Go West Fat Cowboy

As the seconds continue to tick away from 2009, I couldn’t let me burning some popcorn in the break room be my last memory of the decade. So a call came into the asylum about a guy on horseback traveling down Airline Hwy. No big deal was my initial reaction. Then I was told that he traveled from Georgia, now we have something. There was no question that he was on a personal crusade. After weaving through traffic I stumbled upon the “One Fat Cowboy”. He looked like something out of one of those old western movies however a nice conversation he has a great story to tell. His goal is to bring awareness to children’s causes and just make the world a better place. His reason, he lost some young family members to various circumstances. Tragedy struck him four times over and he dosen't want anyone to feel the kind of pain he endured. The trek actually started three years ago but health reasons forced him to put his mission on the side until six months ago. Now he has a full head of steam, a pair of trusted horses, the kindness of strangers, and a following from his travels so far. Before he left on his trek across the Raggedy he passed on three rules he lives by:

Rule 1: Enjoy Life.

Rule 2: Leave a mark. Make the world better than you found it.

Rule 3: Be sure to follow rules one and two.

I wish you luck One Fat Cowboy and we here at the Asylum look forward to seeing you finish your journey, did you know?

Cooking At The Raggedy

Everyone knows the talent of those who call the Big Raggedy home. From month long investigative stories to nat sound pieces that leave the viewers wanting more. You name it we’ve done it. However, take unrefined ability to the world of culinary arts. No problem. Turns out there was a little cooking segment where anyone within the wall of the asylum could showcase their unique taste for food for the noon show and my peeps didn’t disappoint. C-Line shared her recipe for “Haystacks”, a dish made famous by her family gatherings during the holidays. Then The Meeks decided to fire up the grill for his mouth watering Chicken Piccata. I had this one and trust me it is good. Hell even our producers are getting in on the act. With all of these dishes I wonder if the Raggedy can get on the Food Network. Or at least get a new cook book on the shelves.

The Funniest Time of the Year

What do you get when you put a couple of crazy dudes, a lot of time, and a ton of hilarious out takes and bloopers? You get the most anticipated showing since James Cameron’s Avatar. Only we didn’t have $300 million to play with. The final weekend of 2009 was the perfect time to unveil the annual Christmas Tape and man did it live up to expectations. This the ultimate gift for all of us in the newsroom. We cover so much stuff during the year that this is a good way to unwind, cut loose and share some sidesplitting laughs.

A lot of work and time went into this masterpiece. Meeks came up with some great skits and I had to shuttle through the funniest moments of the year. Live shots, tongue twisters, off the wall interviews you name it we got it into this year's show. In addition to the shooting, the writing, & the late night edits while keeping things under wrap, we went for shock & awe this year.

It was all worth it to see the smiles on everyone’s face. Now that we have walked the red carpet and partake in some quality fun, time to take some time off then get ready for next year’s feature. Who knows what insane idea we will come up with next?

Christmas Time In The Asylum

The 25th of December is upon us again. While families are spending quality time with each other trying to figure out how to put together the toys under the tree, the news cycle keeps on rolling. And someone has to keep watch over the asylum.

I’m always asked, “Why do you work on this day”? Just being kind I guess. The family is in town and I get to see them before gracing the padded walls with my presence. However, there are some interesting stories to be told during this time of year. A chance phone call brought our attention to someone who needs more than clothes for the holiday. Then there are a couple of foster parents sacrificing their needs to bring Christmas cheer to some kids with only a 48 hour notice. And was one of our own was spending Christmas away from home for the first time.

But the big reason I like doing this…..

….I enjoy putting smiles on the faces of my co workers, after all their my TV family. That feeling never gets old. Yeah we could have asked for the day off but we came in and feed the news beast on a day where there is nothing going on but Peace on Earth and Good Will to All.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y’all.

The B Block

As Christmas draws near I can’t help but notice that the blog entries for this month have been scarce. Truth be told my time was being occupied with a bit of mayhem sprinkled in with the holiday madness. The 24th is coming and I can sense that I’ll be among the retailers trying to whoo over the last second shoppers looking for the must have gift of the year. However its days like today where I can really appreciate good television.

