We’re Waiting…

By Lisa Ovens

I saw the above poster on a power pole near my home yesterday. I am guessing these “This is Our Home: Celebrate Responsibly” PSA posters are displayed around the city as a reminder of last year’s Stanley Cup Final Riots.

Well, Canucks…we’re waiting to celebrate. How can we show off our ability to celebrate responsibly without a win at home? Now that the Canucks are trailing 0-2 in their Quarter Final Playoff Series with the Los Angeles Kings, we fans must look elsewhere for celebration. Personally, I have discovered half price hockey themed Easter chocolate…

Like this hollow chocolate, goalie helmet….YAY!

Or this classic foiled, hollow chocolate, hockey playing Easter Bunny…WOOT!

Okay, so we are unaccustomed to losing two home games in a row at the start of the playoffs. Perhaps this anomaly should be accepted, even welcomed as a sign that this year is going to be a different run. That maybe, just maybe the boys need this adversity at this very moment in time in order to establish their winning formula that will take them deep into the playoffs again.

The Canucks finished tops in the league. They have home ice advantage throughout their entire run. That’s about the only perks they have here in the West. After being in the East for the whole season, the glimpses I did get of the Western Conference told me that there isn’t that much of a difference between 1^st seed and 8^th.  Any WC team has the ability to go all the way. Well, maybe not the Sharks (tee hee – I can’t help it!).

Game Three is tonight. And I am all out of chocolate. Come on Canucks, please don’t force me to celebrate the great deal I got on a new doormat yesterday!

In case you are wondering…the doormat was only $2.77…YOWSA!

GO NUCKS :o)

Hockey and Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra Featuring Wynton Marsalis

By Lisa Ovens

On Sunday evening I was very lucky to visit Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre to catch the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (Thanks Cousin Jen!).

I love live music. I was a dedicated band student during my junior high and high school years. I've always had an appreciation for Jazz and Classical music, and I realized this past Sunday that I don't blend  those genres enough into the ambient, techno (and occassional Rage Against the Machine) music listening sessions that take place in the comfort of my own home.

So how does hockey find a place in this little music post? After going through two solid months of playoff hockey, and then a few weeks dominated by the fallout of the post season, I viewed this Jazz Festival outing as a welcome diversion: a evening without hockey :o)

But that ended up not happening. Settled in our seats, I overheard the group of guys taking their seats behind us, and one guy says as he sat down "Okay, which end are the Canucks attacking? Is this the end?" Haha...I had to chuckle to myself on that one.

The performance began, and five arrangements in, Wynton Marsalis takes to the microphone to introduce the the next piece of music...he says "This next one is an arrangement by Herbie Hancock called The Riot."

Instantly, a round of quiet laughter opened up, and then gained momentum as the audience enjoyed a spontaneous and ironic moment. Marsalis smiled at first; it seemed as though he was unaware of the reason behind our laughter, and then said "You got me." And then  he commented, refering to the June 15th, 2011 Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, "That was a mini riot. Watts, that was a riot". He paused, and then said, "Google it".

The musical highlight for me was Single Petal of a Rose (composed by Duke Ellington in the late Fifties for Queen Elizabeth II) I sat with my eyes closed as they filled with tears. Just a bass clarinet and a piano. It was so beautiful, I didn't want it to end; my head begging for it to come in a "to go" container just so I could carry it with me, bringing it out at future times when I have no words to say.

Ahhh...music, sweet music. The andidote for the hockey void that inevitably  comes along this time of year.

The Vancouver International Jazz Festival continues this week. Click here for more information.

The NHL off- season continues this week as well, with Free Agency...will it be a frenzy?? Here's TSN's Free Agency tracker page

Happy listening, everyone :o)