IVE MOVED

Change your bookmark to http://jimhalberg.com

If you use a feed reader (NetNewsWire, Google Reader, Bloglines, etc). You'll want to start tracking http://jimhalberg.com/blog

Let me know if you have any trouble finding it!

more youtube

Not sure if anyone actually watches these when I post them but I like hunting for them, so the jokes on you!

Have you heard my Mom refer to her pending grandson as "Tragdor" and wondered what the heck she was talking about? Tragdor the Burninator - Homestarrunner

Try not to smile while watching this: I Want You Back - The Jackson 5

My favorite video ever. Just incredibly powerful: Hurt - Johnny Cash

Hands down best live show I've ever seen before 7PM. Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief

Ben Harper song from a friend of mine. Walk Away (Ben Harper) - Jon Palmer

A guitar lesson. You MUST make it to the 1:30 mark - it gets crazy. Brian Setzer

Live at the Grammys. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger

(here's some from last time)

Too much

It's hard not to like what the Brewers have already gotten done this offseason. The fact of the matter is you don't win late in the year (especially the playoffs) without a solid bullpen.

The Brewers lost the only rock in their bullpen (Cordero) already this offseason along with 'next best' Scott Linebrink. My personal feeling on Linebrink is that more is being made of him leaving than should be... he's been great in the past but what did he really do for the Brewers last year?

Getting Torres, Riske, and now Gagne into our bullpen more than makes up for the loss... assuming any of them can step up and close... which brings me to the title of this post. We gave Gagne a 1 year contract worth $10M... wow, that's an awful lot for a guy who has had a pretty significant rash of injuries the last few years and was downright awful much of last year. He was one of the best for a few years there but this is just too much risk for that money.

NFL Leading Scorer

While we were watching the Cowboys v. Packers game a couple weeks back I made the comment that Packers kicker Mason Crosby is the NFL's leading scorer. I had forgotten about it until just now but he still is.

Real life energy consumption of 2nd Life

A 2nd Life Avatar consumes more energy than the average Brazilian?

... and produces as much CO2 (per year) as driving a Prius 4,000 miles?

It's not a new article, but it's new to me. Check it out.

Of course, there's no real reason to pick on 2nd Life other than that it's fun to compare fake people to real. Really this is a comment on what it takes to run any of the myriad of popular websites.

Grandpa Halberg

My Grandpa Halberg passed away in his sleep last night a few days after making the very difficult decision to end his dialysis treatments. While the treatments are wonderful in that they give extra life - they are a miserable experience and take a real toll on the recipient.

Just a few days ago, following his decision to end the treatments, we were able to go up to visit him at the veterans facility in King, WI. He "had a hankerin' for some eggs" so off we went for breakfast. He ordered 4 eggs and drank his coffee - when my Dad made a comment about the quantity he said "you ain't full til you get milk and cookies" and ordered up 2 more!

Some of my fondest memories of grandpa are from his house in Wakefield, MI - HUGE piles of snow in the front yard with tens of cousins tunneling, stocking the snowball arsenal, and plotting for the grand battle to come.

I remember a garage full of tools and big cars. Always a big American Buick waiting in the garage to take him to his destination in comfortable fashion.

An incredibly overfilled house at every holiday with he and the uncles watching the Weather Channel for what seemed like days on end. I always thought when I was older I'd understand how that was entertaining... I guess I'm not old enough yet! ... he was also a master of the old trick of sleeping in front of the TV but yelling "hey, I was watching that" when the channel was switched.

"How are you?" would also be answered with "Any better and I couldn't stand it" and his famous grin from ear to ear.

Lots and lots of family, faith, and fellowship. He will certainly be missed!

Radio on the TV

I was talking about this just a bit ago but it really seems like I hear more good music on TV commercials than I do on the radio.

... it probably has at least something to do with me listening to mostly talk radio ...

... and it could also have to do with Madison being a Clear-Channel-only city ...

but there really is just a tremendous amount of good (and new/relatively unkown) music on commercials these days.

Here are some that I've seen/heard just during the commercials of the Bears game today:

My Morning Jacket - not sure of the product
Guster - Cypher
Arcade Fire - pretty sure it was them?
Stephen Merritt (The Magnetic Fields) - Volvo
The Weepies - JCPenny
The Shins - Zune
Bloc Party - Saturn

and, of course, Neil Diamond - Jeep

All CDs that I own, other than Neil Diamond... as far as you know.


and that ain't the half of it. Here are some others CDs I own with recent tv-commercial exposure.

Wilco - VW
Teddybears - Cadillac, Virgin Mobile, and Intel
The Flaming Lips - Dell
The Last Town Chorus
Shiny Toy Guns - Razr
Regina Spektor - JC Penny and XM Radio
Hum - Cadillac
Architecture in Helsinki - Sprint
NERD, Wolfmother, Jet, Daft Punk, Feist - iPod
Jim Noir - Adidas
Jens Lekman - LG Steam Dryer
The Go! Team - Target and Honda

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Thanksgiving

Our first snow came on Thanksgiving eve, making for a fun time taking the dogs out in the morning. It was June's first taste of snow and it's safe to say that she's a big fan.

After that we were off to John & Leslie's, in Milwaukee, for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.


Of course, the highlight of the day was the people. It was great to see all the relatives but stealing the show were the nieces (and the other Mainers too)!

Michigan Tech at UW-Parkside

Saturday we got to head to Kenosha to see my cousin Tim play bball for MI Tech. It was an awesome game and lots of family had come into town for the occasion.

They ended up losing the game but cousin Tim played awesome. Dropping threes and throwing it down from high above the rim - it was a complete performance. At one point it was Tim 18 - other team 17 but they threw on a zone that gave Tech fits and took home the victory.

Well played though Tim! It's been awesome to see you play the last few years.

A Win!

With the Packers off to a 9-1 start you may not think that them winning today against one of the league's lesser teams was impressive... you're wrong. What you don't realize is that the Packers were able to overcome an obstacle that they have struggled with for the past 3 years: winning when I am in attendance.

