Attribute the Zamboni’s popularity in part to its mesmerizing effect. “There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire, and a Zamboni clearing the ice,” said Charlie Brown in one Peanuts strip. Credit cartoonist Charles Schulz, who owned a Zamboni, for helping popularize it. Snoopy drove one. So did Woodstock, turning tiny ovals in his frozen birdbath. A Zamboni’s rumbling power might have something to do with the attraction. But watching a Zamboni clean the ice at intermission — 10 minutes to resurface an average hockey rink — gives you time for philosophical thought.