Barge Chillling Beach
January 23, 2022 9:51 AM Subscribe
There's the official name of places and what people actually call it. For a long time, Vancouver, B.C. had Guelph Park. But when Viktor Briestensky put up a sign proclaiming it, "Dude Chilling Park" and the city took it down, residents resisted and signed a petition to keep the name what they called it. A surprisingly chill Parks Board listened and renamed the park.
Last November a barge washed ashore (NYT) at Sunset Beach in Vancouver during flooding. Despite attempts to dislodge it, it has remained firmly in place. Residents have adopted it, taking selfies, and made requests to decorate it. The Parks Board, for the general amusement of the public, have placed a sign, "Barge Chilling Beach". The barge even tweets.
Alternate article (with fewer pictures) (Seattle Times)
Alternate article (with fewer pictures) (Seattle Times)
That is a neat Dude Chilling sculpture in the pictures of Dude Chilling Park!
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:43 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:43 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Heh :) I live a few blocks from Dude Chilling and have made the Barge a regular stop when running. It really does cheer me up to see it for reasons I can't adequately explain.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:51 AM on January 23, 2022 [6 favorites]
MetaFilter: It really does cheer me up to see it for reasons I can't adequately explain.
posted by hippybear at 11:00 AM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 11:00 AM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Unfortunately the "Barge Chilling Beach" sign has been removed. 😟https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/barge-chilling-beach-stripped-sign
posted by elizabot at 11:09 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by elizabot at 11:09 AM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
Unfortunately the "Barge Chilling Beach" sign has been removed.
Well, hopefully it made people happy for a bit.
posted by blueberry monster at 11:16 AM on January 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well, hopefully it made people happy for a bit.
posted by blueberry monster at 11:16 AM on January 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
That barge twitter is...um...a mixed bag, to say the least.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2022 [13 favorites]
Unfortunately the "Barge Chilling Beach" sign has been removed.
The Dude Chilling Park is listed as a historical landmark on Google Maps tho.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:49 AM on January 23, 2022
The Dude Chilling Park is listed as a historical landmark on Google Maps tho.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:49 AM on January 23, 2022
I hope guerrillas replace the sign over and over until they give up and it also is a historical landmark.
posted by hippybear at 11:57 AM on January 23, 2022
posted by hippybear at 11:57 AM on January 23, 2022
That barge twitter is...um...a mixed bag, to say the least.
The barge's grasp of municipal politics is about as astute as that of several people I know who are not large inert hunks of rusting iron, so credit where credit is due.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:03 PM on January 23, 2022 [10 favorites]
The barge's grasp of municipal politics is about as astute as that of several people I know who are not large inert hunks of rusting iron, so credit where credit is due.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:03 PM on January 23, 2022 [10 favorites]
Barge Chilling Beach got removed because although it seems cute, it's less so when you hear about how slow the Parks Board has been in restoring indigenous names to places. So someone graffitied it with a Musqueam name and some park board people lost their shit about it, and then were.properly shamed for it
posted by lesbiassparrow at 12:48 PM on January 23, 2022 [22 favorites]
posted by lesbiassparrow at 12:48 PM on January 23, 2022 [22 favorites]
The insane waves and wind and a massive grounded barge didn't deter this rider from completing their seawall ride.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 3:59 PM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 3:59 PM on January 23, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Wreck Of The English Bay Barge
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 4:09 PM on January 23, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 4:09 PM on January 23, 2022 [5 favorites]
OF COURSE THE BARGE TWEETS. WHAT DOESN'T EFFING TWEET.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:53 PM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:53 PM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Before I was married, I dated a woman in the Mission Dolores neighborhood of San Francisco. Her apartment bordered Dolores Park, which was sometimes called "Boys' Beach," because of all the gay men who would go suntanning there. So when I heard "Dude Chilling Park," I was wondering if there was a gay reference I was missing, but I guess it's just Canadians being wacky?
posted by jonp72 at 6:29 PM on January 23, 2022
posted by jonp72 at 6:29 PM on January 23, 2022
→
Yes, that's the real story here.
posted by scruss at 6:29 PM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
how slow the Parks Board has been in restoring indigenous names to places
Yes, that's the real story here.
posted by scruss at 6:29 PM on January 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
I was wondering if there was a gay reference I was missing, but I guess it's just Canadians being wacky?
It's called that because there is a sculpture of a reclining human figure in the park that's been there since 1991. Although as far as I'm aware the "dude chilling" phrase was invented by a different artist who put up the guerrilla art sign in the park in 2012. At least, no one I know referred to the park or the sculpture this way before the sign went up. Of course now we all do.
posted by good in a vacuum at 8:42 PM on January 23, 2022
It's called that because there is a sculpture of a reclining human figure in the park that's been there since 1991. Although as far as I'm aware the "dude chilling" phrase was invented by a different artist who put up the guerrilla art sign in the park in 2012. At least, no one I know referred to the park or the sculpture this way before the sign went up. Of course now we all do.
posted by good in a vacuum at 8:42 PM on January 23, 2022
For my money this is still the best tweet featuring the barge.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:28 AM on January 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 8:28 AM on January 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
For my money this is still the best tweet featuring the barge.
I'm laughing so hard I'm crying, just perfect.
That barge twitter feed, though, ugh. Why does a beached hunk of steel need political opinions?
posted by LooseFilter at 8:36 AM on January 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm laughing so hard I'm crying, just perfect.
That barge twitter feed, though, ugh. Why does a beached hunk of steel need political opinions?
posted by LooseFilter at 8:36 AM on January 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Don't mean to barge in here, but it took a large barge to get the English out. On with indigenous naming!
posted by Oyéah at 11:15 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 11:15 AM on January 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
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