It's not as easy as you'd think...

Me producing Sunday Sports Special--circa 2005/Courtesy: jon nelson

There are some things that you just know how to do. And because of that, you just assume that everything associated with it will be easy.

It's not that simple.

For anyone who's known me since I've been working in TV, you probably are aware that I produced Sports shows and Sportscasts on and off pretty much since I started in the business.

Sure, there were periods of time where I didn't do it. After all, I was always a Photojournalist too. I shot a lot of video in that time and had more than a few bosses who just assumed that was all I did.

It isn't.

Today (5/4/11), I got to do something I've never done in all my years in TV, I produced a Newscast. You might ask: "Why is that a big deal?" "Didn't you say you've produced Sports shows?".

I did say that and I did produce Sports shows. Heck, I've won awards while doing it. I created or helped create a couple of Sports shows in Atlanta, so, yeah, I know how it's done.

Me and Mark Harmon interviewing Michael Boley/Courtesy: atlfalcons

News is different.

Sports isn't easy to produce, but it's different. I never really believed that until today. Sure, I worked in News off and on throughout my career and have a pretty good grasp of it. But I can safely say...producing a newscast is entirely different than doing Sports.

Why is that?

Sports is fairly straightforward and simple. There is a lot of ad-libbing involved, but you know the content. And you can be a little looser and more flexible with it. That means you don't have to be exact in your timing. For instance, when I did my Sunday Sports Special at WGCL in Atlanta, I always knew that I could go into the show about a minute light. I knew that my anchor, Mark Harmon would make the time up and if we were tight at the end of the show with time...I could tell him to pick up the pace and he would.

News is nothing like that.

When you are producing 30-minutes of a 90-minute news hole, you have to be pretty close to exact in your shows. You have to make sure things are timed to the second. You have to hit your breaks at certain times and you have to put as much content in the show as you possibly can.

Me working at Atlanta Motor Speedway/Courtesy:Me

With a sports show, you can put in a rough time for stories knowing that you don't have to be precise getting in and out of it. News, is completely different. And if you aren't exact, the whole show gets out of whack. If the whole show gets out of whack, then you have to start cutting things.

In a sports show, you can just say, kill a particular story and it isn't that big a deal. As long as the show times out in the end, everyone is happy. News is nothing like that. If you are really heavy it not only impacts the stories in the show, it impacts Weather and Sports. And neither the weather folks nor the sports folks like it when you cut their time. And depending on the people and situation, they may let you know about it.

Having been on the Sports end of it, I don't like cutting their segments. Really, I don't. Though the on-air folks need to know it isn't personal.

Let me give you an example. In Atlanta, when I first started, Sports came after Weather...right after weather. If the weather guys went long, which they on occasion do, it meant condensing the Sports. When it started happening 3-4 times a week, we (me and my anchor) finally had to say something to the News Director (the boss) about it.

The compromise was putting a break between weather and sports. It didn't always mean Sports got all of their time, but it did most of the time.

It was a good feeling today to get back in the chair. It's funny, I was a video photographer for 20-years and only produced for roughly 9 or 10 of those years. I like producing, it's something I took to pretty well and it's something most everyone who knew how I worked figured I'd be decent at. I don't miss the shooting part, heck, I actually have feeling in my shoulder for the first time in the past 5-years. Yeah, it hurts once and awhile, but its mostly depending on the weather or how much I use it.

I do, at times, miss going out on stories and the adventure of being in the field. I always enjoyed that part. But I'm older now. I've done an awful lot. I've been all over the country covering stories and been to most of the biggest events in my generation's lives. I'll always have that, it can't be taken away and the people, places and things I've experienced, most people can only dream of.

And even though I've moved back into News, my heart is and will always be in Sports. It's what I know best and the looseness and spontaneity of it I always enjoyed. Sports people and the people they cover don't generally take themselves quite as seriously as News people do.

But...lift a glass. Enjoy your beer. Me, I've done something not everybody can do, I crossed the streams. I changed flight. If it wasn't official before, it is now, I've become an honest-to-goodness news guy.

It's a little weird, but then again, it's early David Bowie. But it is somewhat appropriate:

Why is everyone a skeptic?

Philadelphia Daily News Cover on 5/2/11

Today has been a strange day. No, the last few months in some ways have been really weird. It's almost like we are living in a different world then we used to.

So you might be asking: "What the hell are you talking about?" Well, sit down boys and girls...I'm about to answer that question and some of you...might not like what I'm about to say.

The subject of my ire is the rampant skepticism...about pretty much every thing that is going on in people's daily lives and in the world in general.

So the next question would be--"I still don't get your point?"

No, I'm guessing for some of you...you probably don't.

My point is, we (as in all of us) have gone from living our lives looking ahead and optimistic to being incredibly cynical and looking behind to blame and find the conspiracy in pretty much everything in our lives.

Huh?

The best example I can possibly give of what I'm talking about has happened in the past week or so. First, the president has to call a press conference to prove to a reality show host that he was born in the U.S.

