Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to a mom who enjoys playing beer pong with her son.

SMC Graduation; May 2010

Thanks for making me clean my room (kinda),

telling me to not be a teacher (I may disobey you there),

showing me how to be an adult (big thanks),

and playing beer pong with me (like mother, like son).

Love you, and see you soon.

Last minute Mother's Day gift ideas

120 seconds of great/horrible gift ideas for Sunday--

Scoops and Secrets

I should start off by telling you that "secret" is probably the wrong word.

On Tuesday, I worked on this story about consumers trending towards more fuel-efficient cars. For the story I talked to Craig Bramscher, the CEO of Brammo Motors. Brammo Motors is a company head-quartered in Ashland that is one of the world-wide leaders in designing and building electric motorcycles. In regards to this story, they said they see a big boost of interest when gas prices climb. In Southern Oregon, they finally tipped to the $4 mark -- the milestone where experts say drivers start changing their habits.

Craig was kind and obliged to give me an interview (he's great at them by the way). Then he said, "You caught me on the right day. I'm just finishing up a press release, we've got a big announcement we're making tomorrow morning." Interest piqued, so I asked.

Wednesday morning, at 4 o'clock, Brammo would be announcing four new electric motorcycles.

I asked Craig if he'd be willing to do an interview with me and I could hold it for the morning show, when the news went public.
He said sure. Stellar.

We did the interview and I got back to the station to find the press release including photos of the new bikes.

At the top of the press release, it said "Embargoed until 5/4/11 at 4am PST." Embargoed is journalism talk for "secret." It sounds cooler and perpetuates our nerdiness.

The release made the story public, but we had the on-camera interview with Craig. And he was headed to Las Vegas on Wednesday to show off and race the prototypes. No one else would be able to get that interview. Win!

We ran the story four times between 5a-7a and again in the 5p and 6p Wednesday. I was very happy to get the story before it happened. Every now and then, it's nice to feel like you scored.

Easter Sunday

I have a great job, but it comes with several downsides. One of which is moving far away from family (been able to slightly avoid this one), and the other is not getting holidays off. Luckily, Easter's always on a Sunday and I wasn't working.

However, one of the upsides is befriending people in the same boat and sticking together through those common bonds.

Easter 2011 was spent with my family away from my family.

In the morning I went to Easter mass at a small church in Jacksonville, a small town about 15 minutes away. Jacksonville's downtown area is designed to look like something from the turn of the 20th century. If horses mosied the main street instead of cars, you'd assume it was something from the Old West. Many of the buildings are 100+ years old. St. Joseph's is one of those buildings. It was built in 1852. And it's beautiful.

Mass was very nice.
I think I've found a home church.

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That afternoon six of us from all three stations met for Easter Brunch. We all got dressed up and brought yummy foods. I had my priorities straight and brought mimosa ingredients.





Kaylin hosted. She made a Rachel Ray recipe called "Green Eggs and Ham." Pancetta, spinach, and an egg. Delicious!






Somehow I was put in charge of carving the ham. I hope I did OK.



It tasted good. Everyone ate it. That means it's good, right?

We ate until we got full, watched a movie, ate some more, and continued watching a movie.


It was a lovely afternoon… until another downside of the job reared it's ugly head in my direction. I got a call from Erin who was producing the Saturday evening show. There was a car accident and she didn't have anyone to send out to cover it and needed me to come in. As a reporter, I'm on-call 24 hours a day.

I went out, got the story, and got home in time to watch a movie with Chris.


I wish I was home with my family for Easter, but I'm glad it was so nice to spend it with my family away from my family.

The Day After

I'm still reeling in the wake of all that's happened over the past 30 hours or so.

Osama bin Laden has been killed.
Everyone has an opinion about it.
Social media broke the story.

Bin Laden's death makes our job as news reporters and story tellers easy and difficult.

We blew out our evening shows with bin Laden coverage.
Danielle reported on how the local airport's operations would change (or not).
Kaylin went to Phoenix High School where students were connecting 9/11, 5/1, and psychology.
Steven went to Northern California to talk to a retired NY firefighter who lost his brother on 9/11.
I talked with three veterans from the War on Terror who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I think all of the stories were good, interesting, insightful.

Especially Steven's.

The retired firefighter travelled from very Northern California and worked at Ground Zero for months. He lost his brother in the attack. He says bin Laden's death doesn't give him closure at all. It doesn't bring his brother back.

