this blog is starting to become like a wierd al yankovich record in the sense that i'll write a post and then wait long enough for everyone to forget i still have a blog before writing another. unlike weird al, however, this is not an intentional publicity move. i'm largely just forgetful and lazy. (and the first post title is referencing the parody ways of said singer. which is why i don't really do parody..)
here goes..
this is actually kind of a sad "back to blogging" post. last week i heard that a couple of students from a local high school that i covered while working for the clay county news had been in an accident and that the passenger had died. the current managing editor of the paper had told me the news, but at the time, the names of the students had not been released.
yesterday, i went back into the ccn office and glanced at a copy of this week's issue, seeing the picture of a girl that was familiar, and, after reading the headline, realized that it was her who died in the accident. reading further, the driver of the car, who is in serious condition at the hospital, was also very familiar. covering the county schools for the entire spring semester, i had plenty of interaction with the students while on the ccn staff, but none as much as with these particular students. the high school they attend(ed) was always one of the more friendly to me in terms of the students, and if there were two students that i would find myself covering/saying hi to/casually conversing with, it was these two girls.
i had first met the driver at one of the first events i had covered since coming. i interviewed her and two other students from the school about their involvement in a wrapping party for needy families. from there, she was always someone i'd say hi to if i crossed paths, stopping for a brief conversation or the occasional interview. in showing my face at a lot of the school events, i had even spoken with her parents a couple of times.
the passenger, who was killed in the accident, i also met at an early event, a spaghetti feed to raise money for a trip to washington, d.c. that her and three other seniors were attending. again, she was involved and there were plenty of "hellos" and brief conversations, with me even running into her in a store in hastings after she graduated where we had talked about what she was doing for college. i even had a lot of interaction with her parents, too. he dad, a minister at a local church, held a fundraiser for a mission trip during which, and after which, i had spoken with him when i would see him. her mom was always around, helping at various events, and was always good to talk to.
so.. (and i suppose i would have been at whoever was involved) to see that it was these two girls involved in the accident, i was shocked and a little shaken. especially that the one girl, who just graduated in the spring, had died in the accident. that makes (as far as i know) three people that i have talked to out here who have died. i guess for what i do and the amount of people i meet through my job, that's bound to happen, but the fact that it was those two girls, out of anyone, hit me a little harder, combined with the fact, like i said, that i knew their parents.
so, kind of a downer to get back into it, but i wanted to share. you never like to see the bad news, especially when it's about someone you know. buckle up, be safe. you never do know.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
first visitor
i guess i never fully understood just how little there is to do here until alex visited me the last couple days. being alone, i've been itching to have someone to do things with, but now i finally had a visitor and had no idea what to do for entertainment. i guess just being by myself i'm not aware of how boring this area is.
for instance: alex got in mid-afternoon on sunday. since the end of the week/weekend was extremely busy for me, i still had all my writing to do, so it wasn't a very exciting day. we took a walking tour of town, but, being sunday, nothing was open and nobody was around. we had dinner at the legion, as it was the only place open on a sunday night. if nothing else, it was the perfect example of the company i keep here. i don't think there was anyone, besides our waitress, under the age of 75. off to a great start. we ended up having some beers and watching arrested development until alex passed out and i slaved at my computer to finish my work.
monday we drove to hastings to get some food. we ate some sloppy mexican food at a place i hadn't noticed before and then walked around the downtown. realizing there was nothing to even do there, we came back to my house, started drinking and watched episodes of south park. at 9, my sand volleyball team played, so we took a cooler to the park to watch. i ended up rotating in for the last two games, refusing to let my knee keep me out/because there was a girl playing on our team this week. [side note: the best way to meet what very, very few girls are out here is not to punch them in the mouth while going for the volleyball. especially when she calls you off from the ball, but you swipe at it anyway. really not the best policy. hopeless doesn't even begin to say it.]
after the game, we walked to my boss' house for a couple of post-game beers with some of the team. we left after a bit hoping to get to the bar, but found it closed before midnight. lame, sutton, lame. back to the house for tv and bed.
tuesday we golfed. and quit halfway through because we sucked and weren't having much fun. then alex hit the road for his next stop at kansas state.
i make it sound so exciting, but we had an all right time. it was great to just have a friend around for a couple days, even if we didn't do anything terribly fun. point: sutton is boring, but company is good. now i have to figure out how to entertain my parents when they get here saturday night.
for instance: alex got in mid-afternoon on sunday. since the end of the week/weekend was extremely busy for me, i still had all my writing to do, so it wasn't a very exciting day. we took a walking tour of town, but, being sunday, nothing was open and nobody was around. we had dinner at the legion, as it was the only place open on a sunday night. if nothing else, it was the perfect example of the company i keep here. i don't think there was anyone, besides our waitress, under the age of 75. off to a great start. we ended up having some beers and watching arrested development until alex passed out and i slaved at my computer to finish my work.
monday we drove to hastings to get some food. we ate some sloppy mexican food at a place i hadn't noticed before and then walked around the downtown. realizing there was nothing to even do there, we came back to my house, started drinking and watched episodes of south park. at 9, my sand volleyball team played, so we took a cooler to the park to watch. i ended up rotating in for the last two games, refusing to let my knee keep me out/because there was a girl playing on our team this week. [side note: the best way to meet what very, very few girls are out here is not to punch them in the mouth while going for the volleyball. especially when she calls you off from the ball, but you swipe at it anyway. really not the best policy. hopeless doesn't even begin to say it.]
after the game, we walked to my boss' house for a couple of post-game beers with some of the team. we left after a bit hoping to get to the bar, but found it closed before midnight. lame, sutton, lame. back to the house for tv and bed.
tuesday we golfed. and quit halfway through because we sucked and weren't having much fun. then alex hit the road for his next stop at kansas state.
i make it sound so exciting, but we had an all right time. it was great to just have a friend around for a couple days, even if we didn't do anything terribly fun. point: sutton is boring, but company is good. now i have to figure out how to entertain my parents when they get here saturday night.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
harry potter and the half-blood prince
so, the sixth installment of the hp series had been delayed to the point of finally opening on the exact night that the order of the phoenix did two years ago in 2007. needless to say, i have been anxious to see it. and apparently the wait did wonders for the movie, which grossed a record $22.2 million in midnight showings alone. yikes. i contributed $8.25 to this total, deciding to drive an hour to watch the movie by myself. you might think it's kind of sad and, well, i do too, but i wanted to see it. (and your opinions on said patheticness will only be intensified after reading this review/rant/blog-essay.)
(spoilers ahead. just forewarning. potentially for book 7, too..)
i'll start by saying that any fan of the series who wants the movies to be a page-by-page translation of the books will be disappointed by every movie in the series. books of this depth in story, character, background and fictional culture will never be able to perfectly adapt to the screen. it's an entirely different medium and things will have to be changed/left out.
that said, as a movie, the half-blood prince was pretty good. i felt that the flow of the movie was very fluid. director david yates kept the main story progressing along nicely, while sprinkling in visual reminders of everything else going on (ie. periodic scenes with malfoy trying to fix the vanishing cabinet thing and a very quick shot of the death eaters trying to penetrate the hogwarts boundaries.) some have expressed some exasperation toward the amount of attention given to the character's romatic interests in the film. i will admit that there could have been a scosh less emphasis on that aspect of the story, but at the same time, it was a very key element in the book. in one sense this book is about the characters coming closer together, as dumbledore encourages harry to keep ron and hermione in the loop at all times, as well as setting up the loyalties to be counted on. so yes, in talking about characters who are 16 years old, the story is about the hormones kicking in and about the characters dealing with them. and i think that yates' use of this subplot to add humor to the movie was a nice touch. the light-heartedness had been missing from the series since the first, maybe second installment. that initial 'wow, i'm a wizard and this world is friggin cool' sentiment was replaced by the forboding gloomyness that the series encompasses as it progresses. the wild world of diagon alley, first spells, quidditch!, changing staircases and flying cars gave way to dark arts and life-or-death situations. so it was nice to see some of that return in the form of awkward flirting and more humor than usual. (although, i did think it toed the line of inappropriateness when ginny got down on her knees to tie harry's sneaker..)
where the move missed, to me, was addressing the gravity of the impending situation. the opening shot was awesome. harry and dumbledore standing in front of a crowd of paparazzi, who are snapping photos frantically, assumedly following the battle that raged inside the minsitry at the end of the order of the phoenix. the lighting and look in the two characters' faces said it all: 'this is effing serious, now. you have no idea how bad things are going to get.' and apart from periodic exceptions, that level of seriousness was never achieved again for the rest of the film. for example, the story, in another sense, was about draco's struggle in completing a mission assigned directly to him by voldemort. imagine the pressure of someone his age in trying to accomplish such a feat as getting death eaters inside hogwarts and killing dumbledore. no shit he was frustrated at not being able to fix the vanishing box thing (the emotion of which did not appear as strongly in those scenes) and no shit he was terrified of what would happen if he failed, leading malfoy, the most sinister and looked-up-to leader, to literally break down into tears in the bathroom (another scene that lacked the impact it had in the book. the book almost makes you sympathize with a character you've grown to loathe, almost admiring his struggle to fully accept that what he is doing is right, and instead only working to the end of his mission out of fear that he will be killed if he fails. a serious miss by yates.)
but mostly, the story was about the terror that is now spreading about the magical (and somewhat into the muggle) world. voldemort is back in full force, gaining more and more followers than ever before, and at the same time dumbledore is finally figuring out why voldemort is able to keep coming back, and, more importantly, how to stop him. more time should have been spent hammering these notions home. a storm is brewing, and, yes, it will largely play out in 'deathly hallows,' but the set-up needed to be much more powerful. take, for instance, the entirely made-for-film scene where death eaters apparate to the burrow, create a chase and mini-battle, then send the weasley's house up in flames. this wasn't in the book, which would be fine if it served a valuable purpose, but it didn't. the intention behind the scene, i'd imagine, was to show how vulnerable the main characters are at all times now that voldemort is at large again, and to also revisit harry's desire to avenge sirius black's death (shown through his hot-headed pursuit of bellatrix.) while it accomplished these things, it chewed up about 10 minutes of the film - time that makes a huge difference in a project of this undertaking, and time that could have been spent to strengthen the most important scenes. like..
1) hammer home the horcruxes. it was merely mentioned after slughorn's memory was revealed and about 30 seconds of dialogue ensued. this was minor, and, hopefully, most people understood.
2) the climax was desperately weak (that's what she said.)
a) for one, the battle between the death eaters and the order of the phoenix members and students was removed. this i don't understand. why include a burrow scene when that time could have been used to show how the death eaters have INFILTRATED HOGWARTS. you're telling me that after all that time draco spent getting them access to the impenetrable school that all they're going to do is stand around, watch dumbledore get killed and then run away?! no. they're going to fight people. kill people. like j.k. rowling said they did.
b) while i loved the acting for the most part, dumbledore, you needed to hammer home those lines about 'you must do whatever i say. if i say hide, you hide. if i say run, you run. and if i tell you to leave and save yourself, you do it.' for fuck's sake, this suddenly just got a violent shove from, 'hey, have a look in my pensive of an innocent memory' to 'hey, we could easily die where we're going.' and then again.. fuckin-a, yates! that potion that dumbledore has to drink is fucking killing him! and harry has to keep forcing it on him. he has to keep making his friend, his headmaster, the greatest wizard of all time suffer. where was the pain, yates? where was the gravity?
c) yates, i'm not sure as though you got this: dumbledore dies. he gets fucking murdered by snape. the man whose magical ability rivals only voldemort. the man who ran hogwarts, taught harry everything important, the one hope for defense, was thrown off the astronomy tower by the killing curse at the hands of 'is he good, is he bad' snape. (which, yates, you really helped everyone who doesn't already know get a very good idea of which side that is by your brilliantly free licensed use of him in the final sequences.) dumbledore's death seemed, to me, to be treated like the death of just any old character. look, time fucking stopped when i read that sentence. the book closed. i took a deep breath, thought to my self, 'holy shit, you can't be serious,' and felt thoroughly heart-broken. during the film, a slight gasp.. maybe..?
as a fan of the books, i will say that i enjoyed the movie as a movie. but while the humor and light-hearted scenes were nice to see return to the franchise, the notes that needed serious drama and emotion were not given the gravity they required to contribute as much meaning to the series or to set up the shit-storm that is the final installment. i needed more punch. i needed to know that while teenage "feelings" are aflutter inside hogwarts, the world is in serious danger and hopes to conquer the strengthening enemy are taking huge hits. this is what i needed, yates. please don't let me down on the key scenes in deathly hallows. let the characters flirt and joke away during the filler scenes, but please, don't miss the mark when it comes to the dramatic moments.
