TV addictions and birthday parties

Hi friends!

Welcome back to my regular readers and hello to any newbies. I apologise in advance that this week of my life is not as intense as it has been recently. Things have happened, but unfortunately I have a job and it kind of limits me being able to live life to its max 100% of the time. Yes this goes against my mentality of do the things you love and good things will follow, but unfortunately I don't think I would get paid for lounging around, making a fool of myself and then writing about it!

I don't really want to talk about work, so I won't. Count yourself lucky because if I did you might well be asleep as soon as I start. Unfortunately this week it means I have to skip straight to the weekend!

My new addiction

Part of the joy of having those quiet nights in after work is that you get to catch up on TV! Ideally I would be spending these nights with my better half, but whilst she is working away I have to make do with a blanket and a round of buttery toast. There is a lot of bad TV out there and I will find myself watching boxsets of classic series like The Sopranos, The Wire and The West Wing, but once in a while a show comes along and grabs my attention. Either that or it keeps me mildly entertained for an hour or so.

Firstly, I want to tell you about my new addiction - CSI New York. Now you may be saying 'Hagg,CSI has been around forever' and yes I know it has, but ever since I upgraded my Sky box to a Sky+ I have found myself recording nothing but CSI:NY. I am usually not a big fan of the CSI series because I know that the real investigation process is not handled by just the scientists, but something about the New York series has got me giving it two thumbs up! Maybe it is the accents, maybe its the fact it is in a place I would love to visit or may its because it features Eddie Cahill as the detective cop and I get to reminiscing about one of the best ice hockey films ever...Miracle. On that note, if you have not seen Miracle please go out rent it! Anyway CSI:NY is currently showing two episodes a night on the Universal channel so if you want a bit of gore (I just saw a crime scene featuring a decapitation), some interesting character plots and storylines where everything works out for the best, then CSI New York is my easy viewing recommendation.

Next up I want to point you in the direction of Arrow currently showing on Monday nights on Sky One. This lets me get my geek on, but still be kind of cool with it. Arrow is a drama series based around the Green Arrow comic series. Featuring no amazing special effects or trickery Arrow has captured the attention of the viewer with a well developed plot that moves along nicely and has a dark side. Not as dark as many of the recent superhero remakes, such as Batman, Arrow aims to make a gritty and tortured story a commercial success. In my eyes it has done so and has left me wanting to know more about the Green Arrow comics. If anyone has any more comics I need to know about please feel free to leave a message. I don't know too much about his back story, but had seen him appear in episodes of the Justice League cartoon. I like what they have done with the character here and think you will too. So check it out!

Salsa Cafe

On Saturday I went out to celebrate the slightly delayed birthday of Leigh. It was belated due to the previous weekend's Fantastic Fours adventure (read last week's blog) and her dedicated support to her awesome partner Justin and my fellow team mates. Leigh is a passionate blogger and general ace friend so check out her blog link at the side.

The night kicked off in Salsa Cafe on Westgate Road in Newcastle. I had never been before and didn't quite know what to expect, but had heard some good things. Put it this way I was not let down. Arriving into a chilled out bar area I made my way to the small bar in the corner to ask if others had arrived. They had, but it would be wrong of me not to order a drink. Salsa Cafe is the kind of place you want to spend a long night so I thought I would order myself a drink to enjoy and not just a drink to be drunk. I turned to my trusted and probably most loved drink - dark rum and coke. It was a good choice and would be my drink for the rest of the evening!

I made my way upstairs said hello to my friends and grabbed a seat and prepared for tapas. Having been to Spain a lot in the past year or so I have experienced some fantastic tapas dishes and think I can reasonably review a tapas restaurant, so I might give it a short but sweet shot now.

Atmosphere - Salsa Cafe had a great feel to it. It was spacious but intimate at the same time. There were groups of friends, couples and our larger group in that evening but it never got noisy and conversation was uninterrupted. The staff left you to it, but I liked that because it stops that awkward moment when you get asked if things are ok and you do the British thing of saying yes and not complaining. Not that I would have anyway!

