The Free Stuff Files: Election edition

Election Day is here and you can celebrate Democracy buy getting free stuff!

Stop into any Starbucks today and pick up a free tall cup of coffee. I will be all over that one. I might even hit a couple of different Starbucks, since you can't travel a half mile in any direction around here without bumping into one.

The other two deals I wish I could take advantage of, but sadly they don't have any shops with convenient locations for me. But maybe this will be helpful for some of you out there in blogland.

First up, enjoy the sweet taste of freedom at a participating Ben & Jerry's scoop shop between 5 and 8 p.m. That's when they'll be passing out free cones. Personally, I'd pick Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream.

Lastly, an "I Voted" sticker will get you an free star-shaped doughnut with red, white and blue sprinkles at Krispy Kreme.

MMmmm...delicious democracy...

John Williams tribute

This is just too darn awsome...

Getting it all done

We had an insanely busy weekend, which featured:

• Halloween (see above photo)
  
• Junior Warriors Basketball
  
• Selling more popcorn for Cub Scouts
  
• Donating blood
  
• Dinner with the Prices
  
• Church and religion classes
  
• The Wiggles concert in Albany
  
• Yard work

Kris has chronicled all of it on the Rooney Train.

Needless to say, I’m exhausted today. I need to get to bed early tonight because it’s going to be a looong day tomorrow!

Trick-or-Treat

I'll watch anything with the irresistibly cute Zooey Deschanel (who doesn't love her in "Elf?"). So when I spotted this on Keyboard Krumbs, it seemed like the perfect Halloween treat. (Thanks, Rob!)

Decision, decisions

(No I'm not talking about the election)



David Tennant has announced his decision. Now I have to make mine.

After three fantastic years playing the Doctor in "Doctor Who," Tennant announced last night that he'll soon be leaving the show.

He has five more episodes to go -- this year's Christmas special, titled "The Next Doctor," and then four stories that will be spread out over 2009. When the series returns for a full regular season in 2010, someone else will be in the leading role.

Now here's the big question...do I tell Nolan? "Doctor Who" is currently his absolute favorite show. I would imagine that in the United Kingdom, even if you're not a fan you would still have to live under a rock not hear this news. But Nolan would never know if I didn't tell him.

So should I share the great big geek news with him? Or should I let him be surprised (assuming I can keep it a secret until 2010)?

'You will stay dead this time!'

Here's a sneak peek at season 7 of the most action-packed show on television, "24."

The new season begins in January. This trailer will air at the end of the "24: Redemption" TV movie on Nov. 23.

This is a different version of the trailer than the one released by Fox about a year ago -- before the writers strike forced the network to postone the entire season. Personally, I like the new trailer better.

Bring on the Bauer Power Hour!



(Note: you find a larger resolution version of the trailer here.)

Here's what a Fox news release said about "Day 7" last year...

24 is back, unlike ever before. Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7” opens with CTU dismantled and JACK BAUER (Kiefer Sutherland) on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).

A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

Did you know?

Brian Williams posted this video on The Daily Nightly last night. There's some fascinating food for thought in here...

From the Free Stuff files...

Don't forget, America, since a base has been stolen in the World Series, WE ALL GET FREE TACOS TODAY!

This is part of Taco Bell's "Steal a Base. Steal a Taco." promotion. They promised to give away tacos if a base was stolen during the Fall Classic.

So stop into your local Taco Bell today between 2 and 6 p.m. to get your free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco!

Then & Now

Here's another shot of the new Kirk and Spock, courtesy of Empire. This time we get a side-by-side comparison, with Zachary Quitno and Chris Pine emulating a classic Nimoy/Shatner publicity shot.

Adding to my wish list

Add the Google-powered G1 phone to the very long list of tech gadgets I wish I had.

The barcode scanner app demonstrated in this video is one of the coolest things ever!

Baseball is like a box of chocolates

This morning Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning Show" read an excerpt from a Buster Olney column, written the morning after the Tampa Bay Rays improbably won the ALCS, outlining why he believes "Don Zimmer is officially baseball’s Forrest Gump."

(I'd link you to Olney's column, but you have to be a paid subscriber.)

Don Zimmer has officially seen everything.

He played with Jackie Robinson. He played with the Brooklyn Dodgers when they finally won World Series in 1955. He played with Sandy Koufax and against Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

He played with the infamous ’62 Mets and he managed the Red Sox in ’78 when Bucky Dent ripped the guts out of Boston.

He was there in the dugout as a coach through the Yankees’ dynasty in the ‘90s. He was there as a coach for Aaron Boone’s homerun.

And now he is part of the Rays organization as an assistant and threw out the first pitch before Game 7 on Sunday – a night when the Rays became baseball’s version of “Hoosiers” and the Miracle on Ice.

Forrest Gump has nothing on Don Zimmer.

Kirk & Spock 2.0

Here's the Entertainment Weekly cover...

