Play Hard or Go Home!

I'm going to keep this post short, one, because our news story wasn't that interesting, and two, because I'm beat and stressed from a two hour drive home in bumper to bumper traffic. My regular reporter called in sick today, so I had to hoof it to Hollywood for a shoot. Amazing how a thirty-eight mile drive can take that long! Argh! Gotta love L.A.!

First, a quick note about the weekend. Our G-Girl meeting was fun and informative, and the plaque collection of Stan the Plaque man was phenomenal!! Click the picture to see the full photo album.

The surf trip to San Elijo was FANTASTIC!! Kristin and I felt as if we'd been swept away on a magnificent vacation, even if only for a day. Lots and lots of time in the water--and I stood up first thing on the surfboard!!! Granted, I still didn't "surf" in my mind, just stood up. But that's a start, right? Great company, great food, a sunset dinner at a fantastic restaurant, and fireside s'mores. What more could a girl want??

I didn't make it through the day unscathed, though. Wanna see my war wounds??? First, my swollen foot from... a jelly fish sting? From over stressin' my foot? Not sure, although I did feel a sting during the day, but couldn't find a mark on the bottom of my foot. Pretty, huh?

My other war wound, this lovely, fist sized bruise on my hip! I got this from getting tumbled in a wave and whacked by the fin of the surfboard. Ouch!! Ha ha ha ha! No big deal. I think the wounds only add to the experience. Play hard or go home, right??

As for my news story, it really was rather pointless. It rained yesterday (oh no!), and Melrose flooded (oh no!). Melrose is a trendy, low-brow kinda shopping district, and, from what we could gather, the drains didn't drain quick enough and some water got into the stores. Yes, news to the shop owners, but not really news TODAY for the viewing public. Yesterday maybe, but not today. Fortunately, our place had sent a crew out yesterday so we had something to work with. To flesh it out, Jen and I did a couple interviews. Slapped it together. Set up on Melrose for a live shot.

The most entertaining part? The people watching of course. Punk rock, baby!

  

And then of course, my day ended with the two stinkin' hour drive home! Argh!!! Okay. Well... writing this helped mellow me out, so... thanks!

Now I'm off to the tub to further unwind. Hmmm.... I wonder if it's reasonable to use my new Kindle for tub reading? What's the worst that can... never mind. Electronics. Water. No bueno.

Until tomorrow...

Later gators!

Flyin' High!!

Remember a couple of days ago when I did the story on the helicopter supervisor who allegedly took his girlfriend on a joy ride and I said it would have been a really cool day if I'd gotten to go up in the helicopter??

Well today, I got to go up in one!!! Woo hoo!! Lance here was our very skilled pilot.

In case you hadn't heard, the Natalie Wood death investigation has been reopened because the Captain on the boat that night has now come forward and said he lied to investigators at the time. He claims Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood had a terrible argument that night, and that after she disappeared, Wagner didn't want to make any effort to find her. The captain said he believes Wagner was responsible for her death.

Because we're the closest crew to Catalina, my reporter and I got to hop on a helicopter and fly over to interview Doug Bombard, the former Harbor Master of Two-Harbors, who, not only was friends with the couple, but was also the one who recovered her body. He gave us a helicopter tour pointing out where the dingy was found, and how he, from that, figured which way the current would have taken her body. Within half an hour, he found her.

 

An interesting tidbit about Doug: He was born on Catalina Island in 1926! His dad, a race car mechanic, moved there in 1920. What the heck was even out there back then?? For those of you who don't know, Catalina is a very small island off the Southern California coast, about 3600 people. You can pretty much see all there is to see within a day or two--although I guess there is quite a bit of uninhabited stuff to explore. I can't imagine growing up in such a place, especially that long ago!

 The best part of the trip was flying low over the water. It almost felt as if we were skimming it. AND... we saw an AMAZING school of dolphin doing acrobatics! Along the shoreline, the water looked deep turquoise. So very, very pretty.

Often, people ask how I deal with all of the bad stuff I have to cover for the news, and sadly, I do see a lot of bad stuff. BUT... there are the days like today when I get paid to do something pretty darned cool. Granted, the core story is not a good one, but the experience certainly was.

And now I've gotta wrap this up. Busy night and weekend ahead. Tonight? It's our monthly Gasoline Girl meeting at Stan the Plaque Man's Shop (he's the one who made our plaques and many, many other SoCal Car club plaques). And tomorrow, fellow G-Girl Kristin and I are meeting a bunch of car guys down at San Elijo beach in San Diego for a day of surfin!!! Woo hoo!!!

