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!