NHL Back In Winnipeg! ...For tonight, At Least.

The NHL returned to Winnipeg, not with the Jets, but with pre-season hockey featuring the Phoenix Coyotes and the Edmonton Oilers.. This was the first game of the pre-season for both teams, but despite the uninspired sloppy play, this didn't matter to the 15,000+ fans in the sold-out MTS Centre. Winnipeg fans had a chance to see some NHL regulars such as Ed Jovanovski (first game with the Coyotes), Shane Doan (ex-Jet), Owen Nolan, Jarret Stoll and of course Coyote's coach, Wayne Gretzky.

The Oilers were greeted with loud cheers, justly so following their great playoff run last spring captivating the imaginations of hopeful Canadian hockey fans starved to bring back the cup to Canada. In Winnipeg, many of these ex-Jet fans feel just bringing a team back to the city would be good enough for them. When the Jets left Winnipeg for the desert in Phoenix, the feeling was and probably still is, we'll never get a NHL franchise, at least not with our economy and the high cost of maintaining a pro team. At tonight's game, fans were handed a flyer distributed by Jetsowner.com giving a hypothetical seating pricing chart for what NHL hockey might cost if we get a team back. This gives us a realistic idea of how fans would have to dig a little deeper (perhaps a lot deeper) to go to a single game. For a regular season Moose game, my mini-pack tickets cost $13 per seat or $17 walk up (cheapest seats, Green section), the pre-season Oilers/Coyotes cost me $59 and with the estimated NHL cost I would be putting out $69 per seat, per game. Here's what it might look like:

MTS CENTRE TICKET PACKAGES
	11 Game	per month	22 Game	per month	Season*	per month
Platinum	$1155.00	$96.25	$2310.00	$192.50	$4620.00	$385.00
Club	$1045.00	$87.08	$2090.00	$174.17	$4180.00	$348.33
Red	$979.00	$81.58	$1958.00	$163.17
Blue1	$869.00	$72.42	$1738.00	$144.83
Blue 2	$759.00	$63.25	$1518.00	$126.50
Green 1	$594.00	$49.50	$1188.00	$99.00
Green 2	$484.00	$40.33	$968.00	$80.67
Green 3	$374.00	$31.17	$748.00	$62.33

My seats are in the Blue 2 section (200 level in the corner), I pay $143 dollars for my 11 game mini pack., that would be about a 5x increase. I'm not saying I wouldn't support the team if we got one, I'm just suggesting I might have to down grade to the upper deck or go to less games. Can we sell 13-15,000 seats all season? I know with the Jets there were a lot of cold winter nights when we were lucky to have 9,000, will penny pinching Winnipegers buy at least 10,000 season tickets? I don't think there will be a problem to sell the private boxes or the Platinum and Club seats, there's enough companies, corporations and rich people to shell out that kind of dough. I'm more worried about the mid-range price groups, the Reds and Blues, that's $3-4,000 per season ticket, and if we can't sell out these sections every night we won't keep a team for long. Personally I would love to see NHL hockey back, the quality is higher, big name stars would come into town and it would give our city more international respect and profile. I also enjoy the Moose and the AHL, the action is quick, fast and entertaining. There may be a lack of star power, but we get to see up and coming stars and the overall experience is fun and affordable! Please check out Darren Ford's site (Jet'sOwner.com) for more information and if you support a return of the Jet's (or whatever they would be called) let him know!

The building was packed for this meaningless exhibition game of two non-hometown teams, so I think this game will project a very positive impression to the league and to the powers of our city. What we need is an owner that is willing to take a chance (gamble?) and give the fans a opportunity to show they can support a team...Oh yeah, I think the Oiler's won 5-0. Please let me know what you think, in the comment section.

One Perfect City?

I usually don't like to talk about politics too much, but with an upcoming civic election in Winnipeg it makes you think. With our current Mayor, it will be business as usual after the vote. Translated, that will mean it'll be exactly the same as before, we had our chance for change, but we blew it! In the weeks ahead I'll follow along with the rest of you seeking some kind of salvation or trying to read through the promises (lies) from the candidates.

