Laughing at Myself

You have to be able to laugh at yourself.

I think that's true for everyone. But I think it's especially true if you're somehow in the public eye. Whether you give speeches, or you're an actor, or a politician, or in my case...a news anchor...other people are going to laugh at you at some point. You might as well join them.

With that said, I present a montage of bloopers from my 9 months and counting on the local Bozeman news. It's not just me. The whole news team is included. And they're not all mistakes. I've included some moments that just made me chuckle. (And yes...that choking fit I wrote about in an earlier blog entry is included. It's at the beginning.)

So I will watch this and laugh at myself...because I know you're going to.


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Bikes, Milk, and Sinus Infections

I have started to travel to work...via bicycle. It's pretty awesome. I'm doing it more for health benefits but the money I save on gas is nice. I've joined a large crowd too. I never realized how many people ride bikes in Bozeman until I hopped on one myself. I encourage everyone to do the same.

Stay away from "thickened" skim milk. I was grocery shopping the other night and they were all out of regular skim milk. They did have something called "Viva Skim Delight." I got home, poured me a glass, and was disgusted by the thickness. Skim milk isn't supposed to be thick. Then I read the ingredients and saw they add thickeners and artificial color (is there really such a thing as white food coloring). I didn't like it. But I drank it all. Without being too graphic, I'll just say it does wierd things to your digestive system.

I went to the doctor today. I got sick about 3 weeks ago and I haven't been able to shake it off. Mostly it's just been my throat and my voice. It isn't enough to make me feel miserable but my on-air performance is suffering. (It's the reason behind my choking fit which I wrote about in an earlier blog entry) My sinuses started to hurt yesterday so I decided to go in. The doctor believes I had a bacterial infection that never quite went away. He says it's decided to travel up to my sinuses and try to hide there. Now I have some antibiotic medicine which is supposed to take care of it. We shall see. I'm anchoring alone tonight which makes me a little nervous. That's a lot more talking I have to do and my voice has been on the verge of failing several times since the choking fit. I'll be sure to let you all know if things go awry.

p.s. Doug Miller, the outdoor reporter for KUTV in Salt Lake died. Very, very sad. I wasn't a loyal fan but I share his love for the outdoors and the desire to combine that with television broadcasting. Nice job, Doug. We'll miss you.

S.O.A.P

Yes I saw it.

I have not been a part of the Snakes on a Plane hype but I did go see the movie on opening night.

It was not a good movie. But it was good fun.

I recommend everyone go see it. And although I was sober, I recommend being slightly intoxicated when you see it. You might enjoy it a little more.

p.s. Julianna Margulies is hot. I never thought so when she was on ER. But now...I have a little crush.

myspace & video

I've jumped on the bandwagon.

After months of being pressured, I finally created my own myspace page. I realize myspace is the domain of pre-teens and teenagers everywhere. But I caved in anyway. Kathryn has said myspace has no point. She's right. It's an incredible time waster. Still, it's fun to post pictures and find old friends in the myspace network. So if you care to visit my new myspace page go for it. The address is www.myspace.com/glacierlink.

But don't foresake this blog. I've come to love it and it will always be my chosen communication with the outside world. Myspace has actually provided me with a way to make this blog even better. I'm now able to post video. I've decided this would be a good way to let everyone see some clips of me anchoring. I took a low-tech approach to do this. I transfer video at work to a DVD. Then I play the DVD on my computer. Then, using my digital camera, I take video of the video playing on my computer. Then I can transfer the file from my digital camera to my computer. Then I can upload that movie file to my myspace page. Then I can take that link and post it to my blog. The result: video on my blog. I'm sure I didn't have to take such a complicated approach. But I know of no other way. So without further delay, I present random clips of me being a news anchor over the past several months. Because of the low-tech approach, sound and video quality isn't great. But at least you get the idea. I hope it works. Let me know if it doesn't. Enjoy...and don't hate me for joining myspace.



Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Let me know what you think!

