*Congratulations to Freeman sportswriter Mike Stribl, whose work was recognized in the Local Media Association's nationwide competition. If memory serves me, Mike has been here since I was sports editor (a position I left in 1983), which means one of us is getting old.

*Rarely do I get as annoyed with the end of a TV show as I did after the final episode of "Luck" on HBO. The horseracing saga led by Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte was superbly acted and featured a startling accurate portrayal of the game and its characters. Unfortunately, ratings were weak, which made it easy for HBO to cave in to pressure from animal rights activists who blamed the producers for the death of three horses during filming just as production for a second season was launched.

*The Freeman debuted its new story commenting platform the other day. It has all the bells and whistles of the system it replaced and a lot more, including the ability to post comments from various other platforms. Give our Ivan Lajara (ilajara@freemanonline.com) a holler if you have questions or concerns.

*Fascinating, disturbing, funny and deadly serious are words that apply to "Shameless" on Showtime cable. William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum head a wonderful cast.

*It's easy to take for granted the work of local doctors, nurses and support personnel ... until you rely on them, as I have with some level of regularity over the last three years.

*Rick Santorum won't win the GOP nomination this year and it's hard to see Mitt Romney selecting him as a running mate, given all the nasty things they've been saying about each other. So I'm left to presume that if Romney loses to Barack Obama, Santorum will claim he's next in line when it's time to tee it up again in 2016. That would explain why he isn't bowing out and helping the Republicans close ranks around the presumptive nominee.

*Programs to watch: "Community" on NBC, "American Dad" on Fox, "Shake It Up" and "Austin and Ally" on Disney. Familial reasons. ... and they're entertaining, too.

*Best thing about Donald Trump's endorsement of Mitt Romney: Less political TV face time for Trump going forward (I hope).

*Worst thing about Donald Trump's endorsement of Mitt Romney: A Trump endorsement of the mercurial Newt Gingrich makes off-kilter sense. A Trump endorsement of the relatively low-key Romney makes you scratch your head.

*Interesting interview on WFAN with Al Kelly, the guy who is in charge of the Super Bowl to be played at the Meadowlands. Let me amend that: It was interesting when Mike Francesa didn't ask and answer his own questions. I've written this before, but it never ceases to amaze me that WFAN hasn't tried and/or been able to improve the novice broadcasting skills of its marquee personality.

*Speaking of Francesa, the 15 minutes he did with former partner Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo the other day reminded you how much better together they were than apart. Francesa has become more tedious as a solo than he was part of a duo. Russo essentially fell off the area map when he bolted for satellite radio.

*Finally saw "Jersey Boys" on Broadway. I liked it, but not as much as most others. Maybe it's because the performer trying to channel Frankie Valli fell short. How could he not? The great Meryl Streep is able to nail a Margaret Thatcher and Julia Child. But performances like that are rare.

*If you read the Huffington Post there's disappointing news: Highly regarded Social News Editor Mandy Jenkins is leaving. If you follow newspaper companies (like the Freeman) managed by Digital First Media, there's great news: She's joining us.

*Listened to the State of the Union address driving back from New York City last night. Lots of applause. If you didn't know better, you'd have thought it was coming from the entire House chamber. The partisan divide wasn't evident unless you watched the highlights.

*Sure it was a campaign speech as much as a State of the Union address. All the incumbent presidents to it in the year they're seeking re-election. Whatever you want to call it, it was well-crafted and skillfully delivered. If Newt Gingrich does get the GOP nomination, President Obama ought to take him up on those seven three-hour debates. Obama will more than hold his own.

*Finally bit the bullet the other night after years of muttering under my breath and turned from NBC's Brian Williams to CBS' Scott Pelley for the evening news. Pelley quickly introduces stories and correspondents and gets out of the way. Williams takes too much timing setting up the stories as if he's getting paid by the word. I've been watching NBC News for decades. I'll now watch on weekends when the solid Lester Holt is in the anchor chair. I'll catch Brian Williams when he's on Letterman, where his story telling and sense of humor are better suited.

*Jorge Posada: solid player, good numbers, winning athlete. Hall of Famer? Not quite. Same with Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte. (Going back a bit more, ditto Don Mattingly.) Not a knock on them to say the closest they'll get to Cooperstown is when they attend the induction ceremonies for Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. (By the way, Joe Torre will likely get in as a manager, but I'd have long ago elected him as a player.)

