Wow...A Taawdy

My own little award thanks to my fellow blogger Taawd. Finally I'm recognized for my brilliance. Ok..would you believe my apathetic approach to my blog? Yeah, I think that's what I'd believe also. The only reason I think I got this award was because of a Mojito addled Taawd getting home and pressing a few keys on his keyboard. I'm not knocking it. I'll take any drunken award I can get my grubby little fingers on. So, thank you Taawd.

But there is a catch to the accolades. I need to nominate at least seven other blogs and list them here. So, here goes...

1. Mystery Classmate - This is a blog set up by an alumnus of my old high school. He basically takes pictures of our classmates as we are now and then asks the rest of us, Who Is It? It's a fun way to see what our friends and classmates are up to. And how much we've aged.

2. Up The Downstair - A blog by one of our directors at our station. Great insight and wonderful photos. Especially of one of my favorite places on Earth...The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

3. Turdpolisher - A fellow photog from Baton Rouge, LA. His perspective on life, the daily grind and his unique philosophy are the draw. He shames me into wanting to be a better blogger.

4. All Things Cleveland - A blog about the beauty of Cleveland, my adopted hometown, and everything to do with Cleveland.

5. OtakuPhotog - Another fellow photog, Erin Winking. He's in Oklahoma but I've followed his adventures since he was in Illinois. Great reading and he's a great guy.

6. TV Photog Blog - Another brother videographer. Chris Weaver is a photog from North Carolina and another blogger that makes me want to be a better blogger. His sense of humor, caring and our mutual admiration society of Lenslinger, the Godfatehr of photog blogging, is why I give him this award. His stories are wonderful. He's also a good family man. Check him out.

7.J.Y.O.A.G. - A hit or miss blog. Looks like it was gone for a while but is back. Written by someone who speaks his mind and isn't afraid to upset people or kowtow to political correctness.

So, after getting this award from Taawd, I'm giving these blogs above the Taawdy. But there's a catch...

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

There you go. Have fun and check up on those bloggers above.

Shift Killing

This was about as much shooting I did today. Taking a still of my camera outside the Cuyahoga County Administrative Building as we were waiting for a county official, who is under investigation by the F.B.I., to return to work.

He didn't show up while I my shift was up. I figured I might as well take a picture of something.

What's on tap tomorrow? Probably the same thing but different county official with the same F.B.I. problems.

Say What?

This past Friday I covered the funeral for a fallen police officer. We were in the small town of Tallmadge, OH where the funeral home was. People had placed small American flags along the street where the procession would start to take the officer to his funeral.

I was setting my camera up after running cable (this was at 4:45a.m.) when a man driving by slows, rolls his window down and asks, "What's going on? A parade?"

Excuse me? Pardon my language but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Now I'm smart enough to understand that not everyone keeps up with the news. As much as I'd like people to be more aware, it just isn't going to happen.

But why would anyone think that news cameras lined up and pointing at a funeral home could possibly suggest a parade?

Oh but it got better. I was asked a second time by a totally different person driving by, with their child in their car, when the parade started.

A Summit County deputy was walking past and mumbled loud enough for me to hear him.

"Dipshit."

I couldn't agree more deputy.

Neato

On Thursday, I did a live shot at the Canterbury C.C. in Beachwood, OH. They're hosting the 2009 Senior PGA Championship. We did the shot to promote the event because ticket sales were starting which was OK with me. We had a nice location to do the shot from. It's always nice to do a shot from a country club atmosphere instead of the double murder at the inner city intersection of Crack and Pipe.

Anyhow, I was amazed when they brought out the trophy for the winner of the championship. This thing is the original trophy that was created in 1937. Ha all the winners names engraved on it such as, Snead, Trevino, Player, Palmer, etc. You get my point.

Look at this monster...



It's over three feet tall and weights a good bit. I'd at least estimate it at thirty pounds.

Well, that was my thrill of the day. I did contemplate doing something with the trophy and eBay but, I thought more about how much I love my freedom so I quickly dropped all of those ideas and finished my live shots like a professional should.

It's An Interesting Night Already

Just finished shooting a fire on Cleveland's west side. Was asked by a local resident, "Can I be on TV? I just had work done on my tattoos."

Yup....interesting start to my shift.

UPDATE...

Oh the night just got better from then on. I was returning to my station when I drove in front of the homeless shelter that is on our street, when this guy jumps out in front of my truck causing me to lock the brakes. He starts jumping up and down and screaming nonsense at me and cursing.

Wonderful. Just what I needed. I back up and drive around him and head back to the station.

Then about two hours later I'm called out to a standoff...but that is another story involving desk people and me thanking God that I have a scanner...

Now THAT'S A Fire!!

Big Fire in Elyria, OH overnight. An old warehouse about a block long caught on fire.

Very long night. I'll blog about this when I wake up in a few hours..

Follow the link and click on play icons. I got the ground video and the explosions..

I OWN THIS STREET!!!

Homicide. Another person shot on Cleveland's east side and I was sent to cover it. It was at East 90th and Harris and happened sometime around 3 a.m. on Thursday. I was sent around 7 a.m., after our morning show was over. I figured it was just another routine homicide, if you can classify homicides as routine.

When I turned on to E.90th and drove approximately 100 feet, a woman came running up the middle of the street waving her arms and yelling at me. "Ain't no m.....f...... news cameras going to come down my street and take pictures!!", she screamed. "I own this mf'ing street. I ain't letting you do shit here. I won't even let the mf'ing cops down here. They killed my n.....!!"

I cracked the window a little and asked, "The police killed your friend?"

"No, you dumb ass cracker!! Some n's did and I'm gonna get those mf'ing n's !! And I ain't letting you do take any mf'ing pictures...!!"

She then stood in front of my live van and crossed her arms. I shrugged and picked the phone off of my belt and started to call the desk to inform them of my predicament. That's when the loudmouth started up again.

"Go ahead and call the mf'ing cops, white boy! I won't let the cops down my street! I own this street!!"

Just as she was saying this, and the timing couldn't have been better, the Cleveland Police evidence van turned the corner behind her and started to come up the street, followed by two detective cars. I smiled and pointed for her to turn around.

The cops pulled up behind her and hit their radio horn notifying the lady to move. And I know this might be a shock but...she moved.

I let the police van pass and then I drove down the street a little and called the desk to let them know of the hostile enviroment that I was in. They told me to wait for the reporter to show up before shooting anything. Fine with me, I'll wait.

So when Bill, my reporter, showed up I let him know of what was going on with the owner of the street and the hostile environment, he told me he'd watch my back. I felt so much better.

We walked up the street and I began rolling as soon as I got the camera out of the van, just in case there needed to be a record of our untimely demise. And true to form, loudmouth came running down the street again, right at me screaming all about her n and those mf'ers that shot her n. She also reiterated her stance of the fact that she wasn't going to allow any cameras to take any pictures on her street. She actually did the old, "I'm going to stand in front of the camera lens and wherever you go I'm going to stand in front of you" routine. The detectives just laughed and rolled their eyes.

The tirade continued for another ten minutes but not before her friends came and pulled her out of my way. One of them actually made sense, telling her, "Let him do his job. They'll help catch the n that did it.."

Needless to say the yelling continued from the porch of her house but it was laced with the previous n-words, mf'ers and other sundry curse words.

Made for an interesting morning. I haven't had one that tense for a while.

Water Spouts!!

It's been very slow the past few weeks. The mildly cold spring/summer we've been having has put a slight damper on overnight news. The shootings that usually are numerous have slowed down to a trickle. Its good news for the police but it makes for a slow night for me.

This morning though we had a weather system move through and it brought about a rare event over Lake Erie. Water Spouts. They are more common in the fall but this cold air system that came in brought about these water spouts. I spotted one at Huntington Beach out in Bay Village, OH after driving along the lake shore for twenty minutes.

They didn't seem to reach the water but it was interesting to see them form, start to stretch down and then dissipate.

You can see the pics and the video here.

What's With All The Touching?

I'm currently watching the pre-show to the last leg of the triple crown. The cameras are following Big Brown live, to what I can assume is a walk to the racing paddock. Of course there is security all around this horse and I can say I understand that. What I can't seem to understand is why these security officials feel like they can put their hands upon the camera and try to push it out of the way. I'm speaking of Big Brown's exercise trainer and some woman official (at least it looks like a woman) in a sports jacket and sunglasses. The camera is the network camera that is showing the race. You'd at least think that the official would know that the camera is there for the network. The camera wasn't even that close to the darn horse! The cameraman wasn't rushing the people or the horse. Wow...that walking backwards is surely threatening.