[no, i was not wearing a wizard robe or holding a broomstick while writing this. i just really enjoy the books and think the series is brilliant.]
(spoilers ahead. just forewarning. potentially for book 7, too..)
i'll start by saying that any fan of the series who wants the movies to be a page-by-page translation of the books will be disappointed by every movie in the series. books of this depth in story, character, background and fictional culture will never be able to perfectly adapt to the screen. it's an entirely different medium and things will have to be changed/left out.
that said, as a movie, the half-blood prince was pretty good. i felt that the flow of the movie was very fluid. director david yates kept the main story progressing along nicely, while sprinkling in visual reminders of everything else going on (ie. periodic scenes with malfoy trying to fix the vanishing cabinet thing and a very quick shot of the death eaters trying to penetrate the hogwarts boundaries.) some have expressed some exasperation toward the amount of attention given to the character's romatic interests in the film. i will admit that there could have been a scosh less emphasis on that aspect of the story, but at the same time, it was a very key element in the book. in one sense this book is about the characters coming closer together, as dumbledore encourages harry to keep ron and hermione in the loop at all times, as well as setting up the loyalties to be counted on. so yes, in talking about characters who are 16 years old, the story is about the hormones kicking in and about the characters dealing with them. and i think that yates' use of this subplot to add humor to the movie was a nice touch. the light-heartedness had been missing from the series since the first, maybe second installment. that initial 'wow, i'm a wizard and this world is friggin cool' sentiment was replaced by the forboding gloomyness that the series encompasses as it progresses. the wild world of diagon alley, first spells, quidditch!, changing staircases and flying cars gave way to dark arts and life-or-death situations. so it was nice to see some of that return in the form of awkward flirting and more humor than usual. (although, i did think it toed the line of inappropriateness when ginny got down on her knees to tie harry's sneaker..)
where the move missed, to me, was addressing the gravity of the impending situation. the opening shot was awesome. harry and dumbledore standing in front of a crowd of paparazzi, who are snapping photos frantically, assumedly following the battle that raged inside the minsitry at the end of the order of the phoenix. the lighting and look in the two characters' faces said it all: 'this is effing serious, now. you have no idea how bad things are going to get.' and apart from periodic exceptions, that level of seriousness was never achieved again for the rest of the film. for example, the story, in another sense, was about draco's struggle in completing a mission assigned directly to him by voldemort. imagine the pressure of someone his age in trying to accomplish such a feat as getting death eaters inside hogwarts and killing dumbledore. no shit he was frustrated at not being able to fix the vanishing box thing (the emotion of which did not appear as strongly in those scenes) and no shit he was terrified of what would happen if he failed, leading malfoy, the most sinister and looked-up-to leader, to literally break down into tears in the bathroom (another scene that lacked the impact it had in the book. the book almost makes you sympathize with a character you've grown to loathe, almost admiring his struggle to fully accept that what he is doing is right, and instead only working to the end of his mission out of fear that he will be killed if he fails. a serious miss by yates.)
but mostly, the story was about the terror that is now spreading about the magical (and somewhat into the muggle) world. voldemort is back in full force, gaining more and more followers than ever before, and at the same time dumbledore is finally figuring out why voldemort is able to keep coming back, and, more importantly, how to stop him. more time should have been spent hammering these notions home. a storm is brewing, and, yes, it will largely play out in 'deathly hallows,' but the set-up needed to be much more powerful. take, for instance, the entirely made-for-film scene where death eaters apparate to the burrow, create a chase and mini-battle, then send the weasley's house up in flames. this wasn't in the book, which would be fine if it served a valuable purpose, but it didn't. the intention behind the scene, i'd imagine, was to show how vulnerable the main characters are at all times now that voldemort is at large again, and to also revisit harry's desire to avenge sirius black's death (shown through his hot-headed pursuit of bellatrix.) while it accomplished these things, it chewed up about 10 minutes of the film - time that makes a huge difference in a project of this undertaking, and time that could have been spent to strengthen the most important scenes. like..
1) hammer home the horcruxes. it was merely mentioned after slughorn's memory was revealed and about 30 seconds of dialogue ensued. this was minor, and, hopefully, most people understood.
2) the climax was desperately weak (that's what she said.)
a) for one, the battle between the death eaters and the order of the phoenix members and students was removed. this i don't understand. why include a burrow scene when that time could have been used to show how the death eaters have INFILTRATED HOGWARTS. you're telling me that after all that time draco spent getting them access to the impenetrable school that all they're going to do is stand around, watch dumbledore get killed and then run away?! no. they're going to fight people. kill people. like j.k. rowling said they did.
b) while i loved the acting for the most part, dumbledore, you needed to hammer home those lines about 'you must do whatever i say. if i say hide, you hide. if i say run, you run. and if i tell you to leave and save yourself, you do it.' for fuck's sake, this suddenly just got a violent shove from, 'hey, have a look in my pensive of an innocent memory' to 'hey, we could easily die where we're going.' and then again.. fuckin-a, yates! that potion that dumbledore has to drink is fucking killing him! and harry has to keep forcing it on him. he has to keep making his friend, his headmaster, the greatest wizard of all time suffer. where was the pain, yates? where was the gravity?
c) yates, i'm not sure as though you got this: dumbledore dies. he gets fucking murdered by snape. the man whose magical ability rivals only voldemort. the man who ran hogwarts, taught harry everything important, the one hope for defense, was thrown off the astronomy tower by the killing curse at the hands of 'is he good, is he bad' snape. (which, yates, you really helped everyone who doesn't already know get a very good idea of which side that is by your brilliantly free licensed use of him in the final sequences.) dumbledore's death seemed, to me, to be treated like the death of just any old character. look, time fucking stopped when i read that sentence. the book closed. i took a deep breath, thought to my self, 'holy shit, you can't be serious,' and felt thoroughly heart-broken. during the film, a slight gasp.. maybe..?
as a fan of the books, i will say that i enjoyed the movie as a movie. but while the humor and light-hearted scenes were nice to see return to the franchise, the notes that needed serious drama and emotion were not given the gravity they required to contribute as much meaning to the series or to set up the shit-storm that is the final installment. i needed more punch. i needed to know that while teenage "feelings" are aflutter inside hogwarts, the world is in serious danger and hopes to conquer the strengthening enemy are taking huge hits. this is what i needed, yates. please don't let me down on the key scenes in deathly hallows. let the characters flirt and joke away during the filler scenes, but please, don't miss the mark when it comes to the dramatic moments.
[no, i was not wearing a wizard robe or holding a broomstick while writing this. i just really enjoy the books and think the series is brilliant.]
welcome back
wow, it's been a while.
i have some things to write about that will be backdated severely. i say that i will write about them soon, but you now know how much my word means when it comes to blogging.
so, i'll shake off the dust with my review of harry potter and the half-blood prince.
i have some things to write about that will be backdated severely. i say that i will write about them soon, but you now know how much my word means when it comes to blogging.
so, i'll shake off the dust with my review of harry potter and the half-blood prince.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
jihad on the trib
i decided to stay on with darren and cassie at the doniphan and blue hill papers. had myself real worked up about it the day i had to decide and literally could have put heads on one and tails on the another and been satisfied with the result of a coin flip. but now i'm extremely glad i made this decision.
reasons:
-they're just plain horrible to darren and cassie. stubborn over a portion of the contract, won't talk to them face to face, demand that certain things should be their's. plus, they brought back people who hate darren and cassie (for really no good reason.)
-they're horrible to erica. so she quit. they made her cry so she walked out the first day on the job. very good employee relations.
-i think it will be clear soon how much better our product was with a staff of 3 than their's will be with a staff of a dozen.
bygones be bygones. it is kind of weird not having a clay county news association anymore, though. there's been a few times already where i've been like "oh, i should take a picture of that.' or 'that'd be nice to follow up on.' new prospects make it much better.
additional reasons why this was the best decision:
-opportunity for expansion. this one's loaded. first, both are 8 page papers. obviously, advertising determines number of pages, but community/school expansion is looking good. the hastings tribune, a daily in 25,000 pop. city about 12 mi. south of doniphan, 35 mi. west of sutton, has been creeping into out territory. this encroaching will not be tolerated.
-over a few beers following the completion of our final CCN issue, darren and i discussed ways to improve the doniphan and blue hill papers. video and an increased internal focus on our main communities is priority number one (pay attention hastings tribune [from here on out referred to as 'the trib'] you might learn something.) the trib, despite having the entire hastings community/schools/college to itself, sees it beneficial to encroach into our communities rather than focus on its own.
**trib background - on any given day, the trib's front page will have half or more AP content. they cover enough hastings to get by. any other stories are stolen from us and summarized, as confirmed by goofy reporter tony, who said he gets most of his ideas from reading our paper. tip: find news in your own town. OR ELSE WE WILL.. (see next point)**
-while you're busy dicking around in our small communities, stealing our stories, we'll be quietly, yet aggressively, doing what you are not. there are towns/schools that have the trib as their legal newspaper that claim to cover the communities, but will really only show their face during a festival, big game or some other huge event. they're lucky to get a picture or mention twice a month. they show up just enough to keep people's interest or, as they did a few weeks ago, will advertise on our town's flashing sign for a free lunch in the park, and host said event to sway our readership. but good luck getting mentioned more than once or twice a month. soo...
jihad on the trib!
war strategy available as the conflict develops..
reasons:
-they're just plain horrible to darren and cassie. stubborn over a portion of the contract, won't talk to them face to face, demand that certain things should be their's. plus, they brought back people who hate darren and cassie (for really no good reason.)
-they're horrible to erica. so she quit. they made her cry so she walked out the first day on the job. very good employee relations.
-i think it will be clear soon how much better our product was with a staff of 3 than their's will be with a staff of a dozen.
bygones be bygones. it is kind of weird not having a clay county news association anymore, though. there's been a few times already where i've been like "oh, i should take a picture of that.' or 'that'd be nice to follow up on.' new prospects make it much better.
additional reasons why this was the best decision:
-opportunity for expansion. this one's loaded. first, both are 8 page papers. obviously, advertising determines number of pages, but community/school expansion is looking good. the hastings tribune, a daily in 25,000 pop. city about 12 mi. south of doniphan, 35 mi. west of sutton, has been creeping into out territory. this encroaching will not be tolerated.
-over a few beers following the completion of our final CCN issue, darren and i discussed ways to improve the doniphan and blue hill papers. video and an increased internal focus on our main communities is priority number one (pay attention hastings tribune [from here on out referred to as 'the trib'] you might learn something.) the trib, despite having the entire hastings community/schools/college to itself, sees it beneficial to encroach into our communities rather than focus on its own.
