UBCOB RAVENS 13
Try: McRorie Conversion: McRorie Penalties: McRorie 2
BURNABY LAKE 35
Tries: Laudisio, Gough, Cejvanovic 2 Conversions: Reekie 3 Penalties: Reekie 3

“Good things comes to those who wait,” goes the proverb.

In Burnaby Lake RFC’s case, this might be as well be the club motto. The Blues have battled all season and starting to pile up some serious results. Their in-game approach is one of patience as well – every sequence, no matter the time of the game, is played with the same clinical approach.

That’s the story of their 35-13 defeat of UBCOB Ravens on Saturday. The Jericho Park encounter was expected by many to be a tight affair; it was, through the game’s first 50 minutes.

But Burnaby remained patient the whole time before finally bursting the dam, grabbing two tries in the process. The visitors had lead 16-6 before the two truly team-tries blew the game open.

A tense first half had the Blues leading just 10-6 at the break: a pair of kicks by James Reekie and a try for Giuseppe Laudisio had Burnaby just in front, while Gordie McRorie, the Ravens’ impressive new scrum half, had his team in touch through a pair of penalties.

Both teams had cracks on attack but the Ravens had moments of inattention that might have been a telling sign for later. Despite several impressive stretches of possession, the hosts had only McRorie’s kicks to show for their efforts. A couple moments of indiscipline killed a pair of promising attacks towards the line.

Reekie was clinical with the boot to open the second half, banging over a pair of penalties; Burnaby was up ten points, 16-6, ten minutes into the half.

Then the hard work paid off. Hard work on the right wing by Burnaby’s Matt Alexander opened up space for  a fine support run by captain Mike Gough. Gough sprinted over in the corner to do down. Minutes later a similar sequence, with Burnaby working the ball up on the right before moving the ball back across to the left of the field. Admir Cejvanovic was there waiting and rumbled across the line, nearly untouched.

“We’re starting to roll,” Cejvanovic said after the game. “For some reason, we’d start off strong but we couldn’t finish. Slowly now, we proved it against the Lomas, we proved it against these guys – we’re a second half team.”

Like that, it was 28-6 for the visitors and the Ravens looked broken. Burnaby Lake had been diligent in their work at the breakdown, hadn’t panicked that the results weren’t immediately there and kept making good decisions with the ball. The Ravens couldn’t find a way to force any mistakes from the Blues, proving that sometimes you can have the most tenacious defence around but still concede points.

Burnaby Lake coach Kris de Scossa said the team’s form this season was an extension of an attitude of patience first established under the likes of ex-captain Pat Riordan and ex-coach Mike James.

“It’s been three years since I’ve been here and I’ve carried that on. Patience really is a key word for us on throughout the game,” de Scossa said. “What’s come together is a group of players who have like-mindedly accepted that working together, week in, week out, going to the gym four days a week, going through all the growth together, we’ll get the results.”

“This is the second week we’ve had a complete win all through the club. That comes of hard work, We’ve got 70, 80 players at training, raining or good weather; that doesn’t just happen, that comes from a good structure, a positive attitude, positive culture,” he said.

From then, nothing looked like it would matter. There were 25 minutes to go but the body language from the Ravens on the field and from their smattering of fans on the sidelines said it all – for all their industry, they were 22 points adrift.

“They showed us how to be more clinical with the ball, said Ravens head coach Aled Thomas.

“They were more efficient in the contact area.”

The game also lost a fair bit of structure in its final quarter; chippyness took over. Gough, Burnaby’s ever-present captain, took a yellow card when he felt that Ravens agitator Dimitri Gotsopoulos had taken a liberty or two in a ruck. Several other breakdowns were whistled up by referee Sherry Trumbull, but no one else was handed a ten-minute break.

Cejvanovic picked up a second try late on, which played out much like his earlier score. A series of controlled, disciplined rucks opened up a gap for him on the right and he sprinted the fifteen-or-so metres to the line and under the posts.

Minutes later – and just two shy of full time – McRorie found a hole, wide on the left. He’d been energetic all game and his solo chip-and-chase capped off what had been an impressive but disappointing afternoon for the Scotsman and his teammates.

McRorie’s performance was one of several signs of promise that Thomas highlighted after the game.

“He is our standout player at the moment,” he said. “He was probably man of the match for both teams. He is a find for us.”

“We are very fortunate to have a few guys from out of province who want to play for us. It takes time but there were some encouraging signs in there,” he said.