The cameras just followed the jockeys from their room to the spot where the traditional jockey photos are taken. Nobody even blinked about the camera being close to them.

And then a couple of nights ago, during the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals game, Paul Pierce goes down with a supposed knee injury. After Pierce is put into a wheelchair, the camera, which is a network camera once again, follows Pierce being wheeled through the tunnel and back to the locker room. While Pierce is being wheeled back, a guy puts his hand up and tries to block the camera's view.

What kind of bullshit is this?

The cameras are there because of the desire to showcase the talents of the athletes love of money that TV broadcasts bring in. If you don't want the cameras to be there, then fine. Enjoy not getting all that revenue that these TV cameras and the networks provide. Go back to the days of life without TV revenue and the limelight that the cameras provide to the moneymaking athletes.

Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone try and push a camera away from where they have the right to be. Especially when they're providing the coverage for the event.

Fuel Tank Rescue In Auburn Township

Breaking news !! Three men injured while cleaning inside a large fuel tank in Auburn Twp., OH. Reports are that it's a man and his two sons that were inside the tank. The father and his sons may have been overcome by fumes that were remaining inside the tank.

The father was rescued, alert and conscious. When I left the scene, one son was still inside the tank awaiting rescue. One son was removed in a conscious condition.

This happened about eight miles from my house.

UPDATE: One of the sons died. He was a junior in high school.

TV People Just Ain't Right

Went to get coffee the other day at work and when I opened the cabinet for some sugar I noticed this mug had been altered. If you can't read it, it's a mug warning about dangerous train tracks. Someone has a "news" sense of humor.

Poets and Pirates Tour, Part II

Ok, it's the morning after the concert and I'll put down my thoughts. I thought that the first main act, Gary Allen, was wonderful. He's not a major act yet but he did put on a high energy show nonetheless.

Leeann Rimes was next and like I said before, I didn't know many of her songs so, I'm not an expert on her music but she has a great voice. However, her energy on stage is lacking. She really has only one move which is to shake her shoulders. I was not all that impressed with her performance. Probably why she's second on this tour.

Third out was the Red Rocker, Sammy Hagar. Hagar put a great performance right from the start. He interacts with the audience, serving them a couple of drinks, having major fun with the show and playing incredible guitar. His backup band was just as good. He played a couple of Van Halen hits but it reminded me that he had a great career going before Van Halen. One song that I'd forgot about was "Heavy Metal". He has fun with life it seems. His act showed it. His voice can easily carry any stadium and it was the best vocal performance of the night.

Keith Urban was next. All I have to say is that he should have been the headliner. His show was stunning. His crew had a couple of minor feedback problems in the early going but if you could get by that, then it was full on fun from there on. I'd go see him again...anytime. His guitar playing borders on legendary. If you ever have the chance to see him in concert, GO!

And lastly was Kenny Chesney. I'd like to say his performance was great, and I'm sure it was. But if it wasn't for the two fat cows in huge cowboy hats that decided to stand up through the first part of Kenny's show, I'd probably have enjoyed it more. As it was, my wife was cold and the fact that we could hardly see the show, we left after seven songs. He seemed to put on a good show but if I had my druthers, I'd have ended the show after Keith Urban.

Poets and Pirates Tour

Spending the day and night at a concert in downtown Cleveland. It's Kenny Chesney's tour. It features Gary Allen, LeeAnn Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban as well.

The tickets were free through our station and I'm so glad they offered tickets to us.

Right now, Gary Allen is on stage. He's fantastic and the concert should only get better. I'm not a huge fan of LeeAnn Rimes but I'm sure she puts on a great show. My wife is excited to see Keith Urban. Wonder why???
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Frustration

This morning the generator in my live truck has died twice. Once at the most inconvenient time.....right in the middle of a live picture.

Hope it gets fixed quickly....yet again.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Test

Testing to see if my Blackberry is working properly again.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The $.23 Pizza...Would You Wait?

Today is the day that the Papa John's Pizza chain apologized to Northeastern and Northwestern Ohio for mocking LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for complaining about deliberate fouls on James. The pizza chain in the Washington D.C. area printed t-shirts with the words "23 CRYBABY" on them, which didn't go down well here in Cleveland. Plus the Wizards had their butts handed to them by the Cavs which made the shirts seem even more childish.

Papa John's decided that to make up for it, they'd offer $.23 cent pizzas to all northern Ohio residents that wanted to have a pizza. People are lined up all around the pizza shops waiting up to four hours for a large pizza with one topping. Lines are stretching around buildings, through parking lots and up to a block in length. People have even been arrested for cutting in line and causing disturbances.

We were live at a Papa John's store this morning before the chaos ensued.

They seemed to have their ducks in a row. They had lots of pizza boxes folded and ready to go. Even bringing in rental trucks to hold the folded boxes.



Had their dough made and started prepping the pizzas in anticipation for the onslaught of customers.


Got their sauce...literally hundreds of gallons ready for the day.


Plus they made us a few pizzas to take back to the station. Nothing like pepperoni pizza at eight in the morning.


The phones were ringing off the hook starting at 5:30 a.m. with people wanting to get their slice of the pie...literally. Stores weren't to open until 10 a.m. but people just didn't seem to grasp that concept. We had one guy even walk into the store and want his pizza at 6 a.m. He was quickly turned away.

Stores are starting to run out of pizza and ingredients. Some stores have closed already.

I'm waiting for the riots to start.

Clearance Issues

I was sent out as soon as I stepped into the building this morning. It's been pretty slow the past few weeks so I've been looking for something to happen overnight. My assignment desk guy Russ, called and told me he thought he'd heard of a shooting. He sent me out to the RTA rapid station at Superior and Euclid avenues in East Cleveland.

I left the station and headed off to the scene. I took the quickest way that I knew of to get there. I wasn't driving my usual Unit 2 live truck. It was out with generator issues so I grabbed our newest truck which has the highest mast clearance of twelve feet. I really didn't think anything of it until I got close to where the RTA tracks cut through neighborhoods. They're elevated and I need to pass under the tracks. The small underpasses are old tunnels or small bridges that aren't built for taller vehicles.

My first route took me under the tracks at an underpass that was said to be twelve foot clearance. My truck is twelve foot tall so, I had to turn around. At least this underpass was marked. I wasn't so fortunate at my detour route. I came to the next underpass and it wasn't marked. Plus the streetlights and the lights in the underpass were out, making it very suspect to say the least. No sign to tell me what the clearance was so, I turned around yet again.

I tried four other underpasses and they all were the identical of each other. Not marked and dark. I had to go close to a mile and a half out of my way to get to the scene. But I decided that ripping a mast out of a live truck was not the way to start a Monday off. And waking up on a Tuesday, jobless isn't a much better prospect. I'm sure that I did the right thing by not trying my luck on one of those underpasses. If it meant going five miles out of my way, I'd still do it.

X-Ray Results

Well, I had my x-rays last night and I've got a Grade 2 ankle sprain. I guess it could have been worse. I have a partial tear of a ligament and pooled blood on the inside of my foot.

I'm heading back to work tomorrow but walking is very painful. I guess the kids can't go out bike riding anymore. It's too dangerous to my health.

Robots Are Going To Kill Me

Currently I am lying on an air matress in the Carnegie Science Center, in Pittsburgh. I'm here for my son's boy scout sleep over. To my immediate right is an orange industrial robot that has been programmed to shoot a basketball at a hoop.

Every once in a while the robot spins around and extends it's two pronged appendage in all sorts of directions as if it's "looking around" to see what is near it.

I'm sure that it's not happy that it has been retired to a life of free throws when it used to do heavy lifting or precise work that engineers took months to program.

The dance it does is really a facade. It's plotting to kill someone while they're sleeping, in revenge for it's demotion.

I hope I make it through the night.
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Well, I Really Did It..

Well, I really did it..

We went out about an hour ago to take/teach the kids bike riding. Their bikes needed air in the tires after a winter not being ridden. We took the training wheels off today.

We(the family and I) went to the local gas station to get air for the tires (.75 cents...ain't that a bitch!!??), so I get the first bike out and set it to the side. I go back to the van to get the second bike out.

Unknown to me, the first bike must have rolled back behind me (training wheels weren't off yet) and when I stepped back, there was a bike in my way.

I stumbled backwards, holding the second bike out to balance myself as I was geting my right foot tangled in the first bike. I awkwardly danced back about three more feet and caught my left foot in a crack between a concrete and blacktop section. I felt a stretch and a pop and then I saw the sky. My wife came out and was aghast.

