Mmm... Yummy holiday...

It’s National Doughnut Day! I just might have to stop by Krispy Kreme on the way home for my free doughnut…

If you want a friend in Washington...

Am I the only one who finds it ironic Ted Kennedy named his dog "Splash?"

Sen. Kennedy and his dog, Splash, visit Fenway

BOSTON (AP) - It was a dog day at Fenway Park as Senator Edward Kennedy and his Portuguese Water Dog, Splash, visited the old ballyard for a school reading event.

The senator read a portion of his new children's book, "My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington D.C.," to a group of Boston-area school children.

The picture book takes readers through a day in the life of the senator, told from the perspective of Splash.

Joining Kennedy was Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler, who is recuperating from a torn Achilles tendon. Kapler swapped his baseball bat for a tennis racket and hit tennis balls toward the "Green Monster" for Splash to fetch.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

I was going to make a crude joke about JFK having a cat named Marilyn, but this is a family blog (use your imagination)!

Rating the records

If you’re like me—and it seems many people are in this regard—Barry Bonds hit his 715th career home run and your reaction was “Ehh…let’s move on.”

We can debate the reasons why people like me react this way. Is it a dislike for Barry because of the steroids issue? Or just because he’s a self-centered jerk? Or is it possible we’re suffering “home run fatigue,” with records being broken left and right?

Think about it. Roger Maris’ single season HR record stood for 37 years. Then after a short period of time he went from first on the list to fourth!

Heck, the guy who caught Bonds 715th wasn’t even paying attention to the game. With the San Francisco slugger due to come up to bat and take his shot at history, this guy was in line to get a beer.

So if we’re not getting as fired up about the long ball like we used to, what does excite us in the baseball world? ESPN’s Jayson Stark has compiled an excellent list of the top 10 non-HR-related records in baseball.

The first thing to leap to everyone’s mind is DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. After that, everything is up for debate…

War...Good God y'all

I guess I should chime in with a more detailed response to the war discussion started by ADK Mom yesterday. I fear that I’m coming across as sounding like some kind of warmonger—and nothing could be further from the truth.

First, I direct you to the message Aaron left in comments. For two guys with a reputation for having opposite opinions on many topics, we find ourselves in agreement once again (at least in principle).

Do I like war? No! I pray my children will go through their lives without ever having to experience it. Are peaceful resolutions preferable? Of course.

But I acknowledge that is not always possible and that some things are worth fighting for. The American Revolution was worth it (see also Marc’s comments). Stopping Hitler was worth it. And I believe going into Afghanistan in 2001 was the right thing to do.

Iraq is a whole other breed of cat. Although I was onboard in the beginning, those I’ve discussed the subject with know that I freely admit now it was a colossal mistake. While I may disagree with some of you loyal readers on theories behind the reasons for the war, we’re on the same page in thinking that it was wrong to begin with and has been handled wrong so far.

I stop short before joining the cry for immediate withdrawal. Now that we’ve created this mess, I think it would be wrong to just leave. I know you can’t publicize the “exit strategy” without tipping our hand. But I’d just like to know that there is an exit strategy—because right now I don’t believe there is one.

That’s all I have to say on this topic for now. Now let’s move on to lighter things…

Why didn't I think of that?

Here's a really simple, crazy invention some guy will probably make money with that anyone could have thought of on their own: the cordless jump rope.

It's perfect for the clumsy, [inventor Lester] Clancy said. "If you are still jumping, you're still using your legs as well as your arms, and getting the cardiovascular workout. You just don't have to worry about tripping on the rope."

It is also good for mental institutions and prisons where rope is a suicide risk, said Clancy, who works as a laundry coordinator in a state prison. And low ceiling fans aren't a hazard any more, he said.

There are moving weights in the handles that simulate the feel of the rope moving around.

HTML hiccups

I tried to be slick and use the <embed> tag to post my demo tracks in the right hand column. But that turned out to cause more trouble than it was worth.

So they’re posted with run-of-the-mill hyperlinks now.

Sorry for any inconvenience, folks!

Memorial Day

We have a controversy at our house over war. It's funny in a way because Chris has always known where I stand so I don't know why he seems surprised by my feelings against it. Maybe I'm just more vocal about it lately. Anyway, Chris thinks war is a necessary evil at times. I think there's always another option and we should be investing our time and money in discovering them. My hero is Gandhi. I don't know who Chris's hero is--maybe he'll share. I do support our troops and I do honor those that have died in war. I just think it is sad that they are put in that position. How many lives we honor today...maybe if nonviolent methods like boycotting, fasting, sit ins, etc were used then we wouldn't be mourning them now. I'm not saying turn the other cheek and get run over. We should all stand up for what we believe in. It's just I don't think people need to get killed to do it. I'm interested what other people think, although I might be in the minority on my views since this is Chris' blog. I'm taking a risk!
Anyway, it's been a fun weekend. We bought a grill finally so, Chris will tell you, he feels secure in his manhood again! We had steaks last night (Thanks Dad! We've been saving them for our first grill food.) and they were fabulous. I painted Nolan's room. He's going to have a Star Wars theme. He had a mural in his room that Chris and I did 4 years ago and it took 4 coats of paint to hide it. It's a butter yellow now, his pick. And of course lots of baseball games to go to. Friday night was really wet on the field and Thomas was a mud monster by the time it was over. Only 6 games left. Chris has to work today and it's raining so I have to figure out how to keep the kids busy. Hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day. Maybe you can have controversy over war in your house today too!

EDITOR'S NOTE: The "controversy" evolved from a discussion about the Revolutionary War, not Iraq.

Now hear this...

My voice demo came in today! Feel free to give a listen and let me know what you think. Track 1 is a sample of my commercial work. Track 2 contains narrations.

I’ve also posted both tracks permanently to the right under my picture.

Now all I have to do start sending them out and let the bucks roll in.

So if you know anyone looking for a voice—make sure to tell them about me!

Apple & Nike's 'iRun'

The iPod is on my wish list of gadgets I don't have.

Now comes word that Apple and Nike are teaming up to develop a running shoe that can be fitted with a sensor that will feed data on your run (time, pace, distance, etc.) to your iPod Nano.

