Photo Bloggers Unite 2- Television Is Furniture

Coming up with the description of how to describe myself as a piece of furniture. As much as I'd like to say I spent quality time thinking about this, I didn't really. I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks out to FTOJRLST, who took guesses at what he thought we might be. Describing me as a Burkline Recliner, warm, cozy, etc.. I have to ask myself, what the **** is he smoking?? Just kidding. I'm flattered but it's nowhere close to what I'd describe myself as.

What WOULD I describe myself as??



I think of myself as an Otoman. But a really expensive one. The one above costs $1,275. So, I'm basically someone who will support you, but it's gonna cost ya.

I asked my wife what she thought I'd be. Her reply, " A big OVERSTUFFED chair." So, it seems that FTOJRLST and my wife seem to be on the same wavelenghth.

How warped it that??

Here's the all the photog bloggers that are doing the show-n-tell today.

Be sure to check them out!

lenslinger

tv photog blog

newshutr's views

beFrank

kazz's world

little lost robot

smitty

erin winking

colonel corn

Drill Sarge

I was out doing beauty shots for our morning show. It was a slow overnight. No spot news, plus a slow night before equaled a light-hearted morning show. I was sitting in my live truck after setting a shot, when I heard a man yelling...

"C'MON YOU MAGGOTS...RUN...RUN...RUN..!!" I looked out my window and see a man wearing makeup. Ok, so it's actually camo makeup but still...


He's got about 30 people running towards the green field known as Mall B in downtown Cleveland. The people all run over and line up in three rows. He proceeds to make them do all kinds of exercises. Some I haven't seen since my football days. I remembered how painful they were and I felt pity on them.


He made them jump in place, crab walk, run gassers, jump and roll, all the while screaming at them and calling them "Maggots..." I thought to myself that someone has exchanged the real world for their fantasy world.


His harassment made me wonder what these poor people had done to deserve it. I wanted to go ask what their crime was, but he was running them so hard, that I couldn't find a person that could talk.


I called out control room to let them know what I was seeing and they decided to use me as much as possible. The morning anchors were asking why these people were doing this, but since I couldn't find an available person to talk to, I couldn't answer their queries. So, our anchors took to calling the resident drill instructor, "Sarge..."

"Sarge" then made them run laps around a large mall walkway. As they ran by my live truck, I was able to shout out my questions...

"Who are you?? Why are you doing this..?? Who's the Drill Instructor??"

They all looked at me with fear in their eyes. As if talking would get them more laps or a night in the box.

Finally, I walked up to the DI and asked him point blank, "Who the hell are you guys and why are you beating these poor people to death.."

He laughed and said, "I'm a trainer in the health club at the Key Tower. We do this intense training twice a year.." I didn't have the heart to tell him that our anchors were berating him on the air..

And then it hit me. These people are PAYING for this abuse....

I retired back to my truck and took this picture of the things that I abuse and abuse me..

Friday the 13th...eee....eeeee...eeeeee

I woke up this morning forgetting it was Friday the 13th. Well, it came back at me like someone doing a fish slapping dance from Monty Python skit. It started when I got into work. I sat down to immediately get a call to go to a truck flipped ax. The accident was only about a 2 miles from the station, so I got there very quickly.

What the desk called a truck flipped ax turned into a car vs. semi. The car had pulled out in front of the oncoming truck. The semi swerved and the car plowed under the trailer and bounced out. When I got there, I came upon a group of firemen and EMS workers working to free the person in the car.

A stretcher was brought up but soon taken away. An EMS worker I know, made the motion of the finger across the throat telling me he was dead. I gave a thumbs up for the info. He shook his head and did the motion again and then added a thumb moment over his shoulder.

I got the message. Decapatation.

What a way to start the day.

Photog Bloggers Unite

Oh I am so PISSED at blogger.com!! I had finished my whole blog on the Photog Bloggers Unite. I hit publish and WHAM...It was vaporized into the nether world of the internet never to be seen again. About four hours of work down the G*ddamn drain.

