2008 shooting assignment #29
Posted on February 11, 2008
My Monday did not start out the right way. I left my morning coffee on the counter at home, and then an hour later I discovered that my news rig had a dead battery. This time it was inexplicably dead - not like the time I had totally drained it by hooking up a mini-fridge filled with Capri Sun juice drinks.
To commemorate the last time my day was ruined by electrickery, I had Nigel pose over the engine, much like Marla Cichowski did on that fateful June afternoon (photo comparison after the jump). Anyway, after all the morning drama, it became a rather relaxed day at work, despite the fact that I was covering the death of a beloved high school principal [video].
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My weekend (mostly on the net) in 30 seconds.
Posted on February 10, 2008
Not much to report, but here goes. This weekend I scoured the internet for spoilers and clues about what’s going on with the inhabitants of Lost island. And when I wasn’t doing that I was (once again) running about the virtual beaches of Everquest 2, smiting giant lizard men with my holy lightning powers. I also hit Mapquest for a moment to snatch some maps for my pal Audio’s cross country trip to Boston.
Leaving from San Francisco with his pet turtle as co-pilot, Audio drove to New Orleans and then to South Carolina, before heading up north to Boston this morning. He went out for drinks with me and Kyann, in which we spent a good part of the evening recounting other times we went out drinking. And then today I caught up on the entire season of the L Word. I’m also read a bunch of chapters of my new book, “The Terror” by Dan Simmons which is ridiculously scary.
Filed Under geekery, booze | 3 Comments
Just when Tom Cruise was looking normal again.
Posted on February 7, 2008
I came across this stack of new releases while perusing the media section of the local Costco this afternoon. The unauthorized Tom Cruise biography, when lined-up end to end, looks completely crazy and yet still easily recognizable as Tom Cruise - and also completely ridiculous.
Were you to stack two copies of Dianetics end to end, it would also look completely ridiculous, but for completely different reasons.
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I finally saw the scary doll guy.
Posted on February 3, 2008
I nearly spilled my morning coffee all over myself on my way to work on Friday, reaching for my digital camera. The reason for that is because I finally ran across “the scary doll guy” - who has become a minor legend in our morning newsroom meetings.
He’s a street preacher that roams the greater Greenville area with a megaphone, a giant board strapped to his back covered in stuff about Revelations, and a ventriloquist dummy secured to his arm. From the moment I heard Waller talk about him I knew it was only a matter of time until I saw the guy, and he didn’t disappoint. He kinda stands there at the corner shouting stuff, and as soon as the light turns red and people are trapped at the intersection, he walks up to your car window and has the uber-creepy dummy shouts at you. I was across the street on this particular morning so I didn’t get the full show, but it was kinda fun watching all the drivers and passengers sorta freak out as he made his way to each car window.
Filed Under random | 6 Comments
I can’t drive (or text at) 55.
Posted on February 1, 2008
I’ve been ridiculously busy as our newsroom ramps up into February sweeps. The first offering from me and Gordon is a fun two-parter called, “Texting Test”. The story is pegged around this super-awesome driving simulator at Clemson University (a car surrounded by giant video game screens) and the sorta-obvious results they discovered about the dangers of text messaging behind the wheel.
One of the other stations tried to deflate our story by airing an earlier, and less entertaining version of their own, but it we all kinda laughed it off. The second part of the story aired later that night and featured Gordon behind the virtual wheel. I’ve included (after the jump) some outtakes of Gordon learning to text while mowing down virtual motorists. Read more