Until Monday...

Later Gators!

Adapting to change....

I'm going to veer off the daily news story theme for a bit because I'm doing something entirely new. I'm writing this post with my all new Kindle Fire. Cool, eh?

I, like many novelists, hesitated with the whole E-READER thing. The romance of holding a book couldn't be replaced by a machine. No way, no how. Nuh uh...

I went through the same thing with digital cameras. Nothing could replace film. No way, no how. Nuh uh...

But... I was wrong. I know, I know. Not easy to admit, but I'll be a big girl about it. I love the immediacy of digital cameras and the ability to shoot and shoot to my heart's content without the time and expense of film. And I tell ya... the instant feedback has made me a better photographer. I remember the days when I'd make notes on a little pad about each frame then try to compare those notes to the images once they were processed and printed. It wasn't easy to experiment. But with digital?? ENDLESS experimentation.

So when Kindle came out with the Fire, I decided to give it a try. I'd been wrong about digital cameras; maybe I was wrong about this. And besides, if I hated it as a reader I could still use it for web access, movies, music... and the price was right, so why not?

And guess what? I've had it less than 24 hours and I love this thing! Last night when I pulled this sucker out of the box, I immediately went for the book selections, and found the forgotten (on my part) third part of the Hunger Games!! After reading the second book in the trilogy, I couldn't wait for the third to come out but somehow got buried in other stuff and forgot! Mockingjay was my first Kindle download. Within seconds I had my book with no trip to the bookstore! Dang! How cool is that???

I thought I'd hate reading off a screen, but after a couple of paragraphs I forgot about the device. The page background can be set to off-white, like most books, and it's easy to hold, turn pages, and simply lose yourself in make believe without the bulk and waste (hard as it is to say) of paper.

So... adapting to change isn't too bad, right?

Which kinda ties into one of my news stories today about a new retirement study. Talk about adapting! Instead of the hallowed 65 to retire, most people working today will have to work until they're 80. Yep! I said 80. The graph below shows the percentage of each retirement dollar people expect to get from the government. I'd say it's pretty accurate. I look at the difference between my parents and I. They retired a couple years ago, and in addition to a lot of very smart saving, are getting social security. Can I count on that same supplement?? Who knows. I know I'm not counting on it, which fits into the 20% for 40-somethings!

And man! The way my 401k continually gets devalued. Yikes!

The big fear for me is this: Can I carry all this heavy gear until I'm 80? Years ago, my feller and I talked about the impact carrying fifty to sixty pounds every day might have on me physically and we decided I should retire by 45. Well... that's less than a year away, and I sure don't think I'm financially close to retiring, nor am I mentally done with it either. I still enjoy what I do. Look at all the great people I meet, and the amazing things I see!

Hmmm... The whole workin' til 80 thing might not be as easy to adapt to as switching from a book to an E-Reader.

In addition to the retirement story, the day started with an explosion in Anaheim (and an early call for me) and ended with an Occupy OC event at John Wayne airport.

But really... I don't need to go into detail. I've rambled on entirely too long with this post and truthfully, I want to go play with my Kindle Fire.

(Confession here... Halfway through the blog post, I switched to the computer to write. I'm thrilled I have the ability to post from the Kindle, but it's tough to two-finger type on the screen pad, especially when I can whiz through it on a computer!)

Until another exciting day tomorrow...

Later gators!

Whew! So many stories, so little time...

Wowie. Did I ever get moved around today!!

My reporter was given the day to "enterprise" future stories, in other words, rather than doing the run-n-gun day-of-air reporting, she could do some research and set up some perhaps more in depth pieces to shoot down the road.

I, however, still needed to get out there and cover the happenings in Orange County. And man, did I cover it!

First stop? The Orange County Fire Authority. Six o'clock last night, some drunk ran through the gates, knocked over a pole, and crashed into the 911 Memorial, where, because of the eternal flame burning, his car caught fire.

Next, I headed down south to Laguna Hills High School,where a group of mentally disadvantaged kids in a life skills program got a recycling award. These kids were awesome! Even though most of them lacked verbal skills, they were so much fun. And you could see their pride in contributing to the school and community by recycling all of the water and soda bottles.

This dark-haired boy below, Devon, took a liking to me and became my BFF during the shoot. He hung onto my arm the entire time--which made for a challenging hour, but he was so darn sweet I couldn't say no.

