Inconsiderate Universe

It's kinda hard to describe this visually...
...but...
...the road we take from our house runs straight on at/towards the big road we take to go everywhere... (ya?)... and at the point of intersection the big road turns off to the right and follows the hillside... (ok)... whereas if they were to go straight onto our smaller road they would go down the hill... (huh?)...
...This means that when we drive up the hill to get to the main road our car has to wait on an incline before making the turn..
... and this means that every car coming at us gets our headlights elevated about 15 degrees and assumes that we have our brights on...
... and THIS means that every car that passes us while we're waiting to turn flashes their brights at us...
... AND THIS means I think nasty thoughts about... the Universe or something... you know!?... because who's at fault really?... the hill?... (well in truth maybe the contractor)... but it's the system...

...it's a situation of misinformation and intractibility that inadvertantly caused such an aggregious miscarriage of justice when both actors, within a similar set of moral principles, according to their limited knowledge and abilities over the situation, malign the other...

... like... we both acted the way we should (or had to)... the rules of the road all agree that if I DID have my brights on that they SHOULD flash my car... so in their mind they're right... but I, with the greater knowledge, know I'm in the right... either way we both got more light in our eyes than we should have and both feel hurt... and in turn feel anger... and in turn a desire to cause hurt in the name of justice... otherwise known as retribution...
... and ya it's small... and in this case it's not worth it to do something like flash my brights (blinding them and potentially causing worse damage)... or chase them down and try to explain Pythagorus theory of angles to them with the help of my middle fingers... so I take that little small flash of lights and pass it off as just one of life's little injustices... but I tell you wars have been started with all people acting in the right when it becomes coupled with inadvertent miscommunication and/or misinformation.. it's eventual outcome of hurt.. it's offspring of anger.. and its eventual cycle of retribution...
... like... in the awful thing that is the news... who is at fault in Israel?... language and cultural barriers is a start... scarcity of land and resources plays a role... all of the above and everything is probably the best answer... but how DO you fight a situation where everyone involved is acting exactly the way they think they should?... it's one of those Hobbsian situations where, everyone acting in the right according to their set of rules, is forced into conflict anyways... and it's easier to accept injustice and fight... than try to make it better at the risk of death (if the other side doesn't play along)...
... Because on the one side constantly fighting for vengeance is not going to work... It didn't help either the Montague's or the Capulet's... niether did it help the mob bosses in the Godfather... not to trivialize reality into a play... but to draw on an ultimate reality of the consequences of revenge... pain, hurt, anger, strife... and where does it stop?... it's like fighting fire with fire...
... but on the other side backing down might be worse... because if you back down and be the bigger person the other guy might just walk all over you.. in the case of a war maybe kill you.. (see most of the history of the human race, most recently WWII and Hitler, which, inadvertently is the prime cause for this present conflict)... so either way you're screwed... and what kind of messed up Universe is it that has a built in Catch-22?...
... how do humans cope with it all?... maybe in some sort of weird dissociative way we play a toned down version of this in our culture with sports... two teams with no real animosity towards each other are forced into conflict because of the situation that only one team can win... you play by the rules.. do what we're supposed to do... and it naturally progresses, from no real animosity towards the other person outside the rink, to enemies... and the repeated ritual within the regulated and relatively more safe arena of sports lets us accept the situation of strife and dissociate it from it's history of animosity and violence... maybe that's why we shake hands after the whole thing is over...
... Or maybe sports is a way to train the next generation of children exactly how to compete and overcome in a society with limited resources...
... Either way I think it's a little messed up?... isn't there any way we could design a system whose natural outcome didn't place people at odds with each other?... and idolizing sports is probably not the best way of getting our minds thinking on the right track?... just saying...
... But so... in the system we have... we won our game against Pontebba at Pontebba 9-5... it took a little luck and the fact that they had their backup goalie in because their regular goalie was hurt... And even though we won there was nothing about that game that was all that pretty that could tell us we can win on skill... and nothing about the game that you could say it was a greasy, hard-nosed road win that could tell us we're ready for playoffs... it was simply nothing... with 9 bad goals... and 5 bad goals against... and a win...

5-2 Over Fassa

There are maybe a handful of goals in my whole career in which I've actually been completely conscious... really!?... ya, in all seriousness... (and I know a lot of people will take the time right now to sit back and wonder if I'm ever actually conscious... and I forgive you for that...)... but by conscious I mean a goal where I'm actually thinking about what I'm doing... where I can read the play... know what's going on... do something... and the result is a goal... these might even be moves that I practice over and over on the off chance that, say, I do get a break down the left hand side... and thus... fake a shot five-hole, move the puck a foot to the right, and shoot over the glove into the guaranteed open top-right-shelf... trust me... it works in the NHL and thus must necessarily work everywhere else as well...
... The rest of my goals... and by enlarge the vast majority of them... are completely blacked out, complete luck, never to be repeated shots/tips/bounces that somehow found the back of the net...
... Sure, maybe I helped the possibility of a goal by being in the right position (in front of the net)... sure, maybe I shot the puck or tipped it with my stick... in the general direction of the net... check, check... and so a goal... but I constantly find myself... after the game (and more especially before the next game) wondering how I ever scored any goal in my life... and how in the world I'm going to score a goal next game...
... this may be a sports phenomenom where I am the only one that deals with it... I don't know...
... Fassa was another example of 2 goals with absolute no hope of repetition at all... maybe ever... by anyone... at least in the exact same way... and that's maybe the best and worst part of sports... maybe...

Fire is Never an Easy Master...

... so don't invite it into your house and on to your tablecloth full of napkins and what nots...
... I learned this lesson graduating from grade 8.. when, after one too many punch drinks, we played the game 'how close can you drag our napkin over the candle without it getting burned'... until... surprise... fire!?... whoa!?... on!!... fire!?!... 'YES, what did YOU expect?!'... ... ... panic... drop it on the table... (table lights on fire)... everyone panic... and like a bunch of lame ducks we all stare at each other doing nothing... (fire grows)... stare... (plastic cups are melting... stare... and finally my buddies Dad rushes over with a pitcher of water and doused the table to put it out... ... .... phew!... haha... pretend not to be embarrassed... hahe?... but, ha, my buddy got in trouble because... always the class clown... everything just assumed it was his fault... hehehe...
... but there is a free lesson in here... it's what I tell everyone when asked what good is a Hist and Lit degree... that... those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it... sounds smart, doesn't it...
... and fast forward to yesterday... add.. a whole bunch more punch... keep.. candles on table along with napkins of the paper variety... also keep.. stupid unsafe (not me) fire person... and voila... debacle... panic... blank stare... 'whoah!'... throw napkin on table... 'blow on it' (fire blazes to 2 feet)... extreme panic... 'Wha!'... blank stares... 'quick, throw it out the window!'... fire moves to table cloth... more blank stares... 'Use the wine!... NO, not the wine!'... 'put a plate on it!'... 'suffocate it'... and finally from the other room a saviour... jug of water in hand... and it's over.... breathe.... breathe.... breathe.... now laugh... .. ... HARD... ... ...roll on the floor... keep laughing... ROFL if you will...
... Now everyone talk at once...
... 'you should have used the wine'...
... 'I didn't want you guys to use the wine because it is too good to waste!... better the house than the wine I say'...
... 'Who said throw it out the window!? Look down there... If you had thrown it out the window that bush would have probably gone up in flames!'...
... 'I can't believe you blew on the fire... what were you thinking!'...
... 'he wasn't... don't you know that by now'...
... 'Wouldn't the wine have been fuel for the fire and made it worse?'...
... 'no, not enough alcohol percentage I don't think, you need like 70% or something'...
... 'well... sambuca has 40 and that lights on fire... but pouring it on would have suffocated it anyways I think'...
... But it all got settle eventually... and we ate the rest of the meal with the bread roll basket covering up the burnt part of the table cloth...
... Fire was not the end of the mishaps however... Mid-way through the meal we had our first glass of wine get knocked over... no worries... it only happened two more times... dessert saw the coat rack get run over... dessert also saw the first ever refusal of apple pie when served as a dessert... After dinner had a guy put his head in front of the dart board and joke at Danelle to throw a dart... Danelle didn't think he was joking... and suddenly a dart stuck right beside to his neck... 'Hoah!... what if that hit you in the eye!'... 'Ya! what if that hit me in the eye!'... '(Danelle) THAT was a chance I was willing to take'...
... The walk home was even a disaster as an errant foot met with black ice and ended up with the side of his head on a garbage can and his jeans all soaked in a puddle... 'Just get me home please?'...
... ok buddy...

