The US death toll from Superstorm Sandy has risen to 50. The overall total -- from the Caribbean to Canada -- is at 118. Damage estimates are now up to $50 billion -- the biggest natural disaster in US history. Eight million customers, not people, customers without power. A customer could be an individual homeowner, or a 50 story apartment building in New York City. Seventeen states are dealing with power outages. The Battery Street Tunnel in New York City filled with 43 million gallons of sea water. Ten major subway lines flooded. Over 18,000 flights have been canceled. It was the lowest barometric pressure ever measured in a storm making landfall in New Jersey. The highest wave ever recorded in New York Harbor, 32.5 feet, shattered the old record of 16. 5 feet. Highest storm surge ever measured in Manhattan was recorded at 13.88 feet shattering the old record of 10.5 feet. The storm had the strongest winds recorded in New York city, gusts over 100 MPH, since 1804. It was the first time in NYC history that all bridges and tunnels were closed (at the height of Sandy) isolating the city to a true island. It was the worst storm to ever hit the state of New Jersey. It was the second largest hurricane in terms of wind field ever recorded. This was a monster. You could live a lifetime (or two or three) and never see another storm of this composition, size, and intensity hit anywhere in the United States.

Three days of football coming up. Friday, the Huskies are at California. Saturday, the Cougars are at Utah. Sunday, the Seahawks host the Minnesota Vikings.

Even though the World Series thing didn't necessarily work out for them this year, the Detroit Tigers are bringing their skipper back next year. The Tigers announced yesterday that Jim Leyland will be back after signing a one-year contract extension.

Speaking of things not working out as planned, because of season-ending injuries to four quarterbacks, the University of Maryland football team is converting a freshman linebacker into this week's starting quarterback.

Today is Halloween, an out-growth of combining an ancient Druid harvest festival and Christian harvest customs. Tonight is Trick or Treat or Beggar's Night. Today is Scare a Friend Day, a time for innocent fun by watching a scary movie or visiting a haunted house. Today is National Knock-Knock Day, a day for kids of all ages to try out their knock-knock jokes. Today is Sneak Some of the Candy Yourself Before the Kids Start Knocking Day. Today is National Magic Day, observed on the date of Harry Houdini's death in 1926.

Calendar notes: In 1959, Lee Harvey Oswald told reporters in Russia, "I will never return to the United States." In 1970, singer Michelle Phillips and actor Dennis Hopper were married. They divorced 8 days later. In 1990, Billy Idol dumped 600 dead fish on his opening act, Faith No More, during a Seattle concert and put four pigs and a goat in their dressing room. The group retaliated by parading naked on stage during Idol's encore. In 1991, at their Halloween wedding, Jayne and Dale Peterson of Madison, Wisconsin, were married dressed as Frankenstein and the bride of Frankenstein. At the reception, the champagne was chilled in a coffin.

Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind Star Wars. It's also making a seventh movie in the Star Wars series called Episode 7, set for release in 2015, with plans to follow it with Episodes 8 and 9 and then one new movie every two or three years.

It seems like Nadya Suleman, better known as Octomom, is leaving her 14 children behind. Over the weekend, she checked herself into rehab in Southern California, according to TMZ. Her rep said that she "wanted to get off the Xanax she was prescribed" and she wants to learn how "to deal with her stress, exhaustion and anxiety with professional help." As far as her kids are concerned, Octomom is using three nannies and two friends to take care of the duties. Her rehab stint is supposed to last for 30 days.

Apparently Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger isn't very good at taking jokes at his own expense, and now a nasty Twitter war has broken out about between him, and Avril Lavigne's ex-husband, Deryck Whibley, of Sum 41. It all started when Whibley posted a photo of himself dressed up as Avril and his model-girlfriend, Ari Cooper, dressed up as Chad Kroeger on his Twitter account. Apparently Kroeger saw the picture and became infuriated and directed the anger of the Canadian rock gods at Deryck with the following Tweet, "Hey Deryck loved the costumes! we were going to dress up as you guys this year but all the parties had celebrity themes haha! –CK."  

Happy Halloween!

Trivia Answer: Michael Landon. He was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz on this date in 1936. In 1959 he was 22 when he landed his first starring TV role as Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza, one of the first TV series to be broadcast in color. He was Little Joe from 1959 to 1973. Later, he was Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1983, and then Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven from 1984 to 1989.

Heavy rains have prompted a flood watch through tomorrow night for nine Western Washington counties. Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Pierce, Clallam, Jefferson, Snohomish and King counties. The National Weather Service says a storm front is bringing heavy rain to the area today and a second front will bring more rain late tonight and tomorrow.

Superstorm Sandy made landfall along the coast of southern New Jersey last night. The storm weakened overnight according to the National Weather Service. Winds dropped to 65 mph, but it was still packing the punch of a tropical storm. At one point today, some 8 million customers were without power across 13 states and the District of Columbia. The storm was dumping heavy snow in the Appalachians, up to 3-4 inches an hour in parts of West Virginia. The storm has caused at least 15 US deaths and one person was killed in Canada. Water pouring into subway stations. US financial markets remained closed for a second straight trading day. The markets are reopening tomorrow.

Spent the morning trying to figure out if San Francisco was that good or if Arizona was that bad. I never did reach a conclusion but the 49ers manhandled the Cardinals on Monday Night Football last night beating Arizona, 24-3.

Sunday, the Seahawks host the Minnesota Vikings.

Friday, the Huskies are at California. Saturday, the Cougars are at Utah.

Today is National Candy Corn Day. Today is National Buy a Doughnut Day. Tonight is Look in the Back of Your Refrigerator Night, also called Haunted Refrigerator Night. Today is Create a Great Funeral Day. It's more fun when you do it in advance. Today is Try On Your Halloween Costume Early Day. Go ahead, see how cool or goofy you look. Tonight is Practice Winter Snuggling Night. On cold nights this winter, you'll be glad you did.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1938, Orson Welles stirred a national panic with his radio drama The War of the Worlds. Listeners believed the simulated news bulletins in the drama were real and that Grovers Mill, New Jersey, actually was being invaded by men from Mars. In 1974, Muhammad Ali regained the world boxing title by knocking out heavyweight champ George Foreman in Zaire. Twenty years later Foreman won the title again. In 1984, Freddy Krueger slashed his way across the movie screen in the first Nightmare on Elm Street. In 2000, Steve Allen died at age 78. He hosted the original Tonight Show and, in his spare time, composed more than 4,000 songs.

Green Day said yesterday they are not going to be touring for a while as frontman Billie Joe Armstrong continues treatment for substance abuse. Band member Mike Dirnt said in a posting on Green Day's website, "Obviously the timing for this isn't ideal, but Billie Joe's well-being is our main concern. "We are happy to say that Billie Joe is doing well, and we want to thank you all for the outpouring of support and well wishes that we have received, and we can't wait to see you all again soon." Billie Joe sought substance abuse treatment late last month following an angry, guitar-smashing on-stage outburst in Las Vegas. Details of his substance abuse have not been released. Green Day also announced it was moving up the release date of "iTré!," part of an ambitious trilogy of albums that marks their first collection of new music since 2009, to December 11th from its original date of January 15th, in part to make up for the canceled and postponed dates.

Rod Stewart released his first-ever holiday album -- Merry Christmas, Baby -- today. The set includes Rod's take on yuletide classics like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, White Christmas, Silent Night and more.

Tomorrow night, children and their parents are invited by Gov. Chris Gregoire and First Mike to stop by the mansion for some sweet treats. The governor has already picked out her costume. This year, she's dressing as Alice in Wonderland, with husband Mike as the White Rabbit. Throughout the evening they're handing out chocolate bars – and just like in years past, five of the candy bars hold a Golden Ticket. The tickets are an invitation for the child and five guests to attend a special holiday reception on December 7th at the mansion. The event tomorrow night runs from 6 until 8.

The Top 5 Most Popular Halloween Candies

1. Candy Corn Today is National Candy Corn Day.
2. Snickers The candy has its own salad that would make a delicious Halloween treat. It is a mix of Snickers bars, Granny Smith apples, whipped cream and pudding.
3. Kit Kat Bars Kit Kats made the Guinness Book of World Records by selling 13.2 billion bars worldwide in 1995.
4. Sour Patch Kids The alien shaped candies were inspired by UFO sightings. Spooky.
5. M&Ms They've been eaten in space. In 1981, astronauts chose the candy to go with them as part of their food rations.

Trivia Answer: Harry Randall Truman who was born on this date in 1896. Truman was born in West Virginia. Several years later, the family settled in Chehalis. Truman enlisted in the Army in 1917. He later survived a torpedoing of a ship he was on off the coast of Ireland in 1918. After the incident, he was honorably discharged and then lived in Riffe, Washington, until around 1926, when he became caretaker of the Mount St. Helens Lodge. Truman was alone at his lodge when he and his 16 cats are presumed to have died (along with 56 other people elsewhere in the disaster area) in the eruption on May 18th of 1980. At the time of his death, Truman had operated the lodge for 52 years.

The scenes are straight out of a disaster blockbuster: A killer storm takes aim at one of the most populated regions of the country. Hundreds of thousands are forced from their homes. New York City is brought to a standstill. The nation's capital is emptied of government workers. And thousands of National Guard troops are called up. Such was the story playing out today from North Carolina to Maine as Hurricane Sandy took aim at the Mid-Atlantic coastline, where forecasters said it was likely to collide with a cold front and spawn a superstorm that could generate flash floods, snowstorms and massive power outages. Some highlights:

• Emergencies declared in NY, DC, MA, MD
• 375,000 evacuated from low-lying New York
• Close to 11 million commuters lost their rides
• Federal offices in DC are closed today
• Classes canceled for 2 million students
• US stock exchanges are closed
• Over 8600 flights have been canceled

Titus Young caught his second touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford on a 1-yard slant with 20 seconds left, lifting the Detroit Lions to a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. We lost. To the Detroit Lions. Zach Miller made a spectacular, 16-yard catch on a toss from Russell Wilson with 5:27 left to put the Seahawks ahead. But Seattle couldn't stop the Lions on their last possession. Next Sunday, the Hawks host the Minnesota Vikings.

The Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers meet up in an NFC West showdown on Monday Night Football tonight.