Star Trekkin'

At long last some official images from JJ Abrams' "Star Trek" are starting to appear. You can find them in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly -- or all over the Internet if you prefer.

These have been released in advance of the new trailer, which is due in a few weeks.

Ain't It Cool News has links to all of the pictures.

Just based on these images, I love the look of this movie and can't wait to see more (although I don't remember Chekov having curly brown hair. He's supposed to look like one of the Monkees!). I'm dying to see what Zachary Quinto (aka Sylar of "Heroes") does with Spock!

Buy some popcorn, help a Cub Scout!

Nolan is selling gourmet Trail's End popcorn to help fund our Cub Scout activities for the year -- and you can help!

Just check out OrderPopcorn.com to see all of the delicious choices. There's something for everyone.

But just in case popcorn isn't your thing, you can also make a donation of $25 and the popcorn will be sent to the men and women of the U.S. military.

When you place your order, be sure to enter the following code: TEQN3R6. That way Nolan will get credit for the sale and he will be one step closer to his $300 goal.

Your support will help fund camping trips, our annual Pinewood Derby, a trip to the USS Massachusetts and lots of other great Cub Scout activities. All you have to do is visit OrderPopcorn.com and enter TEQN3R6.

Thanks again for your help!

Mr. October

Nolan played a good game today as his fall baseball team traveled to North Colonie.

We didn't have the really cool professional umpire we had last week. This time it was just a kid only a few years older than the boys playing ball.

But still, Nolan thought it was cool to go to another town for the first time and play on someone else's field.

He had a great day at the plate with 3 RBI for the day. The first two came on a double in the first inning. The third RBI was on a single he hit with the bases loaded.

In between he reached base when he got hit by a pitch. He took one in the shin, but says it didn't hurt.

His single really should have been a walk. But I guess they have some crazy rule that says they're not allowed to walk in a run. So even though he took four balls, he had to keep going until he either struck out or got a hit. Two pitches later he got his single.

We have one more game at home next weekend. That might be the last game for the fall, although there is a chance we'll play one more.

Autumn in the Adirondacks

There is nothing like the great outdoors to put everything in perspective.

Today is a perfect example.

We went to visit Kris’ parents for the night yesterday. The fall foliage is just about at its peak in the Adirondacks. So you can just imagine how beautiful the drive was.

Unfortunately, the emphasis is on the word “drive.” Enjoying the scenery from a car at 55 mph is not the same as getting out and soaking it all up.

So on our way back home today we made time to do just that. We stopped at the Adirondack Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smith’s College – a beautiful location we’ve visited many times before and will likely visit again.

We did a quick hike on one of the trails we haven’t done before. It took us through the woods, out to the edge of Barnum Pond and then back on a boardwalk through an area that’s usually swampy but seemed pretty dry today.

The colors were spectacular. I don’t think the photos I took do them justice. But it was much more than just the views. Kris kept ooing and ahing over the different trees giving off an unmistakably autumn aroma.

When we were on the latter half of the hike – enjoying the sights and smells and watching kids trot along the trail ahead of us – it hit me that I felt completely at peace. All thoughts of money, work or any of life’s other demands had melted away. I was experiencing a perfect feeling of contentment. I wish I could feel like that every day.

Now Kris and I are talking a lot about becoming “46ers” – climbing all 46 of the Adirondack high peaks. We figure that if we can climb two or three a year, then we’ll achieve 46er status by the time we’re in our mid-50s.

I took a lot of pictures on our hike today and yesterday during a brief stop in Lake Placid. I uploaded most of them to Facebook.

One of my regrets in life is that I never took a photography class in school. I love taking pictures and always hope to capture “something special.” Unfortunately, most of the pictures never work out the way I envisioned them in my mind.

'ALL IS WELL!!!'

Shortly after the Dow plunged below 9,000 for the first time in five years, came this...

WASHINGTON (AP) - White House says American people should remain confident about economy despite market fall.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

What do you know, Joe?

I'm going to miss having this guy around...

'Heroes': Burning questions

I’m still enjoying “Heroes,” but it’s clearly not the show it was in its first season. I fear the series, now in its third year, is growing too convoluted for its own good.

Here are a couple of observations I made after watching this week’s episode (you might want skip the rest of this post if you haven’t watched it yet – or check out the embedded copy below).

• I don’t get how Peter’s power works – and I suspect the writers don’t either since his character is a frequent source of contradictions. If he absorbs the power of any super powered person he comes into contact with, then wouldn’t he already have Sylar’s power? In fact, wouldn’t he have had it for a while now?
  
  
• While speaking of Peter, if he has Claire’s healing power, then how was Future Peter killed by a gunshot? We’ve seen Claire recover from worse. Likewise, why does Future Peter have that nasty scar on his face? Wouldn’t that have healed?
  
  
• Sticking with the future storyline, Future Molly should have been about 13 or 14 years old. So how come she looked like she hadn't aged more? (I know the answer to this one. They weren’t jumping far enough into the future that they could get away with casting an older actress. But I think it was far enough that the little girl who plays Molly couldn’t pull off a believable teenager.)
  