UBCOB RAVENS: K Henriksen, Minty, Blevins, B Henriksen, Henderson, de Bruin, McRorie, McKeen, Gilmour, Waggot, Balcom, Wisniewski, Garbe, Gotsopoulos, Southern
BURNABY LAKE: Thomas, Alexander, Dolesau, Gotegote, Ludisio, Reekie, de Guzman, Cejvanovic, Breadon, Piffero, Gough, McHollister, MacKay, Govorchin, Luca

Patrick Johnston is a Vancouver-based freelance journalist. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com/risingaction. 

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Sunny Break 24″ x 18″

Yes, it’s another tree. I love painting trees, but I am quickly running out of names for these paintings. My titles tend to be descriptive, so how many ways can I possibly describe a yellow maple in the fall? Or an orange oak? I am open to suggestions.

Sunny Break – detail

I’ve zoomed in on a detail here to show the brushwork more clearly. I kind of like the composition I accidentally made with my cropping.

I want to thank everyone at Hycroft for having my work up this month, and to everyone who attended the opening on Sunday. Great to meet so many nice people!

Paintings at Hycroft

So, in no particular order, here are 7 of my favourite runs around the Lower Mainland that can make a difference for getting me out the door:

• Stanley Park – whether it is the seawall, the trails or Lost Lagoon – I love it all and it always makes me feel good to be out there when I run here.  Last week, you may have read in Rose’s Blog that some of The Province Team joined the Denman Street Running Room for the long slow distance run on Sunday. We were lucky enough to get to run part of the run in Stanley Park – on the trails and on the seawall.  I think this Running Room is very lucky to have Stanley Park as their training ground.
• Inlet Trail – this is my go-to trail in Port Moody, all along the end of Burrard Inlet, the trail is a beautiful chance to connect with nature whether it is a gorgeous sunny day or a day when the fog is so thick you can barely see the wate.
• Jericho Beach – Spanish Banks – I think this is one of the most beautiful places in Vancouver, on the ocean, along the beach and looking back to the beautiful skyline of our city. Yesterday wasn’t the greatest weather for our 26K Long slow distance run but Rose and I came back to the Denman Street Running Room and again enjoyed a beautiful run (with great company and a great leader – that always helps too!).  Lucky for us, the route included running along Jericho Beach and Spanish Banks – before heading up the hill to UBC (nothing like a little hill training on the Long slow distance run) – it was so beautiful, reminded me why I love living here!
• Burnaby Lake – beautiful trail all around the lake, really nice and soft on the feet as it is all trail with lots of nature and birdlife all around you.  If you get the chance to run the Rubber Ducky race in October, it is held here.
• PoCo River Trail – This is a beautiful trail that winds along the Coquitlam River and through Port Coquitlam that truly gives you a chance to connect with nature and if you go further East the trail connects with the DeBoville Slough and run along the Pitt River.  There is actually just over 25Km that make up the Traboulay PoCo Trail system giving lots of great runs ‘off the road’.
• Sasamat Lake – Located in Belcarra Regional Park, the same lake where the popular White Pine Beach is located.  There is a trail all around the lake which is a beauitful run in any kind of weather.
• Mundy Park – Nothing beats running in Mundy Park on a hot summer day, great shelter from the sun and also the rain sometimes you get more shelter in the trees. Mundy Park is 176 hectares in size with beautiful trails throughout.

So, if it seems tough to get out the door, sometimes all you need is to go to one of your favourite runs – or try a new one that might become a favourite!

One nice thing about Vancouver is that it doesn’t get too cold in winter compared to most of Canada. However, that doesn’t mean everyday is like summer, we don’t see the sun that much over the winter months, if we are lucky it looks like this. Taken the day after new years.

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm lens with a Nikon Polarizing Filter
Other Photo Gear Used: Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head
Photo Processing Software used: Adobe Photoshop; Photomatix; Nik Color Efex Pro; Nik Vivenza; Topaz Adjust;

For photo location and higher quality photo check out Vancouver Clouds on my other blog.

At start of summer, Friend T and I ventured to Vancouver’s Jericho Beach to catch some golden hour shots…

It took a concerted, five-minute goal line stand; dozens of tackles and some ferocious rucking but the UBCOB Ravens have their first win of the 2012-13 campaign, outlasting their opponents 22-18.

But that’s not even the most impressive part. No, the most impressive part is who the Ravens beat to do so: the mighty Blues from James Bay Athletic Association. Perennial league favourites, JBAA hadn’t lost to their Jericho Park hosts since 2005.

“I can’t say more for the heart and the character that the team showed on the goal line,” said Ravens captain Nick Waggott. “From 1 through 15, it was a gutsy and heroic effort.”

