Oreo's Crumbs

Miles to Go?

2010-10-31T20:17:00.003-06:00

People in Baton Rouge are crazy, especially when it comes to LSU.

Tiger Mania has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. I haven't been keeping up with the Bayou Bengals, but when I heard the fans were coming down hard on the coaches, I had to find out why. Hearing allegations of poor clock management and poor play calling sounds like some heartbreaking losses were stacking up for the Tigers, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out they were undefeated at the time.

Only in Baton Rouge could you find a mass number of fans unhappy with a 7-0 start to the season. Just a few years ago they were cheering Les Miles for his gutsy play-calling on his way to LSU's second BCS championship of the decade. Now those same fans are berating that same style; I guess it's making the game too interesting for them.

I've only watched a couple of games this season, and only half-heartedly at that. What I've see from Miles and his coaches is solid work. In the Auburn game, it wasn't anything the coaches did that led to that loss. The defense played a great game to keep the score close, and that game showcased some of the most outstanding punting you'll probably see all year. Auburn had to fight for nearly every yard of turf, most times starting on their own goal-line.

It was the play of the offense that let everyone down in that game. The plays called were dead on, as were many of the passes, but key throws were dropped by receivers that should have been able to catch them. Open men dropping balls that, if caught, would have meant serious yards, and maybe more points.

In the end the defense spent too many minutes on the field and were worn down by the stellar play of the probable Heisman Trophy winner for this year. LSU fans will try to blame the coaches, but they're not on the field. If the players can't get their heads in the game, the coaches can't step in and play for them.

I'm a fan of Les Miles. He seems to be a decent man who cares about the players in his charge, and has faith in those players to make the plays. Otherwise he wouldn't call the fake punt or go for it on 4th-and-1. I'd love to see more coaches like Miles, who bring excitement to the game, and I'd hate to see anyone fired over the fickle nature of the fans.

The Dood.

2010-04-12T21:16:00.007-05:00

A birthday post from a good friend triggered some nostalgia. "The Dude abides." - The Big Lebowski.

Over the past few months, I've been catching up on content generated by one Wil Wheaton. He's a terrific writer and stories like his are what I hope to one day commit to the bits and pixels that make up this blog. He's a few years older than I, and as I read his work, I see his footprints on the path to maturity that I am walking. It could be the same for all 30-somethings of our generation, but I find it comforting that someone else has had nearly the same feelings and been able to express them in such an eloquent way.

He has also been blogging for a few years longer, and has a rich catalog of prior material to troll through for inclusion in his podcasts and books. I have little doubt that he will find himself, in his later years, with the extraordinary undertaking of culling from scores of missives, those stories to include in his memoir. His children will also have the gift of a written account of who he is and why. I would like the same for mine.

Remember Spin-jas? I guess their closest corollary would be Bakugan or something like that. They were these little tops with ninja torsos that loaded into handheld, spring-loaded, launchers. In a small arena, the two gladiators would whirl like the Tasmanian Devil, gliding toward each other to impact briefly and fly away, with the winner being the last one remaining in the ring. Today I found this to be a metaphor for my experience with D&D, which was the subject of the Radio Free Burrito episode I was listening to at the time.

Throughout my formative years, I would have fleeting encounters with Dungeons and Dragons, which were just enough to make me aware of it, but I had no way of getting into the game. I remember nights at my grandmother's house where my uncle and his friends were gathered around a folding card table, the intensity of their focus and enjoyment drawing me to them the way a gas giant attracts a new moon. I think I was in first or second grade at the time, and way too young to play with teenagers, much less grasp the fundamentals of the game. I can still see my uncle's character sheet, a jumble of numbers and words in a format that made no sense to me then, but in which I would now be able to see a fully realized character. It's like 'The Matrix,' where they look at the symbols crawling down the screen and see a blonde, brunette, or redhead.

The next flash is watching the D&D cartoon on Saturday mornings and cheering on the party in their struggle against Venger. Again I'm in my grandmother's house, but this time in the den, and I have not a care in the world.

A third instance is the movie 'E.T.,' which to this day can still crit against my will stat to sell me a bag of Reese's Pieces, but didn't have a lasting effect on my wisdom where D&D is concerned.

When the Third Edition Ruleset came out, my group of friends began to get together to play. Two of the guys used to play all the time in high school, but for the rest of us, it was our first campaign. Andy was the Dungeon Master, and he made it a great experience for all of us. I wasn't able to make it for every session, and I missed out on some fun nights, from the sound of it.

One of those nights had a twist thrown into it. Andy had created a drinking game tailored specifically for us. He took each mannerisms unique to each person, and certain group interactions, and made up some cards with each one. Each person that night was required to pull one from the deck, which would be their secret drink trigger. I wasn't there to play, but I have heard tales of this night that had me in stitches, and still bring a smile to my face as I think of them. The greatest card, from my point of view, was the one based on me. It is called the Curse of the Cajun Surfer, and is based on my overuse of the term 'dude', which sounds more like 'dood' when I say it. I consider this the greatest, because even though I wasn't there to trigger it personally, everyone in the group had picked it up in the half-mocking way of close friends.

I don't remember who exactly pulled "The Curse," but they got hammered that night because it had become such a part of our everyday lexicon. One of the guys even wrote a song about it. It's hard to believe that all happened nearly ten years ago, because it is still so fresh in my mind as to have happened ten months ago. It has achieved near legendary status among us. As testament, to this day, when making a call to one of these friends, the first word spoken is not "Hello," but "Dood."

Days of the New(s)

2010-04-07T10:46:00.003-05:00

So, it's been two months since I dropped my last crumbs, and I need to get my writing groove back.

It's like a muscle, and I feel that if I neglect it any longer, it'll atrophe and become more of a vestigial appendage. I got to reading some of my earlier material, and I want to connect with that same gonzo columnist style I tried to emulate then. It could have something to do with reading an issue of Car and Driver while waiting for a vehicle inspection to finish. The guys writing that magazine have ways of making words talk. Another inspiration has been Wil Wheaton's work, both on his blog and in his books, which has been really great to read. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to his podcast, Radio Free Burrito, right now. With that out of the way, let's get to the real post.

The new year has brought about new changes to the 39 Newsroom. In the first month of the year I was working a dayshift on Saturdays, but the dayside reporter was taking her leave to complete the gestational cycle of her progeny. Instead of assigning someone to cover that shift, the powers that be decided it would be better for me to turn natpacks on those days. In those four weeks I did more of those than I had in the entire nine years of my career. I shared one of them in a previous post, and I'll collect the rest of them here.

Bringing Ice to Life

Sprite Step-off

Cirque Dreams Auditions

U.S. Marshall’s Jewelry Auction

Maybe I should embed those, but it's the quickest way for me to get this done, right now, so that's what you get.

In the weeks after doing these stories, I got into a funk, which took me a while to figure out. What was happening during this time is that everyone was getting new equipment as we transistioned to our HD workflow. This rollout was kind of slow, and I was one of the last to get new stuff. That was fine, but what was getting me down was that, with the new HD gear, all the SD video I was shooting was only good for that day's story. Here's a little inside baseball as to why this bothered me.

We in the news business have a saying, "You're only as good as your next story." The work I do today pretty much has no point past it's final frame of video in the newscast. That's our blessing and our curse. If we do a great story, we want that moment to last forever, but if it's just a cluster of a day, assuming I didn't destory the newscast, we get to do it all over again tomorrow. For me as a photojournalist there was a subconcious caveat to this. The video we shoot today becomes the file we pull for years after. Need a shot of kids in a classroom? Pull some file. What happens when a station moves to HD is that SD file becomes less useful, only to be used if doing an update to an old story. What was happening is that I was shooting video that wouldn't even be considered for file, because it was SD, so it had no life past it's airing in the newscast.

As I said above, this was subconciously affecting me, and it only clicked when someone asked if the great video I shot that day (of kids in a classroom, no less) was HD or SD, because they were looking to build the HD file library. Once I figured it out, I was able to shake it off and life got back to normal.

Then I got my new gear. I traded in my large Sony Beta SX for a babycam, a Sony EX3 XDCAM. For the next couple of months I would figure out how to bend it to my will, and I can do most anything I want with it, except zoom into something a block away. I also was able to divest myself of the DNE-700 edit system, and take delivery of a new 17" MacBook Pro, loaded with Final Cut Studio and unlimited creative potential. Now my limitations are the lack of training on the system and time.

I've not become an Apple devotee, but damn if that sexy slab of silver hasn't become as natural for me to use as my camera. I want one of my own, to be sure, but don't know if I can justify the expense. I'll have to start my own business, I think, just so I can have an excuse to buy it. As for those people who say Macs 'just work,' though, you are all a bunch of damn liars. I've had stories miss slot because Final Cut Pro went into Not Responding mode, and lost precious minutes to getting it working correctly again.

This week I got a new piece of kit to assist in our Web first intiative. The station also replaced my work phone, which had developed a large blemish on it's LCD screen. These two items are embodied in one device, the iPhone 3Gs, in the 16 GB capacity. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed the cacophany of tweets that followed the past month of silence. This is indicative of what might have been if I had a phone with either a data plan or unlimited texting. Expect more.

It's been a while, but I created something today, and it felt good. Also, I'm thinking about a podcast, but that would require more work, so I don't think it'll happen, but I have a title. I'll let you know if I get it off the ground. Thanks for reading.

The Thermostat

2010-02-07T23:35:00.003-06:00

Two weeks ago was a cold day in Hell. Tonight it's 40 below.

In retrospect the Colts never had a chance. Oh, it looked like they had things well in hand in the first half of the game, but that was just to keep people watching. The Saints have been a 'team of destiny' the whole season, and that wasn't about to end on Super Bowl Sunday. The team from Indianapolis wasn't just playing against the men on the field, but the whole population of the Who Dat Nation.

Those fans are spread across the globe, and, from what I hear, even hold positions in the Vatican. I didn't see any Colts colors in the pews at morning mass, but I was proud to see people attending in jerseys and t-shirts matching those my family of 3 were wearing. According to sources who witnessed it, the priest in Egan, LA stood before his flock - and removed his robes. Beneath his vestments was a shirt revealing where his loyalties lay, and a horseshoe was nowhere near it. He delivered his entire homily, proudly displaying his fleur-de-lis, and re-robed before performing the rest of the mass.

I read a tweet this week that said, "Unless you're from Indianapolis, if you aren't pulling for the Saints, you have no heart." That could be a little strong, but this country loves an underdog, and the Saints were mainly given lip-service when discussing their chances for the win.

I'm too young to remember the Archie Manning years, but realized in the last two weeks that it doesn't matter. This is the Drew Brees era, and I count myself lucky to play witness to the Manning of my generation. It is a story that will grow into legend. A man who was injured and looking to rebuild joins a team in a city that is broken and looking to rebuild. In the process he realizes why God's hand has led him to this point in his life. He has come to New Orleans to give the people of the city hope. Not the empty hope for a 'change' that others have promised in recent years, but true hope that the impossible is just a word in a dictionary.

The residents of the Crescent City have a symbiotic relationship with the team, and this accomplishment will give them a surge of energy that will do more for bringing the city back, better than ever, than anything the federal government could ever offer. It's a spiritual energy that will sustain itself with each rebuilt home and life.

On Sunday night the streets of the city were nearly empty. Everyone had a line-of-sight position near a television screen to watch the miracle unfold, and when it was over they flooded the streets in a torrent of good will and happiness to begin a party that won't stop until midnight on Ash Wednesday. Sober or drunk, old men wept like babies and kisses and hugs were shared among the married and the single, along with the gay and the straight.

Tonight it doesn't matter, and there's nothing wrong with that.

WHO DAT!

2010-01-24T22:51:00.003-06:00

These two words will be repeated a lot during the next couple of weeks, for good reason.

Tonight the New Orleans Saints won the NFC Championship, which means they've won 50% of the games they've played at this level. Not a bad record. To be cliche about it, with this win they've punched their ticket to Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

It was an ugly game on Sunday night in the Superdome, and I'm sure more than a few follicles of hair across the Who Dat Nation were either torn out or faded to grey as the seconds counted down in the fourth quarter. Had the offense played to the level fans had come to expect, it would have been a blow out, like last week's game, but that wasn't quite the story. Thankfully the defense came through, proving the axiom oft repeated by coaches, "Offense wins games, Defense wins championships."

Then Overtime began and an entire city and state held its collective breath, only releasing it, during the booth reviews, in prayers that the drive would continue. When the final review put them within field goal range, one kick brought to life the dreams of over 40 years of black and gold fans, and their cries of joy lifted the roof off the 'Dome.

I didn't see it. For the whole season I've either been working or otherwise occupied when the Saints were playing. The one game I got to see kickoff became their first loss of the season, and Drew Brees' worst performance. I decided to ensure that I wouldn't see today's kickoff by attending the Life Teen mass at St. Anne's. We weren't the only Who Dat's in the congregation, which actually surprised me a little; I would have thought all the others would be watching the game.

After dinner I was torn about watching. I couldn't resist, and thought I'd have to leave the house when Reggie Bush muffed a punt, and the Vikings recovered it near the end zone. I kept watching, to see them score to punish myself, and thought my fortunes had reversed when they forced a turnover. From there I couldn't look away until the final seconds of regulation, changing the channel to ice skating and hoping for a miracle I'd only see in replays. It came in the form of a Brett Favre interception, relegating me to pacing from the front door to the kitchen and back again, wondering what was happening, and hoping it was all working out.

When it was all over I got to share in the joy with friends and family, including phone calls to my dad in Cameron and my 92-year-old grandfather in Abbeville. It's such a great feeling to know that he's finally going to see them play in the big game.

Cold as Ice

2010-01-14T10:14:00.004-06:00

We were setting records for cold temps in Houston last week, so it was perfect weather for an ice sculpting competition.

Yeah, I know you folks from the Dakotas and the other frost-belt states deal with substantially lower temperatures, but for the people of the Gulf Coast, 48 hours below freezing is a big deal. Not many people are prepared for that kind of hard freeze, since the mercury only drops that low a few nights a year. I covered people covering plants, pipes, and themselves to wait out Old Man Winter's kick to the 'nards, but found a group of people kicking back on Saturday.

I got to the station Saturday morning before my reporter, which isn't unusual, but when 9:30 rolled around the desk decided to make a call. Long story short the reporter called in sick, leaving me the sole person responsible for gathering the dayside stories. The three items deemed worthy of our time were all in the same area of downtown, but we now had to decide how much time I should spend at each. The desk and I decided the ice sculpting competition would make the most sense as a nat-sound package, and I could still get the other two as VO-SOTs.

The news director thought otherwise. In addition to the ice story, I would have to shoot the Bridal Extravaganza as an anchor package. The third story got dropped. To say I was thrilled would be inaccurate. I was looking forward to doing the nat-pack, but now I was going to have to shoehorn the time to do it around the other package. Any photog who cares knows that a good nat-pack takes the same time and work as a regular package to put together. Time was ticking away, and it looked like lunch would be the next casualty.

I arrived at Discovery Green around 10:10, and I finally found a parking spot around 10:20. Now it was time to load up and go hunting. Camera, tripod, mics, tapes, and an extra battery added up to an extra 50 pounds I would be lugging around for what turned out to be four hours. At least I have a Beta SX camera, and not the 3/4" camera and record deck the old timers used.

