A day on the left coast

Sunrise in Vancouver. The person who is employed had to get up early in order to get to work on time.Well, at least it WAS 8:30 CDT. It felt fine to me.

The employed person went ahead and went to work and I set about exploring the within walking distance neighborhood (it IS Canada, perhaps I should say neighbourhood).

This isn't the Burghers of Calais but this isn't Paris either. I like it though, I like it a lot.The plaque identifies the work as "A-maze-ing Laughter" by Yue Minjun. The plaque further identifies the artist as "one of the most influential contemporary artists in China". The work was placed in 2009 at this spot on English Bay on the west side of the peninsula where downtown Vancouver is located. Our hotel is on the east side of the peninsula. Another interesting detail is that the artist used his own face as a model for all of the laughing faces on all of the figures. The plaque also gives another name for the piece, a name which I suspect is the presumed English spelling of the sound we English hear when the name of the work is pronounced in Chinese: "Shi Xiang Sheng".

Canada is a lot like us and a lot not like us. I noticed this discarded cigarette package on a bus stop bench. I know we kept threatening to do something like this but I just do not believe that images like this one are coming to USA retail outlets any time soon.Here's one for the child we used to have. Jobs available in Vancouver.Across the street here's one of the boats they had for sale.Please note that that is not even one of the big boats, it is just one that photographed fairly conveniently.

I was pleased to notice that there is room within the Canadian economy for a rental fence company.These people go on and on about their "Steam Clock" so when my walking took me within a couple of blocks of it I decided not to wait for the employed person and went ahead and took a solo look at it. The plaque on the clock says the clock is steam powered. Lonely Planet says it is actually powered by electricity.Whatever its source of power it most emphatically DOES have, in lieu of the usual bell on the quarter hour and hour, a much more satisfying steam whistle. The whistle is a bit startling and totally fun.

After looking at the clock I stumbled up the hill and came upon Victory Square Park. On the northern side of the square stands the Vancouver war memorial, the Victory Square Cenotaph.

The Cenotaph was unveiled by the mayor of Vancouver on Sunday, 27 April 1924.

The inscription reads: "To the Glory of God, and in thankful remembrance of those who served their King and Country overseas in the cause of truth, righteousness and freedom."That's the Vancouver Lookout in the background. It's in the tourism guides, it's even in Lonely Planet. Personally, I don't know, it looks like a poor imitation of the really big Lookout thing located a bit further down the coast in Seattle. But, who knows, we've got some more time here, maybe it will make the schedule.

This is also in the corner of the square. I had walked away from it when I suddenly decided that is was way close enough to Point Zero that it deserved a photo. It looks like it may commemorate a survey marker or some such thing. Maybe someday I will find out what it actually is.And here's something I had never seen before, a sort of place where I have never been. That thing was extremely famous in 2010 when it was the Olympic Cauldron for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.We will be leaving shortly for an away from the hotel location which is necessary for us to view the gold medal game of the 2012 Women's World Hockey Championships. This event is being held in Burlington, Vermont, and yet the game cannot seem to make it onto USA TV, not even onto the obscure cable channels.

Up here it is on TSN2, sort of the ESPN2 of Canada.

There are about five former Gophers and one future Gopher on the USA team. In addition to the players we are familiar with it is always just vaguely possible that we will see in the crowd the familiar face of a parent we know.

This trip is working out swell.