The haul

Here's a couple of happy trick-or-treaters...



A very long and busy Halloween has come to an end. The kids are now in bed and the doorbell hasn't rung in a while.

Everybody had a good day. Here's some shots of the kids in costume at Nolan's school earlier. Thomas was Superman and Nolan was a ghost...

The logic of truthiness

Check it out...I made it on the Stephen Colbert blog, Colbert Nation! They challenged fans to attach Stephen's face to someone else's head. My entry got posted today.

Although, it's actually not very good. If I had it to do over again, I think I see ways now that I could make it much better.

But it's still cool that they posted it anyway.

Dog's shot is worse than his bite

"Dog bites man" might not be news, but what about "dog shoots man?"

Might as well 'Jump'...off a cliff

You know how when you drive by a car wreck, you just can't help but slow down and gawk at it? Well, if you'd like to see a wreck in progress, check out this clip from Van Halen's current tour...



For an in-depth discussion of what might have gone wrong, check out EW's Pop Watch blog.

Free tacos!

The never-ending quest for free stuff continues...get your free taco tomorrow at Taco Bell between 2 and 5 p.m.

They promised to give away free tacos if there was a stolen base during the World Series. They called the promotion "Steal a Base. Steal a Taco."

The Bronx is Burning

It’s a turbulent time in the Bronx.

The good news, it looks like Joe Girardi is going to be the next manager of the Yankees. He’s the guy I’ve been hoping would land the position…



Of course, it will be weird not having Joe Torre in the dugout, no matter who winds up with the job. I’d love to see Torre’s No. 6 retired (do they retire numbers for managers?), but after they way his exit was handled, I’m not holding my breath.

The bad news is the apparent departure of Alex Rodriguez. I can’t say I’m surprised that he’s opting out of his contract, but I’m certainly disappointed. He had his ups and downs in New York and it took a while for many fans to accept him. But I was always rooting for him to succeed, to prove his worth and shut up the Yankee-haters.

I think A-Rod certainly earned his stripes this year when he put up amazing numbers and helped drag the Yankees out of the cellar. Who wouldn’t want him back? It became apparent this year that if he remains healthy, Barry Bonds won’t be the home run king for long. I would have loved to have seen him break that record in a Yankee uniform. Oh well, that's me -- the eternal optimist.

BTW, it was not cool at all for his agent to try to upstage the World Series by making the announcement A-Rod was opting out of his contrat during Game 4. I understand he wants to get as much attention for his client as possible, but c'mon. Taking the focus off the game on the field is pretty low class.

Now we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of Jorge Posada, Andy Petite and Mariano Rivera. Next year, it’s going to be a whole new ball game.

SIDE NOTE: How cool is it that you can now embed ESPN video?!?

Just Joshin'

Terry Francona Announces Josh Beckett Will Start Games 1, 4, 7, 2, 6, 3, 5

BOSTON—Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced Tuesday that the Colorado Rockies would receive a healthy dose of pitcher Josh Becket...

And on the 7th day...

Behold, the return of the Soul Patch! Here's the trailer for the seventh season of "24."

If you prefer, there is a better quality version here.



Here's a brief description of the plotline...

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.

Scoopin' out the pumpkin guts

Here's the follow-up to our pumpkin picking excursion from a couple of weeks ago. Kris helped the kids carve their Jack-O-Lanterns today...

The five & dime

Doctor Who fans have something to look forward to. The BBC has finally confirmed a rumor that's been floating around for a while now. Peter Davison, who played the fifth Doctor from 1982-1984, will reprise his role opposite David Tennant's 10th Doctor.

The two Doctors will pair up for a special mini-episode that will air as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon next month. The episode is titled "Time Crash" and will be written by none other than Steven Moffat, who has written some of the very best episodes of the new "Doctor Who" show.

I was a big fan of Davison's Doctor. So it will be cool to see him back.

Meanwhile, the BBC has not confirmed the rumor that Sylvester McCoy will also be popping up as the seventh Doctor. Time will tell.

Sick day

I was out sick from work yesterday with some sort of dreaded intestinal bug (you don’t want to know). I spent most of the day in bed feeling useless – and watching a lot of TV.

I caught Drew Carey as the new host of “The Price is Right” for the first time. He seemed pretty rusty. The highlight was when a contestant called him “Bob.”

I also got to watch “Psycho” in the middle of the afternoon. I always enjoy that movie. I love Hitchcock’s less is more approach compared to most modern slasher flicks. It’s what you don’t see that’s most scary!

