It's an important day for mixed martial arts fans and participants in Vancouver as city council meets to discuss the future of MMA events. Mixed martial arts matches have been a fiercely debated topic in North America for just over a decade now. Opponents denounce the sport as a sort of human cockfighting that has no place in civilized society. Participants and fans, on the other hand, counter by saying that it simply represents the logical progression of combat sports and is actually safer than conventional boxing or kickboxing. So who's right?

Garbage strike got you down? Sick of stinking bags of rotting organic waste collecting in your trash cans? Well have I got a something for you. Worm composting. I've talked about vermiculture here before once or twice but it seems like an appropriate time to mention it again because while it's easy to pretend that garbage disappears forever when the garbage truck drives away, it's considerably harder to ignore your refuse when it's a rotting maggoty pile surrounded a cloud of flies in the back alley. So if you're looking for a largely trouble-free way to dispose of organic waste, read on...

Do you ride bikes? I ride bikes. I love bikes. Most of us here at Beyond Robson do. Not only are they the most efficient vehicle around, but they're also fun to ride, which all adds up to make them the perfect mode of urban transportation. As a cyclist, rush hour traffic, which can drive one into a homicidal frenzy if they're stuck behind the wheel of a car, may become your favourite part of the day. I used to greatly enjoy the video game quality of cutting a line through Georgia St. rush hour gridlock back in the days when I worked in West Van. Cars, while useful in many cases, tend to suck ass in the "practical urban transportation" category. So if you're going back to school today, ride your bike. Same goes for work too. And the grocery store. And the bar tonight. And the cinema. And for wherever else you need to go. But while you're cruising around on that wonderful machine, keep a few things in mind...

Coming home from a trip is always nice, even if you're returning from two weeks in Fiji's Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands. Sure, Vancouver has its drawbacks, but I returned with a renewed appreciation for our city and the things that I had no access to while exploring a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific. Here are a few of those things:

Tonight is the last busiest night of the Vancouver Jazz Festival before the bulk of the action moves to the daytime with the free Roundhouse series and the Canada Day celebration on Granville Island. It's been a great ride so far, so why stop now? There's something for almost everybody going on tonight, so read on (links lead to audio samples and artist info):

With the weekend coming up and a number of other factors causing me to be basically flattened, I figured I'd lay a bit low last night so I just went to the early show at the Van East to see Fredrik Ljungkvist & Yun Kan 5. If you saw the Nordic onslaught known as Atomic a couple years back, you're familiar with Fredrik and his approach to the tenor sax. Last night's set seemed to start off on the freer side of things... which tends to lose my attention pretty fast these days... but then the guys picked up some momentum and by the end of the show I was wanting more. Which works out really well, as you'll see if you check out the schedule below......