Now I'm in agony, my left ankle is swelled up to the size of a beefsteak tomato(e) and I've just downed two tylenol with codeine.

Ice and Tylenol 3, elevation for the foot, ibuprofen and muscle relaxers. What more could a guy ask for?

Oh yeah....rear view mirrors.

Well, It's Gone

My Xbox 360 did finally die again. After a couple weeks of good use after I did the Towel Trick to get it running again after the 3 RROD reared it's ugly head.

I sent the 360 off to Texas this morning. Hope I get it or another one back quickly enough.

I'm going to start to get the shakes and sweats....360 withdrawl.

Damn, it's a tough monkey to shake.

What Will I Chase Down Tomorrow Night?

Probably, and this is just a guess, I'll be chasing down the 10th vacant house fire since last Monday. Seems that on Cleveland's east side near the Broadway/Union area, there is an arsonist that is torching vacant homes. Some people need a hobby, huh?

I wish that I didn't have to run out and cover these but it's the unknown factor that makes us run and check the fires out. One never knows when or if the firefighters will find a body in the burning building or worse yet and God forbid, something happen to a firefighter.

Hopefully they'll catch the idiot that is setting these homes on fire.

Yep...

APRIL FOOLS..see..?

In a surprsing announcement, Barak Obama will announce at 11:00 a.m. EST press conference, that he will forgo his bid to become President of the United States and become Hillary Clinton's running mate.

"I've decided that such an ongoing war of words between the Clinton campaign and mine is fruitless and damaging to the Democratic Party", Barak Obama said.

Staffers were stunned by his willingness to become Hillary Clinton's VP running mate...

To Kenny.

Hey!! Send me your e-mail address. I've seemed to have lost it in the transition from PC to Mac.

Thanks!!

Back From The Dead...For Now

A couple of weeks ago I was playing Baseball on my Xbox360 with my oldest son. The screen froze and I reset the console. Bad things then happened with my 360 mocking me with glee as the three red rings of death (3RROD) appeared. Now I'm sure that this has happened to some of you and you've cursed and thrown things. I couldn't as my seven year-old was at my side. So, I did what any normal male, the age of 39, would do. I wept silently when no one was around.

I bit the bullet and called Microsoft to get the 360 fixed. Long story short, it's going to cost me $99 to fix. Why, because I'm not the original owner of the 360. I got around it so it's not going to cost me, but I'm not going into detail about that (boring and not really necessary).

I look up on the internet on the 3RROD causes and stumble upon The Towel Trick. It's simple, I thought. "Hey..I CAN DO THAT!!!" It involves removing the HD (if you have one), plugging the 360 in and turning it on. Then wrap the 360 in 2 to 3 cotton bath towels, thus making it heat up. Let it slowly cook itself for about 20-25 minutes.

After that span of time, you unwrap and turn it off. Let the 360 cool for around a half-hour. Then, after that time has expired, plug in everything and hold your breath while you press the power button.

And I'll be darned...



IT WORKS!! Albeit a temporary fix, you can get it to work for you and you can play for a while, while waiting for the Microsoft box to arrive so you can send it back and get it repaired.

Some people have reporter it working for about 45 minutes then the 3RROD appears again up to fourteen days of usage, and beyond.

Awwww....GEEEZ!!

I'm upstairs in my "man den", the wife is in the kitchen doing the dishes. My children have taken over the living room because they've set up a vast battlefield with their Army men.

I'm on the computer and I hear my youngest yelling, "FIRE...FIRE...FIRE" very loudly in a stressed out voice.

I run from my seat, down the hallway, downstairs (taking two at a time), where I almost step on a cat passing the bottom of the stairs. I jumped a little over the cat(to keep from killing the poor thing) only to hit the wall across from the stairwell...

My shoulder put a nice round crack in the drywall about 1 1/2 ft in circumference.

My wife looks at me like I'm crazed...

The kids are looking at me like I'm going to kill them...

The children were playing and got into an argument...the youngest was yelling..."LIAR...LIAR....LIAR" at the oldest..

Now I've no idea how to repair drywall..

And I have a sore shoulder...

Drive Through Doughnut Shop

This accident happened last week but I've been too damn lazy to blog about it. I'm on vacation and decided I'd better do something worthwhile while lounging around on the couch, watching the NCAA tournament and seeing my brackets taking a beating.

Two guys in a Ford Focus lost control of their vehicle, hit a curb, went airborne, took out the storefront of the Doughnut and Smoke Shop, landed on their side which killed one man in the car and critically injured the other in the car.



The picture doesn't do the damage to the store justice. Now you might think this is a one in a million happening. But this is the sixth...SIXTH..time this has happened to the store and the owner in twenty seven years. The strange part is, this store is on a straight part of the road. Kind of hard to wreck a car into a building there but people have managed to do it six times in the past.

The car didn't fare very well though.



No word, at least that I know of, if drugs or alcohol were involved. And there was no police chase involved.

It's St. Patrick's Day..

Big Fat Hairy Deal.

Seriously. I've never celebrated SPD. Why? Because I'm not Irish. Why pretend I'm something I'm not? I don't think the idea of drinking green beer is fun. I abhor the thought of wearing green just because...

And what I hate the most is pointing a camera into the midst of a bunch of yelling drunkards that wear shirts that say "Kiss me, I'm Irish" and who couldn't find Ireland on a map if their next beer depended on it.

I guess that's why I like working the overnight shift so much. If I do have to face the "Irish" of this day, there's not a whole lot of drunks at 5:00 a.m. in the morning.

I'll spend the day sleeping (after working, of course) and trying to figure out why my wife's computer isn't printing from the Airport Extreme.

Happy March 17th. Just the 17th. Not that other God forsaken day.

Oh and like the song says...

Give Ireland back to the Irish....JPM.

A Big Thanks

I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Brian, the snow plow driver, who after doing my neighbor's driveway, did my driveway. I did pay him for his time and I overpaid for it but that was my choice because I needed to go get my wife out of the hospital after her surgery.

So, again, I'm very grateful to this one Mr. Plow.

I Know This Is Going To Seem Wrong

But since I'm alone and the kids are at the in-laws for te second straight night, I decided to have a few margaritas while I'm all alone. And I have to tell you that I've noticed that...

1. It's difficult to to type when inebriated on margaritas.

and

2. Using chopsticks when eating Chinese while in said state of inebriation is very difficult and if someone else was here besides the cats and the dog watching me, this would be very embarrassing. But animals don't care and they won't laugh at you.

and

3. Talledega Nights is funnier when you're totally in the bag.

A Waiting Game

Currently, my wife, Elizabeth is in surgery at a local hospital. I'm glad I took my laptop because I discovered they have Wi-Fi available for patients and their families. keeping occupied during the surgery is a must. I don't want to fall asleep in the waiting room and reading magazines from 2003 is torture.

So, I'm able to keep busy and pass the time.

One funny story this morning concerning work. I had to get up early to take my wife to the hospital. My work cell phone rang which is strange because I normally get no reception from the new cell phone carrier my station chose. Anyways, the phone rang at 4:56 a.m. and I answered it. The voice on the other end said, "Brian!!! Where's the truck parked?"

I recognized the voice as Bill, the reporter I usually work with in the mornings. I told him, "Umm, Bill, I'm off this morning. Call Derek." The words, "You're off?" and "Oh Shit!" were heard by me as he hung up.

I turned on the news quickly to see if Bill made his 5:00 a.m hit, which he did but a little hastened to say the least.

Been A Busy Time

Wow. It's been a while, huh? There's been a lot that I've been doing but not enough time to blog about it. It's been a whirlwind of activity the past couple of weeks. Carjackings that turn fatal for the carjacker, apartment fires where six families were awakened by a man who spoke no English. Chasing Obama and Hillary around Cleveland, fighting bitter cold, snow, sleet and freezing rain.

And on top of that, a huge water main break that happened this morning while we were two blocks away from it. The water from the 150 year old pipe, flowed down city streets and onto and over my feet and my reporters feet while doing a live shot. Nothing is better than having soaking wet feet when its 26 degrees outside while having your reporter scramble up a snowbank and become an trapped up there because of eight inches of water on the sidewalk.

And to top it off, home has been a fine and pleasant misery. We've had a septic blockage in our main line and had to deal with all the trials, tribulations and smells that accompany such a problem.