*New presidents often are judged by their success in the first 100 days. Following that measurement, it's worth pointing out that Kingston's new mayor, Shayne Gallo, is off to an impressive start in the first 25 days.

*As always, lots of deserving people didn't get Oscar nominations. Here are my Top 2:
Patton Oswalt of "Young Adult" (an oft-mentioned name) and Ann Morgan Guilbert in "Please Give". Who? She played the cranky, aging grandma in that film. But she's best known by people of a certain age as "Millie" in the old Dick Van Dyke Show. If you haven't seen "Please Give" (and I'm guessing that's most of you), seek it out. Other wonderful actors in the cast include Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet. (Apologies if I'm off a year on this movie. If so, Ann Morgan Guilbert was snubbed last year!)

*By the way, if you haven't caught up to "Shameless" on Showtime, you're missing one of the most entertaining series currently in production. William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum head a fantastic ensemble cast. Macy's character is particularly despicable. It's a testament to his acting chops (and the writers' skills) that he comes off as lovable in a sick sort of way.

*Didn't realize until last week on the "Today" program's 60th anniversary celebration that the great actress Estelle Parsons (an Ulster County resident, don't you know?) got her start on that show, both behind and in front of the cameras. They aired a fun clip of her interviewing Marilyn Monroe. (See accompanying NBC picture of Ms. Parsons on the set in 1952.)

*Political debates would be a lot more illuminating if audiences weren't allowed to hoot and holler at the questions and answers. What little I saw of last night's South Carolina affair was Newt Gingrich playing to a crowd that was decidedly hostile to panelist Juan Williams.

*I respect Bernard Goldberg's work much better on HBO's "Real Sports" than I do on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor".

*Shortly after arriving home in Woodstock last night, I tweeted a quick warning about slick road conditions due to the just-started freezing rain. Within minutes, Woodstock-based @ColonyOfTheArts replied with word of an accident on Route 212, on which I'd just driven. The social media grapevine is quite something.

*I"ll admit I don't watch much football anymore. But from what little I caught of the Giants-Packers game, I could only conclude that they've changed the rules, thus allowing QB Eli Manning all the time he needed to throw the ball. Put another way, how did Green Bay win 15 games without a pass rush?

*I also tuned in just in time for the last two minutes of San Francisco-New Orleans. Pretty incredible, no? Nice of the coaches on both sides to let their defensive units go home early.

*How come nobody told me about Pad Thai until I had some at dinner last night? Excellent dish. (For the uninitiated, check it out here. I wouldn't ordinarily send you to Wikipedia, but I can vouch for this one.)

*Three of the top six "most viewed" videos among Journal Register Company newspaper websites large and small last week were from the Freeman. They included the top 2: the Kingston-Newburgh girls basketball scuffle and the local woman who objects to the new 9/11-themed movie. No. 6 was the Athlete of the Week from Ellenville, where they obviously must have been running it in a loop at the high school.

*Watching Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveil his Executive Budget for about an hour this afternoon, I couldn't help but remember the years when his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo (remember him?) would provide budget presentations from morning to night. If memory serves me, the first session was for the Albany press corps. The second was for legislators. Then, in the evening, he'd invite publishers and editors to the Executive Mansion. There'd be cocktails, the governor's budget with Q&A, in the relatively informal setting of a large parlor room, and then dinner. We didn't know it at the time, but in some respects, those were the good old days.

On the notepad while watching the livestream of the State of the State address:

- Gov. Cuomo's speech may have been the most ambitious State of the State I've heard as far as spending is concerned, and that's saying something. I believe he cited $25 billion worth of projects from one end of the state (Buffalo) to the other (a new convention center in New York City) and stops in between (a new Tappan Zee Bridge). And, as always, analysts from one end of the state to the other will offer the standard, but accurate, admonition, "the devil is in the details," meaning let's see how this all figures into the Executive Budget before we get too excited.

- I couldn't help but be struck by how Cuomo and a couple of the other state leaders who spoke before him made reference to New York government's "dysfunctional" past. For the sake of argument, let's agree the "dysfunction" is in the past. (Not sure I'm ready to go that far yet, but OK.) What's interesting to me is how they're willing to admit to "dysfunction" now. Our newspaper was among the first to use that label many years ago to describe the Legislature. As the cries of "dysfunctional Albany" expanded (and were essentially etched in stone by the landmark NYU Brennan Center report), the response from the Capitol was pretty much: "What 'dysfunction'? You guys don't know what you're talking about!" Today they're tripping over themselves to say they're no longer "dysfunctional." Apology accepted.

