Once upon a time...

[aderam]

I actually knew what to write... over the past few days I kept thinking of things that I wanted to post in the good ol' LJ, but of course now I can't think of any of them really.

Sufficeth to say that I've gone and got myself a busy life. Things and people are being moved back and forth. Bits are being renovated of our house (which is crazy). Work has started and things seem to be going well (we just had training today, which always makes things seem more intense because we have to go over all of the emergency situations). And the second round of the play-offs is going strong. Vancouver and Ottawa are both in the second round and they keep playing on alternate nights so I end up watching a lot of hockey to keep up with what's going on.

Speaking of hockey I've had this craving to be reading stories about hockey lately (either fanfic or regular fic) but the only ones that I can think of are the Screech Owls. And I love them, but at the same time I kinda want something a little more grown up (to read along-side them, of course, I'll still be reading the SOs). Do any of you folks have any suggestions for good books or fic about hockey? (P.S. RPF freaks me the hell out.) There's gotta be a bunch of books about hockey teams and the like. I mean the dynamic of a sports team (and hockey teams in particular) are pretty cool. Or is it strictly a "young adult" and "kids" book phenomena? (Even if that's the case I still want to hear about other good hockey books. I don't subscribe to that agist philosophy.)

And speaking of books I got myself half a bag-full of used books from the Mall for a dollar on Sunday. I got a book of poetry by Yeats (it was still National Poetry Month on Sunday, points to kuwdora for that bit of information), a book on Pompeii and a book on the Ancient Near East that both may, or may not, be any good, and two books about Arctic expeditions. The books on the Arctic expeditions look fascinating to me. One of them is a novel with real historical figures as the background characters, which may, or may not, be interesting, but the other is a more academic book describing the Greenly Expedition up to Lady Franklin Bay (near Alert, on Ellesmere Island) and how it failed completely. It looks really cool. The guy who writes it has a good style and the whole thing makes me want to read up on the British expeditions, especially Franklin's, beacause disappearance! and Stan Rodgers!, and Frobishur's, because that's the name of my teddy bear (thanks Mum!).

Tomorrow I have the day off work and I'm going to go grocery shopping (my life is non-stop excitement!) and go and buy some yarn for some various mysterious projets I'm thinking of (Okay, yeah, maybe it is excitement!).

And now, off to watch the Canucks game!

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you knew I would answer this one! Okay, here is my list of hockey-team-book recommendations. Not really recs in terms of "I love everything about this", just, like you say, sometimes you want to find a book that captures that team thing.

Author, title missing from my brain, book maybe in a box? -- Lesbian romance fiction about Toronto team in future women's pro league, heroine from Kingston.

Scott Young -- That Old Gang Of Mine - written around 1980, about a men's team going to the Olympics. (Very dated now, of course, because no women or pro players in Olympic hockey.) Sequel to quite good trilogy of kids' books about high school team, originally set in 1950s, re-written to include some 1980s detail but then the inherent sexism etc in the culture doesn't quite work, anyway they are probably in libraries. Scrubs on Skates, Boy on Defence, Boy at the Leafs Camp. (Scott Young was a long-time writer for the Globe and Mail. He also wrote a memoir about his relationship with his son, called Neil and Me. Yeah, that Neil Young. )

Frank Orr - Puck is a Four Letter Word. About a men's pro team in Cleveland. Also written around 1980, and some flaws in the writing but a fun story.

I have two other books about guys in junior hockey and starting pro.

Face-Off Scott Young/George Robinson - has hippies and rock stars and drugs along with a rookie hockey star. Not a very good book.
And another one that I can't remember title or author - just the depressing bits of the story-line.

I don't own this one but have read it several times from libraries. It is silly but kind of fun. Amazons: An intimate memoir by the first woman ever to play in the National Hockey League by Cleo Birdwell

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Um, how is "fic about hockey" not RPF? Unless the main character is the puck or something instead of the people. In which case it would be Real Puck Fiction, and still "RPF". ;-)

-J

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you can do hockey movies too.
Mighty Ducks. (3 of them, first one best)
Mystery, Alaska. (Hsven't seen it).
Strange Brew (Not about hockey but part of the classic-cheese list)
Slapshot (Hanson brothers, say no more)
Paperback Hero (old TV movie)
Youngblood (Rob Lowe playing Junior)
Miracle (Haven't seen it but oddly enough I have the t-shirt. Must have been Dave's.)
nice coaching bits in Supernatural ...

Bears!

[sdaha.livejournal.com]

And you knew I'D respond to this part of your post.... Frobisher!! He is a wonderful bear. And that is precisely why those nitwits at Parent's magazine (I only got 2 ideas out of a whole year of subscription.) said all children's stuffed animals should be named for important people so that the kid will grow up to ask questions about them. You are now a grown up and have been asking questions as long as you've been talking. Our other white bear was Churchill after the town with many white bears but it would also start discussion about the historian and British PM. I still think you should have let Pink Bear be named 'Mary Kay'. I understand she is still alive and still makeing a fortune from her huge cosmetics business. I guess even then you were more of a history buff and less of the type to buff your nails. Silly M!