Ridge Runnin'

Ridgeline of the Bridger Mountains

I first heard about the Bridger Ridge Run early one morning near the top of Sacagewea Peak. I was descending from my early bird hike when a man hiking up stopped me and asked, "Do you know which direction the Bridger Ridge Run goes?" I had no idea. But I went home, hopped on the internet and Googled it. Turns out it's a 20-mile race traversing the Bridger Mountains ridge line. The Bridgers tower over Bozeman...much like the Wasatch tower over Salt Lake.

Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Mountains

Bozeman and the Bridger Mountains

My first thought was, "a 20 mile run over rugged terrain? No way." I love hiking. But I detest running. I'm a wimp. I just can't do it.

Fast forward to yesterday...date of the annual Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run. I decided to climb up Sacagawea Peak early in the morning (Brandon, our station's technical director came along) to cover the race for our station. We were both expecting it to be nice. It was for most of the night. But by race time, the cold moved in. As the runners approached the peak, brief little snow squalls passed over. Snow in August. Part of living in Montana I guess. Anyway it was miserable. The runners faired a little better. They were working their asses off after all. I'm sure that kept them warm. I was freezing. We headed back down the trail eager to get out of the wind and cold. It wasn't until later that day, when I was interviewing some runners as they crossed the finish line that the first inkling of desire popped up.

I kind of want to do this. I hate running but I think I may sign up for the Bridger Ridge Run next year. It's really just accelerated hiking after all.

Right?

p.s. The winner of the caption contest from my previous post. Definitely slcurbanprincess with "It's rabbit season, really."

Bunny Wabbit

I have no idea why but this picture makes me laugh my head off. This little bundle of fur is no doubt adorable. I also find him hilarious. Again, I have no idea why. Perhaps it's what may be going on his head. I have an idea. I want to know what you think. Let's play the "Caption This" game? What is this little bunny thinking? Even if you don't normally comment on this blog, leave your thoughts. You don't have to be a "Blogspot" member to do so. Just click on comments and leave an anonymous post. That's all for now. Adios.

TV Viewers

So apparently people really do watch the news.

I was out on a story today and I had several different people come up to me and mention my choking (and my co-anchor's uncontrollable laughing) incident on last night's newscast. (see previous post.)

Everyone was good-natured about it. They all thought it was hilarious.

I guess it is when you look back on it.

Good times.

Another Live TV Disaster

I've had several stupid moments on Live TV. Nearly all have been due to some level of a lack of self-control or experience. I said the wrong thing. I laughed at the wrong time. I messed up the words.

Tonight, I can say without a doubt that it wasn't my fault.

I was in the middle of a script when my voice...simply stopped working. I tried to cough it away but it was to no avail. Nothing would come out. Things would have been fairly okay had my co-anchor taken over and explained my predicament.

But no.

He knew I had a sudden throat spasm but thought that it passed quickly. He assumed my turning away from the camera and my inability to speak was due to a laughing fit I was having.

I was not laughing. I was choking.

But he thought I was laughing. Which in turn made him laugh...a lot. Luckily we were close to a commercial break. He was barely able to get through it. I can't fault him though. I may have reacted the same way.

I couldn't even continue with the news. I tried but my voice failed me. I've always wondered what would happen if I had to sneeze or if something happened to my voice in the middle of a newscast. Now I know. It wasn't pretty.

Run Ragged With A Full Plate

I'm sick, tired, and I have too much to do.
First the sick part. I felt it coming on yesterday. By the evening, I had a sore throat and it hurt to talk. I muddled my way through the two nightly newscasts. I had a pretty good feeling that I would be calling in sick the next day. Lo and behold, that's what happened. Now it's 11:30 and I'm lying in bed waiting for the Tylenol PM to kick in.

I should have used my day today resting. While I did do a lot of that there are other things I need to take care of. First and foremost...moving. I need to be out of my current place by Friday. Normally that would be fine but climbing up and down stairs while carrying my belongings and wheezing takes its toll. My body hates me. I've made a few brief trips between the old place and the new place. The car is loaded up with yet another load which I hope to take in the morning. The big stuff...my bed and futon...still needs to be taken care of. Hopefully Friday morning.

