To my Irish Friends and Family

The Wish
I caught a little leprechaun, quite wise and very old and he said to me, "You have one wish,would you like my pot of gold?"
"No thank you," was my quick reply,"But how about another...A gift that's truly precious and esteemed above all others?"
He offered then some emeralds, rubies, sapphires, pearls and a host of other treasures that would make your senses whirl!
As I rejected all his lis this bright eyes flashed with fire and, angrily, he said to me:"What is it you desire?"
I said:
"A rainbow's far more beautiful than its' supposed treasure and the 'rainbow' that I'm wishing for is priceless beyond measure.
"I'd like to have the dearest friends a person ever had to share in all the good times and help me through the bad...
"To laugh and sing and joke with, love and appreciate as we live life's greatest adventure that would certainly be great!"
"Oh, now I know you're daft!" he said as he ran off with his pot..."to waste your wish on something you have already got!"
~Author Unknown~

Iditarod Winner

Lance Mackey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, becoming the first musher to win major long-distance North American sled dog races back-to-back. Mackey crossed under the famed burled arch in downtown Nome early Tuesday evening, completing the 1,100-mile Iditarod in just over nine days.

Formerly the Outdoor Life Channel, Versus, is Alaska’s premier cable sports channel. Versus is airing a series of Iditarod shows.

All shows listed are Central time, 60 minutes in length and on the Versus channel (the old Outdoor Life).

3/18 6pm

3/18 9pm

3/25 6pm

3/25 9pm

4/1 6pm

4/1 9pm

My new toy

Got myself one of them there wheelers. As you can see it's a little used (has 800 miles on it). Needs tires. But now I can ride with everyone else. Giddy up!

Sunday's Race Recap

This past Sunday in Las Vegas Jimmy Johnson took the checkered flag. Right behind him the number 24 of Jeff Gordon snatched second. I guess it doesn't get much better than that for me. My fantasy pick for last week was Mr. Johnson. So if I had to pick how the race would end, I would have had to pick Johnson first and Gordon second. Good race fellas. My fantasy pick for Altanta next weekend is the 99 Carl Edwards. My fantasy Nascar is going fairly well. The only driver to screw it up so far is Kasey Kahne. I had him winning in California and he crashed and DNF. No points for me that week.

To catch you up with the standings: Mark Martin 1st in points, Jeff Gordon 2nd, Jeff Burton 3rd, Johnson 4th, Tony Stewart 13th, Little E 28th and Kasey Kahne 36th.

Snowshoeing

Yesterday I finally got the opportunity to use my new Snowshoes that the Wnuks got me for Christmas. Makita and I went up to Dave and Ellie's place in Thor and tromped around in the really deep snow. We tried walking with them and without them and let me tell you, it made all the difference. It was a lot of fun to get back outside. The weather was amazing. It was in the 40's and beatifully sunny. Maggie liked being out in the woods too. Good dog.

Ellie and Dave are pro's on the snowshoes. They showed us the way. They also cooked up some big fat juicy steaks on the grill and treated us to a winter picnic. I love a picnic!

Wasted Energy

Last night I went down to the Iron Rail, downtown Brainerd, to see my second cousin Andy Fischer perform with his band Wasted Energy. Andy is the lead singer. They've won several local singing contests including the Brainerd Battle of the Bands last summer. The entire band is still in high school and did an excellent job.

Brainerd area Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Minnesota Special Olympics is scheduled for this Saturday March 10th.

WHERE: Breezy Point Resort Marina

TIMES: Registration: starts at 11 a.m.

Plunge time. 2 p.m.

And our very own Dave Makita St John Cox is taking the plunge for the second year in a row. Loco. If you haven't already sponsored him, because I know a lot of my readers have, give him a shout today or tomorrow and make a pledge. 218-838-9793

Here's a little reminder of how it was last year Makita. Yikes that's a shrivel'r.

Larsmont Cottages on the Shores of Superior

The radio stations in Duluth put me up in one of the nicest places I've ever stayed. The Larsmont Cottages are awesome. I hear the rate is around $300 per night. As you can see from these photos it's top notch.