Well, I had really good blog and a whole lot of pictures. Even for the way I write, I thought it was pretty good. Well, now I'm in a surly mood. I'm more than pissed now..

I wanna scream and physically throttle everyone of blogger.com's people. Even if it's not their fault. If this had happened to the Pope's Blog, it would make him want to kick a baby.

So, everyone gets my abbreviated version. Sorry, I don't have the time to re-write everything...Damn..I'm royally pissed..!!

MY CAMERA


I run a Sony DSR-500WS DVCAM.
I don't like it. It sucks in low light, but at least it's not MII like I first used when I got here at WKYC.


I use a ElectroVoice RE50. Lectrosonic wireless TX and Lectrosonic Wireless Lav for my microphones.

MY RIG




I drive a 2002 Ford Explorer XLS 4WD. It is known as Unit 20. It has 66000 miles on it. It is unmarked. It was supposed to be marked, but I lobbied for it not to be. We don't wrap our vehicles anyways. Just a small logo on the sides and back. It's also the undercover team's backup car when they think they've been made on surveilance.

I also drive Live Unit 1. I switch out of my Explorer half way through my shift because I work overnights and I do live shots for our morning show.



MY WORKPLACE


This is our lockerroom. It's known as the batcave. We really don't hang out in it. It's just a place to transfer gear for those that don't take their gear home. Also, the part-timers use it when they work.



This is our readyroom/photog lounge/human fishbowl. A lot of the guys don't like it because of the huge window that faces the newsroom. But at least it has some creature comforts. Wet Bar and jacuzzi are the "perks". Just kidding. It's more of a 7 person hot-tub.

I wish I'd been able to write as much as my fellow blogging photogs here. I had originally but for some reason, blogger.com ate my homework.

Here's the all the photog bloggers that are doing the show-n-tell today.

Be sure to check them out!

lenslinger

tv photog blog

newshutr's views

beFrank

kazz's world

little lost robot

smitty

erin winking

colonel corn

Meeting Danny Trejo

Well, I got to meet movie actor Danny Trejo the other night. He was here in Cleveland for a couple of days to be a part in a movie being shot here. The name of the movie is Dreaming On Christmas. It looks to be pretty good. Danny is playing a subway train driver who is dressed like Santa Claus and sings Christmas carols to the riders. He only knows two songs and he doesn't know all the words, so as he puts it, "I get to mangle a few classics.."



Danny Trejo is a class act all the way. He came in a day early to Cleveland to speak to some recovering addicts/alcoholics. He says that he wants to give a positive message to people that think they don't anything to add to life. He gives them hope, when they may have none. Danny knows from where they come from, as he felt he had no hope at one time. As he puts it, "I was enrolled in the San Quentin program."

The second that I met him, and he shook my hand and greeted me with, "Hi, I'm Danny Trejo, God Bless you, man.", I knew this is one man who speaks from the heart. He stuck around for me, even though I was running late and he was extremely tired from a long day of shooting.

In the era of Paris Hilton's and J. Lo's, Danny Trejo is about you, and not about himself. He's the guy that you'd have as your best friend.

It would be a nicer world if there were more men like Danny Trejo in it. I would have asked him to repeat the line from Anchorman, after Ron Burgundy tells San Diego to go "F" themselves, but there were little kids around.

He made them Honorary Spy Kids. He looked at me and said, "I'd make you an honorary Spy Kid, but you're WAY too big.."

Thanks, Danny.

Cedar Point Media Day, Part Duh

I almost forgot to tell this story. If I hadn't seem the commercial, it would have slipped my RF addled brain. While we were in between our live shots, myself, Obie (our interpid reporter) and Mike (great sat truck op/photog) were talking at the riser. Another reporter ambled by and intoduced herself to us. The name will be withheld because of the stupidity of the reporter. But she was a young reporter for a station in Youngstown, OH.