**trib background - on any given day, the trib's front page will have half or more AP content. they cover enough hastings to get by. any other stories are stolen from us and summarized, as confirmed by goofy reporter tony, who said he gets most of his ideas from reading our paper. tip: find news in your own town. OR ELSE WE WILL.. (see next point)**
-while you're busy dicking around in our small communities, stealing our stories, we'll be quietly, yet aggressively, doing what you are not. there are towns/schools that have the trib as their legal newspaper that claim to cover the communities, but will really only show their face during a festival, big game or some other huge event. they're lucky to get a picture or mention twice a month. they show up just enough to keep people's interest or, as they did a few weeks ago, will advertise on our town's flashing sign for a free lunch in the park, and host said event to sway our readership. but good luck getting mentioned more than once or twice a month. soo...
jihad on the trib!
war strategy available as the conflict develops..
Saturday, May 9, 2009
the battle with budders
budders likes to jump up on my kitchen counter. he knows that his food is in the kitchen, so every time i walk into it, he stops whatever he is doing and follows me, meowing. even if his bowl has plenty of food in it. he also knows that the kitchen is where i make my food, so by being there, he thinks that he will get some.
so.. he hopes that by jumping on the counter after i have been in there getting food, that he will find something to eat, in the form of dirty dishes or anything else. and he knows that he's not supposed to jump up there. i've used the spray bottle, scolded him severely, still he likes to jump up. and because he knows he's not supposed to, he does it when i'm not watching. when i head to bed, i hear him jump up. when i come home, i can tell he's been on the counter.
so, i've started a war on counter jumping. since i don't care what my house looks like, nobody besides me has seen it, i've found a system to deter his jumping habits. i've taken all my empty boxes (vaccuum, appliances, beer, etc.) and lined the kitchen counter with them. i've built a counter-top box wall. i figure, if he can't jump high enough, he can't jump on. plus, i'd know if he tried because shit would be knocked over.
apparently he found a way up, conquring my first wall. i came home and found boxes knocked over and cat hair on the counter. so, i brought in reinforcements. strengthening weak portions and stacking more boxes for a higher wall. i've even baracaded the counter in half, so that if he does get up, he's stuck on one side. take that, cat. i'm sure he'll still find a way up. and if that's the case, drastic measures will be taken. i will not be beaten. 1-2-3-4, this is how we start a war.
so.. he hopes that by jumping on the counter after i have been in there getting food, that he will find something to eat, in the form of dirty dishes or anything else. and he knows that he's not supposed to jump up there. i've used the spray bottle, scolded him severely, still he likes to jump up. and because he knows he's not supposed to, he does it when i'm not watching. when i head to bed, i hear him jump up. when i come home, i can tell he's been on the counter.
so, i've started a war on counter jumping. since i don't care what my house looks like, nobody besides me has seen it, i've found a system to deter his jumping habits. i've taken all my empty boxes (vaccuum, appliances, beer, etc.) and lined the kitchen counter with them. i've built a counter-top box wall. i figure, if he can't jump high enough, he can't jump on. plus, i'd know if he tried because shit would be knocked over.
apparently he found a way up, conquring my first wall. i came home and found boxes knocked over and cat hair on the counter. so, i brought in reinforcements. strengthening weak portions and stacking more boxes for a higher wall. i've even baracaded the counter in half, so that if he does get up, he's stuck on one side. take that, cat. i'm sure he'll still find a way up. and if that's the case, drastic measures will be taken. i will not be beaten. 1-2-3-4, this is how we start a war.
moms need a photography lesson
seriously. so many of the submitted photos we get are terrible. and tonight i sat behind a mom at an honors banquet and had the pleasure/misery of watching her snap terribly framed/timed/all-around-composed pictures allllll night. i'm not a great photographer, but i know what a terrible photo is.
first, head room. don't put their face in the center of the screen. that leaves half the picture with nothing but a boring background.
second, your camera has a zoom for a reason. use it. get in tight. don't have wasted space.
three, you have a digital camera. snap away, you can always delete. don't take your sweet time to frame a terrible picture and wait so long that someone walks in front of them or the subject moves.
the best part was that she knew every photo was bad. she kept showing them to the mom next to her, who was also taking bad pictures.
first, head room. don't put their face in the center of the screen. that leaves half the picture with nothing but a boring background.
second, your camera has a zoom for a reason. use it. get in tight. don't have wasted space.
three, you have a digital camera. snap away, you can always delete. don't take your sweet time to frame a terrible picture and wait so long that someone walks in front of them or the subject moves.
the best part was that she knew every photo was bad. she kept showing them to the mom next to her, who was also taking bad pictures.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
big news
of either the 27th or the 20th this month, the clay county news will officially be under new ownership.
my bosses, darren and cassie, are selling the paper. they informed me of this today, though recently there have been signs and word that something big was about to happen. i really wasn't sure how to take the news, but apparently darren and cassie are having a tough time with it, and understandably so. they really did not want to sell the paper, but have kind of had their hand forced on the issue. suffice it to say that the business and personal ethics of outside parties (soon to be inside parties), combined with other issues that have caught up, have made operations difficult and stressful, and have made the sale necessary.
so where does this put me? well, they will still own the doniphan herald and the blue hill leader. when they talked with me this afternoon, they told me that they would love to have me stay and work for those two papers with them. so that's an option. another is to remain at the clay county news under the new ownership. or still a third, if those don't end up feeling like a good fit.. i can seek something else.
the breakdown:
option a) work under darren and cassie for the doniphan and blue hill papers.
goods: i know their style. i already work for the two papers. taking ccn out of the mix would free up a lot of time and allow me to focus on improving the other papers, both of which are smaller than ccn. things would be less stressful overall, and therefore probably more enjoyable.
bads: doniphan is 45 minutes away, blue hill is an hour; not bad when i only make the trip a couple times a week, but if it's my main job, will be quite the daily travel. i don't want to move closer, either. there's drama in both towns. i've established a good rapport in town and in clay county.
option b) stay at clay county news under new ownership.
goods: it's in town, same old beat. change can be good. i like what i've done here and where i'm going with the paper.
bads: new ownership, new style, new staff? bad blood.
*goods/bads can't accurately be determined until i meet with the new owner, which will hopefully happen soon*
option c) new adventure completely.
goods: i probably have enough experience from working here in just five months to find another job. i do miss friends and family. what's next?
bads: i'd like to stay here a little longer, see some things through. hassle of job searching and moving. plus, i have a golf membership and our league starts tomorrow. i can't just bail!
interesting times. i guess i can't say i haven't gotten enough experience in the working world. things haven't been boring, that's for sure. i'll keep you posted on updates, but for now, business as usual. chamber meeting, elementary art show, elementary concert tomorrow; four graduations this weekend. ta-ta.
my bosses, darren and cassie, are selling the paper. they informed me of this today, though recently there have been signs and word that something big was about to happen. i really wasn't sure how to take the news, but apparently darren and cassie are having a tough time with it, and understandably so. they really did not want to sell the paper, but have kind of had their hand forced on the issue. suffice it to say that the business and personal ethics of outside parties (soon to be inside parties), combined with other issues that have caught up, have made operations difficult and stressful, and have made the sale necessary.
so where does this put me? well, they will still own the doniphan herald and the blue hill leader. when they talked with me this afternoon, they told me that they would love to have me stay and work for those two papers with them. so that's an option. another is to remain at the clay county news under the new ownership. or still a third, if those don't end up feeling like a good fit.. i can seek something else.
the breakdown:
option a) work under darren and cassie for the doniphan and blue hill papers.
goods: i know their style. i already work for the two papers. taking ccn out of the mix would free up a lot of time and allow me to focus on improving the other papers, both of which are smaller than ccn. things would be less stressful overall, and therefore probably more enjoyable.
bads: doniphan is 45 minutes away, blue hill is an hour; not bad when i only make the trip a couple times a week, but if it's my main job, will be quite the daily travel. i don't want to move closer, either. there's drama in both towns. i've established a good rapport in town and in clay county.
option b) stay at clay county news under new ownership.
goods: it's in town, same old beat. change can be good. i like what i've done here and where i'm going with the paper.
bads: new ownership, new style, new staff? bad blood.
*goods/bads can't accurately be determined until i meet with the new owner, which will hopefully happen soon*
option c) new adventure completely.
goods: i probably have enough experience from working here in just five months to find another job. i do miss friends and family. what's next?
bads: i'd like to stay here a little longer, see some things through. hassle of job searching and moving. plus, i have a golf membership and our league starts tomorrow. i can't just bail!
interesting times. i guess i can't say i haven't gotten enough experience in the working world. things haven't been boring, that's for sure. i'll keep you posted on updates, but for now, business as usual. chamber meeting, elementary art show, elementary concert tomorrow; four graduations this weekend. ta-ta.
Friday, May 1, 2009
officially no posts in april.. sorry?
alright, i'll try to get back into the groove of regular updates here. you'd think it'd either have to be crazy for me to have no time to write or so boring there'd be nothing to report on. truth is, i've just become too lazy. and since my job revolves around writing, it's not something i rush to do in my spare time. unfortunately. this type of writing is all but killing my love for it. kind of. i guess. i dunno..
i won't bother catching you up, it'd take far too long. well, actually, suffice this april in a nutshell to do the trick: amazing race host came to sutton; attended the nebraska press association convention; easter with my boss's wife's family; lots of golf. wow, that was a weak recap. my short term memory has become even worse out here. as soon as i finish something it's instantly on to the next item, so i forget about it almost immediately. soo, i should write daily blogs to remember such things? let's try. and give up after a week like usual..
tonight i went back to doniphan, for like the 4th time in five days. [i'll be there tomorrow, too, for a lift-a-thon. fingers crossed they don't call on the 'newspaper guy' to try his luck at benching because i'm sure a freshman girl could outbench me right now.]
the event tonight was an athletic banquet. typical coach recognizes the team and recaps the season type deal. made me miss organized sports a little. and made me think about how i should have worked as hard as i goofed off. if i am able to keep this blog regular again, i'll start doing such cheesy things like 'small town moment of the day' or 'awesome thing about life today' sorts of things. today would be this:
at the end of the banquet, the booster club played a powerpoint with music and pictures of all the teams. the first sport featured was football and the song played with it was journey's "don't stop believing." what was awesome about this was that usually everyone is completely silent during these videos, unless there's an awkward photo or the like. not here. when steve perry belted out "she's just a small town girl, living in a lonely world," some students sang along. even if quietly, they still sang out loud. i found this awesome because so often people would not even think to sing along during a slideshow. especially at a banquet, with parents, with faculty, with other students who find it "uncool." but these kids decided it both appropriate and entertaining to sing along with perhaps one of the best sing-a-long songs. i'm not explaining it well right now, but hopefully you get me. im finding more and more that my least favorite quality in someone is when they act too cool for something or that they are above something. sometimes, you need to check that thought and do something because it's fun. and if you can't stop and sing along each and every time "don't stop believing" pumps through the speakers of your car, a store or an athletic banquet, you're either in need of a too-cool-for-school attitude check or are seriously underestimating the awesomeness of the song.
if you get what i'm getting at.
i won't bother catching you up, it'd take far too long. well, actually, suffice this april in a nutshell to do the trick: amazing race host came to sutton; attended the nebraska press association convention; easter with my boss's wife's family; lots of golf. wow, that was a weak recap. my short term memory has become even worse out here. as soon as i finish something it's instantly on to the next item, so i forget about it almost immediately. soo, i should write daily blogs to remember such things? let's try. and give up after a week like usual..
tonight i went back to doniphan, for like the 4th time in five days. [i'll be there tomorrow, too, for a lift-a-thon. fingers crossed they don't call on the 'newspaper guy' to try his luck at benching because i'm sure a freshman girl could outbench me right now.]
the event tonight was an athletic banquet. typical coach recognizes the team and recaps the season type deal. made me miss organized sports a little. and made me think about how i should have worked as hard as i goofed off. if i am able to keep this blog regular again, i'll start doing such cheesy things like 'small town moment of the day' or 'awesome thing about life today' sorts of things. today would be this:
at the end of the banquet, the booster club played a powerpoint with music and pictures of all the teams. the first sport featured was football and the song played with it was journey's "don't stop believing." what was awesome about this was that usually everyone is completely silent during these videos, unless there's an awkward photo or the like. not here. when steve perry belted out "she's just a small town girl, living in a lonely world," some students sang along. even if quietly, they still sang out loud. i found this awesome because so often people would not even think to sing along during a slideshow. especially at a banquet, with parents, with faculty, with other students who find it "uncool." but these kids decided it both appropriate and entertaining to sing along with perhaps one of the best sing-a-long songs. i'm not explaining it well right now, but hopefully you get me. im finding more and more that my least favorite quality in someone is when they act too cool for something or that they are above something. sometimes, you need to check that thought and do something because it's fun. and if you can't stop and sing along each and every time "don't stop believing" pumps through the speakers of your car, a store or an athletic banquet, you're either in need of a too-cool-for-school attitude check or are seriously underestimating the awesomeness of the song.
if you get what i'm getting at.