  
• What happened to “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World?” In season one, it was imperative they rescued Claire from the evil Sylar. This year Sylar gets a hold of her in the season opener and – nothing happens. What’s up with that?
  
  
• I’m all for thinning out the cast, but wasn’t there a whole storyline with Nikki, Micah, his photographic memory cousin and Aunt Uhura that just got dropped?
  
  
• I hope season three doesn’t end with Nathan apparently getting killed again. Twice was more than enough.

There are other nitpicks, but this is what comes to mind right now.

A fly on a wall

Like much of America, I just got done watching the vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin. It was widely predicted to be the most watched vice presidential debate ever.

But for me, the most fascinating part came when the debate was over.

When last week's debate between Barack Obama and John McCain ended the would-be first ladies came on stage, some pleasant handshakes were exchanged and then they couldn't bolt in opposite directions fast enough. I think that's the way it usually works.

But this was different. Their whole came families came on stage and mingled together like they were at a backyard barbecue. Most interesting -- Biden and Palin could be seen chit-chatting together. I would love to know what they were saying!

Can you hear me now?

I spotted this on PopWatch. It's pretty funny to think of all the movies that would have to dratically change their storyline if the characters had cell phones.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Of course, as PopWatch points out, in the case of "Home Alone" no fancy 21st century technology was required. Why didn't the mom just pick up a regular land line and call Kevin? In 18 years, I never thought of that!

A dollar ain't what it used to be

In light of the current economic crisis, the U.S. Treasury Department has issued a new dollar bill...

Farewell to history

I liked what Brian Williams said so much on The Daily Nightly today, that rather than merely link to it, I'm going to save you the step and copy and paste it here...

Watching the last Yankee Game from Yankee Stadium on ESPN with my son last
night -- felt vaguely like the financial news these days. Nobody asked for
what's happening right now in the financial markets. Taxpayers weren't asking
for the burden they've just taken on. Likewise, as they were panning the sad
faces at the end of last night's game, marking the end of the House that Ruth
Built, I was thinking: these fans didn't ask for this. No Yankee fan that I know
was begging...or even hoping...for a new stadium. Bathrooms from this century?
That would be nice. An industry-standard jumbo video screen? Great. A few more
of the amenities baseball fans have come to love at some of the newer parks?
Sure. But the new stadium isn't about the fans (fewer seats at higher prices) as
much as its about the team...player salaries...the owners. But as one
sportswriter put it, "we are the only nation that tears down our own
cathedrals." Aint it the truth.

I enjoyed the broadcast of the game. For a fan like me, there were moments that were quite emotional.

While watching some of the pre-game hoopla with Nolan he was asking me about Monument Park. I showed him some photos I uploaded to Facebook of dad and I visiting the monuments on our last trip to the stadium together.

I told Nolan how he was only 2 months old at the time and that I remembered telling dad that I couldn't wait until he was old enough for me to take him there. Dad advised me not to rush things -- he'll grow up fast enough.

Nolan then looked at the picture of pop and said "That's the past," and clicked forward to a picture of he and I at the stadium, "and that's the future."

"Yup," I said, "Pop went to Yankee Stadium with me, I went with you and someday you'll take your son to the new stadium."

"Or daughter," he was quick to add.

Around the horn

I’ve had several baseball-related thoughts percolating in my head for a few weeks now. These were all originally conceived as separate posts, but I decided lay them all on you at once…

You win some, you lose some
I’m coming to grips with the fact that the Yankees will not make it to the post-season for the first time since 1993.

A number of years ago, I think it was after the 2000 World Series, I wore a Yankee shirt to work and a co-worker (a White Sox fan) asked me, “Don’t you guys ever get sick of winning?” I answered “No,” and explained to him why. For a good part of my youth in the 1980s and early 90s the Yanks were, shall we say, lackluster. I was well aware that dynasties like that only come along once in a generation. I told him that I knew this gravy train wasn’t going to last forever, so I'd enjoy it for as long as I could.

Well it looks like the ride may be over. It was fun while it lasted. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that the Bronx Bombers will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Tampa terrific
So with the Yankees out of the picture, who am I rooting for in the post season? I’ve got to look to Tampa Bay.

I know it may seem odd for a Yankee fan to talk about rooting for an underdog. So sue me.

But as I’ve told friends all summer, taking off my Yankee fan hat and speaking solely as a baseball fan in general, what the Rays have been doing this year has been great for the game and it’s hard not to root for them.

The last couple of weeks, as the Yanks and the Rays faced of, proved a particular moral dilemma for me. The New York fan in me naturally wanted to root for my Yanks in the slim hope that there could still be some sort of playoff chance. But another part of me knew that wasn’t realistic and understood that every Tampa defeat brought Boston closer to first place. Needless to say, I was glad when those games were over.

