Tuesday, June 26, 2007

What is fun........




Hmmm this is an interesting question.. what does the Hockeyman consider fun?




I think to start with we have to agree that there is a difference between enjoyment and fun. I find enjoyment in reading a novel. (7 books this year, last novel DeNiro's game, current novel Sammy's hill) Its hard to describe it as fun.




I think fun has the ability to make us smile ear to ear and perhaps even laugh out loud...




So.. I like to play hockey... playing hockey is fun, watching hockey is enjoyable. Pick up hockey on the pond in the winter is way fun..




Talking to interesting people is fun. I travel a lot so I am in situations where I meet people who might in other situations not tell you their story. But on a plane or waiting in line or having breakfast they tell you their story... whether they are an investment banker from chicago coming for a wild ski holiday or a woman who left Vancouver because the "Toronto GUYS" had moved in and forced her out of the drug selling business, or the marine private on his way to iraq I love to talk to people about heir lives.. this can be fun..




The hockeyman loves a physical challenge... I will be walking up a mountain this weekend and should I get tot he top I shall be like a little boy proud as a peacock.




teasing people in a fun way is fun... people like to be poked...My brother and I had fun two weeks ago at his fiftieth birthday party ...him teasing me...me poking him... wearing my "50 years of Joe" tshirt




yes I like parties and I like going for a drink but really its all about meeting people and getting them to really talk to you....if that happens its way fun..




yes I like art, I like music (meatloaf) but fun is more complex..
come on.... what are the two things that are most fun for you

Saturday, June 23, 2007

mexico...interesting


This week I was in Mexico for a couple of days. I will make the following observations.


1) Monterrey is not nearly as poor a place as you imagine. Its coming closer to looking like an american city. Construction in many places, lots of car dealers, fewer very poor neighborhoods


2) ten years ago mexico was a bargain, now the prices are still lower but they start to approach america...In the airport a coke and a sandwich cost me 6$ US... it would be 9 in the US


3) Mexico has been defeated many times in war and it hurts their psyche, The Museum tour guide went through the history of mexico and the various times mexico city had been ravaged by the spanish, the french and the americans, not to mention the various civil wars. It struck me that had even one of these events gone differently Mexico might be a powerhouse today.


4) Mexico is the 11th largest economy in the world...


5) The food is fabulous... the scent and taste lingers with me even now...


6) They open your luggage manually in the open as you leave the country. Pack your private tings anywhere but the top. The poor woman with false breasts in the top of her suitcase in front of me just looked like she wanted to die...


7) The people are fun loving, big sense of family, proud.


8) The architecture and the history is interesting.. Did you know that when the spanish first entered Mexico city they encountered a rack with a 160 thousand heads of sacrifice victims..Did you know they had a french emperor?


all in all interesting...there was no time for fun but it was interesting... NO...the hockeyman does not find the museum fun.. but hey...




Monday, June 11, 2007

Summer Satisifaction


I am back... and No for those who wonder I have not found myself nor solved the problems of the world. There is still too much war and violence and too much poverty but I was not away fixing such.
On the hockey scene Calgary and Toronto were eliminated early so my interest in the playoffs was for a hockey enthusiast rather than a real fan. The good news is that once the Ducks won the cup the Leafs are back in it... I think this is our Year.
I have been making my peace with the world on my weekly hike. This week I was in the elbow valley on a day of mid sixties, a bit of sunshine and a slight breeze. The walk exhausts me but gives me time to think. to get myself organized and to think of things that slip by us during the day. I have often though that it would be good to have a hiking partner but there is a certain satisfaction that emanates from a a journey in solitude. You think more. I don't think the world thinks enough.
yes when you are walking up a continual slope you do think.."why did I come on this stupid hike" but when you finish and start back down from the summit its all worth it... The scenery is so green- sucking the carbon dioxide out of the air... you just have to marvel at the expanse of it all..
My goal is to to walk to the top of a mountain whose summit is well above the treeline. I am hoping to be ready for the weekend at the end of June....
other than that life is ok...work is crazy...