NorthStarNerd.Org

If Tiger Woods was a Lutheran!

If only Tiger Woods was a Lutheran, he would not have any problems! Enjoy listening to this short excerpt from this weekend's Prairie Home Companion. The Northstar Nerd is from northern Minnesota ... and well ... we Minnesota Lutherans could have taught Tiger a few things ... ya know for sure!

If you want to learn more about how to speak and act Lutheran, you need to get Garrison Keillor's latest book, Life Among the Lutherans ... you betcha!

Football in Outer Space (NASA Engineering at Play!)

It's Thanksgiving weekend 2009, and if you've overdosed on the more run of the mill standard football fare shown on TV, I invite you to experience Football in Outer Space! See NASA astronauts play their 1st annual Thanksgiving classic at the International Space Station. Thus, while they were the visiting team, and therefore playing the ultimate road game, you'll enjoy some classic flying tackles ... both literally and figuratively! Make certain you watch the full Atlantis STS-129 mission highlights. It was while watching the Day #5 Highlights from NASA Television I first saw this football game. The technology on the Space Station and the Space Shuttle never ceases to amaze me.

In case you're interested in more than NASA's football prowess, here are a few great technology links:

• NASA Technology Gateway
• NASA Langley CTO's Tweets

Nordic Skiing Review (cross-country skiing in Minnesota)

It's Thanksgiving Week, and the forecast includes snow for the Upper Peninsula, which means we should all be able to hit the trails soon. More than likely the first stop will likely be ABR near Ironwood, Michigan. Given my excitement over the impending snow, I give you my Nordic Ski Review for this year including my first ever Northstar Nerd Fashion Show!

While you might find the idea of a fashion show crazy, given the HUGE difficulty I had finding some "retro" ski wear this Fall, I want to insure my readers don't have the same difficulties! As always, it's important to point out that the NorthstarNerd never takes money to review any product. Good or bad, my opinions are my own.

(Make certain you see my Nordic Skiing Section of this site with a custom X-Ski Search Engine, Garmin measured ski trail distances ... and more via MinnSki)

Trails:

• Minneapolis St. Paul Metro Area
• Northern Minnesota
• Northwestern Wisconsin

Trails via SkinnySki.Com (North Central States / Western Ontario)

• Trail Listings
• Trail Reports

commentary: I'm a paying member of SkinnySki.Com. If you are from Minnesota, please consider support for Bruce Adelsman's site. He does a great job.

And now ... what you've all been waiting for ...

1st Annual Northstar Nerd Nordic Skiing Fashion Show!

In this show I will review ... (scroll down for the embedded video .. both videos require a YouTube connection to work properly. The fashion show will display w/o a YouTube connection, but you won't hear the yodeling!)

• Bjorn Daehlie Ski Wear (found at almost any ski shop)

commentary: Bjorn Daehlie Ski Wear provides good wind protection and is good for all around training and touring. The jacket allows the skier full upper body movement for pole plants. For the serious skier, unless it is extremely cold (-0F), you will overheat during hard workouts.

• Cross Country Skiing Men's Knickers (via the Sportsman Guide)

commentary: Finding good knickers for the serious "retro" skier is hard. I finally stumbled across these knickers from the Sportsman Guide. Although the knickers are used, you will be purchasing some fantastic German Army Surplus Knickers. My seamstress said the quality of the construction and wool was very high. However, that leads me to one other point. I am 6 feet 2 inches tall and weigh 175 pounds with a 36 inch waist line. Even though I purchased "large sized" knickers it was necessary to let them out for comfortable skiing. It was worth every penny!

• Cross Country Skiing Men's Knee Socks (via Bergland Trachten)

commentary: Christel at Bergland Trachten Imports defines customer service. The search for men's knee socks via Google was a HUGE challenge. You don't want to know what often comes up in search results ... unless I was trying to outfit my wife for a different kind of exercise in the bedroom. Although one can find lots of socks online, finding cross-country ski socks that come up all the way to my knees and have color (snowflake patterns like yesteryear) was almost impossible. The key to a successful Google Search was to query "socks" and "trachten". Apparently Tracht defines folk wear from Austria and Bavaria (Wikipedia entry).

• Cross-Country Skiing Race Uniform (via Exos Medical)

commentary: Thanks to Exos Medical who rescued my racing season last year when I broke my thumb and tore a ligament during a bad Fall, I am now outfitted in the latest racing uniform.

• Skis! (via Oregon Mountain Community)

commentary: Due to my own stupidity and a dishonest person, I had some skis stolen at the end of last ski season. After a very hard 25k workout, I entered the warming house to get some water. Still being tired, I went to my car and left my skis in the rack next to the chalet. When I returned later ... my skis were gone. Thus, this year I will be skiing on two new pairs of Atomic Classic Skis (Pro Classic for training and Pro Race Classic for races)

Thus ... without further adieu ... Happy Holidays from the Northstar Nerd!

Nordic Fashion Show on PhotoPeach

Retro Cross-Country Skiing Roots!

Finally, if you really enjoy cross-country skiing and the retro look, visit Wood N Skis! You'll find great commentary, instructions on how to pine tar your skis, wood skis for sale ... and this great video on visiting the birthplace of cross-country skiing ... and guess what, it's not Norway! You'll be visiting the Altai Mountains in central Asia (China).