Really?

The worst part is, a fairly large segment of the population believed the reality show host rather than the president. Despite the numerous documents revealed that said otherwise.

What part of that strikes you as weird?

I fully realize...and have had discussions with many people about the role of questioning things. It's what I do for a living.  And they are right. Some things need to be questioned. But only to the point of rational thought. There are many, many things that we believe without questioning the people that say them. Judges, lawyers and in some cases...people on T.V.

But nobody believes them either. Everyone allegedly "Has an agenda". And what is worse, there are an awful lot of people who believe this. In my business (T.V), we've gone from being the "Trusted Voice" to being the one's "With an agenda". And the reason for that. Because politicians...with an agenda told their followers that. And the followers believe them. So now the media is branded as a group "With an agenda".

And it is so wrong and incorrect it isn't funny. But yet that is what people believe. Pollsters say only 30% or so of the public trust people on T.V. Why is that? Do they really think people doing the news are trying to deceive them? That we make stuff up? Can they offer tangible proof other than their own perception? No.

Where am I going with this?

What I'm getting at has really pissed me the hell off the past few days. It started with the whole Obama versus Donald Trump thing. What was the point? What made me angry is the ass-clown Trump made Obama have to call a press conference to prove Trump was wrong.

It's the whole "Birther" thing. And those "People" are in some cases rational grown up's who are supposed to be reasonably intelligent. To them this was the "Golden Egg" story. They were going to prove he's a "Sham" and "Stole the Presidency". People....shut the hell up...you sound like RACISTS! (Hmmmm....)

The other thing that is pissing me off is now that Osama bin Laden...or Obama bin Laden as some have called him...



It's a story full of twists and turns and ultimately will be the story of 2011. But yet it doesn't seem to be enough that the President, the past 2 presidents, congress, the military, the media, former military, foreign officials and others say Osama is dead. Now the charge is "We gotta see the body". Really.

The government buried the guy at sea. There was a reason for that. And there are pictures, with half the guys face blown off. And officials are contemplating whether or not to release them because they are apparently pretty graphic. And D.N.A tests. And eyewitnesses...quite a few of them.

But that's not enough.

No, I had a couple of friends tell me today "We're journalists, we need to see proof". And they are right...to a point. We take police at their word when they describe a crime scene. We weren't necessarily there to see what happened or conduct our own investigation for each crime we report. There has to be a certain level of credibility given to statements and descriptions that were made. We have no choice.

Maybe I'm just ranting about something stupid, but I don't think so. It gets me really pissed off to hear all the crazy accusations and assumptions that are made about things these days. I'm in no way, shape or form saying you should believe everything you hear, you shouldn't.

All I ask is please...PLEASE...think about things before you say something stupid about them. Even if it is just for a few seconds, before you start throwing out random accusations and just plain falsehoods and pass them off as the truth.

 I want to believe that most people are capable of rational, logical thought. I don't have to agree with it. That doesn't bother me at all. I like that everyone's opinion can be different. All I want is for there to be a logical, reasonable argument that can be made for your point. And respect that someone else's perception or opinion may be different than yours.

Looking for the worst: Don't be so judgmental

Mila Kunis/Celebuzz.com

Is it wrong to wonder why we lost all respect for each other? I'm not really saying you and me...although I guess theoretically I could be.

No, my question is more along the lines of why everyone is so angry and quick to criticize and more importantly, so damn quick to judge?

I was thinking about this after watching the Oscar's last night with TLB (The Lovely Bride) in part because of something she brought up. Here we were, sitting on the couch, watching the Pre-Game show (Red Carpet show) before eating dinner and I asked a question. "Why is this all about the fashion?". Her answer "It's the only thing that really counts".

My question is why? Is it that important to line up people to criticize and harangue these multi-millionaire actors and actresses for how they dress for an event? Or for that matter, who are we to judge them for it? And yet we do. I mean, heck, look it the long list of "Experts" who chime in and grade the actresses for what they are wearing. Is that what we've become?

((In the photo--Apparently the dress on Mila Kunis here, was judged a "B-Minus"---what the hell does that mean?))

There are tons of other examples of this. Heck, I experience it at work almost every day. Yeah, sure, I'm a journalist and writer and I get paid to write. But I don't claim to be perfect. I may strive to be perfect, but I'm not.

Writing Class/Courtesy: this.org

And yet the criticism is not only fast, it's nasty. You'd be amazed at the comments we get on my stations website ((www.wcpo.com)). "Who the hell taught you how to write?" "Are you on crack, hell I can do better than you""Are you all 3rd graders with no English skills" "You can't even write a clear freaking sentence".

Hell, when did the people who take the time to comment on websites become the grammar police? And if they are so great at it? Why aren't they professional writers?

But you can't say anything to them. You want to, but you can't. And quite honestly, it's the tone more than anything else that pisses me off. It's okay to point out a mistake, I have no problem with that. Just don't be so damn nasty about it and act like you've never made one. It's the same with the clothing critics...if you know so damn much then why aren't you the greatest designer that ever lived? Until you are..."Shut the fuck up!".

