Watching the paper

Check it out. I knew the Times Union was starting to shoot its own video for their website, but I just discovered they're using YouTube to host that video.

Which means, if you see a story you're interested in, you can go ahead and embed their video on your blog.

It's a win-win. Good for you and your blog. Good publicity for the Times Union.

Below is a video that goes with a recent feature story on the cup stacking craze (which my kids aren't into yet). But they're shooting video for "harder" news stories too...



Mike Sussman points out in comments below that the TU is missing the boat to an extent by not doing a good job of branding their videos, and he's right. At first glance, it's not obvious that's a TU video (unless you click through to its YouTube page where you'll see its creator is "tualbany").

I'm sure eventually they'll more sophisticated with their video editing and figure how to incorporate graphics. If they're smart, all of their videos will carry some sort of Times Union bug in the corner.

But I still think they're on the right track.

RELATED NEWS: Rejoice! Embedded video is now showing up in Blogger feeds. Thank you, Blogger folks, for getting that fixed!

They're grrreat!

I’m proud of our Tiger Cubs who earned their Bobcat Badge last night.

The scouts got their faces painted as part of the ceremony. Their parents put the markings on their faces, with each color symbolizing something different.

Then came the fun part for the kids—they got to put a white mark on their parent’s nose as the final part of the ceremony.

Kris and I are co-den leaders. She does all the behind-the-scenes organization work and then I show in the uniform and take all the credit.

Actually, that's not quite true--she has a more visible role than that. Kris helps run den meetings at our house and today she went with the kids on a Cub Scout outing while I was still at work.

It's a team effort.

Odd man out

In case you were counting heads (I wasn’t), you would have noticed that Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez was absent during the State of the Union Address last week. That’s because he was selected to be the guy left in charge should disaster fall on the Capitol that night.

One member of the cabinet always sits out in order to insure the succession of power in our government. According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, Gonzalez is No. 7 in line for the presidency.

CBS correspondent Mark Knoller has a real interesting post about this subject on the Couric & Co. blog. He talked to former Clinton era Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman about what happened the night in 1997 when he was selected as the go-to guy during the State of the Union.

If you’re curious, here’s the official order of succession:
1) The Vice President
2) The Speaker of the House
3) The President pro tempore of the Senate
4) The Secretary of State
5) The Secretary of the Treasury
6) The Secretary of Defense
7) The Attorney General
8) The Secretary of the Interior
9) The Secretary of Agriculture
10) The Secretary of Commerce
11) The Secretary of Labor
12) The Secretary of Human Services
13) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
14) The Secretary of Transportation
15) The Secretary of Energy
16) The Secretary of Education
17) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
18) The Secretary of Homeland Security

Some interesting notes on this list:

• No. 3 on the list Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Scary.
  
• Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guitierrez and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao are ineligible. Guitierrez was born in Cuba and Chao was born Taiwan. So neither of them could be president.

The Dead Zone

If you read this blog with any regularity, then you know we have a fondness for the Adirondacks. We take many of our vacations there. We camp there. And a few times a year we make the drive up the Northway and through the Lake Placid region to visit Kris’ family (and you’ll note Kris uses the screen name “ADKmom”).

With all that said, I believe the time has come for better cell service along the Northway.

Once you get above Lake George, turn off your phone and save the battery because you won’t get a signal again until you get close to Plattsburgh.

That proved deadly last week for a Brooklyn couple. Their car went off the road in the middle of the night near North Hudson (close to Exit 29). Due to their injuries, neither of them could get out of the car. They tried to call 911, but there was no signal.

Their car was obscured by trees. So passing motorists had no idea they were there.

After being trapped for 13 hours in sub-freezing weather, the husband died. He didn’t die from his crash injuries. It was the hypothermia that got him.

Nineteen hours later a state trooper found the car and rescued the wife. She’s expected to make a full recovery, but will have to live with the horrible memory of watching her husband die next to her.

One phone call could have kept him alive and prevented much of her suffering.

Environmentalists have long been opposed to cell towers in the Adirondacks, saying it would spoil the pristine view.

Look, the Adirondacks are one of my favorite places on Earth, but I say get over it. We’re not talking about putting towers in the heart of the Adirondack Park. We’re talking about placing them along a well-traveled, major highway.

However, the issue might be a lot more complicated than that. Fred LeBrun points out today that it's really the root of all evil—money—that’s keeping the towers out.