Food - the main thing you would go to a restaurant for. I don't think the food let the experience down at all. Great variety of choices with simple ingredients and tried and tested combinations. We started out with the crowd favourite nachos and wedges and dips. These were both excellent options and delivered some good flavours to get the taste buds going. The nachos came with jalapenos, guacamole and sour cream as standard, but had an extra layer of flavour with some great refried beans hidden at the bottom. The highlight of the crispy wedges was the fantastic lemon and herb mayonnaise.

Next up was Rollitos (spring rolls), garlic mushrooms, Patatas Bravas and Patatas Alioli. They all hit the spot, but in my eyes the potatoes could have been a touch crispier. The winner of this round was by far the garlic mushrooms that stood no chance once myself and Darren had set our sights on them. They did exactly what they said on the tin providing a garlicky punch and a delightful mushroom flavour.

To finish off the feast I chowed down on paella which contained some great chorizo. This accompanied succulent prawns and another dish of tender beef in a creamy brandy sauce. All in all it was an authentic experience that delivered good flavours.

Cost - A dark rum and coke cost £3.20 which is fairly reasonable for a restaurant and our full meal including bread cost £10 each. Excellent value for money if you ask me.

Overall impression - Salsa Cafe was a great experience with some great people. The relaxed and intimiate atmosphere really lifts the place and makes it somewhere I would happily return to. Admittedly I have been spoilt with tapas, but the food pulls its weight. Some dishes were better than others but fir a large group there was good variety and filled me up. All that for £10 wins my vote and is well worthy of Haggy's first restaurant recommendation.

Work hard, sweat more

Following the cracking meal at Salsa Cafe and a few more dark rum and cokes we headed to Madame Koos. Having thought ahead Leigh had acquired guest list priority and this was a nice touch and we snook in to this 'secret' club quickly and relatively smoothly for a Saturday in town. I made my way down the stairs to a door which opened out to a sea of bodies in what can only be described as an underground bunker with a few oriental decorative pieces. Looking around at the crowd you would think you may have stepped into a bit of a pretentious place, but if it was pretentious I doubt I would have been allowed in!

Making my way to the bar to find my friends that had got in ahead of me I found myself arriving just in time. For a moment I wondered what was going on as two girls walked out onto the bar holding trays - I though I had walked into Coyote Ugly - and then I heard "Tequila" and it all made sense. Free shots! So I obliged and drank up and bought myself a beer. £4.20 for a bottle and I knew at this point I would be stopping drinking and would have to get on with busting a move instead.

At first it was difficult trying to find somewhere the group could be together, but also provided enough space to throw some shapes. However, the back bar gave us plenty of room to establish a circle and get our dance on. The music was varied but had me dancing all night. I heard current chart hits, tracks for my younger days and then some truly out there tracks. One especially stands clear in my mind - Lonely Island's I'm On A Boat. I have never heard it in a public place before and it made me laugh. If you haven't heard it before you should click here (sorry for the swears) and also check some of their back catalogue stuff including the R&B send ups featuring Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga.

Anyway I got my groove on and then realised that I was underground and there was limited ventilation. Let's say this realisation came when I noted that I was wetter than an otter's pocket. My shirt started out a pale blue and by the time I left it was a streaky dark blue...yum! A sodden shirt does sum up a great night and that's what it was. A motto to live by is that if you need a shower before you can go to bed then it's been a good one!

Have you heard what Haggy's heard???

This week's 'Have You Heard?' is all about trend setting. I find it funny and fairly interesting how we as humans are so prone to following the pack and complying. I mean yeah sometimes this is good as it keeps the peace i.e. laws, but other times I think this mentality should be questioned. The people that make a real difference are those that are willing to question the norm, break out the box and day dream. You don't often hear stories about how someone has made a change for the better by following tradition (that in itself would be a contradiction). So this week's 'Have You Heard What Hagg's Heard?' celebrate's the weird the wacky and the real trend setters out there. Hope you enjoy...

