Kiss My Karma

Me....Yesterday!

"Oh wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us."

Robert Burns 1786

Wasn't it a grand day Tuesday. No matter who you voted for, the force of the moment was on us.

Here's a pic of President Barack Obama from this past summer.

The two guys on his left are former students, and now anchor/reporters in Wyoming, Juan Tan Romero and Walter Allen. I don't think they had time to shoot any hoops with the big guy, but they'll have tales to tell to their grandchildren regardless.

I've had a few setbacks to whine about the past six months, but thank me for keeping them mostly to myself.

My Karma, I'm thinking, isn't that bad, you know? I'm doing pretty good.

It certainly isn't as negative as the Karma that hit my sister Brenda during the holidays.

On Christmas day she leaves her Oakland Hills home and Drives to Livermore, California so we can all have dinner together.

Literally, three blocks from her destination, my stepdaughter's house, a woman of dubious character, driving an SUV beyond her capacity, slams that monster right into the side of Brenda's little old sedan.

CAR TOTALLED...BRENDA NOT
So Brenda, Peggy and I spend Christmas afternoon and evening in the emergency room at a hospital in Pleasanton, California. (They did hold dinner for us.)

She screwed up her knee, took some hits on the chin and chest, but she is back to her aerobic self once again. Brenda is an artist, and I'm watching to see how this experience manifests itself in her work.

www.brendareinertson.com

Like I said things have been cruising right along for me. Last week, on Friday to be exact, I am down on campus for some orientation. I'm excited about the two classes I'm going to be teaching starting inauguration day. There are some announcements, some smiles, some glad handing, some process sharing.. and then I'm heading home?

Well I'm home about ten minutes, and check my email? There before me is a note telling me because of budget constraints and low enrollment my broadcast journalism class has been cancelled.

Damn!

Okay, my supplemental income is cut in half. BIG DEAL. I've been listening to Obama. This just makes me a good citizen in these rough economic times. I'm just going to get over myself and embrace the joy of promise ahead. I can't wait to hear the speech.

So Tuesday morning I jump in the shower early. What a big day I have ahead of me. I'll get ready, listen to most of the speech, rush to light rail, zip to campus for DAY ONE OF THE NEW SEMESTER.

"Paul, hey you there in the shower."

"Yeah?"

"You got a call. You want to call them back?"

"Yeah!"

ONE RINGY DINGY...TWO RINGY DINGYS......

"Hi! This is Paul."

"Huh?"

So this is sacrifice, is it? Budget cuts 'cause of the economy means no announcing class, and that supplemental income?

ZIP!

There are some things you learn working in the media over time. Really they apply to most forms of labor. Among them are: don't burn bridges; don't stay angry and bitter, you're just hurting yourself; don't say mean things in the heat of the moment you'll regret later. AND if you have to let somebody go? DON'T DO IT IN EMAIL AND/OR OVER THE PHONE.

That's all the rage I've got. I'm done. I'm calm.

Now that doesn't mean I'm without any urge to vent completely. But you'll have to buy me a beer in some backwater dive to get it out of me.

Now let me be obscure. I hope the following words will be taken as lightly as I'm typing them.

You know that poetic verse that began this treatise? In case your 1780's Scottish dialect is a little weak, allow me to translate.

"Oh would that god would give us the power to see ourselves as others see us."

And what is the subject and title of this near epic poem?

"TO A LOUSE"

A louse reportedly crawling around on the hat of a woman sitting in front of Robert Burns at church.

KISS MY KARMA! OH, I FEEL SOOOOO......MUCH BETTER NOW. What now? Oh, I'll find something to do. But you SHOULD know I am available.

Pssst! Over here!

Yesterday I am cruising around AOL and see this tease? It says in essence, "hey, if you want a good look at the moon? Tonight is the closest it'll be to Earth in all of 2009. And the best time to see it, if you have a clear sky to the east, is at sunset."


Whoa, I can tell from the waning light in the kitchen, sunset is nearly upon us. I grab my camera, switch lenses in mid-air, grab Peggy, race to the car, break speed laws getting to an open area with a house that will show comparative size.