So when we get to the post season, I guess I’ll be a Tampa Bay fan for October. That is except for one other team…

Joe Torre’s revenge
Last winter I told people that I didn’t mean to wish ill on Joe Girardi and the Yankees, but I thought it would kind of serve the front office right if the Yankees had a bad season while Joe Torre had nothing but success with the Dodgers.

Be careful what you wish for.

As of today the Dodgers are holding a 3.5 game lead in the NL West. Yeah, sure, they probably wouldn’t be there without Manny Ramirez. I guess I’ll have to give you that. But they were doing pretty well before he showed up. I think even without Manny the Dodgers would have been in the playoff conversation at least as a Wild Card if not a division leader.

The point is, for years the knock against Torre from Yankee-haters was that he deserved very little credit for the teams success – that a well-trained monkey could manage a team with Yankees’ all-star roster.

But look what we have now. Without Torre the Yankees are fighting for third place, while Joe is still successful on the west coast. It serves the Yankee suits right for the way they handled Joe’s departure.

Derek Jeter is the real deal
While we’re in the Rodney Dangerfield territory of those who don’t get no respect, there is Derek Jeter. Often I’ve seen him show up on lists of “overrated athletes.”

But he did something great last Sunday when he notched his 1,270th hit in Yankee Stadium, passing a record held by none other than Lou Gehrig – a record no one else will ever possess after the stadium closes for good Sunday night.

Think about all the greats that have stood at that plate – Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, all of the many hall of famers the team has had through the decades – none of them have had as many hits in Yankee Stadium as Derek Jeter.

As if there was any doubt before, Jeter has cemented his place in Yankee lore. He’s going to be the one my kids tell their kids about – the way I’ve told them about Reggie Jackson and my dad told me about Mickey Mantle and Gehrig himself.

Unquestionably, Jeter’s No. 2 will one day be retired by the Yankees. As for the Hall of Fame, I like to think he gets in, but he’s probably not a sure thing. I think there are a lot of people out there who would still try to argue against it. But the Jeter fans now have another piece of ammunition.

From Gepetto's workshop

What will the "imagineers" at Disney think of next?


Disney Lab Unveils Its Latest Line Of Genetically Engineered Child Stars

Mmm...slightly vulgar Mexican food...

There’s a minor controversy in part of Troy where a restaurant is opening up called “Badass Burrito.” One mom who lives nearby is all up in arms, saying the name is horribly inappropriate.

I’m not sure how I feel about it. Part of me thinks the name is actually pretty clever (and I do love me my Mexican food). But at the same time, I don’t think I’d want my kids saying “badass.”

I guess I’d just tell the boys, “Don’t say that.” I’m pretty sure one would listen to me and the other still can’t read.

What do you think? Sound off on the badass debate in comments…

Tony Clifton rides again

When looking at a list of upcoming concerts and other performances in the Capital Region, I couldn't help but notice Tony Clifton was going to be at Revolution Hall in Troy on Friday night.

Wait a minute. Tony Clifton?!? As in the Andy Kaufman character?

A quick Google search confirmed it is in fact that Tony Clifton coming to our area.

Obviously, it's not Kaufman behind the dark sunglasses. Although some people were apparently duped into thinking Clifton was a real person, the belligerent and somewhat mysterious character was alternately portrayed by Kaufman's brother Michael and comedy partner Bob Zmuda (not to mention Jim Carrey in "Man on the Moon").

Anyway, my Google search also brought me to this video, which I just thought was too bizarre to not post...

Here we go again

I’ve got a theory about presidential elections. There may be nothing to the observations I’ve made recently, but here goes…

We all remember how close the 2000 election was, where George W. Bush won by just five electoral votes. Most of us had never seen a presidential election like that in our lifetime and didn’t expect to ever again.

Then came 2004. Bush defeated John Kerry by 35 electoral votes – not as narrow a margin as his 2000 victory, but still pretty close.

Given the state of things, I thought for sure this upcoming election would be the Democrats’ to lose. But the latest polls show Barack Obama and John McCain deadlocked or even McCain with a slight lead. It looks like another nail biter.

So this will be three really tight presidential elections in a row. There is a whole generation of voters coming up who only know presidential races like this.

But of course they are not all like this. Or at least they didn’t use to be. Recently I was looking at the electoral vote breakdown of presidential elections going back to 1964. Before 2000, the closest margin we had was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford by 57 electoral votes. Outside of that, every presidential race between 1964 and 2000 was decided by a wide majority – the biggest of course being Ronald Reagan’s thumping of Walter Mondale in 1984, 525 electoral votes to 13 (Mondale only took his home state of Minnesota).

So if presidential elections used to be so much more decisive, why aren’t they anymore?

The last clear victory was in 1996 when Bill Clinton easily won a second term over Bob Dole. What’s changed since then to make these races so much tighter? I wonder if it’s the way we get our information about the campaigns.

