Dodging Orange Barrels

Yesterday here in beautiful downtown Cleveland, a cold front from Canada came through around 3:00am. It caused high winds. Our airport, which is not near downtown Cleveland, reported 40-45 mph winds.

BULLSHIT!!

Those winds were probably 60-65 mph. I was out in them. I'm not a small guy in anyone's eyes and I was getting pushed around pretty well. I went to a spot near our station that had a lot of orange onstruction barrels. I got there just in time to get video of a barrel rolling down the street, hit a curb and fly at least 9 feet in the air.

Behind me I heard metal scraping on concrete. I turn around to see a good sized bus shelter sliding down the sidewalk and stop when it made it to the grass. The wind bent the metal frame of the shelter.

Then I felt like I got shot. I was hit with a piece of flying debris. What it was, I have no idea. All I know is it hurt. The back of my left thigh now has a golfball sized bruise and it's very sore.

Ahh, well at least the weekend is here. And my birthday is Sunday plus the weather promises to be exceptional.

I Don't Even Know Who You Are Anymore...

I just got my gear back after it being used by other phtotgs from my station. Now, I know it's not "my gear". It's the station's and the company that I work for. But you do tend to form a bond with your gear. You get comfortable with it after using it daily. It sometimes becomes a part of you. You rely on it. I feel like that with my camera sometimes. It's your partner. Your wingman, as it were.

I was off for two weeks. I don't know where my camera has been, what it's seen, who has touched it. It's sort of like the Las Vegas slogan: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Well, I guess I can live with that. I'll need a little time to be reconciled with my camera. We'll be a little aloof with each other at first. I'll play coy, DVCAM will act a little shy. You know how it is when you meet someone again and they should tell you something but they're afraid.

I think that my camera was traumatized a little while I was off. I found it in engineering on a bench with a piece of tape on it saying "OK 9/23/05". What happened to it??? No note. No description. Nothing. Although, I found it with it's cover off and the wireless receiver holder removed and a new bracket attached.

This was her in happier days. Before surgery..





We're getting new batteries, Sony's thin Lithium batteries and the new bracket lets us use the holder with the new batteries. Someone went and had the bracket attached on their own. That's just great. Just one problem. I don't have the new batteries yet. I do have the old Anton Bauer 3 pin batteries that work with the adapter that slides into the Sony "V" for their batteries. My wireless holder doesn't fit the AB adapter now. So, I can't use my reciever. Why?? I can't find the old adapter part that was taken off!!! Bastards!!!!

My camera and it's parts have been mutilated. The unmitigated horror. It's suffering and I along with it.

And, if that weren't enough, when I got to my locker, I found it unlocked. Now, I can forgive a lot of things. But leaving my locker unlocked, when you went and got the key and took my gear out to use it for the day and then didn't bother to lock it back up is just a slap in the face. I'm dusting for fingerprints later.

Then my stick mic was missing. I found it after a search lasting a half an hour. I found it sitting in a live truck. It was all by itself. Apparantly, it saw what happened to the camera and decided to hide. Poor little mic.

At least that's my theory.

I'm back Part II

Well, after two weeks straight of vacation...ya, right. Taking care of my wife whom had gall bladder surgery, running the kids everywhere, dealing with a virus on my desktop and doing a full restore, dealing with my mother-in-law and HER doting ways and a cranky lawn tractor, yeah, my vacation was enjoyable. All I needed was a root canal to make it even more enjoyable. Was supposed to go to the Outer Banks but thanks to the surgery, we had to cancel. Good thing too. Ophelia didn't go to a nunnery so we would have probably had to cut it short.

But, I'm going back to work on Monday. Actually it'll feel good to get away for a little bit. I was able to go to Pittsburgh last Saturday, Sunday and early Monday though. THAT was a great bit of stress relief. Got to watch the Steelers pound the Texans.

Not much to report news wise, as I've been out of the loop. I hope things get back to what I consider "normal" on Monday. You know...fires, accidents, murders, shootings, etc...