Sorry about the language.

I don't know. Heck, I have no problem admitting that I'm a cynic. But I don't judge everyone else either.

Here's another example. I'm reading a story about the NFL Scouting combine. Oh my GOD! Mark Ingram ran a 4.65 40-yard dash. According to the writers there (and there are way to freakin' many of them), he just killed his draft stock in the NFL.

Mark Ingram at combine/Courtesy: nba.msg.com

Really? How do you figure? One, the kid hasn't played a game yet. Two, how often in a football game is he going to be running 40-yards in a straight line in track shoes and dry-fit clothes on?

Let the kid play football. We'll see.

If you read all the story's from the Todd McShay's and Scout.com's and NFL Network guys, you'd think the only way to judge a football player is by measuring every part of his body, asking him a bunch of bizarre questions to see how he'll respond (the Wonderlic test) and then have him run the 40.

Come on guys, you can't measure heart. You can't put a metric on how bad someone wants to be successful. If you go by the Combine results as the all-mighty, then every 1st Round Draft pick would be the greatest to ever play the game. That folks, ain't happening.

I'm asking a question here, and really, I know it's rhetorical. But when did we become so damn mean? When did we become a nation of back seat quarterbacks? When did those of us who've never done anything, proclaim ourselves "Experts" who can rip and destroy someone who's attempting to do something? I'm all for the "1st Amendment" and "Freedom of Speech", I mean I'm a frickin' Journalist, I live by it.

Sure, when I write a story on the OnlineSportsGuys.com blog, I express my opinion about things. But its just my opinion. And I always put facts or an explainer in there as to why I am saying it, I've worked in and around Sports for well over 20-years, I'm qualified to offer that opinion. If you can give me a good, rational, logical explanation as to why you are judging someone, insulting someone or criticizing someone, you have every right to do it. Just don't hide behind your frickin' computer, be a douchebag and not be willing to back up anything that you say.

There...I feel better now.

If it will make you feel any better, I found this old Santana song from the early 80's...enjoy it:

Beerfest: A sellout crowd and great diversion

Cincinnati Beerfest/Courtesy: Me

Sometimes the right thing comes up at the right time to take your mind off the other things you are dealing with at the current time. I really needed it this past weekend.

Last weekend, the second weekend in February, was one of those weekends. The Lovely Bride and I didn't do a ton, but we went to one event we'd been looking forward to. Beerfest.

Honestly, the event wasn't the all-out party that you'd think it was. It was the 4th Annual Cincinnati Beerfest, a celebration of the Craft Beer movement.

Most of you reading this are friends of mine and you all know how much of a fan we've become. Look at it like being a wine connoisseur.

I might add at this point, the picture isn't deceiving, the place was absolutely packed. The crowd was estimated at around 6,000. I can't argue with that. And yeah, there was a percentage of them that were there to just get drunk. But, at $30 a head, most were there to try new and exciting flavors of beer.

The Lovely Bride Enjoys/Courtesy: Me

And there were plenty of them. The popular favorites, Dogfish Head, Stone, Rogue, Left Hand, Sierra Nevada and a whole lot more. There also were some smaller breweries that had some pretty good stuff too. I've already found a couple of good local Microbrewers here, Rivertown and Mt.Carmel, this night I found a new one, Elevator Brewing from Columbus, Ohio.

We didn't spend an inordinate amount of time at the event, a couple of hours. And yes, before you ask, I stopped sampling after the 1st hour and nursed a bottle of water the rest of the night. But we had a great time.

Me at Beerfest/Courtesy: TLB

We spent a good 20 minutes just waiting to get in. The reason. The line. General admission ticket holders couldn't get in until 7:30 or an hour after those who paid $60. We were armed though. Armed with a 4 oz. tasting glass and 25 drink tickets, we were good to go.

We started out at the first booth we saw, Dogfish Head. We thought they had a Palo Santo Marrano, but they didn't so we ended up with an India Brown IPA.

We worked the room, Elevator's Porter, a Bell's Stout, Founder's version of an Ale, Left Hand's Milk Stout...all great beers. (If you are wondering, I love me some Stout beer...and some Porters) The other kind of funny thing, each table had, along with their beers, a container of water to wash out your tasting glass with before the pour.

I wonder sometimes if we've just picked up an odd habit or we are onto something. Proof, really is in the pudding. Over the past year, sales of Budweiser and Miller Products are down some 12-percent, while craft beers continue to gain market share. Yeah, I've had my fair share of their products, and didn't think anything about it at the time.

Maybe it's just age. Maybe it's just selectivity, I don't know. I don't really drink to get drunk anymore, I don't need to. I drink beers because I enjoy them. Because I've discovered there are an incredible amount of creatively crafted versions of beer. No, I don't like them all, but there are so many of them, it will take a long, long time before I repeat myself.

