@Gianni Straniero
Man, you're not alone there, it wasn't until the inconspicuous last line that I figured it out, and what with it being the Sun boss and all, what was I to think...???
Sun boss Scott McNealy has installed a giant, blimp-like inflatable dome in his garden, where he entertains companions. Angry neighbours have complained about loud cries and the noise of muffled "slapshots" which "ring out across the valley". According to the San Mateo County Times, McNealy's pleasure dome is regarded in the …
It took me a while to figure out that this is a hockey term, and not some peculiar North American sexual practice.
If you've ever watched ice hockey you'll know a slapshot is not that loud.
Anyway - they are either 'muffled' or they 'ring out'. Can't do both at the same time.
A slapshot involves aiming for about in inch of ice under the puck. Because you are essentially hitting an immovable object this causes the stick to flex like a bow, when the stick finally reaches the puck the stick unflexes moving the puck off at extremely high velocity (much higher than field hockey say).
If done right the sound of the stick hitting the ice, but more importantly the sound of the puck hitting the opposite wall can be extremely loud.
... I'm sure someone can point a way to solving this problem...
Man, you're not alone there, it wasn't until the inconspicuous last line that I figured it out, and what with it being the Sun boss and all, what was I to think...???
And there was me thinking this involved Twister mats and baby oil. Then again, if it's covered, could be kinky cosplay?
Of course, you will need to protect yourselves agains the outside cold ... when playing ice hockey
"Yes, Legolas... YES!"
Now picturing McNealy in an elf costume....
I really have to get my mind out of the gutter.
"For the record, the Times specifies that the pastimes in question are tennis and - in the winter - ice hockey."
Boo! This paragraph spoiled an otherwise excellent article. I was looking forward to an evening of pondering the delights of an illuminated, inflatable, back-garden fun-zone of my very own. Plus an illuminating hour or two of searching for, the doubtless bizarre and hopefully filthy, alternative meanings of 'slapshot'...
How dare The Register allow the truth to get in the way of such a good story!
Oh well. Looks like it's back to searching for clips from the 80s classic, 'Naked Nurses from Outer Space' again.
You put up a dome to keep you protected from the environment.. then fill it with - ice? He's insulating it then wasting energy to make it cold. Uh huh.
Tennis, fine.
A few flaming arrows ought to fix it right proper.
flames...because...
Don't worry, Urban Dictionary confirms your suspicions...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=slapshot
NSFW
Its america! Sue him! Sue the permit granter!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
No wonder the neighbours complain about the noise.
But,
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 't would win me
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That plastic dome! those caves of ice! Hockey!
If the freaking dome is on hisproperty, what the heck do the neiborgs have to complain about? Inside my own house i can do whatever i like that is not against the law...