As we introduced ourselves, she had a hard time understanding the name of our reporter. His first name is Obed. It's a biblical name. Professionally for TV he does go by Obie. But this young lass could not wrap her mind around what his name was. She kept asking him to repeat it.

Obie: "It's Obie..my name is really Obed, but everyone calls me Obie"
Lass: "Huh? Oh..O.B. as in the TAMPON!"

Now, the poor misguided lass, being a woman, could make that leap. I don't know if any NORMAL or SANE woman would make their synapses fire in that manner, but she did.

We could not stop laughing at his expense, of course. Even Kotex..err..Obie has to chuckle at it.

The only bad part, we have to keep him out of the rain now.

Cedar Point Media Day

Yesterday was Media Day at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. The debut of their new ride, Max Air was the focus. We arrived early in the morning and set up the sat truck and then set up for our morning live shots.



We had a great time and everything was pretty normal and orderly. To spit in the face of the TV gods, we had no problems, unlike our morning competition up the dial, who couldn't get their shot on the bird.

There were lots of media there and it was great to see faces that I hadn't seen in a while. It's always neat to see the toys that the out of state stations have.







Man, this is one sweet ride. It swings out and rotates the seats and constantly goes higher and higher. The best part, you do get weightless for a few seconds...

To see the video, visit here wkyc.com

We did our shots, and then rode the ride. It's a blast. You have to come here and ride it.

Plus, we all snagged a cool MaxAir Media Day embroidered sweatshirt.

Ahh....freebies.

Making a Movie

Last night, a friend of mine calls me and tells me that an independent film is being shot locally and that I should come down and get a few shots of it in production. The name of the movie is Dreaming On Christmas and it looks like it's going to be a pretty good little movie. I call my EP and tell them, and they're thrilled because it has a local angle.

I go over to shoot it and I'm told, if I want, I can get an interview with Nick Mancuso. At first, in my mind, I asked myself who?? Then I remembered the name from the movie Under Siege and various TV shows. I tell the Exec. Producer, Gil, "Sure!! Love to!!!"



I really have no idea what to ask but, I'm able to rattle a few questions off about the movie business and acting. Turns out, he's a really nice and down to earth guy. He listened to my questions and then took the time to give a useable sound bite to my nonsense questions.

Then, Gil, the EP of the movie, tells me that soon, Danny Trejo of From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, Con Air and recently Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy fame is going to be in for a night of shooting.




I'm looking forward to meeting and interviewing him.

A little bit of Hollywood in Cleveland.

County Hospital

Friday morning. I'm live in front of Metro Hospital with my reporter, Obie and our other photog Derek. Derek is in the truck we're using for the live shot. We're live in front of the emergency entrance to the hospital because the TB clinic at said hospital diagnosed a person with TB.

We do our first hit, and head back to our truck. A Hospital cop shows up and just wants to shoot the breeze with us. Pretty nice guy too. We chatted for a few minutes and then the cop leaves. As soon as he leaves, the crazy guy heads to us, of course.

"I WANNA TALK TO SOMEBODY ABOUT THIS F*$#@(% HOSPITAL AND WHY THEY DON'T FIX MY LUNGS!!", he starts screaming at Obie and me.

"THESE F'ERS DON'T WANNA HELP ME. I'VE HAD 3 PE'S AND PAIN FOR THE PAST MONTH AND ALL THEY DO IS GIVE ME A SHOT OF MORPHINE AND SEND ME HOME. PLUS MY DOCTOR TELLS ME TO MY FACE HE DOESN'T GIVE A S^%& ABOUT MY LUNGS."

He then proceeds to light up a cigarette.

We look at him and ask, "Well, why not stop smoking??"

"HEY...I'M DOWN TO 3 CIGARETTES A DAY. USED TO SMOKE A PACK AND A HALF A DAY."