Hey, I can hope, can't I???

I'm Back!!

Sorry for not posting more recently. I've been busy and my wife is having gall bladder surgery so I figured that with my time off on vacation, I'd have time to write a little while she recuperates. It's been quite busy here.

The day that started it off was the morning of the United Way Pancake Flip. Yeah, I know. You're all thinking it. Mega-excitement happy funfest for all. (waiting for the sarcasm to die down..) I had just finished stringing cable when my second man gets a phone call. "Well, I'm outta here. Double shooting...probably fatal.", he said as he sped off.

Great. I was looking forward to a blissful time in the live truck. Oh well. So, I go set up quickly and made it in time for our hit. Then we settled down until our next hit. My reporter, Jacque and I made small talk. She flirts with me..shamelessly. Poor girl. It's just the cross I have to bear, I guess...hey..NO LAUGHING!!

My cell rang and our producer informed us that our 5:30am hit was cancelled. Jacque says, "Wooo...easy morning!" My reply, "You just jinxed us.." And I was right. Not two minutes later, the desk calls and tells us to break down and head over to the double shooting. The one my partner, Barry, was sent out to. Seems as soon as Barry and our other morning reporter got to the scene, all the cops started bugging out with lights and sirens to a call for an officer needing assistance. That turned into an police involved shooting.

Jaque and I headed to the first scene and we're the only ones around, besides two officers and a woman in hysterics. Seems that a house was broken into by two people. The owner of the house, a big time marijuana dealer, was home with his girlfriend. The home owner shot one of the robbers and then the second robber shot the home owner. The girlfriend ran into a closet and hid. She called 911 from a closet.

Well, it was a typical crime scene here. Except for all people screaming at each other. Neighbors started fistfights behind the crime scene tape. And various threats of, "We're gonna get him...!!" Seems the neighborhood knew who shot the dealer. Apparantly, the dealer was a "nice" guy in the neighborhood. He was loved. He kept the kids away from the crack dealers and kept three elderly people with groceries when they didn't have enough money for food or medicine.

Ok, sorta nice guy.

Katrina's Remnants

Well here in N.E. Ohio, we're under a flood watch from Katrina. It's raining very hard here. She's no longer a tropical anything but just a low front bringing a lot of rain.

I'm gonna get soaking wet. No matter what you wear, no matter how much you prepare, you get wet. Or at least I do.

I'll be out in it telling everyone...."Look...It's raining!!!"

I'll let you all know how dry I kept...

I'm not looking forward to this morning....

Quick Update

I apologize for not posting much, but my wife is in the hospital. She's been there for the past five days and they can't figure out what is wrong.

They thought it was her heart and a heart attack. But that came back negative. Then they looked for bloot clots in her lungs. That was negative also. Now they think she might have a hiatial hernia or an ulcer, or possibly a bad gall-bladder.

They're scoping her tomorrow to look at what is going on inside. I'll keep updated.

Soon, I hope to return to more camera captured mayhem.

What's Going On Recently

Sorry that I haven't posted much. I've been busy. We've had many funerals for the 16 local Marines killed in Iraq. Lots of sadness. Plus we've added a new reporter in the morning. So, we've got two reporters in the morning now and it makes things a little more busy.

Plus we've been down an editor for the week and I'm usually the one that fills in. Nothing interesting happens when you're inside editing. THAT SUCKS..

But, today I particpated in a promotion shoot for our morning show. Yep, I'm going to be in a promo spot. They actually are going to put my ugly mug on TV. Fools..!!

One month until my two weeks off. Not that I'm counting....

I'm Big in Belgium

Just a note to the overseas readers of my blog. Welcome and thanks for reading it. Apparantly, besides my own country, Belgium seems to like me. Thanks to Belgium..!!

Tribulations About Vacation

My wife and I try to take an annual trip to the Outer Banks. My wife went to school at the University of North Carolina. To tell you what a fan of North Carolina we are, that's where we spent our honeymoon. Yup, Chapel Hill.