I don’t care what the reason is. This is the 21st century. We can transmit pictures back from Mars. We should be able to make a phone call from the side of the road in North Hudson. It’s time for someone to sort this out and get it done.

'Let's call the whole thing off'

Near the beginning of the State of the Union address the other night, President Bush spoke these words:

“Some in this chamber are new to the House and the Senate, and I congratulate the Democrat majority.”

There was extended applause at the time.

But soon after the speech was over, the president was accused of snubbing the Democrats with this remark. It seems there those who think it was disrespectful for him to use the adjective “Democrat” instead of “Democratic.”

Huh? I don’t get it. What’s the difference?

The missing “ic” actually got coverage in the Washington Post. White House spokesman Tony Snow says people are making a mountain out of a molehill. The president himself addressed the "ic-ky" subject in NPR interview over the weekend, saying he meant no slight and didn't even realize he had said it.

Can someone please explain the semantics at work here? Seriously. I’m hoping one of my friends from the left can shed light on why this is a big deal.

A geek's dream come true

What would happen if the starship Enterprise took on Darth Vader and the Empire?

Who Toon

We still have about four months to go until the new series of "Doctor Who" begins on the BBC (about six months until it's on Sci Fi here in the states).

I have a lot of catching up to do in that time. I still haven't watched either of the spin-off shows "Torchwood" or "The Sarah Jane Adventures."

Meanwhile there is this bit of news...the BBC is launching a show geared toward kids called "Totally Doctor Who." It will feature news and the behind the scenes info leading up to Series 3. There will also be a "Doctor Who" cartoon, featuring the voices of David Tennant, new companion Freema Agyeman and a new villain voiced by Anthony Stewart Head.

You can check out the cool title sequence for "Totally Doctor Who" here and read more about the cartoon here.

Beware the barbarians

I enjoy reading Dan Weaver's Upstream blog.

Recently Dan took some time off to contemplate whether or not he wanted to continue the blog. I'm pleased to report he's decided to stick with it.

He announced his decision in an excellent post today that discusses the current state of homeland security. Whether you consider yourself left, right or center you should read it.

The Rookie

Degree deodorant has teamed up with "24" for a clever campaign. They're producing a series of shorts that serve as a "24" spin-off called "The Rookie: CTU."

Here's the premise. There is some sort of terrorist crisis. Everyone at CTU snaps into action and is given a job to do--including the Rookie agent. His job? Go fetch coffee. But while at the coffee shop he observes a bunch armed men entering the bank across the street.

Is this how Jack Bauer got his start?

You may have seen the trailer during "24" (see below). I saw an abbreviated version of the first short aired as a commercial tonight. You can see the full short and future episodes here.

Presidential puppy love

The president's approval rating may be in the basement, but his dog still has his fans...

Ouch!

Mozart, an iguana at a Belgium zoo, is not having a good day. He just found out that he's going to have to go under the knife.

You see, Mozart mated with a female iguana last week. Good for him. The problem? Seven days later his erection still hasn't gone away (you can't make this stuff up).

The vet has decided to amputate due to the risk of infection.

Don't feel too bad for Mozart. Male iguanas, it turns out, have two penises (way to go Mozart!).

If you google this story you'll find several articles about it. My favorite headline?

It's a hard decision for zoo vets

Making tracks

Having a little bit of snow finally on the ground today gave Kris an excuse to strap the kids’ new snowshoes on their feet for the first time.

Her Uncle Rush very generously sent the shoes to the kids for Christmas this year.

Granted, there wasn’t so much snow that they really needed snowshoes, but they had fun wearing them anyway. When I got home from work I could see their tracks all over the yard.

Winter trods along...

Winter took so long to get here and now that it's here, it already seems long! We are in a lull and everyone is already talking about when baseball starts. We had a funny conversation with Nolan on Saturday what kind of sports he likes. He says he doesn't like soccer anymore and just wants to do baseball. But we explained to him that is just a spring sport and what about the rest of the year. So we were trying to think of all these other sports. He seems mildly interested in tennis, gymnastics and running. So we'll see. I think we are just filling our minds with thoughts until warm weather comes again.
This conversation was on the way to swim classes. Both kids did great, although it is a little bit of a struggle for Nolan. I think he gets frustrated with it because the motions aren't natural yet. After swim lessons, we had Dan the contractor over to our house to give us an estimate on re-tiling our bathroom floor. Sunday was spent in religion class, Lowe's (getting paint for said bathroom) and having dinner with Gaba. So it was a full weekend as they all are. Next weekend we are off to Syracuse to see my sister.

