Here's a top five list of Minneapolis public parks in my humble opinion... I don't think too many would argue with it as they are some of the most popular places in the city. They are great year round but especially in the summer of course.
5. Lake Calhoun- A little too populated but fun to watch folks out on the busiest lake.
4. Mississippi River - Not as smooth as some of the other trails but pretty scenic with great views of both the river and nice homes.
3. Minnehaha Creek Bike Trail - Riding on the trail from the Falls to Lake Harriet or vice versa on a trail that is completely surrounded by trees and water makes for an awesome afternoon.
2. Minnehaha Falls - Great to hang out watching the falls and enjoying either the concession stand or DQ across the street.
1. Lake Harriet - Just shy of 3 miles around, there is a concert at least once a day all summer long. What better way to end a day than with a run or bike ride followed by taking in free entertainment?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Depressing
Sorry, blame Brian Williams.... I read his blog and he posted a link to one of the most depressing reviews of the state of our current affairs. It is extremely interesting though if you want to check it out, here it is...
Is everything spinning out of control?
Can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in American psyche is under assault
The Associated Press
updated 6:34 a.m. CT, Sun., June. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - Is everything spinning out of control? Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.
Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.
The can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in the American psyche is under assault. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance.
The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election. Each contender offers a sense of order — and hope. Republican John McCain promises an experienced hand in a frightening time. Democrat Barack Obama promises bright and shiny change, and his large crowds believe his exhortation, "Yes, we can."
Onslaught of dispiriting things
Even so, a battered public seems discouraged by the onslaught of dispiriting things. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll says a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction. That is the lowest reading since the survey began in 2003.
An ABC News-Washington Post survey put that figure at 14 percent, tying the low in more than three decades of taking soundings on the national mood.
"It is pretty scary," said Charles Truxal, 64, a retired corporate manager in Rochester, Minn. "People are thinking things are going to get better, and they haven't been. And then you go hide in your basement because tornadoes are coming through. If you think about things, you have very little power to make it change."
Recent natural disasters around the world dwarf anything afflicting the U.S. Consider that more than 69,000 people died in the China earthquake, and that 78,000 were killed and 56,000 missing from the Myanmar cyclone.
Americans need do no more than check the weather, look in their wallets or turn on the news for their daily reality check on a world gone haywire.
Floods engulf Midwestern river towns. Is it global warming, the gradual degradation of a planet's weather that man seems powerless to stop or just a freakish late-spring deluge?
It hardly matters to those in the path. Just ask the people of New Orleans who survived Hurricane Katrina. They are living in a city where, 1,000 days after the storm, entire neighborhoods remain abandoned, a national embarrassment that evokes disbelief from visitors.
Food is becoming scarcer and more expensive on a worldwide scale, due to increased consumption in growing countries such as China and India and rising fuel costs. That can-do solution to energy needs — turning corn into fuel — is sapping fields of plenty once devoted to crops that people need to eat. Shortages have sparked riots. In the U.S., rice prices tripled and some stores rationed the staple.
Residents of the nation's capital and its suburbs repeatedly lose power for extended periods as mere thunderstorms rumble through. In California, leaders warn people to use less water in the unrelenting drought.
Want to get away from it all? The weak U.S. dollar makes travel abroad forbiddingly expensive. To add insult to injury, some airlines now charge to check luggage.
Want to escape on the couch? A writers' strike halted favorite TV shows for half a season. The newspaper on the table may soon be a relic of the Internet age. Just as video stores are falling by the wayside as people get their movies online or in the mail.
But there's always sports, right?
But there's always sports, right? The moorings seem to be coming loose here, too.
Baseball stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens stand accused of enhancing their heroics with drugs. Basketball referees are suspected of cheating.
Stay tuned for less than pristine tales from the drug-addled Tour de France and who knows what from the Summer Olympics.
It's not the first time Americans have felt a loss of control.
Alger, the dime-novel author whose heroes overcame adversity to gain riches and fame, played to similar anxieties when the U.S. was becoming an industrial society in the late 1800s.
American University historian Allan J. Lichtman notes that the U.S. has endured comparable periods and worse, including the economic stagflation (stagnant growth combined with inflation) and Iran hostage crisis of 1980; the dawn of the Cold War, the Korean War and the hysterical hunts for domestic Communists in the late 1940s and early 1950s; and the Depression of the 1930s.
"All those periods were followed by much more optimistic periods in which the American people had their confidence restored," he said. "Of course, that doesn't mean it will happen again."
Each period also was followed by a change in the party controlling the White House.
This period has seen intense interest in the presidential primaries, especially the Democrats' five-month duel between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Records were shattered by voters showing up at polling places, yearning for a voice in who will next guide the country as it confronts the uncontrollable.
Never mind that their views of their current leaders are near rock bottom, reflecting a frustration with Washington's inability to solve anything. President Bush barely gets the approval of three in 10 people, and it's even worse for the Democratic-led Congress.
Why the vulnerability? After all, this is the 21st century, not a more primitive past when little in life was assured. Surely people know how to fix problems now.