After walking a couple of blocks, I found the artists were just getting started. Rectangular blocks of transluscent frozen water were getting unpacked, and the buzz of electric chainsaws mixed with the thump of the bass line pounding from the DJ's speakers. Seven of "the world's best ice sculptors" were making snow to decide who could make the best use of a ton of ice.

While a respectable number of people were there to see these masters at work, the crowd only got bigger as the five hour competition unfolded, and they tried to guess at what the finished sculpture would be. The crowd, and I, were awestruck as a snarling panther's head was attached to the shoulders of the big cat, which was poised in a downward-facing position, ready to pounce on unseen prey.

Unfortunately I wouldn't get to see the finished works, because I had to trudge over to the George R. Brown Convention Center for the other story. The extra layers that kept me comfortable in the cold were now a burden that I had no way of shedding. Cars, cakes, and a kissing contest were all committed to tape, along with the brides and other vendors at the show. From there I schlepped my gear the three blocks back to the car and headed for the station, where I had to wait for an edit bay to get put back together before I could edit.

Overall I'm pleased with the story. It's only the fourth nat-pack I've done, and I managed to really tie everything together. As for the anchor-pack, it never made air. The producer busted it to a VO-SOT, which means I wasted time on that story I could have used for the nat-pack.

An Ode to Gear

2009-12-29T21:27:00.002-06:00

After months of playing the field, I'm finally going steady with Unit 3.

Some people work from home, others have a cubicle. Photogs have an office with a 360-degree view. Our news units are more than a conveyance from calamity to catastrophe. They also serve as our shelter from the elements, a mobile dining room, and a quick place to catch a cat-nap while the scanner mutters sweet nothings in our ears.

For the last several weeks I've been assigned Unit 3 for my entire work week, which makes it officially my responsibility. Poor Unit 3, she's one of the oldest steeds in the fleet. It's a dirt-brown Chevy Blazer with bits of door-seals flapping like streamers in the breeze - a breeze that becomes a roar at highway speeds. Until I got her, she'd been worked hard and treated even harder. The floor was covered in a layer of dirt that I'm sure would have produced fossils if one were to look, and one reporter even remarked that she felt the need for a bath every time she got in the vehicle.

That was it. Unit 3 might be a broken-down piece of crap, but it's my piece of crap, and its condition is a reflection on me. Now she's been through the carwash for the first time since before I started here in April, and I can actually see the carpet. Who knew there was a hole worn in the driver's-side floor mat?

Along with the car comes the camera, mics, tripod and other assorted gear. All of it is in relatively good condition, since no one really wanted to use it. I even have a dream light kit that I don't even have time to look at, except when I'm beginning my shift. With a little time I'll get it all into shape, except for that dead pixel on the camera's imaging block. It only shows up in darker scenes, looking like a lone star in an overcast sky.

I guess you could call it the bright spot in my nights.

A Man Named Suh

2009-12-29T20:38:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I got to work the dayshift for three straight days.

It was a time filled with wonder and amazement. I had heard that other news crews worked in this city, but I rarely saw them, and so began to think they were an endangered species. In those 24-plus hours on the clock, I saw many of them twice or more! It was a familiar feeling, being able to talk to someone and continue a conversation from the day before, instead of not seeing them for weeks, or even months, at a time.

The first day found me at a YMCA, locked, loaded, and stalking Ndomukong Suh, who was there with three other nominees for the Lombardi award. They were there to run some local kids through some drills. All four of these guys seemed genuinely happy to be there and enjoying themselves. I interviewed all four, and managed to get some good stuff from each of them, specific to each man. A casual observer might think I actually knew something about college football, but these guys were all great interviews.

My 6'1" frame usually means that I have to lower my camera and hunch over my viewfinder while interviewing, but I found myself actually stretching my Sachtler to meet the eye-level of this football player, who easily topped me by several inches. One look at him and I felt sympathy for the poor guys who've had to line up against him all season. They never stood a chance.

After bagging my bites and b-roll, I left with an honest feeling of joy. Each nominee seemed to have their heads on straight, and all of them seemed like they could go on to be good leaders of their communities.

The next day found me at a plant fire where no one was seriously injured, and the last day I got to interview a French sculptor, Bernar Venet. I'd have never guessed his true age (70), because he's got a light in his eyes that rivals my two-year-old daughter's. Throw in a free lunch at Reliant Stadium while waiting to interview the Texans, and I'd say it's the most fun work-week I've had in quite some time.

Muppets - Bo. Rhap.

2009-11-25T11:25:00.001-06:00

Bohemian Rhapsody done by the Muppets. Need I say more?

Flu Shots and Hurricanes

2009-11-24T14:34:00.003-06:00

Hello everybody!

Happy Thanksgiving! For your perusal, I'm throwing down some of my recent work. I feel like I'm finally getting my feet under me and learning how to turn better stories within the daily constraints. I've even edited one pkg, not seen here, in the Avid Newscutter suite, and hope to spend more time in there to better familiarize myself with that system.

HISD H1N1

Housing Assistance Day in Galveston

Schmuckery!

2009-10-13T20:18:00.004-05:00

It's a photog beat-down.

On an early Sunday morning, firefighters are responding to the most recent catastrophic conflagration soon to hit the Houston airwaves. They find flames leaping through the roof and a man in the front yard. This man turns out to the uncle of three children yet to escape the emergency, and he's brandishing a pistol while berating these brave souls for not charging into the fire faster. One of the kids makes it out with burns on her feet, but two younger children are lost.

Many questions remain as to why the parents left this man in charge, and how did the fire start on his watch, not to mention what kind of man looks out for himself, leaving three children to make their escape? Before the scene would clear he would perform one last act of schmuck-like behavior; he would assault a photog.

The shooter is employed by a local stringer agency who covers the overnights for most of the stations in town. While waiting for the heat of the fire to wane, he draws the ire of the hot-headed uncle, who isn't pleased with the presence of our soon-to-be plaintiff. The photog turns away to remove his camera from the tripod and gets cold-cocked as he turns back to face the man.

In today's story meeting, the powers-that-be were trying to decide on a second story for our crew following up on the fire and the uncle's arrest. I floated the story of the photog, and they found it fitting. The crew who did the story even thanked me for the idea.

Four on One

2009-10-02T12:09:00.002-05:00

No, I wasn't in a fight; it was an interview.

I strolled into work last Friday with little thought for what the day might bring. It makes going to work more fun if you have no idea what might happen. In the afternoon meeting I discovered that I would be flying solo for the day, which is a nice change of pace from the grind of turning out two stories daily. Then I found out what I would be shooting.

A certain multi-platinum artist was staging a concert in The Woodlands, and they were going to webcast it live in HD, for free, to the world, but mainly for the troops in the Middle East. They were also attempting to gain a Guinness World Record for the most cameras used to record a live event. The record they were trying to break was 43, which was earned by a Justin Timberlake concert at Madison Square Garden. This production was going to obliterate that record by using a slightly higher number - 239. What they recorded will be part of the live DVD that will release almost one month after the album.

Who is the band of which I speak? After a rough split, these four guys have been kicking around for six or seven years, doing seperate projects. They decided to get back together and try to recapture the lightning they once held and bend it to their will. This tour is to promote their new album and re-introduce them to their fans, both new and old. They are Creed.

I've actually owned all three of their CDs, though I've lost My Own Prison in my many moves, so I guess you could say I like their music. I wasn't worried about interviewing these guys because they were hugely successful and popular musicians. What had me freaked was that I was going to have to interview the whole band by myself. My dedication to the craft wouldn't let me just set the camera on a wide shot of all four guys and roll, but I was having trouble figuring out how to talk to all of them at the same time and still make it look good for TV, and keep myself from looking like a total jack-leg at the same time. For those who don't know, pre-show interviews are usually pretty short, so I wouldn't have much time with the band to move a mic from one to the next.

Our Senior (don't call her chief) Photog suggested that I shoot it off the shoulder in an MTV fashion. I gave it a shot and it kind of worked, which is good because it's the best I could have done without four more cameras and mics. As for the band, they were all pretty cool guys. They answered my questions, which I'm sure they've all heard about a thousand times now, but if it bothered them, I didn't notice. I also kind of lost my head and only focused on the dynamics between the four of them, instead of the other questions I had, like if they think their fans will forgive and forget. When I got the last question signal, the only think I could come up with was "Do you like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, and could there be a Creed version in the works?" They all chuckled and the drummer said they had thought about it a little, and that he can't play the drums in the game very well, because is isn't quite the same. He did say that he could shred on the guitar, though.

After I got back to the station, I was able to watch the webcast because we put some of it on the air to go with the sound bite. The webcast looked like a DVD, and I was blown away by the production quality. The only problem was that Scott Stapp, the lead singer, sounded like his voice hasn't aged well. I don't know if it was just this show, or if he hasn't taken care of it, but it was quite flat. It didn't take away any of the energy from his performance, though, and I couldn't look away from the monitor for long without being drawn back by the quality of the show.

In all it was a great show, and one of those experiences I will remember for a long time.

Quick and Dirty

2009-08-18T11:41:00.002-05:00

A story edited in 18 minutes.

I really would have liked to have more time to edit this one. I think it should have been later in the show, but it was scheduled as the second story in the newscast, and we didn't get back from shooting it until almost 7:30.

Before leaving for that story, I offered to help a coworker out with Twitter video for his story.

Radio Missions

2009-08-02T21:58:00.003-05:00

Saturday found me rising with the sun for a trip to Galveston.

I was headed to the island for the re-opening of the emergency room a the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital. It was a lack-luster event, but we were also assigned a story about some local folks helping in the post-Ike recovery.

It turned out to be a decent edit, but I ran a little short on video and time to finish.

Thunder Moon

2009-07-20T10:27:00.002-05:00

What happens when a car and a motorcycle meet? Usually it's never good.

Sunday finds myself and LJ, comfortably buckled into Unit 2, rolling north to Conroe. A man named Rex had been killed while riding his scooter the night before, and those who knew him are both mourning his death and celebrating his life. Sounds like the same old story, except Rex was the proprietor of Thirsty's Ice-House, which is where we are headed, and the gathering place of his extended family of fellow two-wheelers.

The bar is busy with bros and their old ladies who have nothing but praise for the man who presided over their chosen watering hole, and to hear them tell it, his heart was bigger than he was. Rex organized charity rides for children and got big, burly bikers to bring teddy bears to seniors for Christmas. The dichotomy of that imagery calls for a story to be done.

While we're wrapping up our second interview, the final response is drowned in the concussive rumblings of more motorcycles arriving. This group literally brings the thunder, revving their engines in a throaty tribute as one rider ruins his rear rubber in a cloud of smoke and heat. Those looking on alternately cheer and cry for the life of the man they've lost.

What didn't make it into the story is the shot of the full moon, plus rocket, which I can only assume was one guy's tribute to Apollo 11. Also left out were the racist comments being liberally thrown about regarding the illegal immigrants accused of the hit and run. LJ had to bite her tongue more than once as some of the guys said really nasty things, without realizing her hispanic heritage. To say we made short work of it would be an understatement.

Hot Story

2009-06-21T15:33:00.003-05:00

Last week I was getting back into the swing of things after the vacation and ended up with two stories to shoot concerning the local dry spell.

The first was about fireworks retailers preparing to open for the July 4th sales season, and the second was just on the dry conditions. We didn't get anything develop until 5:30pm, and it was the fireworks story, so by the time we were done with that, we didn't have much time to shoot the second one.

We drove into a neighborhood, looking for dry yards and sprinklers, when we found a house with a sprinkler and people sitting around, enjoying the evening. The following story was shot in 30 minutes, split equally between b-roll and interviews.

Free Floats

2009-06-05T00:30:00.002-05:00

Two years ago Sonic's free float night heralded the eve of the worst week of our lives, though we wouldn't know it until the morning.

Chloe and Claire were two weeks old and it was the first night of the NBA Finals. Erica and her mom were out and I was settling down to eat dinner and watch the game between feedings. Looking back on that night, I wish I had spent more time with the girls, but I don't know what I might have done differently.

It was time for them to sleep, so I moved them to their room where it would be a little quieter. Looking back, I'm sure that Chloe was already ill by now, but a call to the doctor's office resulted in a wait-and-see response, because she had no symptoms other than not eating well. Would I have noticed anything sooner if I had kept them in the living room? Probably not, but I still feel like I didn't do my job.

These are the thoughts that were the first to spring to mind when I heard the ad on the radio. I ought to think, "Free root beer float! Mmmmm, I know where I'll be tonight." Instead I knew where I wasn't going to be. I didn't have the heart to go, and couldn't even get excited about tasting one. It's strange how something as insignificant as free float night is now inextricably linked to such a significant time in my life.

Claire is now two years old and knows that going to Sonic means she's going to get an ice cream cone. She would have loved to get a float last night, but we didn't go. I have such pride in her when I look at her and realize that she's learned something new. We're actually able to have conversations. Admittedly I usually have to lead her through them, but she responds with a confident 'Yeah' to my questions. Now she's trying to use full sentences. Her face scrunches up as she's trying to get the words from her mind through to us. It's great, but I can't help thinking about how much better it would be if I could see it twice as often.

That worries me also. I don't want her to feel inadequate because she's the only one here. I hug her as much as I can, but I wonder if she's beginning to realize that something/someone is missing. Hopefully she'll tell us when she's able to communicate better. Yesterday she and I went to CiCi's Pizza for the first time. It was a good trip and she was well behaved as ever. I didn't even have to cut her pizza. I showed her how to hold it, and she learned and did the rest. Hopefully it's just the first of many daddy/daughter lunches.

Maybe we'll even get a chance to talk over root beer floats.

Driving Notes

2009-05-15T10:29:00.003-05:00

Wil Wheaton narrowly avoided a wreck the other day, and he wrote a blog post about it.

In the first few comments I found this link with some sobering insights on the world of highway driving, and how best to not get killed in an accident. Since I've been to a few fatals myself, I try to do my best not to become one, but I do have my lapses at times. The link above is a well-written must-read, though it has some salty language, just to warn you.

I suggest reading both Wil's post and the second one, and please try to drive as aware as possible.

*edit 6/5/2009* Last Sat. I saw a semi with no trailer lock his brakes and spin out on dry pavement. He did a 180 degree turn, across 3 lanes of traffic, heading towards the I-59/I-610 interchange, and didn't hit anything. It's the most amazing moment of divine intervention that I've ever seen. Looked just like Optimus Prime in Transformers, except a lot more uncontrolled and scary.

The Shot

2009-05-13T14:52:00.002-05:00

Everyday as a visual storyteller comes down to one goal - besides getting the story done.

No matter the subject matter, we are all looking for that one, specific, moment that crystallizes what the story is about. Yesterday I spent all day driving from the Galleria, to Downtown, to the Woodlands, for one story. When 8:15 rolled around all that work became a weekend hold due to a jet with a case of hot foot out at Hobby airport.