Winnipeg band the Weakerthans posted, "Weakerthans Perfect City Campaign" on their website, which compiles their wishes for a better city:

a) CITY PLANNING
1. The Red River Is Not A Sewer Pipe
Fix the City's sewage treatment plants. Remember in 2004 when raw waste poured into the Red River? This must be dealt with immediately. What is more important, potholes or Lake Winnipeg? Apparently to Sam Katz and City Council, potholes are.
2. No More Riverbank Development
Prevent pollution—keep the remaining uundeveloped river banks lined with forest. The Trees filter out natural and man made run off. The run off ends up in the lake down stream contributing to dead zones in the north basin and poisonous algae blooms in the south.
3. No More Parking Lots Downtown
Heritage buildings are vital to Winnipeg, and those we have left are thesoul of our city.
4. No to Waverly West
10,000 new homes. Where? Oh, out by the dump. Makes sense. Empty lots within the core of the city should be filled before any development on the Waverly West project goes ahead.
5. Like a local ecomomy? No To Walmart and Thier Big Box Buddies
Where to begin... Local business can't compete with the #1 enemy of local economies who build cinder block shells and acres of asphalt. Paying our citizens terrible wages to man their isles. Sending profits out of the city to their stock-holders. Killing the centers of the city by drawing people away from the city itself to their temporary shelters. Then closing up and moving on. Follow Vancouver's example. Ban any further Walmart development.

b) STREETS AND TRANSPORTATION
1. Dedicated Bicycle Lanes
The attempt at providing a shared lane for both bicycles and buses is not adequate and failed as a project. It is very dangerous to ride a bicycle on Winnipeg streets these days. The use of bicycles has obvious benefits (eliminate traffic, pollution, etc.), and Winnipeg has the potential to achieve safe and effective bicycle lanes, with spending being matched by reduction in road wear.
2.Reinvent the City Bus
Proper bus shelters with heat and lights would be a good start. Lower bus fares to increase ridership.
3. Subway
See truwinnipeg.org and be conviced.

c) WASTE REDUCTION
Landfills will kill us someday. seepage into rivers is a major problem here. That Brady dump is a few kms from the Seine — where do you think the seepage goes? Here are some easy solutions to immediately reducing waste that the city could implement:
1. Ban on all single use drink bottles
Legislate mandatory use of reusable heavy grade glass bottles by bottling and drink manufactures and a collection system operated by all bottling and drink companies selling products in the city of Winnipeg. And bring back Pic A Pop.
2. Ban all those needlessly destructive plastic bags from use in stores
3. Compostable Garbage Pick up
Separate pick up for compostables. Even Toronto seems to be able to do this, for crap's sake.

d) DON'T VOTE FOR SAM
Try Kaj! -- Visit kaj.ca

DOWNLOAD:
"One Great City! "(A great early live version; Feb24, 2002 WECC, Winnipeg, MB) - Weakerthans

IQ minus-94

So the big buzz around town the last few days was that one of the most popular radio stations in town was calling it "quits", well not really;
"It's not a performance issue," said newly appointed programming director Andrew (Science) Long, noting Q-94 FM nearly always took top spot in the ratings for its target demographic of women aged 25 to 54. "But with so many competitors creeping up behind us, Q has started to seem a little stagnant. We need a refresh, so we're opening it up to the listeners, to let us know what they want to change or stay the same."

