Looks like the randomer will have to wait

So it looks like Rosie will be invited to write a guest blog entry. Although I'm still intrigued by those who voted for a random, who was it you wanted? A policeman? An ice cream seller? Leonard Cohen? Well I guess whoever it would have been will have to wait. Not that it matters to me I suppose, I didn't even vote in the end. So I'll consult with the aspiring writer and get back to you.

A friend from work in Cambridge is staying in Vancouver at the moment, doing a similar thing to myself, so it's good to see a familiar face. As we said though it was pretty weird, two people from the same company in southern England meeting for lunch in a food court in Vancouver. He's a Liverpool fan but nobody's perfect.

Not a great deal to report since the Friday night's exploits. Cat guy came in a the shop again, even one of the customers was being careful not to scare the cat. "It's OK, she trained herself to do this". Fair enough, but I still can't help wondering why? You'll also be pleased to know I successfully quelled an urge to buy an Xbox 360. It's bad enough having both a PS3 and a 360 at home, let alone here.

And this is serious - Vancouver Public Library is awesome. I joined last week and the amount of stuff you can borrow for free is amazing. Tons of DVDs, obviously books and Greg told me they have games somewhere. I somehow found Hotel Babylon, how did a relatively obscure BBC series make it across here? But you name it they have it; Monty Python, The Outer Limits, I even spied 'Allo 'Allo, how random is that? And all for free. Even the crappy Ipswich library charges about 3 quid to borrow DVDs. Maybe I'm just a library novice and this is normal.

Mum and Dad return from Vancouver Island tomorrow and all is set for an emotional farewell at the airport as they head home on Friday. Emotional for them because they won't see their son for another few months and emotional for me because I'll have to start paying for my own meals again. In fact - remind me to get mother to repair the hole in my trousers before they leave.

What is a grouse anyway?

So the original plan for this weekend was to head up Grouse Mountain and get some decent photos of the surrounding area. Unfortunately some issues arose on Friday night involving pitchers of Molson Canadian and late night pizza; long story short it didn't happen. Which is disappointing but I'm sure it's only a postponement, after all the mountain isn't going anywhere.

But speaking of drunken shenanigans it was Rosie's 21st last week and we at least did get some photos of that.

The cake hand-crafted by Greg, note the colour-blind test arrangement of gummi bears and maltesers. Also pictured is the card hand-purchased by me. It said something inside about getting Hasselhoffed; I've no idea what that means but I like the sound of it.

The birthday girl. I remember saying at the time the lighter and the big knife made for a great photo but now I'm not sure why. Pictured party blower was also effective as a candle extinguisher.

 

 Party IS fun. Thank you dollar store party favours.

 

Rosie suggested Greg and I pose as a couple in the vegetarian restaurant we ate at. To be honest it looks like Greg is thinking "Get your arm off me crappy beard man".

And I may or may not have been sleepy at some point. In fact come to think of it I don't even think this was the same night.

So in conclusion: good times. Also the last chance to vote on the poll. Whoever has been voting for a random is pretty optimistic I reckon, although they wouldn't be hard to find I don't think it would make for a very entertaining blog post. But then again that would mean it would fit in well. ZING

Warning: parental discretion is advised

So mum and dad negotiated the Atlantic and are currently staying in a hotel about 15 minutes away. It's been a good couple of days, nice to get some time to do the random touristy stuff that I haven't actually done myself yet. I haven't felt like a tourist since the first couple of weeks of being here. Speaking of which, today also reminded me how good the weather was back then. As we walked down Granville it seemed strange explaining why one hostel was better than another because it had air conditioning, but at the time it was freaking amazing.

So besides that a few things have been learnt over the last week:

- Your parents will always embarrass you at some point. In this instance it was spilling orange juice over me when we went for a meal with Greg and Rosie

- Two bottles of Bacardi make an excellent present

- Some people don't like it when you call them a sex pest

- Stuff costs less outside of Vancouver. I never even thought about it before but just browsing shops in Burnaby showed the premium you pay for living in the big city

Fair play to mater and pater though, they came through with my United shirt and memory stick. On to Lynn Canyon tomorrow, so hopefully the weather stays nice and we can enjoy the mountain scenery.

My sister pointed out to me that not everyone knows the results of the poll since they disappear when I make a new one. If I had any idea about how to get last week's to show below the new one I'd do it, but since I really have no clue what I'm doing I can't. So suffice to say Christmas seems to be the favourite holiday for this time of year. When I saw one vote for Festivus I got excited thinking someone else knew about it, until I realised it was me that voted for it.