Check out their website at www.larsmontcottages.com

Devils Lake Trip

We had a great time in Devils Lake. Here's a photo of the whole crew. From left to right: Dave Boeckermann, myself, Starla Atkinson, Ellie Boeckermann, Lorrie Wnuk, Jodi Calkins, Dave (Makita) Cox, Dick Calkins, Robin Kaiser (has some photo complex and always covers her face) and Dale Kaiser.

The night started out with us arriving in Staples at 8pm. Our train was scheduled to leave at 1:42am....so we had some time to kill (more like brain cells to murder). We closed down our new favorite hangout "Twisted Sisters". Ellie's pictured here playing pool.
When we arrived at the train depot we discovered the train was running 90 minutes late. So we took advantage of this time to have a little snack, some more drinks and to play a little 500. We were the only people in the depot. It's kind of a scary place. It's "under renovation" and creepy. But we made the best of it. When we arrived in Devils Lake we were greeted by their fresh new snow fall of 18 inches.

The big surprise was that my sister Lorrie and her friend Starla drove all the way from Wyoming to join us. Only Dave and Ellie Boeckermann knew they were coming so it was a huge surprise to all of us. Lorrie took over lunch duties and cooked in her new Amtrak apron and chef's cap that Ellie had bought.

We didn't get out on the ice the first day because of the high winds....so we made the best of it.
On Saturday we did get out fishing. We didn't catch much (only two all day) but we had a blast. Lorrie was again our cook! It was an awesome fun time.

Winter Wonderland

Well winter has decided to finally grace us with it's presence. We received around 11 inches of snow over the past weekend and we're expecting another foot or so today into tomorrow. Wouldn't be a problem but we're going to be trying to get to North Dakota tonight to go fishing, where they are expecting equally troubling weather.

One good thing...reports continue to support my theory about the health benefits of fine wine:

What are the health benefits of drinking red wine?For over 10 years, research has indicated that moderate intake of alcohol improves cardiovascular health. In fact, in 1992 Harvard researchers included moderate alcohol consumption as one of the "eight proven ways to reduce coronary heart disease risk." However, research has suggested that specifically red wine is the most beneficial to your heart health. The cardioprotective effect has been attributed to antioxidants present in the skin and seeds of red grapes. Scientists believe the antioxidants, called flavonoids, reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in three ways: by reducing production of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (also know as the "bad" cholesterol) by boosting high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the good cholesterol) by reducing blood clotting. Furthermore, consuming a glass of wine along with a meal may favorably influence your lipid profiles following that meal. Recently, researchers have found that moderate red wine consumption may be beneficial to more than just your heart. One study found that the antioxidant resveratrol, which is prevalent in the skin of red grapes, may inhibit tumor development in some cancers. Another study indicated that resveratrol aided in the formation of nerve cells, which experts believe may be helpful in the treatment of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

So drink up my friend...................

2007 Iditarod Starts This Saturday March 3rd

Keep an eye on the 35th Annual Iditarod Race on either of these two websites: http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/ or http://www.iditarod.com/2007/

Going to Devil's Lake via Amtrak

We're heading to Devil's Lake North Dakota to stick some jumbo perch. Friday morning at 2am (yep you read that right) a group of us are jumping on the Amtrak train here in Staples MN. Four and a half hours later, at 6:30 am, we'll get off in Devil's Lake North Dakota where we'll spend Friday and Saturday out on the ice. There's eight of us going: friends Ellie and Dave Boeckermann, friends Robin and Dale Kaiser, my cousin Jodi and Dick Calkins, Makita and myself. And let me tell you, we're ripp'n and rare'n to go. There's even rumors Shirley and Bill Bruers may make an appearance there in Devil's Lake.

We'll be staying and fishing out of Woodland Resort. Makita grew up with Kyle, one of the resort owners. I suspect there will be quite a bit of partying and some heavy fishing as well. Might even be a few side bets. May the best gal win!

You can check out the website at http://www.woodlandresort.com

My Sporting Ups and Downs

The up: Jeff finished second yesterday. That puts him third in points. That's very good. Just to give you something to gauge that with, Jr. is in 41st place, Stewart in 21st, Kahne in 32nd (after not finishing yesterday....so much for my fantasy pick). Next week the Cup series has the week off. Then on to Las Vegas on March 11th. My pick for that race is last years Champion Jimmy Johnson.