And in the wings, a March snowstorm that is set on dumping up to a foot of snow in some areas this weekend. Plus my wife is having surgery tomorrow morning so it's going to be a less than enjoyable weekend.

I hope that things slow down so I can tend to the blog a little more often and be able to add more images to go along with the posts.

Coackroach 30, Staff 0

This is too funny not to post...

COCKROACH GETS TV STAFF FIRED

Thirty TV station staff have been sacked after a cockroach was seen scuttling across a news reader's desk during a live broadcast.

Disgusted viewers bombarded the station in Turkmenistan with calls saying it had put them off their dinners.

The large brown insect crawled a full lap of the newsdesk on the 9pm news programme, Vatan.

But the appearance of the insect had more far-reaching consequences than viewer complaints.

The country's president, Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedo, was told about the incident.

He was so horrified that he fired 30 workers from the station.

The sacked workers included journalists, directors, camera operators, and technical staff.

The country's minister for culture, Gulmurat Muradov, has also ordered an internal investigation.

According to The Guardian, it is not the first time the country's leader has had a run-in with the state news channel.

Former president Saparmurat Niyazov, whose authoritarian eccentricities were world renowned, sacked several executives after drunken technicians failed to screen the new year's address to the nation.

The bulletin eventually aired at 3am.

I find it ironic. Usually management doesn't appear on the air...


Hey!! No heckling in this blog...!!

Ahem..

But this isn't the first time a bug has caused hysteria on a news set..



Even a little gecko gets into the act...



What was it W.C. Fields said? Oh yeah, "Never work with children or animals."

Apple

I'd like to say that those cutsey commercals that have the younger, hipper kid as the Apple and the frumpy bespectacled middle aged man as the PC were the reason that I wanted to get an Apple. That's not the reason though.

My laptop, a Gateway, was three years old and starting to give me error messages and just shutting off anytime it felt like it. Well, now it can go to the senior citizens rest home called, "The Kids' Computer" now.

I got a Mac Book Pro, 15.4", 2.4 GHz laptop. Man, this thing is fast!! Came with a free printer, after the $100 rebate.

I need to get used to the lack of a second button like the PC has. But If that's all I need to get over, it's not a bad switch at all.

Now all I need to do is set up the new printer and the wireless print server whic will probably take all day for me.

Why Is It?

That people feel the need to honk their horns when we're going live with a freeway behind us? We're about 50 feet from the roadway, looking down on it and someone going by at 65 m.p.h. thinks that they're going to get our attention.

What are we supposed to do? Stop our broadcast to say, "Look...!! That person in the white Kia just honked at us!! They're great aren't they folks?"

Pay attention to your driving and lay off the horn, you attention whores.

Mr. Plow...That Name Again Is Mr. Plow.

Why does every man who has a pickup truck and adds a snow plow to the front of it think that he is saving the Earth and democracy in that order. Homer Simpson wannabees totally.

Having a snow plow driver dude with a pickup truck swearing at me for being in his way when he needs to plow a large parking lot, even though I was there for two hours before he showed up was very funny to me. I couldn't move my truck because my mast was up and I had one more live hit to do so I told him to start at the other end and I'd be gone by the time he got to me.

He started swearing at me again.

Go ahead Mr.Plow. Saving the world from snow, communists and Islamic radicals.

Mr. Plow I salute you. Now go plow yourself.

Rain, Rain, Rain

Yesterday here in NE Ohio, our area got about 2-3" of rain. I guess I should be happy that it wasn't snow but truthfully, I'd have been happier with the white stuff instead of the wet stuff.

But we got rain and with that much rain falling you get a lot of water pooling under overpasses. You also get a few people that can't tell when there is a lot of water in front of them and they drive their cars into about three feet of standing water.

I was sent to one of these places where five people decided they could make it through that much water. Each one needed to be pulled out of their cars because they couldn't make it through. I shot my video from the north side of the overpass then realized that I could get much closer if I went to the south end of the scene. I did what any logical person would do. I drove around the area using side streets to get to the other side.

I set up my shot, edited three v.o.'s of various flooding areas that I'd shot that night and fed them back. Then I waited for my reporter to show. About 15 minutes before our hit my phone rings..

"Brian, where are you at?"

"I'm on the south side of the water. Where are you?", I asked.

"I'm on the north end. Can you see when I turn my headlights off and on?"

"Yep, I can see them. But you'll need to come around. The scene is better from this side."

"Ok...but I think I can make it through the water."

"What??!!?!"

"I think I can make it through. It doesn't look that high."

"Um...I don't think you should do that. There's already one SUV that is stuck in the water. Your's won't make it through that.."

"But it doesn't look that deep. I think I can really make it.."

"Famous last words.", I told him. "Go around through the Metro Parks and don't risk it."

I could just see our reporter becoming part of the news story by getting his car stuck in the high water. I know that his car would have flooded and he wouldn't have made it through.

He eventually went around and made the shot but I didn't need the headache of my reporter not making the shot because he thought he could make it through.

Although, it would have made great video....

How Yunz Been?

Me? I've been sick for pretty much the past three weeks. Sore throat, cough, clogged up ears, headaches and gunk pouring from my eyes. Yes, it's been a fun time span and I'm still not over it.

I'm popping pills (all non-narcotic) like there is no tomorrow and I still feel like crap. I'm back to work but it's difficult to get through the day without coughing up a lung or my left ear feeling like it weighs 10 pounds and wanting to fall off.

I hope I feel better soon. It's getting very frustrating.

Please Pray

A good friend of mine and a former co-worker, Mom2Amara has had surgery yesterday. Please keep her and her family (Dad2Amara and Amara) in your prayers. Hopefully she'll be out of the hospital soon.

I hope that her recovery is quick and painless.

Plane Into Lake Erie

Currently I'm watching search and recovery efforts happening right off the pier at East 9th street here in downtown Cleveland. A twin engine plane took off from Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland and quickly crashed into the frigid waters of Lake Erie at around 7:30pm last night.

Water temperatures are very low and life cannot be sustained for more than a few minutes before hypothermia sets in. But I'm always hoping out for a miracle in situations like this.

I'll try and update when possible.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Behind The Scenes On The News Set

Here's Katie Couric on the news set between news updates. It's light hearted banter between her techs, floor producers and staff. I guess the only sensational thing here is the dropping of an S-bomb. There's no diva attitudes and no screaming tantrums. This is from Harry Shearer's site, "That Damn Channel".

So, What's Up?

Well, I'm back. I'm sure you all missed me..

Hello...hello, is this thing on?

Anyways, the past few weeks have been agonizingly slow. Minor shootings here, couple of minor car accidents there.

And I had almost two weeks of my regular desk guy being on vacation. I hate working without him because we gel. We work together so well. He gets "it" when he's behind the desk.

His replacement...? Well...lets just say...

Shooting in the Flats area of Cleveland. I get sent to 1118707 Old River Rd.

That's not a typo. I got sent to 1,118,707 Old River Rd. to check out the scene.

But of course, there isn't a 1,118,707 Old River Road. Why? Because if it existed, it would be in INDIANA with that damn address!!!

And people wonder why I cry so much.

Foul Mood

I've come to the realization that I'm in a horrible mood for this Christmas Eve. I'm full of Bah Humbuggery..

Humbuggery?? Meh..I said it.

I don't know what it is that has put me into this mood but it came on all of a sudden. Just hearing a Christmas carol makes me want to turn it off.

God, I hope that I wake up in the morning with this mood shaken off. I don't think I'd be any good to the kids and wife in a crabby mood on Christmas morning.

Busy Christmas Eve

The night has not been a quiet one. After the past week of fires that always displace people at this time, the most unfortunate time of year for things to happen, I've started this week off with a double shooting, a fire and a car flipped.

To top it all off I was treated to having to shoot home movies of our morning anchor's Christmas back in 1972.

Unfortunatly for Mark, he didn't know the old 8mm film started off with him in the bathtub.

Yup. I was treated to seeing our male anchor in all his naked glory.

For this Christmas, I'd like MY innocence back please.

Although, copies will be available to the highest bidder. Highest bids will be accepted in brown envelopes left under the park bench at the 55th St. Marina.

Have A Wonderful Christmas!!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

To Borrow A Line From Lenslinger

Schmuck Alert!!

Don't you hate it when the subject when you're shooting goes...(ahem)a little nuts?

A Dry Spell

Well it's been a while huh? A couple of weeks where nothing really has happened. Oh except for the panic we put out when snow flurries start falling and we tell NE Ohio that we're gonna get seven inches of snow and it fails to even get within five inches of that mark.