Finally, for the first time in 2 years, I get to actually see them bring home a victory in person - I can't tell you how glad I am that it wasn't close!

Go Pack!

Big (and great) News!

Thomas (my brother in law) and Choeun have made Monnie and I aunt and uncle to a baby girl!

Corryn was born yesterday about 530PM. We're really excited and hoping to pay them a visit very soon!

and while we're at it...

So, as mentioned just a few minutes ago - I'm watching The Borne Identity. Every commercial break I am treated at least once to an Old Navy commercial featuring The Weepies.

I'm really happy to see great bands played in commercials; Seriously, I think it's great: they (presumably) get some well earned money, they (hopefully) pick up a few new fans, and we all win.

but the first time you hear a song - especially of this sort - on a commercial for a company like Old Navy... there's just something wrong about it. Check out The Weepies here (free) - you'll like em.

Saturday

Our Saturday started out letting the dogs run in a field we recently "discovered" in the neighborhood. It's ideal as it's nice and big - no houses (distractions) too close - and no roads. Both of our dogs are great but Howie doesn't really hear "come" and actually do it when there are any distractions, so it's great not to have cars whizzing by.

After that we were off to Johnson's Creek to meet Mike, Steph and Annabelle for a bit of shopping and lunch. It was great to see them and after a bit of negotiation - they're going to be the godparents! Really glad to have them on board as honorary members of Team Halberg.

When we got back to Sun Prairie, we got to go out to dinner with Uncle Ric at the Cannery in Sun Prairie. Mom and Dad Halberg had taken us there just last night for a fish fry and we liked it enough to give the other food a try - great to have another good place in town.

... and now? It seems like now that the sun goes down at like noon it's just impossible to have the day last much past 8PM. So, we get to hang out on the couch and check out The Borne Identify on the good ole' USA network... man, we're getting old!

Oh, and did I mention: UW beat up Michigan, Ohio State lost, Notre Dame got crushed, and Miam is on their way to another loss (although, maybe not). Good day for football!

Halloween

As Monnie has mentioned, we've been to some great Halloween parties this year. I'll leave you to check out her commentary (and additional pics) but here are our outfits...

Music!

After reading Mr. Barlament's article tonight, I was inspired to do some fishing of my own for music on YouTube tonight. Here are the successes...

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (live)

Nine Black Alps - Not Everyone (live)

The Apples In Stereo - Same Old Drag (listening to themselves in the van)

The Subways - I Wanna Hear What You've Got To Say (live)

Fever Marlene - Red Fire (live in Madison)

Josh Ritter - Monster Ballads (live)

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour (live)

Jens Lekman - Your Arms Around Me (live)

Magnetic Fields - Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side (cartoon/video)

Wilco - Jesus, etc. (live)

Wolfmother - Woman (live)

Baseball!

Finally, two of the world's greatest things come together. If there is even one stolen base in the World Series this year: we all get a free taco.


And if you haven't yet seen the Red Sox post-series celebration (for the ALCS which ended last week), check out these ridiculously funny videos. It's not everyday you get to see a major league all star do an irish jig in his underwear at Fenway Park. or the whole team doing sort of advanced version of the running man.

Pay What It's Worth

The initial results are in and it looks like Radiohead's "pay what it's worth to you" sales strategy has been an incredible success.

1.2 million albums sold in the first week, at an average cost of $8. For those of you scoring at home: that's almost $10M in one week... not a bad week.

It'll be interesting to see when the first store opens online facilitating this type of distribution. Seems like a site like that could take an incredibly small percentage of the sale to make it. Having multiple large artists on one site like that could really open the door for small/medium bands to make similar jumps. "We see you're here to buy the new 'My Morning Jacket' album. If you like them why not try the new 'Band of Horses' disc for a couple bucks?"

TNP@Pabst

JNo and I headed over to Milwaukee's Pabst Theater last night to see The New Pornographers. I've had nothing but good experiences at the Pabst and this one was no exception - The show may have been the best that I've seen there.

picture borrowed from the always great Muzzle of Bees

After a couple of openers who at times I loved and times I wanted off stage ASAP, the NPs took the stage. At first I thought we might be in trouble. Aside from cornerstone Carl Newman and (the quite impressive) Kathryn Calder, the rest of the band may have gotten into the liquor cabinet beforehand. A lot of bands can pull that off but having not seen these guys live + knowing that with their style of music things have to stay really tight... I was worried.

Never was I more worried when Dan Bejar took the stage and seemed to not really comprehend how his mic worked... and then he started singing and all was right with the world. The whole group pulled it off (mostly) flawlessly and put on a show that had everyone wanting more and more.

I'll definitely try to catch them again next time they're coming around - especially if they can get the whole cast of characters together for it.

Sunday Night Football

Monica and I were up in Green Bay for the Bears v. Packers last night (her comments here). After a really great looking start the game went south in a big hurry. Obviously the outcome was far from desirable but the way it was reached was much worse. The Bears really didn't look good, but the Packers looked much worse - turning the ball over repeatedly and always finding a way to be penalized at the absolute wrong time.

Anyway, despite our poor play: this one falls squarely on my shoulders. I have to accept responsibility for the loss.... A few years ago I drafted Ahman Green and Javon Walker in the first two rounds of my fantasy football league. Both of them promptly were injured and missed the majority/all of the season. I then decided never again to have a Packer on my fantasy football team... until last week when I picked up rookie James Jones. While Jones hasn't been injured (yet), he fumbled twice early in the Packers game - mistakes that had a very large impact on the outcome of the game.

So... my bad. I'll be releasing him shortly so we can get back to normal next week against the Redskins.

