Vancouverites awoke one soggy, foggy morning this month to be reminded of another problem that won't go away either — the dislike of many people for neighbours coloured anything other than the approved dirty pinko-grey.

For as much as the Downton Abbey alum has capitalized on his leading-man presentability—how suited he is to wearing suits—his best performances play deviously on that quality.

My windowsill pebble trays are, for the most part, dimestore plastic drawer dividers; some have pebbles in them, others not, but all are filled with water and surmounted with rubberized sink racks or plastic egg crating which hold the pots.

He had grilled in the heat, sweated in the rains, and shivered with fever under the rude thatch roof; […]