But, other than that, nothing much has happened. I'm just waiting for the Steelers-Patriots game on Sunday. Steelers win 27-21.

What Does Fun Consist Of?

Possibly my idea of fun and your idea of fun may not mesh but I got a kick out of what I was asked to do this morning. I was asked if I'd be able to shoot b-roll of a 25 acre campus of buildings at 6:25 a.m. to help out our dry live shot. And to feed it back before our 6:40am hit.

Nothing like trying to get around 20 some odd acres without use of my live unit which happened to be broadcasting said live shot and have it back in 15 minutes.

Nothing like a little planning, huh?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What A Great Day

When the generator of your live truck dies on you...twice. Both times right before your scheduled hit.

Made my day.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

I Now Have A Crackberry

I was able to get a Blackberry for my personal phone so now I can blog (or not) blog mobile. Hopefully I'll be able to bring posts quickly instead of waiting until I get home to blog.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Test

Test
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

People I Get to Meet On The Job

I'm a very lucky man. I get to see a lot of things that other people do not get to see and i owe it all to my job. Ordinarily I don't work weekends but due to a scheduling conflict, I was asked to come in this Saturday. I'm glad I was able to do it because I got to meet two wonderful celebrities from the Food Network.

First, I was able to meet Alton Brown. I love his show GOOD EATS. I guess it's how he shoots the show and adds how the chemistry of cooking is so important. Being a cinematographer for a while of his life is what attracts me to his show. Plus he's a funny man and when the time for our live show hit, he kicked it up a notch.(Ooops, sorry, wrong chef!!)



Second of the Food Network celebrities that we were scheduled to interview live was Giada De Laurentiis. Honestly I'd never heard of her before but after meeting her, I don't think I'll ever forget her. She was extremely charming and powerfully beautiful. I did have a difficult time pinning a lav mic on her because of what she was wearing but eventually with her help and total disregard of a ham handed photog pawing her, she was successfully mic'ed up for the live shot.



We were giving a signed copy of Giada's newest book to a caller but when Alton found that out, he took the book and drew a mustache on her picture and signed it with a caricature of himself. All in good fun. of course. When we showed it to Giada, she yelled over to Alton, "What are you?? Twelve?" Alton's answer, "Four actually. But it's accurate because being Italian, you'll have a mustache when you're 50."

BANG!!!

Out for a morning live shot on highway preparedness of ODOT for the upcoming winter snow season when getting off an exit ramp....BANG!! It sounded like we got shot, according to my reporter, Jacque. I knew what it was, so I stopped the truck and got out to look at the tire.

Well, as it happens, the tire was flat. Incredible how they always go flat on the bottom, huh?

Russ, our overnight desk guy, was dispatched to get Jacque and take her to our other live shot while I waited for our towing service to come and change the flat. Since I was on a busy offramp that had a sharp curve in it, I was glad that they were coming to change it. I was in a very bad place and had no orange triangles or flares to warn others.

The tow operator came out after a half hour and started to change the tire. I'd already dropped the spare and had that ready for him. I'd also loosened some lug nuts for him but traffic was picking up so I backed off.

He had a hell of a time changing the tire because he forgot his sockets and had to do all eight manually. That ate up a lot of time but eventually he did get it changed and I was off to head back to the station after a morning wasted.

And how bad was the tire damaged? It looked bad out in the field but when I got back to the station, I could have put my fist into the hole that was ripped in the side of the tire. All I have to say is that I'm glad I was doing 25 m.p.h.on the offramp instead of 60 m.p.h. on the highway.

Here's the pics. Sorry, my camera phone is crappy.

BEST.COMMERCIAL.EVER.

I have to say that this is something that makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. If a news team were to actually do it, I'd but them all a round. Two best lines..."SUNNY" and "We're up to 9th place!!"

Pumpkin Roll....Hey, Aren't You??

This morning I set off to Chagrin Falls,OH where the local high school juniors and seniors hold what is called the "Pumpkin Roll". Basically the kids "liberate" pumpkins from local residences and businesses and bring them to the big hill in town. They then proceed to throw smash the pilfered pumpkins onto the roadway. Then they sled down the hill on the remnants of the poor pumpkins. The kids use plastic sleds, recycle containers, cardboard...you name it, they use it. The sledders hit pretty impressive speeds and major injuries are few and far between. Road rash however is a common thing. It's been a tradition for the past forty some years and the police look the other way for the evening....as long as no one gets out of hand. The kids are either very brave or out of this world crazy.

Here's a link to the nights events.

Now, as I was covering the pumpkin roll, a student came up to me and asked, "Hey, are you that guy that has the blog, news something??" I was momentarily speechless. I've never been recognized for this blog. I admitted I was and he said he was a regular reader. He said he likes this blog and all I could muster was "Uhhh...thanks.." But I must apologize to you, my reader in Chagrin Falls, because I didn't get your name but thanks again for recognizing me and saying hey. It really made my day!

Uh-Oh..

Lenslinger's site is down right now...

I hope he remembered to re-up the domain name...

IF not, I'm buying it and putting the screws to his wallet..

Bwaaaaahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahaaa!!!

K, not really.

When It Rains, It Rains A Lot...

This day was a bad day to be a photog. It was constant rain overnight and it's still continuing as I type this. Rain is the great morale breaker. You can wake up with a great attitude and can't wait to get into work only to find the weather has turned against you. It changes your mindset. You go into defense mode. It's all about keeping yourself as dry as possible as well as your gear.

It seemed like my day was set for me. Just live beauty shots of a foggy downtown Cleveland landscape which would have made for a mostly dry morning by keeping me inside the live truck for the most part. I should have known it wouldn't have lasted.

My phone rang about 5:10 a.m. after my first second live picture. Russ, our desk guy, informs me that there is a working fire at a Beachwood apartment complex and they're calling a MABIS, basically a mutual aid broadcast, for surrounding communities to send equipment.

I broke down my live shot and punched the address into my GPS and took off for the fire. I fought my way through very heavy rain to make it there first. I was delayed a little because the apartment complex is gated and I needed to wait to get the o.k. from him. When I did, the Beachwood police were waiting to escort myself and the other stations to a staging area. I have to give the Beachwood P.D. major thanks for working with us instead of against us. They could have made it a real pain to do our jobs but they really cooperated with us this morning.

We did have to walk to the scene of the fire but we could get pretty good b-roll from the distance we were away. It was a three story apartment complex that was missing most of it's third floor. It was a quick moving fire, and the fire departments were doing a pretty good job keeping the flames down and localized.

I guess I automatically switch into "auto-pilot" when I'm on a big scene like this because I didn't really notice the rain. It was just shoot, shoot, shoot...get back to the truck...establish the signal....feed video back....run cables....set up camera...go live.

When Derek and Obie joined me after leaving their own live shot, I guess the adrenaline wore off a little and I noticed for the first time, "Damn...I'm soaked!!" My wireless receiver got wet and it proceeded to give out a static filled signal. There was so much rain, the a/v dongle that we plug into got wet and proceeded to put a bad hum in the audio which needed troubleshooting. After fixing that, I realized that I was really, really really soaked. The down into your underwear, uncomfortable kind of soaked. It's the worst feeling especially when it's cold and you're that wet.

What was the topper of the morning? Thanks for asking. It was when the Beachwood fire chief held a quick presser. My reporter Obie was holding an umbrella and as I was shooting, the runoff from the umbrella made an arc directly down in between my rain jacket and shirt. I nudged Obie over a little which helped until he adjusted the umbrella and started a Niagara-esque waterfall right between my glasses and into my eyes. It was like trying to shoot underwater without a scuba mask. All I could do was try to hold as still as possible while the chief was talking.

It was a cold and miserable drive back to the station because of slow traffic and equally as bad of a drive home. The hot shower I took when I got home was the best part of the day. That time I didn't mind getting wet.

Saying Goodbye To A Friend

John Anderson was our morning show anchor for seven years. He became a very good friend to me and most of our morning show staff. You couldn't but like the guy (no matter how hard I tried...kidding, just kidding). His personality was just as warm as his smile. His wife Kristin, also a reporter at our station, was just as loved, if not more. I worked with Kristin only a few times as she worked nights but you couldn't help but like her. These are two wonderful people to know and work with.

Well, John went and found himself a new job at a different station and a bigger market (I know...how DARE he!!!). He'll be anchoring at WTXF-TV Channel 29, Philadelphia's FOX affiliate. They're getting a good man for their morning anchor. John will add to the character of their newscast and the reputation of their station for sure. I hope that WTXF will also add Kristin on to their staff as well. But if not right away, she'll have more time to tend to their beautiful twins.