Apparently it also has a "Power Song" feature that will let you punch up the theme from "Rocky," or whatever music gets your heart pumping, with the push of a single button.

I'm not a runner, but I know plenty of people who are. This sounds really cool!

Doggedly determined

We splurged Sunday and hit the McDonald’s drive-thru for dinner. The kids got these little stuffed animals in their Happy Meals (sidenote—does anyone else remember when a Happy Meal toy consisted of a tiny rubber eraser?).

Chester loves chewing on stuffed animals. Just knowing these things were in the house was driving him nuts. He kept trying to take Thomas’. So we tossed it in a big wooden bowl in the center of the dining room table where it should be out of his reach.

He just had to have that animal. After dinner Thomas and I were in the living room and I could here him trying to get at that bowl. Finally I returned to the dining room to see what he was up to and this is what I found…

Welcome aboard, Wifey

I’d like to take this opportunity to officially welcome Kris to the blogoshpere.

As she explains below, she’s not sure if she has enough interest in blogging to start her own blog.  So she’s just going to get her feet wet here as a special “guest contributor.”

Let’s all give her a big “Off the Top of My Head” welcome!

Sickness Break

So our crazy lives are on pause right now because Nolan and I are sick. Check back in a couple days and find out if Thomas and Chris get it. We have some sort of cold and cough thing but Nolan gets a fever at night too. We have been so busy lately that it is actually nice to take a break. With baseball, swim lessons, after school programs, story hours, play dates...whew! But I can't believe school is almost over. Before you know it, it will be summer and we'll be searching for things to do. And really, I love it all. I wouldn't trade being home with our kids for anything. Of course, it would be nice if I got sick days though.

Hi world.

Chris and I are experimenting with me being a contributor to his blog. Sometimes there are things we do that I say, hey put that on the blog and he can't for whatever reason. So, as most women do, I'll do it myself! Seriously, I don't want to take away from the coolness and uniqueness of Chris' blog. I just thought I might add a note here and there and if I get carried away (or he gets sick of me), I'll start a blog of my own. So hello out there. It's the better half.

Niska-Day 2006

Today was Niska-Day 2006—the 25th annual Niskayuna Community Day.

The good news is it didn’t rain on the parade. The bad news is it was raining on and off when we tried to take in the festivities at the high school.

The day will be capped off, as usual, with a fireworks show tonight. Nolan has always been scared of fireworks. We thought we might be able to talk him into it this year, which would be great since they’re being hyped as the biggest the town has ever seen. Unfortunately, he’s got a cold and went straight to bed. So I wound up walking up to see them by myself. And they were pretty cool.

Anyway, here are some highlights from the parade and the high school. Click on a thumbnail for a larger picture...

Chillin' in the desert

If you’ve spent any amount of time on the Internet in the last five months, then odds are you’ve stumbled across SNL’s “Lazy Sunday” video (or one of the 5,000 spoofs of it). If, by chance, you haven’t seen it yet (and it’s worth a watch) you can find it here.

Anyway, as mentioned, there are a gazillion spoofs of the video (yes, I counted). But this one is great. A couple of soldiers in Iraq grabbed a camera and a computer and put this together for their friends and family back home—and now their Internet celebrities.

I give you: “Lazy Ramadi”…

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I have the greatest wife in the world!

Despite the fact that tomorrow is Mother’s Day, I came home from work last night and sat down at the dinner table only to find my Father’s Day present waiting for me, a month early.

She got me two tickets to see the Yankees play the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in June!  I’m glad she told me now, because it’s on a weeknight and I’ll need to make sure I can get away from work.

The plan is for me to take Nolan.  This will be his first visit to the House that Ruth Built.  I’ve been dying to take him since he was born.  The last time I went to the Stadium with my dad Nolan was only about 2-months-old.  I remember telling my dad how I couldn’t wait to take Nolan some day and him telling me not to be anxious for him to grow up too fast.

This will be a fun trip.  In a couple of years when Thomas is a little older we’ll bring the whole family.

Anyway, happy Mother’s (and Father’s) Day everyone!

Can you hear me now?

I haven’t quite made up my mind how I feel about the whole NSA phone data collection issue.

On the surface it feels like a borderline privacy issue, but I don’t see where there is anything illegal about it—so long as the government doesn’t force phone companies to turn over the records without a warrant.

Otherwise, they’re the phone companies’ records. They can do what they want with them. It’s no different than any other company selling your info to telemarketers/spammers.

When Kris first heard about this last night she thought it was no big deal, saying, “Didn’t people figure they were doing this already?”

So I guess it sounds like I’m in the “no big deal” camp after all. If it’s within the law, which this seems like it is, and it keeps planes from falling out of the sky, then I guess I’m okay with it.

Sith silliness

I spotted this on PLANET3RRY's blog and it's too damn funny.

"Star Wars" fans know the only film the Emperor didn't appear in was the original movie.

Now, here is the lost scene where Darth Vader breaks the news to the Emperor that the Death Star has been destroyed, recreated courtesy of Cartoon Network's "Robot Chicken" (and if you're a "24" fan, listen for when the phone rings)...

And now a word from our sponsor...

“A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!”—Ralphie Parker, “A Christmas Story”

Anyone else feel a little let down by “Lost?”

During “Lost” last night they ran another commercial for the fictitious Hanso Foundation—this time plugging the web address http://www.sublymonal.com/.

So I go check it out. What you find are six TV screens rotating around in a circle with the word “OBEY” in the center. Could this be somehow related to the new hatch Eko and Lock found in last night’s episode—the one filled with TV monitors observing other hatches on the island?

I clicked around and eventually got some sort of message that features the words “Code” and “Heir Apparent.” It makes no sense. So I Google the word “sublymonal” and find a Wikipedia entry that included the following:

This term was also used in a sprite commercial according to this website: http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=42893 The site sublymonal.com shares the same nameservers as coca cola.

Lymon is a conflation of lemon and lime and the long running advertised flavor of Sprite, the commercial's sponsor.