Why did I get sick? I don't know. It may have something to do with the hectic weekend I had. I ventured on up to Glacier this past weekend. It was the 3rd annual Babbfest (a local music festival). It promised to be a big Glacier reunion as friends from years past would be making an appearance. I was looking forward to it. Then work came calling. A wildfire that had started the day before exploded in just a couple hours. I called the office and made sure they knew about it. They not only knew about it but were gleeful when they learned I was in the area. They had already sent the satellite truck and another reporter to the scene and they thought the "team coverage" they could have would be awesome. I wasn't mad about it. I was pretty excited in fact. I've seen some big wildfires in Glacier before and here was my chance to report on one of the worst. My friends were a little pissed. Understandable. But events like this were the reason I got into the news business. It just validated my career choice.

So I worked and did a live report from the scene at 10 o'clock that night. (FYI: for those interested the Red Eagle forced the evacuation of the town of St. Mary Saturday. Everyone got to go back tonight.)

I spent the next day catching up with people. I left for Bozeman early Monday morning with Whitney in tow. I got home and had to go to work in an hour. Then some friends came into town. I entertained them that night and the next morning and sent them on their way. That's when I started to feel the sickness coming on.

Oh, and I'm going to Glacier again this weekend. A camping trip that's been scheduled for a few weeks. The check engine light in my car's on now. It came on during the last drive to Glacier. I have every intention of getting it looked at. But with moving and being sick...the time is hard to find. Oh and I can't afford it anyway. On the 1st, I wrote out 3 different checks for approximately $1,400. Rent for the new place. Deposit for the new place. Rent for the old place. I still have some money left in the checking account...but not a lot.

In other news, my friend and former co-anchor Melissa began her new job in Oklahoma City. Here's a picture of her first live shot there.

I guess that's it for now. I'll wake up in the morning and see if I'm well enough to go to work. Wish me luck.

The Perks of Being Poor

There are few advantages to making the pitiful excuse of a salary that I make.

But I've found one.

I qualify for affordable housing. I'm moving into a new apartment next week.

Affordable housing can mean the "projects" in larger cities. Not in Bozeman. These are nice, brand new apartments made for the people who have too many zeroes missing from their paychecks.

That's me.

The best news, I'm moving out of my current place. It's been a fine place to live but I'm really sick of having roommates. I want my own place.

Now I'm getting it. Woohoo!

Long time no blog

It's been a while. Sheesh.

Where do I begin? How about the President. In my last blog I wondered why everyone cared so much that the president said "shit." A co-worker of mine, Shawn, agreed and then said everyone should be focused on the disgusting way Bush was shoving food into his pie hole and talking with his mouth open. I agreed. He seemed like a bit of a slob.

I have a new co-anchor. She starts August 30th. There were 3 finalists for the job...including my current co-anchor, Beth, who had been filling in since Melissa left. I was rooting for Beth. She does a great job and I thought she deserved the position. The powers that be felt otherwise. I'm confident things will work out and I am excited to meet my new TV wife...but at the moment I feel for Beth and her disappointment.

I saw "An Inconvenient Truth." Excellent movie. I highly recommend it. Why did Al Gore have to become so cool AFTER the 2000 election. We could have used the coolness factor back then. Anyway, go see it. It's worth it.

The Olive Garden followed through on its promise to send me a gift card. A $10 one. I was surprised by the amount. I was expecting $5. Now if only they'd build a restaurant in Bozeman.

I suppose that's it for now. Adios.

The Sh_t Heard 'Round the World

So the president said "shit."

Big deal.

I am no fan of of President Bush, but I like him just a little bit more tonight.

Everybody swears. EVERYONE. I don't care how religious you are. I don't care how inappropriate you think swearing is. At the very least...when you are alone...you swear. You know it.

So our president is no different than us.

So let's attack Mr. Bush for every other stupid thing he's done...but not for the use of a four-letter word.

The Olive Garden's Response

Dear Lincoln:

We understand your disappointment with the removal of Chocolate Lasagna from our menu. We make decisions about our menu based on guest demand, along with an effort to keep our menu fresh and interesting. Guests help determine what remains on the menu by ordering those items, and conversely help determine what is eliminated from the menu by not ordering those food and beverage items. We regularly review the preferences of our menu items and make additions or deletions accordingly. Please be assured that we are interested in your comments and have documented your preference for Chocolate Lasagna for future consideration. In the meantime, in the hopes that you may find a new favorite, we are sending a complimentary gift card to try one of our other menu items.

