The Next Dare

Sometimes you have to make the unknown leap of faith in order to advance in life. Either you will land on your feet or you will have to pick yourself up from trying. However you won’t know the outcome until you make the jump. That is where we find young Erin Cofiell.

Four years ago she left the friendly confines of the northeast to pursue a career of Television Broadcasting at the local NBC affiliate. I first ran into her at the steps of the Capitol, that’s right it all comes back to the House That Huey Built. We were picking up a B-Block story about a local marching band getting ready to make the trip the Rose Bowl parade. I saw her with the fancy cam climbing up the stairs looking for the next shot of a sequence needed for the story. Eventually we exchanged pleasantries then wishing each other well in the business of gathering images for the glowing box.

Some time had passed then and we were at Police HQ waiting for the guest of honor to be taken away wearing some shinny bracelets. While we waited she had hinted that she always had an urge to sports reporting. Thinking in the back of my head that there was an opening at our shop, I simply said, “Come on over.” We had a position and she wanted change in her career. A couple of weeks pass, I had just come from getting some crime tape lining the streets when I walk into the edit and see that right you guessed it. Knowing that I had been looking into some flashing blue lights I had to make sure that my glasses weren’t playing tricks. She simply stood up, smiled, and gave me hug. That’s when it all began. Making her second leap of faith, she covered all that she could. From high school to National Championships she made her presence known to the peeps in South Louisiana. However her lasting mark didn’t happen until the morphed into the weekly TV phenom know as Darin Erin. Always willing to challenge local athletes, large or small, to any and all challenges known to the sports world. Never afraid to stack the odds in her favor but don’t ask her about the win – loss record.
Now faced with another leap, she jumped and landed into another opportunity closer to home. Willing to trade gumbo for chowder, she now leaves the halls of the asylum for a new sports job over at WJAR. Erin we had a lot fun and you were a blessing to work with. My dare for you is to continue what will be an excellent career in broadcasting, did you know?

Birthday 2010

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to have the day off for their birthday. Yes the sun is out, a few clouds are in the sky, and the heat is turning up but you still want to sit back, reflect, and then celebrate life. Unfortunately my birthday comes during one of the busiest times of the year. Granted I have been close a couple of times however news doesn’t stop even on the day you were given life.

So how do you enjoy the day? Well, you aren’t going to get the chance to hang out with a beautiful, intelligent, aspiring model every year. You enjoy it with an early morning phone call from your mom to start the day. You enjoy it with people who care about you sending their best wishes via your Facebook & Twitter pages, isn’t technology wonderful. You enjoy it with some homemade cupcakes from Darin Erin. You enjoy it with a surprise phone call from Nashville with C-Line on the other end. You enjoy it with the Nubian Princess, The Meeks, & XRAY TED surprising you in the newsroom with a card, a song, and a nice cookie cake. It didn’t matter what assignment was thrown my way, nothing was going to put a damper on May 20th thanks to some really good people in my life.

With that let me say thank you to everyone. You are the best people anyone could have in their life. Y’all really know how to make someone feel special and a keep smile on my face from the time the sun rises all the way through the moon gracing the night sky. I love you all.

I look forward to celebrating with you next year and the many more to come after that, did you know?

Training Daze

You never know what will happen in the hall of the asylum. Today for example I stumbled on a training session involving our resident daredevil, Darin Erin, and the photographer for some of her adventures, xray ted. Looks like the start of spring football season had ignited a competitive fire between the dynamic duo.
Their first training session was a test of strength and leverage. Who could get out of a three point stance and lay the hit on their opponent. The only thing missing was the football coach to blow the whistle and get the drill going. Think it may have been a draw on this one. However this is a marathon not a sprint, more action was to come.
Next was the 40 yard dash, a test of explosiveness and speed. Mickey would be proud right now. Seeing Erin eat lighting and crap thunder preparing herself for the next challenge. I think she's going to run the steps of the Rocky movie now. I hope she dosen't pull a hamstring don't think there is a trainer on sight today.

Cross The Line - Part 3

Normally, after shooting a great wrestling show then hanging out with the lovely Velvet Sky, one of the TNA Knockouts, would be the icing on the cake. Turns out that was a close, and I mean close second.
What I was really waiting for was the chance to put this story together. I really needed to put this one together. I’ve been stuck in a serious rut lately. There have not been too many memorable stories to sink my teeth into. Mostly it’s been yellow crime tape, people sitting around tables, and bunch of talking heads. Maybe that’s why there is extra padding at the asylum.

I knew how I wanted to put this one together. The biggest challenge wasn’t going through all of the video or logging the sound, but convincing our resident daredevil to let me handle this one. Any other time Darin Erin would handle the editing duties but after some dealing I got to take the reins on this one.

It was a couple a late nights, a bunch of quick edits, and tweaks in the audio that lead to one cool piece of television. Stories like this are few and far between and I was glad to cross the line, did you know?

Cross The Line - Part 2

Normally when wrestling decides to pay the Raggedy a visit, I’m looking to score seats so close to the action that I could do a run in for one of the matches. However, the stars of TNA and a certain daredevil had other plans.
Turns out the promotion literary opened the doors for us. I’m guessing it is part of their act to be fan interactive. What would you expect when they are prominent on the social networks. Cranking out match by match results in the six sided ring while proclaiming to the world that the revolution of pro wrestling was upon us. This time they took it to the next level by offering Darin Erin a chance to manage one their top draws in the promotion. That meant that someone had to shoot the festivities. Looks like all the years of watching on television and the re enactments in the sports department were paying off.
It’s one thing to watch from the comforts of home or from seats in the arena. It is a different beast when you have to shoot all of the clotheslines and sleeper holds during the event. This wasn’t the first time I was up close and personal. I remember when members of the famous group called “The Band” traveled to Galliano, La., for an independent promotion from the swamp. Some local guys and gals from the bayou were looking to make their mark in the industry. There is a lot those performers have to go through. I wonder if any of theme are still at it and if they made it one of the other indy promotions. That day there were two photographers, XRAY TED and myself. This time I have to go solo but it was worth it.
Can’t give away any of the storyline right now. All I can say is that Darin Erin handled herself quite well. Now if you will excuse me, got to go to the edit bay since I have a lot of video to sort through, did you know?

Cross The Line - Part 1

There has been who’s who that has walked through the door of the Big Raggedy. A number of celebrities, countless politicians, and a ton of athletes have graced the padded walls of the asylum. Hell even the Saintsations have paid us a visit. I need to find that picture. Anyway, back to the entry.

Today was no exception. Turns out a new wrestling promotion, known as TNA, is doing a tour and the Raggedy, along with a certain dredevil, was in their sights. No sooner than you could put together a storyline with a few headlocks a plan was in the works for a weekend house show.

I’ll have more on this in another blog entry, did you know?