Of course, I leave for the US again in just over 12 hours. This time it's a conference in Maine. Last trip to the US this summer that does not include getting to Minnesota... the Minnesota trip is less than a month away. State Fair! Cheese curds! Jonny Lang! I'm dreaming about it already.

This morning's Twin Cities Star Tribune newspaper featured the columnist James Lileks and his article "Get Your Mind Out of the Toilet!  It's Science!"   It provided some levity to the whole Salmonella situation and its effects on the human body.  Here are some excerpts for those of you who don't want to read the whole article.

This is an indelicate matter, and probably not fit for the breakfast table. Then again, I'm quoting the paper, which we read Thursday morn at the breakfast table: "'Team Diarrhea' helped state crack salmonella case."

Good morning! More Cocoa Puffs?

Said the article: "A gee-whiz state lab, investigators dubbed 'Team Diarrhea' and a unique approach to sleuthing illness contributed to the breakthrough." They discovered it was jalapenos that caused the recent salmonella outbreak - and yes, I know, you wonder how they control for such an experiment...

...The reason I bring this up - aside from the general lack of amusing news in this nervous, worried summer - is the name of the group that tracked the bug: TEAM DIARRHEA. It was just an odd thing to see in a newspaper headline. It's one of those moments when you know the culture has shifted a bit. My child was stunned to see that word in the headline - they said diarrhea? In the paper? Team Diarrhea?

If you have a Pokemon enthusiast in the house, you'll never look at Team Rocket's signature exit line the same way.

Perhaps you had the same reaction, and had a momentary pang of regret over the decline of prudish euphemisms...

We oughtn't go back to the days when simple human functions were shrouded with shame and obfuscating allusions, but you really wish Team D could have come up with another name, if only because it's a bit jarring, and will inevitably end up on T-shirts worn en masse at the State Fair. Suggestions for alternate names:

The Gut-Grip Group

The Montezuma Mounties

The Trots Troop

The Kaopectate Korps

The Pepto Patrol

That might make for better PR. While we're at it, does Team D need any cheers to shout from the sidelines while they're hard at work? Give me an E! Give me a C! Give me an O! Give me an L! Give me an I!

What does it spell? A diverse group of bacteria, some of which are pathogenetic! YAAAAY!

I'd be happy to cheer them on, but let's not get too enthusiastic. One more breakthrough like this, and they'll be asking for a stadium...

All I can add to this is that we'll never get a stadium for our efforts.  Governor Tim Pawlenty would never approve the cost.  Due to Governor Timmy's budget cuts, we don't even have the same staffing to accomplish our tasks as we did a year ago.  We're doing more with less -- and still doing it admirably, I may add.

By the way, I give my vote for "Montezuma's Mounties."  I think it has a nice ring to it.

The MAEP is a democratic, self-governing exhibition program that is horizontal rather than hierarchical in its structure. A panel of artists elected by the program’s membership of artists curates five shows per year. Since 1977, the program has been administered by Stewart Turnquist, a museum staff coordinator who has reported directly to the museum director—putting him on an equal footing with the museum’s other curators. Two galleries in the museum’s new Target Wing are dedicated to MAEP exhibitions. The autonomous, artist-run program is unique to museums in this country, and it has operated smoothly since its inception as a pilot program in 1975.

Turnquist has recently resigned.

Also in the Daily Planet, Pipestone's Hiawatha festival is celebrating its 60th and last year.  This was a re-enactment of Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" in this small SW Minnesota town.  The festival is ending as a result of Pipestone's declining population and growing disinclination to mount a 125-person pageant every year.   Pipestone may be familiar to readers of this blog as the subject of Sally Southwick's Building on a Borrowed Past:  Place and Identity in Pipestone, MN, which analyzed and indicted the town's appropriation of native culture for touristic purposes.  Though the "Song of Hiawatha" (which you can't help thinking of while riding around south Minneapolis; we have the Longfellow neighborhood, Lake Nokomis, Lake Hiawatha, Minnehaha Creek) is less virulently awful than some other portrayals of First Minnesotans, it has no place as the center of a public festival.   60 years was too long a run.

