Do as Vancouverites do: pack a locally-produced picnic (do not forget the lotuses and Dirty Laundry), negotiate space on a boat, and claim a prime viewing spot on the glassy waters of English Bay to ensure your Vancouver city summer - however languid - goes off with a bang.

BBC: Vancouver: Land of the lotus-eaters

In it, the characters convene, as many of us do in exhaustion and witless surrender, for the company picnic.

FORBES: Commentary