So what they're saying is that they may change their format to bring in new listeners or update their look and sound. Before I go on, I should mention I despise most radio today! Most stations with the exception of the college stations, have a certain genre and an easy to fit into catagory. Classic rock, lite rock, soft rock, adult contemperary (what the hell is that?), cool jazz etc. I grew up on AM and FM radio, before discovering you don't have to always listen to the same thing all the time. Stations like Q-94 are hypnotizing listeners in offices and work environments with their bland, inoffensive "safe" music, the type of music that won't shock your grandma, baby or your pet. This is the shit that people supposeably want to hear everyday because they want to hear music that is familiar to them, much like toddlers that will watch or listen to the same Disney movie or record over and over again. Or those brainwashed couples that will buy a poster or print only by artists that they are familiar with and meet that unspoken approval by our peers. I know I'm starting to sound a bit too much like Rob Gordon and Barry from High Fidelity, yes, I am a music snob! But get a mind of your own, see local bands, find music on the web (it's out there), download samples of different music, walk through a record store or even a CD store, but walk past the Top 20 racks....you don't have to listen to Shania every damn day!!

Getting back to Q-94, they have promised to listen to feedback from their fans to help reformat the station. What a bunch of crap! It turns out everything will be almost be the same, 80% of respondants were woman, as expected, 95% wanted those three idiots Beau, Tom and Dez back and oh, surprise surprise they wanted less commercials and a better mix of the same familiar drivel as before. Q-94 couldn't have asked for anything better, they get some major free publicity that their core audience will eat up (death>resurrection), they can pay the same on-air hosts, they don't have to throw away any of their odious CD's but instead get more Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Jessica Simpson or whoever the next American/Canadian Idol singer is. They were probably planning a bit of a make-over anyways, so this way they can pretend that their fans had a hand in creating this beloved station and I'm sure the ratings will prove them correct. Of course, there is the word "New" in front of their name now, so it has to be better, right?

Captain Cassie Retires!

Captain Cassie Campbell announced her retirement from the Canadian Woman's National Team on Wednesday August 30th. She has represented Canada in seven World championships and three Olympic games, winning six world titles and two gold medals. She is the only Canadian player (male or female) to captain a National team to two gold medals in the Olympics, this year in Turin and 2002 in Salt Lake City.

“You just sort of know,” she said from Calgary Wednesday. “It's kind of like when people ask you what does it feel like to stand on the blueline and watch your flag go up? You can never put it into words and do it justice. Mentally and physically, I'm ready. While it is difficult for me to retire from the game that has given me such pleasure," said Campbell, "I can now look back with great fondness on my time with the national team and my years playing hockey."

The 32 year old Brampton, Ont native Campbell has been Captain since 2001, and Campbell said she will work with women's hockey in some way, perhaps even as a coach. She wants to get involved in broadcasting and is joining TSN as a women's hockey analyst. She's working on two books about hockey. She's still working with sponsors General Motors and McDonald's with their Vancouver 2010 campaign. She also does a lot of motivational speaking.

"Cassie Campbell’s contributions to women’s hockey go far beyond her tremendous success with the national women’s team," said Bob Nicholson, president of Hockey Canada. "Cassie has been and will continue to be an ambassador for the women’s game, as well as a role model and hero to thousands of young girls playing hockey in Canada.”

For Winnipeg Band Zamboni Joe's tribute to this truly great Canadian, please visit my sister site " Teenage Dogs.." for a song download.

Mayor Sam Needs Your Help!..actually, not your's

A couple of headlines caught my interest in the local papers today, "High Profile Katz Boosters", in the Winnipeg Sun and "Mayor gets Celebrity Help" in the Free Press. In case you can't link to these articles, Mayor Sam Katz announced that Canadian champion curler Jennifer Jones and Grammy Award nominated hip hop artist Fresh IE will be his honorary campaign co-chairs for his upcoming re-election bid this fall. Katz said their roles will be largely "ceremonial" and that he will rely on them for advice and they will accompany him to campaign events along with having their names and photos on campaign promotions.

I know politicians love having the endorsement and support of athletes, celebrities and musicians, but naming them as "honorary" campaign chairs reeks of a desperate cry for attention. Let's see we have Fresh IE, a multi-racial christian hip hop artist whose life sunk deep into substance abuse and crime before it was turned around by finding god and creating music. A perfect role model for the less-advantaged demographic that Katz would like us to think he cared about.

