A magazine cover from 1933. I guess we're still struggling with the same issues.

Man walks into a book store. Man sees a lot of books. Man likes books, so man really likes this particular Vancouver book store because they have a lot of books. Man realizes it's a second-hand book store and is a little disappointed until he sees a pile of sports books next to a sign that says, "IOC Propaganda". Man laughs and looks at the propaganda books, and realizes that the old books are cool.

Man goes deeper into the store, finds all kinds of categories he's never gone through before. Man stops at "Cheyenne-Comanche" section. Man picks up a book, man puts it down. Man goes to "WWI". Man goes to "Movies-Movie history". Man finds old magazines. Man goes to fiction, stops at "Mark Twain". Man goes to "Art". Man goes "WWII". Man goes nuts.

Suddenly...

Man stops. Man looks up. Man examines books in front him. Man seems to be sweating a little. Man picks up cell phone from pocket. Man looks like he's texting somebody.

Man's not really texting, he's just a victim of the Bookstore Syndrome.

So, there I was, walking down Main St in Vancouver BC, when I saw this tiny store from the corner of my eye. The bearded man, in his 50s, walked out the store, and flipped the sign on the door from "open" to something else.

It said, "Gone for a bowl of soup. Back later."

I thought it was nice. A bowl of soup. Who could blame him, really. Take your time, mister.

Twenty-five years ago, a friend of mine received a tape in the mail. It was a black, regular tape he had got from a friend from home, including the hottest hits at the time. For my friend, Terry, home was Canada, and that tape had the keys to Canadian Rock Wonderland, namely Bryan Adams’s "Reckless".

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Wake-up call: 5:55 am. Get dressed, walk out the door, meet a colleague at the edge of Stanley Park. Mission: To witness Arnold Schwarzenegger carrying the Olympic torch. Why the Governator would be carrying the Olympic torch in Vancouver on the last day of the relay was a mystery to me.

Sure, “The Austrian Oak” is a six-time Mr. Olympia, but he’s never participated in the Olympics. He’s not Canadian, he's Austrian American with no special connection to Canada as far as I know.

But, run he would, and that had to be seen.

And that’s why I headed out into the darkness, and that’s why I was ordering a tall latte at 6:15 am. I had five minutes to kill - I was supposed to meet Lucas at 6:20 – and, well, Starbucks is never far in this city.

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Greetings from Vancouver, the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It’s a long way from Stockholm to Vancouver (via London), and my total travel time, door to door, was 21 hours. I spent ten of them on the plane from London to Vancouver, sitting next to Victor Droop, a Dutch fellow on his way to the Olympics as well.

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Last weekend, I was in Minsk, Belarus, to see the Russian KHL’s All-Star Game. After the game, I was standing in the mixed zone, listening to former NHLer Ville Peltonen, also a Finnish national hero thanks to his hat trick in a World Championship final against Sweden in 1995, when some fans showed up.

They said, “pleez, pleez” and gave Peltonen some small flags, posters, and a pen. He said, “sure,” and signed a half a dozen autographs, and posed for a few photos.

(Some of my colleagues thought it was such a no-no that the KHL should be fined, but my story’s not going there).

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