Way Out West

That's Steve McLaughlin up there. He's quite a guy. In addition to being my age, we share interests in painting and music.

He was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic Water Polo team in the Rome games in 1960.  He didn't get much time in the pool, but he can log it. He was there.

He speaks at least three languages. First there is Montebelloan, his native tongue. (Montebello is a suburb of Los Angeles in between East L.A. and Pasadena.) Then there is English, a discipline he honed at L.A. State. The third lingual mastery is Mandarin Chinese, one he had to learn being responsible for building IBM facilities in Shanghai. (He is just retired from being in charge of IBM's world wide construction for 30 years.)

That's his wife Nikki up there, a life long friend of Peggy.  Nikki is a retired legal secretary, who plays the ukulele and some mean tennis. Seems like her San Jose team is always playing for some national title somewhere.

They have four grandchildren.  (That's a vital statistic that will have greater essence later.)

They are part of a three theme trip to the San Francisco Bay area for a week.

 

 

That is my sister Brenda with the dark hair sitting next to Peggy.  Brenda is an artist who lives in the Oakland Hills near Berkeley and Montclair. We showed up for a reception at a showing of Brenda's work in Piedmont.

 

Oh! Brenda has four grandchildren. (They are a pretty vital statistic in her life.)

But here comes the third reason we were Way Out West.

This is my stepdaughter Rhonda.

 

 

Here's her husband Mark.

 

But you've likely already figured out the reason for and major joy of our visit.  All these  people are pretty cool, but WE got to spend a week babysitting little Maren Noel Muschanow. WOW!  

 

(So far she is an only grandchild.)

She is six months old now, AND I HAVE A NEW AND ABIDING RESPECT FOR PARENTHOOD.  If you ever just want to do a little exercise in FOCUS?

That's it.  Nothing clever or deep in this posting. Just thought I'd let you know what we've been up to. Ta!

(Yeah, I changed a diaper.)

 

True or Consequences?

Okay, Peggy let's put them all through a little TRUE or FALSE or maybe test!

This is Elena Brown's favorite piece of sculpture?

True:____

False:____

Not on your life. I got invited to Elena's going away BBQ last week. She is shipping over to Chicago for two months on an alternative journalism fellowship. She did a piece recently in 5280 magazine "blasting" Denver's Public Art.

 

 

It's Robert DeNiro hanging out with Mindy MacInnes outside his penthouse apt.

True:_____

False:_____

Nah! It's Robert Dominquez who Mindy helped get a job at ABC setting up affiliate liveshots. This Robert is also a writer, poet and standup comedian.

 

This is Karah Britton.

True:____

False:____

Yeah, it's her. Karah Just graduated and she is heading for Hollywood pretty soon. Very talented actress.

 

There she goes now!

 

True_____

False____

Maybe? Could be? You never know!

 

 

 

This is Met Report's sports anchor and reporter Evan Luthye.

True_____

False____

I guess not. Here's the real Evan who just made his network debut on the Home and Garden Channel helping Mom pick out a house.

 

 

 

These three guys, left to right, Scot Lundblad, Dan Williams and David Liebling all have network gigs during the Democratic National Convention.

True_____

False____

"Natch!" You may have to look that up in your idiom history book.

 

These four former students, Amora, now a Judge show producer in Texas, Jasmine, Public Affairs and Promotions, and Catering and Assignment editing in Denver, Ray, who works the desk at the Rocky Mountain News, and Heather, anchor reporter in New Mexico.....just love and respect me beyond measure.

True:____

False:____

"Nuff" said!

 

This is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "America the Beautiful" atop Pikes Peak.

True_____

False____

Nope! It is the announcing class all pretending to be Demosthenes with rocks in their mouths reciting "I am The Very Model of a Modern Major General" aria from "Pirates of Penzance" (which hadn't been written yet in Demosthenes day) over the roar of Cherry Creek instead of the Aegean Sea. Honest, that is what they are doing.

