Heart of the storm

I was photographing a lightning storm last week when I captured this photo, thought I would share.

If you ever had the chance to meet Reinhold Marxhausen, you were truly blessed.  For those of you who never knew him, here are some links to help you learn more about him.


http://marxhausen.blogspot.com

Rienhold Marxhausen on David Letterman show

Exactly one year ago last night, the person who taught me the most about how to find beauty in the world passed away.  How fitting that exactly one year later, on the night he passed away, beautiful aurora were visible here in Nebraska.  I took these pictures just outside of Omaha. 

I think Marxy was smiling, too.

That's a morel!

When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's a morel!  (you know you want to sing along, heh heh...)

Test throw

Looks like the tomahawks throw pretty good.

Making tools, but not for snow

I did some forging today but instead of making snow carving tools, I decided to make some tomahawks.  It was a fun little project and was nice to do something totally different for a change.

Pictures from U.S. Nationals

Finally getting around to posting pictures of our sculpture...

Yeeehaw!

The results are in...Team Nebraska won 2nd place!

Hey...

you could put someone's eye out with that thing!

Houston we have a problem

Team Nebraska experiences a collapse!

Long night, warm weather

We stayed out until late, came back to the hotel with hopes that the temperature would go down just before dawn. Temps never did get below freezing. What was like sculpting mashed potatoes turned into sculpting dipping dots. Not good. We managed to finish our piece but it didn't turn out nearly as good as I had hoped, but respectable given the weather. Judging began at 11am, and at 3pm we find out who the winners are. Sculptures were collapsing during judging, I will try to get some good pictures but not sure there is going to be much left by the time I get back down there.

Got a little press coverage today

Got mentioned in a local news blog today. Click on the link below to read.

http://walworthcountytoday.com/news/2012/feb/03/cold-temps-snow-no-show-lake-geneva-sculptors-read/

A little sneak peek

Thought I would post a picture of our progress. Conditions have not improved but at least the sun is staying away.  The blocks have not frozen at all, it's pretty much like working with a big pile of mashed potatoes.

Winter Storm Approaching

Just checked the national weather outlook...looks like we are definitely in for a drastic weather change.

Still way too warm

Most of the sculptors have elected to go slow with thier work and try to wait out the warm weather as long as possible.  That means there will be a flurry of activity in last couple days.  Team Nebraska will be working through most of the coming nights to finish our entry.  Stay tuned...it's going to get interesting from here on out...

New Webcam link

For those of you watching on the webcam...I dug through the web source code and found a direct link to the camera...heh heh. It's totally public so no worries. Figured you all could do without the avertisements and such.

http://99.26.103.142:81/

Ice harvest was a success!

The ice on the lake is indeed very thin...and dangerous.  It's a glacial lake and has many springs that introduce warm pockets that make it impossible to determine exactly what you are dealing with.  Usually when you don't see any ice fishermen on any lake it's best to keep off.  There was no one fishing today. While we were successful with our harvest, keep in mind that the place we chose to harvest was waist deep at most and I had two men waiting to throw in a rope and pull me out.  We also have many years of experience.  That having been said, it's probably best not to try this at home.

Team Nebraska at work

Weather conditions continue to deteriorate, seems as if every time I check the weather forecast it gets worse.  So I guess I will quit checking.  We did some minor sculpting this afternoon but stopped; the entire block is incredibly soft and squishy.  Hoping after the sun goes down freezing temps will return.  In the picture Thane and Taylor are recovering after lifting several heavy blocks down off the top of the sculpture.  We will spend the remainder of the afternoon seeing if we can harvest some ice for use in the sculpture.

Webcam location of our block

For all you webcam fans, we are block #15 (see circle in red). See my previous post for the link to the live webcam.

A little mud, anyone?

A little less than ideal block conditions here in Lake Geneva.  Shoulda brought the hip waders!

"Lake Geneva Area Realty Riviera Web cam" by Video today -- Walworth County Today

Found a webcam that overlooks the park for the US National Snow Sculpture Competition. The weather is not looking good and the blocks look really pitted and doughy. We have the opening meeting this morning and will draw numbers to see what block we get, I will give you an update as to which block is ours. With this webcam it is possible that you could actually watch us work...

"Lake Geneva Area Realty Riviera Web cam" by Video today -- Walworth County Today

Heading to Lake Geneva

Got up early this morning to sharpen and do a little welding on some of the tools as some of them took a beating in Harbin.  Then we got everything packed up and now we are finally on the road.  Due to the warm weather we were given the opportunity to change our design.  I wish I could have found time to finish the sketches for our design before hitting the road...because drawing in a moving car is really tough.  Nothing like waiting to the last minute, huh?  Not that I had any choice thanks to the unexpected warm weather.

-49F in Alaska!

Holy buckets, it's -49F in Alaska!  Couldn't we get just a little of that cold air? 

