gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

Neon light sign says it

Maybe I've been in the city too long, but I adore neon lights.

Manufacturers can do stunning things with LEDs and lasers and pixelboards these days, but there's nothing like the old-school, gaudy charm of neon. Expensive, fragile, hard to shape, but timeless. Dangerous and friendly, sleazy and classy all in one.

As a kid, I used to love looking at neon tubes up close. The way you could see the gas flowing and glowing inside the tubes was mesmerizing and magical. I still stop and stare at them sometimes, but as an adult I look like an idiot when I do so.

I pass 48 neon signs on my way home from work - I counted (more on that later.)

So, last night I thought I'd snap a few pictures of the ones near my house. I looked like an idiot doing that, too, but you have to admit they are pretty in their own way.

Dig that phone? It sits on a desk in a street-level office on Queen St. Who cares if it even works?