Next time you find yourself in a restaurant or bar, go ahead, try something different. Try something that's not the same thing you've tried over and over again, you might come to realize what we have....there's a whole new world out there.

This is what passed for fancy beer when I was a kid...or at least a clip. Enjoy some Bob and Doug McKenzie : (yes, they pre-date "spuds")

How do you say thanks?

Young Daisy/Courtesy: Me

This is something I never really contemplated writing about, but if I don't do it now, I don't know if I will. It's more a rhetorical question than anything else, but one of those things that when you get to the point where you are thinking about it, you want to know how to do it?

It's not something I've had to do on the level that I am about to. I've had relatives pass away, we've had to put down family dogs before and TLB and I had to say goodbye to her 1st cat, Simon on New Years Eve day a couple of years ago. Heck, when I was 16, my father had to go put down a German Shepard pup (Sam) that we had because she had mental issues when I wasn't around. 

That being said, Daisy is different. Daisy the Wonder Dog came into my life as a pup. My sister had adopted her from a pet rescue and tried raising her along with my niece, Jordan. It was too much for her.

When I moved to Atlanta in 1999, Daisy and I spent time together and bonded. At that point, she had ended up with my parents, who lived there at the time. They already had a Golden Retriever, Hallie.

Fast forward to March of 2000 and I'm getting ready to buy a Townhouse when I asked. "If you'd like, I'd be glad to take Daisy in". "She'll have some room in the Townhouse". They said yes.

Sure, she was still pretty destructive when I got her. She ate a pair of my sneakers, a baseball glove and a part of the window sill along with any piece of wood or leather she could find. But she grew out of it. And we bonded. She was brought up right, Crate Training, healthy eating and exercise.

We were inseparable. Sure, I had to leave her with my parents to dog sit when I was traveling for work, which I frequently did in those days. Daze would sit at the window of their house and cry when I left. And come tackle me at a full sprint when I came to pick her up. Always.

It was the greeting when I came home that I'll always remember. It didn't matter if I was gone an hour...or 8 of them, she went crazy when I came home. She was there, smiling, with not 1, but 2 tennis balls in her mouth. And she would proceed to run laps around the couch before pouncing on me.

And then there was the "Moment of Zen". Truth be told, my best friend came up with that. Since Jon and  I talk most everyday, most of our conversations were while I was on my way home. And quite often, it would be as I got home to Daze. You had to hear the Zen to understand it. It really sounds like she's saying "Hello" if you listen. It's just really funny to hear it from a dog.

It's the little things you remember the most. When I would stretch out on the couch, she was right there at my feet. If I went in the office to do work, she had to be underneath the desk. Even at night, she had a bed next to mine, she was there when I went to sleep, she was there when I woke up. When she was young, it would involve her paws and face on the bed trying to wake me up, as she got older, it was just sitting there waiting to be pet.

We had some adventures. I took her with me to Panama City on a Scuba Trip in 2004. She was great in the hotel...except when she saw a squirrel near the tree on the other side of the parking lot. She treed it. Couldn't have been prouder. Much later, she would go with us to visit my parents after they moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. We had a crazy trip to Michelle's hometown Lafayette, Lousiana in 2007. Just me and the dog, driving 9 hours in a non-stop rain that ended as severe thunderstorms. But she was always there. And as long as I was there too, she was happy. She even came with me to the 1st ever WGCL Fantasy Football draft in the old Channel 46 shack on Briarcliffe Road. She just hung out, visited and got spoiled, by everyone there.

There is a saying that "The world is their playpen". That's the Wonder Dog in a nutshell. She had a "Stupid Pet Trick", and it made everyone who saw it, laugh.



I think the toughest adjustment that she's had to make, much like Michelle and I, was moving up north. The house we rented when we moved up here was a challenge for her, never mind us. But, it had a backyard, something she had never had. However, the first time I tried to let her out the back door onto the back deck leading to the yard, she just stopped. Stopped and stared "What? You're not coming with me?". I did. But the house was rough on her. Cold. Un-insulated, the winter was rough.

It got worse. She developed allergy issues. Bad allergy issues. We got a cat. Being the friendly dog that she was, she accepted him. And she just rolled with it, like she always does.

It's been really tough this winter. Even more so than last. Last year it snowed. A good amount. And she enjoyed it. She always liked the snow, the once or twice that it snowed in Atlanta, she'd run around like it was a new toy. But this winter has been too much. It's snowed. It's iced. A lot. Even more than the precip, is the cold. It's been horribly cold this winter. It's been tough on me, I can't imagine how hard it's been for her. But she's tried.

It started getting bad a couple of months ago. She was chewing the top part of her legs raw. She was shedding in clumps. But she never complained. Never wavered. We found out in September that she had Thyroid issues. I was giving her pills twice a day and rubbing solution on her legs to keep her from chewing. About...I guess a month ago, she started slowing down. I'm not sure if it was even noticeable then. She didn't greet me at the door with the two-tennis balls in her mouth, she didn't give me...or Michelle the "Moment of Zen". She just kind of wagged her tail, smiled and laid down.