Secret Santa

Santa really wouldn't have gotten that far as a hockey player... Because hockey player gifts are not like Santa gifts... and even a stocking full of coal leaves a lot to be desired by a hockey player...
... hockey player gifts are mean... and cruel... and hurtful... and ... ... ... funny... ? ... hockey player gifts pick apart any and every small difference or odd unusualness about a person and... ummm... tear it to absolute shreds... they're intended to cross the line so far that it eraces the line altogether by the end... nothing... and I mean nothing... is off-limits ... and the only reason I can think about, besides the lullz, is to see if the other guy is strong... if, based on his reaction to a present, you know if you can count on him to stand his ground and take it everywhere else... a test to see if in the heat of a game you know he's not going to fold under the pressure...
... maybe...
... I don't know... or maybe it's a tough love thing meant to tell the person all the things about him he should really think about changing... asap... like yesterday... and doing it in an incredibly public place, because the pain of squirming in front of a crowd really makes it sink in... and for everyone else... in some sort of evolutionary time lapse back to our days as vultures or something... it's fun...
... Or maybe it's just about getting a person what they need... instead of what they want... if... for say... what they needed was a muzzle because they talked to much... or gum because their breath smells like... or a pinochio nose to offset their inordinately large real nose... or diapers if they're a goalie that's afraid of the puck... or an Obama t-shirt if they're a Bush fan... or a crash test dummy outfit for a guy that totalled his car and left it in 2 separate pieces...
... you know... the kind of stuff Santa would give if he wasn't such a wuss...

Also... I've decided that, when I have the time, I'm going to put a link on to some other person's blog that I randomly like. I found this one to from clicking 'next blog' (or 'blog succesivo') again and again until I saw something I liked. Today the blog has 2 great posts that, judging by the rest of their English, were copy and pasted from somewhere else... but... one is on China forcing dissidents into mental institutions (where they lose all rights)... and one is Obama's winners speech on election night... pretty cool...

http://kaka19870430.blogspot.com/

That world will always be cruel - is reality...

... That world is out to get you - is an illusion...

... The whole first half of this year I would have wondered if this was even true... Because it just seemed like any break that could happen against us just consistently happened... against us... right at the most important time... right when the game would be decided... in that instant... the planets all aligned... the clock struck 12... just in time to give the other team an off-the skate, off-the-helmet goal for the win...
... But lately things have swung around and given us a couple breaks... a couple fluke bank-shot goals... a puck bouncing the right way... a really bad ref but this time in our favor... and we finally win those games we used to lose 4-3 in overtime...
... Case in point Yesterday... where we had our backup goalie in... and saying nothing about him... the result was that we won 6-3 against the best team in our league...
... I'm not sure what this means, but I do know that since I have him as my Secret Santa tonight I might have to change my gift... right now it's a roll of duct tape... to tie him up to the net (like in Mighty Ducks 1) so he stops being afraid of the puck... But with the stores all closed on Sunday... I'd say I'm screwed...

Your Foot is a Long Way From Your Heart...

Yesterday was a great game for a lot of reasons... and ended up with us winning 7-0 to get our goalie his first shutout of the year... the problem about last game was in the second period where I blocked a shot from the point... no big deal... it didn't hurt and I skated the rest of the game without the least bit of difficulty...
... So what's the problem?...
... Well... I'm glad you asked...
... you see...
... when you're playing your foot has the pressure of the skate to keep it from swelling... but once you take your skate off the pressure is gone and so many bad things can happen... Pain being the biggest of these bad things...
... and in the shower I started feeling it a little bit... and walking out I felt it a little more... and in the car it was throbbing just a bit...
... and then I did the worst thing I could have done for a bruise... and that's have a glass of beer with some guys on the team before we went home... And it was like a switch got flipped... and 20 minutes later the small pain in my foot... became a big big problem to walk on... I honestly couldn't walk to the counter to pay for the drink... I couldn't put any weight on my foot at all...
... and so in the midst of people making fun of me one of the guys realizes this and piggy backs me all the way to our car... stopping a few times on account of my weight and his shape... this all combined to one of my worst sleeps all year... and nights of all year...
... So lesson learned... blocking pucks is bad news...

Let it Snow...

The weather report for Italy the past week showed a big circle of low pressure hovering over the whole country... and it wasn't moving... just staring... sitting there... awkwardly... chatting... lingering... and raining on things... like the last couple at a dinner party.. .. even after you go get your watch out of the bedroom (that you never actually wear but that you bought because you thought it would make you look sophisticated) and put it on.. just so right after you can glance at it in hopes that they see it and register the universal (non-rude, yet completely obvious) form of saying sorry, but please, if you can, get the heck outta dodge... and thankyou for the bottle of wine... It's never actually happened to me but it has happened on enough sitcoms that I've watched to make me think that this is actually quite common...
... But ya... what a low pressure system... So much of a low pressure system that it's rained days on end in Italy... So much of a low pressure system that the Tiber is a couple of inches from flooding... So much of a low pressure system that higher elevations saw 70 mms of snowfall in a night... and counting... So much of a low pressure system that it cancelled all hockey games for the league last Thursday...
... because the only thing connecting these northern towns are high passes... passes that are 180 degree turns up and down the side of a mountain... that are way too slippery for our bus (sans chains on the tires)... and that are way too narrow for bus to pass bus on opposite sides... same thing goes for bus passing snowplow...
...
... and so Tuesday with the passes open again we travelled to make up the game... and we saw snow piled as high as our bus on each side of the road... roads still chalked in ice... and a bus slipping and swerving all the way up and down... ... ... It was surreal... in a very... crazy... scary... cool if we were on a GT and not on a bus... kinda way...
... We got to the rink over an hour later than we should have... nervous... tired... dazed... and with 28 minutes to get ready before warmups... Our best hope was that Alleghe would take us for granted... on account of us getting to the rink so late... and thus would come out... well... different in a much worse way than they actually came out...
... And I can honestly say that this was the first game this year our goalie won for us... sorta... as in he won a period for us... and then we woke up and started playing hockey... And after blowing 2, 2 goal leads we cemented it in the third on another first... a fluke goal... for a 5-3 win...
... Thankfully, on the way home, we took the extremely long, yet safe, way around the mountains on the highway...

Medium.... Rare?

We lost our game 3-1 on Saturday in a show of futility against a team that actually plays as a team... Simple... Direct... They scored on a 5 on 3... a 5 on 4... and a turnover... and I scored and didn't get credit for the goal... ugh!... refs!?... I hate'm...
.... What keeps me up at night though is that... you see... I watch NHL highlights... and 9 of 10 goals are simple, point shot, screen, rebound... goal... and we don't do that... we try the pretty... the slot shot one-timer... the end to end rush... the cross-crease pass... and it hasn't paid off yet... but I can still be positive because I see it... so close... happening...
... Today I tried an Italian Steak House... and here's a tip about Italian Steak Houses... Whatever you order... medium... for example... will come a level and a half more rare than the American version... So... today... for example... medium... meant extra, extra rare... and is still sitting in my stomache 4 hours later...

Of Course... I'm in a Hurry...

... that's the best time to try to parallel park and block traffic... and miss... ... ... twice...
... It's not like I'm characteristically late for things... At least... I don't live my life racing with the clock... I try to be early for things... because early is relaxing... early is great... early does so many good things for you... there's no better feeling than relaxing earliness... and early keeps you far far away from the 'if you're not 10 minutes early, you're late' logic of coaches and the necessary bag skate aftermath to hammer it in your head...
... But really, there is no worse feeling being late... it's a nightmare I sometimes get... and a nightmare that sometimes happens... because life happens... the power goes out... you didn't check the schedule... you turn off the alarm clock and lay back down because you'll for sure get up in five minutes anyways... just a little bit more... zzzZZZZ...
... And then... phone call... pick up... jump up... rush... food... frantic... clothes... shoes... jacket... stairs... ... ... snow on the car... ... ... brush it off... (forgot your gloves)... (freeze)... warm up the car... scrape off the frost... get in... care door is frozen... it won't close... slam harder... nope... threaten it... haha... works... what th-!?... frost on the inside?!?... can't be... scrape... scrape... scrape... frost going everywhere... back out... into an unplowed foot of snowfall... stuck... push... rock the car... somehow at the very top of the rocking jump in fast, push clutch, put in first, push gas, gun it... and freedom... downhill... watch out for ice... watch it... sliding... sliding... car... car... car... okay stopped... must go slow... real slow... are you really turning left with this line of traffic... right now!?... another phone call... don't answer... it's a trap... coach probably listening... turn... turn... turn... roundabout... turn... light... go... STOP!... snowplow... snowplow... horn... MOVE!... no?... okay... my bad... park... run... right past the GM... STOP!... I have to sign this?... ok... there too!... ok... late?... me?... naw!... coach is at the door waiting... nope... no... ... ... no... no excuse (never have an excuse, that's a trap too)... and walk in...
... out of the frying pan into the fryer...
... Cause... when early... sipping coffee... stretching... dressing... there's no better feeling than knowing about and eventually seeing someone that is late... it's the vulture in us all... the big phew, it's not me! feeling... the uh oh what's coach gonna say?... and the figuring out of the chirp to use when they do eventually walk in...
... And it's him coming in... head down... darting eyes... guilty face... getting laundry... getting dressed... that just begs for such a chirp to be used...
... 'Sleep at night Bernie'...