It was a happier story for the Huskies over the weekend. Bishop Sankey ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns, Travis Coons kicked a 30-yard field goal with 1:20 left and Washington took advantage of four interceptions from Oregon State's Sean Mannion in a 20-17 upset of the seventh-ranked Beavers on Saturday night. Oregon State was trying for the first 7-0 start in school history. Instead it became the second AP Top 10 team to be upset by the Huskies at home this season. Washington knocked off then-No. 8 Stanford 17-13 in late September. Friday, the Huskies are at California.

Stanford sacked Jeff Tuel a school-record 10 times to overcome a sloppy offensive effort in a 24-17 victory over Washington State on Saturday. Saturday, the Cougars are at Utah.

Marco Scutaro singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 last night to complete a four-game sweep and win their second World Series title in three years. Pablo Sandoval, who hit three homers in Game 1, was selected Series MVP.

Today is Laugh A Lot Suddenly For No Reason Day. Today is Internet Day, marking the first connection on ARPANET, or what would become the Internet, between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Center in California on October 29, 1969. The @ symbol was adopted in 1972 and a year later 75% of ARPANET traffic was e-mail. Today is National Forgiveness Day, a celebration of unconditional love. Today is National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day. Today is National Oatmeal Day.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1929, the New York Stock Market crashed as 16-million shares of stock were dumped and investors lost billions of dollars. The boom had ended and America faced a decade of depression. In 1945, the first ballpoint pens went of sale at Gimbels department stores for $12.95. In 1966, the National Organization for Women was formed. In 1995, Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers became the NFL's leading receiver 14,040 career yards. In 1997, comedian Bob Hope, who had entertained American troops overseas for decades, was made an honorary US veteran at age 94. The congressional resolution bestowing the title was the first of its kind. In 2004, Osama bin Laden, in a videotaped statement, directly admitted he had ordered the September 11 attacks and told America "the best way to avoid another Manhattan" was to stop threatening Muslims' security.

Acclaimed Iran hostage thriller Argo brought home its first box-office win over a quiet weekend, leading movie charts with $12.4 million in US and Canadian ticket sales as would-be moviegoers hunkered down for Hurricane Sandy. The tally for Argo topped the $9.4 million for new sci-fi drama Cloud Atlas which finished third. Halloween-themed animated film Hotel Transylvania scared up $9.5 million from Friday through Sunday, narrowly edging Cloud Atlas for the No. 2 slot. Rounding out the weekend's top five, low-budget horror sequel Paranormal Activity 4 was No. 4, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D and Taken 2 tied for fifth place.

The new James Bond movie Skyfall whipped up a storm of its own overseas, taking $77.7 million in 25 countries. The latest installment of the British spy saga took the top spot in all 25 countries, broke the all-time Saturday attendance record in the United Kingdom, and was the biggest film opening there of 2012. It opens here in the States November 9th.

Carly Rae Jepsen has been named Billboard's Rising Star for 2012. The Call Me Maybe singer and songwriter receives the Rising Star Award at the Billboard Women in Music event on November 30th in New York City.

Wednesday night, children and their parents are invited by Gov. Chris Gregoire and First Mike to stop by the mansion for some sweet treats. The governor has already picked out her costume. This year, she's dressing as Alice in Wonderland, with husband Mike as the White Rabbit. Throughout the evening they're handing out chocolate bars – and just like in years past, five of the candy bars hold a Golden Ticket. The tickets are an invitation for the child and five guests to attend a special holiday reception on December 7th at the mansion. The event Wednesday night runs from 6 until 8.

Halloween by the numbers:

• There are 41 million potential trick-or-treaters ages 5 to 14 across the United States.
• $79.82 is the amount the average American is spending on decorations, costumes and candy this year (up from $72.31 last year).
• 18 percent of people are making rather than buying a Halloween costume.
• $8 billion is the total expected holiday expenditure in 2012.
• 15.1 percent of Americans are dressing a family pet in a costume

Trivia Answer: Richard Stephen Dreyfuss who turns 65 today. That Best Actor Award was for his portrayal of a struggling actor in The Goodbye Girl. At the time, he was 30 and became the youngest actor up to that time to win a Best Actor Award. Dreyfuss and Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin married in 2006 and have lived in San Diego since then, although they frequently visit New York City and London, where Dreyfuss once lived. In February 2008, they bought a $1.5 million house in the rural community of Olivenhain in eastern Encinitas, California, and plan to renovate the 1970s structure with state-of-the-art green technologies. On June 10th of 2011, Dreyfuss was made a Master Mason by the Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia at the Washington DC Scottish Rite building.

All the parts appear to be going together to create what forecasters are calling Frankenstorm -- a monster combination of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides, and maybe snow that could cause havoc along the East Coast just before Halloween next week. Hurricane Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba yesterday, continues to barrel north. A wintry storm is chugging across from the West. And frigid air is streaming south from Canada. If they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big wet mess that settles over the nation's most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far inland as Ohio.

Madison Bumgarner pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 last night to take a 2-game-to-none World Series lead. Forty-one of 52 teams to take a 2--games-to-none lead have gone on to win the title. The Giants swept the first two games at home two years ago against Texas en route to their first championship since 1954. It's a travel day for the Series today. When play resumes in Detroit tomorrow night, the temperature in the Motor City is expected to be in the low-to-mid 40s.

The Seahawks are also in Detroit this weekend. Sunday they face the Lions. Kick-off at 10 Sunday morning.

First there's football tomorrow: Coming off their bye week, the WSU Cougars are at Stanford against the Cardinal tomorrow afternoon at 3:15. Then at 7:15 tomorrow night, the Washington Huskies host No. 7 Oregon State at Century Link.

Today is National Mincemeat Day. Today is Mule Day, marking importation of the first Spanish jacks to the US, a gift from Spain, on October 26th of 1785. Today is Workaholic Stop and Smell Something Day, a day for workaholics to consider what they might be missing. Today is Frankenstein Friday, the day to honor Frankenstein's "mother" and "father," Mary Shelley, the author who created him, and Boris Karloff, the actor who immortalized him.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1970, Doonesbury, the comic strip by Gary Trudeau, debuted in 28 newspapers across the US. In 1984, in Loma Linda, California, a baboon's heart was transplanted into Baby Fae, a newborn with a severe heart defect. Baby Fae lived 21 days with her experimental animal heart. In 1990, Wayne Gretzky became the first National Hockey League player to reach 2,000 points. In 1996, prosecutors cleared Atlanta guard Richard Jewell as a suspect in the Olympic Park bombing. In 1997, St. Vincent's Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin, issued an SOS after five babies were born and they ran out of green and gold Green Bay Packer caps and booties. Volunteer knitters rushed in to keep newborns warm in Packer colors.

Forbes released their annual list of the highest-earning dead celebrities and this past year, there was a new person in the number one spot. Elizabeth Taylor, who died in 2011, tops the list with the 210-million dollars she earned posthumously from the auction of her jewels, costumes and artwork, plus the money from sales of her perfume, White Diamonds. Last year's number one, Michael Jackson, dropped to two with 145-million, followed by Elvis Presley, who pulled in 55-mil. Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, reggae star Bob Marley, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Dr. Seuss, Steve McQueen, respectively, also made the list. Read more at Forbes.com.

How do you get a rock star to play at your birthday party? Well Seattle's -- actually Bothell's -- Michael Henrichsen found a way. According to the Associated Press, Henrichsen wanted Billy Idol to perform at his birthday so he started a website called PlayMyBirthdayBillyIdol.com. Then, he tracked down celebrities while they were in town to film them asking Billy to play the party and posted those on the site. The media got wind and before long, Billy's people saw the Google Alerts about the story. While they just wrote it off as a super-fan, Michael went on to raise ten-thousand dollars for the Red Cross and won Billy over. It's been going on for three or four years. Now, Billy is playing for Michael's birthday tonight at Showbox SoDo in Seattle. Learn more at PlayMyBirthdayBillyIdol.com.

Lady Gaga has been offered a role in the sequel to the 2001 comedy Zoolander. The Huffington Post reports that the singer has been offered over four-million dollars to star opposite Ben Stiller, who will reprise his role as model Derek Zoolander. The film is being directed by Jennifer Aniston's fiancé, Justin Theroux, who played the Evil DJ in the first flick. No word on whether Gaga accepted the offer. The film is expected to open sometime in 2014.

Maroon 5 tops the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the sixth straight week.

Trivia Answer: Natalie Anne Merchant who turns 49 today. Merchant was married to Daniel de la Calle and has a daughter named Lucia. In an interview earlier this year she indicated she is now divorced. She likes gardening and painting. Some paintings can be seen at her official website. She has been a vegetarian since 1980, save for the duration of her pregnancy when she temporarily resumed eating meat.

With three mighty swings, Pablo Sandoval put the San Francisco Giants ahead in the World Series and put himself in a class with Mr. October. Sandoval hit three home runs and joined Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, and Albert Pujols as the only sluggers to do it in the Series, and the Giants jolted Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers 8-3 last night in Game 1. Game 2 tonight at 5.

The Washington Huskies host No. 7 Oregon State on Saturday.

Coming off their bye week, the WSU Cougars are at Stanford against the Cardinal on Saturday.

The Seahawks are in Detroit Sunday to face the Lions.

Today is National Greasy Foods Day. It's also World Pasta Day. International Magic Week begins today

Calendar notes: On this date in 1960, the first electronic wristwatch, the Bulova Accutron, went on sale in New York City. Also in 1960, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards accidentally met on a train. They had known each other in school. In 1992, singer Roger Miller died of lung cancer at age 56. His hits included Dang Me, King of the Road, Chug-a-lug, and England Swings. In 2002, the Utah State Court of Appeals dismissed Robert Paul Rice's claims that the Utah State Prison was violating his right to practice his religion by failing to provide him with a vampire diet. The so-called vampire diet apparently would have involved a conjugal visit from a vampress.

Donald Trump is offering to donate $5 million to charity -- just so long as President Barack Obama digs up and releases his passport and college records in the next week. Trump made the offer in a video uploaded to YouTube. He started off by taking credit for getting president Obama to release his long form birth certificate, blah, blah, blah. The deal is already being refused. A growing number of folks are now of the opinion that The Donald has jumped the shark. Shark-jumping, if you haven't heard the term, is the moment you lose all credibility and descend to joke status. It was inspired by an episode on the TV show Happy Days in which a leather jacket-clad Fonzie water skies over a confined shark. The show was on its way to oblivion.