• Party Starter - People were laughing at first, but one guy with the right attitude can start a movement! This video builds up, but stick with it and by the end you will wish you were there. Take inspiration from this guy, go out be different and others will follow. Watch video
• Harlem Shake - This week Dekstars joined the Harlem Shake craze. What was once a b-boy hip hop dance move has now been revamped ingloriously by nearly everyone on this planet, so why not! Check out the video here!
• I threw a wish in the well - Now this hasn't started a movement...yet, but it will do! This video is hilarious and the military guys really camp it up. Bravo I say, with the moral being don't take life too seriously. So without further ado - Call Me Maybe?

That's me for the week. I hope you enjoyed it so please go out and share this with your friends, family and anyone else you know. If you didn't enjoy it pass it on to your most hated as some form of cruel torture. Basically get reading people!

Peas and love!
Haggy

p.s. Don't forget to find me on Twitter @adzhagg

The week of Fantastic Fours

Hi friends!

Welcome back to the World of Haggy. As I sit here sipping on a well deserved beer I look back on a week full of action which culminated in possibly one of the most enjoyable and satisfying weekends of hockey that not only delivered in terms of excitement but in equal measures of bruises and agonising aches and pains. Anyway, just like any good story, let's start from the top!

Pancakes galore

This week was pancake week and when I saw week I mean week. On more than one occasion I made too much glorious pancakey goodness and ended up eating pancakes pretty much every day. With my better half enjoying her Spanish pancakes with friends a day early and chowing down on numerous sweet and savoury pancakes. I was not to be outdone.

On Shrove Tuesday it was a waiting game for the main event though. I was at work late and decided to take in a midweek Northern Conference Ball Hockey game between some of my fellow North East Dekstars. It was a good game with two hard-working teams really going to battle, but in the end the Supernovas ran out to 7-3 victors over the Stars. My team of super-awesomeness still stand top of the league having won all 3 games, but this game just went to show that winning the title is not going to be easy.

Anyway, back to pancakes! I got home and whipped up a batch of batter and set to frying up a treat. It was only then that I realised that I was lacking in the topping department and had to settle for the traditional lemon and sugar variety and a jazzed up lemon curd one just to jazz it up. What I would have given for some maple syrup at that point! Nonetheless pancakes are such a rare treat that you have to treat them like London buses. Once one comes so do many many MANY more! As the week continued I found myself whipping up more batches of batter for guests and it has taken me 4 days to finally finish off this year's batter mix. Roll on next year!

Celine in Vegas

Shrove Tuesday is meant to be about sacrificing everything for those you care about and in a very similar way I did that on Tuesday. As I have previously mentioned I am going a bit of an American road trip this year taking in the West Coast and regaling in the wonders of Vegas. This Shrove Tuesday I sacrificed all that is manly about me in the pursuit of making this holiday one to truly remember and bought a pair of Celine Dion tickets for me and Vic on July 4th.

Please don't be so quick to judge me. Vic is the Celine fan and has a shall we say 'eclectic' taste in 90s pop music. Judge her instead! Really though sometimes it is just cruel and unusual having to listen to Hearsay, Darius, Boyzone, A1 etc in a modern world. Anyone would have thought that the introduction of CDs would have wiped away this era of music along with the cassette tape. I have learnt to tolerate it though as it does give me some hope that one day I too can become a ghost writer for some god awful pop group and write a ballad about my first crush or the broken heart that all teenage girls will never recover from.

To be honest it was part of the deal. If I get to go to Vegas and gamble, then Vic gets to see Celine. Pretty much the whole holiday was booked around the hope that Celine would be starting her residential in Vegas the same time as last year and thankfully she is. After joining the Celine Dion fan club mailing list earlier in the year (I know, I know, the things you do for love) I was alerted to an early release of tickets to "fans". After 15minutes of frantic page refreshes I had acquired a pair of tickets in some of the best seats in the house - bang in the middle because if you are going to do it you may as well do it properly! Strangely I think I was more excited than Vic because I had gone through the trauma and worry that it might not work out as planned. I do love an adrenaline kick though.

What is worrying me most about all this is that it is not the first time that I will have seen Celine live and secondly that I am kind of looking forward to it. She is a real performer and gives a good show and as we all know she can belt out a song. Anyway I will stop before I lose all my dignity! Feel free to mock at this point.