Monday, March 30, 2009
budders!
i got a cat.
don't tell my landlord, though. i haven't told him yet. not that it will matter, but i just haven't let him know.
carolyn, who i worked with for the first month or so i was here, lives on a farm with a handful of cats, several dogs, four horses, two miniature horses, bunnies, cows, etc. she friended me on facebook just recently and told me that somone dropped a cat off to her and that he was mine if i wanted him. impulsively, i went to her house, met all her other animals and then was handed a litterbox, some cat food and the cat. unlike flip, my cat from home, he sat in my lap the whole ride back to my house.
i'd guesstimate his age to be about two years old or so. he's still pretty thin, but not kitten small or cat big. is that "kitty" territory? or something like a catten? it's weird having him, though. i went from just little, old me in my house to a little bugger that will not leave my side (or my feet or my face) for a second. but i like his company, except when he makes a whole bunch of noise or tries to attack me when i'm sleeping. apparently night time is when he gets playful.
i've been calling him "budders" so i guess that's what his name will be. kind of inspired by one of my favorite south park characters leopold "butters" scotch. though he's a squirmer and never sits still, so i briefly considered a name change to "sqworms," which would double as a personality trait and my favorite candy. but i like budders.
don't tell my landlord, though. i haven't told him yet. not that it will matter, but i just haven't let him know.
carolyn, who i worked with for the first month or so i was here, lives on a farm with a handful of cats, several dogs, four horses, two miniature horses, bunnies, cows, etc. she friended me on facebook just recently and told me that somone dropped a cat off to her and that he was mine if i wanted him. impulsively, i went to her house, met all her other animals and then was handed a litterbox, some cat food and the cat. unlike flip, my cat from home, he sat in my lap the whole ride back to my house.
i'd guesstimate his age to be about two years old or so. he's still pretty thin, but not kitten small or cat big. is that "kitty" territory? or something like a catten? it's weird having him, though. i went from just little, old me in my house to a little bugger that will not leave my side (or my feet or my face) for a second. but i like his company, except when he makes a whole bunch of noise or tries to attack me when i'm sleeping. apparently night time is when he gets playful.
i've been calling him "budders" so i guess that's what his name will be. kind of inspired by one of my favorite south park characters leopold "butters" scotch. though he's a squirmer and never sits still, so i briefly considered a name change to "sqworms," which would double as a personality trait and my favorite candy. but i like budders.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
we're goin digital baaaaaabyyyy
(subject to be read while singing)
just finished editing and posting video from the girls state basketball tournament last weekend, where one of the teams we cover for one of our papers finished in second.
find it here: http://bluehillleader.com/photo.php?article=20090308200117
hey, aurora paper. what do you think about your "sound slides" now? bitch, we got video. uhhh.
haha. we're trying to do one each week. maybe if we start getting more traffic on the sites and good feedback, we may try to do a game of the week and have sponsors for each. who knows. but it's fun to play around with final cut again.
just finished editing and posting video from the girls state basketball tournament last weekend, where one of the teams we cover for one of our papers finished in second.
find it here: http://bluehillleader.com/photo.php?article=20090308200117
hey, aurora paper. what do you think about your "sound slides" now? bitch, we got video. uhhh.
haha. we're trying to do one each week. maybe if we start getting more traffic on the sites and good feedback, we may try to do a game of the week and have sponsors for each. who knows. but it's fun to play around with final cut again.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
interesting prospect
justin, my friend/fellow journalism buddy from elon, got in touch with me today to feel out my interest in a possible job opening at the daily paper he works for in stillwater, oklahoma. apparently the sports editor is leaving in a couple of weeks and justin is going to put his name in for the position. if he gets it, he wanted to know if i'd be interested in working under him as a sports reported for oklahoma state and six high schools.
it's pretty cool that he thought of me. at least the thought is appreciated. it's a daily, which would be a change of pace and it'd be nice to get back into sports. i told him i'd think on it.
i'm leaning toward sticking it out here for a while, though. for all my complaints, i'm really enjoying myself. my reasons to stay:
a) three/four months seems a bit too soon to look for something else.
b) i don't want to bail on darren and cassie. they've had many fleeting reporters, which makes it difficult for them to get the paper to where they want it to be. i want to help 'em.
c) i'm excited for golf season and getting a membership and playing in the mens' league. i've got a partner lined up and everything.
d) dave from the bowling alley told me he'd take me along for tornado tracking this summer. oklahoma would be better tornado country, but i've got the helen hunt to my bill paxton here.
still, it's kind of cool to know that if i wanted it, there could be something else for me. we'll see. but i like it here for now.
it's pretty cool that he thought of me. at least the thought is appreciated. it's a daily, which would be a change of pace and it'd be nice to get back into sports. i told him i'd think on it.
i'm leaning toward sticking it out here for a while, though. for all my complaints, i'm really enjoying myself. my reasons to stay:
a) three/four months seems a bit too soon to look for something else.
b) i don't want to bail on darren and cassie. they've had many fleeting reporters, which makes it difficult for them to get the paper to where they want it to be. i want to help 'em.
c) i'm excited for golf season and getting a membership and playing in the mens' league. i've got a partner lined up and everything.
d) dave from the bowling alley told me he'd take me along for tornado tracking this summer. oklahoma would be better tornado country, but i've got the helen hunt to my bill paxton here.
still, it's kind of cool to know that if i wanted it, there could be something else for me. we'll see. but i like it here for now.
closure on fairfield drama
on wednesday, i arrived at the office to find erica handing me a letter. sweet! fan mail!
inside is a letter to the editor (cc: me) from the mayor of fairfield. i assume it was drafted post legion meeting as mentioned in the last post. it reads:
The Fairfield Sons of the American Legion and the Fairfiled Community Club would like to formally apologize to Kris Moody and the Clay County News for the actions of Legion Post Commander Bob Matticks, when he told Kris that he would sue him for taking pictures at the recent Fish Fry and Casino Night on 2/21/09.
We were unaware that this incident happened that evening or we would have corrected it right then. We are very sorry that the actions of one person has tarnished our entire community. Fairfield welcomes and appreciates all the positive publicity that Kris has given the community since he moved to Clay County in December of 2008. We hope that he will not let the actions of one spoil his open invitation to visit and be a part of our community whenever he is able to do so.
Sincerely,
Lynn Ridgway and Gloria Ridgway
case closed. and i need to find a frame for this letter. decorate my office a little.
inside is a letter to the editor (cc: me) from the mayor of fairfield. i assume it was drafted post legion meeting as mentioned in the last post. it reads:
The Fairfield Sons of the American Legion and the Fairfiled Community Club would like to formally apologize to Kris Moody and the Clay County News for the actions of Legion Post Commander Bob Matticks, when he told Kris that he would sue him for taking pictures at the recent Fish Fry and Casino Night on 2/21/09.
We were unaware that this incident happened that evening or we would have corrected it right then. We are very sorry that the actions of one person has tarnished our entire community. Fairfield welcomes and appreciates all the positive publicity that Kris has given the community since he moved to Clay County in December of 2008. We hope that he will not let the actions of one spoil his open invitation to visit and be a part of our community whenever he is able to do so.
Sincerely,
Lynn Ridgway and Gloria Ridgway
case closed. and i need to find a frame for this letter. decorate my office a little.
Friday, February 27, 2009
on my side
so erica told me when i walked in this morning that someone from the fairfield legion called about my column. here we go, right? actually, she said, it wasn't the guy who i had talked to, but rather the actual leader of that post. he was calling to apologize to me and to tell me that he had no idea why that person spoke to me like that. he knew who he was and he said that he was going to have a talk with him about it at the legion meeting on tuesday. "he's just getting old," this guy, lynn, said.
he said that he was sorry and that i was invited to the event and that they wanted me to cover the event, pictures and all. "we need the coverage," he said. he said that there was nothing illegal about what they were doing, so i should have been able to take pictures, as they were playing with fake money and buying the prizes with fake money. boo-yah.
anyone else want to challenge me?
he said that he was sorry and that i was invited to the event and that they wanted me to cover the event, pictures and all. "we need the coverage," he said. he said that there was nothing illegal about what they were doing, so i should have been able to take pictures, as they were playing with fake money and buying the prizes with fake money. boo-yah.
anyone else want to challenge me?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
flak
just got off the phone with a reader who wanted to share his opinion about my column this week. i think his first word was "hello" and his last were "i just think it's a bit insensitive." in between were many others. it went something like this:
-he was from a different town and he wasn't at the event, but he said that he thought the altercation could have been avoided if i would have asked permission to take photos before the event. [1) true. but i still wouldn't have been able to take pictures, and the principle of my argument would still apply. 2) i shouldn't have to ask permission to take photos at every event, like he believed i should. as the rare deloose put it, "journalists take a pad of paper. and. a. camera." pictures accompany stories. do you want to read a newspaper that's entirely text, sir?]
-he didn't believe "it" was newsworthy. [when i asked for clarification on his "it," whether he was referring to the event in question or my column, he answered the latter. which makes me not take anything he said too seriously, because it's a column, not a news story. and it wasn't an obscure column, it was responding to a current issue of cooperation in the community of coverage.]
-he thought it was "insensitive." [and you're entitled to your opinion. but i have the newspaper to voice mine. freedom of the press. but really, i could have been a lot more insensitive. and, as i said in my last post, i tried to err on the side of nicety meets disappointment, rather than an attack on the individual. by turning it into a community journalism issue, i hoped to avoid such criticism.]
so if i only get this one phone call, i'll consider it a success. if i get several more, or a few this weekend when i go back to fairfield, i'll consider it a success. a) at least i'll know people are reading, and b) that it at least made them think about what i'm saying. goulet, gauthier, dyer: finagle some brass knuckles and make some phone calls. if this turns into an inter-state rumble (a la greasers and soc's) i'll need you to have my back.
