Breaking in my video iPod

JUST SOUTH OF THE CANADA/U.S. BORDER--If there are two things that I love, they are the Cirque du Soleil and the iPod. Whoever thought I could combine the two?

In any case, I drove into Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday. And on Thursday night, I had tickets to see that city's premiere of the Cirque show "Varekai."

Unfortunately, since I'm traveling solo on my Road Trip 2006 around the Pacific Northwest, I didn't have a companion for the show.

So while the rest of the thousands in the audience spent intermission mingling with their friends and loved ones, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to watch something for the very first time on my new video iPod.

Before leaving San Francisco, I'd loaded it up with a bunch of stuff, including several hour-long TV programs. But since I only had a few minutes, I broke out a couple episodes of "Rocketboom."

And as I sat there in my seat watching "Rocketboom" coverage of Prince performing at the recent Webbys in New York, I must say that I was in a very happy place. After all, I had terrific video content to keep me busy until intermission ended, and then I had more Cirque.

Later on Thursday night, I hopped back in my Subaru and headed toward the U.S.

My only regret, strangely enough, was that there was no delay at the border. I had expected one and was planning to watch a couple more "Rocketboom" episodes.