An unorthodox Valentine's Day

 This is the first Valentine's day I had spent away from Vic in quite a few years. When we are together we don't usually buy in to the commercial enterprise that is pink sparkly cards and restaurants charging more just for setting the mood with a scented candle at your table. So in my foolish man way I assumed that it would be the same again this year with us having a Valentine's Day part 2 when we reunite in 2 weeks time for a long weekend. However, she had other ideas and sent me what can only be described as the loneliest meal for one you could ever eat! A cracking cut of rump steak, mushrooms, asparagus and a bottle of Porcupine Ridge red wine (highly recommended by me). Sounds great but imagine cooking this up for yourself on as a  'romantic' meal only to be greeted by an empty home. I can just imagine the solitary tear rolling down my face as I tucked in.

Luckily for me my brother was to hand to pull me out of my solitary misery and take me to my first Newcastle United match of the season. Steak would have to wait for another day and having just consumed it now it was well worth the wait! The match ended as a 0-0 draw and was far from a rip-roarer but at the same time it wasn't dull and the Ton had 2 goals ruled out for debatable offsides.

What came as the biggest surprise this night was the fact that that upon going for a post-match drink at the Hancock there was a one in one out policy and a queue had formed. I have known it to be like that even on a derby day and I don't imagine students were wining and dining their significant others in the Hancock. Without wanting to embarrass myself with the whole "don't you know who I am, I'm Haggy" spiel we left and headed home. An anti-climax to sum up a Valentine's day spent with your brother watching football.

Dinner date

During the week I found that one of my old University Ice Hockey family was coming to Newcastle to play in the ball hockey tournament and opened my doors to him and some of my team mates for a bite to eat and some Friday night company.

After some thinking I settled on making pork saltimbocca, potato dauphinoise and green beans followed by a roulade. In other words I made meat and 2 veg followed by a meringue and it was good! Come the end of the meal I was tucking in to leftover potatoes with a huge serving spoon so that must say something about it and since then I have become slightly addicted to dauphinoise. I had previously thought making them was difficult but creating a creamy potatoey treat could not be easier. Trust me try it and your life will be transformed.

After dinner we played one of the most random games I have ever played. It was right up my street. The game is called Cards Against Humanity and the concept is you have a set of answers on cards and you have to give me funniest answer to win. I won't be able to describe it well so just take yourself on over to their website (after finishing my blog) and check it out for yourself - Cards Against Humanity. Let me just say it is a good bonding experience and shows you that every single one of your friends has a twisted mind too!

The next day was to be a big day so we all went to bed at a reasonable hour, well apart from me and Rob who spent time reminiscing about the joys of hockey road trips and watching a bit of hockey. It would be rude not to after all!

Fantastic Fours

Firstly, let me give a massive shout out to Lynch and King for organising one of the greatest weekends of hockey and to everyone else that helped made it run so smoothly. There are too many to mention but please know that your contributions made it a great experience all round. Also, any hockey pictures I have used in this blog come straight from the camera of Paul Lynch so go check out his site here or his blog, which I have linked at the side of the page.

Fantastic fours is a a four on four ball hockey tournament that attracts about 170 players from all over the country making up 16 different teams who compete to win the coveted trophy and bragging rights each year. In my first year with the North East Dekstars I was honoured to be chosen to represent the 1st team

Day One saw us face off against 3 of our local rivals with varying effect. Northumbria gave us a physical game, but we saw them off 4-2 and I bagged a goal which I still don't think went in. Next up was Newcastle who we turned aside in a one-sided 7-0 affair, again I scored after some epic board battles. Finally the surprise of the tournament was Dekstars 4. They covered themselves in glory all weekend giving everything in every game and playing some awesome stuff along the way. They had us on the back foot for a long period of time and we couldn't get our game going, much to their credit. In the end we saw out a 4-1 victory but that score does not do their effort justice!

