring your own take-out container and get 30-cents off!”!!

- Ice-cream factory outlet

- Abandoned “Church of Scientology Mission to East Toronto”

- Not one but two flamingo-themed restaurants: sadly, not duelling

- Business Improvement Association signs from the “Mosaic BIA”

- “Legion of Mary – Archdiocese of Toronto”

- Duelling Pizza-Pizza and Dosa-Dosa. Ever wily, the Pizza-Pizza is offering Halal meat toppings on request.

- “Bill Biliq’s Charitable Store”

- A 3×2 metre framed Venus on the half-shell sticking out of the framing store. I’ve always been a big fan of Giant Icons and I’m glad to see that Toronto hasn’t gone the way of Gotham City in outlawing them because they tend to encourage Supervillain/Superhero fights.

http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/2009/2009_Individual/2009_03/001929.php

- The big shopping centre at Victoria Park is build around the first enclosed shopping mall in Canada: which was on the west end of the current site. You can see all of the sky-lights that were used to illuminate it on top of the Zellers: they were initially worried that people wouldn’t want to shop indoors under artificial lighting. (PS – Yes, I know that Hamilton claims this distinction with the Barton Street Mall but that was just a roof slapped over a pair of parallel strip-malls.)
Ugly Canuck

Here’s a tune by some “sorcerer hippies” that you may whistle while strolling down this stretch of the Danforth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkV6u0xgNww

It is catchy.
And that Gary Lucas is a genius guitarist, too – but not so much on this cut.
13strong

This is getting kind of sad.
nanuq

If Barack were smart, he’d trademark his name and issue licenses for use. Maybe with regular inspections to ensure that they all met his high standards.
Brelle

I just noticed these while walking to my parents’ house on Sunday.

This neighbourhood (just past where the Danforth stops being cool) is slowly changing demongraphics and it’s interesting to see it take a new shape.

The Italian “social clubs” are being replaced by halal butchers, and the current mosque is being renovated into what will soon be the city’s largest. Right across the street from a teeny little (Baptist?) church.

Add some slow but steady gentrification as people keep looking for affordable housing and it just makes for a very odd no-man’s land in a city where every block seems claimed by one culture at the expense of every other.

Maybe this will become the Obama part of town.
Phikus

Get it over with and rename the whole street Obama Blvd. willya? After all, it is the birthplace of… oh never mind.
Anonymous

Toronto always had these wannabe-trendy tendancies… i’d say they should change its name to Torontobama. their point will be made once and for all.

phil from montreal :P
kaszeta

It’ll be the Ray’s Pizza of Toronto!
kaosmonkey

How many businesses named themselves after Bush?
Kay the Complainer

Ha! I have the day off on Friday and was thinking of taking a long bike ride somewhere. Maybe I’ll head east along the Danforth and see this in person…or maybe that’s just too sad.

I used to work in this neighbourhood, and yes, it is quite a weird area. There’s a really good Value Village at Woodbine, though.
Anonymous

@ #3:

This neighbourhood (just past where the Danforth stops being cool)

I don’t know what your definition of cool is, but this is my neighbourhood and the Danforth doesn’t start getting cool until east of Pape.

West of Pape is a bunch of overly priced “Ikea-modern” Greek restaurants, bullshit fake English/Irish pubs, wedding gown shops and places to buy your dog a sweater.

East of Pape is halal pizza joints, used book stores, mosques, parks, pubs with ridiculous beer selections, record stores, youth employment centres, great coffee, bakers, family run gyms, Islamic Book stores, LCBO, weekend brunch, cheap burritos, and great pizza.

This is one of the most diverse streets in the city, unlike your cool side of the Danforth. Your parents probably get it.
c0nn0r

I live down the street from these joints… Should I check ‘em out?
AnjaFlower

Wow, um.
The guy’s pretty cool. I’ve got a poster of him in my window. But there’s no reason to worship the ground he walks on, y’know? This is just getting redonkulous.

I think I’ll start a medical supplies company and sell Obama surgical knives and Obama heart stents…
Phikus

“How many businesses named themselves after Bush?”

He does have a bad beer and a lame band…
Matt Eric

Damn, if we’d known that all it would take for you all to love us was electing a black guy, we woulda done it a long time ago…
jjasper

@ # 4 -is that original Rays Famous, Famous Ray’s Original, Ray’s Famous Original, Ray’s Original Famous, or just Ray’s?
Mister N

Opportunists. That’s really sad. If they were contributing or adding any extra value to it ( besides being a business ) it might have been alright.
Anonymous

Jane’s Happy Bar (between the 2) looks pretty good.