Lake Superior Wilderness Waltz

Enjoy a brief sojourn and Viennese Waltz with the Northstar Nerd and his wife as they hike the Lake Superior Wilderness (video link). While some folks may enjoy vacations to warmer climates, an off season get-away allowed Molly and me to hike for two days without ever seeing another person on the trails. You'll cover in about 2 minutes what took us 8 hours of hiking over two days!

A Superior Wilderness on PhotoPeach

Walking Across America

The byways and highways of America often lead to unexpected destinations. This is particularly true if you get off the interstate highway system and experience America at a slower pace. Thus, imagine the scene yesterday morning as my wife and I motored across northern Wisconsin on a gray and drab day ... all the leaves are down; a wet mist is blowing in off Lake Superior and the temperature is trying to exceed 40F. On my left I spy a lone hiker heading west ... walking against traffic. I quickly note that he is wearing a sign, however at 60 mph we zoom by too quickly to get a good read. Here is how the conversation goes in our car between my wife, Molly, and me:

• Rich: I'm going to turn about and head back. Let's offer that hiker a ride.
• Molly: Do you think that's wise? 
• Rich: He was wearing a sign. Even though I couldn't read it, I'm sure he's safe. This weather is ugly and he might like a ride to Duluth.

Anyhow, I turn our fire-engine red PT Cruiser around and we head back East on US Highway #2. Pulling over to the side of the road we discover, Dr. Colin Skinner, who is walking across America for the National Hospice Foundation. Colin is from the United Kingdom, and a gentleman who defines graciousness and dedication. As soon as I heard about his trek, no matter how lousy the weather might be, I knew Colin would turn down my offer of a ride ... after all ... he is walking across America, not riding. This segment was started in mid August, and he is on his way to Minot, North Dakota.

Here is where his trip becomes more personal. If you are not familiar with the National Hospice Foundation, they are angels in human form. When my Mom died last year, it was only through hospice care that my Mom was able to die at home with dignity. In my Mom's situation, it was the folks from hospice who immediately came over at Midnight to sit with my Dad and me through the night. They were worried about us. Here is my blog entry from that night my Mom died.

Thus ... to Colin ... a gentleman walking across America ... I say "thank you". Please support his efforts and cause.  Click upon any image to view full sized!

 

 


 

The Fall of the Wall ... A Cold War Kid's Perspective

How the world has changed ... for the better! 20 years ago the Berlin Wall came down. My personal travels have taken me many times for both business and pleasure to the Czech Republic (Pavla's wedding) and China (trip to JiaYou: Link #1, Link #2, Link #3). Both of these countries were on America's "persona non gratis" list when I was younger. Here are some of my Memories from an earlier age:

• Listening via short-wave radio the night the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia
• Watching President Kennedy on black and white TV saying "Ich bin ein Berliner" when he visited West Berlin
• Seeing all the US Air Force B-52's in the skies over Duluth, Minnesota, During the Cuban Missile Crisis these bombers were shifted north to be out of range of the Soviet missiles.

Now through work I lead collaboration projects for a large Fortune 100 company which involves working almost daily with friends / co-workers from China and the Czech Republic. Pavla, whose wedding photo is displayed below is my "Czech daughter", and via Skype and Penny Talk I am in constant communication with her. Her "real" father died young due to his opposition to communist rule in Czechoslovakia, but that's another story ...

My son is now studying in Europe for his master's degree through Johns Hopkins University. Like his Dad, he blogs ... and has an interesting perspective on the historical significance of today (see his blog post). He comments upon a world he never knew ... thankfully.

Click to expand either image ... from our travels to the Czech Republic and China.

Normandy Battleground Photos ... then and now!

Let me invite my online friends to take a look at these dramatic photographs of Normandy. You will get to see World War II battleground photos juxtaposed with the same exact view from today's France. My father is both a World War II and Korean War Veteran. Thanks, Dad.

The link and one screenshot are given below.

http://opendoorway.multiply.com/video/item/172/Normandia-ontemehojePARTE1

Oops .. Sorry Dad .. Missed Minnesota While Flying my A320 Airbus

This is almost funny, except it could have been tragic (fuel, aircraft handling, other jets, etc). Two Northwest / Delta pilots of an Airbus A320 "missed" Minneapolis on Wednesday and took a "Sunday drive" over central Wisconsin. Now I know many folks from both coasts consider Minnesota "Fly Over Land", but this is taking it to the extreme. Anyhow, the flight from San Diego missed Minneapolis (we really are a big city) and flew on into Wisconsin

Traffic controllers tried for 78 minutes to contact the wayward jet ... while it maintained radio silence and flew past my fair city by 150 miles. While the speculation is the pilots fell asleep, I have a much more logical explanation ... maybe the pilots are Green Bay Packer Fans who are upset the Vikings now have Brett Favre!

• Read the full article via the Wall Street Journal

And of course the classic cover from the New Yorker Magazine ... a New Yorker's view of America. Notice Minneapolis is not even on the map! I think we're somewhere up in Canada.

Hoeg H'Arbor

Good Saturday morning ... fresh snow overnight ... only 25F out right now, but construction has started on our new home in Duluth! Here is a very short animated slideshow, which will give you an understanding why I love northern Minnesota. Cross-country ski trails which are kept lit till 10:00 p.m. at night will be only 50 yards from my front door!

Hoeg H'Arbor on PhotoPeach

Carl of Arabia

Like father, like son! My son Carl is definitely a chip off the old Northstar Nerd's block! He's getting his master's degree at Johns Hopkins ... their Bologna, Italy campus. His latest blog post is ... Carl of Arabia! Link and you'll find some classic photos!