But the honeymoon is another discussion entirely. Like I said earlier, we try to get to the Outer Banks every year. Well, as usual, we rented a house on the beach well in advance of our trip. I have two weeks off in a row and I plan on doing nothing except taking pictures, surfing the net occasionally and maybe getting a little inebriated after eating lots of seafood.

My wife asked her work for the same two weeks in a row off that I asked for. Shockingly, she was able to get both weeks off. Then this last week, everything fell apart. That line, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans...", never rang truer.

My wife's work tells her that because of a drop off of staffing, that she can't have the third week of September off. She can have the second week off that she requested though. That totally threw our plans into the proverbial toilet. We made the reservation for THAT third week.

Ok, no problem, right?? A frantic search of the web site showed the same house available the week earlier. We called the rental company and explained the problem. Well, no problem on their end. Just send another $260 for the change of date because the move of one week moved us from off-peak to peak season. This also will cost us an extra $600 in rental fees.

So, the wife and I get ready to send the $260 when she gets a call from her work explaining that she will not be able to take that second week off either. Oh Joy!!

I looked at my wife and said, "Well, I'll send you and the boys a postcard from the beach." That did not go over very well. So, we called the rental company, explained the situation and were told that we'd lose our original deposit unless we'd like them to try and sublet the place for the second week. We'd at least get SOME of our original deposit back. Well, some is better than none, so we told them to have at it.

Not 10 minutes later, my wife's work calls her and says, "We've made a big error. You can still have that second week off, but not the third. Sorry if that messed up your plans."

My wife and I are staring at each other opened mouthed while hearing this on the answering machine. What do we do now?? Pay an extra $860 for the first week, lose our deposit, try to get some of it back or just chuck it all and stay at home??

As we're contemplating those options, our phone rings once again. It's my wife's aunt. She lives in North Carolina and she's calling to see if we're available to come down and stay with her at their BEACH HOUSE in Nags Head the second week of September.

The timing of this was nothing but a miracle. My wife's aunt OWNS a house on the beach. They do lease it out on a time share, but on a very limited basis. They're going to be there the whole month and they thought we'd like to come down for a week.

Prayers answered. Just need to sublet the other beach house. Anyone interested??

I'm just waiting for phone to ring once again..

Strip Clubs and Leaky Pipes

Last Friday, I went out to a "gentleman's..." Nahh..can't say that with a straight face. I went to a titty bar with a buddy of mine. We went to toast the departure of a certain person we didn't like. Childish I know, but hey, when you get a chance to drink, do Jager shots and see boobies, you jump. Well, at least I did.

After about 11 or 12 beers, Jagermeister shots and numerous lap dances, we staggered back to my buddy's place after a great breakfast of steak and eggs. I fell asleep at around 4:30am on my buddy's couch. I was dreaming that I was in a bar hearing the Cantina song from Star Wars playing in the background when I realized, it was my cell phone. I woke up slowly and answered the phone. Hey..no hangover at least! I never get hangovers, but there might be the first time. never know. Anyways...


My wife is on the phone, "YOUNEEDTOGETHOME.THEREISWATEREVERYWHEREINTHEBASEMENT!
APIPEBURSTANDTHEREISNOWATERINTHEHOUSE!!"

Me: "Ummmm...whazz time is it??"

Wife: "It's six in the morning and you need to come home right away..."

Thus ending my blissful sleep and having to wake my buddy up out of his self induced coma so I could get my car and leave.

Oh, what joy it was when I got home. What a double joy it was to call a plumber on a SATURDAY which was double the service charge.

I'd have rather have gone back to looking at boobies and paying for lap dances. It was a lot cheaper...and much more fun.

A Giant Rooster

I'd forgotten I'd written this. I wrote it a long time ago on photogslounge.net so I decided to post it on my blog as well. Talk about one to remember...