Think about it. In 1996, CNN was a well-established news operation. But MSNBC and Fox News Channel were in their infancy. The glut of cable news coverage as we know it now didn’t really exist yet, but was firmly in place by 2000.

Talk radio boomed in the late 1990s. Rush Limbaugh paved the way in the early part of the decade. Love him or hate him, his show has been wildly successful and set the stage for the likes of Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage and countless others who populate the airwaves today.

And of course there is a little thing called the Internet, which has transformed campaigning in ways I can’t begin to describe. Not only is it another source of news for the public, but it’s given candidates a new way to reach out to their supporters – who then can start up all sorts of grass roots efforts on their own.

That’s the biggest change the Internet has brought on. It’s changed the way we communicate about politics with each other. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry can start their own blog to spout off or trade info on Facebook. How many of you heard of Matt Drudge before 1996?

The bottom line, my unscientific observations seem to indicate people are talking and listening more (although maybe they’re not always doing enough of both). I’m not sure if that translates into increased voter turnout. I haven’t researched that. But I think those that do vote are much more opinionated, if not more informed.

So there’s my theory, crackpot thought it may be. Our transforming media culture has in turn transformed presidential politics. Back in 2000, we never thought we’d see a race like that again. Now I’m not sure we’ll ever see a race like 1984 again.

'We have people everywhere'

Check out the awesome, action-packed theatrical trailer for "Quantum of Solace." November 14 can't get here soon enough!

All aboard!

We now officially have two kids in school. Thomas started kindergarten on Friday.

I was nervous about how we would do getting on the bus. But as you can see here, we had nothing to worry about! He did super.

Kris has some more thoughts on the start of school over on The Rooney Train.

Sudden silence

One of the most recognizable voices in a America has passed away. I was very saddened to learn this morning of the passing of voice over master Don LaFontaine.

The name might not ring a bell, but you've certainly heard his voice -- mostly likely on any of the thousands of movie trailers he narrated through the years -- many of them beginning with the words "In a world..."

Although he had been in the voice over business for decades, his face had only recently become recognizable thanks to his appearance in ads for Geico and the New York Lottery.

Don died yesterday from complications of Pneumothorax.

There is a small sample of some of his work on Ain't It Cool News.

Going to the movies (or watching TV for that matter) will never be the same.

Geekapalooza

Boy, 14 years ago (i.e.: single and with disposable income) there is no way I'd miss this!

From noon Sept. 13 to noon Sept. 14 Proctor's is going to host a 24 sci-fi movie film festival. The event is called "It Came From Schenectady."

The scheduled films range from 50s classics ("Creature From the Black Lagoon," "Forbidden Planet") to contemporary hits ("Blade Runner," "Enemy Mine") to the obscure ("A Boy and His Dog," "Tokyo Gore Police" -- making its North American premiere no less).

At least one slot in the schedule will be filled in by a "viewers choice," which you can vote on at the festival's website. I voted for "Akira," but the vote leader right now is "A Clockwork Orange."

The Chosen One

Apparently Barack Obama is the One (and all this time I thought it was Neo...or Anakin Skywalker).

If you're not familiar not familiar with his life story, here it is courtesy of "The Daily Show."



I also got a kick out of this bit (I know it looks the same, but trust me and play -- it's a different clip)...

'Job well done'

I often can't stand all of the negativity that surrounds presidential campaigns.

The truth is we're all just people and we have different opinions -- and that's okay. Many of my closest friends have vastly different views than me, but we don't hate each other.

I think politicians on both sides of the aisle understand this. Just look at how Bush 41 and Bill Clinton have become buddies.

But during a campaign there is such venom spewed from candidates and their supporters that I get a little fed up. They only serve to rile people up and polarize the two sides.

I've always said that if I was interviewing a presidential candidate or moderating debate the question I'd most like to ask is "What is your opponent's greatest accomplishment?" or "What do you like most about your opponent?"

That's why I was so pleased to see this ad from John McCain that will air during tonight's coverage of the Democratic National Convention...



Sure, it serves a political purpose for McCain. It portrays him as gracious and generous light during coverage of an event mostly focused on bashing him.

But still, I thought it was a welcome change of pace. Too bad it won't last.

Back in the swing of things

We were gone on vacation all last week. Since returning I have been too busy, too tired or too lazy to provide a write up of all of our activities.

Fortunately, my better half was none of those things. She recapped the whole trip on our other blog. So you can read all about it on The Rooney Train and check out the pictures I uploaded to Facebook.

In other news, I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics. No matter what was on, I found it all to be pretty compelling TV (I actually stayed up until 2 a.m. one night watching a couple of Chinese guys play for the gold in ping-pong).

But what was fun was the fact that Nolan was really into it. Whatever was on – women’s gymnastics, track & field, volleyball, rowing – he was glued to it. He couldn’t get enough. At age 8, I think this was probably the first time he was really aware of the Olympics and he thought the whole thing was pretty cool. So it was great sharing it with him.