The link in the entry leads to a Marketing Daily article on Sprite’s new ad campaign, which includes this tidbit:

The spots carry the line, "Welcome to Sublymonal advertising. Don't worry, it will only affect your brain." The ads sign off with "Obey," which echoes the 12-year-old "Obey your thirst" Sprite tagline.

I swear, I felt just like Ralphie. What a rip off!

As for the episode itself—there was literally a question mark on the ground? **groan** Why not have a big “X” to mark the spot? And why doesn’t Locke seem to be interested in following that vacuum tube to see where it leads? That was the first thing I thought of.

Back to the 'Toy' store

Disney’s “Toy Story 3” is marching forward, with Pixar now onboard.

The news came out almost a year ago that Disney was going to make “TS 3” without Pixar. The upcoming film “Cars” was supposed to be the last movie in the initial deal between the two studios and it seemed they would be parting company.

Meanwhile, Disney, which owned the rights to the “TS” characters was going to make their own sequel. As a Pixar fan, I was really hoping it would suck.

But since then Disney went out and bought Pixar—so now they’ll be making “TS 3” after all.

I’m still not excited about this movie. I’d rather see new original material coming from Pixar, who has always been the leader in the CG animation field. And I can’t help but wonder if their heart is really in this movie, or if it’s being forced on them by Disney.

Rookie of the year

Well, I remembered the camera for Nolan’s game last night and snapped some decent pictures and one video clip.

The video is of Nolan fielding a ball at the pitcher’s mound and throwing it to first.

I thought I had shot a really good one of him hitting it and running the bases, only to find out the clip was actually of my feet walking away after he was done. I never pressed record at the start, and then when I thought I was stopping it I was actually starting it. Uggh. What a rookie mistake.

I’ll just try again another day. It was pretty cold and cloudy, and it looked like it was going to rain. So I didn’t bother bringing the camera to today’s game.

Dance fever

This guy is pretty good. There are a few parts that are a little sloppy or where I thought he could do more. But all in all I thought it was entertaining enough to post the clip.

Thanks, Terry!

Brain power

You can see me making a fool of myself on TV once again. WNYT put together a report on the Nintendo DS game "Brain Age," which hypes itself as exercise for your mind. Does it really work? And what is my brain age? Watch to find out!

'Tell me where the popcorn is!'

Maybe 20th Century Fox is moving ahead with plans for a "24" movie after all. Keifer Sutherland said on a BBC talk show that the movie will be filmed in London.

Are you gonna eat that?

DES MOINES, Iowa - Wendy Dershem may think twice before leaving that egg roll on her plate at her next Chinese buffet. The Des Moines woman, her boyfriend and her two children were kicked out of a restaurant last week after management accused her of leaving too much food on her plate.

Read the rest: Family Kicked Out of Buffet Restaurant - Yahoo! News

The TUC

A co-worker just brought up a very good point about the Times Union taking on the naming rights of the Pepsi Arena. Why in the world would they change the name from “Arena” to “Center?”

He points to the example of Bank One Ballpark in Arizona, aka “The BOB” (as in short for Robert). Bank One spent who knows how much money on those rights, and no one calls it Bank One Ballpark. Everyone calls it the BOB.

The Times Union Center could easily become known as “The TUC” (as in tuck). If they had left it as “Arena” no one would go around calling it “The TUA.”

What's in a name?

So the word is Albany’s Pepsi Arena is going to become the Times Union Arena. The official announcement is expected later this morning.

The arena, which is owned by Albany County, was originally called the Knickerbocker Arena (known as “the Knick” for short). The county sold the naming rights to Pepsi 10 years ago for $300,000 a year.

When the deal expired, the county upped its price to $350,000 a year for 10 years, and no one bit—not even Pepsi. So presumably the price has been lowered (by how much we still don’t know) and the TU has jumped on it.

This makes it one of the few venues named after a newspaper. The St. Petersburg Times Forum is the only other one that leaps to mind.

So let’s get to the big question: what do we nickname (or perhaps “knickname”) the arena. Shortening it “the TU Arena” is obvious.

Since the paper also used to run the now-defunct Knickerbocker News, how about calling it “the Knickerbocker News Arena?”

My pick: they should call it “the Rex” after TU editor Rex Smith.

UPDATE: It's official. The TU is reporting on its site the arena will become the Times Union Center effective Jan. 1. It's seems they're going to pay the asking price of $350,000 for 10 years.

From the article:

''We are taking one of what will be many steps toward becoming a more diversified media company,'' [Times Union Publisher Mark E.] Aldam said.

He called the investment ''a great marketing opportunity'' for the newspaper.

Damn you, George Lucas!

I knew it! I knew this would happen.

When they announced the Star Wars movies would be coming out on DVD in 2004 the deal was that we would get the 1997 Special Edition versions (further altered for the DVDs), not the originals.

That angered a lot of fans who didn’t care for the changes made to the movies. Personally, I can appreciate both versions. I couldn’t see why Lucasfilm couldn’t release both versions all in one set. After all, there is a special edition DVD of “Terminator 2” out there that actually has three different cuts of the movie included in the set.

I resisted the urge to get the Stars Wars DVDs for a year, but finally caved in December. Now, just five months later, comes this news: in September they will issue a set that includes both versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

Here’s a tidbit from the news release on starwars.com…

In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie, as well as the original theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

See the title crawl to Star Wars before it was known as Episode IV; see the pioneering, if dated, motion control model work on the attack on the Death Star; groove to Lapti Nek or the Ewok Celebration song like you did when you were a kid; and yes, see Han Solo shoot first.

Arrrggh! If only I had waited one more year!

In other news, the same day the new DVDs hit the street, the “LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy” videogame will also be released. That will be a must have in the Rooney house.

Bang! Bang!

Wow. The ending of tonight’s “Lost” was great. I sort of knew something like that would happen with those characters, but I didn’t know when or how—and I wasn’t expecting it tonight!

Look! Up in the sky!

Make sure to check out the new trailer for this summer's “Superman Returns.” It looks great!

Kevin Spacey makes a great Lex Luthor.

I'm really excited to see this movie. I've always been an X-Men fan, but I think Superman is going to blow “X-Men: The Last Stand” out of the water. Don't mess with the big red S!