Wilco

When it was announced a few months ago that Wilco would be playing the Overture Center it was quite a surprise. To that point the only events at Madison's newest (major) venue had been musicals, orchestras, and the like.

from Daniel Brielmaier (on Muzzle of Bees)

We went out and bought a bunch of tickets during the presale - good thing: the show sold out almost immediately. Our efforts paid off last Tuesday as Monnie, Jon, Matt, Brandon, Joe, Sarah, and I were treated to a great show.

The Overture Center was definitely a different environment for what I suppose would be labeled a "rock" show. Assigned seating was respected almost to the letter - nobody in the aisles or anything of the sort. For some that's a pretty big downer but to be totally honest: I'm a really big fan of being able to sit during a show like this.

The sound was really incredible, especially since my other two Wilco experiences have been at outdoor venues. Crystal clear lyrics and instrumentation - great effects on the opener "Via Chicago" to simulate the El passing right through the theater.

They missed my all time favorite "Heavy Metal Drummer" and oddly also left out their current hit single "What Light", but hit many of my favorites including what probably would be 2-5 on my list: "Jesus, Etc", "Handshake Drugs", and "California Stars"

There's some really great pictures on Muzzle of Bees coverage (one of which I borrowed above) as well as some great commentary and comments. You'll notice in the comments quite a bit of what I alluded to above (people like to get up and dance... I like to sit and relax).

A really great show that was well worth the high ticket price.

A nice slow Sunday

Monnie, Howie and I headed over to Gov. Nelson State Park this afternoon to check out their dog swimming area. It was quite nice to have him in the big lake (Mendota) as opposed to some of the more 'swampy' dog parks around.



On the way home Howie got his first carwash experience. He was a bit concerned about what was going on at first but settled down pretty quick when he saw we weren't too worried about it.

Bus Tragedy Fundraiser

If you live in Madison - head over to a Potbelly location for dinner tomorrow for a good cause.

Come to Potbelly Sandwich Works on Thursday, Aug. 30th between 5-8 P.M. We will donate 25% of sales to the Bus Tragedy Fund. All Madison locations are participating-- State Street, West Towne, & East Towne.

One of our employees lost her fiance in the bus stop incident, and now she is a single mom with three kids.

If you don't live in town, here's the (very sad) story.

Hockey in August

I saw this on ESPN today. Absolutely a must see: to YouTube.

Michael Vick

Wouldn't it be incredible if no other NFL players ever went with Vick to gamble on the fights at his property? Even if they weren't involved in running the ring (which obviously makes them less attractive legal targets) - they would have had knowledge of it + have been gambling on it.

It just seems really unlikely that Vick was into it to the extent that he was and never offered to bring along anyone else on the team.

It's really looking like he's pretty much up the creek without a paddle here - it'll be interesting to see what happens by the Friday deadline...

The $40 Million Question

It's your job to give the final say on a contract for Brewers rookie phenom Ryan Braun. Due to the incredible start to his career, he's demanding an incredible amount of money. He wants to stay with the Brewers though and your fan base is in love with him.

You've been to the future and know that if you DO sign him - he will be plagued by injury. He'll never miss an entire season but he'll be on the disabled list frequently and when he's not, his play will be so-so. Fans will know that when you signed him, you had every reason to think he'd be incredible, but at the same time they'll be angry that all the teams money is tied up in someone that isn't helping the team.

You also know that if you DO NOT sign him - he will sign with the Devil Rays. There he will go on to a Hall Of Fame career - one of the greatest of all time. You will never play the Devil Rays directly, but everyone will always look back on the time that one of the best players of all time wanted to play for you and you sent him packing.

What do you do?

Lollapalooza

I had a great time again at Lollapalooza this year. More here, here, and here.

Also, way to go Barry.

nextPoint

I'm very excited to be accepting a position with nextPoint. They are the leading provider of web solutions in the legal arena and I am really looking forward to contributing to their great team.

I really enjoyed speaking with many great companies over the last month and am very glad that I was able to find such a great fit in the end.

One more on the bullpen

A clarification on this post. When I wrote that I never considered that Scott Linebrink (who the Brewers did end up acquiring) was actually available.

I'm still not really clear on why the Padres were willing to let them go, but I would definitely have put him on top of my list in that other post. Yes, above Gagne even. So... way to go Brewers!

Now, hopefully we don't end up needing both an 8th inning guy AND a closer...

San Francisco

I'm in beautiful downtown San Francisco for a few days here. On my agenda are a conference, visiting a couple friends, a little business, and (hopefully?) a Giants game. Not sure how the game is going to fit in but it'd be a shame not to check out a game at one of my favorite stadiums when I'm staying so close - not to mention a certain hitter attempting to break one of the biggest records in sports.

I got here and got all checked into my hotel yesterday - it's just a couple blocks from the conference and is exactly what I need. A couple really nice touches on top of the basic: continental breakfast in the hall on every floor + (free) wifi based on my floor.

Wanted: An 8th Inning Guy

We had a great time watching the Brewers take out the Giants this afternoon in front of a sold out Miller Park. I was really looking forward to seeing how the 8 of us reacted to Barry Bonds (boo? cheer? be indifferent?), but unfortunately - he wasn't in the lineup so we didn't get put on the spot.

It was an ideal game - we were always pretty much in control... but still competitive throughout. What was really apparent though is that more than ever we are lacking someone in the 8th inning. It appears that it's no longer Turnbow - he wasn't in there today, but perhaps more telling is the fact that he WAS in there the last couple days, when we didn't have the lead.

Actually, Turnbow seems to have not been able to pull it together since a certain point in April.

So, aside from the rumors on the offensive side which would be great (Griffey Jr, Teixeira) and the one that I'm not so sure of (Dunn) - there has also been some talk on the pitching end of things. What I've heard are basically *any* of the Rangers relievers - Gagne, Otsuka, or Benoit and then Dotel (KC).

All of these guys (as is typical of relivers) are sometimes unstoppable and sometimes can't seem to find the strike zone, but for me the big differentiation is the *next year* factor. If Cordero leaves - which is looking increasingly likely - we're going to need someone to step into those shoes. The right man for the job is... Benoit. Wicked stuff and much more reliable than Gagne or Dotel at this point.