We were the second to last crew to arrive, but found one man who had been standing in baggage claim for about an hour, waiting for his wife and six month old child who were on the plane. Surprisingly we were the first crew to talk to him, which led us to the exclusive video of his reunion with his wife and child. You can be sure that the other crews were quite upset that they missed out on that video. I did what I do best and caught the emotion of the moment.

Not a bad night, especially since no one was hurt in all the commotion.

New Job

2009-05-07T00:35:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned it on Twitter and Facebook, but I seem to have forgotten to blog about my new job.

I recently joined the crew at KHCW Ch. 39 here in Houston. You can find us online at 39online.com. We're working our way up in the ratings, but the people seem happy to come into work, and we're still hiring. I can't name another station that is doing that right now.

Now that I've updated that, here's the brand new blog of one of my new reporters, Andrea Nguyen. Try not to judge our stories too harshly right now. We're a bit understaffed and having to crank out two stories a night to feed the beast. I'm trying to make them the best I can, but I haven't found a story where everything comes together yet.

I've got an even better light kit than I had when I left 'BRZ, but I haven't been able to put it to use. I still feel like I'm treading water, so when I get comfortable, my stories should improve.

Thank you for all the well-wishes and prayers that allowed me to find this position so quickly. I think it will be a good fit, once I break it in.

Molding Update

2009-05-03T22:01:00.004-05:00

*UPDATE Picked up the molding yesterday. Apparently it arrived on Thurs., but no one thought to call me.*

Here's an update. I'm still waiting. The piece I ordered came in about a week after I ordered it, but it was damaged beyond my use, so they refunded me the cost and ordered a new one. I am still waiting on that one.

I believe the store manager has a meeting with me in his future. To be fair these pieces are coming from another company, but he will be hearing from me, since I cannot contact them directly.

It's beginning to get on my nerves looking at that one last section of wall with the speaker wire that should be neatly hidden.

*Edit* GAH!!! I just realized that the previous post was made over a month ago. It looks like I will have to "strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger" those who attempt to delay and impede my order. For they will know, that my name is the O, when I lay my vengance through the BBB.

Molding Matters

2009-03-22T22:49:00.004-06:00

Our new home needed a touch up, and I found an opportunity to try something new.

When we bought our new home, we noticed that crown-molding was conspicuously missing from our living room, even though it was already in the study and dining room. This worked out, though, because I needed to place the rear surrounds in my home theater, and needed somewhere to hide the wire.

I thought I could fish the wires behind the wall at the front of the room, but it proved to be just beyond my reach, so I had to call someone. I was trying to do it the hardest way possible, plus I had a Cat5e wire to run from an upstairs bedroom, and it wasn't gonna happen for me. Now the wires are neatly located in the wall and all I have to do is run the crown-molding.

My in-laws came to visit with Crumbsnatcher this weekend, and my father-in-law helped me with the installation. I also had the help of Tom Silva via the articles and vidoes on This Old House's website. They were very helpful, but they neglected to cover corners with angles greater than 90 degrees, and I have two. I also ended up just under 2 feet short, so I have to find another piece to be able to finish.

I could have finished today, but the big blue hardware and lumber retailer doesn't have the same molding in stock as the kind I special ordered from them. Writing that sounds wrong, but the only reason I special ordered is that they didn't carry 16' lengths. When we were trying to mock-up a corner we discovered that the piece I bought to finish one wall was slightly different from the rest. Hopefully I won't have to order more, because the pieces that I just got took nearly 3 weeks to come in, and I don't want to wait another 3 weeks for one piece.

What we did get done looks good, though I still have to finish it with some caulking and paint so it will match the rest of the house. I only had to cut a couple of small notches for my wires to exit the molding, which you can't see when the speakers are in place.

In all I'm proud of the work we did, and I did it much cheaper than someone would have charged me. Now I have a better idea of how to fish wire, so I can try it again the next time I need something like that.

Moving Expenses

2009-03-05T09:19:00.003-06:00

Okay. It's been a while since I wrote a post, but I've got a good excuse. I've been busy with the job search and moving into our new home.

It's been a busy month. Two days after my last post we moved everything out of our house in Denham Springs. Three days later we closed on that sale. One week after that we closed on the new house here in Houston. That weekend we moved everything from the storage unit to the house, and we have been in the process of moving in since.

That has shifted the job search from my primary focus to making calls when I have time, but I had a phone interview a week ago that went well, and I'm now waiting for a call-back to a sit-down. In the meantime I'm working on getting our vehicles legal in the Lone Star State. I do have a small gig Saturday with the rodeo. I'll be filling in for someone who, unfortunately, has to attend a funeral, but I talked to him the other day, and I can feel good that my being here is a blessing to him in that he can now attend that 'home-going' for his loved one.

We got our Comcast HD Triple Play hooked up on Tuesday of last week, left for the weekend, and had to have it re-connected two days ago. Thankfully we are a little closer to the transmitters here than in Baton Rouge, and I was able to use my 15 year old pair of rabbit ears to pull in the local digital stations. While watching that Monday night, we must have seen between five and ten commercials for Comcast. I swear it was like they were mocking us with an ad in every other break! Comcastic.

Our furniture made it through the move with minimal damage. Only a few items had noticeable scratches, but those were on the back or mostly out of sight areas. What didn't come through okay was our laptop.

This little notebook has made it through multiple trips across Louisiana, from Louisiana to Texas a couple of times, Houston to Cleveland and back, and all the way to Las Vegas and back. What it couldn't take was a five minute ride from my uncle's house to this one. Crazy.

Now I have to buy a replacement screen, but I found a company that is, surprisingly, located here in Houston. Screentek is down in the area around Reliant Park, so I should be able to make it down there to pick it up and save myself the cost of shipping. They have instructions with photos on their website, and it doesn't look too complicated to replace. It'll cost about $260, but that's cheaper than the cost of a new laptop, and I don't have to spend the time transferring files.

Through it all, though, it looks like we came out ahead. We were able to put 20% down on the new house and had some left over from our profit on the old house, so we can make some upgrades in the near future like painting, patio, and/or countertops. I don't know what everyone else is concerned about. The housing market has been very good to me.

At Last!

2009-02-05T09:47:00.002-06:00

Some of may think by the title that I may have finally found a job. Not quite.

To hear the radio these days, it seems as if the bloom may be off the rose where President Obama is concerned. His picks are coming under fire for unpaid taxes and his stimulus (or stealfromus if you listen to W&J) is getting bogged down in the senate, and bloating the longer it sits.

It seems to be a bad week for Democrats all around, as Nancy Pelosi is on record saying, for every month the stimulus package is delayed, 500 million Americans lose their jobs. That's a lot of people losing work each month - it's almost 200 million more than the U.S. population.

Most interesting to me, though, is what the talented Ms. Etta James had to say. She is most unhappy with the President's choice of singer at his neighborhood ball. In fact she's called out Beyonce for daring to sing the song for which she's known, 'At Last.'

Ms. James is old school, and you don't mess with old school.

Vegas Voyage

2009-01-26T00:21:00.004-06:00

It's been a while since we got back from Vegas, but I've been trying to keep tweets coming on at least a semi-regular basis on the Twitter sidebar.

So, to make up for it, here is a photo-dump from the past month.

We went all the way to Vegas, and the first place we eat is the Raisin' Cane's a block from our hotel. It's sad that we had to go there to find one less than a 20 minute drive from us, but such is the life we have chosen.

The Christmas decorations were still up at the Bellagio, and I just had to take this shot.

Of course the outside of the the Bellagio is where the real show happens, when the fountains do their thing.

It really is one of the best free shows in town.

We also got to take in the sights and sounds of the Sirens of TI.

It's a pretty good show, but I think they could use some more lighting. If you're gonna try to take pictures, you need a really fast lens. Also, I think they should look into heating that lagoon. All the men end up in the water at some point, and it was in the 40s and 50s when we were there. They actually had to cancel one show on Tuesday night because it dipped into the 30s.

In the Venetian we found the Gondoliers, but didn't take a ride, because they want way too much money to sit in a boat and take a ride.

They also wanted way too much money for one of these enormous candy apples. I don't care if they are as big as grapefruits, thirteen dollars is too high.

So that was our trip to Vegas. We saw Mystere, the Cirque du Soleil show at Treasure Island, and it was a good one. We've decided that, should the two of us ever go back, we should make it a trip to see all the shows.

Vegas, Baby, Vegas

2009-01-04T18:50:00.002-06:00

First trip to Las Vegas. Looking to have fun.

The Mrs. and I are departing for our first trip to Las Vegas, which is the first time both of us have left the Crumbsnatcher behind with someone who is not us. We'll be back in a few days, but it's a big deal all the same.

For myself it's not such a problem. A year ago I was in New Orleans for the BCS championship game, and I had to spend a few nights there. For her, though, it's the first time she's spent so much as a night away from the munchkin. Separation anxiety is high, to say the least. I won't say that I don't have some butterflies myself, but this is a major step after all we've been through.

The Li'l One will be fine. We'll probably come back and she'll be spoiled rotten by my aunt, uncle and cousins. In the meantime, we'll try to have fun and not miss her too much.

Fine Powder

2008-12-16T22:45:00.005-06:00

We managed to find some snow to play in.

Twenty-five minutes after my tweet saying that it was snowing, the ground was covered in a fine coating of snow.

It thickened as we got the little one dressed for the occasion.

As you can see, she liked getting dressed a lot better than posing for pictures in the snow.

We tried catching snowflakes on our tongues.

But settled for just catching some memories.

Then I got creative.

Oh, and I got cold this time, confirming that it must be the humidity that contributes to that bone-chilling nature of Louisiana cold temperatures.

What Cold?

2008-12-16T13:07:00.005-06:00

I was in Houston and missed the snow in Baton Rouge.

We got excited when the flakes began falling in NW Houston. It had been a few years since I had seen some snow, and it was the Li'l Crumbsnatcher's first time. I'm not sure she really knew what was happening, but she seemed to have a good time anyway.

Not much accumulated, but that was okay. We were happy with what we had. We were, that is, until the next morning, when the big set began beaming news reports of three inches of snow on the ground 20 minutes east of us.

As I watched the weather system slide eastward, I turned to the interweb for the scoop on the Cap City. Wouldn't you know it, two weeks after we move from Baton Rouge, they see some great snowfall. C'est la vie.

Now we're spending some time in Cleveland while the Mrs. undergoes some training for her new job. A winter storm warning is in effect begining at 4 p.m. EST for the area, so we may get some of that white stuff that caused such a ruckus last week. I'm looking forward to it, though it may keep me here at the hotel all day, rather than taking in the city.

L.C. and I went for a walk around the block earlier, and while it was cold, it didn't seem too bad. Imagine my surprise when I turned on the noon news to find that it was 23 degrees! My hands weren't even cold in my gloves! I've been on the sidewalk of a 3 a.m. crime scene in the upper 20's that felt colder than this. It must be the humidity in Louisiana, because the cold just seeps right through whatever clothing you happen to be wearing and settles right on your skin. It never mattered what kind of gloves I wore, because they would never keep my hands warm. Today I wore the same pair of gloves and they stayed warm the whole hour I was outside.

You can give me this kind of cold any time of the year.

Thank you, Everyone

2008-12-03T22:33:00.003-06:00

For some more than kind words about me, check out this post by Turdpolisher.

It's true, I have dropped the Deuce after spending nearly 6.5 years roaming the marbled hallways, mostly because I was lost. That place can be a maze!

It is with some sadness that I take my leave, because I believe the news dept. there has a chance of getting back on top in the ratings. The competition's grip is slipping, beginning with splitting up an anchor team that has dominated for decades.

Some of the recent hires at Channel 2 have the potential to take them to the top. The city also has great potential, and if it gets its act together, I may return in a few years.

I'd like to say thank you to all the great people I'm leaving behind. Many of you have taught me how to be a better journalist, while others have just been there for me and my family in our time of need. If I took the time to name names, I'd leave someone out, so I'll just say that if we talked at length, you were someone special.

Thank you all for a great ride.

Big News

2008-11-17T01:46:00.002-06:00

Well, Ike sloshed the Gulf of Mexico into my parent's home. The good news is that it was about five feet less than the storm surge from Rita. It also seems to have risen slowly, so it didn't do as much damage to well built houses. Mobile homes didn't fare as well; once the water came up, the pressboard that makes up the walls disintegrated.

As far as the town is concerned, its recovery is coming along faster, since most of the infrastructure is still standing and connected. Nearly all the powerlines had to be restrung after Rita, but they were still there after Ike. Mom and Dad are actually living there right now. They are back in their loft over the garage while working on getting the house back in shape.

As for me and the family, change is coming fast. The Mrs. just accepted a job in Houston, and we will be moving soon. I've turned in my resignation at the Deuce, though I don't have anything lined up at the moment. I have faith that I'll find something great. I think I need a break from news, though. I've stared into the abyss, and all that jazz, and things were beginning to get pretty dark for me. I feel an exhilaration at not knowing what's coming. The future is bright with possibility.

Those that know me personally know that this move has been coming for a long time. Little Lost Robot just happened to beat me to it. Maybe he and I can get together and find some work.

Wish us luck!

Not Again

2008-09-11T23:00:00.002-05:00

Those left alive after Hurricane Audrey hit Cameron in 1957 thought they had seen the storm of their lives. They were wrong.

In 2005 Hurricane Rita made landfall on the western coast of Cameron Parish, bringing more damage than Audrey, but far less loss of life. Fifty years of technological advancement allowed the people of the parish to know exactly when the storm would arrive, helping them to leave well ahead of it. Many said they never thought they would see another storm like Audrey, and some of them left the lower part of the parish for good.

For those who made the choice to stay and rebuild, the hope was that it would be another 50 years or more before that kind of damage would be dealt again. They got three.

Hurricane Ike is currently gliding across the Gulf of Mexico on a collision course with Galveston Island, TX. The national media is focusing on the devastation that may come to the fourth largest city in the nation. What is being left out is that Cameron Parish is predicted to receive nearly the same amount of storm surge as it did three years ago; a tide high enough to submerge most of the buildings that survived the previous storm, and may take some of the homes built to the higher flood elevation after Rita.

The few people who remain there tonight are packing their lives once more into their vehicles. They will try to sleep tonight, and leave early in the morning. A 6' tide is expected tonight: one that will not recede. As those few sleep, a full complement of sheriff's deputies are patrolling the parish, watching the water to alert them should it reach a threatening level. As they lie in their beds, awaiting slumber that will prove fitful at most, they hope and pray that the predictions are wrong.

Please, God, let them be wrong.

Gustav: Aftermath

2008-09-10T09:54:00.003-05:00

It's been a week since the storm hit, and operations are returning to normal.

Last week, as I drove home, each night brought more and more signs of recovery. A full blackout the first night, then a couple of streets the second night, and so on, to where power outages in the metro area are now isolated, rather than widespread.

We got power late Friday night, as I had predicted, and cable came back Sunday night. After peering through the snow of my rabbit ears, the HD signal from cable never looked so good. I really need to get a decent antenna for this kind of situation.

Last week was a busy week, with my shortest day being only 10 hours or so on Friday. I got a break over the weekend, but I could use a few more days to recover.

I've been eating decently, but yesterday realized that I haven't had my post-storm MRE. It's become almost a tradition to have one after covering a storm in a hard-hit area, and BR was hard hit. I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for one.