Then we have Jones a very good looking blonde champion athlete who combines amateur (pro?) sport with her professional career in the Law field. Wow! what young voter wouldn't aspire to those lofty goals she set for herself? Hey, if they support Sammie, he must be the man for ALL of the people! Other possible recruits to the Katz celebrity party.... How about a former Jet, everyone loved the Jets, how about Thomas Steen? He has had some ties with Salisbury House, another Katz associated business and how about Mr. Sals himself Burton Cummings, he's always looking for publicity. Hey, didn't Katz give the key to the city to Brad Pitt? Wait, actually I think that was Shannon Doherty. Is this transparent attempt to be popular by association necessary? Judging by his competition this election, one wonders if he really needs to say or do anything at all. We have journalist activist Kaj Hassalriis, who I've never heard of before and 62 year old Ron Pollock, who is best known as former mayoral candidate/trash-ebrity Natalie Pollock's creepy brother. I've never been a Katz fan, he seems like the wimpy kid that got his ass kicked in Jr. High, who seeks personal vengeance by being a bully businessman and his most gratifying revenge of all, the Mayor of the town.

I'm sure Sam has good intentions and just wants to add some interest to this lame upcoming civic election. I suppose it could be worse, Natalie Pollock still has time to name her candidacy for Mayor, right?

A Final Word- Folklorama '06

It's been a week since Folklorama finished and a full two weeks since the Japanese Pavilion wrapped up. Though my memory is cloudy about the details of the week of August 6th to 13th, so I'll try to summarize the week from an entertainment point of view...well, as briefly as possible.

The week was highlighted by many fabulous performances, all from local performers. Hinode Taiko ,which was founded in 1981 has been the cornerstone of the Pavilion's main stage show. I'm not sure how many years they have performed at Folklorama, but it's been a long time since they didn't. They played 3 shows a night for all 7 days, and in each show they opened and closed the show, as well as a collaborative piece with Martial Arts and the entire entertainment cast for finale number, Ejanaika.

Special thanks to our hard working Adult Ambassador's Megan and Stacy and the Youth Ambassador Alex. They were kept busy every night greeting our visitor's to the Pavilion as well as touring other Ambassadors' and the many many tour buses. As well as their Ambassador duties, the girls also danced 3 or 4 nights each and their tireless enthusiasm was evident in how they proudly presented themselves as the Pavilion representatives.

As I mentioned throughout the week, a pleasant surprise this year was the performance of our singers, Shayna and Brent. With little experience in the Japanese language, they both learned the Japanese lyrics and songs with very little preparation time. Keep an eye out for upcoming performances by both singers, as it would be interesting to hear them perform some of their other songs.

The Aurora and Kaede Dance groups split the week, adding much colour and flair to the stage show. It might be interesting to have members of both groups perform on the same nights, it would add some variety for the visitor's that attend only one night. Thanks to both Lucy (Aurora) and Carol (Kaede) for preparing the groups with a few new pieces this year.

The Martial Arts portion of the show went well, as members of Kendo and Judo presented action packed fighting to the heart thumping beats of Hinode Taiko. Due to scheduling conflicts there wasn't as many performances as originally planned. To fill in, Sumi, Shig and Mitsuko performed a spirited dance with Taiko.

I didn't have a chance to visit many other Pavilion's during the second week of Folklorama, but I did check out the Krakow-Poland Pavilion and met Adult Ambassador Jesika Nagamori. Jesika who is also part of our Japanese-Canadian community, performed at their Pavilion as part of their Polish Dance group. I know when she visited the Japanese pavilion she was greeted by many family friends and was made to feel right at home.