I jump from the car and race to the middle of a small park where I can see the huge moon, draped by clouds, just over the eaves of a house. It looks perfect in the frame. I'm getting ready to set the shot...and.....?



I FORGOT MY TRIPOD. (Not the first time I've done that.)


You really need a tripod to "shoot the moon," literally.


"Peggy will you help me out here?"


Well Peggy's shoulder had to do and here's that moon.
























It's not going to win any awards.


There is more than one lesson here. A piece of carefully crafted advice I hand to broadcast journalism students is "THE REAL NEWS IS ALWAYS A BLOCK AWAY."


Overtime I've come up with some pretty good examples to illustrate the concept. But saying it in class and seeing it happen again and again are two different bananas.


So as I'm desperately trying to steady my hand and Peggy's shoulder in air I'd estimate is warmed to 25 degrees Fahrenheit? Peggy says to me?


You might want to look over my other shoulder.....back this way!






















And so I did!








It has been brought to my attention this picture has been doctored by my association with Photo Shop. Before you organize impeachment proceedings, let me openly and humbly admit my grievous but unintentional error.

I did in fact tinker with the pure representation of this sunset. I did in fact upload these deceptive pixels.

However, lest you should judge my integrity in representing the nature of things, please allow me to now reveal the true source of the vision. I vow the representation below was taken with automatic exposure and focus settings. AND, it has been left unadulterated following its transference to this venue.

















AND I think I like this one better.

Blow Hard

I just recently had a birthday. At my age you tend to be the receiver of gifts purchased under the motivation, "What do you get for someone that old?"
A wise OLD owl once said..........

Typically the most meaningful gifts are those coming from folks just about your own own age. Case in point? My older sister Theda sent me an envelope full of balloons. So here's the deal on balloons.

First of all, for me, it is an opportunity to celebrate my birthday along with the advent of spell check. You see I could have fifteen PhDs in my back pocket, and I'd still have about ten words I can never spell. One of them? Oh you are so good. That's right! It is BALLOON.


Now secondly an envelope full of balloons is a real test of what is left of my physiology.
Here I am infusing air into one of the gift balloons.


























And here is my rendering of ALL the balloons blown up. And I didn't faint once.





























The final and likely most important characteristic of the appropriateness of an envelope of balloons for someone of my maturity? What wonderful memories of childhood those balloons induce. After blowing up the balloons?

I....

A. let the air out of one and let it fly all over the family room.

B. let the air out very slowly turning the resulting blare into "Old Mac Donald Had a Farm."

C. rubbed all the balloons through what hair I've left to create static electricity, thus allowing me to then attach the balloons all over my body.

I lost a cousin this past week. Mike Gooch was truly one of the World's GOOD GUYS! I called him the original "horse whisperer." He let me burst out of a chute atop his horse Chip. I was chasing a calf with a rope.

I know Mike squelched his laugh, but I'm sure Chip, wherever he is, is still in therapy over the end result of my one and only roping attempt.

"You're supposed to let go of the rope when you throw it out there Paul!"

(There is a chance the calf is seeing the same shrink.)

I'll miss you and think about you a lot Mike!

Let's see? Is it one 'l' and two 'o's, or......? Love ya ta death spell check.

Knock Knock!

Thank you class. Please be seated. Be prepared to take MENTAL notes.

There is just a FLICKER of hope that this posting will make any sense. This time of year I like to take at least one stab at some "stream of consciousness" scribbling.

( Did you hear James Joyce moan? I think I did.)

And this year I'm going to combine my free wheeling cognition with a lingering ambition to be a caption writer.....just give me an image and then let's "rock and roll."







I sketch light rail riders almost every day...and sometimes they get off the train before I'm finished. That may be why this guy appears to have only one eye. And then again he did stumble a little bit when he hopped off the train..... could be he really did have only one good eye.

I'm always preachin' the value of eye contact with my announcing students...but I've been noticing whilst sketching .......

that a whole lot of attitude can be expressed with dorsal posturing.....