My work e-mail was full, with over 70 storm related messages. I only got time to put them into a folder of their own, so I'll be going through them later, and maybe blogging the highlights.

As for work, we are S.N.A.F.U., per usual. It was good to just go out an do stories last week, without having so much oversight. Now we're back to being told what to do and how to do it.

My first story of the week is from Denham Springs, and the supply line there. I like the first half, but the second half suffers due to time constraints.

D.S. Depot

Now, it's a look forward to Ike. It looks like it could be just as bad as Rita in the Cameron and Lake Charles areas. Hopefully the storm surge predictions are artificially high, and they won't see 10' of surge...hopefully.

G-day +1

2008-09-02T20:01:00.002-05:00

It's Tuesday and I slept well. The coverage of the aftermath begins today.

I pick up my bedroll and make my way to a bathroom to brush my teeth. Unfortunately that route takes me through the newsroom, and being the first photog in sight tags me with the 9 a.m. presser being held by the Governor.

I make my way there and discover that my tripod has not made it there with me. The last place I remember seeing it was at LDWF the day before. Time to improvise. Thankfully the presser is set up next to a counter, which I put to great use to get a rock solid shot.

After the Governor leaves by helicopter, I get saddled with babysitting Mobile 31 and the GOHSEP, until the Governor returns from his helo tour of the southeast part of the state. I believe I have related the demise of Mobile 31, but it was revived to become a shadow of its former self. At any rate it carries me through the traffic to retrieve my sticks, then to a refueling near the station.

I can't believe how many people were on the roads today; many of whom had no business doing so. Lines formed at supermarkets and gas stations, which caused traffic jams on the nearby streets. All the traffic lights in town are out, and anyone who has driven in Baton Rouge knows that the drivers here don't know what to do if a signal isn't working right. They blow through dead lights and stop at flashing cautions.

Getting back to the GOHSEP, I find a working fiber line, which almost negates the need for my presence. So I settle in and grab a bit of Wi-Fi to update the blog.

Jindal just finished his briefest briefing of the storm, and he is going to be putting the whip to the power companies to get the people juiced quickly.

Tonight I'll be headed home. I know I can get there, because my wife and daughter already have. We have no power, but we also don't have any damage. I'm not supposed to report to work until Noon, so maybe I'll get to spend some time with them and the hum of the brand-new portable generator.

Gustav Strikes

2008-09-02T18:42:00.007-05:00

After a night on the extra firm mattress that was the conference room floor, I woke with the light of day coming through the windows. It's G-day.

I pulled on my rain gear and left the station to meet up with the crew who had the sat truck. We left it with them in Dutchtown, and got it from them at the U.S.S. Kidd in Baton Rouge. Obviously I was dealing with a rookie, since the truck only had about a quarter-tank of fuel and all the cable connectors were wet. Not a good way to start the day.

After filling the truck, we were sent to the Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries, where the agents were staging for Search and Rescue operations. The got started earlier than they expected.

At the height of the storm, a man drove up to the entrance to the parking lot, which was blocked by a tree, felled by the wind. He leaped over the tree and yelled to the agents watching the storm's fury, "A tree fell on a house, and people are trapped!" The agents sprang into action grabbing hatchets and chainsaws and loading up into 4x4 pickups to help. Chris N. and Ken B. followed them to report. Unfortunately two of the three were crushed and killed by the 60' tall red oak that cut through the home like a knife.

I stayed with the truck and shot video of the wind whipped rain lashing the assembled trucks, trailers, Hummers and boats. The wind also did a number on the Christian Life Acadamy ball field next door, and dropped another tree that I was able to record.

When the guys got back they cut a package, then I pulled the truck into the shelter of the building to put the dish up and access the satellite. Cell phones and Nextel were next to useless, and I had to try three times to access, because the phone kept dropping the call as I was trying to raise the power.

As the wind died down to a dull roar, we ventured out into the nearby neighborhood to get some video of the damage. Through streets had been turned into dead ends and intersections became cul-de-sacs with the number of trees that had fallen. As I was driving, a tree fell right next to me, with the branches hitting the roof of the van.

We set up for our last live shot of the day in front of the house that had become the story of the storm. Crews were beginning to remove the tree to recover the couple pinned beneath it. These people had evacuated to Baton Rouge from Abbeville to escape the storm, but it found them anyway.

After getting back to the station, I headed home to assess the damage, if I could get there. Baton Rouge was in a blackout. The only lights visible outside of the downtown area were the lights of the vehicles on the roads. As I crested the overpass at 4-H Club Rd., I saw a welcome sight. Range Avenue had power, and the businesses near the interstate were a shining beacon in the darkness.

The darkness took over at the end of Range, and it was slow going as I worked my way down Hwy. 16. I managed to get a half-mile from my subdivision, but was finally stopped by a power pole blocking the road.

I turned around and headed back to the station, and my little spot of floor in the conference room, which I found two hours earlier than the night before.

G-day -1

2008-09-02T18:42:00.005-05:00

Posted on G-day +1.

On G-day -1 I thought I might be headed to the coast, or at least somewhere directly in the path of the storm. Instead I was headed to the Livingston Parish OEP. We went live with an evacuation order for the lower parts of the parish and the locations of shelters for those that needed them. Then we went to one of the towns included in the order for another live shot. From there we tried to get to the edge of Lake Maurepas, but couldn't get there without going all the way around to I-55. We were then directed to Prarieville to do another live shot with people filling sandbags. We found one man there who had been going nonstop for 4-5 hours. He got there to fill his own bags, then began helping whoever showed up who couldn't do it themselves.

After that we made a quick stop at a local Golden Arches to change into our rain gear and grab a quick bite of hot food. I've really got to thank the people working there. They were in the middle of closing, and they unlocked the doors for us and dropped a last little bit of food. If you're on the corner of Airline and Highland, tell 'em the big guy from Channel 2 sent you.

Our last live shot of the night was from Dutchtown High, where the Red Cross had a shelter open. It was quite a long drive, and we didn't use the satellite once. I went home and took a shower, grabbed a sleeping bag and a pillow, and headed for the station to sleep, which was about 2 a.m.

History Lesson

2008-08-30T21:57:00.002-05:00

It's time.

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be heading into the teeth of the storm, wherever that may be. 'Polisher is already out ahead of it. I'm not envious, I had preparations to make at home first.

In the six years that I've been working for the Deuce, I've covered Hurricane's Lili, Ivan (LA and AL aftermath), Katrina, and Rita, not to mention a few tropical storms in-between. Most of those were faced with a bit of trepidation, but that disappeared when I was in the thick of coverage.

Lili was my first, and I was scared sitting in Morgan City staring down a Cat. 5 storm. Luckily it weakened significantly before landfall. It was a good first storm.

Ivan found me in Buras, the southernmost tip of the boot. I spent 3 days there after it turned and hit the AL coast. A week later I was in Orange Beach covering the aftermath and the Gonzalez Jambalya Festival crew who was cooking free food for the workers and citizens.

Katrina was spent in Baton Rouge, because our management deemed the storm too dangerous to send us to New Orleans. I think it was a good play.

Rita hit home, literally. I missed out on the pre-storm trip to Cameron, and it was three days after the storm when I finally got to see the damage to my hometown.

This time it's different. I've got more on the line than I have in years past, and I really wish I could stay with my family. I can't ensure their saftey either way, but I want to be there for them, and hug them close when they're scared.

I can't do that from the inside of a sat truck, but you better believe that I will be doing everything to make sure that I stay safe to come home when the storm is gone.

Strong Finish

2008-08-24T21:45:00.003-05:00

The Olympics are over, and I don't think I've ever watched the Games as much as I've watched the XXIX Olympic Summer Games.

I didn't watch much of the coverage on the extended networks, mainly because they weren't convenient for me, which leads to my first criticism of NBC's coverage: instead of showing us every match of the beach volleyball tournament the US teams played in, please show us some of the other sports. That's one of the great aspects of the Games; a chance to witness and learn about some of the less famous, but no less important, sports. A great match in table tennis is easily the rival of Federer/Nadal, except at a much faster pace. How about some archery highlights, and why only stills of the shooting? Was that some kind of anti-gun statement?

With all of that, I have seen some of the best athletic performances I can remember. Michael Phelps is just amazing to watch. Usain Bolt...yeah. The USA women's track team taking gold, silver, and bronze in one event. The men doing the same, with the bronze winner not just leaning, but diving for the finish line. That's giving it all you've got. The Women's Discus champion throwing for just 10 feet shorter than the men.

I've also been shown some of the heartbreak that comes when someone's focus isn't all that it could be, or they catch a bad break. Look at all the dropped batons in the relays. Some caused by a mishandling of the stick, but the team from Great Britain got caught up in the Jamaican's mess, lending to more of the crystalline clutter of shattered dreams littering the floor of the Olympic stadium.

The montage that concluded the telecast summed all of this up nicely, and I was brought to tears when I once more saw the feat of strength accomplished by the German weight lifter who lost his wife just before the Games.

I had to stop at this point, and now I've lost my focus, so I guess I'll end it here. My only wish is that we get a network soon that will broadcast the Games in 720p. 1080i just can't keep up with the action. I saw this for myself most clearly during the platform diving competitions. As the divers fell past the stands, everything would digitize. I checked it on the SD channel, and it was there as well, but harder to notice because of the lower resolution. My TV has a freeze frame feature that allowed me to check the image quality and remove the variable of LCD motion blur.

At any rate the Summer Games are in the book, and I'm looking forward to the Winter Games in 18 months.

WOW!

2008-08-21T00:13:00.001-05:00

Heads up!
A kite surfer flies for free in Florida.

The Big Boom

2008-08-20T23:50:00.002-05:00

Besides being a rockin' song by Jonathan Coulton, it's what an unfortunate woman experienced Tuesday.

I guess her state of fortune depends on how you look at her situation. She got up, and went to the kitchen to fix her breakfast, but before she could get her first cup of coffee, she got an unwelcome wake-up.

When she turned on the stove, it ignited the natural gas that had filled her home, reducing it to a pile of rubble from which she escaped with only first-degree burns and her life.

I think I did a pretty good job on LM's standup, which you'll need to pay attention to for the full effect.

Big Boom

Gymnast-iness

2008-08-20T23:31:00.003-05:00

What do these Olympic judges have against us?

As bad as the judging has been, and it has been horrific, I find many of the routines lacking. I'm not a gymnast and the only knowledge I have of the sport is what I've gleaned from years of watching Olympic telecasts. I only say this so you know the authority with which I speak.

Can't anyone stick a landing these days? The majority of the actual routines were spectacular, but it seems like no one can actually stand still at the end of them. Past champions have been decided by something so small as the twitch of a toe, but present day medalists have been outright spasming on the mats.

Which leads to the judging. How can you explain a person winning a medal after belly-flopping on the landing? Apparently you get extra points for landing on your face. I guess it adds a higher degree of difficulty.

Reporting Olds

2008-08-10T23:46:00.002-05:00

Edouard - the storm that missed.

While 'Polisher was dealing with his trials and tribulations, I was blissfully unaware of what the next 24 hours would bring me.

If I recall correctly, he gave me a ring around 6:30 p.m. I was headed home, he was headed to Cameron. During the second to last day of trial coverage, Mobile 30's generator developed a terminal problem. It only left for the shop the day before Edouard was scheduled to make landfall, so I knew I wouldn't be driving it down to the coast. I didn't question why we weren't sending a crew to Cameron: with no sat truck and Eddy just a tropical storm I didn't see a real need to cover it. The next morning I get a call from the desk and find out I will be headed over there as soon as I get to work. I'll be taking a laptop to FTP the story back, if we don't have time to drive it back.

Let's see, a three hour trip one way, leaving after 9 a.m., and the station wants two packages. Oh, the first is for the 5 p.m. show... it didn't make it.

We arrived at high noon, just after the contingent from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. We bagged some interviews from them, and I took a ride in a Blackhawk to see what happened on the West Side of the Calcasieu River. It was the fastest way to ensure that we got the video. After I get back on the ground, we found the cluster of three homes with damage, recorded a couple more interviews and decided what to do next.

It was 2 p.m. If the first story was going to make it back for five, we weren't driving it back. That meant that we were going to use FTP. My parents house was a known quantity in that it had power and a working internet connection. What it didn't have was bandwidth. I began trying to send the story at 3:40 p.m. Thanks to the super slow Cameron Communications connection, the FTP server wouldn't stay connected, and the story missed the five.

Eventually we ended up a block away at the Cameron Library parking lot. I found their Wi-Fi and stretched the laptop's power cable across the rain-soaked asphalt to the outdoor outlet. A few minutes later the story was in the station's computers and ready for the 6 p.m. show.

It should be noted that when we called and told the station that it didn't look like the story was going to make the six either, we were asked if we could go to a Starbucks. The nearest one might be an hour away, if it's still open, so it still wasn't going to make it. To let you know, Cameron doesn't even have a fast food chain restaurant, and people there don't really have the disposable income for expensive coffee. The other question was if any of the other stations still had a sat truck in the area, but the last left around one p.m.

They were there to report news...

Great Moments

2008-08-10T23:05:00.002-05:00

The Olympics have begun, and already we've seen some great performances.

I wasn't hugely excited leading up to these games, but I think I'm catching the fever. I'm even thinking about loading up on caffeine and calling in sick. Do you think they'd notice if I didn't show up for a few days? I could take power naps during the commercial breaks and sleep through the local station's 30 min. highlight show. It's not in widescreen or HD, so why would I watch it?

I'd like to say that our athletes are making a great effort, with some having to overcome more than others, but in the spirit of the games, I'd also like to applaud the efforts of the other countries.

The Chinese male gymnasts were just awesome on the rings last night. I can't wait to see what they'll do in the finals. I've also seen some great swimming from the other countries in the women's events. These have been some really exciting competitions to watch.

The best so far has been the men's 4x100m relay. If you missed it, you missed a heck of a race.

I also appreciate the stories that I'm seeing from NBC. Thankfully they aren't just focusing on the Americans, because I know everyone at the games has a story worth telling. A perfect example is the story of the oldest female gymnast competing this year. She's 33 and won gold before any of her current competion were born!

Looks like this is gonna be an historic Summer Games.

Trying Times

2008-07-30T13:30:00.001-05:00

Nothing tries a photog's patience like trial coverage. The Ole 'Polisher touched on the subject last week.

I missed out on the first couple of days, but the remainder of the trail seems to be my lot in life this week; or maybe it should be 'lots of lives.' At least I have my handy-dandy notebook to keep me company.

The guilt phase passed surprisingly quickly; less than five days. So what is taking so long with the penalty phase? Admittedly the court lost half a day when one of the jurors became ill, but that person was healthy enough to return the next day. They worked through the weekend, leading to today's testimony, which looks like it will lead to tomorrow's testimony, since we are still dealing with defense witnesses.

In the meantime, I've been able to acquaint myself with some of the fine establishments offering edibles in the downtown area. Live Mike and I nibbled with 'Polisher the other day at Jobe's. Monday we munched at Downtown Seafood with former Deucer Brian Davies, who was fulfilling his civic (jury) duty. Today we noshed at the Grape Leaf Cafe. If this keeps up I'll need all the overtime I can get to pay my lunch tab.

