Sounds like a riot in Vancouver | Radio is Radio

Sounds like a riot in Vancouver | Radio is Radio

The 6.57 to St John's set list 11 june 2011

Back in fine form after a week off. Thanks to Pam Carr for hosting last week's show

Pre-show warm up to 6.57
Beetlebum - Blur
Stir it up - Bob Marley
Song 2 - Blur

set list
My best plaid - The City Streets
Yours & mine - The Stance
16 in April - Keep Me Safe
Gimme me a ride - Entire Cities
Protocols - Then Radio
Beat and the pulse - Austra
Mattlers - Lovely Killbots
What's left us - Construction & Destruction
Wildwood - Code Pie
Age 25-29 hairline - Shane Turner Overdrive
Filthy love - We Are Enfant Terrible
OMG - Ohama
Reach out your hands - Friends Electric
Smokin - Boston
Transmission - Joy Division
It's good to see you - Falklands
Kiss me when I come - Keep Me Safe
Alive - Stuck On Planet Earth
Kings, Queens & The Wax Machines - Pale Whale
Jenny jitters - The Stance
Sweet tooth - The Stance
Myself the cop - Pete Tremblay & The Boozy Truth
Mary - Pat Lepoidevin
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - Entire Cities

Stanley Cup craziness

The excitement in Vancouver for the Canucks possibility of winning the Stanley Cup is completely understandable. The anticipation is palpable and no doubt the same is true on the streets of Boston.

The momentum has steadily grown with each game in the series final and with each home win for the Canucks, currently sitting at 3-2 to Vancouver. Just one more win will secure Vancouver glory and this town will go crazier than it is possible to imagine right now and that opinion is based on the celebrations in downtown Vancouver on Friday night.

It's not comparable to the euphoria for soccer teams in the UK. This is bigger. Vancouverites themselves are saying that people are acting as if Canucks has already won the Cup. The nearest comparison that comes to mind in UK soccer at club level is Arsenal's 1989 League Title win. That brought to an end an 18 year drought not only for the team but also for London.

You see, in London there are some 16 rival clubs. These include Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham United. Those are the best well known in the capital city. Add to that the newly promoted Queens Park Rangers with a history as proud as that of West Ham, and you are beginning to get close to the complexity of tribal patterns of UK soccer support. The soccer club scene in the UK is so competitive with so many teams in each others pockets that it is difficult to find a comparison to the Canucks. Even the great teams in the UK that have achieved so much in recent years both domestically and in Europe have rivals in their midst. For Manchester United see City, for Liverpool see Everton. You get the drift.

Really the only buzz that is truly comparable to this year's Stanley Cup run is the excitement surrounding England's World Cup run in 1990. They lost on penalties to West Germany. By the following world cup West Germany was Germany once more. Yes it that was long ago. Although in 1996 the excitement surrounding England's hosting of the Euro Championships was pretty incredible. Hitch-hiking from Scotland to London a day or two before the England Scotland clash clearly displayed the north south divide at the border. In Scotland the Saltire proudly waved while to the south it was the George Cross.

In Vancouver, 1994 was the last time city's hockey team did so well. Not having a rival hockey team closer than Edmonton or Calgary means that the loyalty is pretty much focused on the Canucks. Heck people are even traveling from Calgary to soak up the vibes.

There's been narrow wins for every Vancouver home game and big losses on the road. There has of course been a lot of rough play too at those away games. It was a little bit daunting last night at zero zero in the second period and listening to the commentary on the radio it seemed to me at least that Vancouver were on their way to defeat. Not so. A tight game had me thinking given Boston's last two wins would give them the motivation to get the all important third win. The win went to Vancouver.

The chatter has for so long leading up to the final been on the potential for riots in Vancouver should the Canucks lose. This won't happen. It would be pretty impressive should Boston win the next two and take the Cup but there won't be riots. Policing is just so different now in Vancouver compared to the mid-90s. The authorities really know how to manage crowds. That can be seen with the fan zones and the strict monitoring of people entering these areas. The city quickly realized that a fan zone centered on the CBC building was the best way to ensure that people could be controlled. Crushing is the only danger that could occur but even that seems unlikely due to the lack of alcohol being consumed.

The city flooded last night with people rushing towards Granville and Georgia Streets to celebrate the win. The celebratory mood looks set to continue and even two losses in Boston and in Vancouver next Wednesday can't dampen what has been a great cup run for the Canucks.
A win for the Canucks in Boston or on home ice midweek will again send people into the streets. Granville for some reason appears to be our city square. It is peculiar. The lawns of the art gallery were relatively quiet last night with most people preferring to congregate on the shopping and nightclub district.

