GUNG HEI FAT CHOI! GONG XI FA CI!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Year of the Rooster. Since moving to Vancouver, I've grown to love celebrating the Lunar New Year, more than the narcisstic alcoholism that passes for Western New Year celebrations. Maybe it's because the Lunar New Year isn't shackled to an overwhelming uberfest like Xmas, which has gone from being too commercial to being too polarized - I find that if you wish someone 'Happy Holidays' at the Lunar New Year, they don't look at you like you need an exorcism.

I argued at the beginning of the Year of the Monkey last year that the Lunar New Year should be Canada's winter stat holiday, instead of artificial excuses for a holiday like Prime Ministers Day, or Alberta's Family Day. We'd be adopting a real holiday with thousands of years in tradition, and at the same time recognizes ourselves as a Pacific Rim nation.

The festivities have been great to this point: went to the Sunbrite Lunar New Year Carnival at the Pacific National Exhibition last Saturday, and saw a performance by Vancouver's own Juliana Chen. Picked up some sweet import DVDs and maybe had one too many Shui Mei. Can't wait for the parade on Sunday.

The highlight for me so far was receiving a Lai Tsi (lucky red envelope) from my MLA. Once she knows you're on her side, Jenny Kwan is a lot of fun. I still chuckle from her Hedy Fry impression at the Pride Parade a couple of summers ago. For the Lai Tsi, I wished her a happy 4702 and said I'd see her in cabinet. She winked at me and playfully punched me on the arm. Given that the Vancouver Sun has come down with a case of pre-election editorial rabies, it was fortunate that none of their attack dogs masquerading as journalists were around, otherwise the headline probably would have read "NDP MLA BRIBES, HARASSES, PUNCHES CONSTITUENT".