It's been worse the past few weeks. She was spending most of her time in her orthopedic bed, next to where I sleep. She'd get up to eat, but that was about it. Last week, we realized where we were. I took her out to go to the bathroom on a cold, snowy morning. She went, but then laid down in the grass and just stayed there. I picked her up and carried her back to the apartment and we went to the doctor.

He gave her some pills and we did an x-ray and saw something not right. Her heart isn't right. By heart I mean the organ that pumps the blood. Her heart, that was and has always been right.

I struggle with this part, not because I'm sad, but because I want to do what's right. More than anything I don't want her to suffer and I don't want her to be miserable. I owe her that. I don't look back and I'm not going to be upset.

How do you thank a dog for doing what all good dogs do? How do you thank an animal for being your best friend for all these years? How do you thank her for listening to all your problems and always just being happy that you are there and sharing? I don't know if even something like this can do it justice. But I refuse to think anything else.

((Note--We are going to see the Oncologist today 2/9/11 at 4:30pm. My regular vet today said Daisy doesn't have much time left. Michelle and I know this. We are okay with this. We just want to know for sure.))

((2nd Update--Don't know if anyone else is reading this so far after its written, but we had to put Daisy down on Sunday. It wasn't good. She was really struggling and we couldn't bear seeing her like that. Especially since we knew it wasn't going to get better. Honestly, I couldn't really talk much about this until now. I'm still getting used to her not being there when I get up in the morning. The apartment is really quiet. Too quiet, which honestly, is the hardest thing to deal with))

Betcha' Didn't Know....Radio, radio

The college roomies at my wedding/Courtesy: ???

How many of you know that I did a stint as a radio DJ? Probably a few of you do. Ross, Big Tom, my family and a few others...but not many. Yes, believe it or not, for a few months, many years ago, I was a DJ at WVGS, the student run radio station at Georgia Southern.

There were a few reasons that I did it, despite the fact that I'm incredibly self-conscious about having way-too deep of a voice.

It was during my summer off in I guess it was 1984 or 1985 when I got interested in maybe going the radio route. I spent that summer as an unpaid intern at what was then Y-106, a top-40 radio station in Orlando. It was a lot of fun, despite starting out as the guy who filed records in order. As the summer wore on, they gave me more stuff to do and I ended up working with the promotions department. I got to drive the station custom van to events and bring the giveaway items. You know, the giant party sub, the beer, free stickers--stuff like that. Heck, I even got drafted one time to be a judge at a bikini contest at a local hotel (yes, it was fun).

They must have liked what I was doing because at the end of the summer, the Promotions Director (also a DJ), wanted me to stick around and be his Assistant. But...it didn't pay very much ($9,000-a year), so I declined.

That fall, when I returned to Georgia Southern, I decided to see if that was what I wanted to do, so I signed up to be a DJ at the college station. They accepted me and low and behold, I had a show...every Saturday from 10 a.m until 1 p.m, which left me just enough time to get to the football games, which at that time kicked off at 1:30.

Bears/Falcons 2005 (chicago, it was -2)/thanks: hager

It was pretty fun, I called the show "The Saturday Morning Hangover Shift" and learned how to operate the board and everything pretty fast. The challenge....the music. At that time, my music knowledge wasn't that great, limited pretty much to Classic Rock and the stuff I saw on MTV (back when they played videos). WVGS at the time had a pretty good library of records in back, we could pick pretty much anything we wanted out of there, but had to pull at least 70-percent of our music from a bin in the front of the studio.

I had never heard of most of the music in there; REM, Midnight Oil, Squeeze and other 80's alternative music. But I learned...and learned to like a lot of it. One of the fun things was picking artists and tracks that I wasn't familiar with and playing them on the show to see if I liked them.

I did have a few regulars that I played. I loved the Police...I played a lot of their music during the show. My signoff song--"Walking on the Moon". I played David Bowie's "Young American" a lot too. Mostly it was stuff that I had seen on MTV, they played a lot of New Wave music at the time: Devo, Simple Minds...all kinds of stuff.

The other challenge was talking on the mic. Those who knew me when I was in Middle and High School will tell you I was kinda quiet. I was. Really. If I wasn't comfortable with the people or things around me, I didn't talk much.

But I had to talk on the radio at some point. And be engergetic...or at least interesting. One show, on a home football gameday, my replacement was late. So I had to stay on the air until they showed. Each break and in between songs, it was "Hey, I'm still here, but really anxious to get to the game....so and so should be here, well, should've been here 20 minutes ago to take you through the day. If so and so is listening, please hurry.

Me and the Vanderbilt Commodore/Courtesy: Eric Hager

The other was on a day where believe it or not, it snowed in Statesboro, Georgia (45-min. West of Savannah). There was a celebration scheduled for our 1-AA Champioship team that afternoon, the EagleFest. Our program director called me during my show and said "Hey, EagleFest is cancelled, make sure you mention it whenever you can". So I did. Every break. In between songs, coming out of songs...probably 75 times in 3 hours.