Day Two was when our successes on Day One see us seeded and move on towards the ultimate prize. It was also the day that I promised myself it was time to start celebrating my goals. Firstly we played a solid Shaw Millionaires team and for a long time it was close, but I always had confidence that we would go on to win. I scored the game winner and celebrated with one of my favourite cellys, the Jagr Salute. Next up was probably the toughest of draws, the reign champs London Jets. This game was feisty to say the least and flared up towards the end with one of the team getting banned for a game in retrospect, unfairly in my eyes. We gave it everything and gave them a serious run for their money but lost 2-1. In the next game of the round robin we drew 1-1 with an Ealing team who's keeper played out his skin and somehow they managed to pinch one. In the end that was enough to see us seeded second in our group and through to the quarters where we were drawn against the Northumbria Sharks. Having played Sharks and won already we went into it with confidence but it was tough. For a while I didn't think it was going to happen and Sharks have the talent to take a game like that away from you, but I managed to grab a goal that led us to a 1-0 win and into the semis. I celebrated with The Archer.

On to the semis where again we faced London Jets. This time both teams knew what to expect from each other and it was another close fought game, but London came out victors with a 2-0 win. London went on to beat Arnold Wolves in the final, but I am proud of what we did this weekend and proud to be a Dekstar. Everyone gave everything and in the end we lost out to a team who train in the four on four format all year round and luck was just not on our side.  

Ultimately I was disappointed to not be the ones lifting that cup, but London played solid all weekend and took their chances and were deserving winners. Don't get me wrong though, when I come to look back on this week I will look back on it with a warm feeling because the sore muscles and bruises will fade, but the pride in the performance of all the Dekstars teams. Besides Nationals are ours for the taking!

Then as the dust settled from a weekend packed full of hockey we went to Shark Bar and let our hair (less so in my case) down. It was great fun and the smiles on everyone's faces just showed how much the weekend had been worth it. I unintentionally broke a table that got everyone laughing and generally we had a lot of fun with 2 pint steins of Coors!

Have you heard what Haggy's heard?

This week's have you heard what Haggy's heard are less about ridiculous newspaper stories and more about videos you should check out to make you smile a little bit, whether it's because they are inspiring, gratifying or just funny!

• Awful awful hockey - the trials and tribulations of a developing Notttingham University Ice Hockey Team set to some intense music, with some of the most underrated commentary you will ever hear
• Every hockey players dream - a rec hockey team given the surprise of their lives. Ask any player and this would be their dream too!
• Fantastic Fours in the news - this pretty much speaks for itself, but it is made great by the main footage of my team is Johnny playing on his back - turtle power!

Quotes of the week go to my main man Justin for his one line genius even after a long weekend of hockey and a few drinks. The stories behind these quotes are long, but feel free to ask to hear more:

"Conclave!" and "Viking Smash!" 

Another shout out to the entire Dekstars 1 and Ali in particular for pumping us up against London by telling us they were all bankers and they took our money. Possibly one of the best pre-game chants I have ever be witness to let alone part of:

"I want my money back" which led on to this amazing South Park clip - Video

So that's me for the week. I plan to go tend to my aching body, recover and go at it again! Life is meant to be fun so go live your life in the way it should be lived. Smile lots, laugh more and appreciate everyone in your life, especially your loved ones, friends and family because they make your journey memorable.

Peas and love
Haggy!

Hagg's first post

Hi friends!

Wow it has only been a week since I said to my nearest and dearest since I said I would start writing a blog. What a week it has been! It has been a packed week of fun and I don't think I can honestly remember everything. I am seriously going to have to start writing myself more notes so that I remember what has been going on when I come to writing up my weekly update! Anyone hope you enjoy my first blog proper...

Running Alert

The week started with a little email dropping into my inbox courtesy of BUPA. Some time ago I quite foolishly agreed that I would run the Great North Run with a gaggle of Haggles (it had to be said) and some of my fantastic extended family. At the time of agreeing to it I thought "yeah, yeah I won't get a ballot place and then I can just chicken out". It has totally slipped my mind and although I have been keeping fit I was not thinking I needed to potentially run 13.1 miles at some point this year. Well more fool me because I have a ballot place! I am filled with anxiety and excitement about the prospect of running in my first Great North Run. Now I would love to beat my sub 1hour 40min personal best I set in Dublin 2 years ago - by the way this was a great race and a great weekend I would seriously recommend it. Anyway, living in Newcastle for a couple of years and seeing the race first-hand I know the course is not going really help me set a new PB. So I need to adjust my target and was thinking maybe I should do this in fancy dress. I have previously run as a tiger and a lion so it would be cool to continue to animal theme but I don't know where to go with it. I want to stand out from the crowd and that is a big ask considering it is the Great North Run and I often see a crazy man carrying a fridge around like it is nothing! If anyone has any suggestions for how I can stand out please do feel free to suggest - no mankinis though, I don't think I could cope with the chaffing!