The end of an era

BREAKING NEWS: The Associated Press and ESPN report Joe Torre rejected a $5 million, one-year contract to return as manager of the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Manny keeps on being Manny

With the Red Sox one game away from losing the ALCS, here's what Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez has to say about the possibility of elimination:

"It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."

So Sox fans, are you outraged? Or are you just shrugging this off as "Manny being Manny?"

Personally, I would find a public somment like that unacceptable.

It was the hot topic on Mike & Mike this morning, with lots of people chiming in. Reggie Jackson didn't have a problem with it. Wade Boggs hopes the team pulled him aside to give him talking to.

Mapping America's pastime

I saw this on Mike Sussman's blog and thought it was just too good to pass up. He found it here.

Thoughtful Analysis of Decision 2008

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

A Night With Frog and Toad

Nolan has been waiting for today for a while now. Right now, he and Kris are at Proctor’s to see a production of “A Year with Frog and Toad.”

Nolan loves Frog and Toad. When he was a baby a friend of Kris' family gave us “The Frog and Toad Treasury,” which includes three of the Frog and Toad books. It sat on a shelf for several years until he got into first grade last year and his reading really took off. He picked it up one day and could not put it down. It was the first book he ever read on his own and really, truly loved.

Since then he’s been an avid reader and has read lots and lots of books. But I believe he’ll always have a special place for Frog and Toad.

So when we heard this Broadway version of Frog and Toad was coming to town, we knew he’d love it. He’s been excited ever since Kris surprised him with the tickets last week.

I’m anxious to get his review of the show.



By the way, Arnold Lobel, the man who wrote and illustrated the Frog and Toad books in the 1970s was from Schenectady!

UPDATE: Nolan loved the show! Kris says he laughed through the whole thing and it sounds like all of his favorite parts from the books were in there. I'm really glad he got to go.

McDelicious

I Just finished eating the first Sausage Egg McMuffin I've had in a long time. It was soooo good. I could taste how unhealthy it was with every bite. To think, there was a point when I used to eat one of those every day!

I got my free McMuffin courtesry of the McDonald's Monopoly game. Nolan is holding out hope we'll win big money so he can get a Wii. But if you ask me, I already hit the jackpot (I'm so easy to please).

Autumn activities

I’ve been very negligent in keeping up with the latest Rooney news here on the blog. Lately life has just been too busy to do all the blogging I’d like to do.

Anyway, here are some highlights I’ve been meaning to post for a week now of our pumpkin picking excursion at the Pick a Pumpkin Pumpkin Patch in Schoharie. This place is great, with all sorts of fun activities besides just pumpkin picking. We spent more than two hours hanging out there enjoying the beautiful weather. It was sunny and in the 80s that day.



Meanwhile, Cub Scouts is now in full swing. Today we attended the annual Cub Scout Fall Family Fun Day at Camp Boyhaven. Nolan took his first crack at archery, which was pretty cool. But I think his favorite part was the kickball game with all of the other scouts.



I’ll try to do a better job of keeping up with things.

First down

I took Nolan to see his first football game tonight at the high school. Colonie clobbered Niskayuna. It was 34-0 when we left in the third quarter.

But he still had a good time. It was all very exciting for him. And it helped that he bumped into a few classmates and that a local car dealership was handing out free mini footballs.

Also, Time Warner Cable was carrying the game live. So Kris got to see us on TV during one of the crowd shots.

I should also add that it was a little strange seeing all of the people wearing shorts and T-shirts to a nighttime football game in October. But I'm not complaining!

Fall TV

Here are some thoughts on some of the new and returning shows I’ve sampled so far this fall…

Chuck
I took advantage of NBC’s free download of this show’s pilot episode and watched it before it hit TV. I enjoyed it – just the right mix of comedy, action and sci-fi. And of course, there is plenty of geek humor. I was walking around for a couple of days with Prince’s “Batdance” in my head. I haven’t seen the second episode yet, but I plan to catch it online.

Heroes
I’m still waiting for this show to heat back up. I thought the first two episodes were a little blah. It started like this last year and built slowly, but that was ok then because it was new. Now we know all of these characters. So we want to see them actually doing something worthwhile. After a few episodes last year, they were already building on the whole “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” storyline, which reached its crescendo in November. So maybe there will be something big coming soon this year. I’m still waiting for Uhura to show up. And do you really think Hiro’s father is dead? Me neither.

