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.