Sometimes you just really need some time off work. Apparently that was the case for a 48-year-old San Antonio woman accused of faking her own kidnapping -- so she could get a day off. Police officers found her bound by rope in the back seat of her car. She told authorities an unidentified man abducted her at knifepoint as she drove up to an ATM. The woman claimed her abductor insisted she drive him around the city for drug deals. However, police discovered she actually spent her time off purchasing a lottery ticket from a gas station, as surveillance footage later showed her looking healthy, unhurried, pleasant, and certainly not kidnapped. She later confessed to making the whole thing up and was ultimately charged with aggravated perjury. Her occupation was not revealed.

Check out Fun. performing on Saturday Night Live coming up on November 3rd.

Eva Longoria and New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez have officially broken up. Longoria dumped the NFL star right before his game on Sunday, in which his team lost to the New England Patriots. The couple has been dating since June and Sanchez claims their break up is due to scheduling issues and balancing their careers. A source revealed to Us Magazine that Mark is devastated about the split since he tried everything to make it work.

Katy Perry is 28 today. Interestingly, a new survey out asked women at what age did they themselves yourself no longer young. Don't tell Katy, but the survey pointed to 28-years-old is the line in the sand that causes you to start concentrating more on work, and less on your sex life.

Trivia Answer: Nancy Cartwright who is 55 today. Cartwright voices other characters for the show, including Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Kearney, and Database. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Cartwright moved to Hollywood in 1978. Her first professional role was voicing Gloria in the animated series Richie Rich. Her first feature film was Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983. After continuing to search for acting work, in 1987 Cartwright auditioned for a role in a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family that was to appear on The Tracey Ullman Show. Cartwright intended to audition for the role of Lisa Simpson, the middle child; when she arrived at the audition, she found the role of Bart to be more interesting. Matt Groening, the series' creator, allowed her to audition for Bart and offered her the role on the spot. Cartwright received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992 and an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in the Field of Animation in 1995.

The 108th edition of the Fall Classic begins tonight in San Francisco. Fox is airing the games. The Detroit Tigers visit the San Francisco Giants. The series begins in San Francisco because the Giants are a part of the National League, which won the All-Star Game this year. The Giants are eying their second World Series title in three years. They beat the Texas Rangers 4-games-to-1 in 2010, their first World Series championship since 1954. This is the 19th trip to the World Series for the Giants. It's the 11th appearance for the Tigers. The Giants didn't have to travel after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night, but they also haven't had the recovery time Detroit has enjoyed. The Tigers have been idle since finishing off a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the ALCS on Thursday. Venezuelans, meanwhile, are celebrating their homegrown baseball heroes as a record contingent of players from the country heads into the World Series with the Tigers and Giants. Nine Venezuelans, including five with the Giants, are featured in the series starting tonight, the most ever. Fans in Caracas cheered the Giants with shouts and toasting glasses of beer, in large part because the game's star was one of their own, Marco Scutaro, the veteran second baseman who was named the most valuable player of the National League series. Game one is this afternoon at 5:07.

The Washington Huskies host No. 7 Oregon State on Saturday.

Coming off their bye week, the WSU Cougars are at Stanford against the Cardinal on Saturday.

The Seahawks are in Detroit Sunday to face the Lions.

Disarmament Week begins today, sponsored by the United Nations. Interestingly, today is United Nations Day, by presidential proclamation. The UN was founded on this date in 1945. Today is Share a Pop-Tart with Someone You Love Day. Today is National Bologna Day.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1955, Tappan introduced the microwave oven in Mansfield, Ohio. Suggested retail price: $1,200. In 1969, an autopsy of the 3,000-year-old mummy of King Tut of Egypt revealed a blow to the head. The boy pharaoh had been murdered. In 1973, actor Alan 'Rocky' Lane died at the age of 72. He made dozens of low-budget western movies, played Red Ryder in a few, and was the voice of television's talking horse Mr. Ed. In 1973, Kojak debuted on CBS-TV. It starred Telly Savalas as the bald New York City police detective with a lollipop addiction. In 1989, actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was sentenced to 72-hours in jail for slapping Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer after he stopped her for a routine driver's license check. In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-US team to win the World Series.

Halloween is one week from today. When you think of Halloween, there's one song that readily comes to mind, and 50 years ago this week, it topped the Billboard Magazine Singles Chart. Robert George Pickett, who passed away in 2007, adopted the professional name of Bobby "Boris" Pickett. After a three year stint in the Army, he put together a vocal group called The Cordials with some high school friends. While performing one evening, he did a Boris Karloff interpretation in the middle of a song. A band mate was so amused he suggested that he and Pickett write a comedy song using the voice, and so the perennial Halloween song, "Monster Mash," was born. "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers ended the five week run of "Sherry" by the Four Seasons at the top of the charts. It became the number one song in the USA on October 20th of 1962, and there it remained for two weeks, which included Halloween.

Yesterday, Apple showed the world it's two new iPads -- the iPad 4 and the iPad mini. The fourth-generation iPad has a faster processor. The iPad mini is the iPad, but 25% thinner and 53% lighter.

Fox has ordered Season 3 of The X Factor.

Fun. is hitting the road next year on a US tour that kicks off in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 23rd. The boys play the Paramount in Seattle on February 5th.

For all of its radically redesigned features -- and in part because of them – experts say Microsoft's Windows 8 won't be an instant success. The latest update to the world's most popular operating system goes on sale Friday. Microsoft has high expectations: CEO Steve Ballmer said in July that he expects Windows 8 to kick off "the most epic year in Microsoft's history." Steve Sinofsky, Microsoft's Windows chief and heir apparent to Ballmer, speaks of "reimagining Windows" to create "a new PC experience." Windows 8 may be the operating system of the future, helping Microsoft make up for past mistakes that left it well behind chief rivals Apple and Google, especially in the mobile computing field. But for the near future, all signs point to buyers taking a wait-and-see approach. The vast majority of Windows sales come from new PCs, and both Wall Street and industry analysts think that PC sales in the fourth quarter will be very weak. The industry doesn't expect Windows 8 to jump-start PC demand. New Windows releases sometimes motivate consumers with aging PCs to upgrade, but that's unlikely this time around. Those with older machines running Windows XP, Vista or 7 are still expected to wait on the sidelines, despite Microsoft's ultra-low, $40 Windows 8 upgrade offer. The main reason? For the first time since Windows 95, there is a learning curve associated with the new version of Windows. It has a radically redesigned user interface and a series of new, gesture-based commands for interacting with apps. On a touchscreen device like a tablet, it's pretty intuitive, but with a mouse and keyboard, it can be awkward. The completely different look and feel could turn off some buyers.

Trivia Answer: Rosa Louise McCauley Parks who died on this date of natural causes at the age of 92 in 2005. Although widely honored in later years for her action, she suffered for it, losing her job as a seamstress in a local department store. Eventually, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she found similar work. From 1965 to 1988 she served as secretary and receptionist to US Representative John Conyers. After retirement from that position, she wrote an autobiography and lived a largely private life in Detroit. In her final years she suffered from dementia. Parks eventually received many honors ranging from the 1979 Spingarn Medal to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Her death in 2005 was a major story in the United States' leading newspapers. She was granted the posthumous honor of lying in honor at the Capitol Rotunda.

The third and final presidential debate was held last night. One tweeter suggested that both candidates consistent use of the numbers one through five points out the need to keep Sesame Street around.

Once the debate concluded, it was a quick flip of stations to see what was going on in baseball. The game was pretty much over at that point, though. The Giants were up 7-0. So now we have the finalists for the World Series. The San Francisco Giants -- facing elimination since Friday night -- came roaring back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit and are going to the show for the second time in three years after demolishing the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals last night by a final score of 9-unttin'. The Giants won their record-tying sixth elimination game of the postseason. The Giants got the final out in an absolute downpour. The Detroit Tigers, who have been waiting on their opponent since finishing a four-game ALCS sweep of the Yankees last Thursday, get another trip to the Bay Area after clinching the division series in Oakland. World Series Game One is tomorrow night at 4:30.

On Monday Night Football, it was Da Bears. Chicago knocked off Detroit 13-7. It was NFC North last-place Lions' fourth loss in five games. The Seahawks are aiming to make it five out of six when meet the Lions in Detroit on Sunday.

The Washington Huskies host Oregon State on Saturday.

Coming off their bye week, the WSU Cougars are at Stanford against the Cardinal on Saturday.

Traditionally, the swallows leave Capistrano today. They're back again on March 19th. Today is Mother-in-Law Day. Today is iPod Day. The Apple iPod MP3 music player was unveiled on this date in 2001. The iPod officially went on sale November 10th of 2001 for $399.00. Today is National Boston Cream Pie Day.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1915, some 25,000 women marched in New York City, demanding the right to vote. In 1956, the first videotape recording to be broadcast originated at WRCA-TV in New York City for NBC Television. The program introduced comedian Jonathan Winters. In 1964, the US's Joe Frazier won the gold in heavyweight boxing at the Tokyo Olympics by barely out-pointing Germany's Hans Huber. Afterward, Frazier admitted he fought the bout with a broken right hand. In 1977, Wesley Paul ran the 26-mile New York City marathon in 3 hours 31 minutes. That was 48 minutes behind the winner, but 15 minutes faster than any other 8-year-old had ever run the race. In 1987, a Texas burglar, sentenced to seven years in prison, complained that seven was his unlucky number. The judged raised it to eight years.

Today's number for the day: 210 million: That's how many kids and adults dress up for Halloween every year.

Over the weekend, singer Katy Perry threw a massive costume party at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles for her upcoming birthday. Perry dressed up as a sexy vampire, as her on and off boyfriend John Mayer, arrived as a zombie hunter. Also in attendance was Twilight star Kristen Stewart, without Robert Pattinson. A source told PerezHilton.com that Stewart looked very happy and was surrounded by her friends the whole time. Katy turns 28 on Thursday.

What's the number one item to that gives a woman buyer's remorse? Leather pants. Forty-six percent of 2,000 women said they never wore the leather pants they purchased because they were afraid the pants made them "look tacky" and that they made them look like "they were trying too hard."

The kids of the United States have spoken and President Barack Obama has been elected the winner of Nickelodeon's 2012 Kids Pick the President "Kids' Vote." Since it began in 1988, kids have correctly picked the winner (in advance of the national election) five out of the last six times. More than half a million votes were cast in the network's online poll as part of Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President initiative to build young citizens' awareness of, and involvement in, the election process.

Maroon 5 has released dates for their 2013 North American tour. The band is taking Neon Trees and Owl City out on the road with them on all of their dates. Things get going in Columbus, Ohio on February 13th and wrap-up on April 6th in Rosemont, Illinois. They play Seattle on March 11th.

