The people of California are getting ready to decide whether to legalize marijuana. Proposition 19 would green light the sale and distribution of pot despite the federal ban. I had a small hand in putting together a great special that we're airing Saturday night called Proposition Pot.
I don't advocate the use of marijuana. Yes I've smoked it and I inhaled but I haven't touched the stuff in more than 20 years. But with that said I think it makes sense to at the very least decriminalize its use. I think the people of California will vote 19 down but as I've already seen since moving here, doing so would really be stupid.
Medical marijuana shops are everywhere. I've seen pot plants sitting out in the sun on the decks at the apartment complex where I live. As badly as the state needs revenue streams legalizing and taxing the hell out of pot makes sense to me. Legalizing it would also help do away with the dangerous, illegal grow houses, that seem to catch fire at least once a week.
One of the sad parts of the half special that Tim Wells, Damien Espinoza, Brandon Atchison and Cristina Mendonsa put together is that we couldn't include a wonderful piece from Suzanne Phan. Suzanne and her partner Ryan Yamamoto put together a great story while vacationing in Amsterdam. Because they were off the clock, corporate rules won't allow our station to air the fruits of their labor. So I thought I should share it here.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tomorrow is A Long Time
I saw the title to this often overlooked Dylan classic and it got me to thinking about my current state of mind. I've been here in Sacramento for four and a half months. Now that the hard work of marathon training is behind me all I have to keep me occupied is my job.
Time is all I have, to worry about the mistakes I make, to worry about what I may have overlooked as we head to a very busy election night, to worry about what needs to get done for the November sweeps. Being in my head all the time is not a healthy thing. I need to find some positive distractions to keep myself mentally healthy and in check.
I miss my wife. I miss fighting with my wife. I miss sitting in our office while she works away on the computer and I play the Dylan and Neil Young songs that I love so much. I miss our cat Rudy wandering in and joining us because he likes keeping us company.
I have to wait for her to find a job here in California and it's becoming torture for both of us. We've been through it before and I pray to God we never have to go through it again. Below is a nice cover of the Dylan song. It seems Bob doesn't like sharing his work on You Tube.
Time is all I have, to worry about the mistakes I make, to worry about what I may have overlooked as we head to a very busy election night, to worry about what needs to get done for the November sweeps. Being in my head all the time is not a healthy thing. I need to find some positive distractions to keep myself mentally healthy and in check.
I miss my wife. I miss fighting with my wife. I miss sitting in our office while she works away on the computer and I play the Dylan and Neil Young songs that I love so much. I miss our cat Rudy wandering in and joining us because he likes keeping us company.
I have to wait for her to find a job here in California and it's becoming torture for both of us. We've been through it before and I pray to God we never have to go through it again. Below is a nice cover of the Dylan song. It seems Bob doesn't like sharing his work on You Tube.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Hereafter
I had not gone to a movie theater since moving to Sacramento in June so despite suggestions that I make "The Social Network" my first cinematic experience here, it didn't fit my schedule so I opted for Clint.
The subject matter is one all of us face, death. The big question Eastwood tackles is what awaits us after life. It's a good story but not a great one. It all seemed rather cliched. But I ached for the boy who lost his twin brother and felt empathy for the other central figure, a French journalist who barely survives a tsunami and wrestles with her brush with death.
Matt Damon is solid as a reluctant psychic and Eastwood artfully brings the trio together for a predictable and satisfying ending. But in this day and age it's hard to part with ten dollars to see a movie on the big screen unless it's a visual extravaganza. Eastwood tries with the tsunami scene but this is a movie best left for the Red Box bin.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Overload
To say things have been busy since the marathon would be an understatement. Thank goodness the race happened when it did because time for training has been hard to come by. I actually had my first run of more than an hour today, three weeks after the disaster that was St. George.
The chaos started with the Czarina's surprise post-race visit to Sacramento when she got an unexpected job interview with the state of California. We're still waiting to hear if she landed the gig. Then the weekend following the race, a producer who was supposed have show duties on Saturday and Sunday was out sick, so I stepped up because I had little better to do, and it would help out our group of producers who have been filling in on weekends for four months now.