 

Just yer former Denver Bronco dancer chattin' up a perpetual sports intern, boring the "heck" out of a little Idaho farm girl.

True_____

False_____

Yeah, really is. That's Keela Harris now working on a Master's degree in Education,talking to Dustin Carrol who, rumor has it, is sleeping in the garage at KMGH. Keela and Dustin appear to be falling short of entertaining former Met Report anchor Angie Jeppeson who moved here from Idaho and has a new baby.

 

 

Anybody you know?

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

True:_____

False:____

Must be trick photography!

 

 

"PAUL YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU SCARE SOMEBODY TO DEATH!

"OKAY!"

Photo Lineup

As you can see class, it is clearly a fallacious myth that "Polly wants a cracker." She obviously much prefers a Brazil Nut. 

Tired of Sudoku and The New York Times Crossword Puzzle? Well here's a fresh challenge for you. What do you say. Let's get INTERACTIVE!

Now for this week's MetNet Pop Quiz we will work with a set of matching. Merely match the picture number with with the appropriate letter, name and description. If you don't pass this quiz? Hang your head in shame!

1. ____

A.  Reece King, slick, talented, glib co-anchor of the MetReport this last year. Here is a little inside joke that those close to Reece will get. Sorry about the rest of you. " Yes Santa Claus, there is a Virginia!"    (Bonus clue? "Is that a Rolex or are you just happy to see me.")                                   

2. ____

B. Jeff Maher, reporter for KOB, Alburquerque. Got to spend a week on board an aircraft carrier profiling New Mexican service men and women. (Bonus clue? "Any Eye Witnesses see what happened here?")

 

 

3._____

C. Michelle Griego, reporter/anchor for CBS 4 in Denver. She is a charter member of the MetReport on campus. She once anchored a news show for kids in Denver. She is one of the few people to ever come right out of college and get an on-air gig in a major market. She let me babysit her new daughter Geeana while she spoke to two of my classes. (Bonus clues? I touched her up with photo shop, but believe me, she does NOT need it. "Make sure you wrap your story up with some HOT pictures.") 

 

4. ____

D. Brittany Dack, a young mountain woman very talented in front of cameras and microphones. She is mild mannered in the deceptive mode of Cat Woman. She is a skilled kick boxer.  (Bonus clue? The gravity of the situation appears to be pulling all her hair to her right, your left.  NO, your other left!)

 

 

5.____

E. Tasha Orr, actress, radio host, reality show assistant producer and now selling mortgages on the internet from her home in Las Vegas. She has just  returned from London where she saw her newborn niece. (Bonus clue. She is standing next to that same OLDER MAN.)

 

 

 

6.____

 

F. David Liebling, the voice of GOD. I think he'll be taking over for Charleton Heston soon. David is doing freelance voice work in Denver. (Bonus clue? He might have red hair.)

 

 

7.____

 

G. Jonathon Snyder is a truly versatile man whose future holds many creative opportunities. Right now writing for, promoting, and playing in his band is the leading priority. (Bonus Clue? To protect his identity, I sketched him.)

 

 

8.____

  

H. Andrea Reliford can and will do it all. She is currently employed by Comcast as a programming manager. She also shoots and edits freelance, and I'm still hoping she tries some things on camera where she shines. (Bonus clue? She loves subdued light, salt and pepper, and takes lemon in her iced tea.)

 

 

9.____

I. Ellese Laner, a transplant from Trinidad, the city not the Island. Every once in a while you find some hidden talent in a student that just explodes when it finally gets out. She did a lot of anchoring and reporting for the Met Report this year. She has a wonderful sense of humor and limitless energy. She is fun to be around. (Bonus clue? She is not last, at least not quite last. She might have all her teeth.)

 

 

 

10.____

 

J. Tara Schwartz, a former cheerleader; a former anchor, sports reporter, reporter, photographer for the Met Report;  and now gainfully employed as an assignment editor at KMGH TV. I'm pretty sure Paula Vargas and I will be including Tara in our Bi-Annual therapy sessions. (Bonus clue? She will let almost anybody give her a hug)

 

 

11.____

 

K. Karissa Gallero, knew this TV business before she got out of high school. She finagled an internship with a bureau reporter her senior year, and during that time frame got to do it all. (Bonus clue? "You take the pictures, I'll drink!")