And he wonders why his lungs hurt and why they won't help him.

Been Busy

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy and my son, Joshua was back in the hospital again. He's coming home today, and it's a good thing too. His little brother, Joseph is bugging the heck out of me asking when Josh is coming home. So, in the world of domesticity, everything is getting back on track.

Work has been work. The usual assortment of shootings, fires and car accidents. Ah, the life of being an overnight videographer.

We have one really interesting story going on, here in the city of Cleveland. Seems a councilman was arrested for DUI on early Monday morning in the Warehouse District of Cleveland. He was pulled over, field tested, failed the test,he refused a breathalyzer, demanded another field test, and started swinging when he was told no more field sobriety tests were being given.

I was dispatched to check out a possible stabbing near the Warehouse district and drove by three police cars that had surrounded a Red BMW.

Traffic stops in the Wareouse District are common and seeing three police vehicles around a car is not uncommon, so I paid no attention to it.

I should have. Turns out it was the councilman and I had just missed seeing him get all mouthy and start swinging.

Ahhh....timing.

Guess What's Cooking

Well, this will be the last post from the vacation dept. I start back to work tonight. Anyways, this involves my son Joshua again. He woke up at around 5:30am this morning saying he'd wet himself a little. So, my wife gets out of bed and gives him a new pair and washes his wet underwear out in the sink and places it on the air conditioner to dry them out.

Well, about the time we need to leave and pack everything in the car, my wife checks the underwear and it's still a little damp. So my wife puts the underwear in the microwave for 20 seconds to try and dry them out a little....

Fast forward an hour when we're in the car driving home.

My wife screams, out of the blue..."OH MY GOD!!! I LEFT HIS UNDERWEAR IN THE MICROWAVE!!!"

I'll spare you all the conversation about who was going to call the hotel back and let them know WHY there would be a pair of Spongebob underwear in the microwave.

My wife had a hard time telling the woman on the phone about it, but she did.

Hush Yo' Mouf

Well, since I'm on vaco, I thought I'd share at least one little nugget of how things have gone thus far. I am currently staying in a Best Western Resort in Lancaster, PA. It is really nice and the Wi-Fi works great here.

Ok, back to the nugget. After driving a looooong time and dealing with the kids becoming bored out their skulls, the wife and I decided to stop and have the kids get out and stretch their legs at a miniature golf course. A fun time was had by all..(I even got a hole in one!)

Well, on the way back to the hotel, the boys decided to start their crying, whining battle of 'He's Touching Me!!' And while this is going on, my navigator/wife tells me to stay in the current lane I'm in and next thing you know, I miss the turn because the wife was wrong. Thus adding to the stress of the moment.

I mumbled in exhaustion and frustration "F*@%!"

And Joshua (4) asks, "Did daddy make a wrong turn??"

Wife: "Why do you ask that??"

Joshua: "Because daddy said "F^@#".

The wife and I were laughing so hard, we almost missed the turn around.

See, I normally don't speak like that but I'm modeling my vocabulary after Lenslinger and his cavernous mastery of all words written and spoken. So, if anyone is to blame, it's him...or is it, it is he??

Who the F*%^ knows???

On Vacation

I'm on vacation this week and not a moment too soon. I'm headed with the family to Strasburg, PA to take the kids to a huge railroad museum. The kids are nuts about trains. Plus I get to go back to my home state of Pennsylvania.

My wife was featured on a CNN story about a doctor who does surgery for migraine sufferers. She's the victim on the table while surgery is being performed. What some people will do to be on TV.

Have a good rest of the week.

My Son

My son is out of the hospital finally. He has been diagnosed with strep reisistant pneumonia. He has something called a PICC Line inserted in his right arm. It's a long IV line that goes to a central artery so that it can get medication into the body faster.

He'll have this line in his arm for three weeks and need to have daily infusions of medication.

The doctors hemmed and hawed for four days debating whether to put in a chest tube.