Catching up

I realize I’ve been really neglecting the blog lately. Here are some of the significant goings on…

• I recorded my demo Friday night, which I will soon send out to people in hopes of landing some voiceover work. The recording session was a great experience. I can’t wait to hear the finished product. I should get the demo in about a month. At that point I’ll make sure to find a spot for it online so you all can hear it.
• The price of gas continues to frustrate everyone. Last Thursday it took $50 to fill the minivan (it would have taken a little more, but I stopped at $50)! Subsequently, we’ve cancelled our planned summer vacation in Maine. Instead we’re going on an extended camping trip in the Adirondacks, a little closer to home.
• Nolan played another game last weekend. Once again I failed to bring the camera. He has two games this weekend. So I’ll try to get some pictures of one of them.
• I’ve been enjoying the new season (ok, “series” if you’re British) of “Doctor Who.” The first episode was fun. The second was better. But this past Saturday’s show, “School Reunion,” was a sheer delight! It was so much fun seeing old characters Sarah Jane Smith and K9 make a welcome comeback. The special effects were the best ever produced for a “Doctor Who” show—and on par with the best of sci fi TV (long gone are the days of guys in cheesy rubber monster suits and really cheap sets). And Anthony Stewart Head made a terrific villain.

As always I’m sure there’s more I’ve forgotten about that has slipped through the cracks. I’ll endeavor to do better.

Another reason to not watch 'The View'

...as if I needed one.

It's been announced that Rosie O'Donnell will be taking over for Meredith Vieira on ABC's daytime talk show.

Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones on the same show... If that isn't enough to give the Geek In Chief over at TVGeekSpeak.com heart plapatations, I don't know what is.

(On a related note, what's up with the head Geek? There hasn't been a fresh post on TVGS is weeks. Maybe Joe Video can shed some light?)

I'm still here

It’s been far too long since the last time I posted anything. I had some vacation time last week, then our friends the Reeds came to visit last weekend and the last few days have been busy at work.

So with all that I haven’t had time to blog—except for last Friday’s news about Star Trek. I mean c’mon, we have to make time for the important things, right?

Anyway, the vacation was good. I had three days off. We were supposed to spend that time in Boston, but when our plans changed I decided to keep the vacation time and just hang out around home. On Day 1 I took Nolan to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. On Day 2 we went for a family bike ride and picnic. On Day 3 we took a day trip to the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum in Poughkeepsie.

It poured buckets over the weekend. So our visit with the Mike & Sharon and their kids was a washout. We kept to indoor activities like a trip to the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology and dinner at Applebee’s.

Last night was Nolan’s first baseball game of the season. Sorry…no pictures. We didn’t even bother bringing the camera. Kris had her hands full with Thomas and Chester and I was busy helping to coach the team. He has another game this weekend, so hopefully we’ll snap some shots then and maybe even get some video.

About half of his team was also on his tee ball team last year, and I’m really proud of them. You can see such a big improvement since last year. It’s going to be a fun season!

'Lost' in space

The folks at Paramount are apparently pretty confident in their upcoming “Mission: Impossible III.” Before the movie has even come out they’ve handed its rookie director the keys to their biggest franchise.

You heard that right—J.J. Abrams will direct the next Star Trek movie! Abrams will also write the project, along with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who wrote “M:I III” with him. Abrams, the creator of the hit show “Lost,” will also be a producer, as will his fellow “Lost” producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk.

Paramount is hoping to have the movie out in 2008. The story will depict young Kirk and young Spock meeting for the first time at Starfleet Academy and sharing their first adventure together.

Abrams and company are going to write a new script based on this concept. However, this premise is nothing new. A similar script, called “Star Trek: The Academy Years” was written back in the 1980s. Harve Bennett, the man who produced Treks II-V wanted to make this next. It was initially given the green light. But then there was a regime change at Paramount and the idea was scrapped. Bennett left and “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” was made instead.

The news about Abrams was reported this morning in Daily Variety. However, the article made no mention of longtime Trek honcho Rick Berman or any of the other names that have been familiar to fans as writers and producers for the last decade or two. It has long been speculated that Berman’s days at the helm should end following the flops that were “Star Trek: Enterprise” and “Star Trek: Nemesis.”

This also seems to confirm that Eric Jendersen’s script that’s been floating around recently is officially dead in the water. Tentatively titled “Star Trek: The Beginning,” it would have been set in the time between “Enterprise” and The Original Series, featuring a completely original cast of characters. The story would have dealt with the Romulan War that was referenced when the Romulans made their first appearance in the Original Series episode “Balance of Terror.”

As for Abrams, I’ll take the wait and see approach. I’m pleased to see Paramount is going after not only new blood, but some big-name new blood to revitalize Trek. But Abrams can be very hit or miss. Just look at his show “Alias” and even “Lost” and you will find some definite high moments and very definite low moments. While he’s written some great scripts for those shows and, as mentioned, Paramount is apparently pleased with “M:I III,” he also wrote “Armageddon” (not one of my favorite movies) and a draft for a Superman screenplay that was reviled by fans on the Internet.

So time will tell what Abrams has in store for Trek. I’m a “Lost” fan and I liked “Alias” when it was good. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Star Trek.

Marathon Man

Congratulations to my brother Tim. He just finished the 2006 Boston Marathon with a time of 3:29:09! His pace at the end was 7:59. Here's his stats:

5k 0:24:26
10k 0:48:44
15k 1:13:20
20k 1:37:30
Half 1:42:38
25k 2:01:44
30k 2:27:11
35k 2:52:54
40k 3:18:20

Start Time Offset 05:02
Pace 07:59
Official Time 3:29:09
Overall 5543
Gender 4881
Division 1950

The qualifying time for his division is 3:30:00. So this means he's automatically qualified for next year's Boston Marathon.

Way to go, Tim!

Hoppin' down the bunny trail

The Easter eggs are all colored and ready for the Easter Bunny to hide tonight.

>>See the video here!

The Bunny still isn’t sure where he’ll hide them. In some years he’s hidden them in the backyard. Some years they’re indoors. I guess it depends on the weather. Even though tomorrow is supposed to be nice I have a sneaking suspicion they’ll be indoors so the kids can look for them right away.