 

 

12.____

L. Matt Kay, super photographer, editor, working for Go World Productions. He is still beaming from his trip to Egypt to absorb the ambience of the pyramids. (Bonus Clue?  How do you get snockered on bottled water?)

 

13.____

M. Melissa DeBaca, a marvelous young screen actress.  She has been in a bunch of Independent Films, while recreationally waiting tables at a popular family restaurant. (Bonus clue? She might have red hair too. And, hey, I think she's got the wave down perfectly.)

 

 

Answers.

1.   M  (Melissa DeBaca)

2.   F  (David Liebling)

3.   A  (Reece King)

4.   J  (Tara Schwartz)

5.   B  (Jeff Maher)

6.   K  (Karissa Gallero)

7.   E (Tasha Orr)

8.   D  (Brittany Dack)

9.   G  (Jonathon Snyder)

10.  L (Matt Kay)

11.  H (Andrea Reliford)

12.  I (Ellese Laner)

13.  C (Michelle Griego)

The Eyes Have it!

Okay Peggy, let's give them a little quiz.

Which MetNetters do you know by sight? I'm going to throw this little pop quiz at you once a week for a while. Play along for the heck of it, build an album, be able to say, "I knew her/him WHEN!""

WHO ARE THEY?

1.

2.

 

3.

 

 

4.

 

5.

 

 

 

6.

 

 

7.

 

 

8.

 

 

9.

 

 

10.

 

 

11.

 

 

12.

 

 

.

 

 

13.

 

14.

 

15.

 

 

 

16.

 

 

 

THE ANSWERS:

1. Sadie Hughes and her husband Jason at the end of their outside wedding ceremony in Broomfield. Sadie recently left her anchor/reporter job in Saint George, Utah. She has some job possibilities closer to home.

2. Tara Kish, now working at Martini on the Rocks radio, here in class on a rare occasion she was sitting long enough for me to sketch her.

3. Mindy MacInnes left, and Melany Fehrenbach right. They are standing in front of ABC offices in New York where Mindy has just been named Operations Manager for all Hard News at ABC. Melany, producing radio and TV commercials for Crispin, Porter and Boguski, was in New York at the time and they DID LUNCH. NOW THAT is MetNetting.

4. Melissa Garcia, anchor and reporter in Abilene, Texas. We had a "random get together" before she headed south. Just saw a piece she did on gas prices...fantastic job.

5. Tamisha Harris with OLDER MAN. Tamisha is currently dancing, teaching dance, and "making a buck or two" modeling until she can fully spread her wings. And when she does spread her wings? SHE WILL FLY.

6. Andy Buck, photographer and editor at KUSA. His work is quickly getting recognized in award circles. We've known all along he is a great story teller with that camera.

7. Steve Piesmann, program coordinator for Comcast TV. We were sharing some high trans fat chips in front of this health food store, here...just practicing recognition of irony.

8. John Romero, anchor and reporter at KCWY in Casper, Wyoming. I think "Juan Tan Romero" is losing his tan up there in snow and wind country. John loves news and it shows. Watch him anchor on line on the weekends, report during the week.

9. Walter Allen, Wyoming anchor of the year in 2007 at KCWY in Casper, Wyoming. He is talking to one of the intro classes. Students love his wit and wisdom. I'm pretty sure the redhead in this picture was looking beyond both those traits.

10. Amy Ferguson and Rosie Stringer, 2007 co-anchors at the MetReport. Here they are celebrating the completion of a show. They've both just graduated. Rosie is getting hitched this summer. Amy is putting the finishing touches on her resi-tape.

11. Geoff Sawtell, editor and director at KUSA. Those are two professions he mastered at the MetReport. Thankfully he stuck around campus a few years to keep the show honest and award winning.  We've finally let him out of jail.

