Off the Top of My Head

A little perspective

2010-09-21T06:59:00.003-04:00

I spotted this diagram over the weekend and thought it provided some much-needed perspective...

Here's a snippet of the writeup that went along with it...

It's easy as pie to generalize to millions of people the crimes of a few. We Catholics have had it done to us. And we can have it done to us again. So we should be bloody cautious about insane schemes to do it to 18 million fellow citizens.

Signs of the season

2010-09-20T16:44:00.000-04:00

I know that fall starts in a couple of days, but I was taken by surprise when I spotted this tree on my way to work today.

The leaves are just about the brightest orange I've ever seen -- and there were already several of them on the ground beneath the tree.

I'm always kind of bummed to see summer slip away. But I must admit, this tree is a beautiful sight.

Android vs. iPhone

2010-09-19T00:43:00.000-04:00

I love my HTC Droid Eris (except for a few nitpicks -- that password protected lock screen is annoying). But every now and then I've gone searching for an app, but can't find one that does quite what I'm looking for.

With that in mind, I stumbled on these cartoons that compare Android and iPhone. Thought I'd share...

For the love of the game

2010-08-24T23:35:00.000-04:00

If there is a TV turned on the house, these days it seems Nolan will have tuned to the Little League World Series.

I think he really enjoys watching kids close to his age playing ball on TV. Right now I think he's predicting Texas will go all the way.

The fact that Little League World Series 2009 on Wii is one of his favorite video games probably doesn't hurt either.

I find I kind of enjoy watching it too. It's a nice change of pace -- no egos, no giant paychecks, no steroids. Just the game. There's something pure about it that a baseball fan can't deny.

The other day I was watching a game during my lunch break. The young third baseman playing for Connecticut, I think, snagged a ball that was lined like a shot down the third base line. It would have been an amazing grab for any major leaguer. And as I watched the huge smile on the 12-year-old ballplayer's face, I couldn't help but smile myself.

It's a terrific reminder of everything that's great about America's pastime.

Gotcha Day 2010

2010-08-19T15:46:00.001-04:00

It's been seven years since we made the trip to New York City to pick up 4-month-old Thomas at JFK and bring him home. We lovingly refer to each August 19th as "Gotcha Day."

Flash forward to 2010...Thomas and Nolan are much bigger and about to enter into 2nd and 5th grades. They are brothers through-and-through. Best friends -- except for the times when they want to kill each other, as siblings are also prone to want to do now and then!

I try to snap a photo of the boys every Gotcha day. Here's this year's before and after...

'An elegant weapon for a more civilized age'

2010-08-13T21:32:00.002-04:00

This has been floating around on YouTube for a week or so. For everyone who ever wished to have a lightsaber, here's every lightsaber ignition and retraction from all of the Star Wars movies...

Doctor D'oh!

2010-08-13T16:27:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder what "Doctor Who" would be like in the hands of Matt Groening and the creators of "The Simpsons?"

Thanks to co-worker Pat Skerry for finding this and passing it along...

Charting the chart toppers

2010-08-12T21:03:00.000-04:00

Listening to the most recent Current Geek Weekly this morning, they referenced this funny-sounding flowchart that maps out the Beatles classic "Hey Jude."

But then in looking it up so I could post it, I saw that whoever created it was inspired by this flowchart of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (click on it to see it bigger).

'In the event of a flight attendant freak out...'

2010-08-11T11:28:00.002-04:00

By now we've all heard the tale of disgruntled JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater. But no one tells the story quite as well as Stephen Colbert -- who has named Slater his Alpha Dog of the Week...

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Alpha Dog of the Week - Steven Slater

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

Fox News

Meanwhile, the Taiwan-based studio that brought us that CGI summary of the Leno-Conan late night debacle have recreated the flight attendant frenzy for those of us who weren't there to see it first hand...

'Even the darkness must pass'

2010-08-06T22:06:00.001-04:00

Nolan has discovered the "Lord of the Rings" movies. He watched "The Fellowship of the Ring" for the first time about a month ago and tonight we watched "The Two Towers."

I enjoy these movies so much. I love the characters. Aragorn is such an awesome hero. Gimli and and Legolas are lots of fun. But my favorite might be Sam. I don't think there is a more loyal friend in the world.

Of the three movies (Nolan is very eager to see "The Return of the King" now), "Two Towers" is the one I've seen the least. There is a speech that Sam gives at the end that I had forgotten about, but I really liked it a lot. So I figured I'd post it here:

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.

Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.

But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

As long as we're on the subject, I'd be remiss if I didn't include a link to this clip, which may be my favorite moment in the entire LOTR trilogy. I admit, I get a little choked up every time I see it.

May the cupcakes be with you

2010-08-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

see more My Food Looks Funny

Thanks to Shawn for passing this one along. These Star Wars cupcakes look pretty awesome. Which one would you eat first? And what's the most creative thing you'd do with the Jar-Jar cupcake?

600

2010-08-04T14:18:00.000-04:00

It’s not unusual for my kids to greet me each morning with the following question: “Did the Yankees win last night?”

For the last couple of weeks that’s been immediately followed with another question: “Did A-Rod hit his 600th homerun?”

