Our niece Corryn just had her first birthday party! Great to see everyone, especially the birthday girl.
And here are some other recent Henry pics (remember to keep checking henryhalberg.com or better yet - use it’s rss feed!).
November 4, 2008
Phishing
I had a pretty nice phishing attempt in my Facebook inbox today.
Notice anything funny? Well, for one thing… I don’t make a whole lot of racist, sexist or insulting remarks on Facebook. but the real clue is the url: http://abuses-facebook.com/user-warning/rules_of_service1.html
A facebook.com url would almost certainly be abuses.facebook.com (note the “.” instead of the “-”). The period means that the site would be a subdomain of facebook.com whereas the dash just means it’s an entirely different site.
Anyway, I actually signed out of Facebook. Then went to the URL. It looked pretty legit. I entered some completely bogus credentials and… it accepted them. In other words: it didn’t tell me I had a bad password because that site has no idea what my real username/password are.
The moral of the story is: Be careful who you give your password to!
October 27, 2008
Wilco Weekend?
Just read that Wilco is apparently going to be in Madison this weekend for a free “Concert For Change”. I don’t think the time/place have been set yet but a commenter on the Muzzle of Bees post seems to think it’ll be at the union.
While I was out checking the site to see what I could see (really nothing more than I’ve already said) I also noticed there is a recording out there that they made with Fleet Foxes (another current favorite of mine). You just need to promise to vote to get it - and consider making a donation to ‘Feeding America’. Definitely worth checking out… here.
October 27, 2008
Whoa
Suffice it to say: I’ve been to a lot of rock shows, but I can say with absolute certainty that the “Of Montreal” show that I saw last night at the Pabst Theater sits clearly in the #1 spot on the “whoa” scale. I can’t even think of who #2 might be.
While the front half of the stage was left open (for crazy antics, of course), the back was split into three parts with “towers” on left and right for drums and keyboards and a middle area containing a rotating screen for people to change and prepare behind. Here you can see Kevin Barnes making his initial entry after being carried in by… uh… well, look at the picture:
(thanks JNo for the pics)
You can also see in that pic the three large screens behind the stage that alternated between cartoon imagery, video footage, and live footage — all (I assure you) were somewhere in the range of funny/zany/strange.
There’s no way that I could recap all of the craziness in detail but basically every 2nd song had a skit of some sort to go with it. That’s on top of the fact that Barnes was as close to naked as you can get without breaking the law for 75% of the show. Here are some of the highlights that I brain-dumped last night when I got home:
- a fist fight
- wild west scene with a poker game and shoot out.
- war scene with fatigues
- cardinal (priest) with a nun putting stilletos on him and massaging his feet while he condemns a giraffe with a thumbs down
- kills himself by OD. then gun. (maybe be some others?). then hangs himself. They actually do put him on a gallows and kick out the stool while he has not only the rope around his neck but also something attached to his back.
- roller skater (guy, right?) with shaved legs and a bra
- “skin suits” from a couple of pairs. one with some pubic hair.
- “giant” where one person comes out with a big head. two others with one giant arm each and other two have legs. joined in center
- centaur
- pose-able people are positioned (in “compromising” positions, of course)
- bring him out in a coffin covered in shaving cream (?)
- with very red lighting going on stage they appear to be rubbing oil all over him. with the next song there is a lighting change and you realize they painted him red.
- 1 with keyboard (etc) player - top with a drum kit. on the right side there is only a top level (another drum kit). the middle has a screen that they change/setup behind before revolving it.
- he’s basically naked for 3/4 of the show.
- cover of Teen Spirit
.
October 24, 2008
Vote early, vote often.
We voted today. It was glorious. Waited in line for about 15 seconds before getting the ballot - you just don’t get it any better than that.
It was at least a bit disturbing that all that was required of me was the first and last name of someone (I went with: “James Halberg”) living in the Sun Prairie area. Literally. No ID. Nothing. I didn’t even need to know my address - she told me the street number and I just had to say “yep, still there”.
So, I’ll probably head back a few more times to really get those numbers up! I mean, if I don’t - someone’ll go through the phonebook for the other candidate, right?!?
October 14, 2008
Lies! Lies!
KEXP-Seattle’s top 903 albums of all the time was recently pointed out to me (by JNo). I do love these kind of lists - especially when I get to take shots at them afterwards instead of putting all the effort into assembling them.
Modest Mouse with 2 discs in the top 50?
3 Radiohead albums in the top 11?… those are all incredible albums but cmon.
The one that really gets me (of course) is Arcade Fire, Funeral at #3. The thing that’s unfortunate about it is that when this list comes out in 10 years. 7-8 of the top 10 albums will be in the top 15. The rest (of the top 10) will be in the top 30. but that Arcade Fire album? Top 50 is a stretch.
… and keep in mind, I really like that disc.
here’s the official list
September 30, 2008
Weekend Happenings
The weekend started off with a visit from the newly-wed Dr Carissa Low. Sounds like the destination wedding (Hawaii) was a blast - we’re going to have to make it out there someday! We met up at the Bourbon Street Grille (home of Taste of Madison favorite ‘mummy shrimp’) where I had a surprisingly tasty fish fry.
Saturday started with a trip up to King, WI for grandma Halberg’s bday party. It was a great time and (as always) great to get together with many of the Halberg family.
Later that day we stopped in at Mike & Emily’s to see the new edition, Harper. Very cute. It was great to see their son Easton as well - just enough older than Henry that he gives a clue of what we can expect soon!
Sunday we headed over to Mike & Steph’s to meet Joshua David Fox. An incredible little guy who gave us a great combination of “eyes open taking in the world” and “cute sleeping baby”. We also were honored to be asked to be god parents — it came as a complete surprise to me as I didn’t know I was eligible — I’m really excited. It’s going to be awesome to watch him grow up.
And finally Sunday night Mike (Halberg) capped off “The Weekend of Mike’s” when he came over (he’s been in town interviewing). Great to catch up with him and get to hangout and watch the football game. We’re really excited at the prospect of them moving back to the Madison area next year — it will be incredible to have them so much closer!
September 19, 2008
Yarrrrghhh!
Happy “International Talk Like A Pirate Day“.
If yer pirateese be a little rusty. Thar’s naught wrong wit’ askin’ for a little help (ye needs t’ be usin’ a Mac):
September 15, 2008
No More Ned
Much to my surprise the Brewers fired Ned Yost today. It’s a move many have been calling for over the last couple years but it comes at a point in the season where it certainly wasn’t on my radar as an option.
Many are pointing out that the manager isn’t the reason we’re losing. True.
That he will be back managing another team in no time. True.
And that Dale Sveum isn’t exactly a “step up”. True.
Here’s the thing. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Articles that make points like those above aren’t making points that are wrong, but that doesn’t mean they’re right either.
The fact of the matter is that our team’s not just plain lousy at the moment. Can’t hit. Can’t pitch. Can’t field. Can’t win. Putting yourself in the owner’s seat, you have to look at it and say “my team’s falling apart, what can I do?”. If you give Yost any credit whatsoever, you have to assume he’s been trying everything in the book. So, you have to go to your last option: no more Yost.
It’s not going to turn Riske into K-Rod. It’s not going to turn Fielder into Pujols. but at this point… I really can’t blame him (at all) for trying.
Future Brewers GM Henry Halberg had no comment.