12. Elisa Vasquez, former editor at KUSA. She was a reporter, anchor and pretty much everything at the Met Report.  She started doing talent work in her pre teens...and now after sampling one end of the business, she is off to Albuquerque to pursue that acting dream.

13. Tom Livingston tossing down some H20 in front of that health food store. Tom, the FATHER of the MetReport, started his professional career in Casper, Wyoming. Then he took some time off to be "stay at home dad." Now he is BACK running the Northern Colorado bureau for KGWN in Cheyenne.

14. Paula Vargas, assignment editor at KMGH. I snapped this shot on one of our bi-annual mutual therapy sessions. Anyone who has ever tried to make a living at an assignment desk knows what I'm talking about. If you've yet to hear Paula Laugh? Your life is incomplete.

15. This is Heather Burke, anchor/reporter at KBIM in Roswell, New Mexico. She reports regularly for the parent station, KQRE, in Albuquerque. Here she is heeding my standup advice, that the term standup is an oxymoron. I don't even want to picture what would have happened had she just stood there. Heather, in less than a year, has won just about every award the Associated Press hands out in New Mexico. You can generally see her work streamed or packaged on line at both stations.

16. This is the lovely Stephenie Davis in one of her new roles in life, modeling. She is also going to nursing school in Portland, Oregon.  She was inspired by the nurses who saved her life when she contracted Crohn's disease.

Well this is just a start. Don't feel slighted if you're not here yet. If you've been within ten feet of me while I was sporting my camera, you're in trouble. Thanks for bein' you! 

Summa Cum Laude

whatever will be, will be."

I ran into this little girl (estimated age 4) hanging on to her mother's thigh at a farmer's market.  It was about three years ago. I'm not sure I've captured the measure of her expression's impact on me. I can only tell you that expression ignited a rocket of emotions from my pate to my "pinky."

This toddler's expression is related to a man holding a dog on a leash right in front of her. Mother's leg seemed to be her only defense.  It was a kind well trained dog, but she had no way of knowing that. She was not about to let go of that thigh.

Well when I was her age, 4? It is my earliest in life total recall. I was in a yard three doors to the south of ours. There lived a teenager with a real sadistic mean streak in him.  I won't use his name in case he has a really good lawyer. Let's just call him HP.

Well HP invited me into his backyard and asked me if I wanted him to lift me up so I could see what was on the other side of the fence?

"Okay!"

Well, HP lifted me up, and set me down on that other side of the fence and walked away laughing. I on the other hand was full of fear and bawling. I was on the next block and I might as well have been in another galaxy.  I was totally lost.

It probably took a half hour for me to hook back up with my parents. I don't know if HP got in any trouble for that, but here is an example that there CAN BE justice in life.

A few years later HP tried to get frisky with my older sister. He clearly picked the wrong victim. She quite methodically shoved a broom handle down his throat separating him from two of his front teeth. ( My dad, who grew up on the streets of Chicago during the great depression, was pretty insistent that all us offspring know how to handle ourselves.)

The story is, urban myth though it may be, says HP ended up in prison. That would be justice plus. But back to that toddler's expression.

I've been seeing it over and over again on campus this past month. It is acute graduation panic fever. It is staring at the unknown.  

Every once in a while I catch myself being cruelly philosophical.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You'll find something.  It'll all work out."

But that little girl's expression has become my conscience. I was shaking in my boots at graduation. I had no idea who was going to hire me, what exactly I'd be doing, where I would be living, and I had this giant dog staring me down and growling at me.

Well it has all worked out and I regret nothing. But in truth that degree is not mother's thigh. Even for Summa Cum Laude the essays, the multiple choice and the true and false have just begun.

I think what I've learned in retrospect is that you cannot replace mother's thigh. But you can ease the fear and pain by (cliche alert) "sticking together." Stay in touch with each other. And don't just share your successes. Share your pain, your fears, your suffering as well.  (cliche 2) Misery not only loves company, it needs it.

