Muggle vs. wizard world, are wizards boring?/entertainment/exercise

[jferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 31117

Sonja:"I have noticed that wizards shun muggle activities even when 
they  don't have a good alternative.  Ie. - wizard kids don't ride 
bikes.  Well, they ride brooms, but they can't do that everywhere.  
Wouldn't a bike be fun too!  The lake is frozen solid in winter, but 
they don't seem to ice skate.  Why not?  If it is just b/c it is a 
muggle  activity, why don't they have something comparible.  They do 
have snowball fights and that is something muggles do.  (Just a few of 
the examples that have been bugging me.)"

We don't *see* wizard kids ride Muggle bikes, or skating, but it's 
inevitable it would get started. Imagine: a Muggle-born at Hogwarts 
brings his/her skates back to school after Christmas and skates on the 
pond. All the other students see it, think it looks cool, and decide 
to try it themselves. Somebody is bound to bring their Scrabble board 
to school with them. And so on and on. As long as the Muggle world and 
wizard world intersect at Hogwarts, things like this will happen.  
I'll bet this is the kind of thing that drives Lucius nuts.

Sonja:"Someone very recently mentioned that wizards from muggle 
families probably miss things from the muggle world.  I definitely 
would.  No: ice skating, basketball, bike riding, skate boarding, 
t.v., radio, computers, board games, etc.  Heck, no exercise!"

Exactly. And I think these things, except radio and TV [too much magic 
in the air] do come to Hogwarts. And people always want to see what 
they can do with their bodies in excercise.

Our view of the wizard world through the books is like viewing the 
world by peering through a soda straw. They're Harry's story of a 
whole year at school, and I believe about 98% of it gets left out. 
It's unavoidable.

Sonja:"Am i the only one who wishes JKR would release  book 5 in 
monthly installments?"

The publishing world would go beserk. What an idea! Maybe a chapter 
every Sunday in the newspaper! It'd be the biggest shot in the arm to 
the magazine world since Beeton's Christmas Annual.