Kelby Lighting Seminar
Jump shots? Are you kidding me? I paid money for this? Oh, the irony of the situation.
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Friday, November 06, 2009
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
New Chief!
This has turned into a much longer day than I thought it would be.
Gosh, I wish I had a nickle for every time that thought has crossed my mind. We're near the deep end of the pool over at the Exposition Park Aquatic center. New Chief is speaking at a town hall meeting. I wish I had a taco. It looks like this meeting might last a while.Chief Beck Announced
This is the Mayor's view of the new LAPD Chief presser that I'm covering right now at 11:09am.
Short turn-around. Four hours of sleep.
Let the good times roll.
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Monday, November 02, 2009
Diamonds and Firefighters and Zombies. . .Oh My!
My thanks to Suzie Suh for the title of this post. She and I worked together three days last week and in the world of news (at least in my part) we can call that a happy random occurrence.
It's not like other jobs (like law enforcement) where you might partner with one particular person for months or years. Working general assignment out of the main station, we show up for work each day and never know which reporter we might be partnered with for that day.
Three assignments with Suzie Suh is one thing, but it was also kind of odd that I managed to get three trips to Orange County in one week. That's not so much of a treat. My shift usually starts about 4:30pm and any drive towards the OC involves a special circle of hell we like to call rush hour traffic.
Still the opportunities to work with Ms. Suh and to see something as outrageously cool as a 13 carat diamond was worth the drive. 
The diamond, seen here in the photograph is nearly actual size. Put your finger up to the screen to get a good sense of scale.
That was the first trip to the OC and without a fire or other major developing story, it was a little surprising that I got a second assignment way down in Yorba Linda.
BTW, You shouldn't get Yorba Linda confused with Loma Linda. They're two completely different cities and I'm thankful for GPS and Thomas Guide maps, because it's easy to get the two Lindas confused.
Anyway, a second day with Suzie Suh and the opportunity to meet a fireman who wins Iron Man type competitions and seriously sounded on paper like a real life super hero. . .
. . .but in real life was not the most imposing sports figure I've eve met, but was far more impressive for being one of the nicest persons I've interviewed in quite a while.
When I was introduced to Paramedic Steve Teal, I thought they were pulling my leg. I know runners and swimmers have less of a bulky build than other athletes, but I would never have suspected the paramedic standing in front of me had run (and won) the Badland competition that I had tough time just covering from the back of a pickup truck.
I kept thinking, don't get him angry, because I bet I wouldn't like him when he's angry.
It was a nice story. I had fun helping to put it together and again, it was a second assignment with Suzie Suh in one week.
So, after two days navigating rush hour traffic to locations outside of what I'd call my "normal" coverage area, my Friday assignment wasn't a big deal, just very VERY surprising. I was being sent out to once again wade through the commuters on the 5 Freeway to meet up with Suzie Suh for a story.
It could have been worse. All the OC stories were more feature-y and none involved death, destruction or mayhem.
On Friday, we were covering the retirement of a man who had worked for the City of Orange for 40 years. Not the big breaking lead news story, just a smaller story that had the added twist of happening just before Halloween. The friends and family who attended were asked to dress up. It was going to be a Zombie Retirement Party (possibly also known as a Monster Mash).
You know, so it wasn't an action and adrenaline filled set of assignments, but I enjoyed them and barely considered the hours of my life spent in traffic which I will never ever get back.
Okay, I'm just joking about it. It could have been worse. I make a decent wage even when I'm sitting in traffic, so I don't really need to complain. Heck, all things considered, I had fun.
Interesting people and Suzie Suh, just a cute week all around.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Carnivale?
I kept thinking about the HBO show. So, who do I need to see to get some time with "management"?
I Shot That.
It's not all wildfires and car chases that make up my day at work. Okay, sure, the people who bean count might wish those stories filled the time, but the reality is that we cover other stories.
If you were watching our newscast earlier this week and happened to see a Stacey Butler story about the woman on whom Dan Brown based a character featured in his latest magnum opus, there were a few shots of the book itself that you might find interesting.
Yes, it was a slow day. i was working a day side shift, but the reporter (Stacey) I was assigned to work with wasn't going out into the field.
No HD liveshots for me that day, but there were a couple of elements for her story she was going to need. Nice shots of the book itself.
Having been shiuffling from van to van over the last couple of months, I've left a good deal of my "specialty" gear at home. One of the basics that I use all the time is a large piece of dark black material used to create impromptu product stages. The material I use is called duvatine (or duvetyne) and you buy it from photo and video supply stores.
Nope. I had none with me that day, so being the MacGruber kind of guy that I am, I used a black fleece hoodie jacket that I happened to have with me that day.
I set up my camera in the garage area of the station and shot into the side of the van. I also narrowed the light on the book by using a piece of black wrap. That's a thick aluminum foil material sold also at photo and video supply stores.
Good for shaping light, but not so good for storing leftovers.
Like I said, it wasn't a particularly busy day, but even the little odds and ends need to be shot and that's what I do. I shoot things. Sometimes the backstory is more interesting than the actual story, but the cool thing is that every day is something different.
Plus they pay me.
What I do isn't as complicated as a Dan Brown plot, but I could throw in a couple of car chases and maybe a fire and heck, maybe we could get Tom Hanks interested in playing a role in the movie version of my life at work.
Tom would have to be content with the sidekick or comic relief role. If there's a movie to be made, darned if I'm not playing the part of beFrank.
Helloooo? Hollywood?
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
Yay, Angels!
Again I find myself in a perfectly beer-able situation and due to horrible circumstances (I'm working) I can't have any.
That just really burns me.
Also, how come they don't have Angel-Dogs anymore.
Oops, I stand corrected. They do sell Angel-Dogs. Go figure.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Rainy Days by the Fire (area).
Quick question, what were you doing when it was raining last week? Were you miserable? I was a little, because I was working a big ol' NewsCentral dayside shift up near the fire burn areas in La Canada.
The first big rain of the season and I'd really like to tell you that my years of experience means that I was ready for it.
I wasn't.
It never fails that I always refuse to believe what other people were telling me. It was fixing to rain and I should have had my rain gear out and be good to go.
The rain was falling, but not very hard (most of the time) and all my good stuff was sitting right in the van in a large duffle that I keep packed for three different types of weather.
No. It doesn't do me any good at all in the bag.
Also, yes, the "bad pinkie" was still freshly stitched and should have been kept clean and dry as per doctors orders.
In my defense, I have to say, I've been fooled before. I've stood out in remote parts of sunny California waiting for "Stormwatch" to hit and argued with disbelievers back at the station.
me -It not raining.
pinhead - Are you sure?
Am I sure? Really? You want me to double check if I'm standing in the middle of rain and might somehow not be aware of it?
I hate to disappoint.
Nearly as much as I hate to be standing behind a foggy lens with no hope of staying dry while waiting for a liveshot to happen.
There I stood in my damp tennis shoes. I was working with Randy Paige. We put together a story on the residents of the area picking up sand bags and also showed heavy equipment workers dropping concrete k-rails to divert the expected mud flow.
The gray cloudy skies didn't really bring down my mood. My soggy clothes did that just fine.
I'll be ready next time.
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