Wednesday, June 16, 2010

PDP #236: Bridging the Gate

The other day, someone found this weblog by asking Google "why is the Golden Gate Bridge a wonder of the world and Lions Gate isn't?" It's a valid question, one that I was wondering a bit myself while I was in Vancouver. They're both very similar in design and they are close contemporaries, but while the Golden Gate Bridge is rather well-known worldwide, the Lions Gate Bridge is obscure outside of the Lower Mainland. I hadn't even heard of it myself until I started doing preparatory research. I'm not really sure why things settled out that way - the easiest answer I can come up with is that "it's not American," since a lot of the Golden Gate's recognizability has come from its many appearances in film and television. Sure, Vancouver's become a major entertainment production area, but how much is actually set there? Less stuff than is set in Toronto. Aside from Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, how many international landmarks do you see in American productions?

So here's a photo of the Lions Gate Bridge. It's a lot easier to just look at it than actually walk across it.

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible, I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

3 comments:

  1. I think you're right man, that it's just that stuff in the states is more famous than stuff up here in the small, isolated northern town of Vancouver.

    Based on your advice, I will never walk the bridge, and only view it from afar.

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  2. Don't be like that. Crossing the Lions Gate is an excellent experience for anyone who has accepted that there's a chance it will end with you stumbling against the guardrail at just the right angle and screaming until you crash into the waves!

    Granville Street is even BETTER for that.

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  3. The bridge at Trent University is by far the best place to stumble to your watery doom in my opinion.

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