-he was from a different town and he wasn't at the event, but he said that he thought the altercation could have been avoided if i would have asked permission to take photos before the event. [1) true. but i still wouldn't have been able to take pictures, and the principle of my argument would still apply. 2) i shouldn't have to ask permission to take photos at every event, like he believed i should. as the rare deloose put it, "journalists take a pad of paper. and. a. camera." pictures accompany stories. do you want to read a newspaper that's entirely text, sir?]
-he didn't believe "it" was newsworthy. [when i asked for clarification on his "it," whether he was referring to the event in question or my column, he answered the latter. which makes me not take anything he said too seriously, because it's a column, not a news story. and it wasn't an obscure column, it was responding to a current issue of cooperation in the community of coverage.]
-he thought it was "insensitive." [and you're entitled to your opinion. but i have the newspaper to voice mine. freedom of the press. but really, i could have been a lot more insensitive. and, as i said in my last post, i tried to err on the side of nicety meets disappointment, rather than an attack on the individual. by turning it into a community journalism issue, i hoped to avoid such criticism.]
so if i only get this one phone call, i'll consider it a success. if i get several more, or a few this weekend when i go back to fairfield, i'll consider it a success. a) at least i'll know people are reading, and b) that it at least made them think about what i'm saying. goulet, gauthier, dyer: finagle some brass knuckles and make some phone calls. if this turns into an inter-state rumble (a la greasers and soc's) i'll need you to have my back.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
editorial (as promised..)
per my last post, ME to NE made its print debut this week in response to my post master friend in fairfield. here's the full column, including bits i had to edit out for length:
Less than 24 hours after I arrived in Clay County Nebraska, I was on assignment covering Fairfield's Christmas festivities. Complete with first job/first assignment/alone in a new place jitters, I covered the event with a hesitancy, but soon realized that an uncomfortable approach was not only not necessary, but that everyone there was more than happy to help and to talk.
I'm used to a friendly community, relatively speaking, as I was born and raised in what we call a small town in southern Maine, which, for the most part, possesses a pleasant demeanor. I then moved to North Carolina for college, where I received a dose of the southern hospitality and first encountered the "hello"s and waves from the random passerby.
Still, the generosity and comforting conversations that have characterized the area for me have been far more sincere and universal than anything I've previously experienced. On nearly every assignment since that first one, people have continued to be helpful. They always seem extremely appreciative to see someone from the paper at their event, thanking me for the coverage.
And I've come to expect that from the community when I go out on assignment now. Not just because I know people are friendly and enjoy having publicity, but because that's the spirit of a community newspaper. Whereas the industry as a whole is declining in the face of new media, the "community journalism" has weathered the storm.
Consumers can get their news from anywhere these days. By picking up a larger, daily newspaper or turning on the television or browsing the internet, news is literally at your fingertips anytime you want it. What you can't find in these places are the stories of the people and events that make a community what it is.
Just as you depend upon your local newspaper to bring you the news of the area, so does the paper depend on your support to operate and serve you. And up until this past weekend, such mutual cooperation was something I had encountered on a daily basis, which made the following that much more surprising and upsetting.
On Saturday night I found myself back in Fairfield for the town's "Casino Night." Like all such community fundraiser events, I expected people to be having a good time, and I expected to have a good story to present to the public who did not attend. So I set down my trusty, and borderline trademark, backpack and began taking pictures of the card games and prize tables.
After a few minutes, I was approached by a man, identifying himself as the post master, who told me that I couldn't take pictures and that if any of them were published, he would file a lawsuit. The only thing he informed me that I could take pictures of were the cars going by outside.
I saw no reason why I shouldn't be able to take pictures. Every other event I have attended at a legion or community building has allowed me to take pictures. Pictures are great. They provide a visual for the details of the story. Pictures of a casino night are especially good, because people are playing games and using props like cards and dice.
I told him that I was there to give the town, the legion and the event some coverage, but he reiterated that I couldn't take any pictures, and that I could stand and watch to get my coverage.
I left the event after the confrontation. Not because I couldn't do the story without pictures, but because I shouldn't encounter such open resistance to the presence of the paper at what appeared to be a fun community event. I shouldn't be threatened with a lawsuit for taking photographs, especially without an explanation of more than, "this is a club."
The Clay County News can deal without having pictures with some of its stories. What it can't deal with is a lack of cooperation from the community that it covers. We don't have to attend these events, but we believe that our readers enjoy reading about them. Credibility and dependability are the livelihood of a newspaper. You depend on us. We depend on you.
Negative encounters stand out like sore thumbs in a community that prides itself and thrives on the values that rural Nebraska believes in. Just as we continue to earn accountability, we hope the effort is returned as it so often is. We are here to serve you and we appreciate your help.
NB: i didn't call him an "asshole" in the column. though i very well could have. and i tried to err on the side of "help me help you" a la jerry maguire.
NB2: i'll be in fairfield for another fundraiser on saturday. if anybody actually reads my column, this could get interesting. hopefully..
Less than 24 hours after I arrived in Clay County Nebraska, I was on assignment covering Fairfield's Christmas festivities. Complete with first job/first assignment/alone in a new place jitters, I covered the event with a hesitancy, but soon realized that an uncomfortable approach was not only not necessary, but that everyone there was more than happy to help and to talk.
I'm used to a friendly community, relatively speaking, as I was born and raised in what we call a small town in southern Maine, which, for the most part, possesses a pleasant demeanor. I then moved to North Carolina for college, where I received a dose of the southern hospitality and first encountered the "hello"s and waves from the random passerby.
Still, the generosity and comforting conversations that have characterized the area for me have been far more sincere and universal than anything I've previously experienced. On nearly every assignment since that first one, people have continued to be helpful. They always seem extremely appreciative to see someone from the paper at their event, thanking me for the coverage.
And I've come to expect that from the community when I go out on assignment now. Not just because I know people are friendly and enjoy having publicity, but because that's the spirit of a community newspaper. Whereas the industry as a whole is declining in the face of new media, the "community journalism" has weathered the storm.
Consumers can get their news from anywhere these days. By picking up a larger, daily newspaper or turning on the television or browsing the internet, news is literally at your fingertips anytime you want it. What you can't find in these places are the stories of the people and events that make a community what it is.
Just as you depend upon your local newspaper to bring you the news of the area, so does the paper depend on your support to operate and serve you. And up until this past weekend, such mutual cooperation was something I had encountered on a daily basis, which made the following that much more surprising and upsetting.
On Saturday night I found myself back in Fairfield for the town's "Casino Night." Like all such community fundraiser events, I expected people to be having a good time, and I expected to have a good story to present to the public who did not attend. So I set down my trusty, and borderline trademark, backpack and began taking pictures of the card games and prize tables.
After a few minutes, I was approached by a man, identifying himself as the post master, who told me that I couldn't take pictures and that if any of them were published, he would file a lawsuit. The only thing he informed me that I could take pictures of were the cars going by outside.
I saw no reason why I shouldn't be able to take pictures. Every other event I have attended at a legion or community building has allowed me to take pictures. Pictures are great. They provide a visual for the details of the story. Pictures of a casino night are especially good, because people are playing games and using props like cards and dice.
I told him that I was there to give the town, the legion and the event some coverage, but he reiterated that I couldn't take any pictures, and that I could stand and watch to get my coverage.
I left the event after the confrontation. Not because I couldn't do the story without pictures, but because I shouldn't encounter such open resistance to the presence of the paper at what appeared to be a fun community event. I shouldn't be threatened with a lawsuit for taking photographs, especially without an explanation of more than, "this is a club."
The Clay County News can deal without having pictures with some of its stories. What it can't deal with is a lack of cooperation from the community that it covers. We don't have to attend these events, but we believe that our readers enjoy reading about them. Credibility and dependability are the livelihood of a newspaper. You depend on us. We depend on you.
Negative encounters stand out like sore thumbs in a community that prides itself and thrives on the values that rural Nebraska believes in. Just as we continue to earn accountability, we hope the effort is returned as it so often is. We are here to serve you and we appreciate your help.
NB: i didn't call him an "asshole" in the column. though i very well could have. and i tried to err on the side of "help me help you" a la jerry maguire.
NB2: i'll be in fairfield for another fundraiser on saturday. if anybody actually reads my column, this could get interesting. hopefully..
Saturday, February 21, 2009
i sense my first nasty editorial coming on
so tonight i leave one event to head to another, a "casino night" in fairfield, which had been rescheduled due to snow last friday. fairfield is one of the town's that we don't always get news from, so this was an opportunity to get a story from there. plus, casino = games = winning = good pictures. might not be more than a quick recap of the evening, but it would at least be content and would provide a couple of good photos to go with it. so i thought..
i get there a little after everything was underway, since i was coming from another event, but i set down my stuff and took out my camera. i snapped a few pictures of the black jack games, the craps table, the overall "casino" room and the prize table. at one point a woman came up and joked, "you know you can't take pictures in a casino, right?" i said something to the effect of, "you're not going to smash my camera are you?" she laughed. i laughed. i continued to take pictures.
a couple minutes later, a guy comes up and says, "are you from the newspaper?" i said, "yeah, i'm with the clay county news." he says, "you can't take pictures in here." i think, what is this going to be the joke of the night? ok, i'll play along. i use my line again. "are you going to smash my camera?" he doesn't laugh. or smile. he says, "well, how many pictures did you take?" "i dunno.. a few." [i'm still trying to figure out his sense of humor and how far he plans to take this joke..] "if any of those pictures are in the newspaper, you can expect a lawsuit."
WHAT?!
"you're serious.. i can't take pictures?" dead serious, "no." "why can't i take pictures?" "this is a club. i'm the post manager." it's obvious at this point that he is in fact serious. i aparently cannot take pictures at this event. "i'm just trying to give you some coverage," i tell him politely. "well, you can stand around and watch, get your coverage that way." "ok. that's fine. can i take pictures of anything?" "you can stand outside and take pictures of the cars going by." REALLY?! THE CARS GOING BY?! ARE YOU KIDDING?! "alright, great," i say or something to that effect to where the conversation ends. he walks away.
let me reiterate. this was a fundraiser for the american legion. a night of community fun and generosity. and this guy was an asshole.
at this point i'm thinking, for that, i'm not even going to do anything for this event. won't even mention it. since that was the guy i would normally talk to for information about the event, i say screw it, don't ask anyone any questions about the event and get ready to leave. then i see the "post master" wave me over to his table. was he going to tell me he was kidding? is his sense of humor so terrible that he took the joke that far with a poor payoff? impossible. instead, he points to the wall behind him where there are rows of pictures. he tells me, "you can take a picture of that. i've been working on it for three years. it's pictures of people who were from the community." you're. effing. kidding. now you're suggesting a story idea for me? not how it works. "i'm like, yeah, maybe later when it's not so crowded..." [i'll admit. this would, under other circumstances, have been a story i probably would have looked into.] instead, i took off out the door where i didn't have to walk by him.
it might be time for an editorial. something like this: at every event i have done, everyone has been more than willing to cooperate. everyone has been truely thankful and happy that i have come and given them coverage. and now, at an event that our readers whould enjoy reading about, i'm confronted for taking pictures and threatened with a lawsuit if i do.
maybe i'm overreacting, but i don't think so. i could have done without the attitude. and if there's a legitimate reason as to why taking pictures was worth that reaction, then i apologize. but until such reason is brought to my attention, i'm bitter. and i no longer like fairfield.
i get there a little after everything was underway, since i was coming from another event, but i set down my stuff and took out my camera. i snapped a few pictures of the black jack games, the craps table, the overall "casino" room and the prize table. at one point a woman came up and joked, "you know you can't take pictures in a casino, right?" i said something to the effect of, "you're not going to smash my camera are you?" she laughed. i laughed. i continued to take pictures.
a couple minutes later, a guy comes up and says, "are you from the newspaper?" i said, "yeah, i'm with the clay county news." he says, "you can't take pictures in here." i think, what is this going to be the joke of the night? ok, i'll play along. i use my line again. "are you going to smash my camera?" he doesn't laugh. or smile. he says, "well, how many pictures did you take?" "i dunno.. a few." [i'm still trying to figure out his sense of humor and how far he plans to take this joke..] "if any of those pictures are in the newspaper, you can expect a lawsuit."