By the way I will be running this race in memory of Leah Georgia Cope who we sadly lost to Cystic Fibrosis. She was a little angel who always brought a smile to the faces of all those around her and was a real inspiration throughout her fight against the disease. If she can do what she did then 13.1 is nothing. She is gone but never forgotten in mine and a lot of peoples' hearts. So, when it comes time to sponsor me please remember that every little bit helps and can really make a difference to the lives of many sufferers of Cystic Fibrosis. With your help we can improve research and support developments in medication to tackle it.

Pepsi broke me

Anyway that was the start of the week and things moved on quickly. As Thursday rolled round in the blink of an eye it was time to get changed out of my slipper socks (don't laugh it gets cold in my house) and go out with my new North East Dekstars Ball Hockey family. It was one of the lads birthday's and what better way to celebrate it that with a cocktail and the GB Ice Hockey Olympic Qualifiers on the TV. Such an elusive combination is only available in one place in Newcastle - Shark Gastro Bar. This place, what can I say, seems to have become a bit of a spiritual home for the team. There could be any number of reason for this, but I would tend to point towards the fact they do drinks offers including 2 pint steins for £5.50 and for those singletons out there there are squad of girls ready to serve up the bevvies. For me, and yes this is totally honest, it is a great place because it will always put the NHL hockey on when you want. So thanks to Sharks for serving up drinks and giving me and other like minded ice hockeyaholics somewhere to enjoy the game.

The night itself didn't get off to the best of starts with GB being turned over by a competent Latvia team. They represented well, but Latvia went into the game as favourites and unfortunately they lived up to the hype. We didn't let it dampen spirits though because we had a birthday to celebrate. I however switched drinks from my Pink Lemonade cocktail (yum) to Pepsi. Wise choice you might say considering it was a school night...no bad choice! The sugary goodness sent me slightly hyper, but was the catalyst for one of the funniest nights I have had in a long time and the real inspiration behind my blog.

During the course of the night I learnt many a thing about my new Desktars team mates like they will quite happily down your pint of coke while you go to the toilet and mess with your head by telling you that you drank it before going. Now this sounds fairly straight forward but imagine being so high on sugar that you even question yourself! What makes it worse that I apparently hang around with seriously convincing liars now. I know I didn't do it, but the mysterious Pepsi fiend remains on the loose so my advice to you is take your drinks to the toilet with you when you are around any Dekstars player.

I also learnt that I am not the only Dekstars blogger and one particular Canadian lady has a rather awesome food blog. I will dig out a link and put up it next time. It was during discussion with my new food blogging friend Leigh that I discovered we had some interesting things in common. We both don't like whisky neat because to us it tastes like eating an extinguished camp fire. Mmm I love the taste of burnt logs! I don't know why people do it to themselves when delicious rum based alternates exist! We also discovered that we wanted dual Canadian/British nationality. Leigh so she can live in the UK with her super ace partner Justin and me so I can go and live out my childhood dream of being a mountie. I don't know if you remember Due South the TV programme (if you don't then go find out) but I knew then I wanted to be a mountie and nothing has changed. I never been but Canada is my second home for their love of ice hockey, maple syrup and mounties. One day I will go but I might need a lottery win first to do everything I want to do.


Word to the wise though - never try and leave a drunk birthday boy's part at 11 because you have work the next day. Birthday boy's like people to stay out past their bedtime and will try anything to get you to stay. Put it this way it took a brave sole to try and leave on their own and from what I hear people had to leave in pairs as if they were climbing aboard Noah's Ark. Please Noah save us from the wrath, we will be on our best behaviour...honest! Nonetheless it was a great night out with my new Newcastle family and left my face literally hurting from smiling so hard all night.