Heading to U.S. Nationals

I just checked the temperature in Harbin and it's not suppose to get above 0 degrees F in the next week. In contrast, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the temperature will struggle get below freezing for any appreciable length of time this week. That's bad because my sons and I are headed there to compete in the U.S. National Snow Sculpture Competition. Without cold temperatures our block may just melt before we can make anything out of it :(

My Favorite Souvenir

By far the best souvenir I got while in China was the 'Mao Watch' I purchased in Tianamen Square from a guy on the street.  Thought I would post a short video of it in action so you get an idea why it's such a popular item.

Beautiful Nebraska

Finally home safe and sound in Omaha...wow what a trip!

Back in the U.S.A!

Made it into Chicago and through Customs without a hitch.  The air is sooo much cleaner here, simply unbelievable.  And I certainly do not miss cigarette smoke constantly blown in my face.  Now to catch my flight to Omaha where the first order of business will be devouring a good old American hamburger!

Final note

A bit of advice for future China tourists:  If you do decide to buy from a street vendor, always pay with exact change.  Counterfeiting is rampant in China and chances are when you go to pay for your final meal the night before you leave, one of those counterfeit bills will show up from the change you got from that ever-so-honest street vendor.  Not that I am speaking from experience or anything like that...

Last night in China

It's interesting as I sit here in the lobby on the last evening I will spend in China.  I have tried to figure out for myself what China "is" to me, after spending over a week among the people.  Not sure I have it figured out yet.  But as I sit here in the lobby I hear a rendition of 'Jingle Bells' being played on traditional Chinese instruments while the finishing touches are applied to a New Year's 'Tree' (complete with presents beneath).  Across the street earlier today I saw a shop owner taking down a Santa Claus cut out decoration.  Whatever I finally decide that China "is" to me...in the end I think it's a wonderful mixture of cultures just like anywhere else on this planet today.   And just like anywhere else I am sure there are good people and thier are bad people.  But what I will remember the most is the genuine friendliness that seems to have been in the hearts of all the Chinese people I have had the pleasure to meet on this trip.

Temple of Heaven

Last stop for the day was the Temple of Heaven.  Built around 1420 AD this was another breathtaking example of ancient Chinese architecture. 

Forbidden City part 2

The Forbidden City was incredible and it was hard to believe that we were looking at buildings and relics that were built in the 15th century (around ~1400-1425 AD). The mere size of many of the buildings is astounding, not to mention all the ornate carving and painting.

Guess what we found!

We found the most exciting place in Beijing!!!

Temple of Heaven

Next stop was the Temple of Heaven, which, according to our guide is not associated with any religion. 

Upcoming Year of the Dragon

All over China people are busy putting up decorations for the upcoming New Year's celebration.  Turns out that next year is "The Year of the Dragon" and, according to the Chinese calendar the year I was born makes me a "Dragon."

Forbidden City

Did I mention that the Forbidden City is pretty big?

Chance meeting in Forbidden City

Next we were off to the Forbidden City where we happened to accidentally meet up with Canada Team 2!  It was quite the coincidence,  what are the odds of running into them in a city of 35 million people?

Tianamen Square part 2

Seems like everywhere we go we are novelty as we constantly are being asked by people to have our picture taken with them.  Also thought I would include a picture of Mao's Tomb and the sculpture I'm front of it.

Mmmmm....yummmy

Frozen fruitcicle, anyone?

Tianamen Square

First stop today was Tianamen Square where we saw the Chinese National Museum, Government Headquarters and Chairman Mao's Tomb.  I guy on the street was selling "Mao watches" that have movement where Mao's hand waves...yeah of course I had to buy one of those!

Today's tours: Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

Today we will tour the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  We all had a good nights sleep and are excited.  It's our last day in China and we want to make it count.

Just uploaded photos

I just uploaded some photos to the Harbin 2012 photo album.  Look to the right of this page just below my profile.  If you click on it you should be able to browse a full size album.   Most of the pictures should be self explanatory.  Hopefully they upload OK.

Ming Dynasty Tombs and Bird's Nest Stadium

We also visited the Ming Tombs, a Jade Carving Factory, a Coisonne Factory and drove by the Olympic Village.  It was quite the day of sight-seeing and we are exhausted.  For dinner we were wondering where you find a decent steak in this town...

Famous photo revisited

We couldn't resist...

Great Wall Team Photo

Great Wall Photos

The Great Wall

The Great Wall was one of the places we visited today.  I was wrong about the air quality in Beijing, must have been a weather related event that temporarily cleared the air because now we are back to breathing air that stings your throat and smells like a coal train.  Just the thing for climbing 1500ft up the wall! It the wall itself was smaller than I had imagined but impressive to think about how long it is.  For comparison they say the entire length would stretch from New York to Seattle and half way back again. Amelia our guide and Mr. Wu our driver were awesome.  We are really glad for Mr. Wu's driving skills as traffic here is insane.