Massive it was, but at halftime most punters would have thought it might have ended up as a rout. After scoring three very impressive tries, the Ravens went into the break leading 19-8 and few would have thought they would have any trouble sealing the wind in the final 40.

But JBAA proved that Jericho Park’s noted slope can be used to any team’s advantage. The Blues’ young flyhalf Monty Tichkowski was clinical in his kicking from hand, angling his kicks well and keeping UBCOB’s dangerous back three on their heels. The soggy day didn’t help either, as the morning’s heavy rain turned the north end of the pitch – especially the northwestern quadrant, in front and to the left of the goalposts – into a quagmire.

“The slope is significant – we definitely wanted to move the ball more around with the foot and we didn’t in the first half,” said JBAA coach Peter Rushton.

As a result, James Bay spent much of the second half camped in UBCOB’s half, picking up a pair of hard-worked tries by first Andrew de Goede and then from fullback Dan Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick’s try came while the Ravens were down a man in the bin, Marc Southern seeing yellow after one too many ruck infringements by his team.

No way through that wall of Ravens – Patrick Johnston phot0

JBAA would keep pounding the line and retained the advantage even after Southern returned to the field with just minutes left. Resolute tackling by the home side eventually forced a turnover and the Ravens gladly punted the ball into touch, sealing the season’s first real upset.

Known in the past for having a stable of reliable, grizzled veterans to call upon, James Bay’s squad is now pack with youth. That inexperience surely contributed to their first half difficulties, but it was the improved second half that scrum half and captain Spencer Dalziel – at 28 now the oldest member of the squad – chose to focus on.

“In the second half we managed possession better, we were smarter defensively, took a lot fewer penalties. It’s stuff we’ll get better at as we come together as a team,” he said.

Like JBAA’s efforts in the second stanza, the first half was a similar case of “keep ‘em in the corner,” as UBCOB took advantage of the slope and a touch more organization to keep the tempo up and pile the pressure on the Blues. A pair of well-worked forwards tries – Garner Lea scoring off a driving maul and Garrett Garbe on a pick and drive – were converted by Patrick Watson. Watson also added a penalty late in the game. The Ravens scored a third try right before the interval, a sweeping move to the outside that saw UBCOB fullback Justin Law race through the defence.

The three Ravens tries were counter-balanced by an early strike by JBAA winger Mitch Bancroft, who went nearly the length of the field on his own, and a penalty by Kilpatrick.

“I was very happy at halftime,” said UBCOB coach Aled Thomas. “I was very pleased how we’d finished the half.”

But the shift in authority in the second half showed his team needs to learn about keeping their composure when they’ve taken the lead, he said.

“They [JBAA] re-focused and territorially played better, using their driving mauls to great effect,” he said.

“When we have that lead, we need to manage it better, make sure we turn the screw,” he said.

And although Rushton was disappointed his team didn’t snatch victory at the end, he was philosophical about the day’s lessons for his young squad.

“It’s still a work in progress, we’ve got a lot of young guys out there, it’s good for them to get a game like this. I think you’re going to find it’s going to be a pretty tight league,” he said.

UBCOB RAVENS Tries: Lea, Garbe, J Law Cons: Watson 2 Pen: Watson YC: Southern (65-75)
JAMES BAY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION Tries: Bancroft, A de Goede, Kilpatrick Pen: Kilpatrick

UBCOB: Garbe, Gotsopoulos (Yeganegi), Southern, Balcom, Lea, Hill, Waggott (c), McKeen, Thompson, O’Connor, Watson, B Henriksen, C Henriksen, M Law, J Law
JBAA: Barker, Gillespie, Racine, J de Goede, Gusdal, McElhanney, A de Goede, Miles, Dalziel (c), Tichkowski, Bancroft (Humphrey), Waldmann, Harrison, Stewart, Kilpatrick

Taken on a very rare clear winter day right near Jericho beach.

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm lens
Other Photo Gear Used: Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head
Photo Processing Software used: Adobe Photoshop; Photomatix; Nik Color Efex Pro;

For photo location and higher quality photo check out Rocky Shoreline on my other blog.

Hippies swaying from side to side, the smell of pot in the air, people dancing as though no one was watching and blankets full of music lovers eager to hear the next band play. The 35th Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival was like a scene from Woodstock, as people congregated celebrating love, peace and music.

With returning artists like Roy Forbes who performed in 1980 at the Vancouver Folk Fest and Dan Mangan who performed in 2009, combined with artists new to the festival like Wake Owl, the festival showcased artists from all stages of their careers.