All in all the week was without any major problems. Throughout the week there was talk about what may or may not happen next year. Rumors of no Pavilion and the possibility of Hinode's absence were all based on assumptions and jumping to conclusions, obviously the Folklorama committee has lots to discuss before any plans for next year are finalized. The new venue seemed to have many advantages such as air conditioning and food/entertainment in one room. The display and cultural display room always seemed busy and having them all in one larger room (jr. gym) guaranteed more visitors. The gym never seemed uncomfortably crowded nor did the ambiance seem unattractive and I never heard any negative comments from any of the visitors. The gym will never compare to the theatre at Tec Voc for sound or lighting quality, but Folklorama is more than the show and the overall package, food, show and comfort must be considered.

Special thanks to my Entertainment co-coordinator Sumi! Without her the show wouldn't have run as smoothly as it did and her enthusiasm kept me interested and committed to produce a quality show. I would be interested in doing this again, only if I was able to work again with Sumi. Hope to you see next year!

A Look Of Pain Or Pleasure?

Is the look on Pavilion Co-ordinator David Murata's face describing how he felt during the week of Folklorama? Is he having a good time or is he in a great deal of pain? Actually, it was the audience that was in pain, enduring his stinging rendition of "Just the Way You Are", that sap dripping song by Billy Joel. Yes, he is partaking in the fine tradition of song butchering, also known as Karaoke.

The highlight of the Volunteer Appreciation party on the last night of Folklorama is fast becoming the Karaoke party, which gives everyone an opportunity to show why they are NOT part of the main stage show. It's quite entertaining actually, seeing grown adults living out their rock'n'roll fantasy on stage, complete with lights and big sound. You know people are enjoying themselves when they don't need an over indulgence of alcohol to get up the courage to sing. I know with me it helps cause I never made it up on stage til well after most people left, I guess 2am is kind of late. To be honest some singers were really good, the duets were the best, but the larger groups were often hard to bear mainly because only one or two people had mics and everyone couldn't see the TV screen with the lyrics.

To compliment the entertainment, our cook Sergio (who did an excellent job all week in the Volunteer room keeping the troops fed all week!), served up some tasty treats highlighted by a large portion of roast Pig. It was nice way to wind down this stressful, yet strangely enjoyable week full of non-stop excitement, well maybe for some.

Big Finish!

Saturday night marked the end of week one of Folklorama. The Japanese Pavilion closed the week with spectacular crowds and another tremendous stage show. With the long hours and many personal sacrifices volunteers endured, the hard work paid dividends as the Pavilion was another overwhelming success!

Hinode Taiko completed the final show of the evening with an arousing display of intensity despite performing every show, every night this year, as well as past years.

Judo featured 2 pairs of combatants, and kept the crowd guessing on whether they would end up on the hard floor in front of the stage. Many of the flips and bodyslams convinced the guests seated up front, that this wasn't fake.

Shayna sang beautifully again and the Aurora Dancers were as stunning as ever. All good shows should have colourful visuals (Aurora/Kaede Dancers), sweet music (Shayna/Brent), violence (Judo/Kendo) and sounds you feel thumping in your chest (Taiko). With closing and opening night M.C. duties, Keiko Saito-Hanssen did a graceful job provided much background to the pieces performed and some facts about the Winnipeg Japanese-Canadian community.

Dancing the Week Away.

It's Friday night, and it's time to come to Folklorama! This was especially true at the Japanese Pavilion as the crowds finally came in full force. The 8:15 show (second show of the night) was probably the largest crowd of the week! The stands were full, all the seats at the tables were taken and there was only standing room in the back. The first show was also well attended and the last show (9:45) had the largest audience of the late shows. If only the Pavilion was open next week as well, as the second week traditionally draws bigger crowds. As far as next year goes, I'm not sure what the plan is for next year, I'll ask around and see what I can dig up.

The Aurora Dance Group performed a variety of numbers as they were split into two groups. Sumi and Mitsuko combined impeccably together for a dance, without Shig, on the combined piece with Taiko as well as a visually beautiful dance with pink flappy ribbons, that had camera's a' flashin'. Wow!! The rest of Aurora swept gracefully through a scarf dance that captured the quiet elegance of Odori dance.