WHAT?!
"you're serious.. i can't take pictures?" dead serious, "no." "why can't i take pictures?" "this is a club. i'm the post manager." it's obvious at this point that he is in fact serious. i aparently cannot take pictures at this event. "i'm just trying to give you some coverage," i tell him politely. "well, you can stand around and watch, get your coverage that way." "ok. that's fine. can i take pictures of anything?" "you can stand outside and take pictures of the cars going by." REALLY?! THE CARS GOING BY?! ARE YOU KIDDING?! "alright, great," i say or something to that effect to where the conversation ends. he walks away.
let me reiterate. this was a fundraiser for the american legion. a night of community fun and generosity. and this guy was an asshole.
at this point i'm thinking, for that, i'm not even going to do anything for this event. won't even mention it. since that was the guy i would normally talk to for information about the event, i say screw it, don't ask anyone any questions about the event and get ready to leave. then i see the "post master" wave me over to his table. was he going to tell me he was kidding? is his sense of humor so terrible that he took the joke that far with a poor payoff? impossible. instead, he points to the wall behind him where there are rows of pictures. he tells me, "you can take a picture of that. i've been working on it for three years. it's pictures of people who were from the community." you're. effing. kidding. now you're suggesting a story idea for me? not how it works. "i'm like, yeah, maybe later when it's not so crowded..." [i'll admit. this would, under other circumstances, have been a story i probably would have looked into.] instead, i took off out the door where i didn't have to walk by him.
it might be time for an editorial. something like this: at every event i have done, everyone has been more than willing to cooperate. everyone has been truely thankful and happy that i have come and given them coverage. and now, at an event that our readers whould enjoy reading about, i'm confronted for taking pictures and threatened with a lawsuit if i do.
maybe i'm overreacting, but i don't think so. i could have done without the attitude. and if there's a legitimate reason as to why taking pictures was worth that reaction, then i apologize. but until such reason is brought to my attention, i'm bitter. and i no longer like fairfield.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
for uncle wayne
i got a phone call from papa yesterday, informing me that he had just spoken with my uncle wayne, who wanted to know why i haven't been posting anything here lately. no good reason, wayne. no good reason. just a little busy is all. but here you go.
again, tuesday night turned into about a 15 hour work day. and again, we ask "how does this happen?" it's a vicious cycle. i get so burned out after monday and tuesday that i need a down day, which doesn't allow me to get ahead with work. on top of that everything seems to happen late in our publishing week, which backs everything else up. which means i am unable to start laying out pages until tuesday afternoon. which in turn adds to the stress and ensures a late night. [this is the last time i will complain about this.]
darren and cassie are gone until sunday for the state wrestling tournament in omaha. four kids from sutton qualified (one with a legitimate shot at the championship for his weight class as a freshman) and a few others from the county made it as well. darren said he's going to shoot some video at the meet, so i'll hopefully be able to work with that footage and stream something to our website [which is so far outdated and in need of a pick-me-up.]
i'm covering a basketball game tonight in mccool junction [front-runner for the coolest town name ever.] heard there's a good prime rib place there, so i think i'm gonna grab a bite to eat there before hand. besides subway, i've only gone out to eat once since i've been here. then again, there's only one diner-esque place in town to eat. options are limited, unless i want to drive half an hour. but to drive that far to go out to eat by myself isn't all that appealing. i prefer my home cooked concoctions which i can enjoy in hermit mode.
more to come. i promise..
again, tuesday night turned into about a 15 hour work day. and again, we ask "how does this happen?" it's a vicious cycle. i get so burned out after monday and tuesday that i need a down day, which doesn't allow me to get ahead with work. on top of that everything seems to happen late in our publishing week, which backs everything else up. which means i am unable to start laying out pages until tuesday afternoon. which in turn adds to the stress and ensures a late night. [this is the last time i will complain about this.]
darren and cassie are gone until sunday for the state wrestling tournament in omaha. four kids from sutton qualified (one with a legitimate shot at the championship for his weight class as a freshman) and a few others from the county made it as well. darren said he's going to shoot some video at the meet, so i'll hopefully be able to work with that footage and stream something to our website [which is so far outdated and in need of a pick-me-up.]
i'm covering a basketball game tonight in mccool junction [front-runner for the coolest town name ever.] heard there's a good prime rib place there, so i think i'm gonna grab a bite to eat there before hand. besides subway, i've only gone out to eat once since i've been here. then again, there's only one diner-esque place in town to eat. options are limited, unless i want to drive half an hour. but to drive that far to go out to eat by myself isn't all that appealing. i prefer my home cooked concoctions which i can enjoy in hermit mode.
more to come. i promise..
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
seems like wednesdays are the only days i have time to post anymore.
worked about 15 1/2 hours yesterday. that was fun. tuesdays are always long days. tuesday late afternoon/early evening is about my least favorite time of the week, because it's then that i realize that despite my thousand phone calls and event coverage, we still have so much blank space to fill.
this past work week was especially frustrating due to clay county deciding to take a break from doing anything exciting or making news. it's not fun looking at what you have for the week's stories and realizing how little room it will take up on 24 pages. to top it off, the only stories i was able to write on required saturday/sunday coverage and non-stop monday phone calls. meaning it was all but impossible to work ahead, and cemented the now certain weekly tradition of near-midnight bonding with darren over half-empty (yes, half-empty) pages.
i've been meaning to mention this since it happened, but kept forgetting:
one of the old lady friends i made while covering a couple of stories in my early weeks at the paper, karen roback, died a couple of weeks ago. i found out when her obituary was sent in. the first time i talked to her was at a christmas event at the clay county museum, where she talked to me about the tradition and the various activities they do. the second, and last, time i saw karen was at a chirstmas-sing-along at a church in inland. she came up to me and reminded me who she was, told me the christmas story turned out well and thanked me for quoting her accurately, because in the past people had mis-quoted her. then we talked about her speaking german (she sang a song in german during the event) and how learning things with music is much easier. just kind of weird to read the obituary of someone you had talked to a few times, and was one of the few familiar faces for me during the first couple of weeks.
plus side - bowling again tonight. the fox hollow studs are quickly climbing the standings. we should take over second place tonight. i've decided to wear my ghanaian shirt when i bowl from now on. it just seems like a good bowling image and it's nice and loose. and i'm gonna roll with the kevin ball tonight, too.
oh, directv's hooked up, now. so i've got my sportscenter to wake up to and my conan to pass out to. and my free showtime and whatever else in between. and i have mlb network, so once the baseball season starts, that'll be on 24/7.
worked about 15 1/2 hours yesterday. that was fun. tuesdays are always long days. tuesday late afternoon/early evening is about my least favorite time of the week, because it's then that i realize that despite my thousand phone calls and event coverage, we still have so much blank space to fill.
this past work week was especially frustrating due to clay county deciding to take a break from doing anything exciting or making news. it's not fun looking at what you have for the week's stories and realizing how little room it will take up on 24 pages. to top it off, the only stories i was able to write on required saturday/sunday coverage and non-stop monday phone calls. meaning it was all but impossible to work ahead, and cemented the now certain weekly tradition of near-midnight bonding with darren over half-empty (yes, half-empty) pages.
i've been meaning to mention this since it happened, but kept forgetting:
one of the old lady friends i made while covering a couple of stories in my early weeks at the paper, karen roback, died a couple of weeks ago. i found out when her obituary was sent in. the first time i talked to her was at a christmas event at the clay county museum, where she talked to me about the tradition and the various activities they do. the second, and last, time i saw karen was at a chirstmas-sing-along at a church in inland. she came up to me and reminded me who she was, told me the christmas story turned out well and thanked me for quoting her accurately, because in the past people had mis-quoted her. then we talked about her speaking german (she sang a song in german during the event) and how learning things with music is much easier. just kind of weird to read the obituary of someone you had talked to a few times, and was one of the few familiar faces for me during the first couple of weeks.
plus side - bowling again tonight. the fox hollow studs are quickly climbing the standings. we should take over second place tonight. i've decided to wear my ghanaian shirt when i bowl from now on. it just seems like a good bowling image and it's nice and loose. and i'm gonna roll with the kevin ball tonight, too.
oh, directv's hooked up, now. so i've got my sportscenter to wake up to and my conan to pass out to. and my free showtime and whatever else in between. and i have mlb network, so once the baseball season starts, that'll be on 24/7.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
for those of you with facebook
i've started an album - "on the job" in which i will be posting various pictures of the events i cover. this should supplement the writings, which have been few as of late, with some visuals so you can see what i'm seeing. [non-facebook users: blogger takes its sweet time uploading photos on here, so i try to opt against it.]
otherwise:
-i was at the office from 10am-12pm last night working on laying out the ccn. at that time we still hadn't finished it. but that's what you get when there's only 2 people trying to fill space over 24-odd pages.
-i stayed in bed til 1 today as a result. needed some relaxing time to recover from last week's busyness.
-this week's paper did turn out really nicely, though. an "obama on the homefront" type front page, some good stand-alone art, and the dog-tournament/team bunker hill hunting story i wrote a couple weeks ago turned into a full-page lifestyles feature, which came out very nicely.
-we had two-rollover accidents this week. one ejected two students as it flipped, both of whom i believe are now alright, hopefully. the other involved a pick-up that slid down the side of a steep shoulder and, somehow, managed to wedge itself into the perfectly sized moat-type area on the golf course. i'll post pictures later. crazy how it just fell in the perfect position though.
-i got mentally ready for bowling tonight with some creedence and white russians. those who haven't seen big lebowski a) need to, and b) won't understand the significance of this. [i think i'll give the "james" ball a break tonight and opt for the "kevin" ball.]
in the words of john fogerty, "i never lost one minute of sleepin / worryin bout the way things might have been."
[don't know how that applies, but think about it and you'll figure out something.]
otherwise:
-i was at the office from 10am-12pm last night working on laying out the ccn. at that time we still hadn't finished it. but that's what you get when there's only 2 people trying to fill space over 24-odd pages.
-i stayed in bed til 1 today as a result. needed some relaxing time to recover from last week's busyness.
-this week's paper did turn out really nicely, though. an "obama on the homefront" type front page, some good stand-alone art, and the dog-tournament/team bunker hill hunting story i wrote a couple weeks ago turned into a full-page lifestyles feature, which came out very nicely.
-we had two-rollover accidents this week. one ejected two students as it flipped, both of whom i believe are now alright, hopefully. the other involved a pick-up that slid down the side of a steep shoulder and, somehow, managed to wedge itself into the perfectly sized moat-type area on the golf course. i'll post pictures later. crazy how it just fell in the perfect position though.
-i got mentally ready for bowling tonight with some creedence and white russians. those who haven't seen big lebowski a) need to, and b) won't understand the significance of this. [i think i'll give the "james" ball a break tonight and opt for the "kevin" ball.]
in the words of john fogerty, "i never lost one minute of sleepin / worryin bout the way things might have been."
[don't know how that applies, but think about it and you'll figure out something.]