The down....my poor Avalanche's. I'm still cheering for them but the reality is ...they're in big trouble. Come on guys.....pull it together!

Gordon takes the pole for Sunday's Cup race

Gordon turned a fast lap of 185.735 mph Friday to grab the 57th pole of his career. The year is off to a good start. Jeff ended up finishing 8th in the Daytona 500. Let's keep up the good work.

MyCoors Light Challenge pick for this week is Kasey Kahne who is starting 2nd. I had to pick winners for all 36 races, never picking one driver more than 4 times throughout the season, prior to the start of the Daytona 500.

Smelly Guy

Sometimes you get the smelly guy. Oh you don’t think he’s going to be “the one” but much to your horror he is. He’s middle aged and sharp dressed. He has a yellow tie and a good looking suit on. The tag on his computer bag says he’s from some college. Starts with a B. No, not Berkley. It’s one I’ve never heard of. Which doesn’t mean anything since I haven’t heard of many. But as a general rule, if your school is not part of March Madness, I probably haven’t heard of you.

This guy doesn’t speak to you. Oh no…he’s much too important and you are to much of a dweeb to address. He does however let you get in to the seat next to him. Now you’re all tucked in by the window in seat 5D. First Class. Ready for a nice two hour, forty minute jet ride that will take you half way across the USA. The sun is shinning. Things are nice. You’re reading your book. It’s rather interesting. Kind of weird. It’s about a guy that sees ghosts. You take off. Your neighbor seems restless. He’s constantly straitening his tie that is already perfectly straight. He makes sudden jerking motions. Like he might have an itch somewhere you shouldn't scratch in public.

You’re up there around 40 thousand feet. They bring you some coffee…in a real ceramic cup. None of that environmental killing Styrofoam. Not up there. Not in First Class. At first whiff you think maybe they’re cooking up a storm right there in the galley of the plane. It smells like tamales. Have you ever had a hot homemade tamale wrapped in corn husks? Good stuff. I’ve had them in Texas for breakfast. Yep…good stuff. But Northwest Airlines is not known to serve homemade tamales. But they do serve us a cheese omelet, fruit and a bagel. Okay stuff. I never do get another cup of coffee. My neighbor finishes his breakfast and gets up to visit with an associate sitting a few rows ahead of us. He’s gone for quite a while. I’m still snug as a bug reading my increasingly weirder novel. My neighbor returns. All of a sudden I smell tamales again. I realize he’s the source of this smell. What the hell? Where did he get involved with a tamale already today? Or is it some other corn product? I’m not sure. And why would he eat another breakfast here on the plane if he had already eaten, from what I gauge to be, a dozen or so tamales? Oh well. The ride continues.

Tamale guy is typing away on his computer and writing notes on his boarding pass. Each time he finishes writing he flips the note over to insure I don’t sneak a peak at his top secret college notes. Maybe he’s a sports scout and he’s writing down the next offer he’ll make to the next prospect player for his never heard of college. It probably says ‘Hookers, Jack, Roids and a Honda’.

We only have about an hour of the ride left. Then it hits you. Super smelly. What now? Fart. Flatulent. Gas. Pooper. Toot. Plain and simple. At first I suspect the rather large woman sitting ahead of me. As soon as the smell almost takes down the plane, she gets up and goes to the restroom. Good, now maybe that’s taken care of. But no. She returns and goes to sleep. And again and again and again I am assaulted by fart. Is it? Could it be? Tamale fart? Who knows. But I’m absolutely sure it was tamale guy that is leaking this toxic waste. Please just get us on the ground safely. I fear if this drifts up into the cockpit, the captain could go blind and we’ll have to rely on that 12 year old co-pilot to land this bird.

But all ends fine. My eyes are blood shot from the fumes. My gut hurts from the retching but otherwise all is okay. Good bye and good riddance Mr. Smelly Ass. May our paths never cross again while you’re in such a condition.