My friends at the B-Quik are probably wondering what happened to me by now. I haven't been in for my daily drink in at least a week, and I'm sure their Fudge Round counts have been out of whack. If I get too strapped for cash, I found the snack machine on the 10th floor, where the best buy has got to be the fig bars. I almost went with the Oreo's, naturally, but at 2 ounces they are half the weight, and so twice the price, of the aforementioned fruit and cake.

I'll bet you didn't expect a lesson in photog economics when you found this post, but there they are. Truthfully, I didn't expect to find them either.

Burn Out

2008-07-28T21:02:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling the burn. In the nearly 8 years since I first took up the heavy glass, I'm seriously thinking of trading in my press pass.

I think this has also been reflected in my blogging, or lack thereof. I just haven't had the heart to pour onto these pixelated pages. It could be the feeling that I'm swimming in quicksand in my current position. All I know is that I've pretty much hit a ceiling that seems quite solid. I've also found in myself more than the usual amount of bitterness towards the job. I don't like that.

I'm not expecting to feel like I did when I first started. Everything was fresh and new and I could revel in learning everything about how the job was done. I'm not finished learning; I wouldn't presume to think that I know everything. I just think that I'm not able to apply what I know to the fullest extent, due to certain circumstances beyond my control. I'm finding other branches of knowledge from which to pluck fruit, but those avenues are dead ends unless I can apply them to my daily work.

Through the twilight under the smoke a ray of light shone through today. KD just returned from the UNITY conference and made a point of telling me about her trip. It would seem that she brought a few stories along to go critiquing. She got good marks on her writing and the way the stories were put together, but what she wanted to pass on to myself, and the other photog who worked with her on one of them, was the way everyone who saw the stories raved about how well they were shot. It's nice to know that someone, other than your friends and family, notices and appreciates good work.

It also helps that this praise comes from a news director in Philadelphia, the fourth largest market in the country.

On Vacation

2008-06-09T23:50:00.002-05:00

I know it may be hard for you regulars to notice, but the Mrs. and I took the Li'l CrumbSnatcher on a vacation to Orange Beach. Let's just say that she wasn't thrilled with her first experience with the Gulf. Apparently being knee-deep in clear saltwater can only end in tears at this stage.

FTW!

2008-05-31T23:57:00.003-05:00

I would be remiss if I didn't link this story from Nightline on Friday night. Seriously, a story about Oreos' dominance in the world? How could I pass THAT up?

Watch American Oreo v. British Biscuit.

Fast Talkin'

2008-05-31T23:44:00.003-05:00

Higher gas prices are driving up the demand for more fuel efficient cars. We went to a dealer auction to find the scoop.

I would have liked about 15-30 more minutes to edit this one. I did it in about an hour but left out a sequence of shots on the second auctioneer nat break, due to time constraints. I really only needed a couple more minutes to put that sequence in, but the producer had the float button half-pressed.

Watch Fast Talkin'.

100 Posts!

2008-05-15T16:49:00.002-05:00

I finally made it! Since this is a milestone event, let me dedicate it to the Mother's. I was a little busy on Sunday to make a post, so here it is.

Thanks, Mom, helping make me the man I am today. I would also like to thank my wife for being a great Mom. Grandmothers are included here as well, either newly minted or well worn.

At this point the Li'l Crumbsnatcher would like to add her thoughts.

gjhvvvvvvvvvvvghvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvnvbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

I think that says it all.

Recent Stories

2008-05-05T22:39:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I posted any of my stories, so here are a couple from last week that shined up nicely.

First up is a great guy who's doing his duty for his country. One day he's molding our country's future leaders, and the next he's off defending our way of life.

Port Allen Principal

Next is a story about a woman who's waterfront wonderland is in danger of washing away.

Pierre Part Flooding

Spice of Life

2008-04-29T23:34:00.004-05:00

This is too freaky. After covering a committee meeting the other day, I've been thinking about Dune a lot. They mentioned a cocktail called Sazerac, which caused me to think of the Kwisatz Haderach. After that, I've been getting flashes of the movie, which is my only exposure to the story.

Two days ago I read an article on Gamers With Jobs called 'Geekshy.' This comment came as a surprise.

Then I read a post today at Little Lost Robot and the title is a Dune reference.

Coincidence?

Probably...or someone is trying to tell me that I need to read those books.

Black 'Box

2008-04-25T23:53:00.002-05:00

After faithful years of service, a mighty warrior has fallen.

In the early years of the 21st century, Microsoft made a bid for a share of the console video game market. The hardware of the day was mostly compact and unobtrusive. MS decided that they wanted to be seen, and brought to market a ginormous black box with massive controllers, all decorated with a large green jewel in the center that did nothing. It was so big that the manual warned that it could kill a child if it fell on them.

Naturally I wanted one.

Mine came to me from my wife-to-be, cementing her status a best girlfriend ever. A green glow shone over my carpet from the ring of light as I drove the streets of Project Gotham Racing and battled the Covenant as Master Chief John 117 in Halo.

Alas, the hours spent together grew shorter as more responsibilites weighed me down. One night in February, looking forward to staying up late, I pushed the power button to fire up the 'Box, but only found a splash screen.

The green glow had been replaced by an angry blinking red, and the welcome screen for the game to be played was gone. In it's place was a multi-lingual message to call Xbox Support and an error code.

Six years from it's build date, nearly to the day, my Xbox suffered a hard drive failure, making it a noisy, oversized paperweight. I couldn't believe it. All the hours I'd put into the current game were now lost, along with all the others I'd played and saved along the way. I had games on the shelf that I hadn't opened yet. The hard drive? Seriously? I've got a desktop that's over a decade old and it's hard drive is still spinning. The kicker? It will cost more to ship and fix than it would cost to purchase another.

So I got an Xbox 360.

CrumbSnatcher Christmas

2008-04-25T22:50:00.004-05:00

It's our first Christmas together, and the first trip to see the big man is a resounding success.

Early Saturday morning, someday between turkey and presents...

After getting up, getting dressed, and getting her fed, we all head to the mall to snatch a snap with Santa. We find the early risers have already risen to block our way.

Undeterred by the crowd, I settle into a long wait. Li'l CS is quite well behaved, but isn't too sure about the elf running around...I'm not either.

Forty-five minutes later we get to the first helper, who provides a wishlist. Mmmmm, tasty.

She then got to mail the remains directly to the North Pole via the magical mailbox. See the snow?

Santa looked great. Some might even say Santastic, but those would be the people who came up with that marketing scheme.

The CrumbSnatcher quickly claimed him for her own, and got everything she asked for and more.

Healthy Blogging

2008-03-03T21:27:00.002-06:00

So it turns out that I'm neglecting my health when I don't blog. I know that I'm also neglecting you, dear readers. Work and the little one have been keeping me quite busy, but I've got a few seconds to spare with you, so I'll give you this link.

Blogging is Healthy.

Not much there that bloggers haven't already figured out about the benefits of blogging, but a quick and interesting read, nonetheless.

Need a LONG Lens?

2008-02-10T23:51:00.000-06:00

Anyone feel like helping me afford this one?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Mother-of-All-L-Lenses.jsp

Busy Month

2008-01-27T20:31:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a long time since the last post, but it's been a busy month. Jan. 7 was the BCS Championship, which was time well spent.

For the rest of that week, we were all training on our brand new Edius Non-linear Editing system, bought from the folks at Bit-central.

The 14th brought the inauguration of our new governor, Bobby Jindal.

The week after that we got our new P2 cameras.

This week our system went live.

So, until I can get you a real post, read this one from Little Lost Robot.

Sis, I think you will enjoy the picture.

Bowl Bound

2008-01-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

Today I'm headed for the Big Easy for our BCS National Championship coverage. Hopefully I'll be able to have a good time with the Ol 'Polisher and Senator Drewry while I'm down there. I'll have an update for all of you when I return.

Best Buy Bodhisattva

2007-12-26T00:46:00.000-06:00

If you like reading, read this article at Gamers With Jobs. It will not disappoint. Don't worry about not understanding games. It's not about the games.

As one and with purpose, they stop in front of the GH3 shrine. Choreographed in their movements, the smallest of the clan hands the well-used Gibson Les Paul reverently to the leader.
"OK Kyle, here you go."

...I see Kyle move through the selection screens, and my heart jumps to my throat.

"Through the Fire and the Flames" on Expert.

The song itself is classic hair-guitar, and while watching the original guitarist play it is a jaw dropping "holy-Jesus-on-a-popsicle-stick" experience, as music goes it's not the kind of thing I put on my iPod for casual listening. It exists purely as an expression of guitar hubris.

As the stage swirls on the screen, a calm comes over Kyle. His face slackens a bit. He closes his eyes. His lieutenants absorb his tension, shuffling their feet, biting their nails. The highway of the fret board starts rolling, and as the first note falls, Kyle's eyes open.

Happy Birthday!

2007-12-25T22:46:00.000-06:00

Those are the first words spoken by Frosty the Snowman in that holiday classic, and a greeting shared between my sister and I around this time every year.

My hope for all of you is that this holiday finds you in good health and with family and/or friends around with whom to share the happiness.

I don't care if you celebrate Christmas, some other holiday, or none at all. Good will is truly one size fits all, and I'm taking this Christmas to wish a little your way.

So Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, etc.!

Body Count

2007-12-21T23:18:00.000-06:00

It's not something I keep up with, usually, but this has been an unusual two weeks.

I don't know the total for the seven years that I've been shooting, but I've been to more than a couple scenes where people have recently met their ends. Last week I was on call, and I was busy.

The last few rotations had gone by with hardly any calls, maybe even none, so it was no surprise to me when the pager finally warbled its happy tune. That day was a harbinger of things to come.

The week began with a car accident, where the driver was DUI and swerved into the path of an oncoming truck. In a vain attempt to defy physics and occupy the same space at the same time, the greater mass of the truck won out, and the two passengers in the car lost everything.

Early Friday morning I was on the campus of LSU, having been called out to the murder of two doctoral students from India gunned down in an apartment. Apparently they were the victims of opportunity, having let their guard down at the worst possible moment.

Exactly 24 hours later I was recording another scene of twisted metal and rumpled blue tarpaulin. Some unfortunate soul rolled his truck on an empty stretch of highway in the land of jambalaya, and the collapsing roof crushed the life from his body.

Forty-eight hours after that, I was dispatched to the other end of the DMA for a fire in Rosedale that claimed the life of a woman. I arrived just in time for her lifeless body to be loaded into the waiting transport, and to grab a few shots of still smoldering coals.

It was when I handed the pager off to the next guy that it hit me that I had recorded so much of the reaper's work from one Monday to the next. Only interesting to me because I think that is a one-week record for me. Call week was over, but the death card kept getting dealt to me.

Tuesday found me on the road to New Orleans on a story about some missing boaters. Four people went against common sense and Coast Guard advisories and took to the waters of Lake Ponchartrain in a 14' flat-bottomed boat three days before, but weren't reported missing for two days. Two were found alive on the marshy banks, not far from each other, but one was found dead, and the other may or may not have been found yet. I'm pretty sure that if or when he is found, his pulse won't be, thus his inclusion.

Today (Friday) brought be to the breaking point. One more life had been taken in a senseless act that may have far larger repercussions than those of the gunshots responsible. Having arrived long after the scene had been cleared, I searched the ground for clues to direct my lens. When I found them I realized that I was standing on the exact spot where the victim had spent her last few moments pleading for her life.

I had inadvertantly broken one of my rules and stood on the very spot where the victim had died. It's a rule born not of superstition, but of respect for the departed and the family they have left behind.

Having thought about it, this was tough, but probably just the crack that broke the dam, letting the swirling undercurrent of emotion leading up to this holiday pour out. After 10 minutes alone in the privacy of Mobile 16, I was able to finish my day and head into the solace of four days away from the grind.

I think the real underpinning of my stress is that, while we are happy and enjoying this first Christmas with Claire, it's shaded with a tinge of blue. We were supposed to have twice the fun and laughter to share, and we all feel the loss of Chloe, whether we have acknowledged it or not.

We have duly honored her this year, and well continue to in those to come. The real kicker is that she is enjoying the holiday more, because she is sharing the birthday cake with the big J.C. I wonder if they put all 2000 candles on it, or cheat and use the numbers?

SEC Championship

2007-12-12T21:02:00.000-06:00

The LSU Tigers made the trip to Atlanta with only the slightest glimmer of hope for a National Championship bid if they won. I made the trip to Atlanta with a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a Christmas station on the radio.

The trip began well. Turdpolisher and I had tried to coordinate our departure to convoy up to Atlanta. I was a few minutes ahead, but figured I could drive slow enough for him to catch up. Then he had problems at the bank, and fell an hour behind, so I was left to my own devices. Maybe it was a good sign that I began the trip listening to Cheech tell Chong about the Santa and His Old Lady Commune, a Christmas classic.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, which is good, because the last big trip I went on was enough to last me a year. We ate well, and the hours weren't too bad. The only problem I ran into was trying to find a gas station that accepted either of the two gas cards we use. I finally found one after an hour and a half of driving, and stopping at nearly 20 stations where the attendants looked at me quizically when I held up the cards. Frustrating.

The day of the game was quite interesting. Some guy on ESPN broke the story that Les Miles was definately going to be the coach at his Alma Mater, Michigan. Most LSU fans still hadn't recovered from the loss to Arkansas that seemingly knocked their team out of the running for the National Title, and this latest news was more than they could take. I'm actually surprised I didn't see any of them leaping from the balconies of the hotel! What could they do but shrug it off. After all, it's not like they hadn't been left before.

Everything changed when the Lesticle called a press conference at 1:50 p.m. He was none too happy, seeing as how he was trying to avoid all of this talk until after the current game was over. He stepped up to the mic and flatout refuted the earlier reports, then wrapped up with 'Have a GREAT day,' said with just the right amount of 'screw you guys' thrown in. I'm not knockin' the guy. I love that video.

The team played a good game that night. I found a Turd on the field. I hope no one stepped on him.

They played it close for two quarters, then pulled away in the second half.

They needed a miracle to make it to the championship game, though. As the night wore on, the dominoes kept falling, and the Tigers got their Christmas wish, just a bit early. They helped me out as well, because a New Year's Day Bowl Game would have really hurt my holiday plans.

The drive back was uneventful as well, but I found a killer rainbow to welcome me back to the Deuce.

Copious Content

2007-12-06T21:14:00.000-06:00

Before I get to my recap of the SEC Championship Weekend, I've been thinking...

Dangerous, I know, especially for a photog. Most people might even think I'm going above my pay grade, but we all know better.

I've been thinking about the abundance of media available for consumption, and how one person might just shut down when faced with it all. It's why I post so sporadically. With 24 hours in a day, how can one person keep up with everything in which they might be interested? I have work, which occupies a large part of my day, and sleep, which takes slightly less time. Now I have a family which takes up a good chunk of the leftover time, and so I only have a couple of hours to create and consume content.

I have a few webcomics that I read, PvP, Penny Arcade, and Real Life. Two of them have podcasts that I have never listened to, but I'm sure I'd like. I just don't have time to listen to them. Maybe I should get an iPod, then I might be able to listen at work.

