St. Paul Winter Carnival

This year's Winter Carnival is going on at the same time as the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (see previous post). Christine and I walked over to Rice Park from the Excel Center to see the ice sculptures.

The artists were still working on them. I'm not sure when the judging is but most were well along. All the trees in Rice Park is covered in white lights and with the lights for the artists working, it was very, very bright. The ice sculptures are so neat.

There aren't very many entrants this year. It is incredible to see the sculptures and especially interesting to watch them working on them. Everyone has an electric chain saw to do the big parts. Saw one person using a hair dryer to make the ice crystal clear. Another guy was using an iron to melt the surfaces of two pieces and then stick them together.

It was in the teens last night which they say is perfect weather. It is supposed to get above freezing tomorrow for a few hours. That isn't supposed to bother the ice too much.

And, no, there is not an ice castle this year again. I guess it is very expensive to build one plus they would have to find a convenient spot which is hard to come by these days.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships are being held in St. Paul, Minnesota this week. Christine and I went last night to the mens' short program.

There were three groups of six. The two leading contenders were in the first group. Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek. Johnny Weir's program looked flawless to me. His skating is so quiet. You hardly hear his skates at all. His costume was very sparkly and looked extremely difficult to get on and off.

Evan Lysacek is a more athletic looking skater. He had some trouble with a couple of jumps. Their scores were very close though and they ended 1 and 2 respectively.

The skater I think you'll be hearing about in the future is Steven Cairriere. He skating wonderfully and combined athleticism and artistry. He is in third.

I think there is definite bias towards the skaters with known names and histories.

The Excel Center in St. Paul was not full even though there weren't many tickets to purchase. We had great seats and enjoyed the evening competition. We also ate arena food like there was no tomorrow.

Cadillac SRX

Yes, I got a Cadillac this past week while in Dallas. It was the SRX, a SUV style model. I think it is based on the CTS which is the model I leased for 3 years before I got my Ford Escape Hybrid.

Let me list some of the features:
heated drivers seat
heated steering wheel!
motorized lift gate
satellite radio
auto-head lamps
auto-dimming rear mirror
back-up proximity detectors
third-row seating

The interior is very similar to my CTS a few years ago. All the seats are leather. Large steering wheel and large dash display analog gauges.

You expect power from a Caddy and it delivered. It is pretty effortless to drive. I have no idea how much something like this costs but it was definitely very nice.

Check this out

Click the link below and try to tell me the guy in the middle of the banner picture doesn't look just like me....may be a few years younger.

My duplicate?

On the road again...again

Back in Dallas this week. Was hoping for some warmer weather. Pretty much anything is warmer than -13 but it is barely in the 40's here and damp.

Gosh but I whine a lot.

Martha's Christmas tree

I heard of Martha's tree for this past Christmas which didn't sound anything like Martha. Yes, it is an upside-down white tree.

U.S. Pond Hockey Championships

Kay Winter (how's that for an appropriate last name) organized a field trip to the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships taking place on Lake Nakomis in South Minneapolis.

It also happens to be the coldest weekend of the season. The high on Saturday was -3 degrees!

It just so happened that my sister, Betty, sent me this great "Hot Waves" head/face/neck covering for my birthday. That thing worked great. I also had three layers on my legs and torso.

I had two pairs of socks including an all-wool pair. But my left foot got really cold near the end.

Watching the games was a lot of fun. There were nearly 30 rinks. The games are four-on-four with no goalies and no goal tending, checking or fighting. All the games were going on at once and consisted of 2 15 minute periods.

There was also a giant warming house and as Kay remarked "you could feel the testosterone in there." While there were some women players and several women spectators, it was true that the number of men and the sweaty, wintery, masculine feel in the warming house was palpable.