I remember the first story I went out on with John. It was an anti-abortion protest across from one of our local colleges here in Cleveland. We clicked almost immediately and were in sync when it came to knowing what each other wanted and needed for the story.

From John's long overnights to his love of biking, hockey and raising money to fight Leukemia, to the final show where he got a whipped cream pie in the face which was done with love. He made the mornings special for those who worked with him and for Northeastern Ohio.

John, Kristin and family, you will be missed. God bless you all. Have a wonderful life and continued success in Philadelphia.

Just don't forget to boo Santa Claus so you can get into the Philadelphia holiday spirit.

"Auto" Erotica?? Sweetest Day??

Ever wanted to lick a Jeep? Never? Yeah, me either. But you might have wanted to if you were selected to be a finalist in a Sweetest Day contest. To win, you needed to lick the chocolate off the front off of a new Jeep, exposing pre-placed stars. The chocolate was then meticulously spray painted on the whole Jeep. There were a total of six Jeeps, one for each contestant.







Then the two top lickers would need to find the car keys that were placed somewhere under 26,000 pieces of candy, inside the Jeep they were trying to win.





The contestants, three men and three women, were watched over by the "Candy Cops" to make sure that there was no biting or using of the hands in the licking segment of the contest.



All I have to say is that there were some interesting techniques during the licking phase. It prompted one of our anchors to quip off air, "I didn't realize we were televising soft porn.."

After the half hour licking phase ended, two women...excuse me...two chocolate covered women were the finalists. On the count of three, the women opened the doors to the Jeep Liberty and out poured a flood of bite-sized candy bars and the search began for the elusive keys. The winner was an 32 year old ultra-marathon runner from Chicago who only got her license last year and has never owned a car before.

It made for some hilarious moments on and off air I really have to admit. Made for a very interesting morning live shot too.

The Director's Cut

I'd like to direct your attention to one of my co-worker's blog, The Director's Cut. It's a behind the scenes look at what goes on at our station and it is written very well by one of our best directors, Frank Macek.

He puts a lot of work into it and has some fascinating information to pass along about WKYC-TV and it's history.

Please feel free to check it out.

Ok, I Caved

I'm not a huge fan of futuristic shooting genre games. But I guess I had to see for myself what the hype about Halo 3 is about. I have to say, it's a great game but for the life of me, I'm stumped.

I have no idea of what I'm doing. I'm still in the jungle and I have no idea of what I'm supposed to do. I guess it would have helped if I'd played Halo 1 & 2 but, like I said, I'm not a fan of that genre of game.

I'll keep on plugging along though. I'm not experienced enough to try multi-player online..yet. I don't want to help pad anyone's stats if I can help it.

What Happens When It Falls In Your Lap

Since I was at home and asleep (since I work overnights) when the Success Tech shooting happened right across the street from our station, one of our finest directors, Frank Macek took pictures and posted them on his blog. It's a fascinating read. I invite you to visit it and read his posts..

Director's Cut

School Shooting

There was a shooting at a Cleveland Municipal School today. A 14 year old student who was suspended yesterday came back to school today and shot four people including himself. He is the lone fatality.

What makes this so stunning is the school, Success Tech, is right across the street from my station. Only 50 feet across the street from us.

I was asleep at home as I work overnights and my wife called and woke me up to tell me about this.

Watch streaming live coverage from WKYC.com

Genlock..Genlock...Ummm.

This morning I was outside of Jacobs Field for our AM shows, after the Indians whipped the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS. We had two reporters and my fellow photog, Derek, asked if we could use both our cameras and switch between them in the truck. I thought it was a great idea.

And then I blanked.

It's been over twelve years that I've had to genlock cameras. And I completely forgot how to do it for close to 15 minutes. Yeah, my mind went to static... ok, it pixelated (hey, we're in the HD era..) as I grabbed the reeler out of the second truck and tried to remember something that is very basic to do.

I finally figured out the Mount Everest of a challenge with about 10 minutes to spare. It wasn't really necessary to have a second camera but it made the show so much smoother and it looked fantastic on the air.

Then I figured out why I blanked. I turned 39 on Tuesday so that explains why I had a brain fart. I'm getting old. I could easily blame the RF that has rattled my brain but age is getting the better of me.

It's like the joke...A man goes to the doctor's office and the doctor tells the man, "I have very bad news. You have cancer and you also have Alzheimer's Disease."

The patient sighs in relief, "Whew!! At least I don't have cancer !!"

How Many Times Have You....

Wanted to do this to your reporter? A nice pie in the face? It was all planned and all in good fun but sometimes those professional mascots get to have all the fun...

Pie In The Face Video

Awww, Damn.

Why? Just, why? What pushes people to do such awful things to such young children? Their own children? I've not personally covered this story but anyone who has children has to feel a cold ball of ice form in the pit of their stomach.

When TV Goes Horribly Wrong

This happens...

Gravy Days Are Over

I've had the past two weeks off and as much as I'd like to say I did really exciting things on my vacation but I can't. I spent a lot of time taking care of the kids while my wife recovered from many stays at the hospital. She's doing well and is feeling a lot better.

I did get a chance to go to Pittsburgh and visit my friends Nancy and Jeff. I can't tell you just how much their friendship means to me. The family and I got away for a couple of days to the Kalahari Water Resort. We went there a few years ago and liked it enough to head there again. This time the kids were a little bit older and they seemed to appreciate it a little more this time.


I'll hopefully be back to posting regularly. Things are always bound to happen overnights.

A Face From My Childhood Has Passed

Ray Tannehill, a news anchor from KDKA in Pittsburgh has passed away from a heart attack at the age of 73. He was retired and lived in New Mexico at the time of his death.

I remember watching him anchor the WIIC (now WPXI) and KDKA news as I grew up. I met him once when I worked in Pittsburgh and he was just as warm and genial in person as he was when he was on the TV screen. I remember my father saying that he thought Ray was the most honest man on television. That in the time of Walter Cronkite.

My deepest condolences go out to Mr. Tannehill's family,his friends, the city of Pittsburgh and his co-workers at KDKA and WPXI.

Here are a couple of links to his video obituaries from KDKA and WPXI.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Tannehill.

Well, So Much For That Idea...

My plans to blog and catch up while on my vacation have gone down the toilet. My wife is back in the hospital yet again for the third time in two weeks.

I hope they find what is wrong and fix it fast. She can't take much more of this and neither can my kids or myself.

So, once again, the blog remains idle..

I'll get back to it when I'm able.

UPDATE: My wife is home and had better stay home...!!! Docs discovered an bleeding ulcer, which is healing itself so hopefully no more prods and poking and cutting in the foreseeable future.

An Update..

My wife is back in the hospital. She's been here since this past Sunday and it's been hell for me. Fortunately for me, my in-laws have been watching the kids and getting them off to school while I would go to work and see Elizabeth. Now it seems that she'll be coming home tomorrow.

Now I'm on vacation for two weeks now, so I can catch up on what's been happening while on the job. Not that a whole lot has been happening that is exciting.

Yeah, I know you're all waiting with bated breath.

Wife In The Hospital

My wife had to go into the hospital last night for something called an intussusception. Basically, her intestine telescoped in on itself and started bleeding. She had to have emergency surgery last night around 10:00p.m. She came through it better than the surgeon expected because she had symptoms for 3 days before the hospitalization. The surgeon thought he would find necrotic tissue, but everything was in excellent shape.

This usually occurs in children and is very rare in adults. Surgery is usually required in adults to rectify the problem. She's expected home in three days.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE: Elizabeth came home on Thursday. She's sore and uncomfortable but she's getting better every day. Thanks for all your kind thoughts and prayers. It helped so much.

Not Much Has Happened Recently

I'm not one to really give to people who panhandle me. My basic deal is I rarely carry any cash on me because I work overnight and I go into some bad places when the situation calls. I've had homeless people, crack heads, drunks, hookers and junkies come up to me for money in my career working overnight but I've never had happen what transpired at a red light in downtown Cleveland a couple of nights ago.

I was headed to a fatal car accident as I left from my station. I came to a red light on Cleveland's main street, East 9th. I rolled up and stopped next to a blue BMW which looked brand new. The guy in the beemer looked kind of ragged. He backed up a little and rolled down his window. "Hey buddy, do you have any change on you? I just woke up and I can't find my wallet and I need to get gas."

Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right? You're driving a BMW, just woke up from presumably being drunk, lost your wallet and you're hitting me up for cash?

This I didn't say. I did tell him, "Sorry, I don't carry cash. I go into some bad areas working in TV and blah, blah, blah..." He nodded his head and drove off.

Look pal, be responsible. Man up, call the wife from your cell phone and let he know what happened. So you have glitter on your face and have stripper smell all over you.

Oh, wait, better yet...call a buddy.

What The...?

Ok, so I'm sitting here on my couch watching the Browns win a very boring football game. My Siamese cat Buckley is pawing at something by my right foot, underneath the couch.

I reach down and find something cold and rubbery, somewhat akin to rubber tubing, so I pull it and it snaps out of my hand. I think, "Eww, what was that?" So, I get a flashlight and check out under the sofa. Pushing my howling Siamese out of the way, I am shocked to find a snake stuck to a piece of duct tape that is holding the upholstery together underneath the sofa (It's an old sectional sofa that belonged to my in-laws and we got it because we didn't want the kids to destroy a totally new sofa, so, we're not rednecks, k?).

I grab the snake, a harmless garden snake, and rip it from the piece of duct tape. It's a pretty brown and green color and I think momentarily that I should keep it for my boys to look at.

Then I think of my wife and what my wife will do when she discovers a snake was in the house. The words quivering mass of jello would describe it nicely. So, sadly, out the door the snake went.

I think I know how the snake made it into the house. My youngest son left his baseball glove sitting in the front yard overnight. This is where I think the snake found a home until my son brought the glove in this afternoon. It crawled out and slithered it's way under my couch and onto the duct tape.

Now the question remains...should I tell my wife about it or let it be my little secret?

I Love My Job....But..

I have to endure two days of seeing my morning anchor, John, in bicycling shorts. Not a pretty sight but it's for a good cause. He's participating in a bike ride across Ohio. It's for the Hope Lodge here in Cleveland that helps cancer patients deal with their disease. Our live shot this morning was the start of the Pan Ohio Bike Ride.

Today was day one of the ride. I shudder in cold fear of what lies ahead for tonight...John in spandex. Ewwww..

Hey, It Works!!

Two cars headed north on E.95th street near Cedar avenue. The car in the rear is shooting at the car out in front. The driver of the front car is hit and crashes his car into a electric pole which causes the electrical wire to snap and fall into the street.

I asked for something to happen and viola!! Maybe I'm onto something here?

Bad thing though, in the darkness, I stepped onto a standpipe that was replacing the block's water supply for the fire hydrants in the area and slipped. I jammed my left leg which is really sore because of a strained hamstring that I suffered playing softball. I had just strained it more. I'm such a clumsy oaf.

I had tears come to my eyes because the pain was so bad. A female Cleveland officer, and not a bad looking one at that, saw me in pain and asked if I was okay. I told her what happened and she called a medic over. I begged off their offers to be checked out and thanked them profusely.

I need to be more careful and watch where I'm stepping in the total darkness.

I Haven't Learned My Lesson

I'm spitting n the face of the news gods again. Bring it. Really. I'm challenging you. Show me your stuff.

Last week was a complete bore fest.

Something needs to happen.

Rats!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been dealing with a complete meltdown of my laptop. It got so corrupted that I had no alternative but to do a full restore. So, you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm in posting to the blog when visions of taking a ball peen hammer to this Gateway supersede my rants and views.

I'll get back to it soon. Just trying to reload everything that I needed to make me a happy camper.

Tragedy Over Phoenix

Video can be seen here.. Please be warned, it's not very pleasant.

My heart goes out to the victims and the victim's families tonight. Two news helicopters in Phoenix, AZ crashed into one another while covering a police chase. Channel 3 and Channel 15 have suffered greatly today. May God bring peace and healing to the people of KNXV and KTVK.

I cannot say anything more. Words fail me.

There Is No News Here

Yesterday my reporter Jacque and I got the call to head to a daycare that had a car go through it. I started praying that there were no children injured because all I could think of was daycare + car into building = massive casualties.

We got the word halfway there that there was only one little girl with a bruise to the leg which was a blessing but we still headed out to the daycare. I mean, really how many times do you get to see a car parked inside a daycare center anyways?

Jacque and I no sooner pull up when a woman with a very bad attitude came over to our truck yelling and I quote, "There is no news here and I don't want you here! No one was injured so you don't have any news to report! Go away."

I asked the lady, who identified herself as the owner of the daycare center, if we were parked on her property. She said that I wasn't on her property and repeated her rant.

As I got out of the live truck, I told her that my reporter would determine what was newsworthy and what wasn't. Then I asked her, if there was nothing to see and there was no news here, then what was that big hole doing in the front of the building?

This lady also tried to prevent people from talking to us about what happened. A lot of things I'll let slide but this is not one of them. I can't tolerate people trying to bully others from their first amendment rights. We told the woman we were trying to interview that she had every right and freedom to talk to us, no matter what the owner of the daycare said, and we told her loud enough for the daycare owner to hear it.

Should I Laugh Or Cry?

They're still killing each other in Cleveland, overnights. Past two days, two more homicides. We're well beyond last years total number and we're only halfway through the year. This morning's homicide was rough because of all the wailing and screaming going on. It would have seemed comical if it wasn't so tragic. Like the Eddie Murphy routine where the aunt falls down the stairs screaming, " Oh LORD..HELP ME JESUS..OH MY GOD, Oh LORD...MY SHOE!!"

It went on like that for about twenty minutes. I hated that my warped mind went to that scene from the Murphy standup routine but it did. I almost wanted to laugh but kept it inside. It's a tragic thing, someone dying but I suppose if you're in this business and you can't find humor in the horror, then you should get out of the news gathering business.

New Addition To The Family

Welcome "Z"!! A 5 year old purebred Australian Cattle Dog. She's a rescue dog from the local shelter here and is just adorable. Loves our kids and is extremely gentle. Loves to "herd" tennis balls.

Make It Stop!!

Five more people shot this morning. I ran all over Cleveland's Fourth police district, chasing down three people shot within minutes of each other. I also was chasing all the police cars when they went chasing the suspects. I found one suspect getting a gunshot residue test on him which I was very lucky to stumble on. And a very nice officer called me over to get a shot of the suspects gun.

In all another busy night. TGIF!

Well, I Asked For It....

Total of 11 people shot overnight tonight. One triple homicide, two wounded at one scene. Four others shot outside a bar, one man shot in the head outside another bar and one woman found stabbed to death in her house.

I was sent to the triple homicide. A Cleveland firefighter is accused of shooting five of his neighbors, killing three of them. It may be over a late night fireworks display but signs are pointing to an ongoing bad neighbor situation.

When I arrived at the scene I was by myself (I usually am). I was the only media person there so when I walked up to the tape with the camera, a very upset family member started yelling at me, "Don't even think of bringing that camera here. I'll kick your ass and break that camera!!" Around him, five other people (mildly inebriated), possibly relatives, were heading my way as well.

A police officer stopped the one man and turned him around letting the guy know, "He has a job to do." They all turned away and walked off but to be sure, a police officer was set to shadow me for about twenty minutes while cooler heads prevailed. I never even muttered a word. The camera was down to my side.

I'm still not 100% over being outnumbered 6:1 but I'm grateful to the CPD for diffusing the situation and understanding that I had a right to be there and not turning a blind eye to what might have happened.

Sometimes I hate being the only one on scene when I know I'm going into a bad situation. Like the saying says, "There's safety in numbers..."

Something Please Happen!!

It's been slow. Waaaay too slow. I'm not one to wish bad things upon people but man, you'd thing a little something would happen overnight.

I've checked out a few things but they've not been newsworthy. I know the old saying, "A watched pot never boils.." but it seems that it's been a good while for any kind of spot news lately.

Where's a chicken to sacrifice to the news gods??

Overheard

A co-worker who made a good deal of OT on their financial windfall...

"F*** responsibility!! I'm buying what I want!!"

P.R. People Suck

Why?

1. Driving 35 miles to your live shot at the Outlet Mall at 5 a.m.
2. Setting up and with fifteen minutes to go, no one is showing up.
3. Wondering why security looks at you funny when you tell them you're doing a live shot and expecting a bunch of people.
4. Having your reporter call said P.R. person and the P.R. person sleepily saying the shot is actually tomorrow, which it isn't.
5. The 35 mile drive back to the station listening to a pissed off reporter.

Yes, they do suck.