Roy who is still playing after recently celebrating his 40th anniversary in the industry, also mentors aspiring artists and songwriters but claims that he’s been performing less these days.

“I’ve got to make room for the Dan Mangan’s to come along you know. I hope he’s around for his 40th anniversary too.”

This wide range of artist experience at the festival, not to mention the discrepancy in age between them, was a large contributor to the demographic of attendees this past weekend which ranged from tots to grannys. Young and old were there to support the art of folk and the musicians that keep the genre thriving.

Juno award winner Serena Ryder belted out “simple love songs” with action words.”Get out of bed you silly sleepy head, your black and white needs a little bit of red.” As beautiful as she is talented Serena put on a fantastic show and had the audience up for a standing ovation at the end.

Ani DiFranco, the “Little Folksinger”, approached the stage asking the audience if they wake up every day feeling happy to be here and left the stage with the audience having no doubt in their mind that they are. How could one not be exhilarated after a performance that not only had the audience moving but also encouraged one to re-evaluate how society works and focus on contemporary social issues? She’s notorious for being a feminist and activist through her lyrics covering controversial subjects but doesn’t want to be defined as such as she is a musician first and foremost.

“When I go outside of North America to Europe or wherever it’s so refreshing to me because all the stereotype of me as the militant, the girl singing for other girls, never existed. So it’s really cool for me to go play music in Japan or in Brazil where people just take as you are, in the moment, without the cultural story they’ve heard.”

When asking fellow Folk Fest attendees what their favorite aspect of the Folk Fest was, I wasn’t surprised to hear that the collective jam sessions and workshops were a hit. Dan Mangan, Wake Owl, e.s.l. and The Head and the Heart had the audience star-struck as they collaborated in a surreal way that included rapping about being baked, a shirt coming off and a cover of Rocky Raccoon.

Blitz the Ambassador was also a favorite and had festival-goers dancing within three minutes of playing and kept them dancing throughout their performance.

Although headliners such as K’Naan, Hey Rosetta and Lucinda Williams drew a large crowd and were “must-sees” of the festival, it seemed to be The Johnny Clegg Band who stole the show with his endless energy and his crazy dance moves. There are musicians, and there are performers; Johnny Clegg is without a doubt an amazing performer.

The festival proved to be both multicultural and multilingual as the quirky duo Bette and Wallet sang in French, the sassy Alejandra Robles sang in Spanish and The Johnny Clegg Band sang in Zulu.

Like any music festival there was a wide selection of food available, from Earnest Ice Cream‘s delicious scoops, to the tasty salmon sandwich at Street Meet, the smokey crusted pizza at Urban Wood Fired Pizza and the sweet smoothies at Jamaican Mi Juicy. After a long day of swinging and shaking to the sometimes upbeat and light-hearted and the sometimes thought-provoking tunes, the “food pit” was a nice place to satiate one’s hunger. And to satiate one’s thirst? The beer garden which was in close proximity to the action and kept the thirsty music-lovers happy with Tinhorn Creek’s wines and Big Rock’s brews.

And the fun didn’t stop at the music, there were also frisbees being thrown, hula hoops being spun and face paint being applied, all of which were a refreshing sight to see from the norm of rapidly moving fingers texting and the hustle and bustle of business suits on weekday mornings. The weekend was a mini vacation as guests spent three days lounging in the sun with the beach beside them as they tuned out from thoughts of work and tuned in to thoughts of rhythm, beats, and lyrics.

Now in it’s 35th year, the festival has grown considerably to become a much anticipated festival, able to bring in 10,000 to 12,000 people in one single day.

Chatting with Roy about how it was then versus now he was able to paint a picture of the transformation it’s made. “It’s a lot bigger now, and there was only one main stage after a certain time. It’s really good what’s happening now with so much going on. In the old days there would be a few workshops and then everyone would congregate at the main stage.”

None of this would be possible if it weren’t for the 1,500 volunteers from all over the world that come out for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival with the youngest only 14 and the oldest 76. At the end of the festival after a cannon showering the crowd with maple leafs and the final performances, many of the volunteers and organizers congregated on the stage for the finale. Together with Dan Mangan, Veda Hille and Geoff Berner they sang a variation of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land“, in celebration of his centenary and, in a sense, this beautiful place many of us call home – Vancouver.

Stay tuned for interviews with Ani DiFranco, Dan Mangan, Roy Forbes and Wake Owl, as well as more photos from the event on Flickr.