In other news, we’ve had a busy day. Nolan had his first baseball practice of the year. He’s on the Stewart’s Shops team. Hopefully we can somehow convert that into free ice cream!

Starring as Chris Rooney...

So who would play me in the movie of my life?

I saw this earlier today on MSNBC. The site MyHeritage.com has an app that lets you upload a photo of yourself and then their software will find what celebrities look most like you. They have about 3,200 celebrity photos on file to try to match to you.

So who would play me? I tried a few different pictures of me and got different results each time. At first it thought I resembled a young Matthew Broderick. But a subsequent attempt matched me to Eugene Levy (apparently I’m destined to become Jim’s dad from “American Pie”).

Some of the other matches for me included Harold Ramis and Tom Welling (I don’t see that one myself).

While most of my attempts matched me to various celebrigeeks, Kris fared much better. I tried two photos of her. The matches included Amanda Peet, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba and Elle Macpherson. Not too shabby!

'Your attention please...'

Is Yankee Stadium the same without that familiar voice echoing from above?

Longtime stadium announcer Bob Sheppard—the man Reggie Jackson once called the “Voice of God”—missed his first home opener in 56 years! He threw out his hip last night at his Long Island home.

Sheppard is thought to be in his 90s. He won’t tell anyone his age.

He’s going to sit out this homestand and is expected to be back for the next one.

Sheppard has been introducing players and delivering messages over the public address system since 1951.

Yippee! Look who's 3!

Today is Thomas’ third birthday!

We got an early start on the celebration this weekend with Kris’ parents. The boys had a great time playing with grandma & grandpa.

Of course, a highlight for any kid’s birthday is the cake and presents—both of which Thomas enjoyed. He also got a kick out of how the icing on the cake turned his tongue blue!

We’ll continue the festivities today with a trip to the train store to pick out a new choo-choo and a visit from his friend Stephanie and her family and my mom for dinner—not to mention more presents and cake.

Happy birthday, Thomas!

Plattsburgh on 'The Daily Nightly'

I'm a loyal reader of Brian Williams' Daily Nightly blog. So imagine my surprise when today's post from the NBC Nightly News anchor included the following:

Greetings and thanks are due to several groups: the journalism students from SUNY Plattsburgh, N.Y. who visited 30 rock today -- it was great spending time with students, as it always is...

I'm willing to bet this means the annual NBS-AERho convention is in New York City.

Back in 1994, my senior year at Plattsburgh, we went to the convention in New York. While we were there we attended tapings of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Rush Limbaugh: the Television Show," "Phil Donohue" and "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee." We even got to spend some time with Regis as the current students apparently got to do today with Brian Williams.

I'm sure Peter Ensel, my old advisor and current head of the communications department was in on this. Way to go Plattsburgh gang!

Vindication!

As you may recall from my “Home Improvement” updates on our basement renovation last year, the only real snag in the process came when it was time to install the carpet. We went with a guy called the Carpet King, which turned out to be the one really bad decision we made in the whole process.

What should have been a one-day job stretched over several days for various reasons.

In the end we were sold much more carpet than was needed and the King (aka Stan Kubik) refused to take it back, citing his no returns policy. Instead we got him to use the excess to carpet our stairs upstairs.

But there was still more left over. The King agreed to bind it and return it to us at no extra charge so we could use it as a rug in our foyer. For weeks I would call him or stop at his store to see him in person and ask for our rug. He always had excuse after excuse why it was not ready.

He probably didn’t have it. He probably used it in another job or accidentally threw it out.

Anyway, he wore me down and eventually I stopped calling him. I gave up and just decided I didn’t care anymore. However, part of me always felt bad for allowing him to get away with something.

That brings us to today’s news. The King has been arrested by Colonie police on charges of larceny and forgery. He’s accused of taking money for jobs and then never completing the work.

Shocker!

I feel a bit vindicated. But I also feel a little guilty. Maybe if I had kept on the guy last year, other people wouldn’t have been scammed?

UPDATE: WNYT interviewed me for their story on the Carpet King. You can view the video here.

It's about time

Ok, wrap your head around this one... at 1:02 and three seconds Wednesday morning, April 5, 2006, the time and date will be 01:02:03:04:05:06.

Woah.

Now does this somehow relate to the "Lost" numbers?

'24' shocker

If you haven’t watched tonight’s “24” yet, I won’t spoil it for you.

But holy crap!  It was an act all this time?  I don’t think anyone saw this coming!

Weekend recap

We had quite the busy, rock 'em sock 'em weekend.

Saturday morning we took the kids to an Easter egg hunt sponsored by Parsons (the adoption agency we used). Besides the easy-to-find eggs (the event was held indoors because of fear of rain) there was a bouncy bounce (click for video), games, crafts and a magician.

We returned home for lunch and then Nolan and I went to the movies. He wanted to see “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” but it was sold out. So I told him he could either see “The Shaggy Dog” now (it was starting in about 15 minutes) or we could come back to see “Ice Age” tomorrow. He picked “Shaggy Dog.”

After the movie I hung a railing in the stairway going down to the basement. That’s a project we’ve been meaning to complete since the basement was finished last year.

Saturday night mom watched the kids while Kris and I went to an auction to benefit the Niskayuna Co-Op Nursery School. Our kids didn’t go to that school, but Nolan’s friend Danny does and his parents, our friends Ray and Marlene, were in charge of the auction.

We had a good time. There was a live auction and a silent auction. We had the winning bids on a couple silent auction items. We picked up a package that included four tickets to a Tri-City Valley Cats baseball game and a gift certificate to TGI Fridays. I also got some cheap tickets to an Albany Conquest arena football game. However, I got “ebayed” on a baseball autographed by Bubba Crosby. I had the high bid all night long until someone swooped in at the last minute to outbid me by $5.

Sunday we all slept in a little, courtesy Daylight Savings Time.

After church Nolan had a party to mark his last religion class of the year. Kris volunteered in Nolan’s class. While they’re is in class, Thomas gets to eat doughtnuts and play with the other kids waiting while their older siblings are in class and I always enjoy visiting with some of the other moms and dads.

