Have you ever wondered just how it is that the ‘Creatives’ (or in ‘budget’ cases, the Developer’s SiliconeAugmented BFF) choose a ProjectMoniker? ‘Nemesis’ certainly has. My favourite working theory is that somewhere, buried deep within their Id (or, if you prefer, their repressed/unrecovered childhood memories) lurks a Movie!… A GrandMetaNarrative of such NaughtyPossibilities that it’s synaptic persistence is eternally assured – and unpredictable as to exactly how and/or when it ‘surfaces’. For example, once upon a time in the HollyWood of ‘yore’ – a rather taboo subject was addressed… and, appropriately enough, entitled – Mandingo!
Now, it’s certainly catchy! Let’s see, three syllables – easy on the ears, not too difficult to pronounce…
The screenwriter’s teaser for the production: “Expect the savage. The sensual. The shocking. The sad. The powerful. The shameful. Expect all that the motion picture screen has never dared to show before. Expect the truth. Now you are ready for ‘Mandingo’.”
Hmm? Bit racy though, eh what!?? And a questionable array of Subtext… Bondage! Slavery! Infidelity! UnBRidledNakedPassion!!! So maybe, ‘Mandingo’ isn’t quite what we’re looking for …
Hmmm…
Bingo!!!! We call it, “Indigo!!!” Doesn’t mean a damn thing – won’t offend anyone and sounds OhSoAuCurrent!!!!… DoneDeal!!!!
And so it was, ‘Done’ – or at least the FlutteringPennants! Now here’s a Ontological Conundrum to tease your InnerExistentialist!:
“In the absence of human observation/cognition do a development’s LonelyFlutteringPennants signify ‘actual’ existence or merely an illusion of actuality?”
Well, I tell a lie… The Developer of this Osoyoos project did actually put together a presentation centre, of sorts…
Indeed – no expense was spared as regards signage/typographical branding! Just check out that ‘g’!!!!
Unfortunately, signage & a shack or two, here and there… is as far as ‘Indigo’ ever got. Indeed, the PresentationCentre has sadly become yet another case of abandonment. And now – all that remains are the memories… and fluttering, tattered awnings and plywood decking strewn with shattered glass.
OHyES!!! And these two, lonely, abandoned ATCO trailers… which Nemesis presumes were intended to create the illusion of ACTIVITY… or at least, imminent construction!
Which, considering the shoreline, pastoral views, and beautiful ‘shrubbery’/foliage… bulldozing the site and pouring concrete would have been a genuine shame/spoiler (if handled indelicately – as these things so often are). So, perhaps ‘failure to proceed’ isn’t such a great loss/shame, after all…
Well, There it is! The only thing built on the site. This is the obverse view of the ProudProject Signage. DearReaders will note the presence of secondary signage courtesy of CBRE notifying other, more adventurous Developers of a ‘NewOpportunity’ to acquire same… With, best ‘o all!, a ‘NewPrice!’…
And this is what that sign must have looked like as it beckoned the WineBesotted, GoldChain wearing Throngs to the GrandOpening CockTailSoiree..
Meanwhile – back at the ‘site’ perimeter, we see yet more signage… advertising the availability of a pristine and ready to go Waterfront acreage just BEGGING for some entrepreneurial genius to resurrect TheDream!… And you will note that this particular Terrifying&Pityless ProtoRealtor of OgoPogo’s name is…: ‘Hack’…? Sometimes, MotherNature can be cruelly funny. At least ‘Hack’ is not a scribbler/journo!
So, next time out.. Nem suggests they go with Racy! With Taboo! With Controversial!!!! What if they had called it “Mandingo!”… and what a TagLine, eh? “The Primeval Rhythm of Life!”…
I suppose we’ll never know. 
Photos and commentary for the ‘BlastRadius’ series by ‘Nemesis’.
[Images Ⓒ2011 ‘Nemesis’ – All Rights Reserved]
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[Advisory: Readers who don't 'get' Nem or are perturbed by his riffs should simply skip these posts. Having said that, Nothing that Nem says should disturb one more than a glance at the market. - vreaa]
I note that the color used on all the signage isn’t actually indigo.
Nemesis your posts are fun, though it takes a programmer to decipher your extensive use of CamelCase!
The concentration on the Okanagan is good because it is mirroring some of the hardest hit areas of California and Arizona in the late stages of the last decade. It is not making much press BC or nation-wide but there is a massive problem of oversupply there, sales are anaemic, and from what I can gather anecdotally prices are dropping. At this point we’re starting to approach population loss from that region. Not good, no not good at all.
Luckily for us intrepid reporter Nemesis is documenting the distress absent many articles from the usual MSM sources.
Jesse, coming from you, that is high praise indeed.
A humble thank you & apologies for the naughty obscurantism of CamelCase and heterodox punctuation… they’re essentially typographical/typological semiotic ‘doodles’ (i.e. – in the Spirit of Picasso’s ‘descent’ into AbstractExpressionism – albeit, that TalentedHornyOldDog was perfectly capable of UltraRealism, when he felt like it).
For example, an Indigo! “cocktail soiree” takes on a whole new meaning when presented as… Cock[&]TailSoiree {the ampersand is implied rather than “revealed”}.
But enough of that! Here’s a special visual treat by way of ‘reply’ from ‘Nem’ (and I believe I may also say, quite safely, from VREAA as well) for you & other cheeky fans of ‘Heterodoxy’ in the service of Truth…
http://tinyurl.com/3n4u48z
PS – ‘Comedy’ is the angry art…
Well for Vancouverites there’s some apropos imagery at none other than King Edward Village:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterv/3623729242/
That’s me on the left. Trust me, under all that fur there’s a whole lotta bull.