This guy sent me an e-mail after I was selected to the Uwire 100 last month, and he asked me some questions on the future of journalism and such, not to mention some background Q+A about yours truly.
He posted the article last week: CLICK HERE to read it.
The interesting part is that he actually researched me to find information about this blog and my advisor, Nils Rosdahl, that I left out in the interview. Good Job, Dan!
I can’t believe I’ve actually made it to 100 posts since I started in early November. I didn’t even realize how many I was up to until I noticed Glenn celebrating a milestone on his blog. Thus, I felt I should celebrate, as well (much like Glenn did).
Firstly, some interesting facts: Thanks to Google Analytics, I can see where people are from when they look at my blog. However, I didn’t set this up until early March, as I accidentally deleted my first attempt. Nevertheless, since March I’ve been hit 736 times from 410 unique visitors. I don’t think I even know that many people, but there you go.
Interestingly enough, Jakewood has been visited in 20 different countries! From Canada to France, Mexico to India, Panama to Finland, Singapore to Greece, Australia to Sweden… The list goes on!
What’s more, I’ve chalked up 43 out of 50 states! Look below, the darker the green the more popular that state is.
So, yeah, it’s barely June and I’ve hit 100 after almost 8 months, but my next goal is 250 before December 31.
It should be easy; I don’t exactly keep to myself. Besides, I have a newfound love for photography after learning so much at Poynter. So keep checking in, there should be some interesting stuff happening as I look for my next journalism job in Portland and get ready to move out of Idaho (again…) and get ready for this whole marriage thing.
Thanks for stopping by. And you stay classy, San Diego.
Originally, my project at Poynter was to cover sharks at The Pier. Since, I've switched to pelicans, although my true wish whilst perusing The Pier was to see a shark. A real, wild shark.
Well, boom shakka lakka!!
This morning, a fisherman down at The Pier reeled in a 9-foot, 400-pound monster! I arrived 7 hours after the slain shark was dropped into the angler's pickup, just in time to see the Aquarium's biologist carve out a chunk for testing.
Here are some photos I snagged with the borrowed Cannon Mark 3:
I went down to the Pier today to shoot the Pelicans for my Poynter Project with a Cannon Mark 3... Probably the nicest camera I will ever touch! (Hahaha! Nik & Tim... I know you're jealous!)
Somebody got crabs! But I think these ones can be taken care of pretty easy... Actually, you can buy 12 of these things for like $3.67 for fish bait (or pets, according to the sign).
Here's the rough draft for my big video project at Poynter... Remember, they wanted us to try new things, and failure is almost as good as incredible success. So if I failed, hopefully I failed hard!
Here we go (I still haven't made the opening title and end title).
I started uploading and cutting up and editing all the video I have from my first day of shooting at The Pier. Here is a really funny clip of a pelican biting a girl!
We are all witnesses, indeed! Un-friggin’-real!
A whole group of us watched this in the lobby bar at the Courtyard Marriot in St. Petersburg, Florida, tonight. Obviously, we screamed like banshees, especially since we almost left a few seconds prior to head to bed.
Thank God we stayed!
Well, we finally got some sunshine while in Florida! It’s weird to think that we’re here in late May and they’re having floods… But the thunder and lightning storms are pretty sweet (even when they hit at 3 p.m.)
Anyway, here’s the deal. We all have to make a multi-media project during our two weeks at the Poynter Institute. Well, multi-media is encouraged, but the big thing is trying something new.
Personally, I have never done video. I mean, a serious video. You’ve probably seen the goofy YouTube shit I’ve made with Gene or Ben or John, but this is broadcast journalism. Originally, I had planned on creating a SoundSlide presentation similar to this one: Life Line, a presentation made by a Poynter Fellow last year.
But I want to try something new. So video it is.
Mine was going to be about sharks. You see, last week a 1,000-pound hammerhead was caught near here. Thus, I was instantly intrigued - if not for the sole fact that I annually circle the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week on my calendar before my family’s birthdays.
