Douglas Adams was credited with noticing that the phrase “as pretty as an airport” isn’t exactly in common parlance. Another Douglas noted that Vancouver’s airport is actually fairly pretty, for an airport. Douglas Coupland said that it’s a crash course in Vancouver style – lush greens, lots of glass, etc etc.

Well it’s no surprise that YVR has been voted among the world’s best airports – beating (among others) the far more melodiously-named Tullamarine in Melbourne.

I’m about to spend A$30 on Oh Henry bars, Twizzlers and Reese Peanut Butter cups. Canadians reading this might think I’m insane (so might Australians, for that matter), but it’s a bit of a treat for me. A company, based in Moorabbin (just south of Melbourne), imports Canadian stuff and sells it online. I’ve known about them a while now, but they’ve been out of Peanut Butter Cups every time I checked. They’re in stock now, and I’m ordering some. Hopefully, they’ll arrive at my office on Monday. I’m so excited. Red Twizzlers!!

Sean’s joined us in the 21st century, and got himself a blog. Go read it, he’s a smart guy, a good friend, and he linked to my embarrassingly-wrong prediction about the iPhone. I think it was probably out of pity.

Marty McFly, Alex P Keaton, and of course Teen Wolf. And there is the whole “boy from Burnaby” (immediately to the right of Vancouver) thing. I think there’s a special place in the hearts of people of a certain age range for Mr Fox. He’s from Burnaby (well, Edmonton, technically, but don’t tell anyone from Vancouver that), so he must be a nice guy. As Douglas Coupland might say: Burnaby is too bland to make a nasty person.

I was saddened when I learnt that he has Parkinson’s disease, but encouraged when he kept working, voice work and producer work. Apparently, he’s doing ads in the US now, campaigning for candidates who support stem cell research. Rush Limbaugh (bastion of truth that he is) has ridiculed these ads, claiming that Michael was acting. Aside from the fact that he’s probably not that good an actor, Limbaugh’s claim is just offensive in all kinds of ways. He’s John Gruber’s Jackass of the week, and mine too. Godessa oughta smite him.

Some of the best beer in the world is made by Québec-based Unibroue. Two of my favourites are Maudite and La Fin Du Monde (French-speaking people will notice a pattern to their names…). I’ve not been able to find them here in Melbourne. Even a bar with a fantastic beer selection didn’t stock it, even though they used to. I was resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to drink it here.

Until Thursday. On Thursday, we went to see a film at the Classic Theatre. Much to my shock, there were several varieties of Unibroue beer displayed behind the counter. I was stunned. To find this beer in a theatre, of all places, made it all the more surprising. I bought two bottles to go.

A happy beer drinker

A big thankyou to David Gratton for introducing me to the stuff in the first place.

Today, the CBC had these two stories linked right next to each other on their BC News page.

Go ahead, make up your own joke.

2:26: A huge, beautiful, screaming baby came out of me. He was dropped on my chest and rubbed vigorously with a towel and I saw his giant, Thing-like hands for the first time. And I cried.

Congratulations, Cheesefairy and Saint Aardvark, and welcome to the world, Trombone.

The Economist rated a bunch of cities around the world for their appeal to business travellers. Number one, narrowly beating fellow Canadian cities Calgary and Toronto (as well as the rest of the entire world), is – you guessed it – Vancouver.

Melbn shows up on the list as well, tied with Montréal for 9th place. Melbn is bested by three other Australian cities; Perth, Adelaide, and (say it ain’t so!) Brisbane. Sydney, for the record, is 12th.

Is it because his prose is as close to singing as it gets? No, that’s Salman Rushdie. Is it because he writes lovingly about my hometown, mentioning local icons Save-on-Foods and White Spot? No, that’s Google Earth + my imagination. Is it his clever blending of the real and surreal, spiritual and civil? Nooo… That’s Paul Auster. His effortless hopefulness? No. Wry, sometimes even dark humour? No. His correct spelling of words like “colour” that American writers still haven’t mastered? Not that either, but it helps.

It’s all of them, all together, all in one book.

Or maybe I’m just a sucker for cheap sentimentalism. And helicopter shots in the desert. They’re cool too.

I’m starting on one that’s been sitting on my “to be read” pile for a long time now, Hey Nostradamus! I’m only a little way into it so far. Action centres on a school shooting, but the book seems to be about more than that: how the people involved relate to God, and to each other. Coupland’s always a good read.

If you are in Australia, gentle reader (or pretty much any other country except Canada), you are most likely unaware that Canada is about to go to the polls to elect yet another minority government that no one cares about. Judging by the reports I’m hearing that say that most people don’t really like any politicians, this will be a record-setting election for the “alternative” political parties. It’s a pity the Rhinoceros Party of Canada isn’t around anymore, they would absolutely clean up this time.

In a foolish attempt to garner even a tiny smidge of public interest, the muck-raking has been really fantastic this time around. This, of course, is backfiring big time, as it makes everyone dislike politicians even more. The only people benefiting from this election farce are political comedians like Rick Mercer. He put together his dream cabinet of people he thinks would be really good at their jobs running various bits of Canada.

Honestly Rick, isn’t this just a political comedian make-work scheme? A cabinet like this will guarantee you material for years and years.