Anyway, there really isn't a deep seated meaning in this post, I was just thinking about it the other day. I still have a couple of my airchecks, though they are on cassette. I laugh when I think about it. I really had a lot of fun doing it, but I'm glad I went the route that I did.

I always thought I would be either on the radio, a writer or work in TV. And hey, low and behold, that's exactly what I did. It's not everyone that can say they are REALLY living the dream, but to some extent, I really am. Damn happy about it too.

With that in mind, here's your Police--"Walking on the Moon":

Watcha been doin' lately?

Dear Everyone,

Oliver the Christmas Cat/Courtesy: Me

Hey! I'm back again. Yeah, I guess its kinda lame that I started this out posting almost everyday and now if I'm lucky, I get to this once a month. Sadly, there really isn't much of an excuse. Sure I'm busy, but I'm not that busy. And there has been stuff going on. So it's not like I've got nothing to talk about.

I guess the last time we talked was before Christmas. Wooo...that was a long time ago, wasn't it? Christmas was different this year. Very different. We, of course made the best of it, but it was tough because I had to work. I worked not only Christmas Eve, but had to around and go right back in at 7 the next morning.

Really, it was all worth it when I came home. TLB (The Lovely Bride), made a smaller scale version of a family tradition, "Italian Feast Night". In no short order, we had marinated tomatoes, marinated artichokes, some roasted peppers, some italian cold cuts and cheeses and some wine for starters. Dinner was a really, really big and very tasty lasagna. To say it was tasty would be selling it short, but if you ever want to come visit and try it out, let us know, it'll be one of the best meals you'll ever eat.

It was strange not being with the rest of our family, but there isn't much we can do about that right now. It's been kind of a bummer because both the family and most of our friends haven't been able to make it up here to see us in a long, long time.

Snowy Apartments/Courtesy: Me

New Year's wasn't a whole lot better. I had to work until 5 on New Years Eve...and yes, had to be back at work by 7 the next morning. We did go out though. For a little while anyway. We had dinner over at a friend of Michelle's and hung out for a bit before we headed home around 10. We got comfy and watched Robo Dick Clark until midnight and went to sleep.

 Aside from it being perpetually cold here, there really hasn't been too much else going on. I'm still plugging away at work. It's been a bit of a challenge there, or at least it was during December because of vacations and the like. My schedule was really all over the place and had to jump between the desk and writing sometimes in the same day.

Really, I need...no, we need a vacation. Some time off. Even if it's a long weekend that isn't here in Cincinnati. But that isn't so simple. February is already coming up fast and I can't take time off. To go anywhere, we've gotta put the dog at Camp Bow Wow. While she seems to like it there and we like the way they take care of her, it really takes a toll on her. She turned 13 October and really just doesn't do much anymore. Pretty much eats, poops and follows me around the house.

We are, at least as of now, going to take a couple of days in March. My cousin Ilene's youngest kid is getting his Bar Mitzvah in New Jersey and we are going to go. TLB went to the kids older brother getting his a couple of years ago with my parents, I couldn't go. I'm going this time. We're going to take a couple extra days to do some New York stuff for ourselves.

Inside the Museum Center/Courtesy: Me

Really, there isn't much else going on in my oh, so exciting life these days. We haven't even had a lot of "Excellent Adventures" as of late. Oh, we did go visit the Cincinnati Museum Center and I've gotta say, it was surprisingly cool. The whole thing is an old, renovated train depot. There was a lot to see and we spent the better part of a day there checking it out. If you ever come visit us, we'll take you.

Thanks for reading my letter. I really should write them more often, but we all know how much of a slacker I can be. Hopefully I'll get more motivated....or pissed off about something and find an outlet for it by writing it down here.

Talk to you soon,

Phil

Enjoy your Bonnie Raitt, listen to this while reading please:

Damn it's cold!

Apt. Parking Lot/Courtesy: Me

Sure, I know it's cold in other places too, but humor me if you will. I'll admit it. Got no problem saying it. I hate the frickin' cold.

I've always been a warm weather guy. Probably because of my upbringing in Florida although the fact that until 2009, I never really lived north of Lynchburg, Virginia. I've ranted about this before. I mean heck, we got 22 inches of snow here in Cincinnati this past February and I had more than enough time to ramble on back then.

No, we aren't expecting 22 inches of snow this month in Cincinnati. At least not that I'm aware of. I just don't remember it being this cold, for this long last winter.

It's been below 32 degrees here since, I'm pretty sure, Thanksgiving. Okay, maybe it's been since the 1st of December, but you get my point. It did, briefly pass 32 last Saturday...for about 5 hours...and then it got really cold and snowed...again.