Then it was head long into preparations for the upcoming elections and November sweeps plus producing a half hour special on California's water crisis. Add in another Friday night producing stint and a second straight weekend as the on-call manager and well, you get the idea.
This week started with an early trip into work for a manager's meeting. Wednesday also meant an early start to the day for "Burger-fest" as the big bosses decided to dole out free eats and get the station staff up to date on various items. Thursday I went in early again, ostensibly for an election meeting, but it turned into the Roseville fire from hell at the mall. I somehow squeezed in producing two more specials into the evening before getting home at 10 p.m.
I earned a trip to the woodshed when I decided sleeping in Friday morning sounded better another getting up at 9 a.m. in order to put in an appearance at work at 10 a.m. to catch the announcement of our new G.M. Anita Helt, a former reporter at KTKA in the 1990's will be our new commander-in-chief. It's ironic because I was the news director at KTKA long after Anita had left. My boss wasn't buying my excuse for wanting to come in at 2:30 p.m. because I was scheduled to produce the Friday 11 p.m. I offered my profuse apologies. I really did feel bad because I thought long and hard about coming in because the email that had gone out made it clear that the "announcement" would be pretty major.
Anyway, I better enjoy these two days off because the following week I'm on the hook again for producing the weekend newscasts plus a live one hour election special. Don't even get me started about election night. That will make for a nice ten day in a row stretch of work. At least I'm getting some miles in now!
The chaos started with the Czarina's surprise post-race visit to Sacramento when she got an unexpected job interview with the state of California. We're still waiting to hear if she landed the gig. Then the weekend following the race, a producer who was supposed have show duties on Saturday and Sunday was out sick, so I stepped up because I had little better to do, and it would help out our group of producers who have been filling in on weekends for four months now.
Then it was head long into preparations for the upcoming elections and November sweeps plus producing a half hour special on California's water crisis. Add in another Friday night producing stint and a second straight weekend as the on-call manager and well, you get the idea.
This week started with an early trip into work for a manager's meeting. Wednesday also meant an early start to the day for "Burger-fest" as the big bosses decided to dole out free eats and get the station staff up to date on various items. Thursday I went in early again, ostensibly for an election meeting, but it turned into the Roseville fire from hell at the mall. I somehow squeezed in producing two more specials into the evening before getting home at 10 p.m.
I earned a trip to the woodshed when I decided sleeping in Friday morning sounded better another getting up at 9 a.m. in order to put in an appearance at work at 10 a.m. to catch the announcement of our new G.M. Anita Helt, a former reporter at KTKA in the 1990's will be our new commander-in-chief. It's ironic because I was the news director at KTKA long after Anita had left. My boss wasn't buying my excuse for wanting to come in at 2:30 p.m. because I was scheduled to produce the Friday 11 p.m. I offered my profuse apologies. I really did feel bad because I thought long and hard about coming in because the email that had gone out made it clear that the "announcement" would be pretty major.
Anyway, I better enjoy these two days off because the following week I'm on the hook again for producing the weekend newscasts plus a live one hour election special. Don't even get me started about election night. That will make for a nice ten day in a row stretch of work. At least I'm getting some miles in now!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Big City
I have quite a few guilty music pleasures. But really, when it comes to Merle Haggard, I really shouldn't feel too guilty. I've already professed my love of one of Merle's classic's, "Pancho & Lefty", written by the late, great, Townes Van Zandt.
This afternoon as I waited for my Ribeye at the Texas Roadhouse my second favorite Merle tune came over the speakers at the restaurant. I remember the first time I heard "Big City." It was at a Merle Haggard concert in the late 1980's concert in Phoenix. I remember going to the show expecting to be bored to tears for the next two hours. It turned out to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. The Desert Rose band opened for Merle and it was an enjoyable 45 minutes of country/rock.
Then Merle came out and blew me away. His band complete with horns locked down a tight groove. Then I began to realize just how many Merle tune's I had grown up with as a kid in small town Kansas. In the mid-60's I used to sneak away from my step-father at his work in Detroit, Kansas. I would walk across the blacktop that was U.S. 40 into the Midway Cafe. Jenny Gray ran the beer joint along with her husband Lloyd. Jenny would keep me entertained with burgers, pinball, and the juke box. It was loaded with country music and the occasional Beatles tune. That's where I got familiar with Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and of course Merle Haggard.