Same old same Old

We're driving down the road and Danelle says, "Wait... are you sure this is the right way?... I've never seen this way before... This isn't right... is it?... oh... well maybe it's cause it's dark and the street lights are on... they don't usually have these lights on you know... in the day... I don't think... Cause this seems so new... Did we go this way on the way here?... Honestly?... Cause this is like Deja Vu!... I mean... not Deja Vu... it's like... the opposite of Deja Vu... you know?..."
... ... ... in a weird way... I kinda do...

The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns

My parents flew out today after 10 days of hockey games and Christmas markets... Though it was 6 days more than my dad's 4 day rule (for staying at one place)... it's cool... seeing as their both a) family and 2) staying a block away in a pension (bed and breakfast), 10 days is almost too short for all the good times we had...
... Shopping... Talking... Reading... Perusing... Hiking... Walking... Cappucinoing... Gluvining (Tea, cinnamon, and red Sangriaish wine)... Sampling... Chocolating... and pre-opening gifts given earlying... which led to painting... drawing... eating... crocheting... and hugging
... The last day my parents even went on our 2 hour hike up the mountain... talk about young at heart... so positive... so upbeat... through the whole thing what an encouragement... even went sledding for the way down...
(My Dad said that as he's thought about it, every truly succesful person he's ever known has a knack for turning any situation into a positive... IE. 'Man it's so early'... "I KNOW, I JUST LOVE MORNINGS"... 'And it's cold!'... "THE COLDER THE BETTER!!")
... I want to be successful too... So... I'm trying to be more positive... even insanely so... because... why not...? I even went online and found some amazing quotes to get me started:

Real life is not always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgment of what is working in our lives can help us not only survive but surmount our difficulties

“We don’t see the things the way they are. We see things the way WE are.”- Talmund

The secret to success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching.”- Dennis Green

Hard work spotlights the character of people. Some turn up their sleeves. Some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”- Sam Ewing

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life’s about creating yourself.”- George Bernard Shaw

“Success is what you attract by the person you become.”- Jim Rohn

“You have to ‘Be’ before you can ‘Do’ and ‘Do’ before you can ‘Have’.- Zig Ziglar

“You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people to get what they want.”- Zig Ziglar

So now... instead of yelling at the ref because he only gave us 2 minutes of power play time all night (that's 1 penalty the whole game)... So they could hook and hold and interfere their way to a 2-1 win... I'm going to smile instead... smile... and think... that's good... it's good we have the biggest idiot for a ref I've ever seen... good because... because... cause... cause... uhhh...

... because “You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”...?... right... thankyou Christopher Columbus... for that...

Sledding

I have mixed emotions about it... and probably... will continue to have mixed emotions about it until tomorrow morning when I get up for hockey... when I will finally know... at all... if I
... regret...
...seriously regret...
... the most amazing sledding experience of my life...
...and Yes... experience... EXPERIENCE... because that's what you call something that takes 2 hours to hike up and 15 minutes to sled down...
... 15 minutes...
... Danelle's makeup has been put on in shorter time...
... This blog might be written in shorter time...
... Lots of things get done in shorter time...
... It was a really long time...
... And fun... we went for the four seater huge sled that was impossible to steer or control going down a severly windy 10 foot wide trail dodging all the hikers on their way up... and racing the rest of our team on the way down...
... We ended up getting fourth... which is a respectable spot... and only wiped out.. I want to say.. 3 times?... one of which was full speed into the side of a snow bank that succesfully soaked all my clothes for the rest of the ride...
... At the end of the run we did well at being the fifth best crash landing (off the last huge hole/jump placed 5 feet before the sleds all set up)...
... The best crash we didn't get to see... only hear about... 1) as J went too fast, didn't see the jump till too late, didn't have time to stop after it, and crashed hard into the sleds knocking them down like dominoes... 2) the second crash... with all of us down already standing around talking some guy (going too fast) goes off the jump, misses the sleds, misses the fence, and heads right for our group... heads up!... right for Danelle... uh oh... most everyone can go either right or left and jump out of the way, but Danelle, trapped, turns around and runs down the hill, with the guy on the sled right behind her for a good 15 feet, twice unsuccessfully picking the same direction to go as her attempt to dodge left and his attempt to dodge left, and then her attempt to dodge right and his attempt to dodge right start looking like a slow motion chase seen from a B-rated movie... before she dives left and he swerves right... I was rosl (rolling on the snow laughing) and Danelle, after composing herself, had to jump on me to regain some public image points... 3) The third crash B tried to get off a moving sled, fell, grabbed R's shoulder, pulled her back, fell again and pushed her forward... boom... snow, glasses, camera, gloves... everywhere... 4) fourth was W and C who also went too fast, right into the sleds, but only after Watty got off and laughed as C couldn't stop herself... and fifth was us 5)... who completely stopped just before the sleds.. everything fine... until momentum pushed me forward... trip, and knock over all the sleds in front of the 10 people and their dog that were watching us come in...
... And now I'm cold, sore, and happy... any regrets?... I don't know... will I be too sore to skate tomorrow?...

Ummm... hello?

Yesterday we drove to Innsbruck, Austria for the serious business of Christmas shopping. Good times. Good food (Mcdonalds). Good hotel (4 stars). I even bought something (one thing) believe it or not.
Just before we were leaving I went to the bathroom... nothing out of the ordinary... nothing blocking the door... no sign or anything... great... walk in... except... ... ... there's a female janitor ... ... ... mopping the floor... ... ... so I stop... ... dead in my tracks... literally mid-stride... I can't move.... and even though my body is still in 'going to the bathroom' mode my mind just won't let that happen... not until I deal with this never before seen, unable to register, incapable of handling... situation... and so for the 10 second train of thought process that gets me through this situation I'm stuck... mid-stride... a little off balance... middle of the bathroom... blocking traffic... half moving half stopping... confused...
... hmmmmm... wha!?... girl with a mop...where am I?... let me see... bathroom... guys bathroom?... yep!... other guys around here... good... what else?... here's something... there's no soap to wash your hands with at the sink... oh ya I'm obviously in Europe... co-ed things happen in Europe... sex blatant and exhibitionism encouraged... this woman-janitor -bathroom thing must be normal... ok... ok... normal... so act normal... go to the bathroom... don't worry... she's mopping right behind you right now... it's cool... all normal... now wash hands... who needs soap anyways... walk out... normal like... haha!... victory... in normalcy... just the usual routine of life at the Dez shopping center in Innsbruck... not Awkward at all...

Last year around this time Joel visited me in Holland...

... and we, in turn, visited Amsterdam. Walking around we noted all the differences we saw around us.. no-door Public urinals, coed bathrooms, legalized prostitution and drugs, stop lights before and not after the intersection, language barriers... and I said something along the lines of... "man, I wish they saved us all the trouble and just switched over to English already... it would save so much time, confusion, money, and probably war in the long run.. you know how many wars started from mis or lack of communication?... and the language is probably doomed anyways... they admit it themselves that it's confusing and hard for even them to understand the grammar... less and less people in the world are speaking it to begin with... Why, thousands of people a year are stopping using German and Dutch is like a smaller, step-child version of German... why not just pre-empt the trend?"... ... ...
... well, even though I was only half to half and three quarters serious I hit a nerve... so we full-fledged culturally debated.
Joel said that "it's important to learn and adapt to the culture you're in because you learn so much by doing it. Who are you to be so arrogant that you think everyone should just change for you?
...
You would never have an appreciation of snow unless you learned all the 12 different words the Inuit people had for it.
...
You would never understand the nuances of love until you realize the different ways it is used in different cultures... Greek has 4 different words for it as most everyone seems to know. But Dutch, for example (I've heard) is not simply the static "I love you.." but the moment by moment "I am loving you.." which carries a lot more weight because it is an action rather than the pathetic and overused word love that can mean anything you want it to mean from a feeling to a thought to an action and thus, until you define it, means nothing.
...
Or peace, which in English is used in a negative sense to mean the absence of trouble or hostility is better as... Shalom, which in Hebrew carries a positive connotation (you have to do it yourself)that means to bring into place absolute wholeness - full, harmonious, joyful, flourishing life. Wouldn't the world be different if we had Shalom-keepers instead of peace-keepers?
...
And I think a frenchman who (instead of the quick and unthinking please in English or Bitte in German) has to spend all that extra .8 seconds of s'il vous plait could never be completely selfish because who would waste their time with such a long sentence on someone they didn't care about? Well... at least you would have to think about them for that little bit more and hey, it's more time spent not thinking of yourself!
...
... ... ..."

