With always intriguing variation, Vancouver life has a charming flow to it each year.  The rains come, occasionally the winter snows, spring can be wet or dry, summer late or early.  The Canucks play and make it to the first round, sometimes to the second and twice - oh the near magic of '82, of '94! 

It is pleasing to know that in an ever changing city, some things stay pretty much the same.  Take the PNE, always the last two weeks of August, always with the Superdogs, milking cow contests, and the Prize Home.  For me, prize home time always means trooping through the place along with all kinds of other media folk in advance of the public opening.  But not this year - I got to tag along with the first members of the public to get a look see.  Alma and Arnold 

Years ago, an owl living in Stanley Park began to attack a few joggers running along the trails.  It would wait until they ran by then swoop down and latch onto their heads before flying off.  The bird was quite particular about its targets, choosing mostly women, almost all of whom had pony tails.  Experts decided the bird mistook that for a squirrel's tail.  Probably, the owl soon learned to distinguish between the two and the attacks ended as suddenly as they began. 

Switch now to Surrey and 77-year old Pearl Schweitzer, who has got a problem even worse than that faced by the joggers.  Unlike them, she cannot run away from her attacker.  The Bird

The RCMP gets lots of criticism these days and, as the force admitted itself recently over the death of Robert Dziekanski, some of it is deserved.  It is a tough, demanding calling, keeping the peace in an increasingly troubled world and the Mounties sometimes struggle to do the job according to their own standards. 

Those standards have roots extending back more than a century - Maintain the Right is the time honoured motto and generations of Mounties have tried to live up to it.  I was fortunate enough to meet one former Mountie recently, who had just celebrated his 100th birthday.  Looking back, he knew exactly what was expected of him and he says he followed those rules throughout his life.  Musical Ride Man

We've all heard about how a dog year is equal to seven human years.  They just age faster than us, they die sooner than us.  People who love dogs keep replacing them one after the other, sometimes giving the new one the same name as the old one.  But what happens when an old dog just keeps getting older?  Well, that's the focus of this story.  And I should mention - that I wrote the story on a Wednesday and it ran on TV on a Thursday.  Why is that important?  Because - in the strange coincidence department (see next story) - Otto the World's Oldest Dog - died on the same day we showed this story on TV.  (We only learned of it on the Friday)  Oldest Dog? 

You just have to love people who go out on a limb for a good cause.  In this story, it's a group of seniors at a Langley retirement home.  Each one was willing, rather almost willing, to bare all, or bare almost all, for a fundraising calendar.  Who doesn't need a calendar?  Who doesn't need to see half dressed seniors all year long?  A great bunch.  Calendar Girls 

You often see stories about people who seem to defy their age - paint brilliant pictures at 95, write great books at 101, run marathons at 81.  In fact, you can see some of those stories on this blog.  But here's an entire team of octogenarians doing what you would think was unbelieveable.

Well, this is a story I knew was coming but did not want to see.  It's about my longtime cameraman, Mike Johnston. 

She's not just an 81 one year old runner. She holds three world speed records in the marathon. Or is it more?

71 years after she competed at the British Empire Games in Sydney, Australia, a 90 year old Vancouver woman is back in training for the World Masters Games. 

I like viewers who keep me on my toes.  People who correct me when I make a mistake.  

A day spent with a leading abstract artist, Gordon Smith, a member of the Vancouver School.  He's celebrated in art circles.  But he's not just modest about his achievements.