From there, I headed north to Cal State Fullerton to cover more of the "Occupy" stuff. Today, the CSU trustees in fact voted for a 9% fee increase, which resulted in chaos over at Cal State Long Beach, including a shattered glass double door. In Fullerton, things were considerably calmer. They've set up tents outside the library in an attempt to educate fellow students about what's going on in the trustee system and what they can do to push for change. Tonight, they'll have a rally and discuss the day's happenings.

And finally, to round out the day, I ended up in Santa Ana at the Sheriff's Department to shoot a silhouetted interview of a mom who wanted to get the word out about child annoyance.

Her middle school aged daughter who has to ride public transportation to school, was being repeatedly harassed by a man on the bus to the point she no longer wanted to go to school. When her mom realized how serious it was becoming, she reported it to the sheriff's and they did in fact arrest him.

Yay for the good guys!

WHEW! I hardly had time to inhale my burrito today!

So now I'm headed home to relax, and maybe, do it all over again tomorrow.

Until then....

Later gators!

Shattered Glass

Oh dear. It was not a good couple of days for me and glass.

Saturday I decided to change out the old cracked windshield in my '48 Ford with a new one... but the glass cracked on the way to Torrance (I'm assuming), where I'd planned to demonstrate to a lovely group of ladies how to do it. Read all about it here.

This morning, at 4:20 a.m., the alarm on my news van went off, and Brian said he heard the pop of glass. Sure enough, someone had busted both the driver's side and passenger side windows out.

And for what... my GPS unit and an ancient cell phone. Thankfully, nothing more was stolen. It astounds me how petty thieves put their freedom at risk for something so small.

But then... considering our jails are at 180 percent of capacity, petty thieves probably don't do much jail time. The most ridiculous part?? I KNEW better than to leave my GPS in plain sight! Heck, I'd done tons of news stories on smash and grabs with GPS devices. The one night I forget to put it away... *sigh*

So... I got a lovely morning drive in a windowless van from Orange to Burbank. Brrrrr!! It was actually kind of fun, though, kinda like bein' in a roadster!

While waiting for the glass guy to get the new windows in, I got lots of little repairs done to my equipment. Since I don't make it to the lot very often, I don't get days to take care of this kind of stuff, so that was handy.

Then it was off with one of my favorite reporters to do a story on traffic! A new nationwide traffic study indicated that 6 of the 7 most congested stretches of highway are in Los Angeles. Funny. No one we talked to seemed surprised. Ha!

The SINGLE MOST congested stretch of highway in the United States, according to the researchers, is on the Harbor Freeway, specifically the three-mile stretch of northbound California Highway 110 near Dodger Stadium running through downtown.

The report estimates more than 1.4 million person hours are wasted each year by people sitting in traffic at that one intersection, using 2.1 million gallons of gasoline. Dang! No wonder I always avoid that section of freeway!

Yawn! Sorry. It was a long day, considering my rude wake up call this morning. I'm off to sleepyland!

Until tomorrow....

Later gators!

What began as a lovely day...

It's Friday. It's Veteran's Day. And it's 11/11/11. So I deserve a fun story today, right? Plus, I did my little dance last night to the news gods for something visual, and hey! I got my wish!

The news planners wanted us to do a story on coastal weather. Newsworthy why? Because we're expecting a big storm tonight and tomorrow. I know the producers had visions of people at the beach in the rain. But... it's not raining yet.

I didn't complain, though. The assignment got me to the beach! I have a little obsession right now: learning to surf. My pal El Marko took me out a couple of weekends ago and I've been thinkin' about it a whole lot ever since. (You can read all about it here). So to take pictures of surfers??? A dream assignment!!!

I talked to this nice surfer girl when she got out of the water and mentioned I was just learning and really wanted to get out in the water again. She told me about a group of beginner women who get together in Newport! Can't wait to check 'em out.

I was happy. Smiling. Talked to this nice couple from Vegas who were quite cold in the wind.

Then... they changed my story. BOO!!!!!

To what you ask? What could be more newsworthy than a rain story on a non-stormy beach?

A missing 14-year-old girl. Jackie Martinez left her house October 30th to go candy shopping, but never came home. Cops later found out (via her Facebook page) that she planned to meet up with a 15-year-old boy, but he claims she never showed. Nothing much was done over her now twelve-day absence because she'd sent a text the day after her disappearance saying she was okay, and by back tracking on her FB page, its clear she had a history of meeting up with boys.