I could see making a case for Otsuka but his recent injury issues are a bit concerning. Actually, maybe we can get both? That could put us in a desirable position next year...

It's A....

Boy! or... at least it will be in a few months.

Mom and Dad Halberg were over today to help out with the nursery as well. It's not quite finished yet but it's looking really great so far!

I Bet You

2 pro poker players (Phil Laack and Antonio Esfandeari) have their own show on MojoHD. Check out the first episode online here.

Basically they come up with crazy bets with each other and then go through with them on film. Some highlights:
* $5000 bet on who can win a dune buggy race
* high card wins - loser has to get the other guys name tattooed on them
* who can shoot an automatic machine gun more accurately

and much more. Good stuff.

Livin in Fast City

Madison was named a "Fast City" by "Fast Company" magazine.

"They are cauldrons of creativity where the most important ideas and the organizations of tomorrow are centered. They attract the best and brightest. They are great places to work and live."

Pretty cool stuff.

Barry Bonds... popular?

Is it just me or is Barry Bonds suddenly popular?

Maybe this was inevitable... everyone loves to hate him: he's never been popular in the media. He's passionate about bringing race to the forefront (which can be a good thing) but he normally does it in a completely nonconstructive way (which is definitely a bad thing).

Did he use steroids? Most likely. Did everyone else? Pretty much.

Every professional athlete (up to and including golden boy Lance Armstrong) is pushing supplements as far as they possibly can without breaking. In cycling, that means pumping in the EPO and figuring out how to best mask it. In baseball, until recently, the point where you were pushing supplements too far was non-existent. That doesn't make it ok to pump yourself on illegal drugs, but when it's effectively being encouraged by your sports blatant "look the other way" attitude... and doing it can make you millions of dollars... it's hard to put the blame squarely on Barry's shoulders which is effectively where it falls at the moment.


I'd be pretty torn if I had a Hall of Fame vote and Barry (or Sosa, McGwire) was on the ballot. Until recently I've been saying that I would vote for Barry, but not the first year - and never for Sosa or McGwire. I think I'm changing that though... Barry is a first year HOF entrant - he just has to be... he has the best stats of anyone... ever. As for the other two: I think they get my vote too. Definitely not on the first ballot, but eventually: I am voting for them.

While I don't have a HOF vote, I have made an important decision about something I actually do have a say in... when he breaks the record: I will be clapping, not booing.

I have 0 Friends

In order to "rate" a video for a Milwaukee-based band (Fever Marlene) that I saw yesterday (check it out) I needed to setup a MySpace page.

My thoughts on MySpace are that it's an incredibly useful tool for finding and listening to bands that you otherwise would have a hard time pinning down. BUT. It boggles my mind that a tool that is so universally known and accepted could be so ugly.

The Smashing Pumpkins page (here) is a perfect example. Their MySpace page is absolutely gorgeous by comparison to almost all other MySpace pages I have seen - way, way better than almost all the rest... and it still is not very nice.

Anyway, as the title says. Here is a blurb from my sad little MySpace page:

We've Made It!

The Brewers on not only on national TV (Fox) but I can watch them in HD?!? We've finally made it!

Howie Goes Swimming

The other day, at dogfest, Howie took his first dip in the water. He wasn't hesitant to go in but immediately decided "this is a little weird" and came right out. After that we were really excited to get him to a dog park with water and we got a chance Thursday night at the Northport dog park.

They had a bit of a pier there that needed to be leaped from, instead of just being able to wade in, which made him a bit hesitant. So... I just threw him in a few times. There was some water swallowing and he didn't quite get that he was supposed to be swimming back to the ramp - not back to the pier, but after a few tries he got much more comfortable and really took to it.

Great fun and we're already looking forward to heading back there with him.

Back Home

We made it back home right on time Friday morning. Our transfer in Newark definitely cut it close (due mostly to a completely nonsensical security process), but... we made it - and even more remarkably, so did our luggage.

The only item that didn't make it back properly was my laptop powercord which was taken by security at Ben Gurion (Tel Aviv) who needed to do "more testing". I have no idea why that was necessary but at least it was going to be "on the next plane". So... here I am three days later and still no sign of it -- They (Continental) were supposed to receive it here on two separate occasions since then but it still hasn't come through. My next chance is today at 330PM so I guess we'll hope it comes in then. In the meantime, I haven't been able to use my laptop - which means I can't work. That may not sound like a bad thing... but, in this case, it really is - I'm getting way behind and it's quite annoying. Today I'll have to meet up with Rob to use his power cord...

The trip was great - a wonderful experience and great to meet the people I've been working with remotely up to now. This picture is from the office by the way... not a bad work environment!

One other thing my Mom pointed out to me regarding the size of Israel. I knew it was small but it's funny to see it compared to Lake Michigan like this:

6/5 and 6/6 - Herziliya

After work yesterday we were treated to dinner by Koby (our CTO) and his girlfriend Chen. Really great to meet her and get the real facts on Koby!

I didn't get any pictures in the area around my hotel when I got here as I didn't have the camera yet, so I took care of that a bit this morning (set here -- all our pictures here). These are either from my hotel room or from the neighborhood within a few blocks of it...

I can't decide if this is "Flying Bicycle Angel Woman" or "Landing Bicycle Devil Man", but I am definitely sticking to my guns that it's a bicycle:There's no shortage of seashells:The beach itself:

And some stores near a turnabout (there are no shortage of turnabouts):

June 4

Happy Birthday Mike! Hope it's a good one! Looks like NYC was a great time!

Today was a normal workday here - nothing exciting to report. Just work, dinner, and sleep.

6/3 Workin on a Sunday

Back to work today as Sunday is a workday here in Israel (or at least much of it). Not a whole lot to report other than another great supper by the Sea - this time at the fanciest of the three offerings on the beach near our hotel.