I am sure I have gone by this tree over a hundred times and never noticed it but this day it really stood out as the sun set, couldn’t help but stop for a picture.

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm lens
Other Photo Gear Used: Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head
Photo Processing Software used: Adobe Photoshop; Photomatix; Nik Color Efex Pro;

For photo location and higher quality photo check out Bare Tree on my other blog.

Not sure what these barriers were meant to stop me from going but they make for a good photo …

Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Nikon 18-200mm lens with a Nikon Polarizing Filter
Other Photo Gear Used: Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head
Photo Processing Software used: Adobe Photoshop; Photomatix; Nik Color Efex Pro; Nik Vivenza; Topaz Adjust;

For photo location and higher quality photo check out Water Hazard on my other blog.

Maple Trees, Jericho Park 8″ x 10″

I love painting trees. That is not to say that it’s easy. I chose to paint this complicated tangle of branches for practice.

I would like to do another painting of these trees in the fall, when the leaves are bright red.

Sold

Lupines, Jericho Park 10" x 8"

I had a bit of trouble with this painting but after sitting with it for a week, I don’t mind it so much. I often struggle with paintings where both the foreground and background are full of complicated shapes. I had to keep reminding myself to simplify and not to paint every leaf and blade of grass.

These lupines grow in a wild field in Jericho Park. In June, it is a lovely sea of purple and you can hear a steady buzz of happy bees.

Buy this painting

Snowed In - 3" x 3"

Walk in the Park - 3" x 3"

With all this cold rainy weather there’s not much to do but stay in and paint. Fine by me. These two tiny paintings are for sale on my Etsy page.

Bridge in Jericho Park 14" x 18"

I am starting to lose track of the number of paintings I’ve done of Jericho Park. You must be getting an idea of just how much time I spend there. I love this  little bridge  and I’ve painted it before. It is surrounded by huge trees, making it great practice for painting dappled light and shadows.

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Then we headed out for a walk and some chill time at Jericho park, we walked through UBC and enjoyed lunch:

Cattails in Jericho Park 18" x 14"

This is the third painting in a series inspired by Jericho Park. The pond and surrounding cattails are a beautiful part of the park and a lot of fun to paint. I did, however, have some trouble with this painting. The problem I was having was that the cattails are quite complex (there’s a lot going on in those tangled up leaves), and the background is also quite complex (lots of high-contrast reflections on the pond). I wanted the cattails to be the main focus of this painting, but because the reflections on the water are so interesting, I think your eye travels there instead. I added some red to the dark cattails, hoping that they would pop to the front. I’m not sure if I have succeeded here, but it’s definitely given me something to think about.

Buy this painting

Jericho Arts Centre

Jericho Arts Centre (JAC) is a 135-seat performance venue located near Jericho Beach on Vancouver’s West Side. I am very happy to be showing my artwork there during the month of April. To learn more about JAC and the current performance, please visit www.jerichoartscentre.com.

Sailboat, Jericho Park 14"x 18"

Jericho Park is about a 5 minute walk from where I live. It is a beautiful place to visit with its forest trails, sandy beach, grassy fields, duck pond and sailing club. It also seems to be generating lots of painting ideas for me (see my previous post about my favourite tree).

I must have passed by this little sail boat 100 times as it sat abandoned on the path behind the sailing club. I always admired the way it seemed to glow even on the grayest of days (lots of those here in Vancouver). I am so glad that I took some photos of it one sunny morning, because one day when I walked past, it was gone.

I think it’s safe to say that there will be more paintings of Jericho Park in my future. It would be fun to do a series of all of my favourite spots. Which one should I do next…

P.S. This painting will be for sale at my April show at the Jericho Arts Centre.

working with makeup artist mandy kaile and model alicia meek, we had a fantastic evening.  i look forward to the shoot in september where caroline and i will be creating a garden tea party featuring up to 40 of her wedding dress designs.

For sure it helps that CONTACT is on in full swing right now, filling over 200 of Toronto’s venues with the work of some amazing photographers. Ahhh…this is inspiring! I wish the whole world could see this. And I even had the privilege of seeing my friend, Grant Harder‘s talk at local Art Buyer Heather Morton’s Blog (HMAb) Celebration the other night. So proud to see my Focal Point Photography School friend doing so well! Go Grant, go!

Thought I would share some of my favourite images from the beautiful Spring months leading up to my departure from BC. After 4.5 years in Vancouver, I find the beauty of the landscape/nature/vegetation still completely breathtaking. Time will only tell where I will end up in the end, but please don’t use the word MOVE…yet.

“gong show” means. Then we heard a

kid use it in context!