The past weekend has finally given me a little bit of hope that summer is approaching, slowly but surely, which means it’s that dreaded time again to drag our white pasty bodies down to West 4th to the rows of surf and swim shops to find a bathing suit that looks half decent in the horrible fluorescent lighting provided.

Someone has stolen Joy Division singer Ian Curtis's headstone from his Macclesfield gravesite. The morbid thief made off with the stone some time between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. The local police are appealing for anyone with information on its whereabouts to come forward. Curtis's gravestone (click here for a photo) is inscribed "Ian Curtis, 18-5-80", along with the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart", the title of Joy Division's best-known song.

With the sun shining and temperatures rising, you not want to spend an afternoon inside a movie theatre. On the other hand, those very same reasons may make you want to hide in the comfort of an air conditioned theatre, if it's hot and muggy.

I’ve been holding off from posting, waiting for the Canucks to announce something substantial in the dizzying NHL free-agent market. But since it looks like the hockey club and its fans could be waiting a while longer, now seems like as good a time as any to start pounding away at the keyboard.

Is it just me, or is everyone else wondering what the hell Mike Gillis is doing? I was so excited for free-agent frenzy on July 1, but every time I checked the signing updates, nothing had happened. Sure, the Canucks signed a couple of defensemen and a couple of PP/PK specialists, but I was hoping for a big-bang kind of a signing, especially someone who could score.

The Vancouver Sun's veteran municipal-affairs reporter, Frances Bula, has quit her job at the CanWest MediaWorks metropolitan daily paper.

Looks like someone is taking note of my Pop Culture blogs. I received a press package of the new line of bottled Tetley iced teas.

Last week, two Burnaby Hospital nurses resigned over Nestlé Nutrition’s internally forwarded invitation to wine and dine obstetrical staff. Kudos to them for standing up to the formula corporation. Clearly companies that make formula shouldn’t smooze our obstetrical professionals.

Summer in Vancouver is an exceptional time for outdoor events, with music and dancing at the jazz and folk festivals, and Shakespearean plays at Bard on the Beach, there are many ways to pass the time.

Los Angeles—Can you be the poster boy for losers and then turn yourself into a comic-book superhero? Seth Rogen thinks he can. Rogen, who famously helped to promote the film Knocked Up through a poster of himself that featured the caption ‘What if this guy got you pregnant?’, is getting ready to play the Green Hornet.

Suanne and I are beginning to find more time to ourselves these days. The boys are getting older and they are having more extra-curricular activities. It’s a sign that it’s going to be a few more short years before they will be spending even more time on their own.

The Colbert Report’s recent challenge to viewers to “Make McCain interesting” using footage of the Republican presidential candidate has resulted in a number of amusing clips. But one that parachutes McCain into the video for Madonna’s “Vogue” is truly impressive.

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to post them below.

What's happening in Zimbabwe is a disgrace. Everyone knows that a vicious thug by the name of Robert Mugabe stole the election from Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.