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!