Last week we had a meeting at our station to let everyone in the newsroom know that we are officially in the "digital media" business. And, today that message was totally reinforced as the photography staff participated in a full-scale demonstration of the Ikegami's DNG33W camera.



The camera acquires video onto a detachable hard drive (similar to the size of a laptop HDD), and then can import video right into an AVID or non-linear editor within seconds - you can edit right from the actual drive (conected via a USB port). Each hard drive has a capacity of a few hours, and there's even a cheaper, RAM pack cartridge [below] that can hold around an hour of video as well. I love that it has a clear cut-out window so you can see the compact-flash card inside.



A bunch of Hearst-A stations are upgrading this summer, so they're having some of the various station crews demo the gear before any big, million dollar decisions are made. Do we go with the Ikegami, or the Sony XDCAM? To me, it wasn't really much of a decision. I mean, we're still shooting on Beta. That's like asking a person who hasn't eaten for 3 weeks whether he preferred to have New York Strip steak, or filet minon - both are pretty tasty.



Last year I checked out the XD at NAB, and the P2 at my last station. But at this point, I love the Ikegami (aka "Ikky" or "Ike") best-of-all, but I'm a computer dork. The person that needed to be convinced was our top photographer (and Asst. Chief), John Hendon. He's a blu-ray-blooded Sony man, through and through.



But by the end of the day, the Ikky won his heart. It even passed his taking-pictures-of-boring-flowers test [above]. The gang of us that tested the camera thought it was awesome, and we all agreed that the future can't come soon enough.

Photographer, Mark Lyon has a dream. For half-a-decade he's fantasized that someday WYFF station photographers have a little piece of land to call our very own: a photographer's lounge.



Okay, now for the record I think we already have some sort of photographer's waiting room [pictured above], but it's rarely used - mainly due to how small (and maybe moldy) the room is. It kinda reminds me of that limbo lounge from Beetlejuice that all the newly dead people sat around in.

Anyway, late last week over a power lunch, Mark started going off again about how we "really need a space of our own". We were all sorta patronizing at first, but by the end of the lunch, plans were being formed and assignments were handed-out. These photogs were on a mission. We got serious.

We've decided to go for an Extreme Makeover approach, transforming our dreary camera closet into a gleaming photog mecca. I believe the blurry photo [below] does a splendid job of illustrating how much we have our work cut out for us.



But, if you're having a difficult time imagining how anyone would want to spend more than a minute in that room (like many folks we tried to the idea to), then take a look at James Cooper's brilliant artist rendering of what it'll someday look like (minus the track lighting).



It's a nice little side-project that we've undertaken. Soon we'll haul out all old junk, throw on a fresh coat of paint, and drop in some garage sale couches.

There's no word on when the 'opening day celebration' will be, but we're already planning on having the mayor of Grenville there to cut the ribbon. (I told you we were serious.)

As you may know, I'm really into comic books. And I'm always amused when there's a TV news crew shown in one of the books, so I've decided I'm going to scan-and-post them as I come across them.



Oh man! The photog gets evaporated! I guess that's the danger you face when trying to get an up close shot of a radioactive superhero.

[Godland #1, Image Comics]

widgets:
At my friend Hasser's recommendation, I've been fooling around with Yahoo! Widgets. And, now spent the past week trying to code my very own LLR desktop widget. No luck so far, but I haven't quite given up yet. I've got the design part down, but I'm still hung up on some java-junk.

iBox:
My super computer (aka "BAMF") is out-of-control. I've recently added a 512mb video card, and tricked out my mobo with 4gb RAM. But, my favorite new addition is the iBox by Thermaltake.



It's basically a drawer installed in the front of your tower to hold discs and various accessories. It's just so simple and obvious. I love it.

google:
I had a nice chuckle with the latest Google/MySpace meme. Instead of the morbid "was killed by" deadpool search, someone suggested searching for what you "need". So, I searched for "JL needs" and hilarity ensued. Here were the results:

JL needs to find a new formula.

If there is one thing JL needs more of, it is ORANGE cars!

JL needs to stop making 10000000000 muscle car castings and do some freaking research.

I'd love to see what all the cool kids come up with - drop a line in the comment box with yours.

Came across the Devo 2.0 compact disc today when I was at the record store, and it was just as disturbing as when I came across it on iTunes last Tuesday.