We’ve been to Lake Placid many times and have told him over and over how the Olympics were held there before. But I don’t think that really meant anything to him until now. I’m anxious to see if he gets as excited over the Winter Olympics in 2010.

With the Olympics gone and our vacation over, there is unfortunately no denying that fall is right around the corner. Next week Nolan and Thomas go back to school and we will soon be up to our necks in homework, Cub Scouts, fall travel baseball, etc. It’s been a great summer and I’m sorry to see it go.

Mark Spitz is all wet

It’s always interesting to watch the reactions of former athletes as their records are about to fall.

Case in point: Hank Aaron. I don’t think it was any great secret that he wasn’t thrilled to see Barry Bonds break his career home run record last summer because of what Barry allegedly did to get there. But he handled himself throughout the hoopla with class and composure.

Then there is Mark Spitz.

Spitz set a record in 1972 by winning seven gold medals at single Olympics. That record has a good chance of being broken this year by Michael Phelps, who now has three golds and hopes to take home five more before these games are done.

Spitz seemed gracious enough when I heard him interviewed on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning not long ago. But then I read an interview with him this morning that left me with a very different opinion of the Olympic legend.

To be fair, he doesn’t seem all that bent out of shape about Phelps surpassing him. His beef is that no one invited him to watch it happen.

"I never got invited. You don't go to the Olympics just to say, I am going to go. Especially because of who I am," Spitz told AFP in Hong Kong.

Spitz feels he’s been snubbed because he didn’t get an engraved invitation from the International Olympic Committee, NBC Sports or FINA -- the international body that governs world swimming.

"I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost -- it is,” he said.

Perhaps he has a legitimate gripe. But he’s better off taking the high road and keeping it to himself and avoiding phrases like “because of who I am.” Newsflash Mr. Spitz: this is Michael Phelps’ time. It isn’t all about you.

But Spitz was just getting warmed up. He insisted he would have won eight golds in 1972 if he had the chance.

"I won seven events. If they had the 50m freestyle back then, which they do now, I probably would have won that too," he said.

It sounds like the word humble isn’t in this guy’s vocabulary. The article closed out with Spitz explaining why he thinks Phelps is so successful.

"He's almost identical to me. He's a world-record holder in all these events, so he is dominating the events just like I did," Spitz said. "He reminds me of myself."

The whole article made Spitz seem like he has an ego the size of Rhode Island.

We'll always have Paris

If you're not thrilled with Barack Obama or John McCain as choices for president, there is always...Paris Hilton?!?

I this clip Paris responds to McCain's "Celebrity" ad that called Obama "the biggest celebrity in the world," comparing him to Hilton and Britney Spears, but questioned if he was ready to lead.

I never thought I'd see the day I'd post a Paris Hilton clip on my blog, but the crazy thing is -- her energy policy makes some sense.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Belated happy bloggiversary to me

Hey, my bloggiversary blew by unnoticed. I just remembered today that July 26 marked the day I started "Off the Top of My Head."

Four years and 1,228 posts -- and nearly as many hours wasted.

Where the wild things are

It seems like boom in the rabbit population in our neighborhood. We, and several of our neighbors, have commented that it seems like there are even more of the little critters than usual this summer.

A few weeks ago Kris and the kids spotted a fox in our neighbor’s yard. A friend of ours who lives a few blocks away spotted a fox near his house earlier that morning – probably the same one that eventually made its way down to our street.

A few days ago our neighbor across the street says she caught sight of some sort of “wild animal.” She didn’t think it was a fox, but I was sure that must have been what it was. Especially after what I saw today.

I dropped the kids off at camp this morning, which is near my mom’s house. After leaving them I spotted a fox with my own two eyes trotting down her street. In all my life I had never seen an animal like that in the neighborhood before.

I guess with the increase in rabbits, it would make sense that there is an increase in things that like to eat rabbits. Still, it’s an unusual sight.

America's pastime in Schenectady

The boys and I had a great morning yesterday. We headed over to the Schenectady Museum to take in their special baseball exhibit.

It was billed as the "The Science Behind Baseball." There was a little bit of science stuff. One display helped you figure out how to find the sweet spot on a bat. We also watched a short movie in which two kids conducted experiments to determine which bat sends the ball farther -- aluminum or wooden (their results gave aluminum the slight edge).

But it was mostly a great collection of baseball memorabilia -- particularly as it pertained to Schenectady and the surrounding region. There were lots of great old photos of the Schenectady Blue Jays -- a former farm team for the Phillies best known for producing future Dodgers manager Tommy LaSorda. I also spotted a photo of a young Phil Rizzuto being interviewed on WGY.

There were also items on display from more recent memory, including lots of memorabilia from the Albany-Colonie Yankees and the Tri-City ValleyCats.

I would have liked to have spent more time looking at the old photos and reading all of the captions next to them, but the kids didn't have the patience for that.