Saturday was supposed to be the day we celebrate Chester’s birthday. When we adopted him in 2003, we weren’t told his exact birth date—just that he was born sometime in April 2000. So we picked April 1 to observe his birthday. But since we weren’t home much of the day on Saturday we made it up to him by taking him to PetSmart to pick out a big ol’ birthday bone for himself.

The weather was beautiful Sunday, so we spent a good part of the rest of the day outdoors. The boys, Chester and I walked to a nearby park to play some baseball. I’d pitch to Nolan, he’d hit the ball, Thomas would go running after it. I also beamed with pride watching Thomas pick up a bat and hit a ball pitched by Nolan.

While Thomas napped, Nolan and I took a break to play some videogames. Then we went back outside to play more in the backyard. We tossed the football and played a little more baseball. Thomas eventually woke up and joined us.

By Sunday night we were all exhausted!

Woohoo!

UPDATE: The teaser trailer for “The Simpsons Movie” has been pulled from YouTube. But here’s a link to the official trailer page on the Quicktime site.

Spring training

A sure sign that spring has sprung…baseball has returned to the Rooney backyard!

Kris glanced out the window today to check on the kids who were playing in the backyard and caught this sight. Apparently Nolan was giving Thomas some pointers on hitting and throwing.

And she says Nolan hit the ball Thomas was about to pitch in this shot. Way to go little sluggers!

Beware the apple bus!

The kids enjoy surfing YouTube with me for funny, kid-friendly video clips.

Their favorite at the moment is “Spider-Man: The Peril of Doc Ock” (see below). It’s basically “Spider-Man 2” condensed down to just under four minutes. Oh yeah, it’s also done completely with Legos. It even includes the sequence where Spidey and Dr. Octopus duke it out on top of a moving commuter train.

The other morning Thomas woke up and came down stairs to fine me sitting at the computer. He crawled up into my lap and asked to see the “apple bus.” I had no idea what he was talking about, but he insisted there was an apple bus video with a train in it.

Somehow I figured out he was talking about the Spider-Man video, although I still didn’t get the apple bus connection.

Then when Doc Ock appeared on screen, with his mechanical arms flailing about, Thomas declared, “He an apple bus!”

That’s when the light bulb went off.

“You mean octopus?” I asked.

“Yeah, apple bus,” he answered.

So without further ado, here’s Spider-Man vs. the evil Dr. Apple Bus…

The more you know...

Hilarious! Check out these April Fool’s Day PSAs from the cast of “The Office.”

UPDATE: Sorry! I just realized now (4/3) that I've had the wrong link for this. It's been corrected!

More map madness

Entertainment Weekly has a nifty interactive analysis of the mysterious "Lost" map.

Thanks, Joe Video, for the link.

Can we see that again?

If any of you Losties would like to get another look at that map that was on back of the blast door that lowered down on top of Locke, here you go (click it for a larger view)...

There are several phrases written Latin. Here they are with translations:

Ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira deorum est—The wrath of the gods may be great, but it certainly is slow

Malum consilium quod mutari non potest—It's a bad plan that can't be changed

Sursum corda—Lift up your hearts (to God) (this phrase appears three times)

Credo nos in fluctu eodem esse—I think we're on the same wavelength

Aegrescit medendo—The disease worsens with the treatment. The remedy is worse than the disease (this phrase is written near the two "incidents")

Cogito ergo doleo—I think therefore I hurt

Hic sunt dracones—Here are dragons (In the New York public library sets a small copper sphere known as the Lenox Globe. This 1503 artifact dates back to a time when the world, in its entirety, was yet to be explored. If you look closely at the Eastern coast of Asia near the equatorial line you can find the Latin words, hic sunt dracones, which translates to, here are dragons. These simple, etched words signified the end of "discovered" lands, words warning sailors of the uncertainty and dangers of the unknown. This warning held many a brave man in check but for a select few; it issued a silent challenge to push forward. These men recognized the fact that no true opportunity or progress can come without risk. They were willing to face their dragons.)

These are not all literal translations. When you run some of the phrases through a Latin translator tool online they come out sounding a little like gibberish, but these English phrases are pretty close.

Thanks, Kelly.

Getting paid to talk

I've been taking voice acting classes. Play the audio post to hear all about it...

Suppertime

Okay, there have been requests again for more family photos. So here’s a shot of the Rooney boys sitting around the dinner table together.

Scratch off Sox

Here's an interesting article Shannon brought to my attention. Soon in Massachusetts you will be able to buy Boston Red Sox scratch-off lottery tickets where the top prize is season tickets to Fenway for life.

I immediately told some co-workers about this story, which prompted one fellow Yankee fan to shout out, "That's no prize!"

No, not for Yankee fans. But we may get our chance soon enough. The Red Sox are the first MLB team to strike such a deal with a state lottery commission. However, the article says several other teams--inlcuding the Yanks and Mets--have plans to follow suit.

The Red Sox lottery tickets will sell for $5 and also offer other prizes, like Red Sox cruise packages and jerseys used in games, as well as more traditional prizes of up to $1 million.

'The claw!'

I’m glad neither of my kids have ever done this—although I wouldn’t put it past them to try.

A 3-year-old boy in Minnesota managed to climb inside one of those “claw-grabber” toy machines. Firefighters had to come get the kid out. But he was laughing and having a great time. In fact, he didn’t want to leave.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. A boy got stuck in of these things two years ago in a Wisconsin grocery store and another one worked his way up the toy chute last year in an Indiana Wal-Mart.

Maybe there’s something to this? Lock your kid inside the toy box while you go do your shopping. We could be on to the next big thing!

Juggle Fever

Juggling is one of those skills I always wish I had learned.

I had some friends in high school who were really good jugglers. One of them even carried around a set of bowling pins in his backpack and gave them a toss during free time at school.

My brother learned to juggle in college. I remember him juggling eggs in the kitchen when I was little.

With all that said, enjoy this amazing clip forwarded to us from one of our neighbors…


Not to me outdone, another juggler has copied this routine trick-for-trick—except he uses five balls instead of three!

