Ask any cyclist who commutes to work and they'll tell you the ride is often the best part of their day. Think about it. A great wakeup in the morning, fresh air, exercise, you can even have a coffee while you ride (the seawall that is). Coming home from work, you get that great buffer that takes you from work mode back to real life. Ah, the sweet life on two wheels. I've been doing it for eight years now and even on those damp morns, everything is still alright a few minutes into the ride.

The Lower Mainland's second annual Bike to Work Week begins this Monday, May 26. Organized by the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC), the point is to get more bums onto bike seats, and they have the goods to get you sorted. From "rush hour" commuter stations (check this handy map) to afternoon BBQs, bike-a-day giveaways and themed rides about town, both new and experienced cyclists will find more fun and support than imagined.

It's a simple step with complex repercussions. Do it for any number of reasons: eliminating carbon emissions, combating high gas prices, fine tuning your health and fitness, relieving stress, or, my fave, the sheer fun of cycling our city's greenways and bike routes.

Summer. For girls, that usually means coming out of shaving hibernation, and perhaps paying a visit to the spa for a pedicure. In celebration of some recent summer shoe purchases, I decided to turn to the services of the newly-opened Pink Mobile Spa. Their concept is simple: instead of you coming to the spa for a treatment, they will come and pretty you up in the comfort of your home. I must admit that I was skeptical of the idea at first. For me, an integral part of the whole pampering experience is flipping through cheezy magazines, people-watching, and getting away from the house. Plus, having a stranger interact with the space you call 'house' ('home'?) can be daunting. I decided to give the services a try anyways, and hoped that the sight of my feet wouldn't scare the esthetician too much.

Although PMS prides itself on the facials, I thought that this would be just a little too easy. Women do facials at home all the time, and the mess is minimal. A pedicure would be a little more of a challenge to pull off at home, since water and nail polish can make for easy accidents...

The first time I saw something Parkour-related was when I watched Casino Royale and Daniel Craig (James Bond) chased a villain through a construction site, up a frame of a building and across steel girders.

But just what is Parkour? A discipline that originates from France says Parkour instructor Rene Scavington.

Derived from the French term for obstacle course, "parcours du combatant", Parkour was pretty much started by a man named David Belle.

We live in an image obsessed culture. Turn on the TV, open a newspaper, browse the magazine aisle at chapters, or even log on to yahoo and you're bound to be assaulted by the shallowness of contemporary media. Profile comparisons of celebrities pre and post Atkins, diet ads galore, and twig-figure women left, right, and center. An alien visitor could be easily forgiven for assuming our entire system of mass media is devoted to keeping the population up-to-date on a) how our favourite celebrities look and b) how we should.

Hollywood is one of the worst offenders; if we aren't fawning over the waif-like Keira Knightley or Nicole Kidman, we're gabbing with friends about how much we admire Christian Bale or Renee Zellweger for dropping/gaining 70 pounds between movies. The modern movie theatre has become, to a large extent, a breeding ground for depression, perception issues, and eating disorders.

In a small break in programming from Canada's Top Ten, the Pacific Cinematheque offers an antidote to cinema-inspired anorexia as they screen THIN, the recent, highly praised American documentary which follows the lives of four women with anorexia nervosa. Admission is by donation only, and will be followed up by a post-screening discussion with Dr. Samantha Keller of St. Paul's Hospital. If you've dealt with disordered eating yourself, have a loved one who has, or are simply intrigued by its all too pertinent subject matter, the film is bound to be compelling, and is only showing on Wednesday night at 7:30. More after the jump...

Here's another battle y'all gotta go to. Dancers must perform a 1-2 minute choreographed routine or freestyle that best suite the music given. All forms of dance are welcome, just as long as you can perform to the music selected by our DJ. But note, it will be HIP HOP songs/beats. So 'Bring It On': bboys/bgirls, krumpers, poppers/lockers, jazz, salsa, tap-dancers and Hip Hop Heads! Lets see who is gonna get 'Served'! Here's a recording of one of the last ones, just for you.

Care to see Lil'C live in Vancouver? What you don't know who he is? Well, first off, he's a choreographer who is, in part, responsible for choreographing a bunch of things for So You Think You Can Dance, where he was introduced as one of the creators of 'krumping'. This has occurred on three occasions: during Season 3, where he choreographed a routine for Sara Von Gillern and Jesús Solorio in thetop 16, as well as for Lauren Gottlieb and Dominic Sandoval in the top8, and in Season 2, where he choreographed a routine for season runnerup Travis Wall and Martha Nichols. Lil' C gets his credit for being acreator of krump from being featured in the film, RIZE.

Gum, bubble wrap, zits, fruit flies. In case you haven't made the connection yet, these are all things that bring sweet satisfaction when you pop them. It may be the last item that threw you off, since popping fruit flies requires the aid of what has become my favourite device in the midst of a fermenting garbage strike: the electric flyswatter (Thanks, China!).

There's nothing quite like executing a smooth, sweeping backhand that culminates in a pop pop pop and a light show in your own kitchen. And not only does it zap fruit flies, but a whole myriad of unwanted guests: mosquitoes, moths, hornets (watch out for noxious smoke!), black flies, and that pothead that's been living on the couch for 3 weeks.