- Regarding casino gambling, the governor emphasized what many of us have have been pointing out for years: There's already casino gambling in New York (at Indian reservations and more recently at "racinos") and there's casino gambling in surrounding states. (Oh, and who doesn't think the state lottery games aren't "gambling"?) Billions of dollars in casino-spending have left New York. Why this state has had its head in the sand for so long is a mystery. You don't have to morally embrace casino gambling to recognize its fiscal importance. Maybe this Legislature will finally get the message.

- The Legislature likes its own. Biggest round of applause for the new county executives introduced by Lt. Gov. Duffy went to former Assemblyman Mark Molinaro of Red Hook, who's in his first week at Dutchess County executive.

- Several mayors were introduced, but not Kingston's new boss Shayne Gallo.

- The state's congressmen were not individually introduced. But camera-hog Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx did get some face time, just as he does when he positions himself on the handshake rail for the president's State of the Union.

- It hardly seemed like a State of the State without former Gov. Hugh Carey, who died in August at age 92.

- There's something efficient about Cuomo giving this address (and last year's, too) in the Empire State Plaza convention center, rather than in Assembly chambers, as had been tradition. The stage, lectern and PowerPoint presentation were business-like. Looked like a corporate event. A piece of me misses the ornate setting of the Capitol. But conducting the event in a more sterile environment than the Assembly hall is a good thing.

There will be no resolutions to start the new year. Never made them, never broken any.

Nothing about resolving to lose weight ... which may explain why I'm too heavy.

Nothing about exercising more ... which may explain why I'm out of shape.

Nothing about eating better ... which may explain why I need two arms to carry the takeout Chinese food, even though my wife only eats one small container of it.

Nothing about reducing stress ... not when you've been in the business I've been in for more than four decades.

Thing is, it will be three years in April since I was diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia. (I know, "treatable" and "leukemia" don't seem like they belong in the same sentence.) I'm in remission and they tell me I'm likely to die from something else. Given my weight, my diet, my stress and assorted minor (so far) medical issues, that sounds like a good bet.

Oh, and did I mention my family history? My mother died at 50, my father at 60. Cancer. I'm 63. Whoever holds the record for longevity needn't feel threatened by me, you think?

I'm not fatalistic as much as I'm realistic. For now, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm working harder than ever, too hard, you might say, for someone nearer the end of a career than the beginning. (This is the newspaper business, after all.)

But family life is good (40 years of marriage to the same woman and we haven't had a disagreement since yesterday; two successful married sons; two wonderful daughters-in-law; a cute-as-a-button granddaughter; and one grand-dog).

I'm fortunate to be living comfortably, if not ostentatiously. And I can afford that takeout food for which I referred.

In other words, I can't complain (although my wife will tell you I do plenty of it).

So we step lively into 2012. Make the most of each day. Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year!

*The usual routine on Christmas Day is movie and Chinese food. That was the plan again this year, too. But our two Chinese restaurants of choice were closed Sunday. Amazing. We wound up in - of all places - Ruby Tuesday (no, not Ruby Foo) and it was just fine.

*This year's movie, by the way, was "Young Adult" with Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt. As has been noted elsewhere, Theron's character may be the most unlikeable comedic heroine in Hollywood history. But don't let that scare you. Good movie, excellent performances.

*Another front-line National Hockey League player suffered a concussion this week (Sean Weber of Nashville). The league should be and is concerned about this rash of concussions, starting with the one still impacting the game's No. 1 draw, Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh. Lots of smart minds trying to figure out what to do. No easy answers, but I'd start by widening the rink. Players are too big for today's ice surface and that means less skating and more collisions. It probably won't happen though, because widening the ice will mean eliminating a couple of rows of prime seats, thus cutting revenue.

*If you have children and grandchildren who live far from home and you're still not "visiting" them on Skype, do yourself a favor and make the connection. (Oh, it does help if you have a computer.)

*This is the last week of the year, unless you're bookkeeping as we do at Journal Register Company and other businesses, in which case it's the first week of the first period (not month) of 2012. It's known as 4-4-5 accounting, which creates 13 weeks in each quarter.

*We'll get our share of snow this winter, no doubt. But for those of us who don't care for snow, look at it this way: It's nearly the end of the December and we haven't had any yet (save for that freak storm in October). Each day without snow is another day closer to spring.