The joys of corporate basketball

Wow, this has gone on a while maybe you should take a breather! Unfortunately (or fortunately - glass half full) for me I couldn't and Friday saw me taking the opportunity to go and watch the Newcastle Eagles Basketball Team from the corporate seats courtesy of my employer. After a swift couple in the Hancock I found myself knocking back a lasagne and settling into my courtside seating. I was amazed by just how many fans still come out to watch. The days of watching the Manchester Giants at a packed M.E.N. Arena are long gone, but the passion for basketball in the UK clearly hasn't. The fans were in loud voice and genuinely knew about the game. In other words they weren't part-timers like me. The match itself was fast paced and well fought, but Newcastle never looked at the races being beaten to rebounds with ease early days and giving their Worcester opponents too much time to drain the 3 point shots. It was close but Newcastle lost and got knocked out of the cup. All in all it was a great night and not too bad for free! I am thinking I may have to make it a regular thing seeing as they play 5 minutes from my front door!

Its hard, tiring work being a NHL fan

Saturday is the day I normally do my weekly big shop and this Saturday was no different. I usually hit Grainger Market but I had some specific requests and ended up going to Asda (other supermarkets are available). That's not fun but the evening was as I once again hooked up with my hockey family to watch two rivals face off in the NHL. Montreal and Toronto fought out a grudge match but it was very one sided with Toronto romping to a 6-0 victory. This made half of the room very happy and the other half mad but we all love each other really so we got over it...I think!

The only problem with being a UK based ice hockey fan is that games start at ridiculous o'clock. We stayed up till the wee hours watching the Western Conference games. If you ask me Western Conference is a duller than the East so who knows why we stayed up. Maybe it was the cider! By the time 6.30am rolled around and we had got bored of drawing on a snoozy Will's head I wrapped myself in my sleeping bag and curled up on an armchair. Surprisingly it was quite comfortable, but I can sleep anywhere, just ask my mum who tells me I used to sleep under the kitchen table after eating bananas. I still love bananas. I even have the t-shirt to prove it. It reads: I'm not a monkey but I love bananas. Ace!

Hockey time - come watch!

Sunday finally arrived and after a grand total of 2 and a bit hours sleep I went and got stuck into a hardcore ball hockey training session. It was difficult on reduced sleep but with a major tournament next weekend it was good to get the miles under the legs and work with the team on some tactics. I also tested out some new celebrations I am hoping to be blessed enough to use next weekend. I am developing a 'playbook' of celebrations that the Dekstars supporters can decide which to perform. Dance monkey dance. More on this next week when I have competed and I will hopefully have some pictures thanks to our official tournament sponsor Paul Lynch Photograhy (also a blogger). With this in mind I cordially invite you to come and watch the Fantastic 4s ball hockey competition on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th February. It will be great fun, is free to watch and you never know you might just find yourself a new hobby - newbies always welcome. Here is a link to the Dekstars webpage which has all the details - www.nedekstars.co.uk. There is even a picture of me on the website!

And finally...Have you heard what Hagg's heard?

This week I have come across many a funny story from other people's mouths. The whisky camp fire taste story was hilarious at the time but wouldn't translate well to here. Lucky for you I have come across some absolutely ingenious stories in the media. I don't even go looking for them they just find me!

In the news this week:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/160559216667 - A surfer selling a part used but non-urine effected wetsuit has managed to create an ebay buzz and seriously generate some hype and raise money for charity. I won't say much more about it, but you have to read the description of his wetsuit - genius!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21410565 - A man fought off 4 attackers with one hand whilst holding fish and chips in the other hand and he didn't slip one chip. If you believe this you are a sucker, but I can just imagine a guy fighting off attackers with one hand like some kind of scene from the Matrix, stopping halfway to tweet about his ordeal and texting his concerned other half, before chomping down chips and gravy (no curry sauce you southern monkeys). Fair play to the guy he is now famous and probably will be living off it in the boozer with his mates. Did I ever tell you about the time I....? Yes you did now pipe down and eat your chippy!