And so ya, (ME) "...ok, maybe it's good to learn all the different nuances and, in turn, enhance your view of the world and hence your life. But then I think about the cost of a language barrier and wonder which risk is bigger - the risk of losing a fuller life or the risk of exclusivism, miscommunication, hostility, and war... of losing life itself?..."
...
(Joel) "...Okay, but think about another problem in language.. and that is... if, when brought together, it becomes too small... the situation is just as tragic. Yes learning a different language or different words can enhance your life... but a smaller and smaller vocabulary does so much more than a smaller life?
...
The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that the language a person uses is a trap to actually limit the way they look at the world. And what if the only words you know were taught to you were in a literature of hate, hostility, and an us vs them mentality then how could it be possible to step outside of it? The book I just finished reading talks about how refugees in the Middle-East were only ever taught one thing... a very strict and intolerant version of the Koran called Wahhabism... and suddenly the only way you will relate to the world is by hostility and fanaticism..."

WINNER?

In the Depth of Winter...

... I learned that in my heart I had an unconquerable summer. - Albert Camus

Information previously unprovided... I think... our rink is not really a rink but three walls and half a roof. (Kind of ironic that our major sponsor is a construction company). Boring practices see us trying to see if we can flip pucks out of the rink onto the roof... Really boring practices see us trying to shoot the puck over the mesh and into the car park...
..When it rains the ice is so foggy you can't see the net from the blueline and we have to run an industrial fan between whistles to clear it all out... But when it winters... now... THAT... is an entirely different sort of animal..
Our rink has now become colder than the city rinks we used to play on in Atom and Peewee back in Regina. The ones with the boards that had slightly less give than reinforced concrete, heaven forbid you get bodychecked into one. The ones that had the morning practices in Mini-mites and my mom would put my undergear in the dryer so I could be warm for the first 15 minutes of practice.
I'm wearing double undergear... some guys wear sweaters... One guy on our team actually resized his practice helmet so he could fit a toque in it...
And it will be colder still.. so the forecasts say...
Good thing my Dad is hear right now... he says 'suck it up' cause 'in his day' he used to have to skate through 5 feet of snow uphill both ways carrying his hockey sticks and bag just to go to school... angry fans would throw snowballs at opposing players... and you had to shovel the rink by hand... with a spoon...

The Answer to Everything is 496...

I'm struggling not to catch the same thing that Danelle just got over. Soreness, cough, fever, extreme tiredness.. so as a North American... my pre-eminent North American strategy is a pre-emptive attack on the virus of mass destruction by just been sitting in bed, resting, and thinking healthy thoughts...
.. overall though I'm hooked on watching a show called 'The Elegant Universe' that tries to describe String Theory to the extremely... extremely... lay-person. As far as I can tell the story goes something like this:

1) Scientists have an idea how the universe works on the extremely large scale using the theory of gravity called 'General Relativity'.

2) And scientists have an idea of how the universe works on an extremely small scale (smaller than the atom) using the theories of electromagnetism, and small and weak nuclear forces, all under the heading of 'Quantum Mechanics'.

3) The problem is that these two sets of laws conflict and have yet to be joined together into one unified theory. A theory for everything. This theory is kind of important because it could explain, for example, black holes... and more importantly the Big Bang or worm holes. (How this theory actually jumps off the page and becomes more than merely being a bunch of numbers and letters on a page is still a mystery to me)

So the new idea is that there are things even smaller than the smallest particles that we see that is simply strands, or 'strings', of pure energy that vibrate at different frequencies... Finally solved with string theory... without anomalies... when both sides of the equation equalled 496...?... and just as a violin string vibrating at different frequencies produces different notes, so these energy strings vibrating at different frequencies produce all of the different particles in the universe.

And the unification of the two theories only came at the cost of 7 new dimensions, weightless particles, and parallel universes...

But the weirdest thing that I have to add on to this is from a writer JRR Tolkein. He was involved in a group that studied and wrote about ancient myths that could be found from around the world. The interesting part is that when it came time for him to reinterpret these old myths in his own book, he described the creation of the universe and everything in it as a song... that each part and each vibration made up and described the matter and form that the universe took... I'm sure he had nothing at all to do with string theory... but to even think about the universe along the same line of thought of vibrations, and getting that idea from reading ancient myths, is weird...

And the weekend..

We won both our games this weekend... against all our best efforts... because... honestly... we did everything we could possibly do to lose.. and thankfully somehow our strategy backfired...
Thursday was 7-6 after being down 2-0, 4-2 and 5-3 respectively. Most of their goals were scored in one of two ways... rushes and powerplays... frustrating since there seems to be a common goals against theme in most all our losses... no third man high in the O-zone... never practice pk... a good recipe for goals against...
When we finally got ahead 6 to 5 we resorted back to playing our usual strategy of panicking with the lead.. our D backing way off the blueline.. never pinching... our forwards dumping the puck.. afraid to hold it... and our D-zone a combination of clutch-and-grab and running around with our heads cut off... it worked out pretty much as usual and they tied it on a power play... only to have us come right back and score the go ahead... only to have them come back and ALMOST score twice in the last minute... but only ALMOST... so we won... at home.. in regulation... a first!
And Saturday was another first as we got the first goal and even turned it into a multi-goal lead... We were up 3-0 going into the third when the ref decided to take the game into his hands and gave Asiago back to back 5 on 3's... suddenly the game was 3-2... then 4-2 on a low blocker shot from outside... When 4-2 happened we decided one more time to let the panick set in... and fatigue on account of playing solely our first line and nobody else for the last 10 minutes of the game... and 4-3 on a pulled goalie... and then 5-3 on a pulled goalie... and a 5 hour bus trip home to get home by 4 and up at 11 AM for our team rope bridge function... yay...

Team Building

Our day off today became team building experience #1 for the year. Which although a good thing... is usually done at the start of the year... you know... to build some trust... communication... teamwork... all those good things before games become serious... and trust vital...
... psychology says that going through shared trial... as long as everyone acts the man... is the best and only real way to build comradery... but as far as it goes.. I'm not too picky... I'll take anything...
We went to a rope course and in teams of 3 we all got through the course in less than 3 hours... One guy on the course, one belayer, and one guy standing, watching, freezing, and making sure nothing goes wrong... trash-talking... waiting... throwing pinecones at the climbers...
Danelle and I missed out on a date-day, but she was sick today so we had to make it up anyways at a later date...

Holding Grudges

I just finished reading a book on the holocaust and... it's pretty shattering... hard to leave a book like that and look at the world the same way... Or people in the same way... again ever... and I really don't know what I would think if I was actually standing in the midst of a concentration camp...
(... the writer actually suggests that any person in power be required to walk through a camp to remind themselves of the abuse of power and the effort required to stop it... and also remind them of the reality of human nature... despot, maniac, and '...just following orders'...)
... The death toll of the holocaust is so great that story can almost leave the realm of emotion and instead merely become a statistic... but for a dedicated mass of survivors who lived the rest of their lives to ensure that the holocaust could never become just... a statistic... Who gathered together... overcame their loss... and published real love and shocking horror... and through their work made the world meet each person face to face... make each trial a personal story...
... The most striking thing of the whole book is the amount of survivors that could simply not get over their experience... who years later would end up taking their lives because of the memory, of the grief, and the sadness of their story... maybe because they could not find a listening ear or a wounded heart that could truly understand what they went through and meet them on their level... maybe it was loneliness...
...But for others it seemed like it was their unwillingness to forgive... their need to hold on to that hate and remember it because it aided them in their search for justice... a righteous cause that needed to be fought for... They pursued their captors and in a combination of justice and revenge paid one evil with another... they could and would not get rid of their hate and eventually their hate consumed them...
... And then there was a third kind of person... Like the story of Corrie Ten Boom who watched her sister die in a camp... .. ... and yet went back to Germany after the war to offer forgiveness to the German people and help rebuild the country... One day even coming face to face with the worst, most evil, vicious, sadistic guard in her camp... and through tears in her eyes and fighting off her shaking hand she offered forgiveness even to him... and maybe... hopefully... she was able to truly overcome the hurt done to her...

... His argument (and I completely agree) is that forgiving someone, although doing nothing to mend anything that has been done or will be done, will free you from the power an abuser had over you... (Even years later it will hold you back in life if you don't deal with it)... It gives you a chance to let it go and find closure... even if they don't ask forgiveness... it's a chance to start over and live your life finally out of the shadow, free of the chains, of whatever or whoever has hurt you... like the original meaning of 'forgiveness'... to send away...

Just like you

For various reasons... namely a book I'm reading, an email I received, everything on the news, and rumours about a total collapse of the world economy... my mind is bent on trouble. Is Western Civilization doomed? Are resources turning scarce? Will the war get bigger? What if inflation sky-rockets? What am I doing playing hockey in the middle of all this!? But because of this random book I'm reading my focus is on (in my biased opinion) the scariest, most sinister, and definitely most direct question of them all for me is... can I trust my neighbor?
Would I place myself at the mercy of a complete stranger? No... but neighbor? ... well... NO... I'm not sure if it's CSI episodes or what, but I'm slanted to the distrust side right from the start... a kind of 'plan for the worst, hope for the best' mentality... don't get me wrong... commonality is the most amazing thing when you find it... like.. yay diversity and all... but this same diversity has begun to show an ugly side... where suddenly we wake up to find we have very little in common with others and a whole lot more not in common...
And I think it translates into growing isolation and distrust towards others around us... between groups of people... between one person and another... and we see it everyday in fenced communities, 24/7 security guards, cameras on every street corner, metal detectors... This is no longer the kind of Ivory Tower Real World LA diversity where everyone learns from each other and we are thus all enriched in some amazing 'live and let live' utopia... This is becoming a complete rift where 'either we become them or they become us'... where we don't trust the inside of people around us so we're forced to control them on the outside... where Christians control actions... Atheists control speech... Courts set precedent... jails are overcrowded... and politics has moved from dissent to disdain... this is a little more than 'good fences make good neighbours'... this is an are we even neighbours at all?... It's no longer a melting pot but a very eclectic meat and vegetable soup... and chances are not everyone even got in the bowl in the first place... ... ... ?... ... ... ummmm... okay but for real... What exactly ties us together anymore...? American Idol?