I don't think it is necessary to be eyeball to eyeball to know which side of your head to dread. Just the shape of your hair is the hint that replaces the glint....whoops...."free verse" in reverse....call the literary nurse...see if she's got a remedy in her purse. Look at her upper lip...I think this model may curse.



Is there a name for the hair style...that lets locks drip over one eye.....I'm serious...it is such a loss....how can you know if they cry....or sigh....or LIE?

I don't get that with this guy....He's an original..can't be duplicated....I've looked....We don't need his eyes to see him show surprise......
Some of those "stream of consciousness" guys just go...on and on and on....but not me...because see ...it is getting late

...and while there is still a flicker of light I need to crawl into my nest.....and say good night.



(There will be a pop quiz on this one of these days.)

Should Auld Aquaintance be......

If you live in this neighborhood (Colorado), you likely know this guy. For those of you who don't you're missing something. And we're all going to be missing it next week.

That is because Ernie Bjorkman, news anchor here in Denver for more than a quarter century, will be re-inventing himself. Friday is his last night on the air. Less than a year ago he got an Emmy for his lifetime work. He just signed a one year contract in October. And then somebody must have taken a look at his driver's license. FIFTY SEVEN? HE'S GOTTA GO!

This is a big deal for those of us who've known and worked with Ernie. What a professional. He is one of those anchors who loves to go out and report. He loves to write. He's always cared about the product. And for some reason he keeps everyone around him talking because he hates wearing socks. ( You could understand that when he was growing up in the South, but "Ernie, these are the Rockies, where it occasionally snows.)


Now here is something that is not an exaggeration. I have never heard Ernie utter an unkind word about anyone. And here is something even more incredible in the media world. I've never heard anyone, in or out of TV, utter an unkind word about Ernie.

I've always said I judge a man by "whether or not I'd have a beer with him." Well as the years pass, beer sometimes needs to be replaced by a good stiff cup of coffee. (In the good ol' days it would have more likely been a martini. Ernie was, and may still be, a connoisseur of said beverage and has them ranked all over town.)

Well we imbibed some stiff caffeine laced liquid this morning as we shared some great memories and laughs. No Tears!

But that's the personal stuff. Even if you've never heard of Ernie Bjorkman? Hang on to your hat. He is in the process of becoming the "poster boy" of what happens to baby boomers in a tight economy.

Somehow the New York Times found out his contract wasn't being renewed and all of a sudden his likeness was on their front page last week. And in case you hadn't heard that all forms of media are symbiotic (we feed off each other)?

Well apparently somebody at ABC reads the New York Times and Ernie is going to pop up on 20-20 here pretty soon. In Ernie's words, " I never got this kind of media attention when I was working."

Elizabeth Vargas wants to fly Mr. and Mrs. Bjorkman out to New York this weekend and entertain them on ABC's (Disney's) Tab.

Paraphrasing Ernie, " I don't know Elizabeth, 'The Big Apple' during the holidays? You know all those lights, and the theatre and all that. I just don't know." I think he is going.

Is he sad age is knocking him off the air? I think all of us who've faced being put out on "Ice Floes" bemoan the trend. But a funny thing happens on the way to forced retirement. We get to reinvent who we are, and that is exciting.

Ernie, who has always been able to read graffiti (writing on the wall), has been going to school to become a Veterinarian's Technician. He has graduated and will be taking a certification test soon. And once again paraphrasing the old man , " it reaches a point where the idea of working with injured animals becomes a lot more important than being on the air."

I have the same feeling about my piano lessons. I think I'd go into deep depression if somebody took that away from me.

Now I said just about everybody in Colorado knows Ernie. But I'm noticing in class that fewer and fewer of my students ever watch TV news. They say they are getting what they need off the Internet.

Will somebody PLEASE wake that kid up sitting behind Ernie.

"Piece-uh-Cake

What'd you do this weekend? Here's my contribution.

What you're lookin' at here is the back of Brian Tiel's head. He is a cameraman for High Noon Productions.

High Noon, among many other cable TV shows, shoots and puts together Food Network Challenge.
They will probably live to regret inviting me in to watch them put the show together.


In this challenge the pastry chefs are putting together birthday cakes for one of the judges it turns out isn't universally admired.
But then a cake is a cake, isn't it.