Images From Stark County

I was involved in the coverage about the missing pregnant mother story in Canton, OH. Admittedly I wasn't neck deep in it because of my shift but I was staking out Bobby Cutts house, at the Stark County Jail and at the Greentown F.D. when the organizing of volunteers became a amazing show of comapssion as close to 2,000 people showed up to search for Jessie Davis.

I had a little down time at the Stark County Jail so, I took some cell phone pictures. Hope they look ok.

I caught this as the sun was coming up.


Our behemoth, I mean our Sat truck.


CBS, CNN and Fox's Sat trucks.


HEY!! Fox News has a canopy. Why don't we have a canopy?


Last one.

He Plays A...WHAT?

WJW-TV Morning anchor, Wayne Dawson accidentaly makes a musical error, much to the chagrin of WJW-TV reporter Kenny Krumpton.

Enjoy the goodness...

Karma Is A Bitch

Last Friday, I covered a drowning in Lake Erie. I didn't blog about it though because was kind of routine, as drownings go. The guy was at a local state park right here on Lake Erie with his girlfriend and dog. We assume that the dog jumped into the water to possibly chase a duck or a goose. The dog wouldn't come out of the water so the guy jumped in to get his dog out.

We really don't know what happened but the guy drowned. Don't know if he even knew how to swim or not. He went into the water and was retrieved about an hour later from Lake Erie buy the Cleveland Fire Department Dive and Rescue team. He was 29 years old. We don't know what happened to the dog.

Fast forward to this morning. We get a report from the CPD about the victim of the drowning. He was a wanted man in Detroit. What was he wanted for?

Murder.

He was even featured on America's Most Wanted for the crime.

Here's the original story from WKYC.com on the drowning.

Karma Is A Bitch.

A Personal Message

To the homeless piece of crap that decided to steal my reporter's purse out of my live truck,please understand that if I see you on the street overnight you will not be a happy person.

Water + Electric Wires = BOOM

I went to this house fire a couple of days ago. Flames were shooting out of the attic and fire crews had a heck of a time getting into the home because of so much trash and stuff that had been pack-ratted in every corner of the home, that the house pretty much was a total loss.



The fire was raging out of control. The flames were high enough that they caught the power lines in front of the home on fire. A snorkel truck that had parked in front of the house had to move across the street to escape the flames and the danger of the burning wires.



I positioned myself across the street in the driveway of an abandoned house. I was shooting the fire when I noticed an old man next to me watching the fire. I also noticed he was standing under a power line that was swaying because it was attached to the lines that were on fire.

I mentioned to the man that I was going to move because of the wire and suggested that he should probably do the same. He followed me and we were out of harm's way of the wire. Just then, the snorkel truck, which by this time had lifted it's ladder, opened up it's snorkel and started dousing the house.

As I was shooting the firemen below, a huge blue flash and a boom rang out. I pulled out wide in time to get the the second flash an a louder boom from the electrical lines in front of the house shorting out. The snorkel was hitting the wires, which by now had their insulation burned off by the fire and were now bare.

After the second boom, the firemen in front of the house scattered and surrounded me and the old man across the street. They were all breathing heavy and some were saying they felt sick. I felt sick also. The shock wave from the explosions went through us all and I'm not surprised that we all didn't have our insides rattled a little from the impact of those shock waves. I felt better about an hour later with a little ginger ale inside me.

Oh, and that wire that the old man was standing under, it came down about 25 minutes later. We all were pretty lucky that night.

So Far The Tally Is...

If you're keeping score at home then the math works out like this for what I've shot this week:

3 Homicides
3 House Fires (one was 1 mile from my house)
2 Police officers arraigned for rape
1 Fatal Motorcycle Accident
1 Child Kidnapping
1 Stabbing

It seems like after Memorial Day, the world goes crazy. Ehh, it keeps me busy overnight.

Ever Wonder??

What your favorite local anchor or reporter looks like in the morning without their makeup on for the air..

Mystery solved..

Nothing Says Fun Like....

Your morning show reporter wearing a Vegas showgirl type headdress.

Yup...class.

Snake Bit

It was a frustrating day today and a wet one. We went to the Akron Zoo for a live shot. It promised to be a fun morning. A Kinkajou, turkey vultures, Lemurs and penguins were on the agenda. Sadly it was not to be. We get down to the Akron Zoo and I call in to establish my shot. I'm told that the Akron receive site is not working. In fact it hasn't worked in months. Crap, that's a new one on me. So, I'm told we're trying all our other sites. The closest is in Canton. Should be hittable and it was, but we're low and the signal isn't good enough for air. I move the truck and try again to all available receive horns. No dice.

So we go to plan B. Shooting look lives and driving far enough north that I could hit a site to feed back our recorded hits. I find a parking lot on a hill high enough to ensure a signal. As I'm rotating to one of our sites my reporter, Jacque, yells "LIGHTNING!!" and runs away from the truck. I drop the mast and join Jacque way far away from the truck until the mast is down.

Off we went again to find a spot that was close enough to a usable site and now free from lightning. Finally we find a spot to establish successfully and feed back only one of our recorded hits because we're in the last half hour of our show. So, as I'm feeding back the turkey vulture look live, it isn't usable do to numerous hits on the tape. I cross my fingers and feed back the kinkajou look live which graciously is sans video hits.

And to top it off, I'm fighting a losing battle with poison ivy or poison oak on my arms. I'm so incredibly uncomfortable and bathed a pale pink from calamine lotion.

My kingdom for some 40 grit sandpaper right now...ARRRRGGGGHHH!!

5am @ Jacobs Field live shot. I love my job!

Accident!!!

My reporter and I were in MVA yesterday returning back from a live shot.We were hit by a teenage driver who wasn't paying attention and pulled out into an intersection while I was driving through it. I swerved left to avoid him but I couldn't go into the other lane due to oncoming traffic. The kid is lucky that he didn't pull out earlier or I'd have T-boned his little Chevy Cavalier with my Econoline van. I have no explanation of why he chose to pull out into the intersection because there was oncoming traffic in the lane he wanted to get into.

But everybody was alright save for the Cavalier which wound up missing it's front bumper, both headlights and damage to its hood and both from quarter panels.

The cop that took the report walks up and says, "Wanting to make your own news??"

Thanks officer...

Pucker Time

Ok, now first off I am going to clarify that this WAS NOT ME THAT DID THIS. I'd like to tell you to go back and re-read the first sentence. I'll wait...

Hmm...la...la..la.. Done? Kewl. We can continue.

I walked out to the garage to unload my gear from my live truck when I happened to look over at another live truck and discover this.



Now this looks like someone placed their tripod on top of the roof of this live truck to get it out of the way. Maybe an engineer fixing something in the back. It may have been a prank on one photog to another. It could have been, but it wasn't.

The truck had just returned from a live shot around eight miles from the station and took a route that was all highway back.

Can you imagine the destruction a tripod falling off the roof of the truck could have caused, especially on a busy highway?

God was looking out for the photog, that is for sure.

I WIsh I'd Known

Tuesday morning I was scheduled to do beauty shots because my reporter had a national story to front back in the studio. So, I decided to go to the East 55th Marina here in Cleveland to get said beauty shots. The view looks back at the skyline of Cleveland and Lake Erie, plus you can get beautiful sunrise shots from there.

I got to the marina at 4:40a.m. after checking out a water main break which gave me just enough time to set up and get a picture on the air for our 5 a.m. show. Our show started and while I was up on the air, a Park Ranger drove by, flashed his brights and drove off.

I was the only person at the marina except for an empty black Ford Taurus that was parked about thirty feet from me. I did about five shots with only the seagull calls matching my IFB for background noise. Around 6:15 a Cleveland Police car came around and he stopped to chat. We B.S.'ed for a few minutes until they called for another shot from me. The officer left and I went back and finished out the show at 7 a.m.

I headed back to the station, only to get sent out to cover a body found in a house. It turned out to be an accidental CO poisoning. I headed back to the station to bump into our 7:30 photog, Shane, ingesting video he'd shot at the East 55th Marina this morning when it was light. There are cops all over his video.

I ask him what he shot at the marina. He tells me a fisherman found a woman who had been assaulted there. I told Shane I was there since a quarter to five in the morning. His jaw dropped and he said they figure that she was laying there since 4 a.m. The Taurus that was there was hers.

The woman had been in shock when a fisherman found her. She stated screaming when he approached and he called 911. She never screamed, moaned or made any type of noise.

She'd been less than 30 feet from me over a little embankment and I'd never seen her. She was laying there needing help and I never knew it.

I'm still upset about it.