Life is tough

Chester has it rough. I think in my next life I want to come back as a family dog.

Strange bedfellows

If you shared a house with Sen. Chuck Schumer, would you figure him to be the Oscar Madison or the Felix Unger? If you pegged New York’s senior senator as a neat freak, you’d be wrong.

The New York Times had a good article yesterday about Schumer and his housemates. When in Washington he shares a house with Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Rep. Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller or California. That’s four grown men sharing a two-bedroom house in Washington, D.C.

Miller has owned the place since 1977 and rents space to fellow lawmakers (they’re all Democrats—they say that to their knowledge no Republican has ever set foot in the place).

The group has some pet peeves when it comes to Schumer. It seems he has a habit of eating all the cereal without doing his share of the grocery shopping.

Then there’s his bed. Schumer sleeps on a bed in the living room that is often left unmade.

That’s not to say Schumer doesn’t pull his weight in other ways. He told the reporter…

“I once had to pick up a mouse by the tail that Durbin refused to pick up.”

This screams to be a reality show! Or does it? You be the judge…

“Everybody in the world says they’re going to do a television series based on us,” said Mr. Durbin, who was collapsed on the couch on a recent Monday night. Still in a tie, he sipped ice water from a massive Chicago Cubs cup while waiting for the Chinese food to arrive.

“But then they realize that the story of four middle-aged men, with no sex and violence, is not going to last two weeks,” he said. The prevailing topics of their discussions are grandchildren and Metamucil, he added.

“Hey, speak for yourself, Durbin,” Mr. Delahunt said, protesting the claim of no sex and violence.

Google issues

Is anyone else having Google problems today?  My Gmail Notifier isn't working on either of my computers and I keep getting booted out of Google Reader.  What gives?

Lightsaber contest

Lucasfilm is taking a cue from the Stephen Colbert Green Screen Challenge. They're asking fans to make videos using Hasbro's new spring-loaded toy lightsabers and submit them to a special YouTube group.

For any fan who's used Hasbro's new spring-loaded Force Action Lightsaber to flip on a light switch, swat a fly on the ceiling, unclog a drain, or launch a ping pong ball across the room, Hasbro's got the contest for you!

The best video will win a trip to the “Star Wars Celebration IV” in Los Angeles and a fancy chrome-plated toy lightsaber.

People have been making lightsaber videos forever (see classic “The Star Wars Kid” or the impressive “Ryan vs. Dorkman”). Now you can actually win something for it—and sounds like you don’t even need to worry about adding your own digital effects.

Colbert-O'Reilly Smackdown

Tonight's the big night, Colbert Nation. It should be great viewing as Stephen Colbert and his "mentor," Bill O'Reilly, will trade appearances on eac other's shows.

Colbert will appear (in character) on "The O'Reilly Factor" at 8 p.m. and the Fox blowhard will sit down on "The Colbert Report" at 11:30 p.m.

O'Reilly told The Daily News that he thinks the interviews will be fun and a win-win for both shows, pointing out that a lot of people who normally would never watch Fox News Channel might tune in.

He also said he doesn't mind Colbert using him for inspiration.

"I think it's fine," O'Reilly said. "I'm a prominent person in the media. I think satire is very, very entertaining for any society to have. I have never had a problem with it as long as it's not mean-spirited, and I don't think he is."

Let the truthiness ring!

Contributing again

I haven't been writing on Chris' blog because I had to get a gmail account to do it. I was opposed to this at first because I already have an email account that I like. This was a point of contention with Chris. He says he has a ton of email accounts and it's no big deal. The internet is limitless and just use what you want to use. Now I take issue with this. Even though it is limitless, does that give us the right to use it frivolously? It's wasteful. It's so American lately to just do more and use whatever you want and who cares how the world is affected. Why not simplify and choose less? Of course, I'm probably taking it a bit too far but to me, it's the principle. At any rate, we compromised. I just have a gmail account now but Chris has fanagled it somehow so I can read my email in the Outlook Express that I'm used to. Everyone is happy and you are now tortured by hearing from me and my principles again.

The politics of Star Trek

I love our country. Rep. David Wu, D-Oregon, takes to the floor of the House of Representatives with the following message:

"Don't let faux Klingons send real Americans to war."

Leonard Nimoy tells Jon Stewart that Wu's Star Trek analogy is weak.

But will anyone let George Takei get a word in edgewise?