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Here's why I like Twitter: I don't have the patience (or means) to sit and watch 24 hour news channels for the most up to date information. When I want the newest news, I go to Twitter and check out the profiles for Time and Breaking News.

In 140 characters I get a taste for the story.

Examples of tweets:
"This is likely the gear used in the raid of Osama's compound."
"Why Osama's death hold mores symbolism than significance."
"Bin Laden compound was under near-constant scrutiny by the US; al-Qaida leader rarely ventured outside."

If I like the teaser sentence, I'll bookmark it from my phone and read it, view it, or watch it when I get to a full-blown computer.

Bam! News reports almost instantly. On my phone.

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I can't stop looking at a series of photos of Obama overseeing the raid on Osama's compound.

It's a real-life playing out of scenes I'd seen in "The West Wing."

Take a look.

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I know many people who are ecstatic about bin Laden's death for many reasons.
That's their right. And it's understandable.


However, I find my emotions aligning with this quote--
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."

It's been attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr and is going viral. People see it, pass it on. More see it, more pass it on.
One problem, MLK never said that.

Social Media can spread news, information quickly, but doesn't always make it true.

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However, this quote IS from MLK:
"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence and toughness multiples toughness in a descending spiral of destruction."

The first part of this quote is recited in an episode of The West Wing when the President decides to attack terrorist camps on foreign soil.

Coincidence?

They say art imitates life.
Or is it the other way around?

Bin Laden, breaking news, and social media

It's 8:28 Sunday evening. I'm sitting on my couch, laptop sitting on my lap, TV on -- watching and reading the news about Osama Bin Laden reportedly dead.

I first heard the reports around 7:40.
At the grocery store.
On my phone's Twitter application.

Now I'm home. My ears are focused on the TV, eyes on social media websites, fingers to the keys.

Social media is blowing up.
People tweeting elated emotions.
News outlets reporting the latest information they have.
Friends retweeting what they've seen.

Chris made a great point, Twitter is great for breaking news, because you can pass on information and tweets with the click of a button. News, information, word spreads like an epidemic on Twitter.

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I'm watching Brian Williams on the NBC Special Report. He's in the newsroom, anchoring coverage. On a Sunday night.
Does he sleep at the headquarters?
Champion.

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I got chills at the end of Obama's speech. Incorporating the Pledge of Allegiance was brilliant. Resurrected the words that are usually repeated with monotony; giving them refreshed meaning.

It's a rallying point for Americans.

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After the President's speech and networks went back to regular programming, but the 24-hour stations kept covering news, I realized there was somewhere else that was more captivating: Twitter. News organizations and a profile called "Breaking News" were re-tweeting updates from the scenes of spontaneously rallies: The White House and Ground Zero.

But the tweets weren't from professional reporters, they were coming from participants.

Documented and distributed by @gracecaudle

Twitter allows us to be anywhere instantly.

There's also this fascinating NY Times blog about how the news leaked on social media.

Twitterers and Facebookers knew what the President was going to say an hour before he said it, and before many TV News outlets reported it.

The tide has turned.

A co-worker at my station, who's been in the news biz for several decades just updated his Facebook status: "In the age of social media, the Big Speech by a president seems less important. The old news model just ain't what it used to be."

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I believe tonight will be a "Where were you when?..." moment. It's no where near as significant as some others -- the moon landing, JFK's assassination, and 9/11, itself -- but for young people my age, an overarching underlying thread of news in our lives has been dominated by September 11th and the War on Terror.

I'll remember the surging feelings regarding the announcement of Bin Laden's death.
But what will stick out more for me is the surge of social media leading up to, during, and following the announcement.

Spring Sprang Sprung

Spring is springing or has already sprung (depending on where you live). Maybe it sprang. I dunno.

Either way, the sun is burning through the clouds, trees are blossoming, days are growing longer, and spirits are higher.

For me, Spring means listening to music that matches the season-- happier, brighter, lighter, fun-ner.

One particular Spring-y song is called "Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City. It's fun, light, bright, and happy.

It's also the soundtrack to a GaelVision commercial I shot and edited about a year ago.

It's the brainchild of this guy:

Devon Perez -- My classmate, GaelVision partner in crime, and good friend.

I shot and edited the video, but he dreamt it, got the costumes, and directed it.

It was a fun (albeit early) Saturday morning shoot that turned into one of the more fun end products from my college years.

The video reminds me of Spring. Spring reminds me of this video.
Hopefully it does the same for you, too.