" Well, it seemed like a normal day, morning live shot then head back for a too early lunch. When I get a call from the desk, "Ready for a little spot news?", she asked laughing. Well, sure..any type of spot news can make a day go along faster. The desk says, "Ok..at E.65th and Bessemer Ave. A giant rooster is attacking cars.."

I smack my radio and make sure it's working right. I ask if I heard right, and all I get is "Yep." Ok...off to my truck I head with thoughts of old Japaneese Godzilla movies running through my head. I can see it now, blood, gore, buildings on fire, tanks, army men getting killed and the putrid scent of singed feathers in the air. I get to the scene to find.....NOTHING.

But, on the adjoining street, I find a house on fire with fire trucks just pulling up. I call the desk and tell them no giant rooster, but a house fire. I go to shoot it and bump into two of Cleveland's finest. I tell the cops that I've never done any type of illegal drug and I'm not under the influence of any right now...but I have to ask this, "Did you guys get a call of a giant rooster attacking cars????" Fortunately, instead of hauling me in, they laugh real loud and say, "Yeah, but it wasn't a giant rooster..it was a huge Rottweilier chasing cars. Some drunk coming home saw the dog and called it in as a giant rooster attacking cars."

Well, Ok..at least I got a house fire out of the trip. Then later on that day, I get another assignment to drive out to Aurora, Ohio to the Sea World to shoot the newborn baby penguins. I ask the desk, "What's with all the bird stories..first the giant rooster, now penguins?!?!?!?" The reply..(and it's true).." Well Brian, I guess you're just having a foul day...."

EVERYBODY'S A COMEDIAN!!!

Looking for a Mother

This morning I spent a good bit of time with my reporter and good buddy Vic. He's working the morning shift to fill in for our regular morning reporter, Obie. I really enjoy working with Vic. He's a funny guy, smart, a real quick wit and quite the trivia buff. Oh, and if he reads this, he's also a pretty good man, even though he's a liberal.

Anyways, this morning Vic and I were sent out to chase down the mother of one of the London terrorist bombers. The tip we got turned out to be a dead end. Apparantly she lives here in the Cleveland area and the bomber, Jermaine Maurice Lindsey, a Jamaican born Muslim convert visited her.

This is in itself very disturbing. He might have just been visiting his mother, working up to the final goodbye. But he also could have been meeting with other terrorists, doing recon, making plans for other attacks. It makes you wonder what else was he doing??? Here in Northeastern Ohio, we have a nuclear plant, many bridges, a major metropolitan area vulnerable. Just as many other cities are.

I don't plan on hiding in a hole, changing my life in anyway. But it makes one think and I keep my eyes open a little longer at people now.

Although, the Kinks may have said it best, "Paranoia will destroy ya.."

Elder Abuse (I wish...)

This morning my live shot was in Euclid, OH. The city was having a recall election on their mayor. Apparantly, he ignored a no vote on an issue and proceeded on a project despite the objections of the public. Seems kind of straight forward, right? We've all covered elections. Get b-roll of people going in, sound with voters (supporters and opposition) and b-roll inside the polling place.

My reporter and I asked for permission from the presiding election official for permission to enter the polling place and shoot some video. After a phone call to the county board of elections, our request was granted. The head offical goes inside and tells them that I've been allowed in.

As soon as I stepped into the polling area, you'd have thought the four horsemen of the apocalypse had walked in. An old man, a poll worker, starts screaming, "NO CAMERAS IN THE POLLING AREA !!!!!!!! GET OUT!!! NO CAMERAS...!!!"

This starts off a chorus of other harpies (old women poll workers) reciting his words. I'm trying to explain that the official got permission from the B.O.E. and that I was allowed in. This didn't phase him and he kept repeating and yelling, "NO CAMERAS!!!!"

Another old man gets on a cell phone, "I'M CALLING THE POLICE IF YOU DON'T GET OUT!!!" I told him to go ahead and I started to shoot b-roll. They all start howling at me to stop...

No way.

Finally, the election official comes out and starts telling the poll workers that I was allowed and that he got the permission from the head of the B.O.E. himself. This didn't phase the old man who kept yelling, "I DON'T CARE!! I DON'T CARE!! NO CAMERAS ALLOWED IN!! I DON'T CARE!!"