Since I don't have much new to report... and since the sites/sights of the weekend are definitely still on my mind... just something I've been thinking about:

A few days ago I was going to talk about being in Israel and just generally near so many holy/historical sites... The closest thing I can compare it to (and this doesn't even come close) is being at Yankee Stadium and thinking about: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig may have walked on this spot... or even: someone else watched history from this spot.

Now multiply that by a thousand - who has walked through Jerusalem? Who has walked within 30 feet of where I walked this weekend? ... incredible.

Is this the precise site of the crucifixion or the ascension or so many other events? and then coming to the realization that it happened within a few miles of where you are - being on the exact spot would be very special... but being very close - or even at the "best guess" or "traditional" spot is incredible.

6/2 - Jerusalem

What we had seen yesterday at the Dead Sea and Massada was incredible but today's portion of the tour was absolutely fantastic. We took a tour of Jerusalem - primarily the Old City's four quarters.

Absolutely incredible to see such a quantity of things that have so much history and that you've heard about for so long in person - especially in such an incredibly short span of time.

I couldn't possibly describe - or take enough pictures - to explain it all but I'll provide several below. You can get all of them from today here - or all of them (ever) here.

An overview of the city:
Mt. Olive:
The location of The Last Supper (the room is completely different than it would have been then, but the location...):
A covered street in the Old City with shops:
The Wailing Wall and The Temple Site:
The Trinity:

6/1 Massada & The Dead Sea

pictures for today here. all of them here.

We woke up early today to catch our bus out of Herzliya for a tour of (today) the Dead Sea and Messada and (tomorrow) Jerusalem. We'll be staying overnight in Jerusalem as well - it'll be nice to see that city a bit more.

There ended up being a bit of miscommunication as we were told to be ready at 715 and they were actually expecting us at 7. Obviously it could have been much worse as the 15 minutes just meant we were really rushed and a bit late instead of completely missing things - still, not a great start though. After picking up a few others we were off to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a gorgeous city, built in the mountains (big hills anyway). The mountain is not very high but high enough that all of the available precipitation falls on it -- there's a ridge in town where you can look down at one side of town and see green and green in the area beyond, but if you look the other way you see the Arabian Desert.

On our way out of town (we weren't there long - just to pick people up) we saw some goat herders / nomads on the way out of town. These people, live life in as traditional a way as possible. They try to avoid almost everything modern but apparently have become much less nomadic lately as they now have water pipes coming to their settlements. They are in the dessert so I'm sure that at some point you might just have to accept something modern to improve your life by that much.

Shortly before we reached the Dead Sea we saw a city a bit in the distance: Jericho. We weren't headed in that direction (it's Palestinian at the moment) but it's incredible to see cities that you've heard so much about and have so much history. We also passed by the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found - another place that we weren't stopping at but again...wow.



The Dead Sea is a picturesque Desert Oasis. Although, maybe "oasis" isn't the right word when the water is incredibly undrinkable. Amazingly, the Dead Sea is 33% salt which makes floating in it incredibly easy (more on that later).

Our first stop wasn't actually at the Dead Sea - it was Massada. Read this for a bit of a refresher: click here (it's quite the story, you really should check it out).


Some original flooring:


Looking down the giant ramp the Romans built (if you don't know what I'm talking about - read that last link):


After Messada we were off to make a proper stop at the Dead Sea. The stop was something that I'm really glad we did - here are the three things to tell you about the trip:
1. I put the Dead Sea "black mud" on my skin which is just sitting on the bottom there... it was... something I needed to do. I can't say that I kept it on any longer than a minute though - I just wanted to have done it.

2. I floated in the Dead Sea - another "must do". It basically feels like you have a life preserver on - only it's covering your whole body. Almost like you're sitting in a recliner in the water - you go in a "seated" position and your chest stick out of the water along with your knees and feet. Pretty crazy!

3. It's easy to scrape yourself up at the Dead Sea + scraping yourself and adding salt water is not fun. While basically "crawling around" on top of the mud (if you try to walk you sink) I got some scrapes, but I guess that's the price of admission.

4. (wait, did I say there'd be only 3?) -- It's friggin hot in the Arabian Dessert. We were actually there on a "cold" day and it was easily 100F. Apparently it gets up as high as 130F... you may want to bring some sunscreen.


We were pleasantly surprised when we got to Jerusalem to find that we actually had a nice hotel - we weren't expecting much for the place "included with the 2 day tour". It was located in a pretty cool neighborhood to the West of the Old City. Not sure of the neighborhood name but Hillel Street was the area where we found dinner and a coffee shop. The action seems to pick up later here in general with people getting dinner in the 7-8 time slot on average so we were a bit early for the real action. I was ok with an earlier night though as we had had quite a bit of sun and walking and were in for more of the same tomorrow.

The Real 5/31

I didn't want to title all these posts with the date but with the time difference... maybe it's just easier if I try to throw it in there somewhere. Anyway, here's my day from 5/31 (Thursday).

Today was Rob and I's first full day off in Israel and we spent it in Tel Aviv. You've been hearing quite a bit about our trips to the beach where we're staying (in Herzliya Petuach, a Tel Aviv suburb) so I'm sure it will be no surprise that the beach in Tel Aviv is equally great.

The area we were in all day definitely had much more of a big city feel than in our suburb. The streets were bustling and shops lined the streets. Good news for those who have been pestering me in the comments :) -- I bought a digital camera! I actually think that I got a pretty good deal - I got a nice digital camera with a huge memory card for 1350 sheckles! How the heck much is that??? It's about 4:1 so it was $350 for the camera and case. That's not cheap, but I really needed a camera and ours is actually broken at home - so it's not like this is only for this one trip or something like that.


As always, all of our photos are here. The rest of the photos for this day in Tel Aviv (27 total) are here.

Anyway, the day was really great - very hot but a steady wind helped us out quite a bit. We did A LOT of walking around the beaches, shops, and other sights of Tel Aviv's harbor.