Basically someone put together a group of 12 year-olds and have then sing classic Devo songs. It's thick in irony considering that a number of the Devo songs are supposedly about self-gratification, and the new kids version has released by Disney.

Forgetting that Devo already sorta sold-out with the 2003 Swiffer advertisements ("When a problem comes along...you must Swiff It!"), new wave fans are freaking out all over the internet - especially in the iTunes comments:

"Ever wonder what Devo would sound like if all its members were pre-pubescent children? Yeah, me neither."

"Shoot me! What's next NIN 2.0? Please, Disney! PLEASE stop. What's wrong with kids listening to the original artist? Last time I checked, Devo didn't drop too many f-bombs in their catalogue. This album is a sign of the apocalypse."

Anyway, I think it's all highly amusing, so I decided that Devo 2.0's "Whip it" is the perfect track to kick off this week's playlist.

Friday, just before the day shift was over, our assignment manager brought a pair of ice cold, Coca-Cola Blak into the newsroom for to sample. "Wait a sec. Coke Blak?" I said, to which she replied, "Yeah, it's that new fusion beverage from Coke." At the time I dismissed how much that sounded like a scene from a really bad television commercial. Maybe that was because I was simply too fascinated by the new beverage technology brought before me.

In case you're wondering: Coke + Coffee = Coca-Cola Blak



From time to time, TV newsrooms get random food samples and cases of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to try out. I think that the PR folks hope that we'll be so excited about "an interesting new product" that we might want to spread the word - which never happens. (Although, I guess I am writing about Coke Blak now...). Mostly, we just go, "Oh look! Food." and moments later it's gone. The rest of the day people who arrive later, walk by, and looking at the empty containers, say, "Oh man. We missed the food." Sometimes the empty containers stay there for days.

Anyway, back to Coke Blak. It's half-coffee, half-coke, half-crack cocaine, and one hundred percent AWESOME. I loved it, maybe too much. But, not everyone did. Some people had that, "I think I just drank Toilet Duck" look on their faces.

How will it be received by the general public? No idea. I liked Crystal Pepsi, so what do I know about anything? But, if you do decide you're gonna try it, then you better get to the story early because I will be stockpiling it.

Also, I think it would taste really good with Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. I'll keep you posted.

Generally speaking, I'm not hard on electronic equipment. I work hard to take care of my stuff (and the stuff I'm assigned). But, there is one type of item that I have the worst, most random, horrible luck with: LCD screens.



Sensing that my new video iPod's chance of survival drops significantly in my presence, I decided to take a proactive approach to the situation and get it a little suit of armor.



While it nearly doubles the weight of the iPod (something that I'll actually test on the station's mailroom scale tomorrow), the unit is now impervious to everything that may come it's way. Except liquid, I suppose. [one time I accidentally drowned a camera in coffee filled lunchbox]

And now it can say, "Bring the onward!" as my iPod charges into the gloomy dungeon, sword drawn, as it sets forth to slay the green dragon from tales of yore. [please disregard the half-hearted armor metaphor]

Now, if I can only remember to keep it charged...


[stats: AC +21, STA +5, WIS +2, Vs.Heat +30, proc: gleaming strike]

The South has it's fair share of heroes. To some there's Strom Thurmond, Robert E. Lee, or Boss Hogg - while to many others there's MLK, Jesse Jackson, and Harry Connick Jr.

Today I met my Southern hero: professional breakdancer, Rippin' Richie.

When I first moved to Greenville, I received an ominous email with the subject line: "robot breakdance battle challenge." The email contained only one sentence: "There's a new Robot in town."

My first thought was, "Oh no he didn't!" as I got all ready to throw down. But, my Spidey Sense went off, alerting me to a trap. I went to Rippin' Richie's website [popandlock.com] and quickly learned that I was way out of his league. I'm a mere mortal at breakdancing, compared to his Jedi Master popping-and-locking force powers.

Fast forward a year: Elise and I are sent out to shoot a feature story on this enigmatic individual. He lives here in Greenville, sells "how to pop-n-lock" DVDs online, and occasionally breakdances out his political views in front of PETA activists and anti-war protestors. And, while our views are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, I admire his sense of showmanship. (Also, his website is totally awesome.)


[ VIDEO 320x240: WMV or MOV ].