Every single one of you will experience some degree of loneliness, fear, real and emotional pains you won't even be able to express or define.  And in a world that is changing so dramatically right now, don't expect to find instant security. And don't hide behind false bravado. 

It is true that for most of you things are going to eventually work out. Not all of your decisions will be perfect ones. And the dreams you chase will evolve. And you won't be PERFECTLY happy.

"the future is not ours to see, que sera, sera!" 

But if you stick together, share your moments in time, support each other, be your own institutions, everything IS going to be okay.

Oh, and this is really important.  Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Do that? And mother's thigh can take a break. And you can put regret back in jail with HP.

CONGRATULATIONS.

Mother's Day

"She walks in beauty, like the night!"

Lord Byron

It is still the toughest profession on earth, motherhood. It is clearly the longest career path. It starts with "mu,mu," progresses to "mama," to "mother," to "mom," to "grandmother," to "grandma," (pronounced GRAH mah) to "nana," with a whole bunch of pet names along the way.

The Mother I'm closest to is my wife.

 

And yeah, I call her Peggy, but I'll admit it today. I need a little "mothering" once in a while, and even though sometimes I think she resorts to some pretty "tough love," it is all for my "OWN GOOD!"

This is an exciting time for Peggy. The is the first time she spends Mother's Day as a GRANDMOTHER. She is out in Calfornia babysitting little Maren Noel.

But it is just like her. In the midst of feeding the baby, then singing her to sleep, and yelling at the dogs, she is worrried about her daughter Rhonda having to be away from her child on her first Mother's Day.

 

And, hey, I think she is worried about me and what I'm doing. Now that may be "did he remember to take out the trash,"  "did he straighten his collar," " did he wipe the toothpaste off his lips," "did he shut off even ONE LIGHT in the house," did he wash any clothes?" Well you get the gist of the moment.

I can be an independent cranky old guy. I can work up a very crusty attitude. I curse at stupid drivers, I make caustic remarks in the grocery store. I get dirty and don't clean up for days. Every once in a while I spit.  And I love this new study that says you'll live longer if you regularly expel gas. But do you know what?

When she is not here?

 

I MISS MY MOMMY!

COME ALIVE!

I tell my broadcast journalism and announcing students that it is not true you must be a type "A" personality to have a radio and or TV career. You need not bounce off the wall 24 hours a day. And that is true, too, of all types of performing.  It is just that when the Curtain goes up? When the Camera Light comes on? When the Microphone Switch is thrown.  THEN YOU COME ALIVE!

I think most people can intellectualize the concept.  And I think most of us have heard how that BIG star "SO AND SO" is really nice and shy in person.  But sometimes you need something or someone special to illustrate it.  Man did I get it in my email today.

That is Stephenie Davis up there. I used to call her student.  Now I call her friend. She was a division 2 all conference basketball star.  She was an all around track athlete and  javelin champion in high school. She graduated with honors. But believe me it never shows in person. She is so calm, so warm, so polite, so unassuming.

Peggy and I used to love to go to the restaurant where Stephenie served breakfast.  She would walk up to us, form this huge ear to ear grin, and say, "THE USUAL? " Who does that anymore?

But there is a larger story to this posting. I get lost in time frames these days.  But I think it was about two years ago that a coaching job didn't really work out for Stephenie. And she was back waiting tables. She was getting tired and feeling sick to her stomach. She was losing a lot of weight. She thought it was the long hours and hard work.

It turns out she became critically ill with what turned out to be Chrons disease. Surgery followed. They took away most of her stomach. There would be a long rehabilitation period.

Well SHE IS  BACK...and when the CAMERA SHUTTER SNAPS? Stephenie Davis COMES ALIVE!  Moved by some of the people who kept her alive, Stephenie is heading to nursing school in Portland next semester.  And it looks to me like, and hey I'm way predjudiced on this one, she is going to have plenty of cab fare money from MODELING on the side.

She is one of those athletes you CAN dress up.  Hey Steph, does that nursing school have a basketball team? Just wondering.