But, my son is home finally. But he's pissed at me big time.

What is my sin?? I left his woobie at the hospital by accident.

Yes, my son's security blanket. And I forgot it when we were discharged...

I feel like a totally horrible parent for forgetting it. It really made me sad. That's the kind of thing you save for them in their memory box.

Well, I can't now...unless the housekeeping staff at the hospital cared enough to save it...

GOD..PLEASE LET THEM HAVE SAVED IT...

I cannot stand the wrath of a four year old....

I am such a horrible father.....

Please Pray

My oldest son, Joshua, is in the hospital. He's got pneumonia and a whole lot of fluid around his right lung.

They might have to insert a needle for a culture. This may lead to a chest tube.

He's scared. I'm scared. My wife is a RN so she's taking it all in stride.

Please keep my son in your prayers for a few days.

Thanks..!!

Stuck in Editing

This week, I'm stuck in editing for the morning show. Both of our part-time editors are off on vacation or unavailable to work this week, so I'm the back-up plan.

Scary, huh?

So, probably no stories of fires, accidents or multiple murders unless I get called out this week.

Hmmm....(insert Muzak)...dumm...de...dum.

(whistles softly).

Yawn..

(taps fingers..)

Sugar Rushes and Toys

Well, Easter Sunday is here. As my 4 year old put it as he ran into our bedroom this morning, "Hey mommy and daddy, guess what??!! It's 6:02, it's Easter and Jesus is risen....let's go downstairs..!"

Well, downstairs there were two easter baskets for two little boys. The baskets filled with toys and candy did not last very long at all. Now, there are chocolate covered faces and sticky fingers touching everything. Yes, candy in the morning. Why?? Because my wife thinks giving kids candy in the morning and then going back to bed and leaving the kids to me is hilariously funny.

Ha freakin' Ha..

Plus, the house is a mess. It's been unseasonably cold here the past week. Where is should be in the 50's, it's been in the upper 30's. The kids can't expell too much energy inside. I'd let them in the back playroom, but it's been too cold. The result: Our living room has thrown up with toys. It's a no-mans land of toys. You dare not walk barefoot across the room for fear of impaling the sole of your foot on a misplaced Transformer part. Trust me...it hurts.

Plus, I awoke (ok..was awoken too early) to a sight that makes me wanna cry. No, not my wife without makeup. It's the site of seeing garbage strewn all over my driveway. Great. Just great. A morning of picking up garbage.

Is 8:30 in the morning too early to drink?????

12 Car Pileup

Oh the joys of Northeastern Ohio in the spring. Yes, when the freezing mix of rain and snow, form on overpasses and bridges. Yesterday the call came over of a huge pile-up on one of our major side streets. It passes over Conrail tracks so the bridge is prone in bad weather to freeze over. Well, it happened..and this is the result.



Six people were injured in this accident. But the shocker was when the tow trucks started pulling the cars away from the pile.

Do you see the red car under the green van??



When they pulled out the red car, it was wedged under the Green Econoline van. In their haste to clear the scene, they pulled without looking and ruptured the twin gas tanks. A river of gasoline poured out from the tanks onto the roadway. At that moment, a firefigheter I know came walking up the bridge and I yelled over to him to get a couple of buckets..

"Why'd you need buckets??", he asked as he turned around to get them.

"Because", I replied, "That's $2.19 a gallon leaking out...."


Ehhh....Guess you had to be there.

(All picures are from www.wkyc.com, my station's website. I forgot my digital camera.)

My Wife's Black Eyes

Well, today my wife looks like she went a full 15 with Muhammed Ali. She has two very swollen and bruised eyes. Her forehead is purple and painful.

Why?? She just doesn't listen...

NO...WAIT!!! That's a joke...come back. Sorry..just had to. I know tasteless joke. I never said I was PC..