Daisy in the Snow/Courtesy: me

I used to like snow. It was something that I didn't get to see very often growing up. Any chance to see it before moving to Cincinnati was always kind of cool. It's not so cool anymore. I'm pretty sure the only one of us enjoying this right now is Daisy the Wonder Dog. Even though she's 13, she gets in the snow and starts running like she did when she was younger. Yeah, it snowed a couple times when we lived in Atlanta. Not often, but a couple of times...and it accumulated.

It snowed when I lived in Nashville too. I remember being stranded in Bowling Green, KY in 1995 when it snowed almost a foot and the News Car me and intrepid reporter Nick Beres were in died on us. Admittedly, it was kind of fun, we broke down right near a hotel and we found an open steak place right near the hotel. We sat in the hotel room drinking beers and laughing at severe weather coverage the whole night.

Probably the most snow I've ever seen was in January of 2005. Over a foot came down in about 4 hours when we were in Philadelphia for the Eagles/Falcons NFC Championship game. I've never seen anything like it. It was literally a snow downpour.

X-Mas Tree Lot across street/Courtesy: me

I guess it's a good thing I'm semi-retired from working in the field. I don't have to go outside anymore and show people that it's snowing. Or that it's cold. I don't have to stand on a bridge overpass like I did in Nashville in 1998 when it was -10 with the wind chill, doing live shots every 30 minutes. But still it's frickin' cold.

Tonight, while I write this, the low is supposed to be 5. No, that isn't a typo (though I do make a lot of them). Really...5 degrees. With about a 10mph wind. I don't know what it makes the windchill...other than frickin' cold.

Maybe you get used to it over time. Maybe that's why I like the warm weather. A 90 degree day doesn't bother me at all. But I grew up with that. I didn't grow up with this. Heck,  most years as a kid, Christmas was a day where we got our presents in the morning and then went outside in shorts and t-shirts to play with them. Don't see that happening this year.

In honor of the Snow...enjoy a rare cut from Styx....Snowblind. Thanks YouTube:

Holidays and Other Things

Hockey Night/Courtesy: me

Hey! It's been awhile since I've posted here. Yeah. I know. I'm going to make some lame-ass excuse as to why I haven't kept it up, but really, I can't. It's been almost a month and yeah, I've had a few occasions where I could have posted something. But I didn't.

It's been an interesting last couple of weeks. Nothing incredibly special has been going on, but we've (me and TLB) been busy. Work is taking increasingly larger chunks of my time and when I'm not working, the OnlineSportsGuys site has been taking the remaining time.

Sure, we've done some fun stuff over the last few weeks. We went to an event called "The Rusty Ball" a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. The event is a charity fundraiser put on by a local party band that does '80's cover songs, their name--The Rusty Griswolds. They are pretty good and really popular here. Picture a 500 or so 30-50 year old people with some money, partying in a ballroom at the local convention center. It was goofy as hell, but we had fun.

The Rusty Griswold's

Back to my days off. Monday's have become some work because of the OSG site. I do a radio drop for my friend Gil Tyree (former Sports Director when I was in ATL). Gil does a radio show on VoiceAmericaSports.com on Monday's from 1-2pm. Generally, I try and post as many stories as I can on Monday's so we have stuff to talk about on the show. It's been a lot of fun, Gil and I can talk sports til the cows come home and it's a great promotional opportunity for the Online Sports Guys.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, the weather has gotten colder and it already feels a lot like winter. No, I'm not going to say Christmas, because I'm really not incredibly excited about Christmas this year. This year I'm working and we are a long, long way from family. I've worked the day a few times in the past, but the family was in the same town at the time, so it wasn't a problem to get home. Michelle and I will have fun and make the best out of it, because that's what we do, but it won't be the same. Really, the only thing keeping me from going crazy about it is that if I have to spend a holiday with one person in the world, that one person is already here and we'll be together.

Work has been pretty decent, I'm always busy there. I'm still learning a new job. Well, actually a couple of new jobs. I still have some work to do as a News Writer, but I've gotten better at it. My stuff has been solid, the details have been much better. I just need to get a little more creative. As for the Assignment Desk, that's been a fairly easy transition. There hasn't been a big learning curve, I've gotten much better on keeping up with things. The Web Producer on the weekends part has been tough. Mostly because I have to do it along with the desk and it just physically isn't always possible.

Daisy the Wonder Dog/courtesy-Me

There isn't much else to talk about at the moment. The Wonder Dog is getting really old. She's changed a bit. Her behavior is borderline strange at times. She just kind of lies around during the day, and at night...doesn't leave me alone. She gets into stuff for no apparent reason and is constantly hungry. She's 13 now and physically is in good shape, mentally, not so much.

That's about all I've got at the moment. I'll try and get better about this. Admittedly, it's tough when you spend your whole day at work on the computer to come home and get on the computer. But TLB is out of town and there isn't anything worth a crap on TV, so tonight, I'll crank out a blog. Just to catch up.

Enjoy your appropriate music, in this case, Holiday Road by Lindsay Buckingham, the theme to National Lampoon's Vacation--co-starring--Rusty Griswold:

Politicians and elections are a joke.....a bad one at that.

