Trying to get a social life in America

[S_Parc]

I don´t do much jump hook shots. My speciality are instand jum shots.
I also like to play one on one. So it´s not so much confusion.

Without trying to peg myself as a senior citizen, let me tell you, being able to run consistent jumpers, either off the dribble or coming of a screen, requires a combo of youth, athleticism, & game-time. Eventually, some younger or quicker guy will eat one's lunch.

Since I really don't have that much time for sport, I'd learned from Kareem Abdul Jabbar, since he was the sky hook master for two decades. I believe that w/o it, he would never have had a hall of fame career for more than his first 7-8 years with the Bucks. But instead, he was able to go at it, for 20 years because his signature move forced all defenses to take him seriously, either posting doubles or pushing him out of range, & was actually a catalyst for the other layup artists on his team, with his backcutter pass.

I recommend adding the jump hook shot, if you want to play b-ball for the rest of your life. I can't believe I'm sounding like a sportscaster

[S_Parc]

I learned the jump shot only 3 years ago, before then I had to be quick, which
was not easy. But now I have the technique, so normally I can score from every
point. But I never run under the basket as it´s to much hassle and dangerous.
Though when playing one on one I like the hassle.

I know the names of the good players, but I do not watch sports. I am a
more fun oriented player.

I do want to play also when I am older. We have some older guys from
ex-yugoslavia they still play at a very good level

As a side note: Imagine, I do play always with my mp3 player at the loudast level.
I never seen other guys doing that I am uniqe like Winston

Maybe when I go to PI, there I could play. These guys like basketball, too.
I am very fit as I do the master of all sports "dancing".

And some other things like ping pong and badminton, exercises, jogging, shadowboxing

How old are you?

Sorry, I'd edited my above post ... it was jump hook shot, not jump shot. The former creates immediate separation between the ball and the defender, whereas the jump shot requires the ability to create separation w/o tipping off the defense on how to block the shot.

I'm in my mid-30s but I'm a workaholic, so I don't really have the gumption to dedicate too much time to any one thing, outside of work, though for me, b-ball is the best team sport, perhaps because I was a kid during Larry Bird's prime and I saw Kareem, Magic, Michael, Hakeem, and others play at a superior level to many of today's ball players.

[S_Parc]

Jump hook shot is so unfair . Impossible to defense.

That's the point

Time is of the essence. When I join a team, which meets regularly and I don't have as much time as others for practice, I need to contribute w/o being a liability off the bench. Thus, my game is simple: jump hook in middle (BTW, Hakeem always starts with this, before the spin moves), pass to an open man, or layup if the defenses are lazy. I seldom try to streetball it, as I know that's how a younger guy can eat me alive.

I would say streetball is the most fun team sport. It´s like dancing.

I think you'll like Brazil, as Capoeira martial arts, not just the ginga/swing, is a mix of dance and sports.

I never really enjoyed working, I wonder why. Maybe money does not motivate me enough

You won't like America then. As President Coolidge said, "the Business of America is business." Perhaps Quebec then, provided you can handle the snow drifts and the freezing -15C to -5C averages in deep winter. Even the Boston area is a few degrees warmer, on the whole, from Canada.

How comes you speak spanish?

I don't speak it; I only studied it in high school. The linguistics scholar here is Ladislav.

[tmr]

So maybe US is to tough for me therefore I like the mentality of the pinoys. The love fun. Whereas the americans love to win. Americans don´t like fun without "reason". Maybe it´s still better than the germans who only have "Schadenfreude"

But Billy you will be very bored with Pinoys after a while. Whom will you talk philosophy with?

Unfortunately there really is no place in this world for thinking people who have come to realize that it was all bullshit to begin with and before you die you'd like to have some fun. Places where people have fun, there they do not think. Where they think they do not have fun. What are you going to do? If you are in a jungle you will be excited but tense. If you are in quiet peaceful place you will be relaxed but bored. Either way you cannot win. Best then not to think about such things it will only make you depressed. If the urge comes up to think about such things, maybe have a drink or two.

[S_Parc]

I think you'll like Brazil, as Capoeira martial arts, not just the ginga/swing, is a mix of dance and sports.

Yes, I tried alredy but it´s not good for me. Capoeira is to child like, looks not really cool, music is soboring. They work with a lot of spin kicks. I am no friend of kicks specially when your head is down. I loved the kung-fu movies. But as time is a huge factor. I think boxing has the best Return on Investment. I think the new MMA Champion wins always with his strikes. I think his name is santos. I think kung-fu or boxing like mohammed ali suits better with music.

Yeah I already tried ginga/swing but it´s happy child dance. It´s fun once danced with females. But then I would
prefere meruenge with salsa spins. How comes you know so much about these things?

In no particular order: I'd worked in Brazil, had a Brazilian girlfriend, & live in a state (Massachusetts) with a large Brazilian diaspora. So I guess it adds up.

As for Capoeria, I'm not a Tae Kwon Do person so it's out for me. My experiences with martial arts was Yankee Kempo (ok, I was trying to come up with a term for Americanized Karate) & some butchered Wing Chuan (mix of Bagua circles & hand strikes). The latter wasn't good on the knees, overall. I can't really handle the hard-core schools in the region, since those guys don't take prisoners.

