Ah, the closest I'll ever get to national TV. Phew.

Meanwhile, on the education front, the term's over! Yay! I'd celebrate even more except that I've had darn good classes this term. It's actually been fun. Can't say that about many terms.

Even better, some of my students are actually intellectually engaged! Some have even dared to question my wisdom! How cool is that? Usually, it's just "Tell me what you want me to say". I'm gonna miss these crazy kids.

And this used to be such a "small" town.

Would you like that in black, or gray? I think these guys succumbed to the prevailing weather in North Vancouver.

So, went to see the latest "Die Hard" movie. Heck of a good time. It must be great to be a writer on movies like this these days - no matter how outlandish an idea you might get, you can bet there's some CGI whizkid out there who'll make it happen.

And, just in case you're worried, either Bruce didn't notice, or his political stripes have changed a bit. The villain is an out-take from the Bush administration who wants to save the country by destroying it. Iraq, anyone? War on Terror, anyone? War on Science and Reason, anyone?

Sometimes the joke is just too obvious. Kind of like George going in for an EEG.

Other times, it's just too weird.

Oil and laundry? Welllll.....

Oops.

Another part of Vancouver's past that's about to disappear into the great maw of condo construction.

So just don't, O.K.?

Oh.

This town's just fallin' apart, I tell ya!

Well, maybe it looks a little like Brooklyn? Maybe? A little?

And, speaking of another era, I just watched "Cotton Club". Only an O.K. movie, but - who do I have to kill to be able to dance like the late, really-really-really great Gregory Hines? Not to mention all the other dancers in this movie.

You know how they say that pet owners often resemble their pets? Who knew that the same thing applies to businesses?

Pigeons beware!

You know, now that I think about it, maybe this should be every voter's motto.

Drive it away, today! Please!

My deepest apologies to the late, great Henny Youngman.

Further on the humour front. My tastes, as anyone who knows me knows, run to the bleak. Well, once in a while, honest, I can be totally cracked up by something innocent and nice (although, you do have to picture my inner grump shuddering with horror). This little idea for a photo accessory falls into this category. Sue me. I think it's cute and funny and I'll betcha it'll crack up your cynical friends, too. Which, if you're the person with the camera in their hands, will get you that picture you've been dreaming of - your cynical, steeped-in-irony friend actually laughing at something fun.

I don't know about you, but I think this place is a little conflicted. "Stop 'n' Shop"? Two padlocks and a boarded-up door? And, inside, what? Pitbulls with sample trays? "Help yourself to a free sample. I dare you."

George Bush's idea of a hospital for the poor? Hmmmmm.....could be. Have a read of this story from today's New York Times. Seems the Senate Finance Committee wants to fund child health care by taxing tobacco. Heaven forfend! The plan calls for an increase in the tobacco tax (George says, "Oooooh! Bad!") and a plan that might even get used by people not actually poor! Some middle class people might opt for a tax-funded plan. (George says, "Oooooh! Badder! Must veto plan!") Why? 'Cause these people are some of his employers, of course. Big Tobacco and Big Private Health Insurance are two of his best friends. Not to mention cash cows. Kids? Fuck 'em. They haven't got any money.

I don't know about you, but I find the sign on the garage door kind of scary.

A couple of my fellow flâneurs, strolling down Commercial Drive in East Vancouver.

Here you go - a musing on metaphor or a consideration of the notion that the camera never lies. A young woman walking home along an empty big-city street. Has she anyone she's going home to? Is she all alone in the big city? Is the city so very cold and uncaring?

Hard to say, but I can tell you there were about 15 people waiting for a bus just outside the frame to the left, and another half-dozen or so waiting at the crosswalk just to camera right. Oh, and the near-endless streams of traffic in both directions that I had to wait patiently for a break in. Not to mention the bunch of people who kept crossing the frame on my side of the street.

And - a bulletin! Thanks to a comment on a post on Doug Plummer's site, I have found my people! My calling! My niche! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it turns out I am a flâneur! Is that exciting, or what? Je suis un flâneur! (O.K. - did I mention that it's really, really hot in Vancouver right now?)

Did I mention Vancouver's building boom? I did? Well, how about this...? Now that's a different kind of "boom" - the sound of a career of lies and hypocrisy blowing up. Yep, you've got to figure there's something wrong when the Prince of Pornography is a country's moral voice. Go, Larry, go!

And, just to show that human beings are incredibly slow learners, there's this story. How many stories have there been over the past couple of years about creepy politicians who've espoused their deep, deep religious convictions being caught either with their pants down, their hands out, or their brains addled with powerful pharmaceuticals? Not to mention the Religious Hypocrite in Chief. Yep - religious belief is a really good indicator of a person's moral worth. Oh, you betcha.

Now, is that a picture of "The City of Tomorrow" or what?

Meanwhile, for those of you south of the border, where stories like this are repressed.... Don't you just love the stupidity, the dishonesty, the hypocrisy? Yes indeedy - everything the Republican party stands for. Oh, and lest I forget...the radical dissociation from reality.

Yep, another view of Chinatown. From another parkade, no less.

My good friend, Lillian the Librarian (names have been changed to protect, of course, the innocent), recommended the movie "Spirited Away" - a Japanese animated film (otherwise known as a "cartoon"). Good recommendation. You should see it, too.

I dunno - I'm having a hard time associating the god of the sun with chickens. Free-range, or not.

Have I mentioned that Vancouver's in the middle of a major construction boom? No? Well, that's not too surprising, really, given that the boom's been underway for at least 15 years now. Over the past few years, however, it actually seems to be accelerating.

Now, Vancouver's a funny place for such a boom. The reason? No visible means of support. There is no industrial base to Vancouver. Where's all the money to buy all these condos coming from? I mean, they ain't cheap - most start at half-a-mill and the sky's the limit from there. What's half-a-mill get you? Oh, maybe 700 square feet, if you're lucky. It's all a mystery.

Welcome to the Cloud Factory. I mean - they have to come from somewhere, right?

And, despite the resemblance to some hideous industrial toxic wastes, those looming dark gray clouds in the background are just that - looming dark gray clouds. Rain clouds, that is. The pipe is just belching steam. Which is, after all, pretty much what clouds are.

No, the iPhony is not available in Canada. But, I do love it when stupidity and greed combine in The Perfect Dope. I sometimes wonder if Steve Jobs is P.T. Barnum, reincarnated.

And, of course, what would a large, west coast city be without its Chinatown? This place jumps on the weekends (I have an actual job, so I'm not too sure about weekdays).

A commenter mentioned that I don't photograph the "tourist" Vancouver - the one shown on picture postcards. Wellllllll.........here ya go. And it shows the real Vancouver - rainy.

Note the large, white cruise ship. It's the big, white bulk just left of lower center. It's big. Really big. Just over 800 feet long. There are 800 crew members, just for starts. Apparently they then cater to the needs (whims?) of 2,000 guests. Those of my audience who have biologically/medically-oriented interests can spot the possibilities here, right?

Scooter scoots! Boy, am I surprised. Which, funnily enough, as I sit here looking at this picture from Vancouver's Chinatown, brings to mind that great film about corruption in government, "Chinatown"! It really is a small world, isn't it?

Ah, an idyllic scene on a quiet backwater of the Fraser River, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. i.e. about as far from Kennebunkport and Washington as you can get. And yet, yes folks, there's a link to Dumbya. Seems he actually can recognize when he's dead in the water, it's just that the conditions under which such recognition might set in are rather limited. And, if you read the story, you'll note that, as usual, he goes back to oblivion while someone else takes care of the problem. Gotta love the guy for his consistency at least.