The highlight for them was getting up close and personal with several of the VallyCats players (and their mascot, Southpaw). They each brought baseballs that were filled with signatures before long.

They also spent a good deal of time testing their arms against the radar gun. Nolan says his best pitch was 28 mph (although the highest I remember seeing was 27). Little Thomas topped out at 25 mph and even did a pretty good job of hitting the strike zone.

View more photos here.

'The news better run'

The best f@#$%ing news promo ever!

Big air

Nolan gets a kick out watching skateboarders and other extreme sports. So it's no surprise I caught him watching the X Games last night on ESPN.

I sat down with him and we watched some guys doing BMX stunts.

Then this morning while at the Y I caught some skateboarding highlights and knew he'd love to see it. So tonight we found these highlights of the "mega ramp," which he thought was "wicked cool."

Although it's fun to watch, there is no question these guys must be a little crazy.

Yanks trade for Pudge

BREAKING NEWS: The Yankees got Pudge Rodriguez from the Tigers for bullpen setup man Kyle Farnsworth.

Now go rest up that shoulder Jorge...

Yo ho!

Sometimes I think I'm the one person in the Capital Region who has never been a big fan of horse racing in Saratoga.

But even I got a kick out of listening to the call as a horse named Arrrrr won the second race yesterday...

'Horrible' news

If you're like me, you loved Joss Whedon's fantastic musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" when it was streamed online last week, but are too cheap to download it at iTunes.

The plan was that Whedon's mini-movie made outside the Hollywood studio system was going to be steamed for free for only a limited time. Then you'd have to get it at iTunes or wait for the eventual DVD release.

But wait no more! "Dr. Horrible" is the latest release as part of the Hulu Days of Summer. Now you can watch it over and over and memorize all the songs to your heart's content...

Law & Order: Gotham City Unit

In the criminal justice system, the people of Gotham City are represented by three separate, yet equally important groups – the police who investigate crimes, the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders and the Goddamn Batman.

These are there stories.

CHUNG CHUNG!

(Thanks, Pat.)

Zeroes and fives

Yesterday passed without the significance of the date even dawning on me. It has been 39 years since a man-made spacecraft landed on the moon and a human first set foot on another celestial body.

Maybe my memory would have been better if I had actually been alive on July 20, 1969 and could remember the day firsthand. But still, it's one of the most important dates in human history.

Lester Holt made a very good point that I've mentioned to people before. What's the deal with our fascination with anniversaries that end in zeroes and fives? Why is the 39th anniversary of Apollo 11 less noteworthy 40th? As Lester predicts, there wasn't much talk about it yesterday, but we'll hear tons about it next year.

Putting the band back together

We had a really good time our big summer picnic yesterday. A good chunk of my old high school crowd -- seven families all together -- gathered in the Saratoga Spa State Park.

Yeah, so we got rained on a little bit. We didn't let it rain on our parade!

It's always neat seeing everyone's kids together. They ranged in age from 6 months to 8 years.

Jim Flanders joined us, who most of us haven't seen since our 10th reunion about eight years ago. He surprised everyone by pulling out a great big stack of copies of The Warrior -- our old high school newspaper. It turns out he kept most of them. That was quite the walk down memory lane. I hope we can get together again someday so I can spend more time looking at them (and reading some of the old movie reviews I used to write for the paper).

As for myself, I pulled out a couple of yearbooks yesterday and looked them over -- and realized the pictures look like scenes out of a bad John Hughes movie.

We all do a pretty good job of keeping in touch, but these days it's mostly through e-mail, Facebook and blogs. Nothing beats getting together face-to-face. We hope to make this picnic an annual event.

Speaking of Facebook, I've got more photos of the day there.

Facebook boom

Is it just me or has there been a Facebook explosion recently? I know the social networking site has always been popular, but lately it seems like people are joining in droves.

I've had a Facebook account for quite a while now, although I didn't really start actively using it until about a year ago.

I've had a steadily increasing list of Facebook friends. But lately it seems like I'm finding someone new -- or someone new is finding me -- almost everyday. It's been a great tool for reconnecting with old friends from high school and college and some former co-workers.

Even Kris took the plunge yesterday, creating her own Facebook page to see what all the fuss is about.

It's quite cross section of people I've connected to. I'd say the ages of the people on my friends list range from 16 to mid-60s.

I knew Facebook was successful, but the level of its success and some of the unlikely people I've found on there surprises even me.

Change of plans

Remember that plan to go to Six Flags New England? Yeah, well, that didn't work out so much.

We got up this morning and checked the weather for Agawam, Mass. and realized it was supposed to raining there all day. So we shifted gears and went to the Great Escape instead, despite the fact we've already been there three or four times this summer.

But you know what? We had the best time! Every time we go we still find new things to do. Each trip is a new experience. These season passes we have are the best deal ever. (Thanks again Mom & Dad Chase!)

