It's the giving season. Like many other businesses, Newswatch 12 has a Christmas tree with ornaments for needy children. Adam and I teamed up to buy a gift for 14 year old girl. We chose her ornament because she said wanted a science kit.
Here are the Christmas decorations adorning my living room.
My grandpa made the penguin.
Depending on how faithfully you read this blog, you may remember me saying that I bought something at Kelley and Emily's garage sale at the end of September. The small tree with red and silver ornaments is it. Red and silver for Ohio-born Emily's favorite college team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Three dollars well spent.
Last week was a busy one -- being on call, doing a little Christmas shopping, and working around the house. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do get many new blogs up. But I'd like to post some of my stories from last week now.
DREAM ACT A piece of national legislation has been passed by the House and is up for discussion/vote in the Senate. It's called the DREAM Act and would allow young illegal immigrants (most of whom were brought to America by their parents) to become registered citizens if they follow specific guidelines (work towards a college degree, serve in military, good behavior). Tuesday there were many pro- and anti- rallies around the country, including one in Medford. I had a live shot from the rally in the 6:00 news.
FIREPROOFING HOMES After the Oak Knoll fire, Ashland wants to make homes safer and is offering money to do that. A new $400 grant program helps homeowners cut down on the trees and bushes around their home and help their neighborhood. I went door to door and found a very nice and welcoming man for the story.
BREAKING NEWS Friday night at about 8:30, the police scanner started buzzing up with reports of an "attempted burglary" and "held at gunpoint." I was still in the middle of writing and editing 4 stories, but breaking news is breaking news. I grabbed equipment and went out there. After driving through the neighborhood and talking with police, they didn't have very much information. I saw a man standing on his porch and went up to talk with him. After answering a few questions about what he saw and heard, he told me his was the house that was broken into and he was the one who held the burglar at gunpoint. The story was our 11 lead.
Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love Christmas.
When I say that, what I mean is that I love Christmas. It's just magical.
Last year, I bought the Buddy the Elf costume from the film "Elf" and wore it for Halloween and won a costume contest.
A lot of other students loved it. Popular demand won out and I wore it for a school-sponsored Holiday party at the beginning of December.
It was a hit.
More pictures to come with each installment of Festive Follow
* * * * *
In the spirit of the season, I'll be passing on Christmas related links for the next two weeks in a segment called Festive Follow. That means songs, videos, tv shows, and other internet goodies to stuff your email stocking with.
You'll see a little old, a little new, some of my favorites, and some stuff that was passed on to me by friends and family.
I'm planning on sharing 5 of these Festive Follows before the big day in two weeks, so keep checking for updates!
ENJOY and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER" by Amy Grant
This song seems fitting for the first edition of Festive Follow. To me, it's about looking forward all of the beauty and warmth Christmas brings. A great way to get ready for the holidays.
This version of the song was first released in the film Meet Me in St. Louis. And the original lyrics were much darker, but Judy requested changes. The director agreed and in the revised version made the film and has triumphed on.
One of my dear friends agrees with me. "Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow," is one of our favorite lines.
There was a magical moment last December when the Bay Area looked a great deal more like Lake Tahoe than it usually does. It was also magical for my future in video production.
A cold winter storm brought precipitation in the form of snow. And the white stuff dusted the whole region. It was the first time Saint Mary's had seen snow since 1972.
It happened early in the morning on Monday, December 7th. That was the week of Finals at Saint Mary's, and I had been working on essays and video projects all day Sunday. Mom emailed me a heads up saying the weather folks were predicting the possibility of snow. I laughed at that idea.
Because it was Finals, I was still wide awake and working on a video project at 2am. I heard some shouting and hooting and hollering outside. That's not unusual, because this IS college. But it did seem especially loud for 2 in the morning. I looked outside and saw flakes floating down. Snow!
I headed outside to the quad where all the upperclassman were throwing snowballs, running and sliding on the icy ground, and generally enjoying the unusual weather. Snow!
We stayed out there for an hour or so, running around and taking pictures and enjoying it all. Snow!
((Somehow, the College decided this was a good looking picture. They used it in the Quarterly magazine that goes to Alums))
At about 3, people started heading back indoors to thaw out and maybe do homework. I saw, on my dorm room floor, GaelVision's HD video camera that I was using earlier in the day. I thought to myself, "this could be the only time I can use a great camera like this in the snow."
So I headed out and took video of some of the smaller details and grand landscapes in the upperclassman's quad. The snow was falling so slowly and lightly that I decided to shoot it in slow motion.
Thirty minutes later I had a full tape and headed back inside. It was 3:30, but I was too excited to sleep. Something told me this video needed to be edited and posted ASAP. I finished the editing at about 6am and hit the sack.
Finals started for me at 9:30 Monday morning, I woke up a bit early and uploaded the finished video to youtube, then posted it to Facebook. Snow!
By the time I got out of the final at 11:30, people had already seen the video and were congratulating me about it. Lots of people.
It had even broken out of the SMC circle and was picked up by several newspaper blogs -- The Lamorinda Sun and SF Chronicle's The Scavenger. The best part about its presence on these blogs -- the amazingly nice comments people left.
The video became a hit. Two days after it was posted, it had 9,000 views. That averaged out to someone watching the video every 20 seconds for two days.
Locally, the video went viral. My mom got an email from a friend saying, someone had emailed her the link, not knowing that she was somehow connected to the creator, me.
There were many compliments that I saw and heard and read on the blogs. And they mean the world to me.
((Me and my dear friend, Gianna))
Today, the video has more than 20,000 views -- the most of any video I've created.
Creating this video, sending it out to the world, and hearing the feedback I heard, gave me a huge boost of confidence and helped me believe that I could work in video production for a living, that I could share moments and feelings with people using video, and, maybe most importantly, that sharing video made me as happy as just about anything could.
Back in August was a devastating fire. It destroyed 11 homes in minutes. Police arrested a transient about 15 hours later. Tuesday he goes to trial.
You might assume homeowners, neighbors, and the community want maximum punishments -- the closest thing to revenge they can legally get.
Nope. They said it wouldn't bring any of the homes back. They said they want the suspect, John Thiry, a mentally unstable man, to receive the help he needs.
I'm still astounded by the spirit and attitude of the people I talk to about the Oak Knoll Fire. They just care and give non-stop.
"The love flowed... If New Orleans could be like that always... What a city we would have, or any place. It had to be a little taste of what heaven's going to be like -- where people just love each other and do whatever they can to help each other." -Rosie Boittman, Upper Ninth Ward, New Orleans
That's how I feel about the Oak Knoll neighborhood and the people of Ashland who surrounded it with care.
Last week at work has been busy with different stories, waiting for people to call back, and driving to different places across the Rogue Valley. More than once I didn't get back to the station until 9:30 or later, a very late time to get everything done. Somehow, everything got done. The News Team helps out when they need to, helping write or edit stories, and getting everything on air at the right time.
Friday was the day before one of the most highly anticipated days in Oregon: The Civil War. More on that rivalry game in a little bit, but I had a story Friday preparing people for the roadways on gameday.