Everything Else

After doing everything we were supposed to do Sunday, and seeing everything we were supposed to see Monday.. Tuesday actually felt like a vacation... We walked around the city at our own pace... if we saw a shop we liked (Danelle), we tried on the shoes... if we saw a gelato shop we liked (Me), we sampled the Straccatella... when we were tired we rested with Cappucinos and Croissants... when we were hungry we ate toasted Paninis and an ice cold coca-cola from the street vendors... when it looked like rain we added in saying 'no thankyou' on every street corner to some new guy selling the same 3 Euro umbrella's... When it did start to rain it was just in time for supper and we sat inside with pizza and wine and watched why Rome was famous for its storms... and why they would fear Zeus so much back in the day... I found out that my so-called Gucci knock off leather jacket was, in fact, truly a Gucci knock-off leather jacket.. and 2000 Euros less than the real one... Danelle found out that Jimmy Choo stores did, in fact, exist somewhere in the world and that they really were, in fact, that expensive... We both found out that a knock off Gucci leather jacket and a knock-off Prada purse didn't, in fact, gain you any friends in the most expensive shopping area of Rome... It was an 8 hour day of real live actual vacation.. if you traced our steps... from St Maria's church, to Victor Emmanuel's monument, to the river, to the Bocca del Verita (the Mouth of Truth), to the circus Maximus, to St Paul's church, to the Piazza de Trinita, to Augusto's Mausuleum, to the Piazza del Popo... you would, in fact, see we were literally walking in circles..

The Vatican

Documents held by the vatican, shown to everyone who mattered, were convincing proof... before heading east Constantine had given the lands around Rome to the Pope.. as his own and govern and rule.. these documents were later proven to be a 7th century forgery... (the latin far too advanced for it's time)... this didn't stop the pope from acting like it was true then, and doesn't change the fact that we still act like it was true now... for as everyone knows, a lie, if told enough times and if it's loud enough, will actually become true.. at least in the arena of public opinion... and that's really all that matters... so even today the vatican remains a country all it's own... with it's own guards and military system... the rest of its holdings graciously donated to the Roman people... in return for money, power, and, more importantly... never having to pay taxes again... ever...
... not a bad bit of forgery...
... This is just the start... The money and holdings, unknown and unchecked... the secret archives, unknown and unseen... all hush hush in the strictest sense... and as of yet no building number 7 of the world trade center to fall unexpectedly for no reason as if it, too, was hit by a plane and bury it's secrets (FBI)...

... But I have no resentment to the great beast I see in front of me... because slowly... laborously... the beast crawled its way back out of the middle ages and eventually embraced the reformation... and is even beginning to act a little bit more how it was always supposed to act... it's not that scary of a beast anymore... if a beast at all... the only real fear one can have in this place is the great Shusher of the Sistine chapel to anyone speaking just a bit too loud...

...But I'm also interested in secrets... I just am... when the Papacy became a gift to go to the rich and powerful... a position held to control and sway the masses... when the Pope himself no longer believed in life after death... it's curious to know what extremes happened behind these walls... 'power corrupts, abstolute power corrupts absolutely'... and there's so many bad popes, really bad popes, that... if these walls could only play full length recorded DVD movies... a pope who ran a brothel in his courtyard, charging 30,000.. and right outside confession booths, charging 10,000... another pope when questioned about his tactics of torture and excommunication saying straight faced, 'I'm the pope, I can do anything, anything...' sex, lies, intrigue... we know... those are the ones they can share with us... so which are the ones they can't share... thank goodness for the reformation...
... St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, all marvels... the whole place is like the Louvre, with a thousand little stories in its art and within its walls.. only its different, it's grander but still, somehow, less beautiful, and with not as good an audio tour...

Rome

Saturday

We have a 1:07 AM departure from Bolzano (an hour and a half away on Danelle speed) with a straight shot to Rome...
...Best case scenario we play a game with few penalties, no off-sides, a lack of icings, and win in regulation.. we celebrate (YAY!), get outta dodge, autobahn the heck out of our car, find my coaches shop, park, walk to the train station, shutter down, and 8:34 AM we're in Rome...
... Worst case scenario is a knock-down, drag-out rumble on the ice where they score in the last minute of the game and take it through overtime into penalty shots.. and... ... sudden death penalty shots.. and then we lose when the puck catches some snow and my shot sails over the wide open glove hand of the goalie and I skate into the corner heading back to our bench trying to dodge the Fassa players that are jumping over their bench to congratulate their goalie... (although I did score in the first best of 5)... ... ... since we lose the game we have to go through the draining task of figuring out what to say... finding something to yell about... who to blame... and how to rebound... (I've never been a fan of this personally because all the emotions of either a win or a loss will cloud the reason... too harsh a critic or too lenient a well-wisher... but it happens)
... ... ...
... so off the ice at 11:07... shower... ready... go... drive... what turn?... we're not lost... around the prostitute laden streets Bolzano... no... no... the other way... turn around right here... back this way... okay... now a right here... do you see it anywhere?... what!? no! don't ask them for directions!?... ... ... ahhh... go around again... ... ... it should be right here... ... ... I'm gonna get out and walk down this way to see where it goes... ... ... ... ... ... okay... found it... just back here... how much time do we have... can we make it?... hope so...
... ... ...
... oh no! I forgot the waters I bought... oh no!! I forgot our change purse with all our money... oh no!!! I forgot the lunch we mad for the train... oh no!!!! where's my glove?.. oh.. here it is.. good... that was lucky...
... ... ...
... these seats are not at all comfortable... I can't get comfortable... are you comfortable?... zzzzZZZZZZZzzzz

Sunday

8:37 AM... Honestly, sadly, I think we both had our best sleep in weeks... even though our lower backs were sore and neither of us could look left... this says less about the seats on the train and a whole awful lot about our bed back home... A non-important looking and yet seriously important acting man with a badge reading 'hotels' (possibly drawn in crayon) and a nothing-written-on-it clip-board (but somehow gives him more credibility anyways) says he has a hotel for us... 60 Euros... follow him... ... ... should we?... probably not... why are you following!?... Brendan! I am never doing this again!...
... it was an unmarked hotel that didn't have a sign and was possibly a converted apartment... but it was a hotel room with a nice bed, a hot shower, a fridge, and a free breakfast.. it was 20 euros cheaper than anything else we found when we did shop 2 nights later... and got us into the city faster... so maybe we will do it again... (Gaia was the name of the hotel.. they served chocolate crepes for breakfast... and it was warm enough to have our window open... if anyone was wondering...)
...
... our plan was haphazard at best... we had a map that provided no identifiable strategy on how to tackle the city... no real route to take as far as we could tell... there's just things... everywhere... things everywhere... and all you can do is walk in circles and see what you can see... but first things first... the business of sightseeing... do what you simply must do... the Colliseum...
... the walk down to the Colliseum revealed the three main themes that would stay with us for the rest of our trip... tourist shops... graffiti... and garbage... the city is a big, dirty, ugly, touristy mess... (I was later to discover in my book on Rome that 2 of these things have been in Rome since its conception... first garbage... garbage in, garbage in.. stay garbage stay... people would throw garbage on the ground while leaning against a garbage can... and second graffiti... unwashed... unpainted... written on the walls of buildings, in the past even tombs, as political messages either for WHO to vote for, or once voted in, WHAT to vote for...
... but really
... It's just a vibe that the city gives out... Paris is glitz, order, clean, glamour, beauty, life... and it breathes life... it's a walk in the clouds... Rome, in contrast, though grander and older... is run down, dirty, grey, and falling into ruins... still strong... competitive... but confused... it resurrects a monster of history... halfway out of the grave... with one foot in and one foot out... squalor mixed with modernity... and every once in a while a blending of the two shows a glimpse of... something... inside... like a grey church of Maria opening up to reveal marble pillars, frescoes, and a magnificent gold inlay... fitting that it shows inner beauty and strength, actually, as above all Roman's valued morality, character, and strength...
... and out of the mess rises the Colloseum...
... Imagine... as hard as you can... entering the Coliseum... as free, to win glory and applause... as Christian, food for lions... as slave, to win freedom... as fan, to see... to make you strong... a testament to the glory of Rome... the struggle of life in competition... it's founding value... it has made the people of the city strong for nearly 500 years... built by 20,000 Jewish slaves (making it today anti-semetic to walk through it's commemorating arch)... Can you imagine?... the roar... the enemy... his eyes... and behind the doors of death... how would you meet them?...