There are other podcasts that I'd like to listen to, such as Leo Laporte's The Tech Guy, which I sometimes get to hear live on XM Radio on the weekend. I first got to know Leo by watching The Screen Savers on Tech TV, may it rest in peace. He has the gift of boiling a complicated technical issue down to the simplest terms that anyone can understand, and always does it with a pleasant demeanor.

I also like to read the blogs written by other photogs, many with much more talent than I, a better record of posting, and therefore higher hit counts. I didn't start this blog to get hits, but I do like to know that people are reading, and enjoying what they read. I guess all writers do so because they have words that have a need to get out, but if what I write can actually touch others, and possibly make a difference in their lives, then I can feel good about that. Mostly I just write because I need an outlet for what's bouncing around inside my noggin.

Though they are also media related, there are other blogs that I like to read, such as Verge New Media, The Spacey Gracey Review, and Paw Paw Bill. In the case of Bill's blog, it's a tenuous connection, but he used to be in the business. As I may have mentioned in previous posts, I'm a voracious reader, and I enjoy learning new things and being exposed to different viewpoints. That makes the internet both a wonderful invention, and the bane of my existence. I have unlimited access to anything I could possibly want to know, but not enough time to absorb it all, and so I freeze in trying to figure out where to begin.

As I've also made clear, I enjoy gaming. I have more blogs that I read related to that, such as Gamepolitics and Gamers With Jobs. While I enjoy gaming, I don't get to engage in it often, because once I get caught up with all these other things, I don't have time to play.

I also have an email account, which I hardly ever read either. It could be that all of this is why I should win the lottery. Then I might have the time to do all of this.

I almost forgot, I also watch Prime Time television, as part of family time, but that's also time not spent playing games. With shows like How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, October Road, Journeyman, The Unit, Boston Legal, Bionic Woman, Dirty Sexy Money, Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, and Numbers, my nights are mostly accounted for. There are other shows I'd like to watch, such as 24, House, Battlestar Galactica, The Office, My Name is Earl, Dr. Who, and others that I can't remember. Add to that some of the better Saturday morning cartoons, which are at least as good as what I grew up watching, and I've got a pretty full plate.

Oh, and I haven't made time to read any books or magazines throughout this post. Am I trying to do too much? Where do I cut back? How do I shift anything around to make better use of my time? AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!

How Smart?

2007-12-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

Gamepolitics has a link to a Blog Readability Test on Critics Rant. You can check any blog by typing in its address there. I scored High School.

topsPEEd

2007-11-28T23:32:00.000-06:00

I just read an article over at Gamepolitics about this game. It sounds like fun to me. I think it'd be much better than letting my eyes cross and looking at the 3-D bump pattern on the wall.

For those not wanting to follow the link, it's a game installed as part of a urinal, but plays like the water-gun horse race at the carnival.

N.O. Thanks

2007-11-28T22:42:00.000-06:00

Last week I bemoaned the traditional holiday stories. One might think I was tempting fate.

When I wrote that, I was well aware that I wouldn't be anywhere near that kind of story. C. Nak and I were already scheduled for a trip to the Crescent (roll) City for our story. Last year Tony Jones and another photog found a wonderful woman who was in the midst of gutting and remodeling her home of the last 30-plus years. She promised T.J. that she would be back in her home by Thanksgiving of this year, and that she would call us to come have dinner with her.

Tony left the Deuce a few weeks ago, so when Rosie called, the story fell in the lap of our resident New Orleans native, C. Nakamoto. It's one of those stories that edits itself in your head as you drive to it. I could tell you about it, but it's easier to show you.

Rosie is a great person, and if there were more people like her living in this city, it would be in better shape than it is now. Since I couldn't be with my family this Thanksgiving holiday, I'm glad I got to spend it with hers.

Oh, all the food in the piece tastes even better than it looks.

Watch N.O. Thanks.

Atlanta Bound

2007-11-28T22:30:00.000-06:00

The LSU Tigers are head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship and so am I.

It hardly seems like four months have passed since my fateful trip to Birmingham to begin the football season. For those who wonder, check out this post. Now it's almost over, and I'm hoping this trip is less eventful than the last.

I am looking forward to visiting the ATL for the first time. Maybe I'll get a chance to stop by Cartoon Network HQ, or at least get a picture of it. We'll see how that all (Master) shakes out. I'll probably be confined to either the hotel or the sat truck/Georgia Dome. If any of you big city bloggers are still lurking here, I'd love to get together with y'all and taste some local flavor.

We're driving on Thursday and Sunday, with coverage in-between. 'Polisher is going to, so look for some team coverage on this one.

Holiday Help

2007-11-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

I don't know if it's the Grinch in me, or the fact that I'm now a seasoned shooter, but I'm getting to the point that I really can't stand shooting a holiday story. Other factors could also be at work.

As a rookie photog, every story is new and exciting, because it's your first time shooting it, but spend a couple of years in one place, and you start to see the pattern emerging. The annual food drive or coat collection gives way to the outpouring of the community's compassion. The people who benefit from these are quite deserving of it, and I have great respect for those who give their time and money to make someone else's life a little brighter. My problem with it is that one of the benefits of this job is the variety in what the daily grind brings. I've been assigned this story at least three times in the last 5 years. Considering I'm not the only shooter, and that I found one of the 'old hands' who had never heard of the story before, that's just not right.

Okay, so I've done this story before. Management decided that I could use an extra degree of difficulty in turning this one, so we didn't get out the door until 20 minutes after the event had begun. This meant that we missed all the prep video of loading the boxed dinners into the cars of the people volunteering to deliver them to the needy. We also missed out on where these meals were going, since each person gets a list, and no one else knows where the other is going. It's kind of like Government Intelligence that way. Must be something to do with plausible deniability. Anyway, we catch up to the organizer, and then head to the local homeless hotspot for a hot meal, St. Vincent dePaul.

While we were at St. Vinnie's, I finally got jazzed about this story. Here I found everything our story was missing. Turning the corner into the kitchen, I was caressed by a cacophony of clattering cans and a cornucopia of images to capture. We were back in the station by noon, and had plenty of time to craft a good story.

Thanks to Chris Sasser for handling the live shot duties on this one, giving my all the time I needed to turn this one. Upon review, he pointed out to me what was wrong with the one sequence that didn't sit perfectly well with me. Can you figure it out? I'll post the answer in a few days in the comments section.

Watch Holiday Helpers.

Friendly Competition

2007-11-05T22:36:00.000-06:00

The Ol' Polisher began his first Big Raggedy dayshift Monday, finally giving me a chance to go head-to-head with him on a story. Unfortunately four young people died to provide our subject matter.

Saturday night six 18-year-old guys were out for a late-night ride. A few miles from my house they left the roadway, and four of them left this earth. Today DH and I rolled out to Denham Springs to find what we could on this story, since we didn't have any scene video with which to work.

We began at Denham Springs High School, where three of the victims were Seniors, and the fourth had graduated in the spring. A short chat with Principal Butch Wax gave us a starting point in our search to find out who these young men were. While we were there, Polisher and his 'porter arrived, alerting me that I needed to be even more on my toes than usual. After leaving the high school, we made a quick stop to grab some sound.

At this point DH was thinking that we would center the story around this tragedy's effect on the community.

"Should we get some town video?" she asked me.
"It can wait 'til later," I said. We were going to search around for some classmates who knew the young men, but my sixth sense was urging me in another direction first. "Let's go to the crash site," I suggested.

There we found a group of students gathering to form a prayer circle. I have to say that two thoughts formed in my mind: grab the camera and get close enough to pick up what they're saying, or set up on the tripod across the street and use my lens to let them mourn in relative privacy. It is a snap decision, and anyone who knows me can guess my choice.

In the end I feel that I did the story justice, and in doing so, gave the friends and family left behind something to honor the memory of their loved ones.

I'll try to get this story up on the website as soon as possible.

Good Week

2007-11-02T23:37:00.000-06:00

Looking back, it's been a good week. Due to some personal obligations, I wasn't able to make the trip to Tuscaloosa to run the Sat. Truck this weekend, but I got a chance to commit some news.

On Monday night Denham Springs experienced what the fire department is calling the largest fire in the city's history. The First United Methodist Church suffered it's second fire in nearly four decades. The last one burned the sanctuary in 1973, but this time it was saved. They did lose the church office and some Sunday School classrooms. Derek McCoy got a marginal live shot up for the 10 PM show and shot some great video.

Monday morning, after driving into work from Denham, I found myself driving Mobile 32 back out to the Free State for a day of live shots, laughter, and tears, all underscored by the aroma of freshly charred church permeating the air. Surprisingly everyone seemed to be in a relatively good mood. Many of them were sad, but the emotion I pick up on most was a general sense of disappointment, tempered with a strong dose of hope and optimism. It was a good vibe, and lead to a good story.

Watch Holy Fire.

The second good story this week was a follow-up to the fire on Thursday. It turns out a young couple was planning on getting hitched in the church on Saturday. Oops. What are their plans now? Have they gotten a new church? Will they have to re-order the cake? (Yes, that last one was actually asked.) We caught up to them, as they were on their way to the sanctuary to show the fiancee and his family what the place might have looked like when they got married. This wedding had some hurdles to jump before this happened, so they just took it in stride. I've really wanted to do a story like this for a while, and I think this one came together nicely.

Watch Wedding Worries.

Benefits of Office

2007-10-27T00:45:00.000-05:00

I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the good Senator on his successful campaign for re-election.

Obviously the constituents of the Government St. District are pleased with his performance, since he ran unopposed. This isn't surprising since his record is exemplary and his term in office has passed so far without scandal.

I would also like to inform the body that I have been reaping the benefits of his hard work. Today I was assigned the Oktoberfest live shot and the free food that accompanies it, did you know? I was able to enjoy a plate of potatoes, green beans, schnitzel, bratwurst, and cabbage, all cooked to perfection. The only downside was having to turn down so many offers of free German beer. It was only two or three, but one is too many, did you know?

This being said, I propose and ammendment to the Constitution:

WHEREAS the typical News Photographer (hereafter referred to as Photog) works at the whim of the Assignment Editor,

WHEREAS these whims usually occur when the Photog is closest to taking a lunch/dinner break,

WHEREAS assignments occasionally require the Photog to miss his/her meal while recording other people enjoying a better meal,

WHEREAS certain assignments place the Photog in a fortuitous conjunction of a free meal and free drink,

WHEREAS those assignments are typically followed by a more pressing assignment,

WHEREAS the time constraints placed on the Photog in these situations cause the Photog to rush through eating and not take full advantage of the hospitiality offered him/her,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT those prime assignments be the final assignment for the day,

AND

the Photog be allowed to spend as much personal time as is required for full participation in said assignment.

I think that should just about cover it, but I request that we have Staff look it over and make any necessary changes in spelling or wording.

Family Update

2007-10-07T02:55:00.000-05:00

After reading Paw Paw Bill's comments, I went back and read my Father's Day post, and the new comments posted there. I've come to realize that I should probably give you guys an update on us.

Everyone is doing well, though we still have our moments. I'm sure we'll always have these moments, but that's okay. Claire is growing like a weed. She's four months old now, and developing her personality. There's nothing that makes me happier than the toothless grin she gives me when I get her attention. She's such a happy little girl, and usually well behaved. I really can't believe how fortunate we are to have her. She sleeps through the night, and has for the last three months.

We're waiting for the weather to cool down so we can take her to a McNeese football game. My sister and I went last weekend, and had a pretty good time, but Claire and the Mrs. stayed home because we didn't want her freaking out with all the people around. She'd had a big weekend the week before, and met a lot of new people that day, and we were pretty sure that she wouldn't make it through the game, anyway.

Thank you all for the kind words, thoughts, and prayers sent our way. We really appreciate them. I hope you like the pictures.

Cool Meetings

2007-09-10T00:06:00.000-05:00

I've met quite a few characters in my seven years as a photog, but I'm finally getting to meet some people of true notoriety; two in one week, even!

I didn't get into this business to meet famous people, that's just one of the perks. A family member once asked me, after I had begun working the studio cameras at my first TV job, if I had met anyone famous. I asked her what she meant by famous: anchors and reporters, of course. They didn't count, in my book, but these next two guys certainly do.

Two weeks ago I was on call. Occasionally this requires me to stumble out of bed and drive to some calamity at an obscene time in the darkest hours of the night. Usually it just means an early detour on my journey to the station. This week found not one but two such incidents.

The first was a trip to Capitol Middle School, where the students were hearing from a guest speaker. This was none other than the man who put the DMC in RunDMC. I felt bad for Gus, who was supposed to be covering this event as the morning photog, but he was diverted to more urgent news.

Listening to DMC speak is a treat, and I recommend it if he's anywhere near you. He held the students and adults attention for a solid hour, which is no easy feat. Even harder to do is to keep me rolling after I've gotten the standard sequence of shots, but I happily rolled a full tape on his speech.

Afterwards I had the task of interviewing him solo. It's not really a big deal after seven years of shouldering a lens. Some of you might scoff at relinquishing the mic, but who am I to keep the mic out of the hands of a true MC? He was even cool enough to pose for pictures with most of the adults there, including yours truly.

So that was Wednesday, and I thought I'd had all the excitement for the month. Friday I swapped shifts with one of the night crew so he could leave early for vacation. Even though I sent an e-mail about the change to everyone in the newsroom, I still got a call from the desk at 8 AM to swing down to Gonzalez to shoot a check presentation at 9 AM. Since I wasn't due into the station for another five and a half hours, I wasn't too pleased. My mood got worse when I found that the morning photog was diverted to a structure fire that was 12 hours hold. To make things worse, it was only about 10 minutes from my home; a 25-30 minute drive for him.

Heading North to the station from Gonzalez I was told that I would be picking up a reporter and turning around, traveling back South to New Orleans, where we would interview this guy:

Bob Woodruff is also a class act. I guess getting blown up will do that to a guy. He was speaking to the Acadian Ambulance Paramedic of the Year banquet. He's coming right along with his therapy. I didn't notice any speech impediments, and he said that reporting is the best therapy he can get right now, because it forces him to exercise his brain, allowing him to recover his speech.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, except that I had to stay on until 10:30 PM.

I got one more call before the week was over, and I found myself camped out at Metro Airport, waiting for Roscoe to arrive. His name is now Mike VI to millions of LSU fans, but I like Roscoe better, so that's what I'll call him.

Maybe he'll catch those Duke boys one day. Ooooo-jijit!

Media Daze

2007-09-03T22:57:00.000-05:00

I know I'm using 'daze' a lot, but I've been in that sort of fog lately. This post is about a month overdue so bear with me.

At the end of July the Southeastern Conference has a three day shindig previewing the coming football season. They call it SEC Media Days, and all the head coaches bring themselves and two players and stroll from room to room under the glare of mini-fills and the cyclopian stares of the cameras surrounding them.

I was attending as the second and third members of Team Deuce, accompanied by Sports Director Punkin'head. His head really isn't that big; in fact it's about average and the same size as mine, but the joke got started a while back, and we still throw it out every now and then. I say second and third because I'm pulling double duty as shooter and sat truck operator. After this trip, not doing it again.