After talking to a few fisherman down at the pier, I was even more obsessed. One guy told us that he previously caught a 5-foot hammerhead on the pier. However, in order to reel the fish aboard, he had to walk all the way down the pier and onto the beach to slay the beast. Meanwhile, people are watching as this guy guts one of the oldest predators on earth, yet people continue swimming!! That was what perplexed me the most.
Well, yesterday I trekked back down the pier, camera in hand to discover what I could. I wanted a shark story. Nay, I needed a shark story, and I needed it bad.
I stopped in the bait shop near the tip of the long pier (see picture of how long the pier is here), and I was surprised that it was still open. I knew they fished for sharks at night, as the woman who mans the bait shop informed me of this a few days ago. But I figured the bait shop – aka Pelican-feeding headquarters – would be closed.
Alas, the attendant remained on duty! I was ready to pick her brain about sharks. However, I couldn’t stop looking at her buddies (this photo was from a day or so earlier):
And it seemed one was closer to her at most times than the others. Well, low and behold, there was a pelican named “Spot” that has been following this chick around for six years.
Yeah, six years!
What’s more, this lady actually moved away for two years, and upon her return to the pier, Spot recognized her INSTANTLY!
Are you kidding me!? Now that is a story!
And even though only one of Al Tompkin’s areas of motivation apply (he says innate curiosity is sometimes all it takes to motivate a reader into perusing a story, albeit there are a few others that remain much stronger when motivating), he also agreed with me today that this story was indeed curious enough. Screw community or health or family, I wanna know about the bird,
And boom goes the dynamite!
So here is Spot, the pelican who follows the bait shop employee I spent all afternoon videotaping and interviewing. This photo is from my phone, so I will be taking much higher quality photos as the weekend progresses. One final note: Spot is close to 30 years old!
It just keeps getting better…
I never really understood what Twitter was until I got here. Basically, it’s a website made up entirely of just facebook-style status updates.
But it’s also a bit more than that. In essence, as far as I’ve discovered so far, it’s much like sending a massive text to people who care (they’re called “followers”) all at once.
So while we’re in all these sessions at Poynter, people are literally “tweeting” non-stop. Which, I guess, is good – they have people back home who wish they could be here, and by following those on Twitter who actually are, they get somewhat of a taste.
It’s definitely going to take some time for me to get used to, though. But it helps being able to Tweet from my BlackBerry.
I first saw this commercial a few months ago, and it sparked a hunt to find many similar clips in the legacy known as The Greatest Man in the Universe. I never could find THIS one, though, but now it's a pretty common commercial, so you've probably seen it.
Needless to say, I'm sure it beckons thoughts of yours truly...
Stay thirsty, my friends!
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but the past week has been insanely busy. From our first night together with dinner and drinks (and drinks… and drinks… and more drinks), where I somehow got a guy from Philly to buy the 8 of us all drinks, to now, it’s been a great trip overall. Professional training, indeed! These people are literally at the forefront of the business.
Seriously, I’ve already met one of my favorite professional designers and favorite writers, not to mention the multi-media editor from the NY Times (click here. trust me. just do it! oh, and also click here! truuuust me! friggin' amazing!!).
Needless to say, I really am the only kid from a two-year school:
But I do think that even though some in attendance are incredibly more talented than others, we’re all here to learn and share. I think the networking may be as important as the training, if not more.
These kids here will be shaping the future of journalism, no doubt!
I finally created a business card for myself. Indeed, years in the making, I really didn't spend much time over-designing anything too fancy (trust me, that's a feat for myself!). So, aside from all the basic, necessary information, it's pretty simple. And, for only $30, I got 200. A rip-off, yes, but I got them same-day from Staples, just in time for my fellowship in Florida!
(I even put "photography" on it... I can only get better!)
It wasn’t pretty. But it was intense…
We played the Mets last night in a matchup of the two bottom-feeders in Coeur d’Alene L.L. They haven’t won a game yet, although they have come close a few times and tied us to open the year… Us? We came in 1-8-1
The lead changed a few times, and heading into the bottom of the 6th and final inning, we were up 6-4. Our relief pitcher had already given up a run the previous inning, and was throwing nothing but somewhat-quick strikes – a SHARP contrast to our starting pitcher, undoubtedly the fastest hurler in the league!
