No, I'm not an idiot. I realize it's 2005.
I'm just fondly remembering my New Year's Eve of 2 years ago. I was in New Zealand working in Mt. Cook National Park. The village pub was hopping with all the locals. The endless liquor was provided by the company free of charge.
I was dancing. Yes I danced. Those who know me know what a feat that is for me. They're also probably wondering how much alcohol coursed threw my veins that night to make me take to the dance floor....and actually have fun in the process. Well, it was a lot. Too much depending how you look at things. For as I exited the pub to get some air I sat down next to a big boulder, rested my head on the rock, and passed out. Next thing I know, my boss...the owner of the hotel...shoves me into a car with his wife and son. Then I'm escorted to my room.
My story was a big hit the next day. The boss was cool with it. He thought it was funny. So I guess I did too. Getting drunk isn't why New Year's Eve 2003 was great. It was great because I had fun. I laughed with people. I danced with people. I celebrated with people. People I loved. I had a great time. I mention because this New Year's Eve will be different.
This year, I'm on call. I get to wait for all the other idiots out there to hurt or kill themselves, and then go with camera in hand to cover the aftermath. Let's all hope for the best.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
$1000
That's how much money I won today. One thousand dollars.
Nearly 4 weeks ago I went with my boss to get a cell phone for work. While there the manager had us fill out a contest form for a $1000 giveaway. I filled my form out absent-mindedly.
Today that same manager called and told me I had won. Needless to say I was excited...but I kept it together. Sure, I have some money I didn't have before but a thousand bucks isn't THAT much these days. Not that I'm complaining. Things worked out well for me. They didn't work out for this cell phone provider. The whole reason for having the contest was for advertisement and promotional purposes. Unfortunately they can't use me or my picture in anything. The TV station I work for owns my image and likeness. They weren't too happy about that. They had just wasted a thousand bucks on someone they can't photograph. Too bad for them.
Good for me. :)
Nearly 4 weeks ago I went with my boss to get a cell phone for work. While there the manager had us fill out a contest form for a $1000 giveaway. I filled my form out absent-mindedly.
Today that same manager called and told me I had won. Needless to say I was excited...but I kept it together. Sure, I have some money I didn't have before but a thousand bucks isn't THAT much these days. Not that I'm complaining. Things worked out well for me. They didn't work out for this cell phone provider. The whole reason for having the contest was for advertisement and promotional purposes. Unfortunately they can't use me or my picture in anything. The TV station I work for owns my image and likeness. They weren't too happy about that. They had just wasted a thousand bucks on someone they can't photograph. Too bad for them.
Good for me. :)
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Country Songs
So I'm driving home tonight listening to the radio. Well...I was doing more thinking than listening. I noticed when a rather sad song came on but I wasn't really listening to the words. That is until this doozy of a line...
"the difference is, Jesus loves you...I don't."
My ears perked up for a moment. And then I laughed. Out loud. For a long time. You've got to love country songs.
"the difference is, Jesus loves you...I don't."
My ears perked up for a moment. And then I laughed. Out loud. For a long time. You've got to love country songs.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
A news anchor....
....is only as good as his TelePrompTer. So I guess in my case....I suck...because our prompter sucks. I guess it's good experience to learn how to anchor a newscast without the aid of a prompter. I just didn't expect it to happen during my second week. Well it did. The prompter went down tonight. I performed respectably enough. I looked down a lot at my scripts but I guess that couldn't be avoided. But the very noticeable crack in my voice (which occured because I was so damn nervous) could have been. At least now I can walk around town and have the people in our station's viewing area congratulate me on finally reaching puberty. Yay me.
Dakota
That's the name of the dog I saved today.
Okay, he wasn't in harms way when I opened the door of my car and told him to jump in...but you never know what could have happened.
Here's the story:
I had to take my roommate to go get his van this morning. I had picked him up the night before from a party because he was WAY too drunk to drive. So this morning as we went to retrieve the vehicle, we saw a dog running in the road ahead of us. He was facing the other way, in our lane, running like he didn't have a care in the world. Both of us chuckled as we approached this animal. As we got closer he moved off to a snow bank on the side of the road. Then it hit me.
"I know that dog," I said out loud. "That's Dakota!"
I had met Dakota only one time before. He belongs to my co-anchor's boyfriend. She usually watches him during the day while the boyfriend is working. Anyway, I realized it was him, pulled over, opened the door and asked him to come inside. The blissful little mutt obliged and hopped right in. I then took him home and we all lived happily ever after.
The End
Okay, he wasn't in harms way when I opened the door of my car and told him to jump in...but you never know what could have happened.
Here's the story:
I had to take my roommate to go get his van this morning. I had picked him up the night before from a party because he was WAY too drunk to drive. So this morning as we went to retrieve the vehicle, we saw a dog running in the road ahead of us. He was facing the other way, in our lane, running like he didn't have a care in the world. Both of us chuckled as we approached this animal. As we got closer he moved off to a snow bank on the side of the road. Then it hit me.
"I know that dog," I said out loud. "That's Dakota!"
I had met Dakota only one time before. He belongs to my co-anchor's boyfriend. She usually watches him during the day while the boyfriend is working. Anyway, I realized it was him, pulled over, opened the door and asked him to come inside. The blissful little mutt obliged and hopped right in. I then took him home and we all lived happily ever after.
The End
Monday, December 12, 2005
Giggles to a laughing fit
Have you ever giggled at the wrong moment?
Have the giggles ever snowballed into an all out laughing fit for you?
Has a humorous little moment turned into something out of control...where you're laughing about the laughter and not what was originally funny?
Has your case of the giggles proved unstoppable because someone is giggling right along with you....in essence you're feeding off of each other?
Have you tried to hold it all in because you absolutely should NOT be laughing at this time?
Have your eyes watered and your sides hurt because you can't control yourself?
Has any of this ever happened to you?
Has it happened on LIVE TV?
It happened tonight for me. It wasn't pretty.
Let me be clear. I was never shown laughing on camera. Neither was my co-anchor. But our laughing fit held some very awful implications for the sports guy. He was on camera. It started with a mis-pronounced name. Not very funny in a normal situation. For some reason though, it set us off. I looked over and saw her giggle. So I started to. Then she laughed some more. So I did. Then it snowballed. You know what I'm talking about. It's hard to stop something like that when it starts. It must have been hard for him. I wouldn't know...I was laughing to hard. We weren't laughing at him. We were laughing at how we couldn't stop laughing. Regardless, it through him off. You try reading a prompter for 4 minutes while the anchors sitting beside you have lost it. He did it though...as best he could. After we went to commercial, he threw his papers into the air and stormed off the desk. He was seriously pissed. I couldn't blame him. I would have been pissed too. I felt very, very small. My co-anchor did as well. It was unprofessional and I feel horrible for him.
And yet I'm still giggling about it. Am I going to Hell?
Have the giggles ever snowballed into an all out laughing fit for you?
Has a humorous little moment turned into something out of control...where you're laughing about the laughter and not what was originally funny?
Has your case of the giggles proved unstoppable because someone is giggling right along with you....in essence you're feeding off of each other?
Have you tried to hold it all in because you absolutely should NOT be laughing at this time?
Have your eyes watered and your sides hurt because you can't control yourself?
Has any of this ever happened to you?
Has it happened on LIVE TV?
It happened tonight for me. It wasn't pretty.
Let me be clear. I was never shown laughing on camera. Neither was my co-anchor. But our laughing fit held some very awful implications for the sports guy. He was on camera. It started with a mis-pronounced name. Not very funny in a normal situation. For some reason though, it set us off. I looked over and saw her giggle. So I started to. Then she laughed some more. So I did. Then it snowballed. You know what I'm talking about. It's hard to stop something like that when it starts. It must have been hard for him. I wouldn't know...I was laughing to hard. We weren't laughing at him. We were laughing at how we couldn't stop laughing. Regardless, it through him off. You try reading a prompter for 4 minutes while the anchors sitting beside you have lost it. He did it though...as best he could. After we went to commercial, he threw his papers into the air and stormed off the desk. He was seriously pissed. I couldn't blame him. I would have been pissed too. I felt very, very small. My co-anchor did as well. It was unprofessional and I feel horrible for him.
And yet I'm still giggling about it. Am I going to Hell?
Friday, December 09, 2005
What a week
It's official now. I'm a news anchor. I work in the same field as Ron Burgundy.
I now have six newscasts under my belt. Most have been practically error-free. There are things I need to work on. I look a little stiff on screen. I'm hoping I'll grow more comfortable as time passes. On one show I looked at the wrong camera twice. Embarrassing but it happens. I've stumbled over my words a few times but there have been no major screw-ups. Part of my job is also spent helping to produce the show. So in that regard my writing could be a little more concise. I need to become more familiar with a lot of technical aspects of my job. Script writing can be tedious because there are so many little symbols and keys and codes to remember. I'm decent at operating the camera and other equipment but I just need more practice. Same with editing.
I guess what I'm trying to say is things are going good. This is my first job and while I personally believe I'm doing rather well for being a rookie, there are no doubt things I need to work on. But that comes with any job right? We all learn by experience. After all, experience is what I'm trying to gain here.
Therefore I will no longer dwell on the errors I make. They will happen. I can't avoid them. I will simply make note of them and do my best to make sure they don't happen again.
I guess that's all. This post is a little boring. But I just needed to give myself a little review session and pep talk. Thanks for listening with me.