The official had had enough and yelled back, "HE'S ALLOWED TO BE IN HERE AND I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU CARE OR NOT!!!" That settled them all down, quick.

When I was ready to leave, I went up and shook the hand of the official and thanked him for his help in the matter. Then, I went directly up to the old man, squeezed his hand hard enough during our handshake to get his attention,and said, "Thanks for protecting the Democratic process from that evil First Amendment..."

And as I left, I swear this is true, I hear the old guy ask, "When will it be on...??" I didn't answer but I did shoot a look in his direction.

I've never wanted to bitch slap someone so much in my life. I don't care if he was close to 70 years old, he needed it.

Old Fart...

A Fuzzy Pink Terrorist

The other day, I did a live shot outside my station in the parking lot. This live consisted of a fuzy pink character named Slider. Slider is the Cleveland Indians mascot. The whole premise of our live that morning was to help promote Dollar Dog Day. Hot dogs at that days ballgame were $1.00.

Let me intoduce Slider:




Slider is around 6 foot tall. When you have a grown man inside a goofy outfit, the man tends to become more animated. Hey it's his job, right???




Well, we planned one of the hits to have Slider throwing hot dogs, fully wrapped in their foil packaging, at the camera. The shot started and Slider started to throw the hot dogs. Ok, throw isn't the right word. Rear back and throw at the speed of a Nolan Ryan fastball is more like it. I was pummelled with dozens of freshly cooked hot dogs, still warm...some hot.

Most of them bounced off the lens.

Some missed me entirely.

Some hit my hands.

Some hit me SQUARE IN THE FACE.

And I came away with a slightly bleeding and swollen lip.

I love my job...ehhh.

The Porn Show....Almost...!!

Did a live shot this morning. Just beauty shots for a Friday, trying to get the perfect sunrise over the city from an overlook. A car pulls about twenty feet behind me and a man and woman get out. Their ages had to be early 20's. They sit in the grass, him first, legs outstretched and then her, in his lap..



They knew I was there, in a clearly marked live truck, with the mast extened and my camera cabled out the back of the truck. My camera was faced away from them and towards the city. I guess they thought they were in the clear for a little huggin, touching and squeezing.

They didn't see the MAST CAMERA..

They didn't see it slowly swing over to their direction....

They certainly didn't hear me call back to the control room to let them know what was going on.

And lastly, I know they didn't hear the editing deck in the truck get up to speed when I pushed play and record...

They started off innocently enough. She sat in his lap..and he started kissing her back. Then his hands went into her lap. She smiled brightly. He must have been well manicured.

Then she leaned back and they started kissing and playing tonsil hockey. They would stop every once in a while, when a jogger ran by. But went back to a lot of kissing.

Then her hands went behind her back and into his crotch. That's when this started to get interesting.

Yep...I'm a perv.

Anyways, Mr. Smooth decides to go back to kissing her back and get a handful. Can't say as I blame him. She has a nice body.

After a while of dialing in radio stations, they laid back and relaxed. Mr. Smooth starts to put the moves on big time and decided to do a little undercover work. His lady love didn't mind the previous PDA's but, this might have been too public. She stood up and helped him up.

Damn...show over.

However, the control room was enthralled as was I. I didn't have a beauty shot taken during that time. I did have the MAST CAM punched up feeding the station.

Ahh, too bad I didn't get to see "fireworks" early for the 4th. But, I'm sure Mr. Smooth was having a good time. And I was stuck at work..

Unnoticed Celebrity

I was surfing through the channels last night looking for something to hold my interest long enough for the Nyquil to take effect. I've got a cold and the weather is just as nice as it can be outside. Hooray.

Well, I stumbled on a program on CMT called Southern Rock. The program traced the history of some of the most famous southern rock bands and they highlighted Lynyrd Skynyrd. That opened up the memory floodgate of a chance encounter about ten years ago.