Friday, January 23, 2009
what NOT to do
glenn's class - if you're still in session, pay attention. (weezo, edge.)
last night i was supposed to cover a D.A.R.E. program graduation in giltner. note the bold words. first, "supposed" meaning, no, i did not actually cover this. "giltner" meaning the town the event was actually in. i went to glenvil. rookie mistake. between first hearing of the event and getting into my car to drive the 35 minutes there, i convinced myself the event was in glenvil, for whatever reason. awesome that i didn't realize my error until this morning.
luckily, this is a weekly, and i can afford to make a couple phone calls to cover myself. hopefully..
wow. double-check things. i'm an idiot.
****UPDATE****
the DARE graduation was actually moved to monday night. we were not notified of this change, so i would have missed it anyway. but it kind of bails me out?
[and this girl who works in the office doing legals/ad placements/obits, etc. has had the song "all that she wants" by ace of base on repeat for the last three days. don't get me wrong, it's a hell of a throw back, but all day? c'mon. can i at least get "in the eyes of the stranger" or "it's a beautiful life" just once?]
last night i was supposed to cover a D.A.R.E. program graduation in giltner. note the bold words. first, "supposed" meaning, no, i did not actually cover this. "giltner" meaning the town the event was actually in. i went to glenvil. rookie mistake. between first hearing of the event and getting into my car to drive the 35 minutes there, i convinced myself the event was in glenvil, for whatever reason. awesome that i didn't realize my error until this morning.
luckily, this is a weekly, and i can afford to make a couple phone calls to cover myself. hopefully..
wow. double-check things. i'm an idiot.
****UPDATE****
the DARE graduation was actually moved to monday night. we were not notified of this change, so i would have missed it anyway. but it kind of bails me out?
[and this girl who works in the office doing legals/ad placements/obits, etc. has had the song "all that she wants" by ace of base on repeat for the last three days. don't get me wrong, it's a hell of a throw back, but all day? c'mon. can i at least get "in the eyes of the stranger" or "it's a beautiful life" just once?]
slacking.
over a week since an update? some blog, kris..
briefly: haircut in 15 minutes; grand island to cover a 'klondike derby' for the area scouts and blue hill to cover something about bulls on main street; i'm officially on a bowling team now, no more subbing.
phone interview today: a recent graduate of one of the high school's we cover is in sacramento on a mission trip (i think mormon.) anyway, i went through his dad to get in touch with him, a process that started about a week ago. what happened is that adam (the mission kid) has to go through like several layers of public relations just to talk with me about what he's doing out there. they got it "approved" for him to talk to me yesterday, and one of the middle-men who has been communicating to me will be listening in. pressures on to make the interview worth all this stress? seems like an interesting experience for him, though. 2-year mission, all his own expenses, can actually baptize people if they want to join the church. can't drink caffeine, though. too much of a distraction from his purpose. i didn't feel it was necessary in my screening call to tell the PR guy that i'd be slugging down coffee while i talk to adam.
more later. promise.
hi glenn's class. welcome to virtual nebraska.
briefly: haircut in 15 minutes; grand island to cover a 'klondike derby' for the area scouts and blue hill to cover something about bulls on main street; i'm officially on a bowling team now, no more subbing.
phone interview today: a recent graduate of one of the high school's we cover is in sacramento on a mission trip (i think mormon.) anyway, i went through his dad to get in touch with him, a process that started about a week ago. what happened is that adam (the mission kid) has to go through like several layers of public relations just to talk with me about what he's doing out there. they got it "approved" for him to talk to me yesterday, and one of the middle-men who has been communicating to me will be listening in. pressures on to make the interview worth all this stress? seems like an interesting experience for him, though. 2-year mission, all his own expenses, can actually baptize people if they want to join the church. can't drink caffeine, though. too much of a distraction from his purpose. i didn't feel it was necessary in my screening call to tell the PR guy that i'd be slugging down coffee while i talk to adam.
more later. promise.
hi glenn's class. welcome to virtual nebraska.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
goodbye substitute teaching, hello substitute bowling
around 8:30, 9:00 last night i considered going to the bowling alley. wednesday is men's league, i thought i might try to go get on a sub list in case anyone couldn't make it. i decided that was too ambitious for me, and instead resigned to watching "it's always sunny in philadelphia" episodes.
roughly 20 minutes later, however, i got a call from an unknown, sutton number. go figure, it was kelly from clay bowl wondering if i wanted to fill in for a team. haha. time to show sutton what a childhood of candle-pin bowling in maine can do.
first thing that needed to be done was to find "kevin." he was just sitting on the rack, waiting for me. unstoppable, now. then i met my team, which was formed by a couple guys who own/operate the fox hollow motel/golf course/gym in town. and after a couple practice shots to get the rust off my footwork, me, kevin, my amber boch and the 'fox hollow studs' were ready to kick some geezer ass.
aside from the first frame strikes and the double-strike tenth frames, i underperformed. in the three games, i averaged a 137. i'm better than that. still, we played well enough to win by 4 pins overall, despite having one player who averaged about a 102.
they took my number in case they need me again. hopefully they do. it's fun to get my big lebowski on. might try switching to white russians next time, see if that'll work for me. or bring a dog that has papers. or a handgun in case someone steps over the line (smokey..) alright, enough references..
roughly 20 minutes later, however, i got a call from an unknown, sutton number. go figure, it was kelly from clay bowl wondering if i wanted to fill in for a team. haha. time to show sutton what a childhood of candle-pin bowling in maine can do.
first thing that needed to be done was to find "kevin." he was just sitting on the rack, waiting for me. unstoppable, now. then i met my team, which was formed by a couple guys who own/operate the fox hollow motel/golf course/gym in town. and after a couple practice shots to get the rust off my footwork, me, kevin, my amber boch and the 'fox hollow studs' were ready to kick some geezer ass.
aside from the first frame strikes and the double-strike tenth frames, i underperformed. in the three games, i averaged a 137. i'm better than that. still, we played well enough to win by 4 pins overall, despite having one player who averaged about a 102.
they took my number in case they need me again. hopefully they do. it's fun to get my big lebowski on. might try switching to white russians next time, see if that'll work for me. or bring a dog that has papers. or a handgun in case someone steps over the line (smokey..) alright, enough references..
Saturday, January 10, 2009
a hunting we will go
really cool story this morning.
there's a hunting resort just outside of hastings, but within the borders of clay county. news to me as of the middle of the week, but around this time of year they have a few big events on site. darren informed me of this, and when i called to inquire about what was happening, i found out that a hunting and fishing tv show, "the american outdoorsman" was shooting an episode this weekend. i asked if i could tag along for the hunt, and boom, i had my most exciting story ever lined up.
i really wasn't sure what to expect going there. all i knew is that i had to be up early. a few cups of coffee helped me out. all of the hunters were eating breakfast in the lodge when i got there. [the resort is situated on the grounds of an old navy ammunition manufacturing base. there are miles and miles of bunkers stretched across the resort, which give it a really unique feel. the lodge/bunks/storage garage were inside of one such set of bunkers.] i talked to this host of the show, jim mueller, for a bit and he gave me a rundown of what would happen. i was handed an orange vest, because, i somehow forgot all of my bright hunting clothes in maine. what was i thinking? the producer/main cameraman shot the show opening with jim outside of the main bunker, as the hunters talked excitedly in the background of the shot. the guide then explained the scenario, and we were on our way.
[this was the second year in a row that the show came to bunker hill to shoot. in our group, there were three cameramen, jim, our guide, six or seven hunters, three extremely well trained dogs and myself. two of the hunters had won the hunt in a boosters auction, and had invited the others along.]
we rode in the bed of a pick-up to the spot we'd be hunting and then got busy. i had never been bird hunting before so i was excited and curious. and nervous that someone might dick cheney me. for the beginning, i mostly observed, shooting pictures of the cameramen who were shooting video of the hunters who were shooting pheasants. yeah, it was a pretty cool process. and made for some awesome photos. exhibit a:
it was unbelievable how many birds we saw/shot at/killed. the combination of the dogs and large population of birds [they have a hatchery] made for a non-stop assault. "if it flies, it dies." estimates at the end of the day figured for at least 75 dead birds. unreal.
after a little while, everyone else decided it would be fun to let the mainer get in on the fun. so i swapped my camera for jim's 3-shot automatic .12 gauge shotgun. woah mamma. they were all excited for me to try to shoot my first pheasant and gave me the first "point" [meaning, when a dog has a bird, he just "honors" it, meaning he doesn't "flush" it, meaning he doesn't make it fly away, meaning he just holds it and waits for a shooter to get set.] so when lil toby had a bird ready for me, i aimed into the space and waited for it to jump. unfortunately, this being my first time shooting something that moves and my first time firing a shotgun, i missed twice. i shook it off. no big deal. we'll get another crack at one. i had a couple close calls, but was too slow to the draw. then i got another opportunity for a point, had the bird fly to my right and got it with a single shot. my first pheasant! it was pretty cool and everyone was excited to see a first. they even did a stand up with me on camera with jim congratulating me on my first pheasant. who knows if i'll make the final cut, but it was pretty neat. not bad for a journalist.
there's a hunting resort just outside of hastings, but within the borders of clay county. news to me as of the middle of the week, but around this time of year they have a few big events on site. darren informed me of this, and when i called to inquire about what was happening, i found out that a hunting and fishing tv show, "the american outdoorsman" was shooting an episode this weekend. i asked if i could tag along for the hunt, and boom, i had my most exciting story ever lined up.
i really wasn't sure what to expect going there. all i knew is that i had to be up early. a few cups of coffee helped me out. all of the hunters were eating breakfast in the lodge when i got there. [the resort is situated on the grounds of an old navy ammunition manufacturing base. there are miles and miles of bunkers stretched across the resort, which give it a really unique feel. the lodge/bunks/storage garage were inside of one such set of bunkers.] i talked to this host of the show, jim mueller, for a bit and he gave me a rundown of what would happen. i was handed an orange vest, because, i somehow forgot all of my bright hunting clothes in maine. what was i thinking? the producer/main cameraman shot the show opening with jim outside of the main bunker, as the hunters talked excitedly in the background of the shot. the guide then explained the scenario, and we were on our way.
