When you go out to a restaurant, you look at a menu and see several options to choose from. You can order one or more of any of the items on the menu. But until you actually order them, they are just "opportunities to dine". Once you place the order and the waiter brings it to your table, it's a meal.
Join points are the options on the menu and pointcuts are the items you select. A joinpoint is an opportunity within code for you to apply an aspect...just an opportunity. Once you take that opportunity and select one or more joinpoints and apply an aspect to them, you've got a pointcut.