And since you brought up MMA (or UFC), the Gracie style of Brazilian Jiujitsu was one of founders of that type of tournament. When I have time, I'd like to delve into it.

Haha, what a great quote from funny Coolidge. Yeah I think you´re right. The question is why? I have a stupid theory about it. I am the youngest of 3 brothers. I heard statistically that the chances of being gay is greater for the third one. Ok, I am not gay, but some of my traits could be seen as gay. Like dancing, show, style, music, not caring too much about girls. However who knows. And sometimes I get dating pictures of man. Man, that ad software is so wrong.

So maybe US is to tough for me therefore I like the mentality of the pinoys. The love fun. Whereas the americans love to win. Americans don´t like fun without "reason". Maybe it´s still better than the germans who only have "Schadenfreude"

Canada? No way. As Stickmanbangkok once stated, after being bored of thailand, he would never live in a cold climate. Heat is inconvenient but coldness hurts.

It´s funny that you quote Coolidge. I think this President must be really funny. I never heard someone quote him except me. Do you know the Coolidge-Effect, which is named after him?

This is my interpretation, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by Puritans. This was the first region, settled for religious reasons, since Jamestown VA (the so-called Pocahontas story) was more a work camp/trading post type of settlement. The Puritans believed in all work, prayer, and no play. Then, as normal people began to circulate in the States, they mixed work and play but of course, being of a sometimes rigid Protestant religious bent, had to justify the play so the expression, 'work hard, play hard', grew into the culture. Competitive and extreme sports, I believe, grew out of this type of thinking. So while the average Joe is content with a Sunday baseball game against his neighborhood rivals, as his 'play', the hard core Joe would rather bungee cord jump from the George Washington Bridge, to contrast with his 9-7 life at a management consulting firm.

So I believe, in America, most men believe that if you're not Latino, & you like dancing, then you're ~50% gay, on the Gaydar scale. The exception, of course, is ballroom dancing, for the wannabe upper class/petty bourgeois types, who attend Ivy League or like expensive colleges (like Georgetown, Vanderbilt, or Duke). But if you're a part of any Latino organization, then the Anglo-American rules don't apply.

I've heard of the Coolidge-Effect, though I have a hard time believing that it came from a President, who spoke so little during his career.

But yeah, if you can adapt your thermostat, Montreal QC is one of the more interesting places in the Canada/US cities.

[tmr]

Hey man look at how many times you have used 'I think'. It does sound you like to think. Some folks do. The smart think about things that are practical that they can use and make money from. The stupid think about philosophy, psychology, politics etc. all the stuff that is useless. But we try anyway.

[tmr]

Maybe we can try to do both, have a space in life for both.

[S_Parc]

What do you like about karate and Win tsung(that what we call it here). I think Win tsung is like a sect. .

Agreed here.

I was first interested in the internal energy arts, like Qigong, however, I'd imagine Kung Fu/Wing Chuan to be a marriage of that with physical training but for the most part, it's just a style of calisthenics, another combination of yoga & pilates. Albeit, I like anything, which takes a bit of dedication and hard work to perfect, however, I guess I don't see the purpose to it, since I don't see this sort of hobby as a theatre art.

I agree with your puritan explanation. It would be interesting how this puritan work ethic became popular in the first place. It´s obvious that the guys who were hard workers who lived predominantly in the north of Europe accepted the religion rather than the southerners.

Yes true with the gaydar thing. Therefore I could not fit in to the german mentality. Because it´s the same here.

It looks like that the brutal northern climate selected the tough and hard working guys. So the culture became so work dominated.

I guess I'd do fine in Germany, as a perma US ex-pat, since I'd be either at work, a formal activity, or an P4P club.

[luoldeng9]

But apparently in some other countries, going out alone doesn't make you look like a loser like it does in the US.

Any countries in Asia where this is true?

[MatureDJ]

And in reality, I am happy here but I do wish that the FKKs were in the neighborhood because the sticky point to all of American life, is that the local women are not condusive to a happy society. At best, they can be harmless but that's about it.

P4P -> German sauna brothel club? I went to one in 1998 in Berlin and got a real nice "Oster" (former East German). Only $60 for a half-hour single cum screw. (I now prefer the apartment brothels in Ukraine - $62 for a an hour, double cum party.)

[S_Parc]

And in reality, I am happy here but I do wish that the FKKs were in the neighborhood because the sticky point to all of American life, is that the local women are not condusive to a happy society. At best, they can be harmless but that's about it.

P4P -> German sauna brothel club? I went to one in 1998 in Berlin and got a real nice "Oster" (former East German). Only $60 for a half-hour single cum screw. (I now prefer the apartment brothels in Ukraine - $62 for a an hour, double cum party.)

Technically, P4P = Frei Koerper Kultur in German, or Free Body Culture in English but yeah, it's a sauna/brothel club.

From what I'd heard, starting in the late 90s, their quality of service went up, to directly compete against Amsterdam priv haus and others in Switzerland and Denmark. Can't say that I'm disappointed with their efforts