... It's now sacred from all the martyr deaths on the Coliseum floor... and just up the hill the Necropolis of Nero where Christians were burned alive as torches to light his banquet feasts...
... Christians had a very hard time of it in the beginning years... and surprisingly... the Romans were not really opposed to new religions, and added a few on every so often in order to appease a god they might never have known needed it... but I guess Christians were different on exclusivity and in values... Romans valued strength and beauty... Christians valued the meek... Romans worshipped all gods... Christians opposed all but one... they flew in the face of Rome... like St Lawrence when Emperor Valerian told him to bring him the greatest treasure of their church... in response St Lawrence gathered together all of the downtrodden and 'meek' and brought them to the Emperor... not seeing the joke the Emperor determined to show that there was nothing to this new religion Christianity... he put St Lawrence on a skewer and had him slowly turned over a grill... released if only he would revoke his God... the crowd gathered as carrions ready for fodder... instead, St Lawrence used the opportunity to preach to the gathered crowd... 'Tonight' he said 'I will be with my savior in heaven.'... so struck was the crowd that they started to question if there might be something to this one God that a man was willing to die for... they wouldn't die for any of their 300... 4 hours into it Valerian himself came to Lawrence's side and asked once more if he had enough... St Lawrence's responded, "I think I'm done on this side, could you turn me over...?" to which he was turned over and died choking on the fumes...

... Next to the Coliseum.. the Palatine.. hill of Romulus... where 12 vultures flew overhead.. as opposed to only the 6 that flew over the Aventine hill where his brother Remus stood... signifying that Romulus was the one who would found the great city the oracle foretold... the true brother... made especially true after Romulus killed Remus in an argument... thus the Palatine hill... reserved for the most wealthy of Romans citizens... A mile square palace with an indoor 'bath-tub' large enough to hold mock naval battles... an aqueduct that brought water all the way from the surrounding mountains... a 300 couch dining room for all those Romans that ate lying on their sides... and a 12 person public toilette complete with a sponge on the end of a stick for the afterparty... very likely the origin of the phrase 'getting the wrong end of the stick'... and in between the Palatine and the Aventine the Roman forum where all business was conducted...
... Here where the senate of great men shared power for half a century... tearing down those that got too big... where Gaius Gracchus (Gladiator) was killed for catering too much to the mob... where Sulla, with too much power, enacted laws where another like himself could never be created and then stepped down... and where the triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar rose to power... lords among men... and destroyed the republic...


... Far side of the Palatine hill is the Capitaline hill and the Victor Emmanuel Monument... the Monument holding it's own grave to an unknown soldier... like France... once more presenting the power of a democracy... and the Capitaline museum... showing a statue of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf... the legend hangs on one word... the word for wolf... 'Lupi'... was the same word used for prostitute... so it's possible these brothers had a much different mother than legend...

... And croissants on the roof overlooking the entirety of ancient Rome... their history, supposedly, as a tool of war... when the Muslims invaded Spain, the Polish monarch had his men make bread in the shape of their enemies flag and eat it... overcoming their fear and allowing them the chance for victory...

Re: Al-ity

I just got a second dose of reality in as many days in these hard times (cab drivers words not mine) of Italy...
... Since the mafia book was written there has been an all out struggle for power between the government and the mafia in southern Italy...
... in recap... the tell-all book was written... the bounty was placed... the president said 'thou shalt not'... and the scared writer booked it out of the country anyways...
... since then...
... there has been over 100 mob-related arrests in Southern Italy...
...after...
... the mafia declared war on the government and started killing a whole bunch of people... ...before...
... the government brought the army into Southern Italy to fight against the mafia...
... and I'm not sure if this means the end of the mafia in Italy or not... according to people I've talked to here the newly elected president has mob ties and has no intentions of carrying on the war... and the people that were arrested were only from one small area in one small town and thus would do nothing to really tear down the machine that is the mafia...

... on a side-note: I just heard a guy on you-tube slamming the overuse of the dot dot dot (...) on the internet... and in all ways he was completely true and uncompromisingly blunt in a hilarious sort of way... ["the dot dot dot means so much more than the dot or no dot at all... and at most times is used by a person trying to express something or multiple somethings that to the writer seems sophisticated and subtley profound... but to the reader, by it's fifth use, is actually lame and overused..."].. but alarmingly I choose to keep using it as a tool... representing the dramatic effect of time... (or I'm lame and overused)... this blog is about living... and these dots represent the passing of time... during the day... that events or thoughts happen so people get a feel of living instead of just reading... so if I have to stand in line at a counter for 10 minutes... ... ... ... ...you will probably have to wait with me... and if I have to step back from a situation to evaluate how ridiculous the ref was in my game... then dot dot dot... and if I'm in the middle of a thought that I've thought about the whole day and talked about with 7 different people at the rink or at home... then... but then it ends... this is usually why I finish with just a dot...

Reality Bites

In a new place it always takes me a little bit of time to get out of vacation mode and enter into reality... umm... mode...
...'Vacation mode', similar to 'honeymoon period', is the time when your new emotions blind you from all that is bad in the new place, or person you are holding hands with... Reality Mode is when you realize for the first time that girls actually do... ahem... 'ausfahrt'...
... and Italy... like everywhere else in the world... is... unbelievably I know... still in reality... and still 'ausfahrts' every once in a while...
... I found out two things about reality here... just today actually...
... The first... that I heard... a man in Italy wrote a tell-all book about the mafia here in Italy... and now he has a bounty on his head... a bounty!? And everybody knows this... the whole of Italy is aware of the bounty and knows that the mafia wants this man dead by December... The President himself even spoke about this and said that no one should touch the man because the mafia is a bad influence on society and should not be aided... not enough for said man, however, as he is believed to be leaving the country for good shortly...
... The second... I heard... that the same President is planning on slashing 85,000 teaching jobs in Italy... 85k!?... We have 2 teachers on our team at present, and this means they're on strike for what will probably be quite some time... I remember I was watching CNN talk about how the US lost 79,000 jobs this year and how tragic it was... and here we have 85,000 jobs in maybe a month if this does go down... What I can't figure is how the country could absorb such a job loss... 85,000 jobs in a country of some 50 odd million... has got to take it's toll...

Rap up

on THURSDAY.... we got 10 goals... 10 GOALS!?... After two straight scoreless games we rebound with 10? and win 10-2... (the other team got bag skated because of it)... but it happens... after a week straight of practicing how to score goals... based on the kinds of goals and situations you actually see in a game... we score some... weird?... smart coaching?... funny how it happens... *cliche alert*... when you 'practice how you play'...
on SATURDAY.... we were tied 3-3 with 10 minutes to go... We had just scored and have all the momentum... And then... and then?... and then??... and then the wheels fall off!?... they score a go-ahead goal the exact same way Pontebba scored a goal to tie us just 2 weeks earlier... 3 on 3 the guy pulls up, drops it to the guy at the blueline (who should not be open cause our backchecker should be there), he shoots it, the guy driving the net tips it and... It's crazy how we can't deal with even man rush situations... It should never even be dangerous and they scored twice like that against us...
and then on SUNDAY.... disaster... what can not be said about Sunday?... I mean... there are those mildly slightly annoying hardships that a man can deal with... and there are those stunningly awkwardish aggravating situations that a man may or may not be able to deal with... and then there are those situations.. so utterly mindnumbingly aggregious that... that... that... that you must snap if you ever hope to keep any credibility as a man...
... these situations usually have to do with food... (sometimes sleep... but 90/10 food)...
... and when you have to wait in a Chinese restaurant for 2 hours for food... other customers walking in after you, eating, paying and leaving... full... and you're still sipping your 2.50 Euro bottled water... it gets you... it has to... gets you SO... *(&#)@&$*@*... and it did...
... but... still... we didn't walk out... didn't..... because a) I hadn't had Chineses since we got here... b) It smelled good... and c) because they kept telling us it would only be 15 more minutes and we believed them... the spring rolls were decent... the wonton soup had lettuce in it... the rice was amazing... and the sweet and sour chicken was 7/8ths deep fried stuffing...
... lesson learned... chopsticks are bad...

Throw me a rope...

Hard work, this crazy world has decided, is the be all and end all solution for every problem... Ask any hockey coach... hard work... put your head down and... hard work... look at the guy across from you and... hard work... when I say jump, you don't even ask how high, you just jump and pray that it's... hard work... defense is simple isn't it?... hard work... well the reason you're not scoring goals is you have to pay the price to get in front and... hard work... The harder you work the luckier you seem to be... Nothing beats hard work... Hard Word beats skill if skill won't Work Hard...