Boston Ain't Really My Cup of Tea

I'm not sure where Paul Revere ran around here, but as we know it was a very, very long time ago. Long before streets ran on top of each other. Long before there were tunnels that go underground for miles. Long before one way's and "Rotery's" (roundabouts). Paul would surely wonder what has happened here. Though even today a horse that wasn't too afraid of vehicles, would be soooo much faster to get around on. Hell, a good pair of Tennies would be a faster way to move around here. I've never been among so many vehicles at a dead stop for so long in my life. I can't believe people live like this. I almost died of carbon monoxide poisoning while in a traffic jam in a tunnel for over an hour. I haven't seen anything worth taking a picture of. I drove downtown to get Bill Cynor his Hard Rock Cafe shot glass. It took me three hours to get there and back. Did I mention I'm only six miles from downtown. It's insane. And what's with the horns? I've never honked my horn in my life. Unless maybe I saw someone I knew and wanted to get their attention so I could wave a nice friendly hello to them. Well they know how to use them here. And it 's not to wave a friendly hello. No, it's to get your attention so you don't miss them waving you the bird. And to really emphasise their horns they like to honk them while in the tunnel. And if one person honks it sets off a honking symphony. Yes, I will call the tunnel honking the "Boston Symphony".

Well enough whining about Boston. I look forward to my quiet little life back in the Midwest.

Daytona 500 2007

The Daytona 500 concluded yesterday with Kevin Harvick in the number 29 Chevrolet barely sneaking by Mark Martin in a photo finish at 185 miles per hour. It was pretty exciting as cars are crashing behind them, they crossed the finish line.

Jeff ended up in 10th place. Jr. in 32nd. Jimmy in 39th. Tony finished dead last after his crash with ass wipe Kurt Busch. Kasey Kahne ended up in 7th but will end up with a lower points finish due to the penalties handed out to him and his crew for cheating last week.

So now we're off to California! It's a good start to the season for my number 24 team.

Gordon Wins one of the two Qualifying Races

That was the good news yesterday afternoon. That win would put Gordon in the number 4 position to start the Daytona 500 this Sunday.

However Gordon's car was found to be too low in post-race inspection. As a consequence, he was relegated to the 42nd starting position on Sunday. NASCAR characterized the infraction as the result of an unintentional misalignment of a bolt and shock mount on Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet. Gordon was allowed to keep the win.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, said bolts had been misaligned on the rear shocks installed prior to Thursday's race. Once the race started, the load on those misaligned bolts caused the car's quarterpanels, but not the roof, to be lower than the minimum allowed height.

"Honestly, I think it's something a mechanic made a mistake on as he bolted the shocks on during the installation process," Pemberton said.

That's of little solace to Gordon, who wasn't happy to hear the news. "I hate to hear that. That sucks," he said before the violation was announced.

Pemberton added that NASCAR was convinced the infraction was unintentional, and that no fines or point deductions would be warranted. Gordon, a three-time winner of the Daytona 500, will vacate his fourth-place starting position and instead roll off 42nd.

"I would say that this would be the end of the penalties on the 24 car," Pemberton said.

That's a welcome change for NASCAR, which has doled out a season's worth of penalties over the last five days. The crew chiefs of Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler were all banished from Daytona after illegal modifications were discovered on each of their cars during qualifying Sunday. The same day, Michael Waltrip's crew chief was suspended indefinitely for an illegal substance found in the manifold of the No. 55 car. All four drivers also suffered point deductions, and all four crew chiefs were hit with fines.

Sakic Joins 600 Club

Joe Sakic scored his 600th career goal on Thursday night in Calgary, becoming just the 17th player in NHL history to reach that milestone.

He joined Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr as the only active players on that list. Jagr and Shanahan both reached the 600 mark earlier this year with the New York Rangers.

Sakic also joined Jari Kurri (Dec. 23, 1997 vs. Los Angeles) as the only players to score their 600th in an Avalanche sweater.

Surprise visit from my sister Lorrie

On her way to Baltimore Tuesday, Lorrie got stranded in Minneapolis overnight with some others she was traveling with. So I buzzed down there to see her. Here we are, along with a Chris from the Casper PD, showing off our double chins. It was nice to see her. I haven't seen her since last July.

