Of Water and Winning

So, here's our winning BC Lions who've just brought home the Grey Cup, posing downtown Vancouver midday for their fans and passers-by. Now don't go thinking I'm a big football fan. I never liked the sport back in the USA and certainly haven't grown any warm feelings to it now. It's just that I'm a sucker for historical events, and being downtown already on an errand, I worked the noon-time celebration in. And luckily it stayed dry for the time that counted.

Now if only the Canucks would set themselves up on a similar path. But hey, they HAVE won two games straight, a veritable winning streak they're on, yes! We'll see what they've got tonight as they go against the Red Wings. Hopefully not a repeat of last week's home game against same team.

Our (drinkable) water crisis continues, and a brief bit of information for the out-of-town visitors to this blog. Turbidity levels remain high enough to keep chlorine unable to knock out the nasty bits in our water. Water wars at the markets have ensued and luckily the stores have caught up with the overwhelming demand. Yours truly has been doing her bit to keep the household stocked, and luckily for us, our local Safeway is but two and a half blocks away, meaning the downhill walk with two 4-litre jugs is just about doable. Apparently, the problem continues, and the blame is being put on the government for not having acted quicker in installing a new water filtration plant that should have been constructed ions ago. This water problem arrives almost every year round this time, only now the turbidity levels are at an all-time high. Hopefully next week we'll have clear water running out of those taps. Really hard to get used to NOT asking for a glass of water at bars and restaurants. Carrying a bottle of the good stuff is no big deal as I do normally on any given day. Makes you really take a precious commodity like H20 for granted. Not anymore. We've made sure that once the all-clear sign is given, we'll be hanging onto those bottles and keeping stocks handy. As unprepared as Vancouver and the Lower Mainland was for THIS crisis, one can only imagine what a major earthquake would bring in terms of chaos. No, I don't want to entertain that thought right now.

Anyone seen the film Borat yet? What a wicked film, on many fronts. We're still on the fence about this one, preferring to give out our hard-earned cash for do-good films like that of the Dixie Chicks, or even the upcoming Bobby, written and directed by my old classmate Emilio Estevez (technically he did graduate one year before me, and my class had his brother Ramon in it). Speaking of films, Volver and the Last King of Scotland, both shown this year at the Vancouver Int'l Film Fest, are knock-out winners! Not to be missed, although the critics would have you adding Little Children and The Queen to that list.

Now on with the walk I need to take while the weather is dry and the sun is out doing its stuff!

Ariane C