Admittedly, I'm not a big Skynyrd fan. I could only tell you a handful of their songs and really only name one or two of their band members. I certainly couldn't have told you by sight who they were. And that leads to where my story goes.

Back in 1995, I had just moved to Cleveland and had only been here a few weeks when I recieved an invitation in the mail to a World Premiere Screening of the movie 'Freebird'. A documentary on Lynyrd Skynyrd being premiered at the newly opened Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Well, I don't know how my name got on the A-List but I wasn't asking. My wife and I RSVP'ed and went to the RNRHOF for the event. We got there a little early and had looked around the hall. We were considered VIP's for some reason and were able to get into a secluded section. We found the bar and sat down at a table to have some wine and cheese. We sat there in a fog. Here we are in a movie premiere, invited as VIP's and we're like fish out of water.

My wife and I are waiting for someone to realize the error that was made by inviting us when a frail looking woman in a peasant dress, that screamed "Ultimate Flower Child", says hello and asks if she may sit with us. We said sure and we proceeded to have a little conversation with her. She was a very pleasant person who, through conversation, we learned had never been in Cleveland before. I asked her where she was from and she replied, Florida. In hindsight, this was a tipoff, but I'm not very smart.

Then a thin man with his hair pulled back in a pony tail and a very long, bushy beard walked up to the table and said, "Hi honey.." and sat down with us. I introduced myself and my wife and he did likewise. He said his name and I though he said "Artimus" Like I said, I'm not a fan of Skynyrd, so I didn't recognize this gentleman. We talked for a while about the HOF and he seemed really interested that I was in the news business and asked me a lot about being a videographer. Then things began to happen.

They let the general public in and the people lined up outside the ropes and started yelling "Artimus..!!" and "Mr. Pyle.." He grumbled something, got up and walked over to sign autographs. I looked at his wife and she said, "I'm glad you didn't ask him right off for his autograph. He just likes to be left alone at times.." I said to her, "Forgive my ignorance, but who is he??" She smiled and said, "You don't know?? Not real fans huh??"

"He's Artimus Pyle. He was the drummer for Skynyrd..", she told us. My wife and I looked at each other and then laughed. "Well, we like the music, but I never really paid attention to the members of the band too much..", I replied. She laughed also and said , "Well, thanks for not noticing and bugging him. He's had a rough time recently."

After he signed the autographs, Artimus came back and sat down with us again. I apologized for not recognizing him and he said it was just fine with him. He did ask if we wanted his autograph now that we knew and I told him only if he wanted to give it to us. He smiled and signed the poster that we were given as part of the VIP gift bag.

We talked a little more about the hall and music in general. My wife and I didn't want to make the conversation about him. I think he appreciated that because, he told us to sit with him and his wife in the theatre. So, when they called him and his wife over to enter the theatre, he told the Rock Hall people that we were with him. So, we got past everyone and were able to sit with the remaining members of Skynyrd and the Honkettes through the whole movie.

When the movie was showing, you could see the tears in his eyes. The footage that was shot in the plane before it crashed was particulalry chilling. He did wipe a few tears away. Just as I did. Just as everyone in the theatre did. When the movie was over and we all go to up to leave, Mr. Pyle thanked my wife with a kiss on the cheek and a hug for me.

It's one of those memories that you look back on and say, "Wow..did that really happen??" Now I can look back on it and see how stupid I was by not recognizing him but then again, if we had been a regular fan, we'd had probably behaved like one and made a complete asses out of ourselves fawning all over him and his celebrity.

Sometimes ignorance is truly bliss.

Different Meanings

Last night, I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel about Boston firefighters. One of the firefighters made a comment while a fighting a church fire. He said, "This was a good fire..."

To a rgular person, "A Good Fire" could mean a nice cozy fire in a fireplace on a cold winters night. To the dad at home, a good fire could mean the grill is just right for a barbeque.

Now, to us as photogs, it means...

"Holy Shit...the flames I got!! The house was still burning when I got there. You could really feel the heat from across the street..."

