January 2008 Archives
8:58 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008 | Permalink
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I've been accused by one 13News producer, Pearl Fyderek, of using this blog to give my personal version of the Hampton Roads weather report. This is not one of those blogs. Well, not really.
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8:38 PM Wed, Jan 30, 2008 | Permalink
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It's hard to believe, but I've called Hampton Roads and WVEC home for a year now.
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8:48 PM Fri, Jan 18, 2008 | Permalink
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Thursday's murder of Chesapeake Detective Jarrod Shivers took me back to my first television news job in California.
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6:09 PM Fri, Jan 18, 2008 | Permalink
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I put the question mark there on purpose.. as in, is there a Morgellon's Disease or isn't there? Yesterday, the CDC announced it would launch a study of the mystery illness called Morgellon's Disease. People with Morgellon’s say they have fibers and other inorganic things growing out of their skin.
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2:37 PM Fri, Jan 18, 2008 | Permalink
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It's a disturbing headline for an email, and one that quickly jumpstarts everyone in a newsroom... "Officer Shot." Unfortunately, we got that email at 8:59 last night.
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3:04 PM Thu, Jan 17, 2008 | Permalink
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She may be 80years old but Mary Lille goes to her gym and pumps iron two times each week. And Olympic hopeful Lashawn Merritt pumps iron at the same place but, as you can imagine, he is concentrating on something else.
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10:25 PM Wed, Jan 16, 2008 | Permalink
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There is no doubt when it comes to the battle royale -- the internet is clobbering television in terms of sheer growth. The numbers don't lie, on "Cyber Monday" this year (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) a staggering 687 million dollars was spent by consumers online-- up from $484 million the year before. It's obvious that television and the web have a certain shared destiny. (Clearly I get it...I'm a television reporter blogging for my s...
4:56 PM Sat, Jan 12, 2008 | Permalink
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Typically, the WVEC newsroom is quiet on Saturdays and Sundays -- the only noise usually coming from the sports office as Brian Smith yells about some highlight (or lowlight). Today, however is not a typical Saturday - in fact - far from it.
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2:59 PM Sat, Jan 12, 2008 | Permalink
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That is a quote from the movie Coyote Ugly and this is a blog topic I've been pondering since the blogging began at WVEC.com.
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2:47 PM Sat, Jan 12, 2008 | Permalink
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One of my favorite pastimes when I'm riding with a photographer to an interview or shoot is looking up the origins of city and street names in Hampton Roads and North Carolina.
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8:12 PM Fri, Jan 11, 2008 | Permalink
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I love alliteration. In fact, at my old station my two best friends (who happened to be the photographers I worked with most nights) and I would come up with ridiculous sentences or phrases that we'd try to put in stories or live shots.
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11:54 AM Fri, Jan 11, 2008 | Permalink
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For as long as I can remember my parents told me to make sure I pursue a career that makes me happy. They said work is tough, and you may as well have fun doing it if you can.
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10:27 AM Fri, Jan 11, 2008 | Permalink
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At 4:40 Monday afternoon, the first best friend I ever had passed on.
For those of you who knew him and those who didn't, thanks for all the kind and loving thoughts you've expressed through the months.
Rick Gooding went out on his own terms and it was quiet and it was peaceful.
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7:28 PM Thu, Jan 10, 2008 | Permalink
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As a child, I loved to read. I didn't need to be bribed with free pan pizzas from Pizza Hut for Book It, or stickers or prizes, I would pick up a book "just because".
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8:33 PM Wed, Jan 09, 2008 | Permalink
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While 13News reporter Kristina Rohall was writing her blog "26 Years of Terrific Television" -- a full on debate waged in the newsroom about what exactly which shows deserved to make that hallowed list.
So, I decided to throw my own list into the ring...with explanations.
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8:04 PM Wed, Jan 09, 2008 | Permalink
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When you drive around in the car with someone day in and day out, you end up coming up with interesting games to pass the time. Today my photographer, Ryan Bellamy, and I decided we would make lists of our Top 10 Favorite T.V. Shows in our Lifetime.
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6:59 PM Tue, Jan 08, 2008 | Permalink
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Today I learned five packets of Sweet’N Low will get you a boat ride in Currituck County. We wanted to see the area of the Currituck Sound where the search is underway for 40-year-old John Martins, who was reported missing on Sunday. His abandoned boat later crashed into another vessel before marooning on a desolate shore.
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8:32 PM Mon, Jan 07, 2008 | Permalink
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Often times, when we think of college students we think of people in their late teens and mid-twenties whose top priority is to have fun. You know, those "crazy kids" who care more about going out and partying with friends than they do about what's going on in the world around them. I admit, at times, I've even bought into the stereotype.
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7:12 PM Fri, Jan 04, 2008 | Permalink
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I know what type of news report elicits the most viewer response. They are stories about people- people with an emotional, sad, sentimental, poignant, reflective, motivational or tragic story to tell. Find that person's eyes through which to tell the story and that's what viewers remember, latch on to and are moved by. Viewers were certainly moved by Roman Grandy's successful weight loss of nearly 200 pounds and how he became a perso...
10:16 PM Thu, Jan 03, 2008 | Permalink
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My parents and I have reached the point where buying Christmas gifts for each other has become a daunting task. We all have very specific tastes, tastes we're not great at communicating to each other...so the message of what we'd like come December 25th becomes lost in translation.
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7:42 PM Thu, Jan 03, 2008 | Permalink
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I thought I knew some big sports fans. My brother is a die-hard Eagles fan, my brother-in-law a big-time Redskins fan, and I've interviewed some crazy Steelers fans (my favorite are "Steeler Dan" and "Steeler Dave" in Central Pennsylvania. They have full Steelers uniforms and wigs, and drive around a big van painted black and gold). But even THEY can't compare to the couple I met tonight.
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8:41 PM Wed, Jan 02, 2008 | Permalink
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While I'm not as ambitious as fellow 13News reporter Kristina Rohall and her list of 7 resolutions, I am resolving to do one thing better in 2008: Sleep.
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8:27 PM Wed, Jan 02, 2008 | Permalink
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I consider myself to be a fairly calm person, I try (notice I said TRY) to maintain an even keel about most things. This may come down to case of genetics, but poor road signs rile me up quicker than my beloved San Francisco 49ers getting walloped.
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7:52 PM Wed, Jan 02, 2008 | Permalink
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Now that it's 2008 many of us are looking forward to fresh starts. Yesterday I met a woman who was really excited to start the new year by moving in with her boyfriend. But her hopes for 2008 were ruined when a fire ripped through her apartment building, destroying everything she owns.
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