MOREORLESSNOTEWORTHY

Taking an awesome long weekend in Lutsen, MN. We were checking out the Ultramarathon races and enjoying some challenging runs on the Lake Superior trail up on the Northshore.

Work trip to Rhineland Palatine. Sundays offer a nice break enjoying the beautiful weather outside of Trier.

Impression form our camping trip to the Porkies over Memorial Day weekend. A beautiful morning for a hike along the shoreline.

Beautiful Waiakalua Beach on Kauai North shore. We discovered this beach on our last day on the island and it’s definitely worth the little hike up and down the cliff.

My beloved companion: Run Free!

Wolf  * 1996  ✝ 2010

Yet another enjoyable run, this time on the Elroy-Sparta trail around Norwalk,WI. Running has been really good to me this year and I’m happy I can do it.

Had a great time running the Whistlestop half marathon in Ashland last weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect. Started out at 50 degrees in the morning and it stayed nice and cool throughout the race. Race day was topped of with a fantastic meal and good brew at South Shore Brewery. I’d have to say this is my favorite race venue.  It was a gorgeous weekend to be spending it at Lake Superior.

Happy Frogs – these guys for giving an unbelievable concert.

Ik wull, wi weern noch kleen, Jehann
Do weer de Welt so grot!
Wi seten op den Steen, Jehann
Weest noch? Bi Nawers Sot
An Heben seil de stille Maan
Wi segen, wa he leep
Un snacken, wa de Himmel hoch
Un wa de Sot wul deep

Weest noch, wa still dat weer, Jehann?
Dar röhr keen Blatt an Bom
So is dat nu ni mehr, Jehann
As höchstens noch in Drom
Och ne, wenn do de Scheper sung
Alleen, int wide Feld:
Ni wahr, Jehann? Dat weer en Ton!
De eenzige op de Welt

Mitünner inne Schummerntid
Denn ward mi so to Mod
Denn löppt mi’t langs den Rügg so hitt
As domals bi den Sot
Denn dreih ik mi so hasti um
As weer ik nich alleen:
Doch allens, wat ik finn, Jehann
Dat is – ik sta un ween

We have a new temporary addition to the family. We are fostering Glacier, a Siberian Husky mix from Free Spirit Siberian Husky Rescue. He’s a very sweet dog and, most importantly, Willow likes him. We’ve taken him for a couple of runs so far and he makes for a good running buddy. He has a high energy level and right now everything is new and exciting but after a good run or a long walk he becomes the perfect house dog…

Happy Dog

It was a beautiful view flying into Milan, Italy.

What’s not to like about San Francisco. We just got back after spending a few very nice days out there with friends. If I ever wanted to live in a big city SF would certainly be a hot candidate.

seagull in SF

Watching a live stage of the Tour de France is awesome, especially when it’s a mountain stage. Here’s what you need to do

Col de Platzerwasel

The next day we watch the start of the 14th stage in Colmar. Great atmosphere, beautiful wheather. I can only recommend this to soak up the TDF feeling.

Start of stage 14 in Colmar

And I got my own personal shot of Lance…

While working in Trier, Germany for a couple of months this summer I managed to get to visit the Saarburg, an old castle (~1100 years old), overlooking river Saar. Beautiful sight, isn’t it?

Just back from the Big Island. It was great. Wish we could have stayed longer…..

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the 44th president of the United States and the nation’s first black commander in chief.  “Change has come to America”

I’m so glad we made time for the trip to Glacier National this summer. We took the Empire Builder Amtrak train from Columbus,WI to East Glacier,MT, a great and relaxing way to travel that distance. Janice had planned out our entire hiking route through 50 miles of back country and it was worth every inch of the way.

Even though I’m living in the middle of the country and, as a fish, I miss the ocean terribly, I love being in the mountains. The more time I spent their the more I enjoy being there. I like the remoteness and the simplicity of life, I guess.

Im Moment durchlaufen wir eine Phase, in der alles dick ist – Menschen, Autos, Brillen, Lippen, Titten. Alles ist aufgeblasen.

-Tom Ford, Designer

Yet another reason to love Madison: The1oth annual Wisconsin Film Festival presented again a broad choice of excellent films, 4 of which we had the privilege to enjoy.