[this was the second year in a row that the show came to bunker hill to shoot. in our group, there were three cameramen, jim, our guide, six or seven hunters, three extremely well trained dogs and myself. two of the hunters had won the hunt in a boosters auction, and had invited the others along.]
we rode in the bed of a pick-up to the spot we'd be hunting and then got busy. i had never been bird hunting before so i was excited and curious. and nervous that someone might dick cheney me. for the beginning, i mostly observed, shooting pictures of the cameramen who were shooting video of the hunters who were shooting pheasants. yeah, it was a pretty cool process. and made for some awesome photos. exhibit a:
it was unbelievable how many birds we saw/shot at/killed. the combination of the dogs and large population of birds [they have a hatchery] made for a non-stop assault. "if it flies, it dies." estimates at the end of the day figured for at least 75 dead birds. unreal.
after a little while, everyone else decided it would be fun to let the mainer get in on the fun. so i swapped my camera for jim's 3-shot automatic .12 gauge shotgun. woah mamma. they were all excited for me to try to shoot my first pheasant and gave me the first "point" [meaning, when a dog has a bird, he just "honors" it, meaning he doesn't "flush" it, meaning he doesn't make it fly away, meaning he just holds it and waits for a shooter to get set.] so when lil toby had a bird ready for me, i aimed into the space and waited for it to jump. unfortunately, this being my first time shooting something that moves and my first time firing a shotgun, i missed twice. i shook it off. no big deal. we'll get another crack at one. i had a couple close calls, but was too slow to the draw. then i got another opportunity for a point, had the bird fly to my right and got it with a single shot. my first pheasant! it was pretty cool and everyone was excited to see a first. they even did a stand up with me on camera with jim congratulating me on my first pheasant. who knows if i'll make the final cut, but it was pretty neat. not bad for a journalist.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
busy day, why i hate dish network, go gators.
lots to do today. dozens of phone calls to schools to get the names of students who received NSAA all-academic athlete awards for the fall sports season, more phone calls to other people for possible stories. it's tough, because with our monday and tuesday deadlines, thursday and friday become the phone call days because you can't save them until monday or tuesday because most of the time it takes two or three tries to get through to someone. plus, i had to skip to and from the office and my house because dish network was supposed to install my dish package today, but, for the second day this week did not. not happy, and we'll sort that out tomorrow.
went to doniphan tonight (45 minutes away) to shoot the school's boys and girls basketball games as well as snap a picture of the TeamMates mentoring program the school has, which was honored at halftime. also, i stopped at the assisted living home to interview the resident of the month, 86-year-old lillian. i seriously would have stayed and chatted with her for a while if i didn't have to go to the games. as i've said before.. conversation is conversation, and more times than not, these old ladies become my half-hour friends.
due to the busy night and due to my lack of tv channels (i'm really not happy with dish network), i missed the national championship game. i'm currently following the game on espn(.go).com. 24-14 florida.
also, i didn't realize that everyone had to make a profile or something to comment. that is changed. anyone can now comment. i enjoy hearing from you. please exercise your new right to comment.
went to doniphan tonight (45 minutes away) to shoot the school's boys and girls basketball games as well as snap a picture of the TeamMates mentoring program the school has, which was honored at halftime. also, i stopped at the assisted living home to interview the resident of the month, 86-year-old lillian. i seriously would have stayed and chatted with her for a while if i didn't have to go to the games. as i've said before.. conversation is conversation, and more times than not, these old ladies become my half-hour friends.
due to the busy night and due to my lack of tv channels (i'm really not happy with dish network), i missed the national championship game. i'm currently following the game on espn(.go).com. 24-14 florida.
also, i didn't realize that everyone had to make a profile or something to comment. that is changed. anyone can now comment. i enjoy hearing from you. please exercise your new right to comment.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
slow week, church take 2, internet/cable
i'd almost prefer to be busy. granted, now that my house is a little more livable and a little more enjoyable, it's nice to have some spare time, but having no news is even more stressful than having a full plate. this week was pretty much an entirely dead week. which meant that monday and tuesday (deadline days) i had to scramble to find news and take care of what i already had scheduled those days. so, i ended up writing 2 very long stories for the ccn paper this week. just need to fill space.
oh.. sunday i tried church again. not the same one though.. i said if they didn't want me when i wanted them, then too bad. i went to the federated church instead (a combination of the united methodist and united church of christ, i think.) i chose this one because after i failed to get in the methodist church in my first attempt, my uncle read about my misadventure and called the pastor for this federated church. when i talked with him later he told me that he chatted with him for a while and that he seemed like a nice guy. thanks troy. it was actually kind of cool, because he came right up to me when i arrived and asked if i was the new reporter / the one whose uncle called.
there were still a lot of old people in attendance, but company is company. and mainly my attention was on following the procedure, which everyone else seemed to be on the ball with. every five seconds i was looking around to see what i should be doing. i was scrambling to find the correct hymns, while everyone else pretty much had them memorized. pastor biehl's message was interesting, too, talking about how people should be less concerned with being "religious" and focusing on different denominations (sutton has 7 different churches) and worry about being "faithful," instead. (did he know i was coming?)
i have internet at my house now! so i should be able to keep up more regularly with posts. i got really lucky, though. the only estimate the company could give me as to when the installer guy would be here was "before 5." and monday was a busy day, so i couldn't hang around. i took a long lunch and kind of dragged my feet. then i wrote a note saying something like "call me, i'm only 2 minutes away" and attached it to my door. oddly, i thought about how that hoppin' johns that i ate on new years day was supposed to bring good luck and i wished it would cash it right then. no sooner had i thought it and started stepping out the door to head back to the office, the green windstream van pulled up. yes! i'm totally attributing it to the hoppin' johns.
unfortunately.. my luck was short lived, as i missed the dish network guy on tuesday. again, the 12-5 estimate given proved too broad for me. i'll try to sort that out today.
darren and cassie's little girls have been hanging around the office more because their daycare closed. josie is 5 1/2 and brooklyn (brook) is 3 1/2. which, incidentally, are the same ages as my little cousins casey and cody. so, if i can't see them, it's kind of neat to be reminded of them when the girls are around. brook and i played variations of catch and rolling the ball back and forth last night. after 11:00. and she hadn't napped. i was impressed. i snuck a 45 minute nap earlier..
i might take a ride to civilization today to pick up a few more things for the house. maybe an end/coffee table, a cheap vaccuum?, couch pillows/blanket, a tv tray? i've gotta really plan for these trips. it's not often i get to go into town.. haha.
nb: don't make the mistake of using ground coffee as "instant" coffee. you'll end up drinking coffee flavored hot water and spitting out a mouthful of coffee grinds.
oh.. sunday i tried church again. not the same one though.. i said if they didn't want me when i wanted them, then too bad. i went to the federated church instead (a combination of the united methodist and united church of christ, i think.) i chose this one because after i failed to get in the methodist church in my first attempt, my uncle read about my misadventure and called the pastor for this federated church. when i talked with him later he told me that he chatted with him for a while and that he seemed like a nice guy. thanks troy. it was actually kind of cool, because he came right up to me when i arrived and asked if i was the new reporter / the one whose uncle called.
there were still a lot of old people in attendance, but company is company. and mainly my attention was on following the procedure, which everyone else seemed to be on the ball with. every five seconds i was looking around to see what i should be doing. i was scrambling to find the correct hymns, while everyone else pretty much had them memorized. pastor biehl's message was interesting, too, talking about how people should be less concerned with being "religious" and focusing on different denominations (sutton has 7 different churches) and worry about being "faithful," instead. (did he know i was coming?)
i have internet at my house now! so i should be able to keep up more regularly with posts. i got really lucky, though. the only estimate the company could give me as to when the installer guy would be here was "before 5." and monday was a busy day, so i couldn't hang around. i took a long lunch and kind of dragged my feet. then i wrote a note saying something like "call me, i'm only 2 minutes away" and attached it to my door. oddly, i thought about how that hoppin' johns that i ate on new years day was supposed to bring good luck and i wished it would cash it right then. no sooner had i thought it and started stepping out the door to head back to the office, the green windstream van pulled up. yes! i'm totally attributing it to the hoppin' johns.
unfortunately.. my luck was short lived, as i missed the dish network guy on tuesday. again, the 12-5 estimate given proved too broad for me. i'll try to sort that out today.
darren and cassie's little girls have been hanging around the office more because their daycare closed. josie is 5 1/2 and brooklyn (brook) is 3 1/2. which, incidentally, are the same ages as my little cousins casey and cody. so, if i can't see them, it's kind of neat to be reminded of them when the girls are around. brook and i played variations of catch and rolling the ball back and forth last night. after 11:00. and she hadn't napped. i was impressed. i snuck a 45 minute nap earlier..
i might take a ride to civilization today to pick up a few more things for the house. maybe an end/coffee table, a cheap vaccuum?, couch pillows/blanket, a tv tray? i've gotta really plan for these trips. it's not often i get to go into town.. haha.
nb: don't make the mistake of using ground coffee as "instant" coffee. you'll end up drinking coffee flavored hot water and spitting out a mouthful of coffee grinds.
Friday, January 2, 2009
downtown owl
i haven't read a book, outside the harry potter series, in full in i'm not sure how long. yeah, i skimmed/guessed in college. but i finished chuck klosterman's "downtown owl" yesterday. it was the perfect book for my current situation. on the surface it's about a small town in rural north dakota, focusing on three of the town's residents (one happens to be a 23 year old girl, who moves to owl for her first job. you see the connections.) i don't feel like writing a book review, but suffice it to say that i felt incredible after finishing it. (joke away, goulet.) the combination of klosterman's style (he says a lot of things i try to say in a way that i'd like to say them), julia's experiences and eventual realization about her life in owl, and his commentary on average people was exactly what i needed to hear.
i immediately had to say a few things to a few people after finishing it. i called deloose and gleese, since they were both reading it, too, and was glad to hear deloose echo similar sentiments about the book.
it was just exactly what i needed to hear, and i found it extremely reassuring.
i immediately had to say a few things to a few people after finishing it. i called deloose and gleese, since they were both reading it, too, and was glad to hear deloose echo similar sentiments about the book.
it was just exactly what i needed to hear, and i found it extremely reassuring.
2009 will be a very new year
i decided not to go to hastings to ring in the new year. instead, i opted for the 2 minute drive to a bar in town. which worked out really well, as the people i sat and talked with the first time i went to the bar to watch the husker volleyball game, were already there at a table, so i pulled up a chair.
it was weird not being on the east coast for new years eve. i always have been. especially when i'm getting happy new year wishes when it's only 11:00 my time. i don't think anyone really paid attention to the ball dropping in times square, nor was there a countdown on our end. thanks, east coast, for stealing our new year.
at one point, chris and i played table-top shuffle board, which i now realize i'm awful at. in my defense, the table was fast. i should've taken a few practice rolls, but, cocky as i am when i drink and play games, i passed on the practice and subsequently got worked by the mom i shot against. "you talk a lot of shit," she commented at one point. and really, i do. but i sucked, so my best option was to get in their heads. it didn't work. we lost to moms. i rejoined the table and got another bud.
the next morning i had to cover a story in blue hill, an hour drive southwest. the event started at 9. i got there at 11. wow, it was not a pretty morning. the event, of course, was at the town's tavern. i plopped down at the bar to get myself organized and scan the scene. the woman next to me was 3/4 done an enormous birthday mug of beer. i stuck to my coffee. i'm really out of shape, elon. you'd be disappointed. the event: it has been a tradition for over 60 some-odd years now to serve what is called "hoppin' johns." i was told this "hoppin' johns" was originally served to slaves on new years day. the bean soup/porridge type concoction was intentionally supposed to taste terrible. the slaves, therefore, thought "well it can't be this bad next time." hence, eating "hoppin' johns" on the new year is supposed to bring good luck. i had a few bowls for safe measure.
it was weird not being on the east coast for new years eve. i always have been. especially when i'm getting happy new year wishes when it's only 11:00 my time. i don't think anyone really paid attention to the ball dropping in times square, nor was there a countdown on our end. thanks, east coast, for stealing our new year.
at one point, chris and i played table-top shuffle board, which i now realize i'm awful at. in my defense, the table was fast. i should've taken a few practice rolls, but, cocky as i am when i drink and play games, i passed on the practice and subsequently got worked by the mom i shot against. "you talk a lot of shit," she commented at one point. and really, i do. but i sucked, so my best option was to get in their heads. it didn't work. we lost to moms. i rejoined the table and got another bud.
the next morning i had to cover a story in blue hill, an hour drive southwest. the event started at 9. i got there at 11. wow, it was not a pretty morning. the event, of course, was at the town's tavern. i plopped down at the bar to get myself organized and scan the scene. the woman next to me was 3/4 done an enormous birthday mug of beer. i stuck to my coffee. i'm really out of shape, elon. you'd be disappointed. the event: it has been a tradition for over 60 some-odd years now to serve what is called "hoppin' johns." i was told this "hoppin' johns" was originally served to slaves on new years day. the bean soup/porridge type concoction was intentionally supposed to taste terrible. the slaves, therefore, thought "well it can't be this bad next time." hence, eating "hoppin' johns" on the new year is supposed to bring good luck. i had a few bowls for safe measure.
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