But regardless of her past behavior, she's still fourteen, and she's still missing. Now the PD is putting out a larger effort to find out where she is. Friends and family have created a Facebook page to get her picture out there. The very social networking that may have gotten her into trouble in the first place now used to maybe help find her.

 

So while I lost the visual story, at least maybe I ended up doing a story that might aid in the search for Jackie. Yeah, 14-year-old girls do dumb things sometimes, but that doesn't mean bad things should happen to her.

And now... I'm ready for a fun, Gasoline Girl weekend. Bondorella will be getting new glass! Check out www. bondorella.worpress.com for an update on that! Should be posted by Monday.

Until then....

Later gators!

Helicopter Joyride

I'm not too excited about writing this post. Why? 'Cause today's story wasn't fun to shoot. Why not? 'Cause there wasn't much to shoot!! Now if I'd actually gone up in the helicopter that would be different... but... uhhh... no. That would have been wrong because the whole reason a helicopter ride became a news story was due to an anonymous letter accusing a Deputy of using the Sheriff's Department helicopter to take his girlfriend on a joy ride. I imagine taking a news photographer for a ride would also fit under inappropriate use.

A few years ago, Orange County had a huge scandal involving the Sheriff's Department, one that resulted in Sheriff Mike Carona and others going to jail. It's a long, involved story and if you want to know more, just Google the former Sheriff's name. The reason I bring this up is because Orange County is now extra-sensitive about any hint of corruption in the department.

So of course, the Sheriff's Department and the Board of Supervisors snapped to attention when they received this anonymous letter:

The letter alleges a supervisor of the helicopter crew took his girlfriend on a taxpayer funded flight around Orange County. The reason this harkens back to the aforementioned scandal? Assistant Sheriff Jaramillo was also accused of using the helicopter for personal reasons, like going to retrieve his wife's purse.

When I said there wasn't much to shoot, I meant it. The helicopter is stored in an area we can't access so I had no way to get any shots. Thank goodness for FILE VIDEO. Old pot busts saved the day. Anytime they find a field of maryjuana out in the middle of nowhere, they use the helicopter to haul it out and we're usually there covering it. I did a little archive search, and found what I needed. Other than that, we shot a couple of interviews and a very exciting exterior of the Sheriff's department. *YAWN*...  Nothing terribly visual there.

 

As for the allegations against the deputy, the department is looking into it. One of the supervisors we interviewed thinks it might all be a misunderstanding, that the alleged "girlfriend" was actually a fellow deputy in plain clothes. It will all come to light soon, once they look at the FAA records for the flight. 

But until then... please... pretty please with sugar on top... let me have a nice VISUAL story tomorrow? Is that really too much to ask?  :)

Until tomorrow....

Later gators!

"We say fight back!"

I've gotta say... I like covering protests, as long as I'm not getting pushed, shoved, or pepper sprayed (and yes I have at one time or another experienced all three).

For the most part, protestors actually (gasp) want the media there. We're a tool to get their message out, and really, that's the point of a protest, right? I mean, if they went to all the trouble to alter their usual routine, grab a picket sign, and take to the streets, they must be pretty passionate about sharing their opinions.

But (back to the reason why I like shooting protests) in addition to the thrill of not being hated or reviled (at least not to our face), protests are super visual and full of "nat" sound, or in real man speak,  the natural sound of the event. I LOVE nat sound. Nat sound infuses a story with life. I mean really. Think of a story about a protest where you hear only the reporter speaking, and the spokespeople speaking, but no loud chants or drums pounding or horns blaring. Without that sound, there's no energy. And when you have people chanting and marching and waving signs... well, it really is a perfect scenario for getting a great piece.

All right. So now you know I enjoyed shooting my story today, but you don't know what the protestors were protesting about, right? Well it's kind of tied into the Occupy movements, all concerning use of funds and budgeting, this time, with the University of Cal systems. Across California, students and faculty protested financial issues, like tuition hikes and salary freezes. Yeah, it stinks. But hey... paying for an education has never been easy, and certainly isn't now. As my reporter and I discussed, college is a privilege, not a right. Always has been. But my opinion isn't part of the story.

 

So while budget cuts can be a dry subject, at least the protestors add an exciting visual and auditory element. They had a nice diverse crowd at UCI. Funny how college students will always protest something, even if they're not totally sure about the core reasons behind what they're protesting. I guess it's a rite of passage. I wouldn't know...

Until tomorrow!