Shayna seems to get better every night, if that's possible. I listened carefully tonight and I'm blown away of how she can hold a note. She sings so effortlessly and with 12 performances for the week after tomorrow, I'd have to say she's mastered the song. Shayna will have a chance to perform this Japanese song again at the MJCCA Gala on September 30th and possibly Nikkei Heritage Day, September 24th. Check this blog for more updates.

Flipping Fantastic!

Day 5 featured a first and a few lasts for the week. Judo made it's first appearance of the week filling the slot occupied by Kendo and Dance, performing along side Hinode Taiko. Much like Kendo the previous night, Judo was a one on one sparring, exchanging flips and manoevers to the battle beats of Taiko. The two fighters are members of the University of Manitoba Judo Club, under the guidance of Wayne Yamashita and David Oye.

Thursday was the last night to see the Kaede Dancers as the Aurora Dancers round out the week on Friday and Saturday. Brent Hirose also performed for the last time for Folklorama this year. His outstanding vocal talents were greatly appreciated this year and he was such a trooper to take on learning a song in Japanese over just a few days. Look for Brent to perform more songs at the MJCCC Gala dinner at the end of September as well as possibly participating (acting, music or art?) in the Nikkei Heritage Day show on September 24th.

Art Miki emceed for the second time, I honestly can't remember the last year he wasn't a MC during Folklorama. His experience is priceless and with his knowledge of the J.C. community, it is always a comfort when he is on stage.

Only Three More Days to Go!

We are now past "Hump Day", the midway point, so I'm sure the rest of the week will fly by quickly. Wednesday night's 6:45 show was packed, a capacity crowd of well over 500 people, witnessed another fine show from the Japanese Pavilion.

The early show was similar to last night's, with the exception of Shayna Paulicelli singing instead of Brent. Shayna once again sang beautifully, as she captivated the audience with her flawless performance (I should find out the name of the song). The lovely Connie Tamoto from Global Television was the Master of Ceremonies and she moved the festivities along very smoothly with her usual professionalism. Birthday wishes went out to 50-something Shig Saito, who has to be one of the fittest guys his age I know. In celebration he performed with Hinode for all 3 shows, but left Sumi and Mitch to fend for themselves on their combined piece with Taiko.

During second and third shows of the evening, the Manitoba Kendo Club performed a demonstration to the sounds of Hinode Taiko and their song "Odaiko". The Taiko drums provide a drama building soundtrack as the piece integrates the music and movements well together, especially the sparring between the two armored combatants. More Martial Arts tomorrow, Judo!

Hot On The Outside, Cool On The Inside

Yes, it was another 30+ degree day in Winnipeg, but you wouldn't know it inside of Sisler High. The air conditioning kept the Gym cool, but the entertainment continued to heat up with one major change to the line-up, the Kaede Dancers. It's the 18 and under dance group led by Carol Matsumoto, and they performed 2 pieces a show. They will continue to do so until Thursday, as the Aurora Dancers return Friday. Kaede's dances are a visual treat, bright pink Kimonos, fans, cherry blossom branches, umbrellas and little cute kids, what more can you want?

Brent Hirose returned for his second night and turned in another stellar performance. Mitsuko Miyamoto kept things rolling with her easy going M.C. stylings as well performing in that high energy dance again with Shig and Sumi.

Opening and rounding out every performance during the week is Hinode Taiko. During their last piece during the last show, a lady in front floor centre unleashed a series of extra bright flashes from her camera. She was warned about the possible hazard it can pose to the Taiko performers, as that piece involves a succession of spins and well timed manuovers involving the whole group on stage. It's one thing to take one or two flash photos (I'm as guility as anyone), but to unleash a rapid fire flash is rude and dangerous. Later in the week I'll write a more in depth piece on Hinode and their legendary status as the Japanese Pavilion's "house band".