We brought Nolan's friend Evan with us and spent the first half of the day in the water park. We had a blast on the Mega Wedgie and the Tornado. Then while everyone else went off to the Lumberjack Splash Wave Pool, I slipped off on my own to tackle the Comet.

After a break for lunch we hit some more rides and worked in a stop a McDonald's for dinner on the way home. It was our longest day at the Great Escape yet and there are still some more rides we still haven't done. There's always a next time...

When we got home, there was one more package waiting for Nolan at the door (thanks Uncle Tim and Aunt Bonnie). And that brought Nolan's birthday weekend to a conclusion.

Birthday and baseball

I think Nolan really enjoyed his eighth birthday yesterday. We kept things fairly low-key this year. He didn't have a big party.

When he woke up, the day began with the special breakfast he picked out for his birthday -- Chocolate Honey Combs. Then we let him dive into presents.

Later in the morning we took him shopping to blow some of his money on a game for his DS. Counting that, he got two new DS games. So since it was his birthday we caved and let him have extra video game time.

We spent time outdoors too, with a couple of rounds of catch out in the front yard.

His friend Dan came over for pizza and cake. Then we all went to see a Tri-City ValleyCats game. We all rooted for the ValleyCats -- even though they were playing the Staten Island Yankees. The Cats lost to the Yankees 4-3.

But we all had a good time anyway. For Kris and Thomas, it was their first trip to a game at the Joe. Thomas got to stay up way past his bedtime. As for Nolan, he got his birthday announced on the scoreboard and was invited to join a group of kids singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" down on the field during the 7th Inning Stretch (see more photos on the Rooney Train).

Afterward Dan came home with us for a sleepover.

Tomorrow we're taking another of Nolan's friends with us to Six Flags New England for the day. We'll give you an upate later on how that goes.

Nuts to you!

Jesse Jackson puts his foot in his mouth, causing cable new talking heads to stumble all over themselves. Wacky hilarity ensues...

Summer TV (that's not on TV)

It's easier to get through the summer TV void with a little helping of "The Office." Their Kevin-centric summer webisodes have begun...



Next week a web-exclusive "Heroes" spin-off begins. It's called "Heroes: Going Postal," because it's about a postal worker with crazy powers. Clever, huh? It looks like this mini-show will focus solely on this new character -- although the trailer does indicate that Angela Petrelli will turn up. Here's the trailer...

Minor league madness

Nolan is pretty excited to go to a ValleyCats game on his birthday this weekend. As far as he's concerned, it's the next best thing to a trip to Yankee Stadium.

We've been to the Joe twice before and have really enjoyed the experience both times.

Moreover, it's great to see so many local baseball fans supporting the Astros farm team even though they don't have the best record. They always seem to draw a decent crowd -- and set an attendance record this past weekend with 6,630 fans there for Fourth of July fireworks.

Minor league sports have been hit and miss in the Capital Region. Just look to the departures of the Albany-Colonie Yankees and the eventual demise of the Diamond Dogs. In other sports, Albany couldn't keep the Firebirds after they won the Arena Bowl and it seems like the River Rats of the AHL often struggle pull in a crowd.

So long live the ValleyCats. Whether they win or lose, it's great entertainment for the family.

Living room makeover

Our new living room furniture arrived yesterday.

The sectional we had for nearly five years didn't hold up very well. It had some ugly stains we couldn't get out and the fabric on the arm where 3/4 of the family preferred to sit to watch TV was completely worn out and tattered.

With the small size of our living room -- and, more importantly, the location of our cable outlet -- we're limited with what we can do with the layout. But this is the floor plan Kris came up with. We're pretty pleased.

Plus, with potty training far behind us, there is a good chance these cushions will never get peed on!

Support the 'Stache

I got a kick out of this logo and slogan on Yankees.com encouraging people to vote for Jason Giambi for the All-Star game.

A Long Island company passed out 20,000 fake mustaches to fans at the stadium today. Everyone in the crowd had them on -- including a few players in the dugout. Joe Giardi even had one on during his post-game interview on YES.

Who knew facial hair could be such a big deal? ESPN.com's Page 2 declared Giambi's hairy upper lip the "most valuable mustache" and compiled a list memorable Yankee mustaches. And SportsCenter used it as inspiration to do an entire segment on great mustaches in sports history.

Boy, did they have this kind of hoopla for Rollie Fingers?

We still hold these truths to be self-evident...

Happy Independence Day one and all. I wanted to resurrect this post from a couple of years ago...

You can read a copy of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives site. Seems very appropriate today.

The great outdoors

I know I promised pictures from last weekend's camping trip. You can see them here...

Zombies for Obama

I spotted this on EW's PopWatch blog and just had to post it here.

It seems Barack Obama has secured the support of deceased war heroes in his quest for the presidency.

Woah. Is this a sign of the oncoming zombie apocalypse?

Or then again, maybe he just has the backing of members of the Grateful Dead. Yeah, I guess that makes more sense.