Links list update

I removed the link to Oh, SmAlbany! from my list on the right side of this site since that blog hasn’t been updated since December and I finally got around to adding a link to Aaron’s blog.

'I married a geek'

The new “Doctor Who” made its American television debut last week. Even though I downloaded all of the episodes last year, I’ve still been watching them on Sci Fi anyway.

Tonight Kris came down to the basement just in time to catch the last five minutes of one of my favorites, “The Unquiet Dead.” As the TARDIS dematerialized at the end of the show Kris said, “This is stupid.”

“This is good stuff,” I countered.

“You’re such a geek,” she told me.

This is news to anyone? I smiled and said, “I’m amazed I convinced you to marry me.”

What did I do after “Doctor Who” was over? I popped in one of my new “Star Trek Fan Collective: Time Travel” DVDs and watched the classic 1967 episode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.”

I am such a geek.

Survival of the fittest

Wow...we just managed to get through an entire hour of "24" where no one was killed. No bad guys died. No good guys died. Status Quo. When was the last time that happened?

Meanwhile, at least now we know where Desmond ran off to on "Lost." Too bad for him Jack took a page from the IMF playbook. Peter Graves would be proud.

More Cruise vs. 'South Park' news

A follow up to Friday’s post about Tom Cruise vs. “South Park”—here’s the official statement from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone released Friday through their lawyer:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for Earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!

-- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu

For those unfamiliar, Scientologists who have reached the highest level of their church’s teachings are taught, among other things, that human beings are possessed by the souls of dead aliens banished to Earth by a galactic tyrant named Xenu.

Hey, it was a religion founded by science fiction writer after all.

Tom Cruise doesn't want you to read this...

Here’s my little way of sticking it to Tom Cruise.

If you haven’t heard, the word is that Tom Cruise threatened to refuse to do any publicity for this summer’s “Mission: Impossible III” unless Comedy Central pulled a scheduled rerun of the “South Park” episode titled “Trapped in the Closet.”

Viacom controls both Paramount and Comedy Central—and apparently Cruise controls Viacom.

The episode lampoons Scientology and subtlety (or maybe not so subtlety) hints that Cruise is a closet homosexual.

Back in January there was a story that Cruise kept the episode off the air in the U.K. It first aired in the United States in November.

This of course comes just days after Scientologist Isaac Hayes, who voiced the character Chef for nearly a decade, quit the show over the episode (conspiracy nuts think Cruise got to him).

The New York Post says “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who had some critical words for Hayes, have been ordered not to discuss the latest incident with Cruise.

So while he might be able to keep the show off the air, he can’t remove it from everywhere. Here’s a link to the entire episode on YouTube (until the agents of Tom Cruise get to them too). You can also find it on Xenu.net.

Man, this guy gets on my nerves. I recognize this means Cruise might not want to promote “M:I III” on this blog. I think I can live with that.

Mmm...green food...

Happy St. Pat's Day from Bruegger's Bagels!

Coffee cola

I’m currently consuming a free sample of the new Coca-Cola Blak. It’s essentially carbonated coffee, or as Coke describes it:

...a sophisticated, premium blend of Coca-Cola, natural flavors and coffee essence.

My first reaction was that it wasn’t bad—soda with a nice ice coffee flavor. But then the more I drank of it the more I realized that those are really two flavors that probably shouldn’t go together.

I predict a short life for this product. It will eventually go the way of Crystal Pepsi.

Besides, why would you give your beverage a name that’s so close to “Blecch?” That’s just asking for trouble.

Final verdict: it's not awful, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to drink another one.

'Black Velvet Band'

Our Hair of the Dog CD is one of Thomas' favorites...

Here's the scoop...

If you wear green on St. Patrick’s Day (and why wouldn’t you?) make sure to stop into your neighborhood Stewart’s Shop. Everyone who wears green on St. Pat’s Day is entitled to a free ice cream cone!

Stewart’s says they dished out 120,000 free cones to green clad customers last year and they expect to serve up even more this year.

Mmm… Free ice cream…

Emotional time bomb

Last week I boasted to everyone I encountered—friends, family, yes, even total strangers on the street—that last Monday’s double episode of “24” was the best two hours of television I had watched in a long time.

If that’s the case, then tonight was perhaps one of the most depressing hours of TV I’ve watched in a while.

Let’s sum up: it begins as we’re still reeling from the death of loveable lug Edgar (along with about 40 percent of the rest of the CTU staff). Then they pile on with the further degradation of Jack Bauer’s relationship with his daughter Kim, the heroic death of disgraced CTU boss Lynn McGill and that tearjerker final phone call between the doomed security guard and his young daughter. Oh, but wait, we’re not done. If that isn’t enough the show ends with the death Tony “Soul Patch” Almeida.

Not the Soul Patch! Tony was the only other character besides Jack (and Kim) left from season one. You can’t kill the Soul Patch! C’mon! The headline to the LA Times article about the “24” killing spree says it best: “You are killing us!”

Is it any wonder the episode ended with Jack breaking down in tears? If this is the worst day of Jack’s life then this had to be the worst hour of that day. Let’s hope next week he starts working out his grief by doing what he does best—kicking terrorist ass and maybe torturing a few bad guys along the way.

March Madness? Who cares!

I know I may be in the minority here. But I really could care less about March Madness. Seriously, it does absolutely nothing for me.

Granted, it’s a little interesting now that UAlbany has made it the Big Dance for the first time. I guess I’ll root for them Thursday as they get their butts kicked by UConn. But that’s the extent of my interest.

I’ve never been a fan of college sports at all. It’s one thing if I have some sort of connection to a team or I get to go to a game in person. Beyond that, who cares?

People go crazy during March, like the NCAA tournament is the greatest thing in the world. Aaron went so far as to say it’s the greatest tournament in sports.

“Better then the World Series, better then the Super Bowl, better then the Olympics…”

Really? I don’t get it.

I know a lot of you do get it. I know I’ll probably get flamed for this. But I’d rather watch the World Baseball Classic than a bunch of college students playing basketball.

The rest of the story...