To end the night we met up with two of our co-workers: Adam and Shmueli for dinner before heading home. We also got to see where Shmueli lives, which was cool - his apartment is not unlike what you'd expect if you were to visit someone the same age in Chicago or another big American city. We also learned that (like Chicago) much of the neighborhood is made up of a very young population and that people typically move as they move into the next phases of life.


Speaking of "next phases of life" - the Israeli's our age seem quite shocked that both Rob and I are married already. Israeli's go from High School into a mandatory 3 year term in the military. After that they typically travel the world for a year before going on to work or more school or whatever else American kids would have been doing 3-5 years earlier... so, I guess it makes sense that most people here get married a bit later.

The bad part of the night was that I started feeling really bad just before dinner. Our dinner was great - so that definitely wasn't the problem, but I just seem to have a knot in my stomach that I can't shake. Maybe it's not a terrible thing though as tomorrow morning (715AM) we'll be heading out for a weekend tour of Israel that will take us through so many sites that I really want to see that I won't list them here... I'm sure you'll be hearing about them all soon enough!

Hazey Day

There's a strange haze over the city today due to the humidity - it looks close to fog but not quite. It seems thinner than most fog (or at least what I think of as "fog") would be.

I got to talk to Monnie today which was really great - we used Skype so that we wouldn't have to pay for the call... really an invaluable tool for avoiding long distance charges. There's an 8 hour difference so your options are either 11PM CDT and 7AM IST or 3PM IST and 7AM CDT.

After work Rob and I got dinner on the beach before walking to the marina that I'd mentioned the other day. It's a pretty good hike but not too bad - you can't complain about walking by the sea when you're from Wisconsin!

Dinner in Ra'anana

One thing I've been very surprised about so far has been the weather -- It's just been really really nice. The temp has been comparable to Wisconsin this time of year (80s) but much drier, making it way more comfortable. Today is another case entirely though as wind from the desert has increased the temp dramatically - it's quite the sauna out there! Apparently it's called a 'hamsin'.

After work today Rob and I were treated to dinner by our David (our CEO) and his wife Karen. The food was really good as was the conversation.

On our way back to the hotel something that (apparently) is quite unusual happened - it rained! ...for about 6 seconds.

Memorial Day in Israel

I slept well last night until about 430AM and then, for some reason, my body just decided it was time to get up - not tired at all - just done sleeping... Not the worst thing that can happen when you're on vacation though - it just gave me the opportunity to take a walk and do a bit of reading by the water.

Today's work highlight was meeting our companies CEO face-to-face. I've had numerous phone conversations and a video call with David but as was the case with the rest of the team - meeting him face to face was wonderful.

After work today a good portion of the team took us for dinner at an authentic Yemenis restaurant. We shared a wide range of side dishes and I had a steak - seasoned much differently than would be at home but nothing too shocking - very good. The rest of the group got soup which met with several rave reviews and a couple negative (one of which was the other American pallet).

Following that a subset of the group had a few drinks on the beach (about midway between the two spots on the beach we had been before) before calling it a night. Seems that we must be in a fairly popular spot for American travelers since we met a couple of different American groups tonight.

Another beautiful day weatherwise - although from the looks of things Wisconsin is looking pretty nice while we're away too (?).

Meeting The Team

Our first "day at work" was a very good one. I got to meet our teammates, some of whom we've been working with for months, in person. Great to put names with faces - just having a bit of time to actually see and talk to them will help quite a bit with our communication once we're back home.

The day started off with a walk on the beach (something that I hope will be a pretty standard part of my morning given where we're staying). Then on to work where we were greeted by a cook out!

The technology portion of the company has converted a couple of neighboring apartments into an office for the 5 of them. It's not far (15-20 minute ride) from our hotel. Because it's a more "residential" setup it has the luxury of a small courtyard for a grilling area and a really casual feel.

All the people are very young - Not positive but I believe everyone is between 24-30 and have personalities that seem to very closely resemble any normal American that you might bump into in that age group.

After work, Rob and I had dinner overlooking the Mediterranean just a few blocks from our hotel. On our way back home we decided to try out the bar beneath our hotel... turns out it's not a bar! It's a bartending school! That may not actually have been a bad thing though as the instructor decided to give us a couple of free drinks just for visiting -- Apparently we're not the first visitors to make the mistake.

5/26 - Day 2

The title says "Day 2" but at this point I don't really know what day it is. I know I slept somewhere between 2 and 5 hours last night (no idea which it is) and that it was definitely in 4 installments... but hey, we made it! That was a seriously long flight. Luckily I had some good row mates.

So far things seem a lot like Miami - warm, palm trees, cab drivers that speak rough (but decent) English; the hotel clerk actually spoke better English than I'd have expected to find at a Miami hotel though :)

The comparison to the US really holds true looking out my window here - I feel like I'm in Hermosa Beach (LA) or something of the sort. Palm trees - a big ocean (sea, actually) and just a great view.

I just turned on the TV in my room to be greeted by "Can't Live, If Livin' Is Without You" (in English).

So far so good! Now - for the long awaited shower and tooth brushing!!!

***

The hotel feels like some of the older American hotels I've stayed in and the location is great - if I lean out my window I can see the beach maybe 5-6 blocks down. Notice I said "lean out my window" - they actually trust me with the ability to open my window here - something I haven't found in a big city hotel in quite a while.

That reminds me (speaking of things I haven't seen in a while) - (a) we had meals on the flight. We had dinner last night (at 7AM Israeli time) and breakfast this morning (at 5PM Israeli time) - I guess they're not trying to help get us on our new schedule! Anyway, though (b) they gave us metal silverware. I was pretty surprised by that.

Also, thinking back to the airport earlier - one of the primary things I had read online was that you get stopped all the time in the airport and asked basic questions by security (to try to trip you up if you're up to no good). We didn't see ANY of that - at all. Actually, I didn't see anyone at this airport with a gun (at the Madison airport you pass at least 6 or 7) -- maybe that's just because we were on the way in though... we'll see if things are tougher on the way out.