Later gators!

Oh the insanity!!

(This is for you, Mommy and Daddy, since you missed my daily reports... xo)

Yesterday I had one of those crazy, illogical days that happen entirely too often in the news biz. My reporter and I have been working on a sweeps piece about... oh wait. I shouldn't say since it won't air until Monday. Let's just say it has something to do with famous hamburgers.

But that’s not really part of yesterday’s craziness.

The craziness came from getting redirected all over the Southland. Technically, I'm based in the Orange County bureau for NBC News-Los Angeles, but because we’re short staffed, one of the two photogs based in OC is pulled from the county daily. Yesterday, I got the OC shift and my reporter and I were given the day to finish up the sweeps piece. Just as we wrapped our last interview, I got a MAYDAY call from the assignment desk. They needed me for a Dia de los Muertos shoot and live shot from... Koreatown--Koreatown? Really? Wouldn't, like, Olvera Street make more sense?

Anyway, if you’re not familiar with L.A., Koreatown is about 35 miles north of the OC, but 35 miles in L.A. traffic can sometimes take up to two hours. I made it in just over an hour.  As soon as I’d finished shooting the story and was about to edit (happy with the very pretty, colorful pictures of the Day of the Dead altar) the desk called with another MAYDAY. There’d been a situation at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station south of San Clemente—like 70 miles south from where I was. Seriously??? The call came at four o’clock; they wanted us live at six. Not a stinking chance, I told them, but they said go anyway. Here's my path yesterday, with "A" being my base station in OC.

SO… I hit the road again, passed back through Orange County and headed to the northern tip of San Diego county… for what? A small ammonia spill in a non-nuclear part of the facility. A total NON-emergency. And no, I didn’t make it in time for the six o’clock news. 

 

Part of the reason news agencies have bureaus is because in large metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, it takes too darn long to get anywhere. By having bureaus, you can make sure there’s always a crew in proximity. By pulling both crews out of OC, it left my reporter with no crew and a breaking story.

But here’s the deal: there’s no sense getting mad about it. Right away when the MAYDAY call comes, the blood starts pumping and the first impulse is to yell, are you crazy??

But you've just gotta take a deep breath, and go with it. It's part of the job. And part of what I love is the day-to-day variance, so...

The silver lining... got to see sunset over San Onofre State Beach. All in a day's work. Whew.

Today? A follow up on the confusion about the nuclear alert system in the community. There shouldn't have been so much hubbub over a small incident, and it came down to a lack of uniformity in the alert numbering system.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to get the day to finish the top secret sweeps piece, which might involve having to buy a hamburger and fries to shoot. And of course, it can't be wasted, right?

But who knows what the day will really hold.

Until tomorrow....

Later gators!

How to tell a TV news story without any pictures...

What makes TV news different from print journalism (other than the smashing good looks of the anchors) is... pictures. Moving pictures to be exact.

If a newspaper has a picture poor story, it's okay. It can still go to print. For TV? Uh uh. Nope. Gotta have those images flickering by.

Today's offering. Old people and pot-laced brownies. Yep. You heard me. But the old folks didn't know they were imbibing maryjuana. Nope. They simply partook of some brownies at a friend's memorial, and three of them got quite sick. An 82-year-old man even fell down due to the dizziness. (He ate three brownies. His wife said he loves brownies.)

Here's the deal: The deceased was a man who suffered with cancer and used medical maryjuana. His daughter, in tribute to him, made the medical maryjuana brownies and brought them to the memorial. Some of the quests knew what they were; some did not--like the three elderly who were taken to the hospital with symptoms of nausea and dizziness.

The problem with telling this story for TV:  the victims weren't identified, so we couldn't go talk to them, thus no pictures of people. The culprit, in this case the baker/daughter, also not identified, thus, no bad guy. And where does one find pot-laced brownies in the middle of a Tuesday to take pictures of? Yeah... so no pictures of brownies. The cops said the memorial took place at a local golf course; the golf course named said it wasn't them, so no location. ARGH!

What pictures did we have for our news story? Exteriors of the hospital. Some video I'd shot a while back at a medical maryjuana dispensary, and the interview with the cop. And my super exciting creative "blurred out elderly." That's where we go all Dateline-style.

Why did we still do the news story without the primary elements, you ask? Because the cops wanted to get out the message that even if you have a doctor recommendation for medical maryjuana, it is NOT OKAY to share with your pals, or to feed it to unknowing senior citizens.

So there it is.