Wi-Fi light bulbs are almost here. Plug them in to an ordinary light socket. Fire up the Wi-Fi device that comes with them. Grab the app. Now you've got yourself an instant "smart home" where you can program your home lighting from your tablet or phone, no rewiring required. GreenWave Reality, the maker of the Wi-Fi light-bulb system, has just gotten approval to sell it in the US market.

Three mice are sitting around drinking and boasting about their strengths. The first mouse says, "Mouse traps, Ha! I do pushups with the bar!" The second mouse pulls a pill from his pocket, swallows it, and says with a grin, "D-Con Rat Poison." The third mouse finishes his drink, slams his glass on the table and starts to leave. The first mouse says, "Where do you think you're going?" The third mouse replies, "Time to go home and chase the cat."

Trivia Answer: John William Carson -- Johnny Carson -- who was born on this date in 1925. He hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years. That side-kick, of course, was Ed McMahon. On January 23rd of 2005, Carson, died in Los Angeles from respiratory arrest arising from emphysema. He was 79 years old. Carson had revealed his illness to the public in September 2002. In accordance with his family's wishes, no public memorial service was held.

Ryan Vogelsong struck out a career-best nine in another postseason gem and the San Francisco Giants forced a decisive Game 7 in the NL championship series with a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals last night. Marco Scutaro hit a two-run double and Buster Posey drove in his first run of the series with a groundout in the first inning as San Francisco struck early to support Vogelsong. Matt Cain starts for the Giants against Kyle Lohse in Game 7 tonight. Lohse won their Game 3 matchup. The Giants have won five straight games this postseason when facing elimination. The game is at 5 o'clock tonight. The winner of tonight's games faces the Detroit Tigers in the World Series starting Wednesday.

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian had been concerned about Keith Price's drop-off from his breakout 2011 season. After a befuddling loss to Arizona, he's now worried about his quarterback's state of mind. Facing constant pressure against Arizona's aggressive defense, Price didn't have much of a response, throwing two interceptions and numerous passes out of bounds in Washington's 52-17 loss to the Wildcats Saturday night. Sarkisian said, "I'll have to look at the film from a fundamental standpoint, but I know from watching him off the field and on game days, I didn't like what I saw from him tonight. It seemed like he had some doubt in his mind." And it doesn't get any easier. Saturday , the Dawgs host No. 8 Oregon State.

Coming off their bye week, the WSU Cougars are at Stanford against the Cardinal on Saturday.

The Seahawks meet the Lions in Detroit on Sunday.

The Lions, by the way, are at Chicago in tonight's made-for-TV Monday Night Football game.

The third and final presidential debate is tonight on most of the major broadcast and news networks. Tonight's topic is foreign policy. CBS News Washington bureau chief Bob Schieffer has worked on his network's coverage of every presidential debate since 1976. This time around he moderates the final presidential debate between President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, in Boca Raton, Florida, tonight at 6.

George Stanley McGovern, a staunch liberal who served South Dakota in the US Senate and House for more than two decades and who ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1972, died yesterday morning. McGovern was the Democratic nominee for president when he ran against incumbent Richard Nixon and won only 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520. George McGovern was 90.

Adele is a mom. The singer has welcomed her first child - a son. The little guy's name and exact date of birth have yet to be announced.

Today is National Color Day, a day to consider how color affects you, color in clothes, color in names, color in everything. It's Eat a Pretzel Day. Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day. Today is National Nut Day, either eat one or be one, your choice. Today is Go For a Ride ON Something Day, a horse, a bicycle, anything.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1950, the Los Angeles Rams set an NFL record by embarrassing the Baltimore Colts 70-27. It was a record score for a regular season game. In 1962, President Kennedy announced an air and naval blockade of Cuba, following the discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island. In 1964, EMI Records turned down a chance to sign the group High Numbers. So they changed their name back to The Who and signed with Decca. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed The Tax Reform Act of 1986 backwards, writing his last name first. The action was legal, though apparently unprecedented in US history.

The fourth Paranormal Activity flick crept into the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office with $30.2 million in US and Canadian ticket sales. Iran hostage thriller Argo took second place. In the No. 3 slot was family movie Hotel Transylvania. Two-time box office leader Taken 2 fell to the No. 4 spot. Alex Cross starring Tyler Perry debuted in fifth place.

Stevie Nicks has given an update on Fleetwood Mac's plans. Stevie told ABC News that the band is touring in April and they're even in talks about recording new music to coincide with the trek. Stevie said they'll be in rehearsals in February and on the road by the end of April or May. The band last toured in 2009 and since then, Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham have both released solo albums.

A new study shows that many women between 20 and 25 are struggling to get a hold of adulthood. A third still live with their parents and nearly six out of ten regularly borrow money from their mother or father just to get by. Forty-three percent admit they feel they have made a number of relationship mistakes. One in four 20- to 25-year-old women feel they made a mistake with their education.

How would you like to own a Foo Fighters motorcycle jacket, a rare poster signed by the members of No Doubt, or Eddie Vedder's ukulele? The Foo Fighters, No Doubt and Pearl Jam are just some of the musicians that have donated a whole host of special items to be auctioned off for the Heal EB charity, a non- profit organization that raises and donates funds toward finding a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare genetic disorder which inflicts it's victims with extremely sensitive skin that blisters and bleeds from even the lightest touch. Check out all the items up for bids, visit the organization's eBay page by typing HealEB2012 in the search box.

After five years of dating, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are now husband and wife. The couple released a statement to People magazine saying, "It's great to be married, the ceremony was beautiful and it was so special to be surrounded by our family and friends." The pair tied the knot in Southern Italy on Friday. They've been engaged since December.

Trivia Answer: Ann Rule who turns 77 today. She came to prominence with her first book, The Stranger Beside Me, about serial killer Ted Bundy. At the time she started researching the book, the murders were still unsolved. In the course of time, it became clear that the killer was Bundy, her friend and previous colleague on the suicide hotline at the King County Crisis Clinic. She has also met and interviewed a number of other serial killers in the course of researching her books. In April of this year, 48 Hours Mystery covered Rule's successful effort to help a mother prove her daughter's 1998 death was murder. The resulting book was In the Still of the Night.

The San Francisco 49ers defense overwhelmed Seattle's offense and held the Seahawks to just two field goals last night, beating the Hawks 13-6 in an NFC West showdown at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Quarterback Russell Wilson finished just 9-for-23 with 122 passing yards and one interception. And while he may have been off his game, Seattle's receivers were off theirs even moreso. The Seahawks dropped four passes during the game, including at least one that could have ended up as a touchdown. The Hawks are off now until the 28th when they meet the Lions in Detroit.

The Huskies are back in action tomorrow. They're in Tucson to face Arizona. Kick-off tomorrow night at 7. It's the bye week for the Cougars. They're at Stanford on the 27th.

The Detroit Tigers advanced to the World Series for the second time in seven years by beating the New York Yankees 8-1 yesterday for a four-game sweep of the AL championship series. Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in a four-run fourth inning against CC Sabathia, who was unable to prevent the Yankees from getting swept in a postseason series for the first time in 32 years. Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer took a no-hit bid into the sixth against a New York starting lineup that was again without Alex Rodriguez, who flied out with two on in the sixth as a pinch hitter. Detroit won its 11th American League pennant and first since 2006. After scoring in just three of 39 innings during the series, New York heads home to face unpleasant questions about its future following a postseason of awful hitting, benched stars and veterans showing the wear and tear of age. The Tigers have five days off before the World Series starts Wednesday at defending champion St. Louis or 2010 winner San Francisco.

One more win and another bunch of wild-card Cardinals get their chance to repeat. Adam Wainwright threw seven innings of four-hit ball and St. Louis roughed up Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants in an 8-3 rout last night that gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the NL championship series. The defending World Series champions can wrap up their second straight pennant as a wild card with a victory at home tonight at 5 o'clock in Game 5. Lance Lynn faces Giants lefty Barry Zito, and a Cardinals win would set up a 2006 World Series rematch with Detroit.

Today is Evaluate Your Life Day. Are you really headed where you want to be? Today is National Mammography Day. Today is Hagfish Day, celebrating the beauty of ugly, to raise awareness of all sea creatures, even the ugly, slimy misunderstood ones. Today is Yorktown Day: America's Real Independence Day, in Yorktown, Virginia, celebrating the victory on this date in 1781 that assured American independence. The 2-day Woolly Worm Festival begins today in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Today is Greasy Spoon Day, a time to remember your favorite place to eat back in the "good old days." Is it still in business?

Calendar notes: On this date in 1976, President Gerald Ford signed a bill posthumously making George Washington a 6-star general, the highest ever US military rank. In 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 508 points, the most in one day since 1929. In 1997, Holly, Colorado, designated the school crossing guard to handle emergencies after the town marshall and his deputy resigned and another deputy was fired. It worked out okay. In six weeks, the community of 900 had only one emergency when somebody stole the trash can at the car wash. In 2003, New York magician David Blaine emerged from 44 days of isolation in a clear plastic box suspended over London. He survived only on water.

Bruno Mars is both the hosts and the musical guest on Saturday Night Live tomorrow night.

Maroon 5's One More Night spends a fifth week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Starbucks is known for delicious, high-quality, slightly overpriced coffees. Dunkin' Donuts is known for delicious, high-quality, average priced coffees. And now America has chosen a favorite. In a survey, 43% chose Starbucks coffee and 36% chose Dunkin'.

Research in the UK has found the unluckiest names. People with the names are most likely to suffer personal injury. The study looked at trends amongst personal injury claims, and looked into the most common names, ages and occupations of personal injury claimants. The names? For guys, David and for ladies, Joanne.

The Federal Trade Commission says more than 217 million phone numbers are now on the national Do Not Call Registry. You should note that the US population is roughly 311,600,000. Most of us would apparently like to be left alone.

A man who completed the Baltimore Marathon in 2 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds is hoping to land in the book of Guinness Book of World Records. Why? Because he ran all 26.2 miles on Saturday in flip-flops.

Trivia Answer: He is Patrick Simmons who turns 64 today. The band he formed -- with Tom Johnston, John Hartman, and Dave Shogren -- was The Doobie Brothers. They first hit the charts with Johnston's Listen to the Music, which featured Simmons' brief lead vocal on the bridge. Simmons also performed the gospel-style lead vocal on Jesus is Just Alright. However, he's probably best known for Black Water from the 1974 album What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits -- the Doobies' first chart topper.