***

Just got back from dinner with the Rob and Koby (the CTO of Seeking Alpha). Crazy to think that we've been working so closely together but this is the first time that I've actually even seen his face, much less met him in person! I'm looking forward to a couple such moments in the next two weeks involving other members of the team!

We went to eat at an area called 'The Marina'. Very cool place on the water (obviously) with lots of restaurants and places to see. It reminded me a lot of the similar area in Baltimore (is that also called "The Marnia"?... I think it might be). Anyway, this was similar to that but a bit bigger - a few more people - and I actually felt safer at Tel Aviv's version. I remember the walk back to the car in Baltimore being much more shady, despite the fact that we were only parked about two blocks away from the action.


***

Tomorrow we'll be working off some jetlag in the morning and I hope to take a walk down to the sea. Rob and I actually walked down there quick tonight but I'd like to see it during the day. We'll be headed over to meet the team and get a little work done about noon before having a barbecue (hosted by Koby) tomorrow for us all to properly get some social time in.

5/25 - Day 1

For those who haven't heard, I've just started an exciting trip to Israel to visit the other employees at the company I work for (Seeking Alpha). I'm really looking forward to it and know it's going to be a wonderful life experience, as well as allowing me to actually see the people I work with on a daily basis in the flesh.

-------

Our trip started today with Monnie (and Howie) escorting Rob and I to the airport in Madison. Our flight out of Madison was delayed about 45 minutes but we had a cushion built in at Newark (better safe than sorry - we really didn't want to miss this connection!).

Shortly after arriving at Newark we heard an announcement for all passengers on flight 90 ("hey, that's us") to head to the gate right away for extra security screening. We were mid-discussion about how it was already 9PM and we hadn't eaten yet at the time... we probably should have thought "hey, we should get food quick and then go", but instead we erred on the safe-side at reported immediately. -- It turned out to just be an extra 1 minute of carry on searching, metal detecting, and rub downs (that must be why it costs $1300 to fly to Tel Aviv).

So, here we sit - the last time that I plan on taking the laptop out before Tel Aviv as it seems like it would just be way more hassle to take it out and use it than it's worth... oh, that reminds me - we found out when we got to Madison that we both had middle seats on this flight. I guess that extra email I sent to Continental to make sure that we were either together or both windows really paid off! The guy had told me that it was taken care of but apparently he meant "for the return flight".... oh well.

That's it for now. See you in Israel.

It's hard to dislike the Mallards

Everyone likes the current incarnation of our Madison-area baseball team: The Mallards. Unlike previous versions, these guys aren't professionals (not minor leaguers) but this version does such a great job with providing a fun product at a great price - you just have to go.

I just took a look at some of the promotions coming up (there's one pretty much every night). Here are my favorites (the rest are here):

An old school mesh hat
june 9 - Dr. Jay Hazen Dentistry for Madison Muskies Turn-Back-the-Clock Night. Mallards will wear authentic 1993 Muskies uniforms & free Muskies mesh caps (first 1,000). Live music w/ the Hometown Sweethearts. Harley-Davidson Night presented by Capital City. Unique area Harley-Davidson motorcycles will be on display and the first 500 fans in the Duck Blind will receive a Mallards six-pack cooler courtesy of Capital City Harley-Davidson. Post-game fireworks show, presented by Life Style Staffing.

A duck bobblehead and a pint glass
june 13 - U.S. Cellular Bobblehead night. Dancin’ Maynard G. Mallard Bobbleheads (all fans). Budweiser Pint Glass Series Night #2 (first 1,000 fans 21 & over).

A guaranteed win
june 19 - First former Mallard in MLB, Ryan Spilborghs’ Figurine Night (first 1,000 fans 14 & under). Bucky Book Night (first 1,000 families). Quench Gum Guaranteed Win Night as the Mallards take on the Bombers. If the Mallards lose (yeah right) free tickets to a future game to all fans after the game.

The Isotopes (will Homer be there?)
june 20 - Fox 47 The Simpson’s Night. Featuring Mallards wearing Isotopes uniforms, Simpson’s cover songs w/ the Outtatoons, great giveaways & Simpson’s trivia all night! Budweiser Pint Glass Series Night #3 (first 1,000 fans 21 & over).

Ticket cost determined by height (aka "anti-Strom night")
july 13 - Short People Appreciation Night, featuring Emmannuel Lewis (AKA Webster). Ticket prices on day of game will be based on height! All fans on the Great Dane Duck Blind will receive a Mallards T-shirt courtesy of Covance.

Screech and Neil Diamond covers on the same night?!?
july 14 - Goodman’s Jewelers Diamond Night. The first 1,000 ladies will receive a gemstone and one will be a real diamond! Bring your gemstone back to Goodman’s to find out if you have won the diamond! A special appearance by Dustin Diamond (AKA Screech). The Gomers playing Neil Diamond covers on the Duck Blind. Post-game fireworks, presented by Life Style Staffing.

Howie finally gets to experience some live baseball
july 29 - Luxury Bath Rubber Ducky Night (first 1,000 14 & under). Dogs at the “Duck Pond” Night. Dogs welcome at the park & $.50 per hot dog sold will go to the Dane County Humane Society.

Battle Of The Surfaces

This was just pointed out to me the other day (thanks Hobber) but apparently happened a bit ago. A mixed court - half grass and half clay - constructed for a match between Federer (the king of grass) and Nidal (the king of clay).



Nidal narrowly edged out Federer in the end but a pretty cool concept.

An Open Letter to Derrick Turnbow

While watching a Brewers game last week - Monnie had some thoughts regarding baseball, the Brewers, and Derrick Turnbow. When I couldn't provide answers to all her questions - I told her she may have to write a letter if she really wanted to get to the bottom of things.

What follows is the result...