Maybe. And maybe this is what the 21st century will be about — a great unraveling of some things long taken for granted.
On the positive side, the Twins are leading 1-0 in the 2nd and have a six game win streak going. They are only 1.5 games out of first.
Is everything spinning out of control?
Can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in American psyche is under assault
The Associated Press
updated 6:34 a.m. CT, Sun., June. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - Is everything spinning out of control? Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.
Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.
The can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in the American psyche is under assault. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance.
The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election. Each contender offers a sense of order — and hope. Republican John McCain promises an experienced hand in a frightening time. Democrat Barack Obama promises bright and shiny change, and his large crowds believe his exhortation, "Yes, we can."
Onslaught of dispiriting things
Even so, a battered public seems discouraged by the onslaught of dispiriting things. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll says a barrel-scraping 17 percent of people surveyed believe the country is moving in the right direction. That is the lowest reading since the survey began in 2003.
An ABC News-Washington Post survey put that figure at 14 percent, tying the low in more than three decades of taking soundings on the national mood.
"It is pretty scary," said Charles Truxal, 64, a retired corporate manager in Rochester, Minn. "People are thinking things are going to get better, and they haven't been. And then you go hide in your basement because tornadoes are coming through. If you think about things, you have very little power to make it change."
Recent natural disasters around the world dwarf anything afflicting the U.S. Consider that more than 69,000 people died in the China earthquake, and that 78,000 were killed and 56,000 missing from the Myanmar cyclone.
Americans need do no more than check the weather, look in their wallets or turn on the news for their daily reality check on a world gone haywire.
Floods engulf Midwestern river towns. Is it global warming, the gradual degradation of a planet's weather that man seems powerless to stop or just a freakish late-spring deluge?
It hardly matters to those in the path. Just ask the people of New Orleans who survived Hurricane Katrina. They are living in a city where, 1,000 days after the storm, entire neighborhoods remain abandoned, a national embarrassment that evokes disbelief from visitors.
Food is becoming scarcer and more expensive on a worldwide scale, due to increased consumption in growing countries such as China and India and rising fuel costs. That can-do solution to energy needs — turning corn into fuel — is sapping fields of plenty once devoted to crops that people need to eat. Shortages have sparked riots. In the U.S., rice prices tripled and some stores rationed the staple.
Residents of the nation's capital and its suburbs repeatedly lose power for extended periods as mere thunderstorms rumble through. In California, leaders warn people to use less water in the unrelenting drought.
Want to get away from it all? The weak U.S. dollar makes travel abroad forbiddingly expensive. To add insult to injury, some airlines now charge to check luggage.
Want to escape on the couch? A writers' strike halted favorite TV shows for half a season. The newspaper on the table may soon be a relic of the Internet age. Just as video stores are falling by the wayside as people get their movies online or in the mail.
But there's always sports, right?
But there's always sports, right? The moorings seem to be coming loose here, too.
Baseball stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens stand accused of enhancing their heroics with drugs. Basketball referees are suspected of cheating.
Stay tuned for less than pristine tales from the drug-addled Tour de France and who knows what from the Summer Olympics.
It's not the first time Americans have felt a loss of control.
Alger, the dime-novel author whose heroes overcame adversity to gain riches and fame, played to similar anxieties when the U.S. was becoming an industrial society in the late 1800s.
American University historian Allan J. Lichtman notes that the U.S. has endured comparable periods and worse, including the economic stagflation (stagnant growth combined with inflation) and Iran hostage crisis of 1980; the dawn of the Cold War, the Korean War and the hysterical hunts for domestic Communists in the late 1940s and early 1950s; and the Depression of the 1930s.
"All those periods were followed by much more optimistic periods in which the American people had their confidence restored," he said. "Of course, that doesn't mean it will happen again."
Each period also was followed by a change in the party controlling the White House.
This period has seen intense interest in the presidential primaries, especially the Democrats' five-month duel between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Records were shattered by voters showing up at polling places, yearning for a voice in who will next guide the country as it confronts the uncontrollable.
Never mind that their views of their current leaders are near rock bottom, reflecting a frustration with Washington's inability to solve anything. President Bush barely gets the approval of three in 10 people, and it's even worse for the Democratic-led Congress.
Why the vulnerability? After all, this is the 21st century, not a more primitive past when little in life was assured. Surely people know how to fix problems now.
Maybe. And maybe this is what the 21st century will be about — a great unraveling of some things long taken for granted.
On the positive side, the Twins are leading 1-0 in the 2nd and have a six game win streak going. They are only 1.5 games out of first.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Breast Cancer Ride
I finished a weekend of crewing the first ever Breast Cancer Ride in Minnesota. I've been crew on a lot of HIV/AIDS rides and this was done by a team of people that had done that in the past. Some of my favorite folks and they do a great job. It was somewhat different from the longer events in the past but overall very similar. The same group is putting on an overnight walk in September called Dusk2Dawn which will raise money for HIV/AIDS services in Africa and I plan on working on that as well. That will be even more different since it will be a walk rather than a ride. Seventeen miles over the course of about 12 hours I believe. I wasn't sure if I was going to walk or crew that one but I think I will crew. I'm going to focus on raising money though as if I were a walker.