My mom didn't like me going over to the Midway because of the fact that they served beer. Farmers would gather there after a hard day in the fields and drink their fill. Of course there were regulars who would enjoy themselves a little too much. It was the antithesis of "Cheers."
One night I was there with my step-father who could knock them back with the best of them and witnessed quite a fight. Weapons included cue sticks and pool balls. When I excitedly recounted what I had witness to my mother my days of play at the Midway came to an abrupt end. It wasn't another 25 years before I set foot in this piece of burger and brew heaven. And by the way, I had an O'Doul's.
This afternoon as I waited for my Ribeye at the Texas Roadhouse my second favorite Merle tune came over the speakers at the restaurant. I remember the first time I heard "Big City." It was at a Merle Haggard concert in the late 1980's concert in Phoenix. I remember going to the show expecting to be bored to tears for the next two hours. It turned out to be one of the best concerts I ever attended. The Desert Rose band opened for Merle and it was an enjoyable 45 minutes of country/rock.
Then Merle came out and blew me away. His band complete with horns locked down a tight groove. Then I began to realize just how many Merle tune's I had grown up with as a kid in small town Kansas. In the mid-60's I used to sneak away from my step-father at his work in Detroit, Kansas. I would walk across the blacktop that was U.S. 40 into the Midway Cafe. Jenny Gray ran the beer joint along with her husband Lloyd. Jenny would keep me entertained with burgers, pinball, and the juke box. It was loaded with country music and the occasional Beatles tune. That's where I got familiar with Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and of course Merle Haggard.
My mom didn't like me going over to the Midway because of the fact that they served beer. Farmers would gather there after a hard day in the fields and drink their fill. Of course there were regulars who would enjoy themselves a little too much. It was the antithesis of "Cheers."
One night I was there with my step-father who could knock them back with the best of them and witnessed quite a fight. Weapons included cue sticks and pool balls. When I excitedly recounted what I had witness to my mother my days of play at the Midway came to an abrupt end. It wasn't another 25 years before I set foot in this piece of burger and brew heaven. And by the way, I had an O'Doul's.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Chile - Mining the Disaster of Cable News
A good friend of mine pointed me to a story suggesting I blog about it. KMBC, the #1 rated news operation in Kansas City, the first television station to hand me a paycheck, sent a reporter to Chile to cover the mine disaster. My own initial reaction to it was, publicity stunt. Then I quickly recovered and thought, My God, local television stations used to do this kind of coverage all the time.
The true market leaders in local television news back in the 80's and 90's would never hesitate to send a reporter across the country, or even across the globe, to cover a great story. We used to do it all the time when I produced in Phoenix. We chased hurricanes, plane crashes, earthquakes, you name it. I can remember my current colleague Dale Schornack, heading to cover the unbelievable crash of a DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa where the remarkable actions of the pilot kept loss of life to a minimum. That was more than 20 years ago.
Even when I worked in tiny Fargo, North Dakota just ten years ago we went to New Mexico, New York City, Washington, DC, Kosovo, Turkey, and other destinations important to our viewers. That was just a decade ago but I know KVLY doesn't travel like that anymore. That simply doesn't happen anymore in local news or more importantly and the point of this blog, cable news. The bean counters have destroyed the business. They've gutted our budgets and made traveling to stories that truly have an impact to our local viewers almost impossible. It's happened to cable news and the networks as well.
The Chile mine disaster shows what cable news used to do on an almost weekly basis. Deliver the power of an emotional story, either tragic or as in this instance, positive. Look back six weeks ago to what happened in San Bruno, California. Five years ago CNN or even FOX would have been on this disaster from the moment it broke bringing viewers wall to wall coverage, even if it meant simply showing the local stations covering the explosion.
If you were watching cable news the night of September 9th, you wouldn't have known the horrific blast in San Bruno until almost 11 p.m. The explosion happened about 9:30 p.m. eastern time. I kept an eye peeled on CNN waiting for them to break in. I was dumbfounded and FNC didn't do squat either.