... it's the American Dream... you can pull yourself up by your own boot straps... hard work guarantees success... I'm sure you've heard the quotes enough times from enough different people...

... ergo... it must be true...

... BUT thing is... so often it's just not true...

... and it's a hard reality to face about hard work because that's... that's... isn't it?... what everybody says...?

... Wrong... a mini-mites team wouldn't beat the Toronto Maple Leafs just cause they worked a lot harder now would they...

... Extreme... but true...

... sometimes it's just not hard work... Sometimes... hard work won't let you pull yourself up out of the dirt... Cause sometimes that dirt isn't dirt... sometimes that dirt is quick sand... and thus the harder you work the quicker you sink... (see applicable title)

... So ya... if you want... "enough talk, just get out and work" can be as far as you want to go... but consider this... the Roughriders played that way to the sound of 6 straight losing seasons... and then for one season Kent Austin took the same bunch of guys and made them into Grey Cup Champions... Did they just work harder?... Did they finally jump high enough?... OR... for one miraculously smart season did their second down reverse screen play make a fool out of the Montreal defense and gain 30 yards... eventually leading to a touchdown... when this hard working team a year previous we would have gone for a blood and guts, REALLY HARD WORK run play up the middle for 3 yards and then kick it off... ? ...

... figure it out...

... One smart guy wth a plan is the difference between playing as a 'team' and just a bunch of guys (chickens with their heads cut off) running around the field accomplishing jack squat...
... Like, in hockey... if you know hockey... against a 2-3 forecheck you can try going D to D and passing the puck up the boards to the winger on the hash mark all you want to (because that's solid hard-working hockey coming down low into the zone), but if the other team has a high winger and a D pinching down shadowing your winger all it means is the puck in the back of your net... I don't care how hard you think you're working... CHALK IT UP AS A LOSS.*

Now I'm all about this little thing called hard work... truly... but I've had enough of everyone saying that it's all you need to win a game... cause I truly believe if you asked a coach like Kent Austin he would tell you there's about a thousand little things that all have to go together... smartly... and then you work hard... and then you win... and then you go in front of the microphone and praise how hard the guys worked... so that the other teams listening won't ever realize that they were beat by the systems... before they even stepped out on to the field... so you can go ahead and beat them the next time too...

*The D to D pass has wasted so much time that the 3rd forward and the D (who are usually behind the play) are now right up on the board-side wingers. Even if the winger gets it and chips it it won't get out because he's on the hash marks and the other D is backing up on the blueline. And if the D tries to bypass the winger and put it off the glass the same D backing up the play will be able to knock it down and get a shot... or the puck will go over the glass and you get whistled for delay of game and a 2 minute penalty. If you still don't understand.. ask me and I'll draw it our for you sometime...

Axis and Allies

Does any German-Italian... Germanic Italian?... Italian who (that?) speaks German... Octoberfest go to-er or running of the bulls follower... defensive soccer specialist that would rather tie a game 0-0 than win a game 7-6... have a problem with the fact that the grocery store I was just in was selling an Axis and Allies video game? Axis an Allies... a World War 2 video game that Germans and Italians lost... Italy and Germany being a part of the Axis... and the US, whose tag 'made in the US' is on the back of the package, was part of the allies... I know it's history long past and we're all friends now in a joint battle to infinitum against the terrorists... but still as a history major it just feels kinda.... something?... awkward... weird... ironic?... wrong... maybe?

Game 6: Alleghe

Besides being in the middle of nowhere, Alleghe is also the hardest road trip I've been on so far... dizzy... lightheaded... woozy... I haven't figured out the best way to get around all those turns on a bus without feeling horrible in the end. My best strategy so far is to turn my head to where the bus is going, and then as the bus turns I keep my head straight so the bus turns into where I'm already facing... make sense?
... Alleghe itself has just become demoralizing... it's like quicksand.. the more you struggle the faster you sink. They scored a goal from the corner... We made some bad defensive mistakes... and we didn't score on rebounds in the slot, breakaways or powerplays... and then they added an empty netter to top it all off.
... There are so many fingers to point everywhere... not getting in front of the goalies eyes... turnovers... not being able to hold the blueline on their rushes... holding the puck too long trying to do too much... no real systems to speak of... but when it comes down to it I can really only point the finger back at myself right now... and the quick fix is to mix up the lines and see if we play better with new people... We'll find out Saturday...

Game 5...

... was another mishmash of good plays, golden chances and harsh feelings. 0 for 12 on the power play pretty much sums up our night last night... And still we were up 2-1 with 2 minutes remaining... doing our very best to give the game away... giveaways... gripping the stick too tight... absolute and complete panic by from our players so worried that we might actually win a game... and then they scored on a 2 on 4 to tie it up...
... I had just stepped on the ice... which sucked...
.... The one guy stops up wide-side on the blue-line... both guys give so much lee-way because 'their trying to play good defense... giving the guy enough time to wait for the other guy to snaps a shot on net. The other guy going to the net somehow gets a stick on the shot (all our player that standing directly beside and skating stride for stride with him had to do was tie up his stick!?) and Kelly has no chance... 2-2... Overtime I have a great chance on a rebound to win but I didn't want to take the chance to bring the puck to my backhand on snowy ice and risk the puck jumping... allowing the goalie a 33% chance to stop the puck depending on if I shot the puck high, middle, or low... a rock-paper-scissors kind of thing... I've never really been that good at rock-paper-scissors unfortunately... I shot high... he picked high... and we're going to a shootout... I scored in the shootout but... We again... lost in the shootout...
.... it's really hit or miss going down because the puck is bouncing all the way down on snowy ice... so maybe it stays down and you have a chance to score... maybe you hit the glass 4 feet wide, 2 feet high and skate back to your bench getting heckled by the other team...
... Is there still a strategy?... course... If you ever watch NHL hightlights, you'd notice that the top scorers seem to score the same ways in the course of a year... In games of course but shootouts just the same... Messier had his snap shot low blocker... Ovechkin has his stop up, snap shot high glove... and when he was in his prime... Selanne comes really fast from the left hand side... fake shot, bring the puck a foot to the right, then shoot five-hole or high glove depending on the goalie... I'm pretty much an unoriginal follower of Teemu... and... it worked today at least...

Sunday...

... was a late start for a day date considering neither of us woke up till after 1... What can you expect though considering you leave the rink from an 8:30 game right around midnight... and you're still incredibly wired from adrenaline and can't settle down until 2 or so... and then if Smallville really hooks you in during that time you might have to watch the last two episodes... which takes you all the way to 3:30. Oops....
... but anyways...
... I had an idea of how to get to Fassa... Take the exit near that one town you pass on the way to Bolzano... and then at that other town with the flags go right... (is how it was described to me last night)... but I really wanted to take Danelle there just to see how amazing the Dolomites are around that area... Especially considering the pass of Sella takes you right to the very top of the mountain before dropping back down into the town... And it was exactly as cool as I remembered it. crazy 180 degree turns... an unbelievable view... and little small hamlets (each with their own set of 100 or so hotels that are closed all year round until ski season)... interspersed among miles and miles of ski trails...
... We saw a gondola set up to the top of one of the mountains... I've seen my share of gondolas before... but this one seemed have only the lower base and upper base and no towers in between... taking you straight up a 2000 foot face of a mountain... I'm pretty sure once your up there you won't see any rails on the sides of the sheer walls either... maybe... one day... when it's open... we'll check it out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites

Fasa

The trip to Fasa goes straight up and down mountains. Literally... I woke up on the way to the game on the top of a mountain. 3 kms (straight down) from Fasa. 40 minutes later after 30 180 degree switchbacks we're there. Three words... Drammamine, Drammamine, Drammamine... please? Maybe it helps if you're in a car and you're ther driver... but on a bus it's very very hard not to want to throw up on account of motion sickness... But... I've never seen anything ever like it in my life... I don't even know how to describe Italy but to say that it's the most beautiful place I've ever been in my entire life... ... ... sick in every way possible...
... The game was a must win for us so we didn't lose our first four and be dead last in the league. And for a while it looked like things were going to keep on going the way things had been. Chances all over the place and us just unable to score... and then the other team puts in some weak lucky goal and we're battling from behind... and about that time we take 10 minutes in penalties... and things go bad to worse... This time we were 3 goals up when we had our 10 minute penalty streak and we held on for our first win...