On a totally different note, I'm watching MASH which is the best show ever made. I decided that I will open a bag of worms by listing what I think are the top 10 shows ever made. These are not in order except for the top two.
1. MASH
2. West Wing
3-10.
Quantum Leap
Animaniacs
Law & Order: SVU
30 Rock
Cosby Show
Mary Tyler Moore
Sportsnight
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Granted, I'm putting this list together off the top of my head without much sleep but I think these are pretty good.
On a totally different note, I'm watching MASH which is the best show ever made. I decided that I will open a bag of worms by listing what I think are the top 10 shows ever made. These are not in order except for the top two.
1. MASH
2. West Wing
3-10.
Quantum Leap
Animaniacs
Law & Order: SVU
30 Rock
Cosby Show
Mary Tyler Moore
Sportsnight
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Granted, I'm putting this list together off the top of my head without much sleep but I think these are pretty good.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Pics from my trip
So here are a few pictures from my trip. I'll try to upload them to a file sharing site as there are so many of them but here's a sample set...
The first is from the Badlands in South Dakota, the first of four national parks I've visited in the last three weeks.
This is Lake Jenny in Grand Tetons National Park just north of Jackson, Wyoming. Notice how much snow there is (Minnesotans who complain about winter not ending, this picture was taken Memorial Day weekend).
This is the Grand Canyon of the North in Yellowstone National Park.
Ride out on Day 1 of AIDS Life Cycle. 2500 riders!
Our spacious accomodations, tents for 3000!
The real Grand Canyon, my fourth and final national park...
The church in Santa Fe, an awesome little tourist town...
That's it folks. Sorry I didn't take any pics of Iowa or Nebraska. I guess I could have snapped some shots of really high water in Iowa. Oh well.
The first is from the Badlands in South Dakota, the first of four national parks I've visited in the last three weeks.
This is Lake Jenny in Grand Tetons National Park just north of Jackson, Wyoming. Notice how much snow there is (Minnesotans who complain about winter not ending, this picture was taken Memorial Day weekend).
This is the Grand Canyon of the North in Yellowstone National Park.
Ride out on Day 1 of AIDS Life Cycle. 2500 riders!
Our spacious accomodations, tents for 3000!
The real Grand Canyon, my fourth and final national park...
The church in Santa Fe, an awesome little tourist town...
That's it folks. Sorry I didn't take any pics of Iowa or Nebraska. I guess I could have snapped some shots of really high water in Iowa. Oh well.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I'm Back!
Wow. After a two week and six day road trip (approximately 6500 miles) I am back in Minnesota. It's good to be back but I had a great time too. Two days ago I was having lunch in Santa Fe which was my favorite part of the return trip. The day before that we stopped at the Grand Canyon which was amazing.
During my trip, a friend emailed and asked if I could help out on the Breast Cancer Ride. It's a similar event to the multiple bike rides I have done for the past seven years and since it is a good friend I said sure so I'm working on that on June 21st and 22nd and probably helping out some before that as well. So, I'm working on a total of three cycling fundraisers this summer. One down, two to go...
On that note, I was sweep support for AIDS Life Cycle 7 which was an amazing experience. It's so much bigger than the Minnesota events I have done and that is a massive understatement. 2500 riders, 550 roadies/crew moving down the road from San Francisco to L.A. which is very hilly. A lot of it is along Highway 1/the Pacific Coast Highway which is beautiful but crazy having that many cyclists on a fairly busy road. There are also times where the cyclists get on Highway 101, the freeway! That is really interesting to say the least... As a sweep vehicle on other events I've picked up cyclists along the route but usually get to do a lot of cheering. We did some cheering on this ride but there was a lot of picking up cyclists. I think we had 60-70 sweeps over the seven days including one day of 28! We were busy!
Ok, I'm going to try to get some pictures up here. Have a great day!
During my trip, a friend emailed and asked if I could help out on the Breast Cancer Ride. It's a similar event to the multiple bike rides I have done for the past seven years and since it is a good friend I said sure so I'm working on that on June 21st and 22nd and probably helping out some before that as well. So, I'm working on a total of three cycling fundraisers this summer. One down, two to go...
On that note, I was sweep support for AIDS Life Cycle 7 which was an amazing experience. It's so much bigger than the Minnesota events I have done and that is a massive understatement. 2500 riders, 550 roadies/crew moving down the road from San Francisco to L.A. which is very hilly. A lot of it is along Highway 1/the Pacific Coast Highway which is beautiful but crazy having that many cyclists on a fairly busy road. There are also times where the cyclists get on Highway 101, the freeway! That is really interesting to say the least... As a sweep vehicle on other events I've picked up cyclists along the route but usually get to do a lot of cheering. We did some cheering on this ride but there was a lot of picking up cyclists. I think we had 60-70 sweeps over the seven days including one day of 28! We were busy!
Ok, I'm going to try to get some pictures up here. Have a great day!
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