Man...we live in a world of our own, don't we..??

The Scenic Route

This morning I was pulled off my live shot to "go chase the FBI". My assignment desk person said she'd heard Cleveland PD assisting the FBI around the Buckeye and Woodhill road areas. Those of you who are familiar with Cleveland should know this area. It's a wonderful place of trees, hummingbirds, deer in meadows and wild flowers...

Nahhh...actually it's pretty much a run down area. I drove there in about five minutes because rush hour was headed in not out. When I got to Woodhill and Buckeye I found....nothing. So, I drove around the side streets where I was treated to lovely images reminicent of the old Burma Shave signs. These were more modern versions though..

R.I.P. Lil' Marcus
Thug4Life
E.120 Folk
Crip Land
Pimp Daddy R.I.P. Bro

Like Simon and Garfunkel sang, "The words of the prophet are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.."

Kalahari Waterpark Resort- A Review

Last weekend, myself, my wife and two boys took a mini-vacation to the newly constructed and newly opened Kalahari Waterpark Resort in Sandusky, OH. I posted earlier that I was upset and needed a little time to calm down before writing about my experience there.

Well, I think five days is enough of a calming down period, don't you??? Plus, I have to keep repeating the mantra:

• IT JUST OPENED ON MAY 20th...
• IT JUST OPENED ON MAY 20th..
• IT JUST OPENED ON MAY 20th.

To say that this place is huge is an understatement. It's honking big, plus they're still building onto the place. More rooms and water attractions are going up as I write this. The parking lot is large and long. I'd suggest the valet parking because if you have a lot of luggage, you sure don't want to be lugging it across the parking lot, up a wooden bridge across an entrance way and into the lobby. My advice, use the valet and bellman service offered.


Checking in was a snap but remember to take the map they offer you. You'll need it.

The room we stayed in was fantastic. We had a family suite which had three beds plus a pull out sleeper sofa. The room also had a gas fireplace. Really good to have when you come into a room wet and the A/C has been on full blast. Nice and cozy. The room that we stayed in had two bathrooms, two sinks and most importantly, a door that separated the two rooms so a little privacy could be had for the frazzled parents and sleep could be had for the overtired children.

The waterpark itself is an indoor/outdoor one. The majority of the funto be had is inside the resort's water area. There is an indoor water roller coaster which is fun...well, looked fun when it was working, which wasn't often. There's a lazy river that winds around the indoor part. Relaxing to just float around on a tube.


There's also the slides and indoor tower with huge waterbucket that dumps a lot of gallons on you every three minutes or so, if you choose to stand underneath it. Lots of climbing and water spraying devices to keep kids occupied for hours.


Outside, there is a pool that is wonderful for those that just want to relax and float, tread water and maybe take the kiddies in to start to learn how to swim. It goes from 1 foot deep to the deepest at 4 feet. In the deep end is a large water fountain that my sons found enjoyable to float under. Attached to the outdoor pool is a medium sized "jacuzzi". The water is a little warmer than the pool, and it has multiple jets to produce bubbles. Plus a ledge to sit on and enjoy the warmth and sun yourself.

Another part of the pool is an above ground sprinkler area for the little ones to run around in and get wet.


There are lots of chaise lounges and thatched umbrellas to sit around and sunbathe or people watch. (The propensity of hot women in revealing swimsuits was remarkable..) I did get a few dirty looks from my wife. So sue me.

There are two bars that serve cold drinks plus beer and alcohol at the pool. I gave in and had a frozen daquiri, just because I didn't feel like drinking a beer. There is also a walk in snack bar that serves light snacks such as hot dogs and such for a quick lunch when at poolside.

Inside the resort, there are numerous restaurants, kiosks, a candy store, a sushi stand (that wasn't open yet), a coffee shop, an art store and a couple of clothing stores. For the kids, there is an arcade that you can blow money on. A indoor nine hole miniature golf course is also inside which isn't all that impressive but you can learn to count to nine in Swahili. There's also a pottery area that kids and adults alike can paint pre-made pottery items and have them fired in a kiln. There are multiple activitites geared to kids on a daily basis and it can be quite a fun experience for the kids and parents as it does induce family activity.