Last October, the San Francisco 49ers were all alone in first place and already on their way to winning the NFC West title in commanding fashion in coach Jim Harbaugh's first season. That's hardly the case this year as they prepare for their division opener at home tonight against the Seattle Seahawks: There's a three-way tie at the top among 4-and-2 teams Arizona, San Francisco and Seattle. "Everybody in our division got better," 49ers running back Frank Gore said. After riding high for two weeks after consecutive blowout victories against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, the 49ers had little time to figure out all that went wrong in a 26-3 loss Sunday to the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants at Candlestick Park. Seattle fullback Michael Robinson describes it this way: "Go get in a car accident and then try to play two days later. That's how it feels." The Niners and Hawks -- the last two division winners -- faced off in Weeks 1 and 16 last year, with the 49ers eliminating the Seahawks from postseason contention with a 19-17 road win on December 24th. That was the 49ers' first win in Seattle since 2008. And Harbaugh certainly has had his way against Seattle coach Pete Carroll of late, winning the last four meetings dating back to that surprising 55-21 rout by No. 25 Stanford against Carroll's 11th-ranked Southern California team in 2009. The Cardinal even attempted a 2-point conversion with the game way out of reach -- prompting Carroll's infamous "What's your deal?" when the coaching rivals met afterward at midfield. The way the schedule worked out, Seattle is done with its road divisional games after tonight. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson says "Ever since I landed here in Seattle everybody kind of talks about the NFC West and how big this game is. I can't wait." Hawks-Niners. Tonight at 5:20. You can watch it on the NFL Network and on KONG-TV.

Saturday, the Huskies are at Arizona. It's the bye week for the Cougars. They're at Stanford on the 27th.

Rain is playing havoc with post-season baseball. In Detroit, the rain moved game 4 of the ALCS from yesterday to this afternoon at 1 o'clock – weather permitting. The Tigers have a 3-games-to-none advantage over the New York Yankees..

In the NLCS, they got it started at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and then the rain moved in. Play was suspended in the bottom of the 7th inning. The rain caused a 3½ hour delay, but they completed it and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1. The Cardinals now have a 2-to-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is tonight at 5

Today is Alaska Day, the anniversary of the transfer of Alaska on this date in 1867 from Russia to the US. Today is International Credit Union Day and Get Smart about Credit Day. The 4-day Biketoberfest begins today in Daytona Beach, Florida. It's National Chocolate Cupcake Week.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1922. the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was created. In 1969, the federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats. In 1986, football's Frank Gifford married former Hee-Haw Honey Kathie Lee. In 1992, as the Toronto Blue Jays met the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, the US Marine color guard presented the Canadian flag upside-down. Toronto won the game 5-4 and the series in six games.

After evidence proved that Lance Armstrong was doping, Nike has ended its contract with the athlete. Nike said Lance misled them for more than a decade. The company says it will continue to support his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity. By the way, yesterday Armstrong stepped down as chairman of Livestrong. Last week, the US Anti-Doping Agency released a report of Armstrong's use of performance-enhancing drugs. Although Armstrong still denies the allegations, he is banned from cycling for life.

Your house is a hungry smartphone monster. It turns out 51% of accidents that ruin a cell phone happen inside the home. The top five danger zones for your phone:

1. Kitchen 
2. Living Room
3. Bathroom
4. Driveway
5. Bedroom

Here's what not to do when locked out of your car: Do not call 911 and make up a story about an infant trapped inside so the cops will arrive faster. It happened in Florida and the woman faces a misdemeanor charge of misusing 911.

A study by San Diego State University researchers has disproven the popular phrase "five second rule." They determined bacteria can attach itself to food in less than five seconds. Don't you wonder who paid for this study? Really?

Sometimes you just have to take a vacation from the news. A new study confirms what we've all known -- bad news stresses us out. It's worse for women though. Reading depressing news effects both men and women, but women hold on to the stress much longer than guys. On the other hand, men tend to shake off the stress by forgetting the stories faster. Women tend to remember the details of bad news far longer than men.

On Monday night, Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, held their annual AIDS Foundation benefit in New York. The event featured a performance from Stevie Nicks. It raised two-million dollars to help people with HIV or AIDS. The charity has raised over 200-million dollars since it began in 1993.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will be given two separate hotel rooms during the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 promotional tour. Although the couple has recently gotten back together despite Kristen's infidelity, Summit Entertainment does not want to take a chance on the two having problems again. Radar Online reveals that in several cities on the tour, rooms have been booked for Kristen at a separate hotel from the rest of the A-list cast. An insider explained that Summit wants the press around the final installment of the Twilight franchise to go off without a hitch, in order to prime the movie to break box office records.

Jennifer Aniston plans to have a small intimate wedding and possibly elope have changed big time. According to PerezHilton.com, the actress now wants to plan a three-day destination wedding on the beach. A source revealed Jen wants her wedding to be a massive party filled with Hollywood A-Listers.

Orange pumpkins are so last season. A Minnesota farmer is taking pumpkin sales to a whole new, philanthropic level – he's planted a new seed called "porcelain doll" that grows pink pumpkins as a way to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's all part of a campaign called Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation, and includes about 50 vegetable growers nationally who bought the seed and pledged to give 25 cents of every pink pumpkin sold to breast cancer research.

Trivia Answer: Dawn's character was Mary Ann Summers.

Spent the last week visiting family in Virginia. It's strange for it to be dark outside while you're watching the Seahawks play in the sunshine. Not that I'm complaining mind you, especially the way things worked out.

I do feel bad for the Hawks, though. Normally they would have been able to bask in the glow for at least a little while. No appreciation time this go round for the rally the Seahawks pulled off in the final moments to knock off the New England Patriots, another fourth-quarter victory this season after striking out too many times a year ago in similar situations. With a game tomorrow night at division rival San Francisco, there was no time for the Hawks to relish their stunning comeback win over New England. The Seahawks quickly put aside their 24-23 win over the Patriots on Sunday and are looking ahead to tomorrow night's showdown at San Francisco. Both Seattle and San Francisco have 4-2 records and are part of a three-way tie with Arizona on top of the NFC West. Seattle has made a sudden change in its ability to close games from the struggles of a year ago. Six times in the 2011 season, the Seahawks found themselves within one score in the closing minutes, yet went winless in all six situations. Five of those six losses were by six points or less. Faltering late a season ago brought changes in how Seattle practices. The 2-minute offense has become an emphasis. The results are noticeable. In wins over Green Bay and New England, the Seahawks scored in the final 90 seconds to win. Hawks-Niners coming up tomorrow night at 5:20. You can watch it on the NFL Network and on KONG-TV.

In the ALCS. Justin Verlander took a shutout into the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the New York Yankees 2-1 last night. Phil Coke gave up consecutive singles with two outs in the ninth before striking out postseason star Raul Ibanez for his second save in two games. Verlander allowed only a pair of singles by Ichiro and a leadoff homer by Eduardo Nunez in the ninth. Delmon Young hit a solo home run for the Tigers, and Miguel Cabrera had an RBI double. Yankees manager Joe Girardi's lineup shuffle -- Alex Rodriguez was benched again -- failed to snap New York out of its untimely hitting funk. Detroit now has a commanding 3-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series. The ALCS continues as the Yankees and Tigers meet up again tonight at 5.

The NLCS with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals resumes this afternoon at 1:00. The series is tied at a game apiece.

Today is International Poverty Eradicaton Day, sponsored by the United Nations. Today is Day of National Concern About Young People and Gun Violence. Students across America are asked to voluntarily sign a Pledge Against Gun Violence. It's Mulligan Day, a day to give yourself or someone else a second chance, a day for a do-over. Today is Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day. It's Work on Your Charisma Day.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1949, Northwest became the first US airline to serve alcoholic beverages in flight. In 1963, TV defense attorney Perry Mason lost his only trial to district attorney Hamilton Burger. Mason's client refused to reveal the evidence that would save her. But then, of course, Perry found the real culprit and exonerated his client despite herself. In 1967, the musical Hair premiered in New York City and ran for 1,758 performances. In 1991, the California Raisins, the clay versions created in 1986 for TV commercials, left California for their new home at the Smithsonian Institute. In 1995, Reuter news service reported that the 1997 edition of the popular board game Trivial Pursuit mentioned Lady Diana 18 times, more than any other person. In 1995, Rhino Home Video released 58 episodes of The Monkees on 21 cassettes, the largest video boxed set to be released. In 2006, the 300-millonth American was born, probably a baby girl at a Chicago hospital.

President Barack Obama outperformed Mitt Romney in their second presidential debate, according to a CNN/ORC poll of people who watched last night's debate. According to the poll, 46% said Obama won, compared with 39% for Romney. The poll has a sampling error of +/-4.5%. During the debate, a forceful Obama defended his record and challenged Romney on shifting positions, arguing his Republican rival's policies would favor the wealthy if elected. Romney repeatedly attacked Obama's record, saying millions of unemployed people and sluggish economic recovery showed the president's policies had failed. Obama was more animated and engaged than his understated and widely panned performance in their first debate nearly two weeks ago. A third and final presidential debate focusing on foreign policy takes place Monday in Florida.

Our old friend Mike Holmgren won't be finishing the job he went to do in Cleveland. New Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam III said yesterday that Holmgren is out as team president, although he will remain with the franchise to help in the transition. Haslam was introduced as the Browns' new boss after the 32 NFL owners unanimously approved his $1 billion purchase of the team from Randy Lerner. Moments later, Haslam announced that former Eagles President Joe Banner would become chief executive officer. The move takes effect October 25th when the sale is concluded. Haslam plans no other personnel changes before 2013, meaning the jobs of coach Pat Shurmur and his staff and general manager Tom Heckert -- at least for now -- appear safe.

Beyonce is set to perform at the upcoming Super Bowl halftime on February 3rd. Earlier this year it was Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and Cee Lo Green.

Ballots for the upcoming General Election are arriving in Thurston County mailboxes soon. The Thurston County Auditor's office says ballots for registered voters start going out today. Ballots are due November 6th. New voters have until October 29th to register in person.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are hosting the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards. The two women starred together on Saturday Night Live and in the movie Baby Mama. The Globes air live on NBC on January 13th from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Are people still playing Facebook games? The answer is a big YES. Farmville 2 is about to hit its 50 millionth active player, making it the biggest app on Facebook. One in five Farmville 2 players play every day.