Journeyman
The jury is still out on this one. I thought the pilot was a little interesting. I skipped the second one, but I haven’t given up on the show altogether. I may stick around to see where it’s going.

House
Dr. Gregory House remains one of the best characters on TV. Although I can’t figure out how they’re going to work Foreman, Chase and Cameron back into the show as regulars. Presumably that’s coming since their names still appear in the opening credits each week. If not handled properly, their return could be a jump-the-shark moment. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch House try to pick a new team. And I welcome the addition of Kal Penn as a series regular.

Law & Order: SVU
A few weeks ago, Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch blog wondered how this show had become “especially heinous.” I’ve always enjoyed “SVU” (not to mention original recipe “L&O” – I never got into “L&O: Criminal Intent”), but perhaps EW is on to something. The season premiere, with a phony psycho Cynthia Nixon, was pretty good. But this past week’s show that revolved around a spoof of Second Life was way over the top.

Back to You
Generally I can’t stand movies and TV shows about TV news. They feed into every stereotype about the business and are completely unreal (I’m sure doctors hate “ER” and lawyers probably can’t stand “Boston Legal”). But I like Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton. Also, I read an article where several news anchors from Pittsburgh (where the show takes place) sat down together to watch the pilot and offer their reviews. They didn’t hate it – some actually liked it. So I decided to check it out. I need to trust my gut on these things. This show is AWFUL!

Pushing Daisies
Here’s my most pleasant surprise so far this year. I had heard the title tossed around and heard some people saying it was supposed to be a good show. But I wasn’t really paying attention and had no idea what it was about. Last night I stumbled across it while flipping channels and was hooked! It has a delightful “Tim Burtonish” quality (although the episode was actually directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who was behind the camera for the “Men In Black” and “Addams Family” movies). It’s possibly one of the most original shows I’ve seen on TV in a while.

Bionic Woman
I mentioned here how I got an early look at this show. I watched the pilot again with Kris when it came on TV. The early version I saw was a little different. Mainly, the character of Becca, Jaime’s kid sister, had been re-cast. In the early version, besides being played by a different actress, Becca was also deaf. I thought that could have been an interesting angle down the road (why can’t she get her ears repaired?), but I guess the powers that be felt like going in a different direction. While the early version moved right along and held my interest, it felt like it was dragging a little with commercials added in. Seeing it for the first time, Kris made two observations. “How long until this chick is selling us Sleep Number beds?” she wondered. Later, when Jaime and fellow bionic babe Sarah Corvus were duking it out in the rain, Kris rolled her eyes declared that the show was so obviously made for men.

Life
I watched the first 10 minutes of the first episode, but it didn’t hold my interest. On Wednesdays at 10 p.m. I’ll probably either be watching “South Park” or going to bed early.

NBC Thursday Night Line-up
I still enjoy “My Name Is Earl.” “The Office” remains the best comedy on television – hands down! I’m anxious for tonight’s premiere of “30 Rock” and the eventual return of “Scrubs.” However, can someone explain to me why I’m still watching “ER?” It remains one of Kris’ favorite shows, but for the last few years I think I’ve just been watching it out of habit. I find very few of the characters to be likable – particularly those played by John Stamos and new addition Stanley Tucci. When they butt heads it’s hard to care since I don’t feel like rooting for either of them. The glory days of George Clooney and Anthony Edwards are long gone. I think the breaking point had to be when they dropped the helicopter on Dr. Romano. The Army tank rolling down the street a few years ago was pretty dumb too.

So there’s my viewing summary so far. What’s caught your interest on TV?

Pre-Post Season

What an interesting Major League Baseball it turned out to be.

I was pretty silent during the most of the season – mainly because for a while, as a Yankee fan, there wasn’t much to write about. I admit, at one point I was one of the naysayers ready to stick a fork in them. I know the ride can’t last forever.

But boy, did they turn things around. It’s very impressive to come back from a 14-game deficit and wind up with a post-season berth. I’d like to go on record now as saying that whatever happens next, I won’t count this season as a disappointment.

That said, a 27th World Series title sure will make it all the more enjoyable!

Gametime tonight is 6:37 p.m.

Turn Off 13...for now

As a rule, I generally avoid writing about work here. But those of you who read the paper here in town know what's going on.

The contract between our union, NABET-CWA Local 21, and WNYT expired at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1.

Take a moment to visit www.turnoff13.com to learn more about the company's unreasonable demands.

The video below was shot as members of the union gathered outside the station at the contract deadline.