Funniest quote of the week goes to Amanda who once said that foreign hooters were the best! I am not going to comment on that, but it is a very bold statement. Apparently this is out of context and she was talking about Hooters the restaurant/bar, but in all fairness it doesn't make the statement any better! I am not going to judge, that's for you to do!

See you next time!

That's your lot, go home to your wives, children, husbands, significant others, pets etc and tell them you think I am weird, but you are strangely addicted to reading about my life. Tell your friends to read, comment and join in. Hope to see you here next week where I can tell you all about Valentine's day with my brother, a dinner party, Celine Dion and the Fantastic Fours hockey competition and the fabled celebration playbook - Jagr salutes at the ready...

If you can't wait that long catch me on Twitter @adzhagg or on Facebook.

Peas and love
Haggy

Me and my blog

Hi there! 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by the crazy World of Hagg! I say crazy, it probably isn't and I by no means could fill a 24/7 documentary with excitement. However, I keep myself busy, have a great group of friends and have many a story and experience to share. I try to live life to the full and always like to laugh. Because of this someone suggested to me that I should blog about my life and it seems that people may actually be silly enough to want to read about what I do! More fool them I say, but at the same time thanks because this blog will act as a really good keepsake of all the cool things I get to do and all the amazing people who make my life amazing. 

I plan on blogging about once a week with updates of my activities and some funny stories along the way. Not everything in here will come directly from me, but I think it worthy enough to share with you all. My viewpoints remain my own and I will write about things because they make me smile. 

To give you a brief insight into what is to come I will tell you a bit about my interests and you can decide if you plan on sticking around or not. I will be writing my first actual events blog in the next day or so if you do.

So me...what do I like? 

Hockey

For as long as I can remember Ice, Roller and Ball Hockey have been my life. I love playing and watching. It is a real sport! You won't catch anyone taking a dive put it that way. I currently play for the North East Dekstars in Ball Hockey and would love to one day make the GB team. I will also be getting back into playing Ice Hockey so watch this space!

Travel

 I love to travel. I like to immerse myself in other cultures and meet new people. I always try my best to learn some of the language and enjoy learning more about the people and of course the food! My better half lives and works in Spain at the moment and that just encourages me to travel more. This year we have some major travel plans and I will no doubt be doing the whole tour guide thing at some point!

Food

Food glorious food! I love cooking and eating. I like to think I have a bit of culinary skills and I have a bit of an ambition to try out for masterchef. I reckon I could do it. I have come a long way from making fruit cocktails and tend to cook all my meals from scratch. When I am particularly proud of something I will share photos and recipes. I will also point you in the direction of other fab food blogs by my friends.

Running

I was bitten by the running bug a couple of years ago and went on to run 5 Half Marathons in 12 months. It is hard work but I love being able to go out for a run and clear my mind whilst keeping fit. I want to build up to do a Marathon or even a Triathlon at some point. I run for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Driven on by the loss of someone very dear to me I want to make a difference to the research and treatment of cystic fibrosis. If you get time do some Googling and you will realise just why it is so important. If I ask you to sponsor me please do think seriously about it. I know if you are anything like me you will get asked for sponsorship a lot, but you can really make a difference.

Films

I heart films. Any film. I like it when a film surprises me or when it is particularly well written or acted. 

Reading

Right...I say I like reading and I genuinely do, but I don't read enough and I am very picky in the books I read. I like stories that you can relate to but at the same time somewhere where you can lose yourself in another world. I guess that's why I like reading stuff from the sci-fi genre more often. If I tell you my favourite books are Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy you will probably know what I mean. As I read a book I will tell you if it is worth a read or not. That is about as deep as it will get! 

Have you heard about Hagg?

The one thing I am really looking forward to is writing the section of the weekly blog entitled; Have you heard what Hagg's heard? This will be where I share daft stories or random facts that I have overheard or been told by the wonderful people I spend my time with. Honestly, if I can do them any justice you will enjoy this part of my blog too!

I hope you enjoy The World of Hagg. Feel free to comment and subscribe.