Lastly, did you know that Liberia recently convened Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings?  They were in St. Paul.

First the bad news: Connie has caught strep throat from Raging Mom. I am writing this post with masticated grape children's Motrin all over my shirt. It is kind of amazing, the level of craziness that a child can employ when they are delirious with fever. She went completely Linda Blair on me. I was sure the priests were coming to shout, "The power of Christ compels you!" She finally choked the medicine down (with the exception of that which I was wearing), and slipped into a restless sleep.

Raging Mom has only begun to feel better, and the whole cycle begins again. I am really hoping that Michael and Sonny don't wake up with it too. I am nervous, though, because as I write this I hear Sonny tossing and turning, and feverish breathing. Wait, is that the neighbors? No such luck. Oh yeah, and I hope I escape the illness myself. So, our plans to drive up to the northern part of Minnesota are in peril. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Today my Raging Sista and I took the kids to Minnehaha Park. This is a wonderful park in south Minneapolis with a gorgeous waterfall. It is said to be the place where Longfellow wrote "Song of Hiawatha." Raging Sista and I grabbed sandwiches from Manny's Tortas and McD's for the kids (shame, I know), and ate our bounty on picnic tables of wood and stone. The peace was broken only by the terrible blaring of the toy-of-the-day from the boys' kids meals. Here is a video that may illustrate the complete ridiculousness of this toy. Why they stopped giving out Decepticons and Autobots in favor of this shite, I do not know.

The mosquitoes are terrible here, in this savage land. One of the best parts of the Pacific Northwest is the complete absence of the bloodsucking little bastards. I forgot how badly my kids react to their bites, and was harshly reminded when the swelling of their faces and legs began to alarm those around us. Time to buy stock in Ruligel.

These last couple days I have been pretty unimpressed by my parenting skills. I just get frustrated too quickly, and find myself being unfairly short with the kids. Especially the boys. I need to be better at not holding them to a different standard than I do for Connie. It is hard, and I do love them so much. To close this post, I thought I'd share what Raging Sista wrote about her day with us:

"For those of us who don't get to see these guys much any more, we are getting the best of them; it is great to see how different they have become, how smart & talkative they are, & how much happiness they have inside of them. Even though the world may have been crashing a second ago when there was a riff about a shared toy or what activity to do next, it can be blown over and forgotten with a trip to the sandbox, or by learning a new game (Uno!) & that no matter what, their love for each other and their family is undeniable."

Thanks, Raging Sista. Our love for you is undeniable as well. Thanks for the great day!

Most of the people I work with have weight plateaus they cannot crack and stubborn fat they cannot lose. My job is to help them break the plateau and get a restraining order for the pesky fat that stalks them. Both of these tasks point toward one common foe: slow metabolism. Here are some of the metabolism secrets I use when helping a client look and feel their best.

Personal Trainer Metabolism Secret #1: Stop Robbing the Body of Nutrients

Everybody knows they should take a multivitamin (my doctor says....) but few people do consistently. I'm a firm believer (as in I really believe in it, and also my body is firm).

How many of us track our daily intake of magnesium? I'd say about nobody...I don't know and don't care about how much magnesium is in my foods. I know it's in my multivitman. I also know that magnesium plays a role in over 300 biological reactions in the body. It's an important mineral! How about the B-vitamin family? It's in my multivitamin, so I don't really worry about it (and it's water-soluble, so I can't really overdose on B). The B vitamins help process protein, fight stress, supply energy...their job description is endless!

A strong metabolism is one that can process the foods you eat. You need the right nutrients to process food correctly. Taking a multivitamin to ensure that your body gets enough nutriets (the right ones and the right amounts) is incredibly important. If you email me and tell me a bit about your situation (age, pertinent medical conditions i.e. anemia, osteoperosis, etc.) I can suggest a multivitamin to you (adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com).  I promise I will not suggest Centrum!

