Cultural whiplash?

At least that's what Tod called it.

On Saturday night we went to Disney Hall for our last LA Phil concert of the season.
We preceeded the concert with a meal at LA Prime, a fancy-shmancy steakhouse at the top of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown LA. Thence to Disney Hall, where we heard Salonen conduct Beethoven's Symphony #8, followed by the world premiere of a work by Anders Hillborg called Eleven Gates. I didn't like it much. Too much monotonous wailing by the strings with a little bit of percussion thrown in. It made me dizzy. After the intermission, they did Beethoven's Fifth which is one of my favourites. They may have been recording it for iTunes, but I'm not sure if they actually did, because someone's hearing aid was making a high-pitched whistling noise throughout the first movement.

Last night, we went to see the Edmonton Oilers play the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond. It was the 2nd game of the Campbell Cup finals. Edmonton had won the first game, 3-1. Before the game we had a sandwich and chips from one of the stalls in the stadium.
I really was torn about which team to cheer for. Edmonton is, after all, my hometown. The Oilers haven't come this far in the playoffs in 14 (?) years. It would be really cool if they won.
On the other hand, Anaheim is 20 minutes from my house. If the Ducks win the series, then we'd have the possibility of going to a Stanley Cup final game, which would also be pretty darned cool.
Just outside the Stadium, I purchased a Ducks' jersey. I was hoping to find some Oilers' swag for sale and buy a cap, but of course there wasn't any available at the Pond. D'uh.

Chatted with a couple of guys who'd come down from Edmonton for the game. They looked a little askance at my Ducks' jersey, but I explained that that I was "incognito" and was planning on cheering for Edmonton.
I did. Cheer for Edmonton, that is. But I also cheered for Anaheim. Edmonton won, 3-1. I think I'll probably cheer for both teams during the rest of the series, too.

Hey, I just might have an opportunity to go to a Stanley Cup game!