So onto this week's poll. I may regret this one, but feel free to vote for who you'd like to write a guest entry. To be honest I probably will have veto on what does or does not get posted but since I'm not aware of anything I've done so far that would cause massive embarrassment it should be fair game.

OK sometimes Canadian commercials aren't bad

Canadian Thanksgiving: brought to you by Burger King

I did make it over to North Vancouver, twice in fact. Once to realise I'd forgotten my camera and the second time to find the shop I was going to was closed. So I've had more successful trips but then I did at least get some photos on the latter.

The southern entrance to Lions Gate bridge

A seaplane casually climbing from a takeoff that can't have been far away from that massive container ship

 A view of the north ridge

 

Well they couldn't help me. The guy had no idea where to get Slurm

I like they way this sign company added 'unfortunately', just to make sure everyone knows they wish there was

And so Canadian Thanksgiving closed with a deal of the day at Burger King. Not that I have a problem with that, those of you that know me will be aware of my general aversion to seasonal holidays and I'm even less inclined when I have no idea what they're about. I should learn, but then is everyone else who sits down to a turkey dinner thinking about the origins of the holiday, or the inevitable slump in front of the television wishing they hadn't had that extra slice of blueberry pie?

Having said that I should probably stop eating junk food. Maybe.

Hanukkah Zombie's having a luau at the B'nai B'rith! You coming?

Been a week since the last entry it seems. You might think is because it's been way too busy and interesting to spend time writing for a blog that no-one reads. Since that is blatently and hilariously not true I might as well run through the highlights from the last week.

- I saw them taking the Christmas decorations out of storage in the mall yesterday. Sadly I didn't have any matches or lighter fluid so the towering inferno of cheap plastic and distracting tinsel will have to wait. And at the start of October? Really?

- Some people still think I'm Australian. I wouldn't mind but when they are actually English or Australian that kind of makes me wonder what the hell people sound like where they come from. I don't remember leaving the Wetherspoons in Ipswich and thinking the bloke that served me was from Adelaide (the city where Neighbours characters go to die).

- Someone described the photo on their ID as 'my face if I was just about to stab you'. I like it, I might steal that. Especially since my Driving Licence photo looks like something from Crimetime.

- Wendy's desserts are not quite as good as a McFlurry. Just a warning. Also that's the restaurant chain called Wendy's, not an actual Wendy. Unless the person that served me was called Wendy. I doubt it though, he didn't look like one.

- I have a feeling my new trainers make me look like a chav. How did this happen? They should put warning labels on these things.

So that's it. A few drinks here and there, a few brownies, a few meals at The Templeton. My friends still insisting they meet my parents when they visit next week. I told the parental units about this and my dad said "You know why, it's because he's told them all these stupid stories about us and they want to meet these weird people". And I said "Yes".

Now I'm really going to try and get up early on Saturday so I can go to North Van and get some photos from Lion's Gate bridge. Plus I've had a tip off about a PS1 Street Fighter controller in a thrift store over there so there's some motivation. No wait, that last sentence made me feel sad.

I already said I'd shut up about Batman. Sheesh!

OK I get the message. I'll leave it for now. But if I buy that Batsuit I'll tell you. This also means I've had to think of a new poll. I know mum and dad read this as well so I think it'll send them over the edge. Come on mother, let's take a joke!

So I know I promised photos but it's been raining today and I got up late so I haven't got anything exciting to show. Not that the photos I would have taken would have been exciting. Anyway you're not the boss of me. If I want to get up at lunchtime and eat Frosted Mini Wheats at 2pm I will.

And now onto what has become a recurring theme, the highlights (humming Match of the Day 2's music probably won't help though):

- Someone got quite literally taken down by some undercover police just outside the store. I was just heading onto the shop floor from the back when suddenly a couple of plain clothes were all over this guy who looked like he was on the way in to our place. Quite funny how everyone stopped to check out what was going on and as soon as he was lead away just carried on as if nothing had happened.

- Toy Story 1 & 2. 3D. Scotiabank Theatre. Saturday. Oh yes.

- Sometimes nice people from other shops in the mall come round with discount coupons. So far I've had buy one get one free coffees, been offered free muffins, nearly won tickets to a Vancouver Whitecaps game (and by 'nearly won', I mean lost) and got 25% off a sports place. Which is good when you need new trainers because your only pair have a hole in them from when you tripped over the chairs in the TV room in the hostel. I was trying to get away from Confessions of a Shopaholic, if anything I should have been rewarded.