Personal Trainer Metabolism Secret #2: Eat Early and Often

Again, everybody knows this...but how many of us actually do it? Breakfast skippers are insane! So are late-night-big-dinner-eaters! You people are CRAZY! So are the too-busy-at-work-to-eat employees. Your boss WILL understand if you stop and grab some nutrients to increase your productivity in the afternoon.

Here's the thing about eating: it doesn't have to be a big deal. Eat a handful of almonds. Grab a dozen grapes. Surround yourself with "It doesn't matter how many of these I eat" snacks that are good fuel (and not likely to be stored as fat...again, email me, and I'll send you a list of foods you should go after). If you pick healthy options (not watermelon by the way, email me!!!!), they will be a blessing to your system and your metabolism . Eat SOMETHING every 2-3 hours. Make it your mission!

Personal Trainer Metabolism Secret #3: Make Your Workouts Fiber-Tearing Intense

When people tear a lot of muscle fibers during their workout (which almost always requires weight training), the metabolism is forced to work harder to break down nutrients better to repair the torn tissue quicker. Therefore, make weight-training a staple of your workouts. Studys have prove that metabolisms are boosted up to 39 hours after weight training, compared to up to 24 hours after intense cardio training. Read my other blogs about weight training to get an idea of what to do (or...you guessed it, email me....or submit a comment and I'll blog an answer for you). And after your intense weight-training workout, follow it up with a whey-isolate-based protein shake.

Personal Trainer Metabolism Secret #4: Run Away From Artificial Sweeteners (like Diet Soda!)

Artificial sweeteners are metabolsim killers (read the diet soda blog to learn more!). A 12 oz. can of regular Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar in it. Guess what Diet Pepsi has to live up to: 41 grams of sugar. If my only job was to drive around the Twin Cities area (Wayzata, Eden Prairie, Woodbury, Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, St. Paul) and take diet soda out of the hands of people on the street and give them water instead, I'd have a full-time job (with a lot of angry, addicted diet soda drinkers chasing after me!).

Natural sugars in moderate quantities is much better than massive quantities of artificial sweeteners. Running away from artificial sweeteners will help to repair a broken metabolism.

Personal Trainer Metabolism Secret #5: Do Everything You Can to Feed Muscle-Growth

If I were to guess, I would say 90% of people pursuing weight loss go wrong by trying to lose any type of weight instead of focusing on losing fat weight. Guess what, I wrote an article on that too (keep reading the blog and you'll do just fine!). If you focus on feeding your muscle, your body will be forced to burn fat. And...the more muscle tissue you have (and it can be lean muscle tissue...I'm not talking about biceps that are so big that you can't scratch your own back!), the more calorie-burning capacity you have.

When we focus our foods and supplements on keeping, repairing, or gaining muscle, our body is forced to respond by burning fat (again, read the blog for more on this topic).

If a weight-loss-minded person took these five ideas to heart and applied the principles discussed above, their metabolism would be sure to take off...which would result in more calories burned, which would result (assuming secret #5 is being followed) in fat loss and weight loss.

AdamErwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train the great folks in the Lake Minnetonka area. Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

 when he spotted Something???"Come look Grandad"... he said

 Then Angel spotted Christian in her the Garden and made it down there just in time...to tell him; "What he can't pick... and Where he can't walk."

 And guarding her Grandad

Guess who picked the most?... she said

So, I would call today the first "official day" of FinnFest 2008. We headed over to the DECC around 9:30am after breakfast and there was a swarm of people everywhere- a complete turn from yesterday. We headed straight to our first event of the day which was a presentation on "The Titanic's Missing Woman: Solving the Confusion over Mrs. Latinen's Fate" with Greg Isola. This presentation was interesting and the research behind it is not only immense, but extremely education. Greg Isola went into detail about the number of Finns that were in fact on board the Titanic when it sunk in 1912. I want to make sure this research gets a good representation so I'm going to put together an informative post and get it up on the blog along with a short video entry by Greg (hope he doesn't mind the first name basis). I should have it up within the next couple of days when we're settled back at home and I can go over all my media.

So, next up was an hour of "play time" involving time spent in the tori and some great fun to be had in the food court. Case in point involves the great Finnish snacks for sale.