Just when I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that Alex Rodriguez was never going to knock another ball over the fence, he finally belted career homerun number 600 this afternoon in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.

A-Rod is now the seventh and youngest slugger ever to each that milestone. He just turned 35 on July 27.

It’s quite an accomplishment and as a Yankee fan, and a baseball fan in general, I’m excited for A-Rod.

But I’m not as excited as I could be, given that I know this achievement isn’t 100 percent “pure.” After all, Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. We’ll never know for sure how many of the homers he hit during that period were “enhanced.”

When Barry Bonds – another steroid abuser -- broke Hank Aaron’s career homerun record I thought to myself, “That’s okay. In time, A-Rod will pass Bonds, and he’ll do it in a Yankee uniform.” If and when he does, I’ll still applaud him. But I can never be quite as excited as I once thought I’d be.

As for my kids, I’ll go home tonight and tell them about the homerun. I’ve talked to them about steroids and about A-Rod in particular. I don’t think it’s really sunk in for them. Maybe someday it will. But for now, I’ll let them be thrilled for the Yankees third baseman.

It actually works!

2010-08-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

I've had this blog for six years now. Finally it's paying off!

I don't remember exactly when I added Google ads. I know I put them on at one point and then removed them and decided to try putting them back again. I don't know if I ever really expected to see any return on them.

But low and behold, yesterday a check arrived in the mail from Google for $104! That's really impressive considering I hardly write on the blog anymore.

This could be yet another incentive to keep writing. Google doesn't pay you until you're earnings reach the $100 level. Hopefully it won't take another six years to get another check.

So thanks, everyone, for the clicks. I'll keep writing if you keep clicking.

Most likely to be a social media nerd

2010-07-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

Although I didn't think of myself as exactly being at the top of the social ladder in high school, apparently many of my former classmates now consider me the king of social media.

Last night Niskayuna High School's Class of 1990 had their 20-year reunion. It was so great to see so many old faces -- many of which I haven't seen since graduation. At least, not in person.

That brings us to modern marvel that is Facebook. I seriously lost track of how many people said to me, "Hey, Chris, I see you on Facebook all the time!" or "Yeah, you're all over Facebook."

Another person looked at the drink in my hand and asked why I wasn't drinking a cup of coffee. Apparently I've written many status updates about enjoying a cup of coffee.

Then there was the guy who told me I'm on Facebook so much that I have the most recognizable face in the room. I know that was meant as a compliment, but I admit I was a little embarrassed. Am I putting too much out there?

For the record, I think I only did a few updates on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare during the course of the party.

I also only sang karaoke twice. I haven't done that since college. But the ham in me couldn't resist the urge to grab the microphone and make an ass of myself.

I was one of the first singers of the night and did a very lame rendition of "Great Balls of Fire." Much later in the evening I had the urge to take another crack at it. It took a while to decide what song to do, but I finally settled on Van Halen's "Jump." However,when the DJ told me I'd be the last song of the night, I immediately changed my mind. "New York, New York" would be the perfect song to end the night!

I managed to get a good number of the attendees on the dance floor to sing along and start a kick line.

And of course I couldn't wait to update my Facebook status about it.

Fun with negative space

2010-07-14T20:28:00.001-04:00

Listening to the Current Geek podcast recently, they referenced "the arrow in the FedEx logo."

I have to admit, I wasn't sure what they were talking about. I hadn't ever noticed an arrow in the logo before. I tried to picture it in my head, but I wasn't seeing it.

Then while driving home work earlier this week I was behind a FedEx truck -- and there is was! It's as plain as the nose on my face. How did I never see it before? Now I can't look at the logo without the arrow jumping out at me.

All-Star annoyance

2010-07-13T22:22:00.000-04:00

I'll spare you my usual rant about baseball coverage on Fox and the late start of important games like the All-Star Game and the World Series. Instead, I'll let you hear straight from one of those most affected by the annoying practices of MLB and Fox...

For the record, tonight's first pitch came at 8:50 p.m. ET. Nolan got to watch the first two innings before going to bed.

The bendy bike

2010-07-13T20:55:00.002-04:00

I spotted this on Discovery News the other day and thought it was pretty cool.

A 21-year-old British college student designed this bendable bicycle. The idea is that by being able to wrap your bike around a pole like this you can lock up your frame and both wheels with one simple lock giving you a more secure setup.

Apparently the bike uses a ratchet mechanism so it's both rigid and bendable, but not simultaneously. When you jump off the bike to park it, you push a lever on the frame and the bike becomes flexible, so you can wrap it around the nearest post or bike rack.

Kevin Scott's design was runner-up in the Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award. He hopes to commercialize his invention.

What do you think bike fans? Is this something that you'd want?

The pilgrimage

2010-07-12T23:54:00.000-04:00

I mentioned our trip to Yankee Stadium. Here are some photos...

We went to the game on July 4th. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 7-6 in 10 innings. This was our first trip to the new stadium and Kris and Thomas' first big league ballgame.

Today is the first day of the rest of your blog

2010-07-12T22:46:00.001-04:00

My three-month blogging hiatus is over.