The work really wasn't that hard, about what you'd expect from a typical news day, which is unusual for a sports trip. The average day on one of these begins somewhere around noon and goes to 11 p.m. or midnight. These days began about 8 a.m., which is earlier than my normal day, in which I don't even leave the house before 8:30. I also spent way too much tape getting great cutaways that were never going to be used, but wasn't informed of that until the evening of the second day. Oh well; it doesn't hurt to sharpen the skills.

Day one goes well, SDP gets soaked during his live shot, I'm nice and dry wearing my full rain suit. It pays to travel prepared, especially when the destination is six hours away from home base.

Day two is good, until the 5 p.m. feed window. In the middle of the window my signal disappears. A quick check of my equipment reveals where the problem is, but for some reason, diagnosis eludes me.

Who could possibly need anything more than a red LED indicating FAULT? It's a problem with the HPA, which sends the signal to the satellite, but while it's been returned to the the factory for repair, we still have not gotten a report on what needs to be repaired. We've got a loaner in the meantime.

Friday was our last day in Birmingham, AL, as Media Days came to a close at noon, but our trip was far from over. In fact I had no idea how far, but I soon found out. A harbinger should have been the mishap with the elevator. SDP and I fumble the hand off of my room key, and it falls through the crack between the elevator car and the carpeted second floor hallway, ending it's usefulness with an echoing 'click' as it hits the bottom of the elevator shaft. Good grief, as a certain bald kid would say.

Our next planned stop is Saints Training Camp in Jackson, MS. It's on the way home and right about halfway between B'ham and B'Rouge. We meet up with the crew from KTBS, Shreveport, and Jim Lee, Truck Op Extraordinaire, comes up with a clutch idea for us to use his second path to uplink from our crippled truck, with only one cable running between the two. So simple it should be in the field manual.

This shining moment of genius is overshadowed by equipment failure at the station. A whole 30 minute window elapses and they never saw our shot. We saw it and verified it from Shreveport to New York. Time to pack up and head home.

Uh-oh! What's this? A four hour delay? But of course!

SDP and the new guy, who we were meeting in Jackson hop in the sports unit and head for home and a 10 p.m. show, while I wait for someone to fix my dilemma. This truck has no spare.

Turns out it's a 2-inch bolt and I finally crawl into bed around 2:30 in the morning. On top of all this, my camera narrowly avoided career ending injury, not once, but twice. Man I love sports trips.

Dry Spell

2007-09-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a long dry spell for me, but I've been busy. I don't get up early enough to post before going to work, and my evenings are full of family time, so by the time we get Claire to bed, I'm pretty much ready for bed myself. I've got some pictures I'd like to post with my blogs, but the process is so cumbersome that I don't even like thinking about it, which leads to me not posting at all.

I've got plenty of grist for the mill, but just don't feel like grinding it right now.

Summer Daze

2007-08-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

It's summer in the South, so that means it's hot. That's not news to anyone living here, but someone thinks it is. Unfortunately I seem to be our shooter of sweltering shots, because I keep getting assigned these stories.

It wouldn't be so bad, but there are only so many ideas I can come up with on my own. Around a month ago, I got this assignment with Chris N., but I already had an idea ready.

Tuesday I was sent out to get video and sound of people in the heat for weather, and Wednesday I got another heat package.

This time Ashley D. was my accomplice, and our story didn't turn out too bad. I kind of rode her idea, and had a good day of shooting. I actually had more great shots than I had story to cover!

Watch Hot Project.

Flying Solo

2007-08-09T20:27:00.000-05:00

Friday I was unattached, so I thought I'd take my destiny into my own hands. Turns out it still isn't my own.

A look at the big board of fate Friday morning informed me that I was unattached for the day. Usually that means I'd be rolling on every little fender bender and potential fire. This day I decided to go looking for a photo essay to put together. One of the talk radio hosts was encouraging his listeners to give to an account set up for a man who lost his legs while changing a friend's tire along the interstate. It was too late to make it to the radio station, so I decide to hit one of the bank branches and see what there was to see.

Hearing about the great response they were getting, I was hoping to get telling sound from the tellers describing the effect others affection was having on them. Company policy said otherwise. Luckily I got a mom and daughter who weren't afraid of the camera.

Before the show ended, the district manager from one of the oil change franchises announced that they would be giving five dollars for every car they serviced. This was my second stop. Usually the guys in the pit are some of the best characters you can find, and Eric didn't disappoint.

This is the first nat-pack I've done since coming to the station, which is just over five years. It could use a bit more polish, but I've learned quite a bit for the next time I do one.

My reporter even got me the script with two hours to edit, but a live truck with Erectile Dysfunction 45 minutes away meant that I was going to have to edit it on overtime. Not usually a problem, but a tired wife with with a crying baby lend to stress and tend to speed up the edit.

I'd show it to you, but it didn't make it to the station's website.

Hard Days

2007-08-03T00:08:00.000-05:00

It's been a tough couple of day for the home team. Not that the workload has been extraordinarily heavy, but it's a miracle we've been able to deliver.

It seems that those in charge have reverted to expecting the daily miracles from us again. Case in point: yesterday I was paired with KD, for the first time since our False River Fourth of July, on a story about a man arrested for three counts of sexual battery on minors. We heard about it in a press release from the Assumption Parish sheriff.

Usually this wouldn't be a tough one to pull off, but we didn't leave on the assignment until 1:00 pm, and Pierre Part is an hour away. On top of that, we don't have anyone scheduled to interview, so we'll have to knock on doors and hope someone will talk to us on camera. Not as likely to happen since this is a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Add to this recipe a dash of 5PM deadline, and in a couple of hours you could have a disaster.

I don't ask for much, but I would like a proper amount of time to put a story like this together. If we're not going to get an assignment until one, with no calls made, and the drive time is an hour, put us in the six. When KD announced the drive time, all the 5PM producer had to say was "I guess you better get going, you're the lead package." This is why I plan on pushing hard to make sure that all of our producers get to spend one week with a photog, observing what it is we really have to go through to pull this kind of assignment off. Having never left the comfort of their air conditioned cubicle, except to get lunch at the same time every day, they seem to think that a story like this "just happens."

I've read enough b-roll.net to know that our producers aren't the only ones who do this, but it's my blog and I need to vent about it.

Here's the story.

Today sees the two of us riding together, again. Instead of only having an hour to shoot a package, we have to deal with the grandiose vision of what could be. We've been given the story that every station in the country was doing today: Are our bridges safe?

My thoughts and prayers go out to those in Minneapolis who are dealing with injuries to both body and soul tonight. Compared to what they're dealing with my work problems are but a grain of sand.

I knew before coming into work that someone in our station was going to do this story, and I had a pretty good feeling that they would be standing beside my lens while doing so. My question today is, "Why does it take an hour to decide who's doing this story? Also, why hasn't anyone made some calls on this to set up interviews?"

At 10 am we leave the station...to get a VOSOT on BOPSA (bunch of people sitting/standing around). At 10:45 am KD gets a voicemail suggesting that she contact an engineer at LSU. Has this person made a call to set this up? Hasn't even thought about it, but he's got a vision. "What I see is you talking to a professor, and he's got a model of a bridge on his desk where he can point out structural issues..." Um, yeah, sure. I've been to many a prof's office, and all they seem to have on their desks are papers, lots and lots of papers. It becomes a moot point since no one calls us back.

We journey forth to collect images of bridges in the area, while waiting on a call from DOTD. It turns out that the same visionary from above insisted that he be the point of contact between us and them. Not a bad plan, except for the part where he's "out of pocket" for 90 minutes at the doctor's office, and not answering his cell phone.

In the end, another grand vision, worthy of an evening's lineup of newscasts, finds its true destiny through my edit decks.

Watch it here.

Lenslinger Alert!

2007-07-11T08:42:00.000-05:00

I'd love to be able to do this story, but since I'm nowhere near Greensboro, I guess I'll give it to the 'Slinger to pitch.

UNC Greensboro's ECON 201 is actually a video game that counts for 3 credit hours.

Gamepolitics has the story.

You can thank me for the Emmy later.

Father's Day

2007-06-17T22:55:00.000-05:00

It's my first Father's Day, but it's nothing like I imagined.

On May 19, 2007, I became the proud papa of Chloe Anne and Claire Michelle Sellers.

Having these two beautiful children enter our lives is a blessing and a joy I didn't know was possible. Finally being able to hold them brought the stupidest grin to my face, but I couldn't help it. These are my girls, and I'd do anything for them. Most of you have already read my musings on the subject of parenthood, so I'll not go into that again. How could two little babies enter the world and be so perfect?

The work began the first night. Erica was confined to the bed after the C-section, and the medicines she was on kept her out of commission for the first couple days. This meant that I was the one not getting any sleep, because the slightest sound from any of them had me instantly awake and ready to tend to their needs.

A couple of days later we brought them home, and the next couple of weeks passed rather uneventfully. Diapers were changed, bottles were filled, emptied, washed, and filled again. It was a hectic schedule, but my mother-in-law stayed with us, so I got to avoid most of that, because I was going to work. We looked ahead to the future, anticipating the day when they would begin smiling at us and laughing, crawling and rolling around on the floor with us, and all of the things that parents take joy in seeing their children do.

Our lives had changed forever, and the worry of the past 36 weeks was behind us. Our girls were healthy and more beautiful than I could believe. They were about to change again.

June 8, 2007 is one day I will never forget. I had called in sick, because my eyelid was bulging with a still growing stye, and I wasn't feeling too well, either. I figured a day at home with some rest and warm compresses would clear things up by Monday, and I'd be headed back to work. My wife and her mother were worrying about Chloe, because they couldn't wake her up for her six a.m. feeding, and she's not one to miss those. When they began to get her ready to go to the pediatrician, I knew that I had to go. She was pale and breathing shallowly, not moving much. We rushed to the office to get the diagnosis.

Our doctor checked her over and told us that we needed to get her to the PICU quickly. She called an ambulance for transport, in case something happened on the way. While waiting for the EMTs, I was trying to comfort Chloe. She grasped my forefinger in her tiny hand, rested her cheek against the back of my hand and looked me right in the eyes. I told her that she'd be better soon, and not to be scared.

That was pretty much the last time she looked directly at me. I wish I could say the next four days are a blur, but I can remember them quite clearly. Chloe was immediately given IV antibiotics and put on a ventilator. She could breathe on her own, but this let her rest and fight the infection. That infection turned out to be bacterial meningitis, caused by Group B Strep. By Sunday she was looking better, and though she had suffered some seizures, the outlook was ok. Her body seemed to be getting healthier, but full neurological diagnosis would have to wait.

Monday was a bad day in which Chloe got worse before our eyes. That evening we got the talk that nearly caused me to pass out. The swelling had gotten worse, and so had the EEGs measuring her brain activity. That night we called our priest and he came to the hospital and baptised both girls. Claire was already in the hospital receiving the same antibiotics, but only as a precaution, since her tests were negative for the germ.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007 is the day we let our baby go. I read to her for the first and last time that morning. That afternoon, we all got to hold her and tell her goodbye, one by one. Finally Erica and I held her as the IVs and ventilator were disconnected, and she drifted peacefully out of our arms and into God's loving embrace.

Claire is fine. She's healthy and home with us, which helps ease the pain, but even she seems to miss her sister. Suddenly I find myself revising the dreams I had, and instead of two beautiful smiling faces playing in the yard, kissing me goodnight, and graduating together, I only see one. We have vowed that Claire will have a normal life, and that we won't let Chloe's loss cripple us. The prayers that have been given up for us have given us strength to face this, and we wholeheartedly thank each and every one of you for those.

So here I sit, on Father's Day, and contemplate what's next. Tomorrow I will go back to work. In my profile I say that I'm trying to grow up as slowly as possible. It was forced on me this past week. Thank all of you for thinking about us. We'll be ok, eventually.

Chloe and Claire

2007-06-17T22:51:00.001-05:00

Chloe and Claire
Originally uploaded by lothoreo

Well, here they are. This is the picture I wanted to get up in the earlier post.

Happy Trails

2007-05-29T23:07:00.000-05:00

Goodbye and good luck, Kenny P.

Last Friday was Ken Pastorick's last day at the Deuce. It is with some small amount of sadness that I salute you, sir, for all the laughs, tense moments, high blood pressure, and tight deadlines you have given me.

Ken is one of the most loyal people I know. His television career started here as an intern, and he came full circle, 20 years later. In the time that I have known him, he bled whatever colors the mic flag bore, be it purple and gold, silver and blue, or blue, black gold and purple. You'd be hard pressed to find an employee who backed his station with such fierce determination.

He's also an excellent reporter, who sinks his teeth into a story like a rabid pit bull, and then shakes it back and forth until it finally succumbs to his quill.

We shared some great times, sleeping in news units, staring down Category 5 hurricanes, or playing kick the seagull. It was dead, so no PETA threats, please. Of course Ken just missed it with Mobile 16 before I planted it squarely in the grill of Mobile 30.

I find it only fitting that he spent his last day assigned with me, heading to Port Sulphur, to seek out a former Deucer on which to do a story. That person is Russell Drewry, who had come back to Louisiana on a mission trip.

We had a good time catching up, and putting together a great story, and Russell even carried my tripod! As my gift to Kenny, as he moved on to his Gub-mint job as a PIO, I sent him out with a bang. You could even say we nailed this story. Have I hammered the point home enough?

Port Sulphur Pilgrimage

They're Heeeeere!

2007-05-29T22:35:00.001-05:00

Announcing the newest branches of the family tree, Chloe and Claire!

These two healthy girls were born at 2:28 p.m. and 2:29 p.m., weighing in at 5 lbs., 15 oz. and 5 lbs, 10 oz., and measuring 19 in. and 18 in., respectively.

Wish us luck with these two handfuls, as they are our first children.

I was gonna link a couple of photos, but apparently you can't do that from Snapfish. Guess I'll have to try another site.

Getting Close

2007-05-18T22:29:00.001-05:00

This could be a big weekend for our family.

Tonight the wife and I are staying at the Hotel Baton Rouge General. She's being kept overnight for observation, with a possible C-section tomorrow at noon. Everything is ok, so far, with the exception of a slightly high blood pressure, which is was spurred the visit.

Updates to follow when possible.

Gaming Parents

2007-05-13T19:45:00.000-05:00

With my twins almost here, I find myself thinking of what kind of parent I'll be to them.

I've been told I'll make a great parent, probably because I haven't given up that last fingerhold on my childhood. I keep wondering what I'll do to make sure they know they're loved and cared for, and hope that they'll turn out to be well-adjusted, productive members of society.

One of my plans is to get them into video games as early as possible. Not only does it give me an excuse to keep playing, but it gives me an excellent opportunity to share a part of their lives with them.

This article gives me hope that I can do just that, and start an open and honest line of communication with them.

Water, Water...

2007-05-08T23:21:00.000-05:00

What could the cost of a few drops of rain be to a city like Baton Rouge?

For my second sweeps offering, I present a two part series on rain.

What's the Cost?

What Can We Do?

An interesting note: I couldn't help but think of the Ol 'Polisher when we were shooting at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Surprisingly, it smelled much better than New Orleans on Mardi Gras.