Trivia Answer: Alphonse Gabriel Capone -- Al Capone. Following his tax evasion conviction, he was sentenced to federal prison. His incarceration included a term at the then-new Alcatraz federal prison. In the final years of Capone's life, he suffered mental and physical deterioration due to late-stage neurosyphilis, which he had contracted as a youth. On January 25th of 1947, he died from cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.

Russell Wilson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate with 35 seconds left in the third quarter to help the Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers 16-12 yesterday. Wilson shook off two third quarter interceptions -- including one that was returned for a touchdown -- and outperformed Cam Newton on a struggle-filled day for the Carolina offense. Wilson threw for 221 yards, while Marshawn Lynch ran for 85 yards for the Seahawks, who are now 3-and-2. Coming up Sunday, the Hawks host the New England Patriots.

Marcus Mariota threw for 198 yards and four touchdowns, including two TD strikes to tight end Colt Lyerla, and No. 2 Oregon beat No. 23 Washington 52-21 on Saturday night. Washington popped into the rankings last week after a 17-13 victory over then-No. 8 Stanford. The Ducks were the Huskies' third top-10 opponent this season. Washington also fell 41-3 to then-No. 3 LSU. The Dawgs struggled as much against the Ducks, who went into the game averaging more than 52 points a game and 550 yards in total offense. Last season Oregon defeated Washington 34-17 in the final game played at the old Husky Stadium before an extensive renovation that is set to be completed for the 2013 season. Next weekend, Washington hosts USC at CenturyLink Field.

While the Huskies were in Eugene, the Cougars were in Corvallis. There, Jordan Poyer -- Oregon State's cornerback – had three interceptions as the Oregon Beavers' dismissed Washington, 19-6. Turnovers continue to haunt the Cougars as they work to implement new coach Mike Leach's pass-heavy offense. The Cougs are back at Martin Stadium Saturday hosting California.

Houston and the New York Jets meet up tonight on Monday Night Football.

In baseball, it's the road to the World Series. We're down to the final eight teams. In the American League, Detroit beat Oakland 5-4 yesterday (Detroit leads 2-games-to-none). The Yankees beat Baltimore 7-2 last night to go up 1-nuttin'.  In the National League, Washington beat St. Louis (Washington leads 1-game-to-none) while Cincinnati shut out San Francisco, 9-0, to take a 2-games-to-none lead

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Mariners' famous win over the Yankees. The game that Edgar Martiniez hit The Double. The team piled up at home plate with Ken Griffey, Jr. smiling out from the bottom of the pile.

Got a note from the Incident Management Team regarding what they're calling the Powerline 2 Fire. This morning's email indicated it would be the last update from the fire. They expressed thanks to the people of Shelton for their support and hospitality. As of this morning, containment of the fire was at 85%. Mop up continues today up to several hundred feet inside the fireline. An infrared heat detecting device was used last night to identify hot spots so they can be extinguished. Some resources are being sent to a small fire near Eatonville this morning to assist there. Management of this fire is being turned over to a smaller team of approximately 100 people at 6 o'clock tonight. They will work through the week and finish out the fire.

Governor Gregoire, meanwhile, has issued an emergency proclamation enacting an outdoor burn ban for every county in the state through the middle of the month. Gregoire said, "Washington state is experiencing a weather pattern like one we've rarely seen before. The long, warm and dry spell has elevated fire danger across our state. Given that we don't expect a significant amount of rainfall for quite some time, it makes sense to extend this proclamation and expand the burn ban." The state Department of Natural Resources said Friday that critical weather conditions like these are "not seen in a lifetime." The burn ban prohibits all outdoor burning, including but not limited to campfires, bonfires, fireworks, residential yard debris clean-up, trash disposal, land clearing, weed abatement and agricultural burning. The burn ban remains in effect through October 15th.

Ironically, today is Fire Prevention Day, the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, when legend says Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. Over 98,000 people were left homeless by the fire. Today is National Fluffernutter Day. Fluffernutter is a delicacy made with bread, marshmallow fluff, and peanut butter. Today is usually Lovable Lawyers Day, but this year there is no mention of it. I can't imagine what happened.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1988, the Columbia University football team broke a 5-year, 44-game losing streak by defeating Princeton 16-13. In 1997, Frito-Lay announced it had purchased the 104-year-old Cracker Jack brand from Borden Foods. In 2003, some $19 billion in peach-colored, redesigned $20 bills made their official debut throughout the US. In 2004, at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, Martha Stewart began serving a five-month prison sentence, imposed for lying about a stock sale.

Roxy's Ron Harris spent Saturday being a part of the 5th Annual South Puget Sound Up With Down Syndrome Buddy Walk. If you were there thank you so much. If you missed it, Ron has loaded up the Roxy Facebook page with photos you can check out.

Liam Neeson thriller Taken 2 captured the No. 1 spot on movie box office charts over the weekend with a brawny $50 million North American take. Taken 2 stars Neeson as a former CIA agent kidnapped during a vacation in Istanbul. The movie added $55 million from some 50 international markets for a global opening of $117 million. Last weekend's winner, family flick Hotel Transylvania was pushed to second place. The comedy Pitch Perfect snagged the No. 3 slot. Time-travel movie Looper earned fourth place. Hotel Transylvania won the weekend battle for pre-Halloween family filmgoers, leaving new Walt Disney Co movie Frankenweenie in fifth place.

Green Day has contributed a song to the soundtrack for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. The track, The Forgotten, is from Tre, the third record in their three album trilogy. The soundtrack is being released November 13th and Tre comes out on January 14th..

Skyfall is the new James Bond Movie. It stars Daniel Craig and hits theaters on November 9th. Adele wrote and performs the theme song.

Ellie Goulding is preparing the release of her second album, Halcyon. It arrives in stores tomorrow

So, do you buy lotto tickets? How often? How many? For how long? A couple of friends in New York, 74-year-old Willie McPherson, and 44-year-old Christopher Manzi won a $14 million jackpot last month playing the Mega Millions lottery. They've been sharing tickets together for 25 years, according to the New York Post. Despite spending all that money over the years, neither McPherson nor Manzi shelled out a dime for the winning ticket. As part of a lottery promotion, they'd received two Quick Picks for free.

After a three-day silence, Big Bird appeared on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update to comment about his newfound fame after he was mentioned on Wednesday night's presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. The huge yellow bird said, "I got a million tweets," but when Seth Meyers asked him if he was on Twitter, he replied, "No, I'm a bird, tweeting is how we talk."

The next big thing for Angry Birds is arriving today. If the teaser image posted to the company's Twitter page is anything to go by, the next big thing involves Star Wars.

Trivia Answer: The London Bridge, which is currently in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It was originally constructed in London in 1831. By 1962, the bridge was not structurally sound enough to support the increased load created by the level of modern traffic crossing it, and it was sold by the City of London. The purchaser, Robert McCulloch, paid $2,460,000 for the bridge. McCulloch was the founder of Lake Havasu and the chairman of McCulloch Oil Corporation. The bridge facing stones were carefully disassembled and each piece was numbered. These were shipped to the bridge's present location and re-assembly began in 1968. The original stone was used to clad a concrete structure, so that the bridge is no longer the original it is modeled after. The reconstruction took slightly over three years and was completed in late 1971. Today, it serves as a popular tourist attraction for the city. By the way, the name London Bridge refers to several bridges that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London.

The Seattle Mariners will not retain (that means they fired him) hitting coach Chris Chambliss for 2013 after another season during which their offense was among the worst in baseball. The Mariners made the announcement on yesterday. The rest of Seattle's coaching staff returns next season. General manager Jack Zduriencik says the search for a new hitting coach begins immediately.

Baseball's playoffs begin today with a pair of winner-take-all wild-card matchups. The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals visit the Atlanta Braves in the NL this afternoon at 2, then in the AL, Baltimore plays at Texas at 5:30.

The Washington Huskies are looking to knock off another top 10 team. The Dawgs are in Eugene tomorrow to face the No. 2 Oregon Ducks. Kickoff at 7:30 Saturday night.

The Washington State Cougars are also in Oregon this weekend. They're in Corvallis tomorrow afternoon at 3 to meet the Oregon State Beavers.

The Seattle Seahawks are in Carolina to take on the Panthers Sunday afternoon at 1:00.

Today is National Noisy Munching Day, a day to annoy others by eating ice, pickles, chips, anything crunchy and loud. It's World Teachers' Day as sponsored by the UN. Today is World Smile Day, dedicated to good works and good cheer worldwide. Do an act of kindness and help one person smile. Today is Long Walk Day. David Kunst walked around the world, beginning June 20, 1970 and ending October 5, 1974. It took him 4 years and 21 pairs of shoes, but he accomplished what he set out to do. Go out for a walk today, maybe walk around the park. Today is National Diversity Day, a day to celebrate who we are despite our differences.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted on BBC television. In 1975, Harry Chapin released Cats in the Cradle. In 1979, the movie 10 starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, and Bo Derek opened in 650 theaters. In 1989, evangelist Jim Bakker was convicted of using his TV show to defraud followers of over $150 million. In 1997, when the First United Methodist Church women's group in Tulsa lit all 95 candles on Mabel McCullough's birthday cake, it set off the fire alarm. It didn't trigger the sprinkler system, but five engines and two ladder companies of firefighters showed up for the party. In 2003, a Brazilian mother and daughter who hadn't seen each other for 17 years met up when they were put in the same prison cell in Sao Paulo's Pinheiros prison. The daughter, arrested for robbery, had run away from home at age eight. Mom was doing time for drug dealing.

Can you carry your wife? I don't mean anything by it, just asking. The North American Wife Carrying Championship is tomorrow in Maine.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity scoops up its first batch of Martian soil samples this weekend. Curiosity arrived at a sandy patch called Rocknest on Wednesday. Mission scientists have called it a good spot for the robot's maiden scooping activities, which should begin tomorrow, if all goes according to plan.

Guy Yoakam may have just caught the world's most expensive piece of sushi on record. While fishing off the coast of Baja, California last week, the angler reeled in a massive 427-pound Yellowfin Tuna, breaking the world record with his monster catch. The fish is easily twice his size and therefore was no easy tuna to reel in. But don't worry, Guy is likely to be rewarded in a big way for his labor and efforts. He's registered in a game fishing competition, so if he has in fact broken the record with the largest catch, he'll win one million dollars.