He walked the first batter. The next kid up roped a line drive to second; then, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, they stole home on the ensuing pitch, while the next batter lined one to shallow right, thus tying the game at 6 even. In the midst of it all, we somehow netted two outs.
So there we were, tied 6-6 with the only team we’ve beat this season (and the only team we’ve tied!) in the bottom of the final inning. They had a runner on third, and I pulled the whole infield onto the grass, the outfield damn near on the infield dirt.
There was no way a bloop single would win this.
However, as our pitched lobbed what looked to be the final pitch of the game, I noticed our centerfielder standing deeper than the rest. I yelled, but he didn’t hear.
Boom!
The Mets smoked the game-winning hit deep into center. The crowd screamed, the Mets stammered out of the dugout to congratulate the winning run. Back that train up, baby! Miraculously, our CF threw his hand in the air and by sheer luck, CAUGHT THE BALL!! Batter out EXTRA INNINGS!!!
We exploded in the 7th inning. Three runs off four hits and a walk, including two hard doubles.
In the bottom half, the Mets failed to get more than one baserunner on, and couldn’t move him past second.
Whew!
I can honestly say this was the most intense game of any sport covering my entire coaching career. And, suffice it to say, even though our record still sits at 2-8-1, my all-time coaching record is floating barely over .500! Something around 60-58-1.
Goddamn it feels good to win!
Well, after 35 issues spanning seven separate semesters at the greatest journalism college in the nation (concerning two-year schools, at least!), it’s finally over.
My only regret is that I didn’t care at all how the last issue transpired. Well, me not caring is not like somebody else just giving up. Instead of spending 80 hours in the newsroom for a production week, I only spent 40ish… Still more than most others, combined.
But I only penned one article and didn’t even write my final opinion. I guess this Blog is meeting that need: to say anything I want, whenever I want.
Anyway, I’ll reflect on Sentinel later. I’ve gotta get ready for Florida.
Oooh! I did get to do one thing I’ve wanted to do all year long, and it figures I had to wait until my last issue (and thank God that Nik took some photos good enough): Design a vertical newspaper page … wait for it … wait for it …. HORIZONTAL!
And, low and behold, it looks good! At least I think so:
OK, maybe we did… Gene and I got a wee bit intoxicated on Friday night, and after a late-night pallet hijacking, we created this monstrosity in his backyard on top of a small patio fire pit (yeah, I’m still wearing my Little League shirt from the day’s earlier game):
The spirit of Chief Joseph compels us!
Pallet + gasoline + fire pit = AWESOME
I fell on a nail…
The Morning After: Lots of grass is now missing. So worth it.
This Saturday, I head to St. Petersburg for the Poynter Institute Summer Fellowship, essentially a journalism internship at the greatest training facility for said industry. But it still hasn't really sunk in that I'm going across the country (literally west coast to east!) for two weeks. Even worse, I'm the only student from a two-year school out of the 40 attending.
You might say I'm a little intimidated. But then again, I've never let that stop me before.
What's more, you know this whole thing is expensive! My plane ticket was paid for (thanks new mother-in-law), and my Dad is supposedly covering the hotel: 14 days aint cheap in Florida, so that's a huge boost!
I still haven't even started getting a list together concerning what I might need. Aside from my laptop, I better start preparing for this thing ... like, now! Then there's all the laundery I need to finish before leaving, and the online training seminars which I have yet to delve into (That's a whole lot of online work). Sheesh, between Little League and The Sentinel the past few weeks I haven't had time to even think about Florida. Much less get my iPod ready for the day-long travel between airports and planes.
Wish me luck, I better figure this thing out soon!
Oh, and I know it's old-fashioned, but I haven't sent a postcard to anyone in YEARS... Send me your snail-mail addy, and I'll definitely shoot some out from Florida. Even better, I'll try and take pictures myself and print them at Kinkos to mail out.
God, I am a geek.
Well, it's not so much that Little League as an organization blows... just my league. And I only mean that the other teams are good - really good. So in all fairness, I should say that Cd'A L.L. friggin' rocks.
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