What we can expect if Vancouver do clinch the Stanley Cup is one huge party, and a snap provincial election of course. Christy Clark wouldn't miss an opportunity like that. The postal workers of this city might have something to say on that though. Their solid strike vote is power indeed and could potentially thwart the Liberals.

Last Call final sounds

This is by no means a comprehensive list but these are the bands and singers that were defining Last Call in the final few months of the show.

In reverse order
25, Austra
24, God Help The Girl
23, Snowblink
22, The Square Waves
21, Chapel Club
20, Islet
19, Dutch Uncles
18, The Maccabees
17, Seefeel
16, The Streets
15, Radiohead
14, The Winks
13, Broken Records
12, The Morning Benders
11, Glasser
10, Pete Doherty
9, Stornoway
8, Jamie T
7, Esben & The Witch
6, Belle & Sebastian
5, Ian Brown
4, PJ Harvey
3, The XX
2, James
1, Manic Street Preachers

the very last Last Call radio show

Here's the set list for the last show. It's been great. Last Call has been on the last two years at Coop Radio playing UK rock and pop, you can check out the archives of course at http://coopradio.org/station/archives/27

But here's the final set - more analysis to follow in subsequent posts
Time - Supergrass
Dear Wack - The Beatles
You really got a hold on me - The Beatles
Common people - Pulp
Here's where the story ends - The Sundays
What difference does it make - The Smiths
Last of the English roses - Pete Doherty
England - PJ Harvey
Julie - The Levellers
If you tolerate this your children will be next - Manic Street Preachers
Happy shopper - 60ft Dolls
Beetlebum - Blur
Sproston Green - The Charlatans
Wonderwall - Oasis
Vanishing point - New Order
Middle class revolt - The Fall
Vaseline - Elastica
Song 2 - Blur
Garageland - The Clash
Porcupine - James
Morning Mr Magpie - Radiohead
Step down - Seefeel
Marching song - Esben & The Witch
Darken her horse - Austra
Confusion - New Order
Mary Jane - Sheep On Drugs
All we make is entertainment - Manic Street Preachers
I've changed my plea to guilty - Morrissey
Crystal days - Echo & The Bunnymen
Essence - Cocteau Twins
Wilderness - Joy Division

post set
High & Dry - Radiohead

last Last Call radio show

Tune in tonight for the last Last Call radio show on Vancouver Cooperative Radio, CFRO, 102.7FM streaming live at www.coopradio.org

Last Call retires tonight. The time is right to end the show. It started late summer 2009 and tonight's show at midnight heading into 8 June will be the last show.

Remember you can hear past shows at http://coopradio.org/station/archives/27

So tonight is your last chance to hear the show dedicated entirely to UK rock and pop on Coop Radio.

Gary

The Okanagan

Fresh back from a week long trip to the Okanagan. I was up in Naramata with fellow library workers on a union organizing course. The following pix are from the trip....outside of the classroom. A great experience.



After nearly seven years in Canada, I got to see my first black bear. I looked out the window of the bus on the trip from Vancouver to Penticton and there was a black bear. The pic above is actually of the third bear that I saw through the bus window. Traffic had slowed down enough for me to get this pic.

The following are other pics from Naramata...



Kettle Valley trail near Naramata





Sunset on Lake Okanagan at Naramata








As the sun set the vegetation glowed and I enhanced it with a trick of the SD1000



This is just one of those flukey shots, I just held up the camera at arms length and clicked



After 4 days in the Okanagan it finally got warm enough to take a swim. It was great but brief and getting out of the water was tricky but well worth it as you can see in the following post swim pics...





This was a great beer, Tree Brewing Company I think, it's an Amber Ale - really smooth just like it says on the label...

And then it was time for the beach fire and dogs





Mr Todd Wong - Accordion Master provided the music cheer. He did a great job, so much fun, I was still singing Bring Back My Bonnie To Me well into the next day....

Another trick shot


Waking at 5am on Friday I was rewarded with a chance meeting....



After the final wrap up event at Naramata - I was there for a union course on bargaining, it was time to hit the road west. I skipped a chance to visit a winery earlier in the week due to the course work load. That was a good decision. Todd, now tour guide! made sure that we got to see some good wineries, sample some goodies and lots of photo opps en route to our first stop in Penticton.












After dropping off some friends at Penticton bus depot Todd and I started a road trip from there to Vancouver via Osoyoos.

We discovered this unknown lake after following a winding road out of Penticton...



Continuing south to Osoyoos we stopped at Vaseux Lake and walked down to the bird blind. Great views across the bird waterscape.



Friday night ended at the provincial campsite Haynes Point, which a day later I discovered was the aboriginal place called Sw'iws. From here aboriginal peoples were able to make their way across the shallows to cross the lake. Todd and I camped here and drank Okanagan wine and looked up to the thousands of stars in the night sky.