More Awards

2007-05-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

I'd like to give thanks to the Ol 'Polisher for the shout out on our accolades, and to return the favor. Not many people get to be on both teams during the big game.

It is nice to know that someone recognizes the hard work, even if it's only second place. Don't get me wrong; something is better than nothing, but who could respect me for being content with anything less than first.

For the backstory on what it took to place, check out this crumb that may have fallen through the cracks.

Address: Atchafalya

2007-05-05T09:44:00.000-05:00

Sweeps has begun! My first offering to the ratings gods aired Sunday night. I shot it, but JP edited it. I think it came out really well.

Watch it here.

Joor Road

2007-04-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

Kenny: "What do you think?"
Me: "It's a story about a road."

Such was the deeply intellectual conversation in which we engaged after I read the script. For the record it was a pretty good day, and Kenny had some good ideas.

Check it out.

Oh, and here's a link to the piece about LSU's Bowl Prospects. The standup is one of my better sequences.

Bowl Hopes.

Birthday...huh.

2007-04-21T01:22:00.000-05:00

"Doing anything special for your birthday?"
"Define 'special'."

My birthday was last week, so here's a quick rundown of how I spent it:

12:00 - 4:30 AM Sleeping, more or less.

4:30 - 5:00 AM Wake up, stumble into clothes, brush teeth, etc.

5:00 AM Fire up Mobile 30 and pull out of driveway.

5:10 - 10:10 AM I-12, I-10, I-49, LA Hwy. 167, LA Hwy. 80

10:12 AM Pull into parking lot at Grambling State University

10:20 AM Find Media Room - No food remaining.

10:25 - 10:55 AM Hang out with other Sat. Op.

11:00 AM Return to truck, find Galaxy 11, pull cable and set up tripod, camera, microphone, IFB, and reflector.

11:50 AM Uplink is hot.

12:05 PM Power down.

12:20 PM Cookin' again.

12:35 PM "Clear"

12:40 - 3:50 PM Hang out in truck, watch sat feed of funeral, or whatever else is on the bird.

3:50 - 4:05 PM Live again.

4:25 - 4:40 PM Move truck 1oo yds. and reset.

4:50-4:57 PM Wait on 'the bridge' while one person juggles access for three sats and 30 truck ops before finally accessing the bird.

5:05 PM Standby mode activated.

5:25 PM Call access about previous cluster, have pleasant conversation.

5:45 PM "Press 1 for Galaxy 11." beep "Please enter your 2-digit trans-" beep, beep..beep

6:10 PM HPA to OFF, strike equipment and cables.

6:30 PM Dish is Down, so is the 'hammer.'

10:00 PM Get in line at Wendy's in Lafayette.

10:30 PM Get food and return to truck.

11:40 PM Park Mobile 30 at station.

11:45 PM Eat burger.

12:15 AM Get home.

12:30 AM System log ends.

Goodbye, Coach Rob

2007-04-12T22:31:00.000-05:00

This week I paid my respects to Coach Eddie Robinson in the true photog tradition, by covering his memorial service. Monday found me visiting the State Capitol as Coach Rob made his trip to lie in state.

It was one of the most powerful moments I have ever witnessed. Many of his former players were there for the ceremony, and they handed a football from one to another along a line that streched from the doors of the Senate chamber, to the seal in the center of the rotunda, and back, before handing it to his widow, who placed it in the casket with him. Then the band, set up at the other end of the rotunda, near the House Chamber, began to play the Grambling State University alma mater, and nearly everyone in the room began to sing. The players and coaches held one hand aloft, with their index finger extended. Truly a shooter's dream; rich, powerful visuals accomanied by great sound. As the alma mater wound down, the band transitioned smoothly into the GSU fight song, sung with such love, devotion, and energy that a person couldn't help getting swept along in the tide of emotion flooding through the room. I'm getting choked up, even now.

I don't know a lot about Coach Rob. I truly regret that I didn't get to meet him, because I know it would have been one of those moments of being in the presence of true greatness. A humble man whose goal was to lead every young man in his care to be someone he could allow to marry his daughter, and to realize they could take charge of their lives and become whatever they wanted. Some became professional football players, but many became doctors, lawyers, and professionals in many fields other than the gridiron on which they played.

That's one of the great benefits of this job. I may not have ever met the man in life, but I have come to know him through the lives that he has changed. Thank you, Coach Rob.

Breaking Ground

2007-04-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Any shooter will tell you that ribbon cuttings and ground breakings are the bane of their existence. If more of them were like the one last week, we'd all be clamoring for them.

The groundbreaking was a ceremonial affair for work being done on LA Hwy. 1. This road is the true Energy Corridor for the country, through which nearly 18 percent of the country's oil flows, not to mention more than a few tons of fresh gulf shrimp. I was working a nightside schedule, because I was doing uplinks for the early evening shows. I got there with a comfortable amount of time to set up the truck and enjoy the view.

Fourchon (pronounced FOO-shawn) is nearly identical to Cameron. The buzz of whirling helicopter blades never fades from hearing for long as they carry workers and supplies over the marshes and out to the petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. This was my first time on this part of the coast, and I enjoyed the smell of the sea breeze and the cry of the gulls, especially since I didn't have to pay attention to the drone of the politicos under the tent.

After a couple hours of speeches the time finally came to put shovel to freshly poured dirt, accompanied by the requisite applause and punctuated by the clicks and pops of shutters and flashes, while the silent lenses of the video cameras fed images to hungry CCDs. But the feeding didn't stop there. The band in the corner of the tent struck up and the boiled crawfish and shrimp began to flow. I managed to polish off a couple pounds of mudbugs between satellite windows, and even brought home a pound of peeled tail meat. Unfortunately I could have any of the free beer to wash down this sumptuous smorgasbord, because I was still on the clock, in company logowear, and had a three hour drive back to Baton Rouge in a van worth more than 100 grand.

I settled for a Coke and a smile.

Hurricane Fever

2007-04-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

We're about two months away from the start of hurricane season, which means we'll be doing stories about it until the first storm makes landfall. Last week, Kenny P and I made an afternoon journey to Morgan City to localize the Hurricane Conference Forcast. With a heavily compressed shooting schedule, I think it came out alright.

Oh, if you're ever down by the floodwall, don't trust your compass. When I finally found the satellite to feed the story back, I was pointing due West, according to my compass. For the record, Galaxy 11 is almost due South. Next time I'll trust my instincts.

Here's the story.

Congrats?

2007-04-10T23:35:00.000-05:00

Though I had little to do with the story, I'm probably gonna be in the promo.

"Didn't you shoot part of the homecoming queen story for Andy?" was the question coming from the other end of the phone. "Yeah, but just the homecoming game and her getting crowned," was my reply. "Why?"

"It won a Murrow."

I said it then, and I'll say it now-the only part I played in this piece was shooting the above mentioned event. I didn't shoot the interviews or the rest of the package, I didn't even edit the story, but I did supply advice on the closing sequence. Since the person responsible for the story has moved on, I guess they needed someone to accept the award, which I will do with all humility.

Congrats to Andy Pepper, though, on his second Murrow in as many years.

Watch the story.

There and Back Again

2007-04-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

Please, Tolkien, don't sue for that headline. I have heard clamoring for a new post, and since it's been two months, I'm waaaay overdue.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to the Lone Star State. It was a sports trip to cover the LSU Lady Tiger basketball team, but an easy trip wouldn't make the blog, of course.

Since this was an out of town trip, we were going in Mobile 30, the Deuce's satellite uplink truck. I like Mobile 30, but she had just spent a week in the shop for a major oil leak. We got her back the night before we were to leave, so there was no time for a shakedown. This would prove unfortunate.

I had hoped to leave early enough to avoid rush hour traffic in Houston, so I showed up at the station at 11 am, hoping to leave no later than noon. BD had to shoot Syl and the girls leaving, so we didn't leave until 1:30. That's when I realized that the air conditioner wasn't working. A nine hour trip, and we didn't have A/C, but the weather was cool, so it wouldn't be that bad. "If this is the only problem we have this trip, then I'll take it," I said to BD. Almost prophetic, don't you think? Read on.

We got to Houston at 6 pm...awesome. Forty-five minutes later we were on Hwy. 290 and the last third of our drive, which was rather uneventful. The Doubletree was a great hotel; we were a dozen paces from the fitness room, and a score from the pool. It was also sandwiched between a Pappacito's and a Pappadeaux's restaurants. We were definately eating well on this trip. While it wasn't across the street from the venue, it was only 10 minutes away on I-35, which ran right in front of the hotel.

Friday was our first day in the city, and we discovered that we were just in time for the SXSW (South by Southwest) music festival. I haven't seen that many vehicles hauling trailers since Katrina. Everywhere we walked we saw bands unloading, heard them playing, or saw them packing up. Great if we were looking for bands, but instead we were looking for LSU fans. We didn't find any, so we headed to the Erwin Center. Around 4 pm the press conferences were about to begin, so I headed out to the truck to get it set up for our 6 pm sat shot. I fired up the generator, but as my questing finger reached the first switch, it died, never to run for the duration of the trip.

I knew I had a shore power cable in the back, so I wasn't too worried, I just needed to find an outlet, which was nearby, but no electrons were flowing. The question I got from keepers of the power was "Did you order power?" Hmmm, we have our own generator, so...not really. Finally somone showed up about 5:45 pm. The first window opened at 5:50. We didn't make that one.

Why? When I powered up the racks, they tripped the breaker. I was now participating in The Ken Mattingly Experience. It was just like Apollo 13, except no lives were on the line. Once I got my power-up sequence figured out, I thought I was good to go. But why wasn't the HPA powered up? It's because I only had one circuit powered. I thought the A/C was the only thing on the other circuit, but the HPA is on that one as well. Luckily I was able to borrow one from one of the other trucks there, and got the 6:15 shot up in time.

The rest of the trip was, thankfully, rather uneventful. I saw 'Tim and Eric' who have a show on Cartoon Network, but didn't want to interrupt their meal. The day after we got back, the generator tech showed up to work on it. He got it to start on the first try.

It later died and a faulty fuel pump was found to be the problem. So I wasn't crazy after all.

Scorched Feelings

2007-01-30T22:21:00.000-06:00

Scorchy Tawes is a legend. I wish I would have known him.

In watching WBOC's tribute to a man who could find the brilliance in the everyday, I discovered something. I've been trying to pin down a feeling I've been having since the storms, and Scorchy's story finally nailed it. One of his long-time co-workers theorized that his time spent abroad during WWII made him the consummate storyteller that everyone knew, because when he came back to his hometown he was a different person than when he left. One of the people, but with the eyes of an outsider.

That's the feeling I get when I return to Cameron. It's where I grew up, but I couldn't really appreciate it until I left. Being away allowed me to return with a wider vision. I could see more of the beauty of a Cameron Parish sunset, setting fire to the marsh, as the sun touched the western horizon. The peaceful shushing of the waves on the beach, mingled with the drone of boat engines, straining against the current and the drag of heavy nets, filling with gulf shrimp. Most importantly I can better understand what it means to be a resident of Cameron Parish, a people who represent everything that makes the United States of America great.

Some of them have been knocked down twice in their lives, but they just pick up the pieces, put their lives back together, and continue. Most enjoy the simple pleasures of life: family, food, football, and friendship. Hunting and fishing come as naturally as breathing, and I can't think of anywhere in the country where a person can live for one year and not have to drive more that an hour to enjoy fresh- and saltwater fishing, duck and goose hunting, deer, rabbit, squirrel, and alligator hunting, along with the best chance to see rare migratory birds and all of the above mentioned fauna in a huge exhibit.

Even though Scorchy lived his life on the upper east side of the nation, I think he would have enjoyed a visit to this little corner of the world. I know I do.

Still Going

2007-01-13T23:49:00.000-06:00

I'm still here, and still going. I've taken a long absence because I've been fairly busy with work, home and other things, and just plain tired.

How 'Bout Dem Saints! I can't believe they are going to the NFC Championship. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but they keep throwing fuel on the fire. What's a poor guy to do? Should I finally jump in with both feet? I wonder if a trip to Miami is in my future. It's really unfortunate that the NFL decided to ban local video cameras from the sidelines this year. I was going to offer my services to the sports dept. for the year. What a year it would have been.

Otherwise, I haven't had anything that's struck the blogging side of me for a while, and I've only been firing up the computer once a week or less.

If anyone's still reading, thanks for coming, and I'll try to be more regular in my posting this year. I'm sure I'll have a lot to post about in the next six months.

Foggy Bottoms

2006-12-14T23:02:00.000-06:00

Look out! It's FOG! It must have been a pretty slow news day, because the dense fog advisory is leading the newscasts for both stations tonight. I know I could be biased, but I've got to tip my hat to the Deuce tonight for cool shots and interesting coverage. Pat S. was actually out in it, while Jay G. was chillin' in the climate controlled confines of the station. Plus News 2 had a great tower cam shot of the State Capitol building poking through the layer of low-lying mist, even if it was a little fuzzy.

Yes, yes, the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Since my last post, sweeps has ended and I finally got to take a long overdue vacation. As the Ole 'Polisher pointed out, I did turn out a majority of the month's media, which left me quite drained. Add to that the amount of time off I've taken this year (two days at the end of June), and I was in the throes of a serious burn-out. Luckily I had already scheduled a good chunk of time off this month, nearly all of it. The only day I've worked this month was the sixth, and I go back to work on Monday.

Whereas the 'Slinger would dedicate this kind of time to some serious soul-searching, I chose to recline in reclusive reticence. Actually that's not exactly accurate, but sounds really good. I spent the first day looking at my future offspring. If I haven't mentioned it before, we're expecting...twins, and everything seems to be going well. The next week was spent editing the yearly blooper tape and readying the homestead for the newsroom christmas party. This was my first chance to use my PC for editing, and I turned out a classic, with an assist from 'Polisher. I'll save the superlatives for others to post, but I do feel the best part is the memorial montage for T-boy Richard. Both the party and the tape seem to have been a success.

Today I spent with a visit to my Grandfather in Abbeville, which also went well. Tomorrow will be a me day.

Mean Streets

2006-11-23T00:46:00.000-06:00

Sweeps stories 4 & 5 deal with the most dangerous intersections in the area. I really like the pacing of the first one.
Click here for part 1.

The second one has some good shots, but falls off at the end. I think we'll just call this a TCS.
Click here for part 2.

Bingo!

2006-11-23T00:38:00.000-06:00

Is this the new face of Bingo? Does it look like it belongs in Reno? Some think so, and it's sweeps story #3. Props to DMC for the classic bingo shots.

Check it.

Cold Case

2006-11-19T14:15:00.000-06:00

My second sweeps story of the month aired the same day as the weather. Chelby wrote it, and then I helped her edit the copy to better fit the video. I even took over the keyboard for part of it. We had no file video, so I had to really think on this one. Luckily the victim's mom was more than happy to get this story out, and she provided us with a wealth of pictures and some great sound.

I'm happy to say that my prediction about the first story being the best is turning out to be wrong. With two stories aired, another airing tonight, and two more on Monday, it's going to be a good month.

Click here for the story.