While it won't clear your sinuses, my mom's potato soup is just about the best thing when you're feeling gross. Boil a couple of peeled, diced potatoes with a couple of diced ribs of celery, a half an onion, diced, a ton of dill (fresh is great, but dried will do the trick), pepper, a really good dose of salt (potatoes suck up the salt like you wouldn't believe) and just enough water to cover. Once the potatoes are well-cooked, mash a bit with a potato masher to break it up a bit, and add a generous amount of half & half or milk, depending how rich you want it, and a small knob of butter. Re-season to taste. Not diet-, vegan- or lactose intolerant-friendly, but incredibly comforting and easy to make. And it goes great with good bread. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Reading that Volume 2 is in the works made me do a little happy dance. Which made people look at me a little funny. Which you think I'd be used to.

I had a hot dog in Iceland with the crispy fried onions and the weird relish. It wasn't a tofu dog (you don't want to know the animals Icelanders include in their hotdogs), but my heavens was it delicious. It makes me sad that I will have to fly back to Reykjavik to get another one. The dangers of discovering tasty food abroad.

I still maintain that, until we get our very own w00tstock, there should be some kind of pub night arranged while you're in town.

Steal away! And if you're not vegetarian, definitely try it as a marinade for flank steak (or pork chops!). A couple tbsp of the base sauce, a couple glugs of oil & vinegar, a couple of bashed cloves of garlic and a few hefty pinches of salt. Let sit a couple hours, or even better, stash everything (steak included) in a ziploc, and freeze. Super handy to have on hand. It thaws in a sink of warm water in no time, then pop on the BBQ or under the broiler till done, chop 'er up, and there you have fodder for some of the finest tacos/tostadas you can put on your own table.

If you get the canned chipotles and don't use the whole can at once (if you do, you must have more intestinal fortitude than I), the leftovers keep nicely in the fridge for quite a long time. What I do is dump the whole can in a food processor or blender (you could even chop very very finely), add another 2/3 of the can full of white vinegar, and a healthy pinch of salt. Whiz it up till it's fairly smooth, and voilà, chipotle hot sauce that will easily keep in a jar in the fridge for months. It's great mixed into a bit of mayo for a sandwich spread or dip for yam fries. Awesome stirred into chili (vegetarian or otherwise). If you want to get even a bit fancier, scoop out a 1/8-1/4c of your base hot sauce, mix in a clove of minced garlic, a Tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and let sit for 20 min or so to let the flavours meld. That stuff is good on pretty much anything. I just make this version a bit at a time as the addition of garlic means you can't keep in the fridge more than a few days. Enjoy!

If something doesn't make you feel like barfing after you do it, how good can it really be? Just think of all the great things in life that result in feeling slightly queasy - riding a roller coaster after too many churros, reading a brand new comic while riding in the back seat of your parents' car, quitting your job to start your own business, buying your first house, telling someone you love them before you're sure they're going to say it back....drinking too much tequila... Ok, maybe scratch that last one. But you get my drift. People like your writing, Wil Wheaton. There's no getting around it.

You're right. That would be awesome. Maybe you could bring Molly with you - she's even legal to drink up here. First round of Guiness is on me. You need any help here on the ground in Van, just say the word. I'll wait for further updates as events warrant.

Wil- Any chance that next time you're up in Vancouver, that you would consider doing dinner/a reading/beers at the pub with your fan(s) here?

You've won this round, Evil Wil Wheaton. But someday, somewhere, when you're least expecting it, we will rise up and retaliate with an even more virulent ear worm, and you will look back to this post and know in your heart of hearts that you brought it upon yourself. Though I don't know where we will come up with something as aggressive as 'Pico and Sepulveda.' Perhaps something in the Journey family. Or maybe a strain of James Taylor.

Thank gawd I'm not the only one. If you figure out how to make it stop, please let me know. Please.

So, let me get this straight - they pronounce 'Sepulveda' 'suh-PUHL-vi-dah,' 'Los Feliz' as 'los FEE-liz,' but somehow 'La Jolla' gets 'la hoy-a' rather than 'la jawl-a?' I think I would be contrary too.

Watched this before bed last night and literally the first thing that ran thru my mind when I opened my eyes this morning was 'pico & sepulveda...pico & sepulveda' over and over and over till I didn't know whether to curse the day I set eyes on this blog or dance along with it. I'm kind of a fan of Wil's so decided to go with the latter. Now the guy fixing the ceiling in my bathroom thinks I'm coo-coo. Who'da thunk that 'Sepulveda' would be pronounced 'suh-PUL-vi-dah.' Not me, that's for sure.

