Archive for Finland
against landmines in the EU
Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags Anti- Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Anti-Personnel Landmines, armed conflict, conduct of hostilities, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Estonia, EU, European Union, Explosive Remnants of War, Finland, Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law, landmines, Latvia, Lithuania, Means and Methods of Warfare, Mine Ban Treaty, Ottawa convention, Poland, Russia, Russian invasion, Ukraine on July 26, 2025 by xi'an
Balto’s genome
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel with tags Alaska, Alaskan huskies, Amblimation Studio, Balto, diphteria, dog race, Finland, genetic analysis, genome, Iditarod Trail, Lapland, Levi, Nome, Scientific American, Siberian huskies, sledge dogs on May 5, 2023 by xi'an
Lapparadish
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel with tags 68⁰ N, Alaskan huskies, Arctic hare, Arizona, Baltic salmon, Balto, BayesComp 2023, Central Park, conference, cross-country skiing, dog race, downhill skiing, Finland, Lapland, Levi, reindeer, Sammi on April 3, 2023 by xi'an
On top of BayesComp 2023 being rich and exciting, spending a week above the Arctic circle, by about 68⁰ North was most pleasurable. If we did not really see Northern Lights/auroras, as the above was taken by one of us with a long exposure shot on a particularly cold evening, rather than the diaphanous veils we could hardly perceive, cold and snow and associated activities were delivered without reservation!
On the day we left, due to a late flight departure. we had an exhilarating 10k ride with three teams of Alaskan huskies, over a frozen river, following a musher. The strength of these dogs was amazing, esp. since they were not fully delivering, being able to reach 25km/hour in races over massive distances. On top, our guide delivered another and more realistic version of the story of Balto, whose musher was Finnish, and which we had watched many times with our kids (although we missed his statue in Central Park!)
And I X country skied every early morning instead of running, over groomed trails and in all weathers, with a minimum (manageable) -24⁰ one morn. As a near neophyte in the game, I eventually developed a hip inflammation but the joy of going through the woods prior to sunrise and spotting the occasional Arctic hare was worth the 15 hours of it. Despite hard frozen glasses the coldest morns. By comparison, the afternoon break when I tried downhill skiing was less exciting even though the very dry snow there was enjoyable.
Cold dry weather also re-awoke a nose bleed proclivity that I had forgotten since Arizona. Again, no big deal. And the conference dinner took place in a Sammi restaurant that proved quite the exception to my skip-the-conference-dinner rule with its reindeer and salmon dishes!
kuva Lapista⁻²³ [jatp]
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel with tags -23⁰, Arctic Chill, cross-country skiing, Finland, jatp, Kittilä, Lapland, Levi, morning run, pine trees, snow, sunset on March 24, 2023 by xi'an
kuva Lapista⁴ [jatp]
Posted in Statistics with tags Arctic Chill, BayesComp 2023, cross-country skiing, Finland, jatp, Lapland, Levi on March 18, 2023 by xi'an