Internet

We set up our internet today... FINALLY!.. Internet... we got it... at home... in our house... awesome... it's here... right now... (If you imagine Dane Cook saying this it would be funny)... and ya... we could have had it yesterday but none of us realized that the password was written on the bottom of the modem... it took an Italian speaking guy 30 minutes of trying to fumble with the CD in Danelle's computer to realize that it was already installed... working... and that we were idiots...
... Since then... literally... from the time it got installed to right now all three of us have been in the same room internetting.. talking.. emailing.. eating.. msning.. googling.. eating.. skyping... youtubing.. snacking.. ... .. We took a serious nose dive off probably bigger than the biggest wagon you can imagine (by at least 1.5 times) back onto the internet train... so much for dealing with internet withrdrawls and finding other things in life... You can say it's all bad but life is all about relationships that only the internet can keep up right now...
... Practice today was a 1 hour ab workout at 10 and a practice at 2... and is about 1 hour too long... After the workout, ya, so what, I'm a little tired, I have a little friend called adrenaline... no worries... lets practice... I did it all through college... (so what if most of them were fake workouts... I'm not about to do hang cleans, dead lifts, and max squats the Wednesday before a Friday game... or in season at all for that matter) ... but problem here is the break is just long enough that even if you put a meal in between the two, and stretch a lot, and walk around, and stay in the sun... a wall still hits you... you sit down... and it's over with... but you have to keep on going still... you have to get dressed in your gear and battle through a practice... *warning: life lesson ahead* ...the only good thing I've come to discover is that the more times you're able to bring everything onto the ice, no matter how you feel, the better your chances are to do it in the future when it matters. The whole you Play how you practice mumbo jumbo...

3 Things

1) The guy I'm reading has 23 questions he thought up to ask people to see if he could ever get along with them. All so incredibly random... incredibly funny... and to be honest... lets him know the exact same thing 23 different ways...
... and that is...
... is this person answering these questions at all deep, interesting or the least bit funny?...
... at the same time lets the answerer know the exact same thing in 23 different ways...
... and that is...
... the person asking these questions is definitely deep, interesting and funny...

... Sparing you 23 things that truly are funnier and more interesting than I could write... for both our sakes... here are my, more serious, questions for people...

a) What are the 3 most selfless things you've ever done in your life?
b) When have you ever almost died?
c) What's the most selfish thing you've ever done in your life?
d) When have you ever really felt alive?

2) You can't really say that we played bad against Cortina... but you can't really say that we played good against Cortina either... It was a nothing game... no goals for, no goals against, no penalties, no nothing... and sometimes those are the worst kind of games ever... especially if those nothing games mean your third loss in a row.

3) 3 packages that we were waiting on just happened to come the exact same day... TODAY! I don't really know what this says about the Italian mail service... And if there's one thing where all semblance of patience leaves Danelle it's surprises... most especially things in boxes that you don't know what they are... And if there's one thing where all modest use of packaging tape leaves my mother it's international packages... Without a good set of tree cutting scissors there literally is no way to get into these packages.
... You have never seen anything funnier than Danelle vs packaging tape rounds 1, 2, and 3 that all took place as we drove back to our house... interspersed with feelings of fatigue and failure... And wouldn't you know it... that happened to be the day when I felt like taking as long as I could to get home... There was a beautiful view of some majestic snow-capped mountains... there was a beautiful flower just nipped by the frost... there was an annoying cow-bell... and there was an... OW!!... why'd you punch me... CAUSE I WANT TO GET HOME!!... well you didn't have to punch me!? YES I DID AND YOU KNOW IT!!... owww... but right in the leg!?... owwwww...

In Need of Reading Material

There’s a lot of controversy between Danelle and I over the book I’m reading. Namely the title. And the fact that it most likely will turn out to be 300 pages of absolute nothingness by the time I’m done with it. The only real thing it might give me is an ability to look at life from an even more obscure, pretty much impossible, angle than I already do. It’s the guy’s take on life... going to bed at night... whatever he’s read, or watching, or heard about, he just spouts off his two cents and turns it into $14 at Chapters. How ‘The Real World’ has changed the way we act, talk, and portray ourselves... and in the process making us more shallow and predictable than ever before. How no romantic comedy watcher will ever be able to fall in love because the kind of love you see in those movies is impossible in the messiness of real life. How Pamela Anderson is the Marilyn Monroe of today... and how this, in turn, shows the degradation of our society. How Billy Joel is his favourite artist because while most bands are popular based more on their presenting some sort of ‘cool’ vibe than any real artistic talent... but Billy Joel is popular even though he’s a complete nerd... therefore he must have really great music. How he got fired as a baseball coach for trying too hard to win... How soccer can never be the sport of the future despite its record number of kids playing it because as a kid you can hide and not be embarrassed in soccer because a 0-0 game is totally fine and respectable and it doesn’t mean the kids are going to stay in soccer and pump up the number of adult fans... it only means that they’ll stay in as far as high school when enough cultish people from all those different elementary schools that all like to lay low and not get embarrassed can band together and play magic cards. It’s right at about this time that I realized that this guy is completely untouchable in the realm of the charming wit of writing I’ve been trying so hard to master. And it dawns on me that even if I become some hero blogger I’ll simply have made myself into a cardboard cut-out of some guy that broke into the scene some 10 odd years ago. It’s funny. It’s clever. You learn something about life, society, maybe not history or politics or religion (at least not in the first half of the book). But do I really care.... not really. Will I still blog... course.

Loose Change

My terrible headache is telling me to go home and lay down for a bit... but I've tried 5 times to download stupid movie "Loose Change" from Youtube and my will is telling me to suck it up... don't give up.. and be done with it once and for all...
... Loose change is supposedly going to prove to me that Sept 11 was a conspiracy by pointing out a couple hundred major lies... listing key people eerily involved in both years preceding... during... and following the attack... who had proposed or taken part in similar kind of false flag operations in the past... and who were again involved in the 9/11 commission to figure out what happened...
... the same commission that stated they did not follow the money trail of who financed the attacks because they deemed it wasn't important...
... the same guys that didn't even include World Trade Center building #7... full of FBI files needing to be gotten rid of... that collapsed out of nowhere... because it wasn't relevant?...
... Even if I'm totally convinced of a conspiracy, however, I have a strange suspicion that there's nothing I could ever do about it...

All Swedish no Finish

Saturday

... I won't apologize for using such a well-known cliche in this blog...
... Similar to the saying "1. so-and-so couldn't put a beach ball in the ocean"... the quote is a well-known part of hockey culture...
... most likely.. and in a similar vein to the other quote... is because they're common... beach balls belong in the ocean... so do pucks belong in wide open nets... yet some players have a mental block making them unable to score, even with a wide open net... They could be as skilled as anything... sometimes they're even Swedish... but no Finnish...
... but ya... goal droughts can lose you a game you should have won 20 times over... and they deserve to be placed into the realm of cliche to be used over and over again... because similar to politics or WWF... sports thrives on cliches... they're as crucial to hockey as hockey hair and bad referreeing...
... So... what does this mean?...
... 3 open nets (bouncing puck somehow each time the stick goes right under it), a breakaway (fake slapshot for a deke), a 2 on 0 (hesitated on the pass till the other guy overskated the pass), 3 2 on 1's, one-timers from the slot, rebounds... rebounds... rebounds... where's our guy going to the net?... and after buzzing around their end for 40 seconds they get a turnover and race down the ice while we're dead tired and draw a few penalties and get a few junk goals... And sucks to our assmar...
... The headlines (the morning of) said we should have one... which usually means all you have to do is show up and throw your sticks on the ice and you win right!?... but credit where credit is due... they played as a team and cleared out rebounds... took only 2 penalties... created 16 turnovers at their blueline... played as a team... team... team game fellas...
... The good news is that after the first 28 games they divide everyone's points by 3 and play the final 14 games for full points. Meaning that no matter how down and out a team is in the year they still have a chance in the past 14 to get back in it. Kinda like F-1 racing I guess...

... We... ate... supper... at... 11... in... the... restaurant... where... the... other... team... eats... ... ... then... sat... around... for... half... an... hour... then... got... on... the... bus... for... a... 5... hour... bus... ride... home... arriving... at... four... thirty... A... stinkin... M...!!!!

I hope that was as painstaking to read as it was for me on the bus...
... It was cruel...
... no movies...
... can't even lay down because going through mountain passes gives me the worst kind of motion sickness I've ever had... only leaving if I sit straight up at the front of the bus and look out the window to prepare myself for each 180 degree turn we take as we literally go up and down the sides of mountains...
(by the way this same trip on the way to the game.. while giving me similar nausea... was one of the most breathtaking sights I've ever seen in my life.)
... And home to bed where I can't fall asleep because I've somehow passed my sleep threshold and my bodies kicked into wired adrenaline time with that awful acid in your stomache feeling... I used to get at around this same time AM wise as a kid when I pulled all-nighters at sleepovers... sucks...

Sunday

...Sunday actually worked to take my mind off the game.. we hiked up to a castle surrounded on 3 sides by cliffs... pictures can't do this justice.. at least my pictures don't... maybe Danelle's do (danellebernakevitch.blogspot.com)... then we discovered we were only 19 miles from a Mcdonalds... yet 19 miles somehow equals 40 minutes... add on getting lost... tack on finding out Mcdonald's has moved to the other side of Bolzano... so relying solely on information that it's near the airport we find it... Golden arches might be the only thing in the city that are allowed to be built taller than church steeples... I think... Ein (a) Big Mac mit (plus) chicken Mcnuggets bitte (please)... Cola... szwei ketchups... ohne (without) majonaise... bitte (thankyou)...