Trivia Answer: Steve Jobs who died on this date one year ago today, at the age of 56. Jobs has received a number of honors and public recognition for his influence in the technology and music industries. He has widely been referred to as "legendary", a "futurist" or simply "visionary", and has been described as the "Father of the Digital Revolution", a "master of innovation", and a "design perfectionist". Jobs envisioned Apple foreseeing and setting trends, at least in innovation and style. He said, "There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.' And we've always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will." Jobs had a public war of words with Dell Computer CEO Michael Dell, starting in 1987 when Jobs first criticized Dell for making "un-innovative beige boxes". On October 6, 1997, at a symposium, when Michael Dell was asked what he would do if he ran then-troubled Apple Computer, he said "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." In 2006, Jobs sent an email to all employees when Apple's market capitalization rose above Dell's. The email read: Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve.

The Oakland Athletics captured the AL West with another improbable rally in a season full of them, coming back from four runs down and a 13-game division deficit to stun the two-time defending league champion Texas Rangers 12-5 yesterday. The A's needed a sweep and they delivered to win their first division crown since 2006 and 15th in all. They overcame a five-game deficit in the final nine days and yesterday – the last day of the regular season -- was their first day this year in sole possession of the West's top spot.

Casper Wells tied a career-high with five RBIs including a three-run homer in Seattle's six-run seventh inning, and the Mariners closed out the season with a 12-0 rout of the Los Angeles Angels yesterday. Every batter in the Mariners starting lineup scored at least once and the 12 runs were the most scored at home all season. Seattle finished 75-87, an eight-game improvement over 2011. Seattle drew an unofficial final total of 1,723,286. That is the lowest total since Safeco Field opened and second straight year Mariners failed to draw 2 million.

Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers won the American League triple crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. It's the first triple-crown in 45 years. The fete was last accomplished in 1967 by Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox. The third baseman finished the regular season last night with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI.

The playoffs begin tomorrow with a pair of winner-take-all wild-card matchups. The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals visit the Atlanta Braves in the NL, then in the AL, Baltimore plays at Texas.

The Washington Huskies are looking to knock off another top 10 team. The Dawgs are in Eugene Saturday to face the No. 2 Oregon Ducks. Kickoff at 7:30 Saturday night.

The Washington State Cougars are also in Oregon this weekend. They're in Corvallis Saturday afternoon at 3 to meet the Oregon State Beavers.

One of the NFL replacement officials at the heart of the most controversial moment of the lockout said that Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has reached out to him. Wayne Elliott awarded Golden Tate and the Seattle Seahawks a game-winning touchdown September 24th on a Hail Mary pass that appeared to have been intercepted by Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings. The resulting firestorm is thought to have spurred the league to reach an agreement with the regular officials. Elliott told Showtime's Inside the NFL that his phone didn't stop ringing for 72 hours. One of the messages left was from McCarthy. "He called me at my house last week because he had heard I was having a rough week with all the calls and everything," Elliott said during the segment. "Wanted (me) to know that he thought what I did -- controversial and maybe he didn't agree with it -- (but he thought) I handled it with class." Asked if he would stick by his call after seeing the replay, Elliott said: "I'd probably call interception. I learned a rule by screwing up the rule." The league issued a statement after the game saying that Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference. Elliott said that during training he remembered being told that "you don't really call interference on a Hail Mary. ... You just let it go." Despite all the controversy, Elliott would not trade the experience of being an NFL referee. "I had the time of my life," he told Inside the NFL.

The Seattle Seahawks are in Carolina to take on the Panthers Sunday morning at 10.

Today is International Toot Your Flute Day, a day to promote yourself. It's National Taco Day. Today is Dick Tracy Day, marking the comic strip detective's debut on this date in 1931 in the Detroit Daily Mirror as Plainclothes Tracy. World Space Week begins today, sponsored by the UN.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1892, after much litigation, the US Court of Appeals upheld Thomas Edison's claim he was the sole inventor of the incandescent light bulb. In 1957, Leave it to Beaver debuted on CBS. In 1970, Janis Joplin died of a drug overdose at the Landmark Motel in Hollywood. The 27-year-old had just finished recording her second solo album, Pearl. In 1992, Sinead O'Connor ripped up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live.

This Saturday is the last day to register to vote or change your address by mail. Mail-in registration forms must be postmarked on or before October 6th. (Monday, October 8th, is the normal deadline, but this year that date falls on Columbus Day, a postal holiday.)

Rush, Deep Purple, Public Enemy, and N.W.A. are among the group of first-time nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They join returnees Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Chic, Randy Newman, Donna Summer and Kraftwerk among the 15 artists vying for entry. A group of 600 artists, music historians and members of the industry are choosing 2013's inductees. They're being honored April 18th in Los Angeles.

On Monday, tickets went on sale for the final film in The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2. According to E! News, as of yesterday the film has made over 1.17-million dollars in presale tickets. That's up 87 percent in sales from 2011's 626-thousand dollars in presales tickets for Breaking Dawn: Part 1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 opens in theaters on November 16th.

Ellie Goulding releases her second studio album, Halycon, on Tuesday.

Trivia Answer: Jackie Collins who is 75 today. Her most successful novel, Hollywood Wives, was published in 1983. The novel hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one, and went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide. Marketed as a "scandalous exposé", the novel placed Collins in a powerful position and made her a celebrity of almost equal status to sister Joan, whose own career had taken an upwards direction with her role in the hit television drama Dynasty. In 1985, Hollywood Wives was also made into a hugely successful television mini-series, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring Candice Bergen, Stefanie Powers, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Hopkins, Suzanne Somers and Rod Steiger. Although credited as "Creative Consultant", Collins later stated that she was never consulted during production and that she did not agree with some of the casting choices. Collins's 29th novel, titled The Power Trip, was published last month.

Seimone Augustus scored 21 points, Maya Moore had 20 and the Minnesota Lynx held off the Seattle Storm 73-72 last night to advance to the WNBA Western Conference finals. Minnesota hosts Los Angeles in the opener of the West finals tomorrow night. Sue Bird scored 19 points and Camille Little had 17 for Seattle. The Storm had a chance to win it in the final seconds, but Lauren Jackson's turnaround jumper went off the rim. Seattle, which won the championship in 2010, lost in the conference semifinals for the seventh time in eight years

Kyle Seager became the first Seattle batter to hit 20 home runs in a season since 2009 with a solo shot in the first inning and the Mariners beat Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels 6-1 last night. A night after the Angels were eliminated from the AL wild card chase, they played like a team with nothing tangible left to play for, tying their season high with three errors, including a pair in the sixth inning by right fielder Mark Trumbo that helped two runs score. The final game of 2012 for both the Ms and Angels is at 3:40 this afternoon at Safeco.

The fences at Safeco Field are coming in. The Seattle Mariners announced plans yesterday to move in the outfield fences at their ballpark for the 2013 season after years of debate. The biggest change is coming in the left-center field alley, where the fence will move in as much as 17 feet. Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said many factors were taken into account when determining whether changes to the field would be made, including Seattle's notoriously chilly April and May. Jack said, "Our goal was to create an environment that is fair for both hitters and pitchers. Considering the current field dimensions as well as the climate in and around Safeco Field, we feel this will be accomplished with this new layout." This is the first change to the dimensions of the ballpark since it opened in 1999. Hitters have long complained of the cavernous dimensions of the outfield and the numbers have shown Safeco Field to be one of the more unfriendly hitter parks in baseball. Pitchers love the vast outfield and fly ball pitchers have thrived pitching in Seattle. Since 2000, the first full season for Safeco Field, the Mariners have scored the fewest runs and have the lowest batting average at home of any team in the American League. They are fourth-worst in baseball in home runs in their home park, but have the second-best team ERA in the AL at home during that span.

After knocking off Stanford for the first time in four seasons, the Washington Huskies are looking to knock off another top 10 team. The Dawgs are in Eugene Saturday to face the No. 2 Oregon Ducks.

The Washington State Cougars are also in Oregon this weekend. They're in Corvallis on Saturday to meet the Oregon State Beavers.

The Seattle Seahawks are in Carolina to take on the Panthers Sunday morning.

Today is International Walk to School Day, a day to fight pollution and obesity and to establish safe neighborhood routes for walking and bicycling. The Nottongham Goose Fair starts today in England. It's been held every year since 1284, except during the Great Plague in 1665 and the two world wars. They expect a half million goose lovers during the 5-day fair. Today is Mickey Mouse Club Day, marking debut of the first TV series starring Annette Funicello and Shelley Fabaras on this date in 1955. A later version starred Keri Russell, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. Other TV premiers on this date include:

• Ozzie and Harriet 1952
• Captain Kangaroo in 1955
• The Andy Griffith Show in 1960
• Dick Van Dyke Show 1961
• Quincy 1976
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King 1983
• LA Law 1986

Calendar notes: On this date in 1980, Bruce Springsteen, launching his US tour in Ann Arbor, Michigan, forgot the opening words to the song, Born to Run. In 1991, a burglar who looted a Newark, New Jersey, home left behind an important clue, his 4-year-old daughter. When police arrived they found the child in the house crying for Daddy. In 1995, a Los Angeles jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and waiter Ronald Goldman. Some 107 million people watched TV news coverage of the verdict. Simpson was later found liable in a civil trial. In 2003, Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy was in critical condition on his 59th birthday following a tiger attack during a performance. The tiger, a 7-year-old male, was debuting in his first show.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney took time off the campaign trail yesterday for debate practice, underscoring the stakes for both in their first televised encounter tonight. The debate is at 6 from the University of Denver. Jim Lehrer from PBS is moderating. Most of the networks are carrying it.

Sales of Halloween masks based on US Presidents, and presidential hopefuls, have served as an unofficial election poll that has proven right every time since Clinton vs. Dole in 1996. So does the fact that Obama mask sales far outnumber those of the Romney mask prove that he'll be re-elected come November? We'll find out here in about a month.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have not been seen together since Stewart's July affair with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders, though they have started making appearances on the red carpet, separately. According to People, the couple is reuniting publicly for the first time since the debacle on October 28th when they start press for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. However, People magazine reports that while Edward and Bella are getting along privately, their relationship is still quite rocky. Read more about on People.com.

Former Today Show host Ann Curry is returning to the show to do some feature reporting. According to RadarOnline.com, the morning show's ratings have been plummeting since Curry was let go. She reported from the Syrian border on Monday and is expected to continue bringing the network stories from war-torn countries. Co-host Matt Lauer is suspected of creating the motivation for the network to remove Curry from the show and has received serious backlash from fans.