My two favorites are ‘Garbage Warrior’ and ‘Bon Cop, Bad Cop’. One an inspiring documentary about New Mexico based architect Michael Reynolds’ quest for sustainable, energy-independent housing, the other an hilariously funny, Starsky& Hutch-gone-Canadian type cop and buddy movie. Both films I would and I will watch again and can only recommend to everybody.

Rounded up by ‘Big Man Japan’, a sort of surreal documentary-style, CGI mix Japanese super hero versus monsters experimantal film with definite cult potential and by ‘Prague’, from the danish cinema, a film that you will find in the late night program of European public television stations, with a good portion of interpersonal drama, a slightly too sober melancholy and irrevocable determinism for my taste.

Thanks to the Wiscosnin Film Festival for a great movie weekend!

http://www.garbagewarrior.com

‘ne Nonne kauft ‘ner Nutte ‘nen Duden.

The movie ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ is a great adaptation of Patrick Süskinds novel ‘Das Parfum’. The book is certainly a master piece of opening the olfactory world by means of intense and dense narrative. I was very curious to see how this could be portrayed in a motion picture and I am impressed how this movie translates the sense of smell into a beautiful concoction of sound and image that captures the essence of the novel. Certain passages of the movie might appear out of context without having read the book, yet this doesn’t take away from the experience and, in fact, even adds to the mystique of a world that is explored outside of its own perimeters.

Despite being undertrained I had a really great and enjoyable race. It was a beautiful day, started out a little chilly but warmed up to about mid 50s. The course is smooth and scenic and the race organizers put on an overall great event. I can only recommend this race and I’m sure I’ll be back.

Just before preparing for landing in O’Hare. It’s nice to be coming home….

A perfect race day for 2000+ athletes. Watching the swim start already made we want to sign up again.
Well, I didn’t but it was a fun day regardless.

We went to see the Madison Mallards in their last game before the play offs. Well, the Mallards blew it and lost, but since I don’t understand the game to well anyway, it was a great day out nonetheless. They even had  post game fireworks. You don’t need to understand the sport to have a great time!

While attending to the corn boil at our annual family picnic I had the chance to observe the little chipmunks playing in the grass. Call me a simpleton by I’m fascinated by those little critters. I have been here for almost 6 years now so you’d think that rodents are no big deal anymore but squirrels and the likes are still a source of amazement for me.

I finally made the decision to pick a race to train for, still this season. Now I just need to find a race. I’m currently looking at these:
WhistleStop Half-Marathon
Half Monster Marathon
Rock Cut HOBO RUN 25k

Ironman Video

Today was a beautiful day for just taking the kayak out on Lake Wingra. Having our boats sitting at the Marina makes it so much easier to just go for a spur of the moment paddle. I took out the Old Town Egret and enjoyed a perfect afternoon on my favorite Madison lake.

As pretty as they are and as much as I admire their natural beauty these nasty little buggers are determined to feast on our roses to the end of their days. All of our four rose plants are being battered by these Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) and they attack my beloved plants in groups, as soon as the sun is out and start munching away on the flowers that are trying to open up.

My initial frustration has meanwhile progressed through an utter dislike to a solid grudge and it starting to turn into a personal vendetta of mine. Armed with a spray bottle of a water and Dr. Bronnner’s soap mix every morning and evening I embark on a spritzing crusade, sneak up to them behind my rose bushes and squirt like there’s no tomorrow.

So far the bugs have kept the upper hand but I’m determined to prevail…

I’ve been loving you a long time
Down all the years, down all the days
And I’ve cried for all your troubles
Smiled at your funny little ways.

Our two existing compost bins weren’t enough anymore so I built this one, a little wider than usual so it’s easier to use the pitch fork. It was a lot of fun to put this one together. I’ll post the building instructions as soon as I find a little more time.

Willows and my weekend routine to visit to the dog park has been shifted to the earlier morning hours. It is just way too warm for her lately, yet she has a lot of energy that needs to be expended. Hanging out in the shade just doesn’t do it.

“It really p…. me off, what’s the point?!”

The latest confession of retired danish pro cyclist and current manager of Danish Team CSC Bjarne Riis, admitting to EPO doping during the 1996 Tour de France that he won, is just another dose of reality in regards to the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional cycling.

_{image courtesy of Reuters}

The history of pro cycling is also a history of doping:

Doping timeline ()