And 10 thousand dollars MIGHT induce to you to do something nice for someone you despise. It happens.

But then on the other hand, is this an opportunity to make a statement.

Here's a DIGITAL look at Brian Tiel, who I worked with in news a decade ago.

He drew the short straw to chew me out for using my flash to capture these moments. (It was really his fault. I wouldn't have needed the flash if he'd have just stepped in the light ONCE.

Producer Lori Allred, who was also a long ago colleague in another life, had no trouble finding a spotlight.

Same is true for my old photographer colleague Greg Versphol.

That's Meagan Norris creeping across the set in bad light. That was not what I taught her to do when she was a student. She is an assistant producer for "Challenge."




She was on the move so much I had to try and capture her with pencil, too.

It was Meagan who introduced me to the shows host Keegan Gerhard. But here's why I might not get invited back. You see when Meagan introduced us. He had no idea who I was....and guess what?

Well I don't spend a lot of time watching the Food Channel.

"So are you one of the contestants here today, Keegan," I ask.

So I've pretty much sketched him from memory here.

Still I had great time. Got to see former student Jonathon, former fellow news junkies Casey, Sean, Paul, Steve, Muffy(I saw her...she didn't see me), and Glenna.

Should you ever wonder what happens to mature journalists? Wonder no more.

Leave No Leaf Behind

Three more days, and I'll bet we'll start being a little less angry. We'll cut back on attacking each other with words taken out of context. The kissing and making up will begin. Here in this subdivision, I've seen plenty of Mc Cain signs.

And I've seen plenty of Obama signs.

I'm not sticking my head in the sand, but I've decided not to show you some of the really hateful expressions. (They make me mad.)

But I did want to point out one curious phenomenon. It seems regardless of whether you are pulling for Obama or Mc Cain?

Everybody seems to be voting for (3 A) and (3 B.) In this neighborhood that means NEW taxes for schools. There also seems to be a big push on to raise taxes to support libraries in the county( 5).

Hmmmm? Special Interest? Pork Barrel? Who gets the credit or blame, Democrat or Republican, if the votes are up or down? Isn't it interesting that no matter how hard we try, we all end up on the same side once in a while? We are all a lot more alike than we seem to want to admit.

That is just a few of my thoughts racing through my brain trying to organize this new political party.

While leafing through my sketches I came upon this fallen work of nature. Yes it is a leaf, a maple leaf to be somewhat precise. And it reminds me once again that we are in the formative stages of organizing the LEAF party. In a previous missive I spoke of our numbers, and how powerful we can be if we stick together.

But to remain strong and influential we must also be diverse. Above you the Maples are joined by Ash and Aspen....and see we are only into the 'A's.

Now look up there. Leaves of all colors, shapes and sizes are comfortably huddled together. Every single leaf is making a contribution to the rainbow.

They are all making ultimate sacrifices to fertilize the healthy growth of the next generation.

Let me be a little bit careful with this next thought. I'm using caution because, while I deeply trust the source, my information is second hand. My source paraphrases a radio talk show host of a definite political bent:

"I don't like people who won't take a side, and then stand up and fight for it. They are gutless, and I have absolutely no respect for them."

What happened to looking at both sides of an issue? What happened to making rational choices through thoughtful investigation and deliberation.

What happened to letting knowledge control fear, instead of the other way around.

Don't misunderstand the author here. It would be a mistake to think that I or the LEAF party will just roll over at the thought of conflict. We'll fight, but we won't fight over fallacious innuendo and bitter diatribe.

I was pretty young in the 50's....but before we allow ourselves to slip back into that smudge on our reputation? Let's read that chapter in our history books.

(Yes, it's true, I can now confess. I was once in a room where there were reportedly three socialists....no, now wait a minute, maybe they were Republicans....no...that's not right...oh, yeah....Democrats. Were there Libertarians around in the 50s? I think somebody was smoking marijuana and inhaling in that room.)

I just hope that we in the LEAF party can keep our heads above the fray and when it counts, see the light.

I'll get back to lighter fare when this election is over. Thanks for sticking around.