I think I need an intern. It’s not an easy job, but it may be a fun job. My previous assistant moved on in 2000 to pursue other challenges in the US collegiate world, and I have been looking for a replacement ever since. (He only lasted a week).
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the current global economic disarray. The Chicago School says one thing, the Harvard people another, and the IMF analysts yet something else. Nobody seems to know what is going on, and why.
Not to mention the most important question: whose fault is this?
Right above my desk there’s a photo of a hockey player flying through the air after he’s just scored the Stanley Cup winning goal. The player is Bobby Orr, of course, a Canadian and Boston Bruins’ hockey legend, and the photo itself, is a part of the hockey lore as well.
I’m not much of a list maker, but I am married to one. So, this one’s for the lady in the house: My Top 10 memorable movie quotes (in response to the Brits’ list). My list consists of lines I actually use in real life, regularly, sad as it may seem.
10. “You’re the doc, Doc”, Back To The Future.
9. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”, Gone With The Wind
8. “I broke the window again”, A Night at the Roxbury
7. “Trade me right fucking now,” Slapshot
6. “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good”, Wall Street
Reading on buses and subway trains is one of my favorite pastimes. I used to take a bus that took 35 minutes to get to work, instead of the train that only took ten, for three reasons.
Instead of calling myself a one-track mind, I just say that I’m focused. I’m very, very focused. I’m goal-oriented, I’m dedicated.
But between you and me? Yeah, I am a hockey nerd.
Everybody was afraid of her. Just the sight of her on the balcony, shaking her fist at kids who dared play soccer on her lawn – technically, the lawn of the entire apartment building, but who’s to argue with Mrs Hellgren – and making sure no garbage was ever left sticking out of the garbage cans.
And here’s my column that ran in the February issue of Scanorama. Wait, that’s now. So, if you want it in print, fly with SAS.
Below is a column that ran in the December issue of Scanorama. And here’s an image to illustrate it.
Hi guys, it’s the webmaster. Risto asked me to post the following message.
Dear reader,
For years now, I have been busy blogging here at www.ristopakarinen.com, about different kinds of topics. Things that make me laugh, make me cry, make me go hmmm, and things that make me me.
Now, after several emails from you – and you know who you are, I hope so, anyway – pointing out that not everybody loves hockey I think I finally understand what you mean.
A reader from Italy put it this way:
“I love your blog. It’s like that convenient store you always run to late at night when everything else is closed. The one friend that’s going to surprise you with exotic illegally imported cans of olives that have writing in a language you’ve never heard of. That one neighborhood store that’s also the post office, Ticketmaster pickup, and a bingo parlor.”
That’s when I realized something had gone awry with my blog.
And I’m nothing if not sensitive to my readers’ wishes. Without you, there’s no blog. Without a blog, there’s no me. Without me, I’m nothing. I’d be like a one hand clapping in an empty hockey arena, or a slap shot into an empty net on an empty pond in eastern Finland. (Nobody lives there, you see).
So, I have decided to split my blogging between hockey and unhockey. I’ll keep on blogging here at ristopakarinen.com/home, because home is where my blog is, but I will also launch a new blog at ristopakarinen.com/hockey because that’s where the hockey writing will be.
The Puckarinen site is all about hockey. I’ll post news, thoughts, my stories that have been published elsewhere, occasional podcasts, my Twitters, and other hockey musings.
Two sites for the price of one is a deal very few media outlets are willing to give you in these economic times. I hope you’ll be twice as happy — even, or maybe, especially, if you only visit one of them regularly.
There you have it. Bookmark both pages.
— webmaster