Sucks about the floor. Sucks about the asbestos, too. Good call on just going overtop of it - if you planned on pulling it up, you'd literally need to get guys in hazmat suits to come and take it out for you. If you guys (read: Anne) are planning on putting your new floor in yourself, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. My husband has installed flooring for 20 years and is a weatlh of information. If you want, just let me know where I can send you my email address and you can get in touch anytime. We've seen plenty of people run into issues over the years - it can be good to have someone who's been there to help out. Good luck!

Hi Wil, I hope you're enjoying Vancouver. You've hit the weather right - this time last week, it was pretty awful. Many have suggested the Vancouver Art Gallery. If you go, don't miss the permanent collection on the top floor, which includes the work of the Group of Seven, and Emily Carr, one of Canada's most important artists. I would also suggest Vij's, just off south Granville (www.vijs.ca), for some of the most amazing Indian food. The wait can be long, as they don't take reservations, but it's totally worth it, and they have a cozy lounge/waiting area in the back where you can get a beer and they're always passing around yummy crunchy snacks to tide you over. The SeaBus ride over to Lonsdale Quay on the North Shore is also good. Gives a nice view of both downtown and the North Shore mountains that you may not get otherwise. Food at the Quay is good, and there's a great shop on the upper level called Charmed that carries locally-made jewellery and gifts. Last time I was there, they had a whole collection of photo albums made from old LP album covers (with the record still in the jacket) - the original Star Wars score and the Scarface soundtrack were two of the standouts. If you are at all into Japanese, I would also highly recommend Kingyo Izakaya on Denman. Though for some reason I have it in my head that you're vegetarian (am I making that up?), in which case, I don't know that there will be a lot on the menu for you. I hope the weather holds for you and you get a good chance to get out and enjoy our beautiful city! You're welcome back any time!

For some of the best Indian food in the city, I would recommend Vij's (www.vijs.ca), just off South Granville. They have beautiful food, both vegetarian and non (For some reason I have in my mind that you're vegetarian? Am I making that up?). It can be a bit of a wait, as they don't take reservations, but they do have a cozy little lounge in the back where they serve tasty beer and free snacks while you wait. It's totally worth the wait. I would also say the SeaBus ride over to the North Shore gives a beautiful view of the city and the North Shore mountains. It puts in at Lonsdale Quay, which a few people have suggested. If you're looking for lovely small gifts that are made locally, there's a shop on the second level, to the right if your back's to the water (I think it's called Charmed). They have beautiful, unique jewellery, tshirts, belts, and card, amongst other things. Last time I was there, they had a whole series of photo albums made out of old LP albums - LPs included. Original Star Wars and Scarface soundtracks being some of the highlights. I would also suggest catching some hockey. The last game of the Canucks' regular season is tomorrow (Saturday) against Calgary, here at GM Place. They usually release tickets on game day. But there's also our WHL team, the Vancouver Giants, who will be playing game 5 of the second round of their playoffs against the Portland Winterhawks tomorrow night. The hockey is really great, and something a little different. I hope you have a fantastic time here in the city. Sorry it's not a little warmer! Apparently we used up all our warm weather during the Olympics....

Full.of.Awesome. That is all.

Quite possibly the coolest thing ever. rdahlberg, I bow to your fantastic decorating prowess!

Yup. You're right. I could swear I tried clicking and it didn't work earlier, but now seems to be fine. Though, as you pointed out, the mouse isn't changing to the normal 'link' hand. Thanks!

For some reason the links on this post aren't working for me. Anyone else having problems? They're working on the previous post....

I would love to suggest A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's not a definitive scientific reference work, nor is it in the same league as most of the books posted above, scientifically speaking, but to me it's one of the most enjoyable science-based books I've ever read. Bryson is not a science writer, but a non-fiction author who has been interested in finding answers ever since he asked his grade school teacher how old the Earth was, and she couldn't tell him. He goes through biology, geology, evolution, physics - he runs the gamut. His writing is clever, informative, and in my opinion, laugh out loud funny. To make science this entertaining without dumbing it down is a great feat in my books. I'm sure it's probably considered pulp non-fiction compared to most of the hard-core books already mentioned, but I still count it as one of my favourites.