Drew Barrymore is a mom. Baby Olive was born September 26th.

Trivia Answer: Fred Couples, who turns 53 today. He was born in Seattle. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Italy and changed the family name from "Coppola" to "Couples" to make it sound less ethnic. His father was a groundskeeper for the Seattle Parks Department and the family, which included brother Tom, Jr., and sister Cindy, lived in a modest house on Beacon Hill near the city's Jefferson Park golf course, where Couples developed his signature loose, rhythmic swing in order to gain enough distance to keep up with the older children. Couples attended O'Dea High School in Seattle and the University of Houston, where, as a member of the Houston Cougars men's golf team. He roomed with Blaine McCallister, another future PGA Tour player, and future CBS television broadcaster Jim Nantz. Couples currently resides in Palm Springs, California.

Mike Trout had four hits and drove in three runs in Los Angeles' 8-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners last night but it wasn't enough to keep the Angels in the playoff chase. The Angels, with a high payroll and high expectations as the season started, were eliminated from the wild-card race after the Oakland Athletics' 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers last night. The Ms are down to their final two games of the year.  They play tonight and tomorrow afternoon against the Angels.

The Seattle Storm are playing game three -- the deciding game of the WNBA Western Conference Semifinal series -- tonight against the defending champion Lynx at Minnesota.

Coming up Saturday, the No. 23 Washington Huskies face the No. 2 Oregon Ducks at Eugene.

Also Saturday, Washington State is at Oregon State to meet the Beavers at Corvallis.

Despite the continued struggles of the Seattle Seahawks offense and the worst passing production in the NFL, Pete Carroll is not ready to make a switch from rookie Russell Wilson at quarterback. Carroll said yesterday that Wilson remains the Seahawks' best option despite throwing three interceptions in Sunday's 19-13 loss in St. Louis. Seattle's passing offense is last in the league with just 523 net yards in four games. Wilson is completing 60 percent of his passes, but the big chunks of yardage are largely missing. Coming up Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks are at Carolina to face the Panthers.

Today is Peanuts Day, celebrating this day in 1950 when Charles Schulz introduced us to his pals, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, and Charlie's dog, Snoopy. Today is Guardian Angels Day. Today is World Farm Animals Day, celebrated on Ghandhi's birthday. Today is National Custodial Workers Day. Tonight is Go for a Stroll After Dinner Night. No Salt Week begins today. National Carry a Tune Week begins today.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1958, television's Yogi Bear stole his first picnic basket in Jellystone National Park, assisted by his sidekick Boo Boo. In 1959, The Twilight Zone debuted on television. They made 154 original episodes. In 1985, actor Rock Hudson died at his home in Beverly Hills at age 59 after a battle with AIDS. In 1994, at the age of 42, John Mellencamp confirmed he had suffered a mild heart attack, that he smoked four packs of cigarettes a day, and his cholesterol level was 300. In 1998, Hollywood's original singing cowboy and former owner of the Anaheim Angels, Gene Autry, died at age 91.

Seth MacFarlane, the man behind Family Guy and American Dad, has been tapped to host the 85th Academy Awards next year. The Oscars are being handed out on Sunday, February 24th in Hollywood, California. Billy Crystal hosted the show last year. Seth released the following statement: "It's truly an overwhelming privilege to be asked to host the Oscars. My thoughts upon hearing the news were, one, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don't find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen roast."

The All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts will forever be known as the place where the world's first one-ton pumpkin was weighed. Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, shattered a world record over the weekend. Wallace's pumpkin weighed in at 2,009-pounds.

A Swedish housing company announced a $137,000 campaign aimed at encouraging neighbors to greet one another. The 'Say Hi' campaign includes a brochure distributed to tenants with instructions on how to make small talk with neighbors. The pamphlet advises neighbors to prepare open-ended greetings and avoid yes-or-no questions.

Authorities in Oregon said a man arrested on a drunken driving charge allegedly hit a deputy's patrol car. Damage to the cop's car was minimal since the 32-year-old drunk was on his bicycle.

Adele has recorded the new theme song for the upcoming James Bond film, Skyfall. The singer tweeted a photo of the sheet music for the song Skyfall, which she wrote with her Rolling in the Deep co-writer, Paul Epworth. Shortly thereafter, a message on the James Bond Facebook page officially announced the single. The theme for Skyfall will debuts online at 7:07 AM Eastern on Thursday -- that's 0:07 AM British Standard Time in London -- the 50-year anniversary of the first Bond film, Dr. No. Skyfall opens in theaters on November 9th.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bruno Mars is hosting and performing on Saturday Night Live later this month. The singer and songwriter is appearing on the October 20th show, joining an elite group who've pulled the double duty, including Justin Timberlake and Mick Jagger.

Katy Perry is planning a divorce party on what would have been her two-year anniversary to ex-husband, Russell Brand. A source told England's The Sun that Katy has been dreading October 23rd, and with her birthday only two days after that, she wanted the day to be something fun. Perry stated she plans on spending the 23rd doing what she loves with her favorite people.

Trivia Answer: Mexico City, Mexico. Beginning with the 2005 season, the National Football League has hosted regular season American football games held outside the United States in a series known as the International Series. Since 2007 those games have been held at London's Wembley Stadium. Wembley will continue to be the game site at least through 2016. Coming up on October 28th on CBS, the New England Patriots take on the St. Louis Rams at Wembley Stadium. 

Hot off their controversial win over the Packers a week ago tonight, the favored Seahawks were hoping to pull off a comeback in St. Louis yesterday but Seattle ended up losing to the Rams. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson threw three interceptions as Seattle dropped a game they were favored to win, losing 19-13 to the Rams at Edward Jones Dome. With the loss, Seattle drops to 2-2 on the season and 0-2 against NFC West foes. It was a heart wrenching loss for the Seahawks, who were favored to win by three points after their controversial victory last Monday over the Packers. Next Sunday, the Hawks are at Carolina to face the Panthers.

The No. 8 Stanford Cardinal is now the No. 18 Stanford Cardinal in the new AP Top 25 poll following their loss to Washington. The Huskies are now No. 23. Oregon remains firmly at No. 2. Oregon trashed Washington State Saturday night 52-26. Coming up Saturday, the Huskies face Oregon at Eugene. Also Saturday, Washington State is at Oregon State to meet the Beavers at Corvallis.

A go-ahead homer in the eighth inning moved Oakland a win closer to the club's first playoff berth in six years, and the Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2 yesterday to sweep the weekend series and to stay right on the heels of Texas in the AL West race. The two-time reigning AL champion Rangers go to the Coliseum for the final three games of the regular season starting today with the division crown still up for grabs. Oakland leads Los Angeles by 2 1/2 games for the second AL wild card slot. The Mariners are back home for their final three games of the year hosting the Angels tonight through Wednesday.

Playing game one of their Western Conference Semifinal series on the road, the Seattle Storm came up with a 78-70 loss to the defending champion Minnesota Lynx Friday night. Game two was last night at Key Arena. Facing elimination, Sue Bird scored 22 points, including two 3-pointers in the second overtime, and the Storm beat the Lynx 86-79. That forces a deciding third game in the Western Conference semifinal series -- a single winner-advances, loser-goes home game tomorrow in Minnesota.

Welcome to October. By the way, "October" means the "eighth month." It however has been the 10th month since New Year's Day was moved from March to January. It's National Book Month, National Chili Month, National Cookie Month, National Dental Hygiene Month, National Pajama Month, National Popcorn Poppin' Month, National Roller Skating Month, National Seafood Month, Frozen Food Month, Spinach Lovers Month, interestingly it's Go Hog Wild-Eat Country Ham Month and Vegetarian Awareness Month. Today is World Vegetarian Day. Squirrel Awareness Month begins today, sponsored by the Squirrel Lovers Club of Oklahoma City. Today is Child Health Day. Pudding Season begins today. Tonight is National Popcorn and Tears Movie Appreciation Night. Men can stay home and vacuum.

Calendar notes: On this date in 1903, in the first game of the first baseball World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Pilgrims 7-3. Cy Young was the first losing pitcher. But Boston won the series. In 1962: Johnny Carson became host of The Tonight Show. His first guests were Tony Bennett, Joan Crawford, Rudy Vallee, Mel Brooks, and Groucho Marx. In 1971, Walt Disney World opened in Orlando. In 1997, to curtail growing alcoholism, the Congress of the scorching hot Mexican state of Tabasco banned the sale of cold beer. Residents could continue to buy all the warm beer they wanted. In 2001, the US Supreme Court suspended former President Clinton from practicing before the high court. In 2002, police chasing a gang of car thieves in Colombia lost their suspects when they were stopped at a toll booth. The gang flew through the toll booth but workers flagged down the pursuing police car and wouldn't let it leave until officers paid the toll. By that time, the thieves they'd chased 25 miles from Bogata were long gone.

Family film Hotel Transylvania brought new life to movie box offices with a chart-topping $43 million over the weekend, a record for a September opening. The animated 3-D movie featuring the voices of Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez finished ahead of new science fiction film Looper, which took in $21.2 million from Friday through Sunday and placed second. The police drama End of Watch landed in third place. Rounding out the top five, Clint Eastwood baseball film Trouble with the Curve took the No. 4 slot, while horror flick House at the End of the Street landed in the fifth spot.

After only a week since the release of the iPhone 5, Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a statement regarding the new Maps app. "We are extremely sorry for the frustration [the Maps program] has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," said Cook. He also suggested that customers should use other apps for directions in the meantime, even endorsing Mapquest, Bing, Waze, Google, and Nokia apps as viable options. You can read Tim Cook's full statement on Apple.com.

Even with the map issues, the iPhone 5 is still hot, but for some it just doesn't have enough bling. Gold & Co. of London has created a 24-karat gold-plated iPhone 5, which goes on sale in the United Arab Emirates. The price of the item hasn't been disclosed. A top-of-the-line iPhone 5 with 64 GB retails for $849 without a contract. Gold-plated iPhone 4S devices run as high as $1,224.

Wednesday night is the first presidential debate. The topic is domestic policy. It's at 6 Wednesday night at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. Jim Lehrer, the host of NewsHour on PBS, is the moderator.

Trivia Answer: Dame Julie Elizabeth Andrews, who turns 77 today. Andrews had a major revival of her film career in the 2000s, in family films such as The Princess Diaries in 2001, its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004, and in the Shrek animated films from 2004 to 2007.