Ok, well the REAL reason my wife has 2 black eyes and a bruised frontal lobe is that she had a procedure done to remedy her constant migraines. A local surgeon here is doing a study on migraine sufferers and my wife qualified for the study. She had botox shots 2 months ago to paralyze muscles that make migraines horrible. The injections helped but they wore off as the botox left her body. The next step was the surgery.

The actual surgery is akin to having a brow-lift. Now, it looks like I belted her good for burning my steak. Well, the one thing that saves me from that stigma of wife beater, are the drainage tubes that stick out of her scalp and the vaccuum vials that collect the blood that seep after this kind of surgery. She kinds looks like a pugilist-frankenstein monster.

It still makes me wince, though. Even after she has those tubes out, she'll have black eyes and the questions will begin. And I guess I'm a little sensitive to having people even THINK that I've hit my wife. I know I shouldn't jump to that conclusion that people are thinking what they're thinking. But, I'm 6'3", 280 lbs and I shave my head. I'm kind of an imposing figure. My wife is 5'5".

But then again, why should I care what they think..????

Of Blood and Buzzards

Well, on my second day back to work from being totally incapacitated from the flu and bronchitis, I was given the assignment of covering the annual return of the buzzards to Hinckley, OH. The swallows have Capistrano. Daytona Beach has their college students. We have turkey buzards.

Basically what happens, is that every March 15th, the obsessed, the insane(read the media) and the naturalists show up to the Buzzard's Roost to see the "first" turkey buzzard show up from a long "migration".

(Psssssssst...little secret here. Some never leave. They have these great little nests built in rock ledges and decide that they'd really like to stay)

But we hearty fools go along with the guise. Plus, we get donuts and coffee and sometimes a really nice pair of cheap binoculars. It's all about the freebies.

Well, at 4 AM this morning, I show up at the Buzzard's Roost...alone. In a metropark teeming with dangerous animals (ie Deer). It's really peaceful. It's clear. And then it occurs to me, it's freaking cold. As of our air-time, it was 13 degrees. Plus, I forgot I was scheduled to do this, so I forgot to wear the long johns. Yeah...there was frost on the twig and berries.

Anyways, the day started off with my audio going completely to crap two minutes before my hit. Well, they floated me one package while I jury-rigged a concoction of hard wires back to the truck. My talkback guest was totally cool with this. But, it's frustrating. The perils of a one man band.

The control room is constantly calling on the IFB for bump shots. Look genuises back there, it's 5:30am. It's dark. There are only two people here...me and the metroparks PR person. WTF am I going to shoot???? The dark??? A dark tree?? A picnic bench?? I yell back into the mic about the obvious and get, "Oh yeah..sorry."

Well at 6:15 it's getting a little light and my second subject shows up. He's the naturalist who is the "official" buzzard spotter. Well, my talkback guy is holding the tip of his nose as he comes over. I think, runny nose. Nope...he's bleeding like a stuck pig from the tip of his nose. Seems he ran his gloved hand under his nose, and a edge of the velcro on it nipped the tip. Well, getting cut there, it will bleed profusely, because of the thinness of the skin and proximity of blood vessels near the skin. Plus it's cold and it's not clotting.

I run to the truck to get him some gauze and a band-aid for him, but no band-aids are in there...just my luck. Now, I have to shoot an interview with him while he's bleeding. Thank GOD for b-roll. I panned off him, up to the sky, the trees, the fire barrels and all this time, he's talking and turning his back to the camera. I try to get him turn around to face the camera. Well, he won't. So the contol room won't come back to me because all I have it the back of his head to show. I get crap for this after the shot is over. I snap zoom into the guy's face and get.."Oh..yuck" in my IFB.

Well, before I make this any longer than necessary, one buzzard shows up at 8:43am like "magic". Almost like it was released from a cage in the woods..hmmmm.

Well, getting OT for birdwatching isn't all that bad...but I'll wear the long johns next year..and bring band-aids.