Lately, anything I've felt like saying I've been able to say in 140 characters or less on Twitter. Any interesting links I spotted or photos I had were shared on Facebook. Updates on life with the Rooney family were posted on the Rooney Train.

I was no longer sure this blog served a purpose and came closer than ever to pulling the plug.

The truth is, I thought about the blog almost every day. I usually felt guilty for neglecting it, but I was actually a little relieved when I thought about getting rid of it and not worrying about neglecting it any more. If keeping this blog going is a source of stress, then what's the point?

So if that's how I feel about it, then why am I back here posting again? I'm really not sure. I guess I just don't want to give up that easily. I shall endeavor to do better. Wish me luck!

Decade Day

2010-07-12T22:33:00.000-04:00

Nolan joined the Double Digits Club today. Where the heck have the last 10 years gone?

In the blink of an eye, this little baby we brought into the world is now a 10-year-old kid about to go into the fifth grade. In another of those blinks will he really be 20 and in college? Hard to fathom!

As is often the case with our kids, the celebration was stretched out over a few days. It started back on July 4 with our first trip to the new Yankee Stadium. The tickets were actually a Christmas gift from Kris’ folks, but we decided to time our trip close to his birthday and bought him an extra souvenir while we were there.

Last night we took him out to dinner at the restaurant of his choice. He picked Red Robin.

Tonight we had dinner with my mom and his cousin Louis. Nolan requested a Boston cream pie for his cake.

I think he had a good day today. When he was going to bed he asked how much older I was. When I told him I had 28 years on him Nolan remarked that he had a lot to do before he reached that age -- middle school, high school, college, finding a job. I advised him to just take life one day at a time.

That’s how we’ve done things so far. Day 1 of the next decade starts tomorrow.

Tasty art

2010-04-05T14:52:00.000-04:00

I love stories about people with too much free time, which this appeared to be at first.

It turns out it’s actually about a high school art class in Utah where the teacher dreamed up an interesting idea to better connect with students.

The class spent about a week creating a 6,400-square-foot replica of Vincent van Gogh’s famous “Starry Night” out of Malt-O-Meal breakfast cereal.

After the project was finished, the cereal was scooped up of the gym floor and given to a famer to feed pigs.

What’s the craziest class project you ever took part in?

I'm a PC and this was NOT my idea

2010-03-14T23:24:00.002-04:00

OK, all you macheads out there are going to pounce on this with a great big "I told you so." But I'm hoping someone out there might have some suggestions I haven't thought of for my computer conundrum.

We got a netbook for Christmas that's running Windows 7 Starter (don't get me started on the lame Starter edition -- that's a whole other blog post). It took me a little while, but eventually I figured out how to network it with my other computer, which is running Windows XP Pro.

Life was good for a time. Nolan and I could sit in the basement and watch "Doctor Who" episodes saved on my external hard drive. I could sit in bed and watch video podcasts I had downloaded from iTunes on the other machine. And I could print anything I needed to from the netbook.

Then one day, poof. The connection was gone. The computers just decided they didn't want to play nice and talk to each other anymore.

I have absolutely no idea what happened. I assume this is the result of an update that was automatically installed to one of the computers, but I have no idea which one or which update -- or if that even really is the problem. I just know that I didn't make any changes that I'm aware of that could have caused this.

So tech nerds, what's the deal? Has anyone else experienced a problem like this? And if so, tell me you figured out how to fix it.

Spring ahead

2010-03-14T19:43:00.005-04:00

On weekends we often don't bother setting our alarms. We usually wake up when we hear the kids get up. They almost always arise around the same time whether their alarms are turned on or not -- around 7 a.m.

Today was no different -- sort of.

We awoke to the sound of the kids going downstairs and digging into the Sunday paper, looking for the funnies. Kris eventually decided to get up and hop in the shower and I dragged myself out of bed to go downstairs and start breakfast.

I was in the midst of starting a pot of coffee when Thomas looked at the cable box noted that the time on it was "wrong." It said 8:16, not 7:16.

D'oh!

The Mass we usually attend starts at 8:30. We probably would have gone to a later Mass, but Kris and Thomas were scheduled to usher this morning.

I don't know how we did it, but somehow we all managed to get dressed and arrive at church just in the nick of time.

Shortly after church started we spotted someone coming in late. Kris noted that she had wet hair and acknowledged it made her feel better to know we probably weren't the only ones rushing around this morning.

How about you? Have you ever forgotten to change your clocks before a time change and then been caught by surprise the next morning?

RSS for Dummies

2010-03-12T11:56:00.000-05:00

Not long ago I had to explain to someone (who I thought should have known better) what an RSS feed was and how it's so much easier to follow all of the websites and blogs you like with an RSS reader.

I've been using an RSS reader, mostly Google Reader, for years. Almost as long as I've had this blog and certainly longer since I've been on Facebook and Twitter. So I guess I take for granted that everyone knows what it's all about.

I posted this "RSS in Plain English" video almost three years ago. For those who still don't get it, here's a refresher.

'Oh, it's good to be back'

2010-03-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

"Iron Man 2" looks like it's going to be a ton of fun.