***************************

Derrick Turnbow

Pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers

Miller Park

Milwaukee, WI

Dear Derrick-

My letter is an attempt to gather answers to several questions I have regarding your role with my local baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers.

I watched you play in the game against the Cubbies on Tuesday night and was overwhelmed by a barrage of thoughtful questions regarding aspects of your play, your appearance, and more importantly, what types of snacks are offered to players in the dugout.

From the little time I’ve spent intently observing you on my HDTV on the pitcher’s mound, I’ve realized that you’re not a very consistent pitcher. I don’t know much about pitching, or about baseball in general, by it seems like you’re not very good at what role you play on the team? Maybe you should practice some more. Additionally, you may learn a great deal from others who have been pitchers, like yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave pro bono advice, but you might have to pay them a couple bucks. Guys like Dennis Eckersley, Oral Hershiser, Rollie Fingers and Teddy Heguira could offer some advice. They know a lot about successful pitching.

I also noticed that you don’t seem to care much about your appearance. You should really get a haircut and stop hiding that mop under your baseball cap. Pushing your side hairs further towards your face only emphasizes cool sideburns that you don’t have. Help me to also understand why you avoiding shaving your chin? Maybe a makeover project is in order? 2 million can go a long way in helping you to feel AND look good.

More importantly, I wonder if there are snacks provided to players in the dugout? Maybe twinkies, beef jerky sticks, trail mix, popsicles or root beer floats? Maybe a local food product company would be willing to sponsor snacks for your team, or maybe players could take turns bringing treats for the rest of the team. This would improve team morale and give those players a chance who didn’t have dinner, a redeeming, nutritious snack.

A Belated NYC Report

Monica had some great coverage of our NYC trip a couple weekends back here. Gina had some great coverage too, although she (they) did quite a bit that Monnie and I weren't around for.

This was my fifth time in the Big Apple and, while we did see a game at Shea stadium, it was quite a bit different than my other trips.

For starters: it wasn't sports-centered. We did see a very good Mets v. Nationals game at Shea but the baseball game was just one event among many. The only other trip I have made to NYC that wasn't based on sporting events was the trip with my class in HS... which was *very* different than the rest, obviously.

Another big difference was the subway. I had ridden on the subway (in NYC) once before but this trip it was our primary mode of transportation. We actually only got in a cab a couple times the entire trip. Our hotel (the Grand Hyatt) was literally next door to Grand Central Station - making for very easy access to a major hub in the system.

And finally, probably the biggest difference: the group we were with. Aside from the large school group that I went with - my trips have been with just a couple of (guy) friends. This trip was spent largely with WI friends who were also in town for the wedding. Another day with relatives (Monnie's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rick were there at the same time), and some time with other friends that we hadn't seen in a while.

This was a really great trip - and being there for the most rain they had received in 100 years (or something) didn't stop us from having a great time!

The Visitors vs. The Away Team

As you may already know, a huge storm has dropped (nearly?) 4 feet of snow on the UP:

thanks for the photo aunt martha!

This storm has led to a most unusual situation in the world of baseball as the Cleveland Indians - snowed out in half of their games so far this year - will be calling Miller Park home this week.




This is nearly unprecedented in baseball - I can think of only one time that this has happened before and it happens to have been Cleveland playing in Milwaukee. Remember when these guys called County Stadium home?



It remains to be seen whether the 2007 Indians, led by Grady Sizemore and CC Sabathia, will be able to match the championship brought home by the 1989 crew led by Willie Mays Hays and Ricky Vaughn.

What to watch for in the series:
* Veteran David Delluchi putting a red tag in youngster Jeremy Sowers locker to convince him that he has been cut from the team - leading to an angry tirade.

* The recently injured Victor Martinez being replaced by the experienced (but, as noted by owner Lawrence Dolan, not dead) Jake Taylor.

* Josh Barfield popping a ball straight up and dropping to do 20 pushups instead of running it out.

* Manager Eric Wedge "destroying" the contract of veteran infielder Casey Blake after Blake points out that he doesn't have to do any calisthenics he deems unnecessary.

* Slugger Travis Hafner's pagan pregame ritual setting off the clubhouse sprinkler system interrupting Paul Byrds pregame prayer. Later, Hafner will give a quizzical look as he is presented with a bucket of fried chicken instead of the live chicken he requested for the sacrifice.

Should be a good series... make sure to tune in but don't forget where your loyalties are.

Andy

Monnie and I have been fostering Andy, a golden retriever, for about a month. He's been really great to have around - puts up with Howie's insistence to wrestle 10 hours a day, barks very little, sheds very little. He's affectionate, not food aggressive, 0 accidents, and 1 year old.
So, basically... he's exactly what most people write as their "ideal dog" on their application for a WAAGR dog.

-- quick side note on WAAGR. It's a great group that helps dogs that and there's currently a 50/50 raffle going on. If you want in, it's $5 a ticket or $20 for 5. Let me know if you're interested (and you definitely don't have to live around Madison to do it).

Anyway, back to Andy. Monnie and I gave quite a bit of thought to just bringing him on board as our second dog ourselves, but in the end decided that we wanted to people able to foster more (we both agreed that we couldn't have more than 2 dogs around here). A very nice couple (Michael and Diane) stopped by last week with their Golden-Doodle Oliver to see what Andy was all about. The next day they decided that he's they'd like to adopt him! They'll be a great match with him and they'll definitely be happy to have him around.

The one fault Andy has is he really likes to help out with your paperwork. A big fan of getting into your mail and any other papers you may have within his reach. He and Howie were downstairs last week and I came down to this:




This time we were lucky, it was just one of Monnie's giant books of ads (aka "In Style" magazine) - next time it could be something important.... like my Sports Weekly!

They got their obligatory scolding but it's hard not to smile when you see the guilty looks on their faces when they know they've done wrong:




We're definitely going to miss Andy around here but it's great to know that he's going to a great new home and will never be a stray again.