After our shoot I pulled out my handicam, and convinced the gang (that being Elise and Rippin' Richie) to do a little robot action in front of a military tank. All in all, it was a pretty rad day.

[Elise learned a new move. If you see her, you should ask her to moonwalk.]

[updated 3/15: temporary video link to our feature]

Sometimes finding wifi around the Uptate can be difficult, but finding a newspaper is rarely a problem.

[insert demonic voice here]: The power is now mine!

Marc Willis and I were out at the Governor's School today, interviewing drama students for our news feature. At one point, they left alone in the auditorium to shoot stand-up teases, so I tossed my camera to the intern and he took a few pics of our latest feature...



The photo might seem funny, but if you could actually hear how well we were singing, you'd probably want to rip your ears off and claw your eyes out. Needless to say: we're working on our pitch (also our storyline could use a little work).

I feel so guilty today. I had like two or three awesome opportunities to take snapshots of stuff we're doing out in the field, but I left my little camera in the car (rather than my left pocket, where it always is).

Gordon and I came across a dozen expensive show cars. Later I was hanging over a ledge, high above him shooting our standup teases. Priceless moments, missed.

Anyway, not much new to report. I was looking forward to "New Music Tuesday" on iTunes and various retail outlets, but there hasn't been anything really spectacular released lately. So, these days I'm rockin' my news SUV with a sweet Stewart Price playlist.



Stewart Price (aka: Jacques Lu Cont, The Thin White Duke, Zoot Woman, and Les Rhythmes Digitales) is a mega electronica producer/remixer, who's most recent credit includes producing the latest Madonna album.

And, that's all the time I have for our techno music lesson today.
Class dismissed.

Well, I'm back at work. Yesterday the weather was sunny and warm, and I found my betacam to be surprisingly light upon my return from Torino. Perhaps it knew I was coming back and decided to lose some weight as a surprise. Maybe the camera I used in Italy was unwieldingly heavy and everything else is just light by comparison. Or, maybe - just maybe - I have some newlyfound upper body strength (aka "guns") or Spidey powers.

Regardless, I'm back to the daily grind with plenty of time to solve that mystery. The other mystery I'm currently pondering: no new Lost this week? What gives?

The Academy Awards are a few hours away, and I'm not feeling any guilt this year. Usually - at about this time - I feel bad that I haven't seen all of the films nominated, since I used to try to see them all. I'd write out all my predictions and yell at the television screen while rooting for my actor/movie.

However, this year I'm not really feeling all that guilty. And, I'm kinda surprised by my ambivalent, "whatever" attitude. Also, the fact that I was too lazy to change the channel from Corky Romano this morning (and ended up watching the entire movie), speaks volumes as to why I probably haven't gotten around to seeing most of the films.

I was flipping through magazines this weekend and saw Lost's Evangeline Lilly in an ad campaign for Karastan Rugs. I have no idea how celebrities end up with some of the endorsements they get - aside from the whole "boat load" of money thing. There's a little interview on the Karastan website, and it's funny how the interviewer keeps trying to steer the conversation back to rugs without being too obvious about it.

Also, for some reason, this particular ad reminds me of Twin Peaks.



Anyway, I guess it's better than the Live Linx commercials - not that she has a choice in that anymore.

I'm messing with my template again. I'm trying to find a nice place where it works nicely in both Firefox and IE. If you're checking out the site and it looks all crazy, now you you know why.

At this rate, it'll be working correctly by early 2007.

I'm back on American soil (I got home late last night, after what seemed like a thousand hour flight). After seeing a girl in a skanky pink halter-top and furry cowboy hat, hovering over a massive plate of cheese fries in the Atlanta airport, I knew I was home.

The final few days in Torino went by in a blur: finishing our work, packing-up, shopping, celebrating, and all that kind of stuff. I snapped a ton of photos over the past few days, but this photo below really closes out my Torino Olympic coverage.



The Hearst team took a quick break over the weekend to get a team photo in downtown - not an easy feat when there was a dirty French clown performing magic tricks twenty meters feet away. It was the final shot in our Olympics Zone program that we fed out to the affiliates - later, we tore down our work station like a pack of wild leopards feasting on a wounded gazelle.

I had a swell time in Italy, and I made some rad new friends. Also, I got enough footage for the awesome retrospective video, that I'm chopping together on my laptop this evening (after watching Lost!).

Stay tuned and thanks for coming along for the ride.