Like I mentioned, it was packed today at FinnFest which was great. It also brought in some free coffee periods throughout the day which we jumped on. We had ourselves some AMAZING hot dogs and found ourselves serenaded by some traditional Finnish accordion music (or Harmonikka musikkia). You can take a look below at the video for day 2 at the tori (with the previously mentioned accordion player)

After we ate we got to sit through, what I would call an amazing presentation on the University of Minnesota Duluth's women's hockey team. I'm gonna have to do the same thing with this as Greg's Titatic presentation just because there is too much good information to write something up quickly. I will give an overview though because I really enjoyed it. The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team has a special connection to Finland (as well as Sweden and Canada) as many of its members are from Finland. The coach, Shannon Miller has led the UMD Bulldogs to four NCAA titles while at Duluth in just nine years. What I loved about this presentation was how energetic she is and how much she loves what she does. There was also much talk about the unique situation the players are in, working together with such diverse individuals spanning a diverse cultural landscape. Can't wait to follow up on this later. In the meantime I encourage you to read more about the UMD Women's hockey team...I sure will!

So...again, time to spare, so what did we do...back to the tori. This time to make our purchases we had thought out over the past day. What was on our list:

• Finnish rye bread! My boyfriend loves it and any Finn misses the heck out of this when away from Finland. We'll see how it is and if it really is the real thing when we get back to Minneapolis (when he can properly top it with butter and cheese
• Candy...because you just can't get enough really. Got some salmiakki, and black licorice (yes these are different things)
• Souvenir Mug for my desk at work- perfect saying "Living with a Finn builds character." That it does...that it does!
• Postcards, sticker decals
• And some newspapers to send back to Finland and spread the Finnish-American news to my boyfriend's parents

Our last presentation/workshop of the day (three was all we had steam for today) involved something truly great and fun. We sat through Finnish Survival Guide presentation where we were walked through Finnish pronunciation and given a great guide on the Finnish language and common words to make sure you can find the bathroom, communicate the basic daily interactions and learn a little. You can find that post through Finnish Survival Guide Blog post

FinnFest 2008 into the evening July 24th

So, I would say after this we were exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. We grabbed a little more coffee in the food court and headed back to the hotel to lounge before dinner. Tonight there was a small block party event with Finnish music in downtown Duluth that was very good. I didn't see much of it but here is some quick information followed by a short video of their performance. I really enjoyed it a great deal! Right up my alley

Thur, 4:30 – 7 pm, “Rock the Block”with Ninni Poijärvi Trio

Superior Street in front of the Holiday Center, Downtown Duluth, MUSIC

Ninni Poijärvi Trio band members Mika Kuokkanen, Ninni Poijärvi, and Olli Haavisto share a passion for old Finnish and international music as well as traditional Finnish Pelimanni folk music. Mika, guitar player and singer, is rooted in the singer-songwriter tradition but not a “stranger to urban and sharp edged rock.” Ninni, a songwriter and master of vocal harmonies, plays violin, accordion and piano. Olli is the guru of the pedal and lap steel guitar and the mandolin. “Rock the Block” is sponsored by the Greater Downtown Council. In the event of inclement weather, the performance will be moved inside the Holiday Center.

[video coming soon]

Lastly, we concluded today with dinner at a local pizza place called Sammy's. The pizza was sooo good. Really, really good. So good, my boyfriend claims that it is close to the best pizza he has ever had in the United States (Koti Pizza in Finland is the comparison for all pizza anywhere). However, we weren't all too jazzed about the service. Sammy's in Duluth will get a full post of its own detailing our experience, just how good this pizza is and a little bit of feedback/advice for future diners. For now...you can enjoy a look at what is currently resting comfortably in our tummies.

Alright, I think that was it for today. Tomorrow's big ticket event- Tarja Halonen, the president of Finland, will be speaking at FinnFest 2008 in the DECC at 10am. Definitely count on photos and video of the event. We're heading over early to (try to) get seats!

Hyää yotä (good night)