With the asylum on skeleton crews through the New Year I had to come in during the day to fill the B block of the six. Don’t get me wrong you always strive to be the lead but you can do some things in the second block. You get a little more time to fine tune your story. A chance to add some more sound maybe throw in a couple of more quick edits. Nothing wrong with adding some lagniappe to bridge gap between the news of the day and five day forecast. Therefore, what was the story du jour?

C-Line had an idea about the open access of pictures on the social networks being easy prey for the criminal element doing what ever their mind could come up with. Especially since the kids are now on Christmas break and a majority of them will spend an enorumous amount of time on the internet. Like I mentioned in a previous post you never know who is watching. This makes you think twice about what to put online and who to “friend” in the world of cyberspace.

I think its time to check my privacy settings on the Facebook page, did you know?

Sneaux Watch 2009

I’m not going to lie to you. I am confused about the calendar. I have to check to make sure that it is December. I have to make sure that it is time of year to put up the lights and decorate the Christmas tree. However, lately you would think that it is Groundhog Day and Bill Murray is going to pay you a visit.

It was December of last year. One of the top stories of 2008 was happening, again. Mother Nature was gracing us with a rare white blanket of snow across the Big Raggedy and the rest of the viewing area. I remember waking up to neighbors with smiles from ear to ear of a unique occurrence in South Louisiana. People were saying that this was an event that they may never see again.

Fast forward to this week. The BFR 9000 was busier than usual. A blast of frigid air was making its way across the country bringing some wintery mixtures with a slim chance of ….snow? Snow two years in a row how often does this happen? Granted it has been a year of weather events for us. No hurricanes making landfall in the state, thank God. Then there was the funnel cloud that sent peeps into a flood of chaos, thankfully it never touched ground. But snow in back to back years?

So I loaded up the car, threw on a cap, and went in search of the latest wintery cloth. My initial findings yielded nothing but doubt and frustrations. I’m serious there was nothing to be had. Just a constant bombardment of wind and rain. My gut was telling me that this wasn’t going to happen. Yeah it’s cold but it’s not cold enough for snow. Starting to feel like I was chasing ghosts from every dead lead that was being flooded into the newsroom. People were mistaking the sleet for the white stuff. Can’t be too mad them. Like I said this doesn’t happen often down here.

News time was drawing near and I had to set up a live hit in the parking lot. Thinking to myself that this was a lot of hype for nothing. There are going to be a lot of disappointed peeps out there. No sooner than I plugged in the lights and dialed the IFB it happened. The rain had stopped and the night sky opened up. Snow had started to fall on the streets. Better late than never. It was time to grab the fancy cam and roll off a few pictures. Even though we weren’t going to get the blanket from last year I’m sure peeps all over bundled up, grabbed the cameras, and cherished the moment.

As for me, I was able to play in the snow for a little while however I don't know if we’ll go for the hat trick next year?

Deja Vu Shootings

Scary as it may sound, a part of me was looking forward to a normal week at the asylum. The latter part of last week consisted of some time off, a late night disagreement of some food I ate during the holiday, another year of the school from the school in the Northern part of the boot beating my Jags, and me finding every over the counter medication to get me back on my feet.

As soon as walk through the padded walls I run into the Turdpolisher fresh off an urban safari. His latest discovery entailed the usual flashing lights, screaming relatives, and white van with a one size fit all stretcher in the back. Needless to say the city has just chalked up another homicide on her streets. Another young kid with no regard for human life had his taken from him. You know what they say, you play with matches and eventually you’re going to get burned. However there were some other details that started to surface.

The whole been there, done that phase comes to mind. A drive to the victims last known address yields a sudden burst of total recall. Naomi Campbell and I were in this area nearly one year ago. Another kid’s final resting place was literary steps away from where our latest statistic lived. Such a cold reality we now live in.

I hope these kids wake up from whatever delusional dream they are having. Or else it’s going to be déjà vu all over again.