1 Flag raiser. Our Canadian athletes take to the world stage starting next week at the Summer Olympics in London. Veteran triathlete and two-time Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield from Victoria, B.C., will be the Canadian flag bearer for the opening ceremony. You can follow the team on Twitter @CDNOlympicTeam. Go Canada go!

2 Carrie Underwood surprise. Restaurant-goers (myself included) at a pub in Peterborough, Ont., got quite the shock Saturday night when country-music star Carrie Underwood walked in with her hubby, NHL player Mike Fisher. Fisher’s brother had tied the knot earlier that day, and a big group from the wedding reception -— including the famous couple -— showed up there to party. And, no, she didn’t sing for us.

3 The Dark Knight Rises. Holy hype, Batman! RottenTomatoes.com for the first time in its history was forced to block users from making comments on a film this week after critics received threatening comments for writing negative reviews about the movie. “It just got to be too much hate based on reactions to reviews of movies that people hadn’t even seen,” said the site’s editor. The film opens Friday.

4 Microsoft marketplace. Microsoft is opening a new retail location at the Yorkdale mall in Toronto in the fall, the site of its first international retail expansion. Apparently the city has the right demographics for the company — a solid mix of families and tech enthusiasts. They do have some stiff competition in the mall, however: an Apple store.

5 The Bachelorette finale. The season finale airs this Sunday, and fans are speculating about whether Emily will choose Arie or Jef. Or whether she’ll choose neither. Or whether she’ll choose both? Hey, she can’t do that! Speculation is it’s Jef. In any case, several of Emily’s castoffs will rebound on The Bachelor Pad, which premieres Monday.

6 Vancouver’s congestion. Vancouver is Canada’s most traffic-congested city — second only to Los Angeles in North America, according to a congestion index. Vancouver drivers take on average 30 per cent longer to make a trip at congested times than when roads and highways are free-flowing. Toronto was ninth at 22 per cent. Now I feel so much better commuting on the 401.

7 Springsteen and McCartney. Concert organizers pulled the plug on the music legends after they played past their sound curfew at London’s Hyde Park. They were on stage together and about to complete the show when their microphones went silent. If I’m singing, you pull the plug right away. If it’s The Boss with a Beatle, you never pull it.

8 Marissa Mayer, CEO. Previously one of the top executives at Google, she was announced as the new CEO of Yahoo this week, making her one of the most powerful women in corporate America. Shortly after tweeting “I’m incredibly excited to start my new role at Yahoo! tomorrow,” she tweeted another surprise: “Another piece of good news today – @zackbogue and I are expecting a new baby boy!” Girl power!

9 Setting off the censor. Forty-one-year-old Jonah Falcon was stopped by security at San Francisco International Airport last week because of a bulging “package” in his pants. Turns out it wasn’t a weapon -— but rather his anatomy. Yes, he’s the world-record-holder for largest recorded penis: nine inches flaccid, 13.5 inches erect. Now this is one thing guys would be willing to be stopped for.

10 Rich Kids of Instagram. A Tumblr blog called The Rich Kids of Instagram has started up, which shows photos of rich kids from the likes of the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and the Big Apple doing things rich kids do — like flying in private planes and driving fancy cars. They’re the children of the one per cent. Follow them on Twitter as well at @richkidsofinsta.

11 Fifty Shades of Grey effect. Total E-Bound Publishing has introduced Clandestine Classics — with literary gems such as Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice getting an erotic makeover — believing there is an untapped market among a new generation for racy versions of the 19th-century novels by the likes of Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen. Enough already with the Fifty Shades of overreaction!