KARE 11 meteorologist Sven Sundgaard is doing his part to raise temperatures during this frigid stretch.
On his Instagram account Sundgaard posted a photo of himself shirtless and flexing, with eyes and jaw taut with the aggression of a bearded tough guy. "Gotta love when you're still sore from fri & sat on Monday!" reads the photo's caption, which attracted the favorable opinions of 94 people last time I checked.
"Reasons I regret going to school in NY? None of the weathermen are as attractive as those Minnesota Meteorologists..." wrote linzzeffer.
"You're so handsome," wrote martiniwaitress.
"Pectoral, deltoid, bicep, & tricep game is on point!" according to bethmillea.
"You have bigger boobs than me," said jlf3883.
"So boss ; )" posted marciaa320.
The photo has drawn derisive comments from members of the media, but nobody wants to comment on the record about the propriety of a professional posting such a photo.
Hey, at least Sundgaard hasn't posted a photo of his naked derrière ... as far as I know. Thanks to the world of social media, the rules are changing for some media types.
"I took it in mirror. You can see the reflection of the phone barely ... It was after chest day. Decline and incline dumbbell presses & flies & cable flies," Sundgaard responded via e-mail to my questions.
His Instagram account, like his Twitter account, includes lots of selfies and some photos of other family members, his nephew and his Yorkie, Dyna Rose.
I told Sundgaard that Dyna Rose might be cuter than he is.
"She's definitely the cutest!" he responded. "Her name came from Alice's kitten in 'Alice in Wonderland.' "
Alice, it should be noted, spelled her cat's name Dinah.
Sundgaard seemed surprised that I'd never read "Alice in Wonderland." I told him he'd be as surprised as Fox 9's Alix Kendall was when she ripped me on air recently for never having seen "A Christmas Story." At the time I was talking about the 1983 movie's star Peter Billingsley, who was checking out a production at St. Paul's Ordway.
"Uh-oh!" Sundgaard replied. "Lots of subzero nights ahead to watch TV! :-P"
And only about five more months before we start seeing shirtless Sundgaard jogging around the lakes.
Speaking of months, a calendar of Sven might be a hot seller.
Baby girl for KARE's Betker
In other cozy KARE 11 weather news, meteorologist Laura Betker and her husband, Bryan, welcomed their daughter, Gwen Marie, on Monday. Baby weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19½ inches long.
KARE11.com noted that Gwen probably really needed the sheepskin blanket on which she was photographed. Welcome, Gwen!
Vänskä, Keefe go public
The private matter of the romance between Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä and concertmaster Erin Keefe has gone public with an announcement of their engagement.
"I can confirm that Sylvia McNair shared news of [the] engagement at both of the Orchestra's New Year's Eve concerts last Wednesday. Previously they had announced the news via Facebook," Gwen Pappas, orchestra spokeswoman, said via e-mail.
In a 2014 interview with the New York Times, Vänskä called the relationship a private matter, and said that he would refrain from taking part in decisions about violinist Keefe's status with the orchestra. The romance was also part of discussions during negotiations that preceded an announcement that Vänskä would return as the orchestra's music director.
C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.
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