Erich

Olive Garden Guest Relations

(I'm still somewhat unhappy but at least they responded to me. Plus I'm getting a free gift card. :) Now if only they'll build a restaurant in Bozeman so I can use it.)

The Waters of Madison County

I've been in Bozeman for almost 8 months now and I finally took part in a local tradition of sorts. I floated the Madison.

(Disclaimer: I have no idea who the people in the picture are. It's a random one I found in cyberspace.)

The Madison River begins in Yellowstone National Park and meanders for 133 miles before converging with the Gallatin and Jefferson rivers to form the mighty Missouri. There's a small whitewater section along its path but for the most part the Madison is a gentle, wide waterway.

Every weekend during the summer, hundreds and hundreds of people, (mostly from Bozeman) grab whatever flotation device and jump into the river. Coolers of beer get their own inner tubes.

A lazy day of floating down the river. It was awesome. I'll be doing much more of it I'm sure.

I'm also nursing a nasty sunburn. It's been a while since I've had one.

It hurts.

A Sad, Sad Day

I have devastating news.

The best dessert in the entire world has been discontinued. Olive Garden officials, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to stop selling the beloved Chocolate Lasagna. Is there even a reason to eat there anymore? (Not that I can that often anyway because in another brilliant business move...they have yet to build a restaurant in Bozeman).

Kathryn broke the news to me this afternoon. She, more than anyone, knows what Chocolate Lasagna means to me.

This news has so upset me that I even sent a message of complaint to The Olive Garden on their website. I don't do things like that. Even when I was a kid and my favorite microwave snack, Suddenly Smores, disappeared off the supermarket shelves, I didn't take the news this hard.

I encourage all of you to contact The Olive Garden and demand that they bring Chocolate Lasagna back to the masses.

Please. I beg of you. Help me in this important endeavor.

Roadkill #2

Ahhhhh.....Isn't he cute? Well, cute and dead that is.

I'm an animal lover. So don't think I'm just casually talking of Mr. Squirrel's death as if I don't care about him. I do.

But damn....these are some stupid, stupid animals.

They are Columbian Ground Squirrels for those who don't know. They look like prairie dogs. They act like prairie dogs. They are NOT prairie dogs. I promise. They are however, dumb.

I killed two (and watched a third one dying) on my way home from Glacier over the weekend. I've killed countless others in my four years spent in the Big Sky state. They just can't seem to learn that the roadway is a dangerous place. They'll trot out into my lane...and sit there. The imposing edifice of my Toyota Camry (I'm sure from the ground a Camry looks imposing) racing towards them doesn't seem to phase the little bastards. They will simply NOT MOVE. Don't they see the car coming? Are they just blind? Are the processes in their tiny little brains not working fast enough? I don't know. What I do know is they appear to be on suicide missions. They run into my lane and simply wait to die.

What's worse is that the rest of the Columbian Ground Squirrel family will quickly choose to devour their fallen comrade. It's disgusting. They in turn stand a great chance of also being run over. I've seen it happen. It was a little squirrel graveyard. A squirrel would die. Another would try to eat it. Said diner would also be hit and killed. It's a never-ending cycle.

They are dumb, but I feel bad for them. I've never intentionally hit one and I never would. They are fairly adorable. But come on guys...smarten up a little.

I also hit a bird again. I've started to feel less sorry for them. If you can FLY and you still end up being hit by a car, you aren't using that flying privilege to its full potential.

My Rambling Mind

In an earlier post on this blog I lamented on my hatred of Spring. I love Summer, Fall, and Winter (usually) for very different and distinct reasons. Spring is just...blah.

Good news though. It's often been said that Montana has two seasons: Winter and Summer. Apparently it's true. As I was enjoying the nice summer day yesterday I wondered, "what happened to Spring?" It seemed like it was winter and then all of sudden it was summer. Oh well. Fine by me.

