I've heard MPI throws a mean party, but last night was nothing short of amazing. They lit the Olympic cauldron for only the second time since the Olympics (the other time was for Canada Day, I heard). The whole thing was held outdoors in the open space next to the convention centre, with those incredible views of the harbour and mountains as the sun slowly set. 
But that was the only thing that was slow. Amazing fresh seafood and sushi was flying off the woks and platters, people were drinking some strange blue concoction I didn't dare try but I heard was good, and we were entertained by all manner of interesting acts.
There was this one, where these incredibly fit young men and woman jumped off this structure onto a tramp, flew back up and defied gravity in all kinds of ways. 
Actually, that could have been the theme of last night's event -- defying gravity -- as attendees got jollier and jollier and BMX bikers spun off ramps and twisted through the air, and young women did some complicated, Cirque du Soleil type of twisty dancey thing hanging from shirts and pants on clotheslines.
One might say the whole thing was very well orca-strated (heh heh):
As it was all winding up, I found a friend to go see the fireworks that were a part of Vancouver's Celebration of Light (I didn't bring my camera, but here is a nice Flickr stream from those who did).
I fully intended to check out The Big Deal poker tournament Harrahs was sponsoring that night, but my dogs were beyond barking at that point, they were downright howling. So I retired for the evening, read a chapter or two of The Girl Who Played with Fire (awesome second book in the series), and passed out to have my first really good night's sleep since I got here. Exhaustion will do that to you!
Speaking of which, I haven't picked up my official show pedometer yet, but so far here's my steps on Canadian soil:
Thursday: 10,623
Friday: 12,947
Saturday: 30,053 -- hence the exhaustion! Forgot to mention that I spent the afternoon wandering the city, from a stroll through Stanley Park to shopping mecca Robson St., which I decided was out of my price range, to Yaletown, took the Aquabus across False Creek to Granville Island, then back over for a wander along the seawall past the Science museum and through Chinatown, then through Gastown, where I just so happened to be there on the hour to see the famous steam clock do its thing, then wandered my way back to the hotel.
I may beat my record set at ASAE last year after all.
Off to the morning sessions. Looking forward to some great learning and some puppy cuddling!
(Disclosure: I received a comp registration for MPI WEC 2010)