Adjacent to the campsite, a ten minute walk back to the "mainland" off the point is the Haynes Point Wetland Project. It's small but very special and it makes me think how precious are those little bits of wetland and how much good we can do to protect the environment. Here's some pix from the wetland.







Back on the road Todd and I decided to make a flying visit to the USA. I guessed lucky on the middle gate at the Osoyoos border crossing. The laid back border guard at this gate was older and perhaps a bit wiser as opposed to the bad cop border guard who gave Todd and I some very dark stares. I didn't need to get a visa but was reminded that my UK passport and Canadian citizenship were insufficient for future travel.
I still get a buzz from my trips south. It's really interesting how much of a tourist I become as soon as I step into America as the following pictures illustrate. They're not amazing but they are kinda like postcards of our 90 mins in the USA, which has to be my shortest visit ever to another country. I did once cross Austria in under 3 hours.
I need that Canuck passport - I want more of America!

This is America


And there is Canada as viewed from America but still in the Okanagan/Okanogan


And as the flags protest this is very much America. We had coffee in a small and nothing special coffee place across the street from the Oroville public library. Outside the library was a small farmer's market. Really nothing to suggest that we were in America accept the flags and different street signs. Border country.



Back in Canada and en route to Anarchist Mountain we were able to get this wonderful view of the lake, the narrow strip of Sw'iws where we had camped the night before, and in the distance the snow covered mountains. A land of contrasts. I really enjoyed the experience of the micro climates and the ever changing landscapes.







Lest we forget





Visiting the Nk-Mip Desert Cultural Centre was a highlight of the trip to the Okanagan. I found out about Anthony Walsh - who as an immigrant to Canada took a very different approach to that of his contemporaries. He had a great respect for Aboriginal culture.
Here is a brief detail on his life
http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/edu_hse-rhe/article/view/21

The Nk-Mip DCC has information on the life of Walsh - there is also a film on a young woman getting back to her roots and connecting with Sk'elep, see this Wiki link,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sk%27elep

I found the film very moving and it really put me in the right zone for viewing the rest of the cultural centre. Here's some pix from the outside trails which distance some 2kms in length and like the Rough Guide to Canada says there are numerous signs warning of rattle snakes.









Leaving the cultural centre we started out on the road trip proper back to Vancouver. We first made a stop at Spotted Lake, which can be viewed at a distance from the road. You can't get lakeside due to its environmental sensitivity and also due to the fact that it is a culturally historic sight for aboriginal people in the Okanagan region.
Todd's observation of the lake was that the water was high. This is a fact right across the Okanagan right now. Everybody at the school in Naramata commented on how green everything appeared in the region. The cloud and cool temperatures remained all week long and the sun only really made an appearance on the last day. It certainly made for a different Okanagan experience.
I've spent time before in Kelowna when I have found the heat very difficult. Listening to the radio, today Tuesday June 7th, there are reports from the Okanagan of how the heavy rain fall is washing snow down river with increased levels in the Similkameen river.

Spring has arrived in the mountains - and did you know that Grouse Mtn in Vancouver is planning to close its season on Canada Day! Big White in the Okanagan is also still open.
With the arrival of spring mother bears and their cubs are making appearances everywhere. Prior to this trip I had never seen a black bear. The following pix are a sample of some of the best bear sightings from the return leg through Manning Park.

I also found the radio experience or trying to listen to the radio through the mountains a real novelty. Of course I'm a radio junkie - you must all know that by now. Todd's car CD player is knackered and I was quite pleased at that really cos I love listening to the radio while driving. I love how the stations change and so do the personalities and the banter.
Coming through the mountains the reception was poor and at one point there was no FM or AM signals. Awesome. In the town of Hedley I think we could only tune into CBC. It really is a demonstration of how crowded the FM band is in Vancouver and the lower mainland.
So of course it was Saturday on our return trip and we were listening to the hockey intermittently. When we first tuned in Vancouver were leading Boston 1-0. Then we lost the reception. When it came back Vancouver were down 2-1 and from that point the reception really struggled in and out. The next we heard was that it was going to overtime, "They must have tied it up" said Todd. The reception disappeared.
Then a voice on the radio said Vancouver win with eleven seconds played of overtime. We let out a great whoop whoop and hooted at motorists traveling in the opposite direction.

Oh yeah those bears,,,but a few deers first.






I was able to zoom in close enough to get this picture. The bear, who at first we thought a Grizzly was not that far away as this pic shows. But to give you a real perspective on the distance from us see the second picture. We were mindful though not to stray too far from the motor.





But this is my favourite shot. This was of a black bear road side. What a beauty.