Back on the ice. Here is the illuminated pyramid from the Caribou Coffee City of Lakes Illuminated Loppet. You can see the pyramid from above in yesterday's post and here it is from ground-level. The pyramid has 200 'luminaries' alone. There are 400 of them forming a path on Lake of the Isles. I got to learn more about this project when Hal Galvin called yesterday. Hal and David Bryan are responsible for the light show; you can read more about them in this WCCO interview. He called me hoping to see some more of my pictures of the lights, so hopefully I'll get to meet him later on this week. The lights are blocks of ice made in buckets with candles in them. I'm curious about the whole process and look forward to talking with him more. I'll let you know what I learn.
Super Bowl Declaration of Independence
I don't know if you saw this during the Super Bowl, but they produced this dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence. If you haven't seen it, it's worth the time. I'm often troubled by the US citizenry's lack of knowledge of the constitution and history. Like 'School House Rock', this production makes the Declaration of Independence tolerable to the less interested. If a few people are inspired to learn more about the Declaration of Independence, great; if some go on to read the first draft and see what was cut out for political expediency even better.I was reading the comments on the YouTube page for this video and ran into a discussion of the first draft. I had not read this before; someone pointed out a section that had been removed. Many people take issue, and rightly so, with the line "all men are created equal" when the constitution (adopted 11 years later) allowed for slavery. There was a section removed from the declaration that addressed slavery and starts:"He [King George of England] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemispere, or to incure miserable death in their transportation hither...."Slavery was here when the country was created. I wish we had resolved that problem in 1787. But we didn't and have suffered ever since.I'm glad they created the video and I hope that a few other people have thought about it and maybe, just maybe, some conversations have come from it. Today is Super Tuesday and the horse race is in full swing. Sometimes politics is a dangerous topic, but talking with those around you about the original intent of the Great American Experiment is a good idea; who knows, you might learn something.
This weekend was the City of Lakes Loppet in Minneapolis on Lake of the Isles. I live in Uptown and the races went right by my home, up the boulevard by the Greenway. My friends Bob, Rob and Matt came by and we spent Saturday evening photographing the event and the area. They have posted their pics too, so check them out.
Caribou Coffee sponsors a Luminary Loppet on Saturday evening; they put 700 ice luminaries around the lake. It's really impressive and we had fun photographing them. I'll be posting some of my pics this week. I wanted to start with this view from the bridge to give you an idea as to what the area looks like — an establishing shot.
Monday is in full swing here at MRDI, so I have to run, but there will be more as the week progresses.
The City of Lakes Loppet is a week away. Soon cross-country skiers will be shuffling up the hill right by my home in Uptown. A loppet, as you may have guessed, is a cross-country ski race which requires snow. You'd think we'd be set, but the last few years have been a bust when it comes to snow. So here's the solution. They set up snow machines like the ones they have at downhill skiing places, right on the shore of Lake of the Isles. In the land of winter fun, we have to make our own backup snow in case the real stuff doesn't hold up.
The beautiful golden light in this shot is brought to you by the big city lights illuminating the cloudy sky. The icy haze of the winter nights scatters light instead of absorbing it like wet clouds do, so it's frequently quite bright here at night.
Now for the entertainment portion of the program. While avoiding responsibilities last night, I found a video made by a couple in West Saint Paul. It funny, has a catchy tune and shows what this place looks like when the snow starts to melt. I go to great lengths to tart up my snow shots, but they went the other way. Oh dear...
On their website they say that it's for a video competition at the Walker Art Center. They have a link to a higher-quality version too, so if you liked it, get over and see that one and learn more about them. Say hi for me while you are there.So there you go, a video about the convenience of an inner-ring suburb and the Northernest biggest city in the world making snow in case of emergency.Why live in paradise when you can light a good buzz just watching the cabin-fevered Minnesotans just trying to entertain themselves 'til the spring thaw.Oh yeah, I still need to get some new mittens...