The Chile mine rescue was tailor made for the networks and cable news. They had plenty of time to plan and to get their people into place. If a major earthquake hits the west coast God knows how long it will take before the rest of the country really gets the kind of coverage we used to see 10, 15, 20 years ago. I remember the Bay Area quake in 1989 and CBS was all over it. They went wall to wall shortly after 8 p.m. eastern. We did our own hour of coverage in Phoenix beginning at 10 p.m. and on the following day we had our own satellite truck in San Francisco with our own anchor and reporter on scene to tell the story. It's sad to say those days are long gone.
The true market leaders in local television news back in the 80's and 90's would never hesitate to send a reporter across the country, or even across the globe, to cover a great story. We used to do it all the time when I produced in Phoenix. We chased hurricanes, plane crashes, earthquakes, you name it. I can remember my current colleague Dale Schornack, heading to cover the unbelievable crash of a DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa where the remarkable actions of the pilot kept loss of life to a minimum. That was more than 20 years ago.
Even when I worked in tiny Fargo, North Dakota just ten years ago we went to New Mexico, New York City, Washington, DC, Kosovo, Turkey, and other destinations important to our viewers. That was just a decade ago but I know KVLY doesn't travel like that anymore. That simply doesn't happen anymore in local news or more importantly and the point of this blog, cable news. The bean counters have destroyed the business. They've gutted our budgets and made traveling to stories that truly have an impact to our local viewers almost impossible. It's happened to cable news and the networks as well.
The Chile mine disaster shows what cable news used to do on an almost weekly basis. Deliver the power of an emotional story, either tragic or as in this instance, positive. Look back six weeks ago to what happened in San Bruno, California. Five years ago CNN or even FOX would have been on this disaster from the moment it broke bringing viewers wall to wall coverage, even if it meant simply showing the local stations covering the explosion.
If you were watching cable news the night of September 9th, you wouldn't have known the horrific blast in San Bruno until almost 11 p.m. The explosion happened about 9:30 p.m. eastern time. I kept an eye peeled on CNN waiting for them to break in. I was dumbfounded and FNC didn't do squat either.
The Chile mine rescue was tailor made for the networks and cable news. They had plenty of time to plan and to get their people into place. If a major earthquake hits the west coast God knows how long it will take before the rest of the country really gets the kind of coverage we used to see 10, 15, 20 years ago. I remember the Bay Area quake in 1989 and CBS was all over it. They went wall to wall shortly after 8 p.m. eastern. We did our own hour of coverage in Phoenix beginning at 10 p.m. and on the following day we had our own satellite truck in San Francisco with our own anchor and reporter on scene to tell the story. It's sad to say those days are long gone.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Le Noise
It took some time for me to digest the epic collaboration between Neil Young and Daniel Lanois. I've had a couple of weeks now to listen to this amazing sonic trip that this dynamic duo created. I won't call it Young's most powerful work yet there are a handful of songs that are among some of his best recordings ever.
"Peaceful Valley Boulevard" is probably my favorite because of the haunting sound of the guitar and the weaves in with Neil's voice. I also love "The Hitchhiker" and "Love and War." You can go to Youtube.com and watch the entire album on Neil's channel which is offered as both a visual and audio delight. Also well worth the watch is Daniel Lanois's explanation of how the album came together and what he brought to the project that makes it one of Young's most unique works.
Finally, I want to say the aforementioned three songs are just as powerful live. Neil's touring days are far from over and if you get the chance to see him take it. It's a musical ride that few other artists can even attempt to offer.
"Peaceful Valley Boulevard" is probably my favorite because of the haunting sound of the guitar and the weaves in with Neil's voice. I also love "The Hitchhiker" and "Love and War." You can go to Youtube.com and watch the entire album on Neil's channel which is offered as both a visual and audio delight. Also well worth the watch is Daniel Lanois's explanation of how the album came together and what he brought to the project that makes it one of Young's most unique works.
Finally, I want to say the aforementioned three songs are just as powerful live. Neil's touring days are far from over and if you get the chance to see him take it. It's a musical ride that few other artists can even attempt to offer.
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