Lincoln
I now have six newscasts under my belt. Most have been practically error-free. There are things I need to work on. I look a little stiff on screen. I'm hoping I'll grow more comfortable as time passes. On one show I looked at the wrong camera twice. Embarrassing but it happens. I've stumbled over my words a few times but there have been no major screw-ups. Part of my job is also spent helping to produce the show. So in that regard my writing could be a little more concise. I need to become more familiar with a lot of technical aspects of my job. Script writing can be tedious because there are so many little symbols and keys and codes to remember. I'm decent at operating the camera and other equipment but I just need more practice. Same with editing.
I guess what I'm trying to say is things are going good. This is my first job and while I personally believe I'm doing rather well for being a rookie, there are no doubt things I need to work on. But that comes with any job right? We all learn by experience. After all, experience is what I'm trying to gain here.
Therefore I will no longer dwell on the errors I make. They will happen. I can't avoid them. I will simply make note of them and do my best to make sure they don't happen again.
I guess that's all. This post is a little boring. But I just needed to give myself a little review session and pep talk. Thanks for listening with me.
Lincoln
Monday, December 05, 2005
My first time
You never forget your first time.
I know I won't forget mine.
I was nervous. I knew that it was going to happen and my heart was pounding in anticipation. I had been thinking about it all day. How well would I perform? Would I mess up in some way embarrassing myself and her?
I needn't have worried. Although the nerves were in overdrive right up to when the moment began, they disappeared as I began to do my thing. People argue about whether to leave the lights on or off. In this case they were on. And they were bright. But I was losing myself in the excitement and ecstasy of it all. I didn't have time to notice the lights.
Soon, the climax approached. The sensation was amazing. I was confident. I was happy. I felt we complemented each other very well.
And then...it was over.
We had to have a break. As I began to relax I began to notice the things I hadn't noticed before. Greg was watching us the whole time...even giving us directions. He operated the cameras as well.
What?
Yes, there were cameras. It was my first time after all.
I didn't mind that I was being filmed. I even remembered there were probably thousands of people watching us. Whatever. I was so damn good that I didn't care. I wanted them all to see me. I guess I like to be watched.
Soon the break was over. That's when Steve came to join us. This was his moment. She and I just sit back and left him to his work. He was amazing as well. The three of us were engaged in a beautiful dance.
When it was all over, we laughed and hugged each other. There were congratulations. "You were so good," she told me. I grinned. I know I was.
It was simply amazing. I was born to do this.
You never forget your first time....
......news anchoring.
Where was your mind?
I know I won't forget mine.
I was nervous. I knew that it was going to happen and my heart was pounding in anticipation. I had been thinking about it all day. How well would I perform? Would I mess up in some way embarrassing myself and her?
I needn't have worried. Although the nerves were in overdrive right up to when the moment began, they disappeared as I began to do my thing. People argue about whether to leave the lights on or off. In this case they were on. And they were bright. But I was losing myself in the excitement and ecstasy of it all. I didn't have time to notice the lights.
Soon, the climax approached. The sensation was amazing. I was confident. I was happy. I felt we complemented each other very well.
And then...it was over.
We had to have a break. As I began to relax I began to notice the things I hadn't noticed before. Greg was watching us the whole time...even giving us directions. He operated the cameras as well.
What?
Yes, there were cameras. It was my first time after all.
I didn't mind that I was being filmed. I even remembered there were probably thousands of people watching us. Whatever. I was so damn good that I didn't care. I wanted them all to see me. I guess I like to be watched.
Soon the break was over. That's when Steve came to join us. This was his moment. She and I just sit back and left him to his work. He was amazing as well. The three of us were engaged in a beautiful dance.
When it was all over, we laughed and hugged each other. There were congratulations. "You were so good," she told me. I grinned. I know I was.
It was simply amazing. I was born to do this.
You never forget your first time....
......news anchoring.
Where was your mind?
Friday, December 02, 2005
Excited over bad news
I discovered firsthand today why lots of folks think us newspeople are scum. They say we thrive and get excited over bad news. A bus can crash, a house can explode, a disgruntled postal worker can go on a shooting spree. Horrible events for sure but, supposedly for the journalists, exciting stuff to cover....I guess I agree. Recently a local woman was arrested for a domestic distrubance. She was held in jail over the weekend. On her last night in the jail, officers found her lying dead on the floor of her cell. No one knows what killed her. There's speculation she needed some sort of medication which the jail failed to provide. Her husband hired an attorney and now there are rumors of a lawsuit. Well I called the attorney today and he set up an exclusive interview between me and the husband. I have to admit. I got excited. It was an exclusive interview with the potential for a lot of emotion. I was pumped to do it. Is that bad?
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