In other news I don't get play anchorman for a while. An expensive piece of equipment was fried in a power surge at our parent station in Missoula. The details are boring. What it means is we don't have a local newscast for at least a week. Instead I get to play reporter and do live reports for Missoula every night. I love anchoring but this will be a nice change.

I want a pet. I want a dog and/or cat. However, I don't have the time for an animal and I can't afford one anyway. But it would be nice. A cat would be the most logical choice but I'd really like a dog I can take to the park and play fetch with.

New Zealand is an amazing country. I spent 6 months there and I miss it quite a bit. Everyone's friendly, the landscape is hard to beat, and life seems so carefree. I recommend everyone go there at least to visit. The North Island is cool but the South Island is where IT'S at.

I have a crush on Allie MacKay...the morning reporter for KUTV Channel 2 in Salt Lake City. I realize she's rather polarizing. You either love her or hate her. I happen to love her. I watch little clips of her segments on the Internet. She's hilarious. Perhaps I'll work with her some day.

I guess that's it. Later.

Farewell Friend

She's gone.

We sent my co-anchor Melissa off in grand style tonight. (These are pictures from tonight) I'm fairly certain I wasn't supposed to give as much time to her "goodbye" as I did, but she deserved it. Better to beg for forgiveness later right?

She was my colleague...and a damn good one at that. More than that though, she's also my friend. I will miss her terribly.

Keep your eye out for this woman everyone. I have no doubt that we'll all see her on network television a few years down the road.

Good luck Melissa! Go make us proud.

Roadkill

Are there more critters in Montana or are these animals just stupider than elsewhere?

I'm not sure what it is but I've killed or almost killed more animals in the past couple months than I have since I first got my license. Here's a rundown.

Deer: Luckily there have been no collisions but I almost ran into a few of these guys on my home from Glacier a couple weeks ago. It's a little frightening when you're barreling down the freeway at 85 miles per hour and you suddenly see animals in the roadway. I braked....hard. Which, I found out last week, is the right thing to do. Apparently most drivers instinctually swerve which is bad....or so I've been told.

Ground squirrels: These little cannibals are everywhere in Montana. They're idiots too. I ran over many when I worked in Glacier and I saw plenty more smashed into the roadway. I guess Bozeman's no different. I was driving home the other day and a doofy little ground squirrel came trotting out onto the road. I grimaced and drove right over him. I mean that literally. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the dumb little bastard standing up on his hind legs like, "what the hell just happened?"

Birds: What the hell? The only animal on earth that can FLY and I've hit 3 in the past couple weeks. In one case a couple of blue jays were fighting in mid-air. One of them decided to quickly back off but ended up too low...and smacked into my windshield.

Snake: This one's a little different in that a) I don't know if it's dead and b) I ran over him on my bike. It scared the crap out of me though. It was probably a little garter snake but he hissed like hell as my tires ran over his tail.

Anchors Away!

I knew it was coming but it doesn't make it any easier.

My co-anchor, Melissa, (that's us being stupid and acting "newscasterish") is moving up in the world. She's been at the station much longer than I have (2 and a half years to be exact) and the time has come for her to move on.

I remember working at Big Sky Ski Resort in the winter of 2004/2005. I've always been a news junkie and I made sure to catch the local news wherever I was. Big Sky was no different. Bozeman was only 40 minutes away thus that's where the local news came from. During my first few days there I juggled through the local channels trying to decide what I liked best. Maybe it was fate that I finally settled on Melissa. Back then she was a solo anchor for the 10 o'clock news. I liked her style and preferred to watch her over the competition. My friends knew of my news ambitions and they knew that I'd one day leave the seasonal world and pursue my dream of being a news anchor. I remember a prophetic statement made by one of them. "Lincoln? What if you start looking for a job next year and you get to work in Bozeman with her?" I tossed aside the notion back then.

Now look at me. I've been sitting next to her for the past 6 months.

Melissa, our time together has been short. But I've loved every minute of it. You have taught me a great deal on how to be a good anchor and reporter. I will miss you and I know Butte and Bozeman will miss you. Watch out Katie Couric. She's on her way.