Inside the lobby, which I thought was the coolest was the glass booth that contained two lion cubs. You have the opportunity to have your picture taken with the cubs although it is for a nominal fee.

The one thing that I noticed is how friendly the staff is. They go above and beyond helpful. Their courtesy is welcome, especially to those who have screaming kids and need a smiling face once in a while.

The one thing I can say is that staying here is not cheap, but if it's for a family vacation, it's worth it. Especially if the kids have a good time.

Now, that I have reviewed most of what I consider important, and somewhat thorough, let me tell you of my experience. Remembering my mantra (see above...) the family and I had an enjoyable time although there were a few bumpy parts on the road to happiness.

The few problems we ran into, I believe were a part to have just opened recently. The first problem I ran into was that the in room internet access was non-existant. They charge you $9.95 for 24 hours but they were having major IT problems they said, so I had to settle for the lobby Wi-Fi but trying to get an access code from the desk and IT guy was like pulling teeth, even though they offer it for free. So, if you want to go wireless in the lobby, have at it.

The second problem which really made us mad was we didn't get our room cleaned until we complained about it. We had gone out to the pool early, came back at 11:30am. They were four rooms away and the supervisor asked when we would be out of the room so it could be cleaned. We told him we'd be showering and be out in an hour around 12:30pm. We left the room before 12:30pm and the cleaning lady was two rooms away. We came back from lunch around 2:00pm after playing a few games in the arcade. We entered and found the room the way we had left it, including the dishes from the room service order the night before.

We changed and went back to the pool again. This time, we returned to the room at 5:00pm and it still hadn't been touched. To make a longer story short, the room wasn't cleaned until we called twice and complained. Finally at 6:30pm it was cleaned.

Third, the phone system wasn't completly functional. We couldn't direct dial many of the services. Plus the quick dial buttons weren't functioning either.

Overall, we did have a good time at the waterpark. We just wish it had been a more organized and run a little better...

But, then again, there is the mantra...

Car vs Amish Buggy

Before I left for the mini vacation I'm on, I covered a really horrific accident. Out in Eastern Geauga County,Ohio there is a very large community of Amish. They are centered around the communities of Middlefiled and Huntsburg. They live in a peaceful existance with land and God. To a lesser extent, they have a tolerance for the modern life that surrounds them.

Cars for one are a danger to human and animal alike in the Amish community out here. Especially when people get impatient and just have to get to the store in a hurry. Damn the torpedoes and the Amish, FULL SPEED AHEAD!!

When a driver encounters an Amish buggy his first reaction is to try and get around the slow moving horse and cart. Sometimes people just don't have the proper tolerance and patience to wait for an opening and they try to pass without slowing down and giving the buggy proper space. To them, share the road is a joke.

Take the accident I covered two nights ago. A car driving westbound on a two lane road. A straight two lane road...A clear two lane road with no other traffic on it except an Amish buggy also traveling westbound. The driver was speeding. Well, speeding doesn't properly put it into perspective. As Mel Brooks put it in Spaceballs, "My GOD...they've gone PLAID!!" That's the speed he was going.

The car slammed into the Amish buggy literally destroying it. It was in splinters. Worse yet a family of nine were thrown out. Mother, father and seven children aged 2 months to 12 years old were all injured. I was on scene within fifteen minutes because I was at home and was called out to the accident from my house.

Three helicopters were called in and five ambulances were dispatched to the scene. It looked like a battle zone. The horse that was in the accident survived but was later destroyed. I was unfortunate to catch that on camera.

The driver of the car was finally charged with failing to maintain a safe distance. H's lucky he's not facing multiple vehicular homicide charges. The Amish family is incredibly lucky. I'm very happy that they're going to survive. It was one of the worst accidents I've ever seen..