For the past 114 days, Ottawa has been covered in snow.  On most days, there are two colours – white, and shades of gray.  Residents are tired, sore, and slightly despondent about the fact that Spring is still several weeks away.

So, it came as a bit of a shock to touch down in Vancouver this morning to green grass, tulips, and even a few early cherry blossoms.  I grabbed some cheap sushi, a latte at Starbucks, and tried to fit in with the locals, but my pallid complexion probably betrayed me.  There’s a blue sky, a warm breeze, beautiful mountains – if it wasn’t for needing a $600,000 mortgage, I could be quite happy living here.

Over the next few days I have about 14 meetings, two new music concerts, and a play to take in.  This is one of the coolest parts of the job – checking out new and existing work and trying to figure out what we can and should bring to the festival.  I’m not a producer, but it’s fun to contribute an opinion.

So, I’m off in search of good food and fine B.C. wine.  It’s tough researching the culinary portion of the festival, but someone’s gotta do it.