I figured he might be somebody...

Recently on a flight from Minneapolis to Miami I sat next to a guy up in first class that I thought might be "somebody". He had the greatest hair. Dark with a hint of gray. Thick with a little wave. He had the greatest cowboy boots. Made of snake skin or something. And he had some jewelry on. Turquoise and silver. He carried a leather satchel. Worn but classy. He was older. Somewhat sophisticated. I thought to myself...this guy might be somebody.

At one point he picked up his satchel from beneath the seat in front of him, and I could see he had a luggage tag on it. His name was Gary Mule Deer. Why he must be part Indian. Without absolutley staring....but almost, I looked again and saw that Gary was from Spearfish South Dakota. Explains the turquoise. And clearly staring at the tag now, I saw his business was "Duck and Cover Productions". Well, I thought, this guys a duck hunter. Probably has a refuge or something. I wonder why he's going to Florida??

Mr. Mule Deer was very quiet on our 4 hour flight. At one point he assisted me in removing my jacket. Such a gentleman. I kinda liked this duck hunter, Gary.

After reaching Miami Mr. Mule Deer and myself went our seperate ways. Later from the airport I phoned Makita and told him to look up Gary Mule Deer on the internet. Well he found him. He's not a duck hunter. You can read all about him at http://garymuledeer.com. If you have a few minutes make sure you watch his David Letterman clips. Mr. Mule Deer is pretty darn funny.

And better yet you can see him this Friday night, February 16th on CMT at 8:30 Central time on CMT Comedy Stage. Comedy State is a half-hour stand-up comedy series hosted by Melissa Peterman, featuring Mike Armstrong, Nate Bargatze and Gary Mule Deer, performing in front of an audience.

Check it out. I know I will.

Gentlemen Start Your Engines.....

AHHHH what a sweet sound! Tonight kicks off the official NASCAR season with the Budweiser Shootout.

The Budweiser Shootout is a 70 lap, 175 mile all star NASCAR Nextel Cup non points race held at Daytona, one week before the Daytona 500. The event is held on Saturday night, under the lights. Also new this year is the race will be broken up into 2 segments. The first segment is 20 laps. The teams get a 10 minute break and line up in the same order as at the end of the segment. The second segment must end with a green, white, checkered finish. All caution laps count toward the total of each segment. All restarts are double file (like the start of the race). Drivers qualify, not teams. If a driver leaves a team, the new team will be in the race.

To qualify: Each driver/team must participate in Budweiser's promotion of pole qualifying (a decal). The driver/team must qualify on the pole (or be the fastest program qualifier if the pole winner does not participate) of a Nextel Cup points event in the previous year.
Past winners from previous "Budweiser Shootout", "Bud Shootout", and "Busch Clash" events are eligible. There is no more second round qualifying. The field starting positions are chosen by random draw.

For my friends and family that follow NASCAR, here's some positions drawn for the lineup: Dale Jarrett debuting the new Toyota and now racing for Michael Waltrip in the number 44 car drew the starting position.

Jimmy Johnson will start in the number 8 position.

Ryan Newman will start in the number9 position.

Jeff Gordon will start in the number 11 position.

Tony Stewart will start in the number 14 position.

Kasey Kahne will start in the number 15 position.

And poor ...surely a man humper...Dale Jr. will start nearly all the way back in the 17th spot.

"Boogity Boogity Boogity" Boys!!!!!

Sakic Caps Rally With OT Winner

DENVER (AP) - Joe Sakic scored a power-play goal 25 seconds into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche rallied past the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Tuesday night. Sakic got open in front and Paul Stastny hit him with a pass from behind the net.


That being said.....Aves currently trail the Wild by 6 points.

My Friend Robin Kaiser's 8 pound Walleye

Recently Robin Kaiser caught "Ethyl" on Lake of the Woods. In her words "By the estimates Ethyl weighed about 8lbs. She was about 27 inches. What a rush to see that coming out of a 10 inch fish hole. Even better to fight her with that little purple rod and reel. I only caught two fish in the two days of fishing, but catching her on the last day made it worth it! Biggest walleye in my life so far….I’ll keep trying to do better!"