Hey, thats me on the left!

A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to travel to Minneapolis and meet the Dalai Lama!

Well, actually I was shooting some video for the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, and their Compassion Project, (I'm just getting a few things in place before we rolled here) but I did get introduced by Dr. Ritchie Davidson, so I can say that "I've met The Dalai Lama". I hear he's got a pretty tight schedule though, so I don't think we'll be taking in any Brewers games together or anything like that.

Anyway, pretty interesting stuff! Dr. Davidson is doing a study, including Buddhist monks, and has found that people who practice compassion, actually have physically healthier brains than their counterparts. The Trout Museum has promoted this concept along with the Appleton school district, through a huge exhibit where kids were asked to design their idea of compassion. There are over 10,000 pieces "tiling" the inside of the Museum. Awesome stuff! heres the link http://www.troutmuseum.org/compassion.htm you should check it out.

Really!!!!!!!!! Its almost May!

In a little over 8 weeks the days start getting shorter. Oh well, I guess deep fried cheese, ice fishing, and the Packers make up for it!!

I'm Going In!

Were just wrapping up a day of fishing in Florida last week when

I noticed some splashing around, about a hundred yards away from our boat on the Gulf of Mexico. I had a pretty good idea it was manatees so we slowly chugged over to them an found five of them playing along the edge of a deep hole! Once they noticed us the started poking their heads out of the water and were very curious about the boat. After about

15 minutes,

my wife announced she "couldn't stand it anymore and was going in". We swam with them for about a half hour scratching their bellies and looking face to face with the 2,000 pound animals. What a Blast!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Man am I itching to ride!!!!!!!!!!

-and then my good buddy Jon Stubb sends me this link-

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/03/experience-a-chilean-thrill-ride.html

Its a helmet-cam shot during a Chilean mountain bike race through the streets of Valparaiso.

Make sure you view it set on full screen. Nuts! If that dog swerves to the left your dead!

Oh well, I guess a virtual ride is better than nothing this time of year.

What planet are we on anyway?-

A few weeks ago my wife and I were ice climbing up in the UP. With temperatures in the mid-30's the second day, we decided the ice was pretty sketchy, and figured a hike along Lake Superior would be safer. Northeast of Sand Point we found a bunch of ice pans floating in the calm water of the lake, and it made for a surreal scene.

The pans form as ice breaks from the shoreline and then gets tumbled around in the lake when winter storms pass through the area. Just one more cool way mother nature creates and recreates the ever changing landscape.