My name is Phil Cantor and I approved this blog.

Politician/Courtesy: I-Heart-god.com

Before you ask. I don't like any politicians. Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Green Party, write-in, alien party...none of them. They are all--or at least the people who orchestrate their campaigns are all evil. They are. Think about it.

Sure, back in the 1900's politicians meant something. It was an honorable calling. It was a way to make a difference and help others. Now, it's about one thing. Money.

The basis of our political system is a "Two-Party" system. However, somewhere along the way, the Republican party became the party of narcissism and the Democrats became the party of passive aggressiveness. And I'll say it again. They lie. All of them.

Name me one politician who got someone fired from a job. Yet all we hear is (fill-in the blank....let 5 zillion jobs leave or city-state-or country). No, there is not a single politician who has done that unless they own a particular business that picked up and moved and fired everyone. Though I guess some of them--no--all of them are culpable for a corrupt financial system. But its always the opponent who did it, not the guy who's ad we are watching.

Really, I shouldn't complain too much about political ads, I mean hey, there has been over $4 Billion spent on political ads this year. For my business, that's great money. However, its all dirty. It comes from groups with agendas. And those agendas are not what is best for everyone, its what is best for them. Why not put the $4 billion towards something that would help solve our problems, not add to them?

Heck, I don't personally know many actual politicians, I don't hang out with them. Maybe they are good people to have a beer with, but I don't think so. Maybe all the evil horrible things they are saying about each other are true. Though if they are, we all went to hell several years ago.

Really, the problem is more special interest groups. But that's who runs the government these days anyway. Tell me one politician who doesn't make a decision if they like the special interest involved and I'll call bullshit. There no longer are any. Lobbyists control politicians. They didn't always, they do now. If they need something beneficial to them that screws the common folk, you can bet the politician will do what the lobbyist asks.

Things are done politically and that odd place called Washington D.C for one reason and one reason only. Greed. If being a politician wasn't profitable, why would so many rich people want to do it? Poor and what's left of the middle class can't afford to do it. So rich people do. There are many more high paying jobs than that of a politician, look it up. But yet people who make more money as a working professional, give it up to be a politician. Doesn't that strike anyone as odd?

Another politician/Courtesy: preservingmarriage.blogspot.com

I've seen and met a lot of politicians in my career. I can count on one hand the ones that came across as a real person. They live in alternate universe's and do things that most of us never will be able to. They walk around rooms and shake people's hands. But they don't get dirty. The don't change a tire. They don't pick crops. They don't fix appliances. They get wined and dined by lobbyists, while the rest of you struggle to afford dinner out once a week.

Does anyone really think that a politician is going to walk into Congress/Senate/Governors office etc.and they are going to make an instant impact? No. There are too many other politicians involved in the process of running government with too many different agendas. Some will say no, no matter what the opposing party says. Some will say no unless they get a payoff for saying yes. None are doing it in your best interest.

Think about it. Are any of these clowns going to reduce unemployment? No. As much as it sucks, most of the jobs lost in the past few years aren't coming back. They aren't. Really. They aren't.

Over the past 20-years, our "Hero's" the politicians have allowed corporations to do whatever they please. They please to make lots and lots of money...for the CEO. If it means laying off 100 people, making the other worker bees work more so the profit margin will improve for the CEO to get his $50-million bonus...then so be it. And once those jobs leave and the company realizes they can get the work done with less people and make the same amount of money. That's it. They aren't hiring any more.

Will things improve and get better? I don't know. Probably. Eventually, but not in the next two years. It ain't going to happen. Two years ago, a whole new wave of politicians got voted in. They've tried to do things differently to try and jump start a now flawed system. It hasn't worked.

Now we are about to go back in time. We've forgotten who and why the problems were created in the first place. No, nobody wants to actually do anything to fix the problems. Because politicians (ALL OF THEM) aren't affected by it. No, its those of us who work for a living. Those of us who hope to make enough money to take a vacation someplace....or buy a car. Politicians, much like athletes and movie stars who don't need it, don't buy cars, they are given cars to use.

If it sounds like I am being Mr. Narcissism or Mr. Negative, I'm not. I'm being Mr. Realist. It amazes me how some of my friends seem to think that if I or someone else likes one party over the other that we are stupid. Hardly.

Winning a political race is about who screams the loudest. It's not about who's right or who has the best plan. It's who calls the other the worst name. It's about who can cast the opponent in the most evil light. Somewhere along the way the civility of debate, the agreeing to disagree, the idea of doing what's best for those who can't help themselves got lost.

I wish I could motivate myself to go out and "Cast a Vote" that my one "Vote" will make a difference. It won't. Yeah, I said it. It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what's best for me. And that is disappointing. I really want to elect someone to office that will make a difference. I want to vote for someone who is truly in office for the "Right" reasons. But I honestly don't believe that person exists anymore.

On that note, here is the most relevant thought in my rant. Enjoy your Thompson Twins....it is accurate...and should be about these guys. Thanks YouTube: