On Friday, I went to a rocking Joel Plaskett concert at the Commodore. I didn’t realize how dorky he looked – but the toons were sweet and I had a blast.

Then, on Saturday Emily and I decided to ferry over to Vancouver Island and spend our Victoria Day weekend in Victoria. It rained most of the time, but we explored the city and ate some amazing vegetarian food – I would have made the trip just to eat at rebar. I was amazed at how easy (and cheap) it is to get to Victoria using public transit. A 90 minute bus ride from downtown Vancouver to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen ($1.80 bus ticket), then a 90 minute ferry to Swartz Bay ($11.95), and then a 60 minute bus ride into Victoria ($3.00). The scenery on the ferry rides is breathtaking – especially when you’re weaving through the islands.

Emily and I noticed a few weird things about Victoria. Downtown was packed with hemp clothing stores and athletic gear shops. Most people we saw were either super fit or super fat (maybe those were the tourists). We kept seeing roving gangs of moped riders. There are teenagers everywhere (maybe Vancouver is just devoid of teens). Even on a tourist infested long weekend, shops closed early on Sunday and didn’t open at all on the holiday Monday.

What “bike friendly” looks like – “What if the occasional street had a three-foot-wide “walking lane” painted on the asphalt, between the moving cars and the parked ones?”

Is the SkyTrain the Limit? – Analysis of public transit in Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle.

NDP wins historic 3rd majority in Manitoba – Huge victory. 6 new NDP MLA’s elected – including 5 women and 2 visible minorities. 3 new PC MLA’s elected – all old, white men.

Lament for a nation – Former Conservative MP describes how Harper is destroying our democracy.