Now we know the story behind that live action version of the “Simpsons” intro that spread like wildfire on the Net last week. According to the Hollywood Reporter, it was part of a very clever marketing campaign by British satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which carries new episodes of “The Simpsons” in the U.K.

"If we had only showed it on air, you might turn to someone and say that was really cool," said BSkyB communications director Matthew Anderson. "Putting it online, there's a fantastic discussion between millions of people -- it's bringing the Simpsons to them instead of having them tune in."After less than a week, the video has been viewed millions of times at online video sites like YouTube and Google Video.

Penguin power

Nolan had an entry in the Learning Fair at his school last night. He put together a project called “Penguins Are People Too.”

He cut out pictures of penguins doing various things—like swimming, taking care of babies, sliding on the ice, etc.—and then pasted them on a poster board. Then he had laminated pictures of people doing the same things. People visiting Nolan’s project had to match the pictures of the people to the pictures of the penguins.

He even had hand-outs. Everyone who played his penguin game got to take home a list of the books he used while working on his project.

We were very proud of him. He did great job explaining his project to people and helping other kids match the pictures up. It was pretty impressive for a kindergartener. While lots of kids had projects at the fair, Nolan was one of only two students in his class that took part.

Yoda screen tests

I sat down at the computer with the kids this morning and searched Google Video and You Tube for Muppet clips. Nolan thought this one was particularly silly...

'To seek out new life...'

This is pretty exciting stuff. Scientists may have discovered evidence of water geysers on one of Saturn’s icy moons.

This greatly enhanced and colorized image from the Cassini spacecraft shows a faint plume of ice crystals and water vapor rising hundreds of miles from the surface of Enceladus.

Evidence of water in a liquid form puts Enceladus on the short list f places within the solar system most likely to have extraterrestrial life.

If Enceladus does harbor life, it probably consists of microbes or other primitive organisms capable of living in extreme conditions, scientists say. But hey, we’ve all got to start somewhere, right?

Hey, bartender

A co-worker just told me how she's looking forward to drinking an Irish car bomb to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

"What's an Irish car bomb?" I naively asked.

It's a mixture of Guinness, Bailey’s and Jameson whiskey.

Somehow I've managed to go through life without hearing of this drink. Do I have to turn in my Irish heritage membership card?

I can't say I'm wild about the name, but it sounds delicious!

Muppet personality test

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!" You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up. If only your routine didn't always bomb! You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

Audioblog: Testing 1, 2, 3

Track Jack

“24” continues to be—hands down—the most intense, exciting show on television. Last night’s double episode was some of the best TV I’ve watched in a long time!

But if you thought I was a “24” nut—that’s nothing compared to some other fans of the show with too much free time. Check out the “Jack Tracker,” an interactive map showing all the locations Jack Bauer zips around to in Los Angeles as he saves the country from evil terrorists…

The Simpsons LIVE!

I spotted this over the weekend on Lost Remote. I don't know what the history is behind this clip, which depicts a live action version of the "Simpsons" intro, but it's very cool. Click the image to play...

Flashback Friday

Friday night I assisted my boss with videotaping the Niskayuna High School production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”

He’s been doing this for several years now. He uses multiple cameras (there were four this year) and a combination of his own mics set up on and around the stage plus the mix from the house audio board. He also shoots some rehearsals and other “bonus features” and puts it all together on DVD.

This was my second year working with him. Last year I was recruited to join his crew taping the school’s production of “Les Miserables.”

It’s always a bit of a trip going back to my old alma mater to see a school musical—quite the walk down memory lane. I of course had the honor of playing Mr. Sowerberry the undertaker in the 1990 production of “Oliver.” I was involved with the Drama Club in other ways through my high school years, but that was my biggest moment on stage.

Here was the real freaky part…at the end of the night we had packed up all of the gear and were ready to load it into his car when he realized he had forgotten one of his mic stands that was set up on the side of the stage. I volunteered to go back and get it. I started walking across the stage to get to the stand that was on the other side when I sort of froze about half way across and looked out into the auditorium. It sunk in that this was a view I hadn’t seen in nearly 16 years.

My boss’ wife was also part of our crew. She commented that it won’t be long before I’ll be going there to watch my kids in one of these musicals. Whatever Nolan and Thomas get into (sports, drama, music, art, etc.) it sure will be great to go see them do there thing in the same halls I once walked.

Poor sports?

All right, George, we get it. You're not happy about the World Baseball Classic. But I think you need to accept that this thing is happening and move on. This sign posted at the entrance to Legends Field in Tampa just seems like sour grapes.

And note the spelling of "Yankess." Ugh.

Personally, I question the time of year they chose for this event, but otherwise I'm excited about it. I watched a couple of innings of China vs. Japan the other morning in the gym (Japan kicked butt).

Mike in the movies

Check it out—I have a famous friend!

Mike Sussman is a fellow PSTVer from the Class of 1994 and the webmaster of PSTVAlumni.com.

Last year Mike appeared as an extra in the new Will Farrell movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” in which he does for NASCAR drivers what he did for TV news people in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy.”

Not only has Mike apparently made the final cut of the movie, he’s actually in the trailer! In the scene pictured here, Mike plays a convenience store clerk in a flashback sequence. That’s young Ricky Bobby taking off in his mom’s station wagon while she’s in the store.

Look for “Talladega Nights” to hit theaters this summer.

'Tis the season

Yippe! One of my favorite signs of spring just sprung. A page just came to my cell phone with the first Yankees game score of spring training.

Granted, the Yanks lost to the Phillies 3-6, but still, baseball scores are always a welcome sight!

D'oh!

Study shows more people know 'The Simpsons' than First Amendment rights
By ANNA JOHNSON Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) - Americans apparently know more about "The Simpsons" than they do about the First Amendment.

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

Joe Madeira, director of exhibitions at the museum, said he was surprised by the results.

"Part of the survey really shows there are misconceptions, and part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions," said Madeira, whose museum will be dedicated to helping visitors understand the First Amendment when it opens in April. "It means we have our job cut out for us."

The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.

It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found.

The telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Jan. 20-22 by the research firm Synovate and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

---
On the Net:
www.freedommuseum.us
www.firstamendmentcenter.org

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)