Beltway VJ

And thats all folks

2006-11-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

Due to unforseen problems, this blog will temporarily be stopped ... if you know me and are interested in knowing why, please gimme a call. Otherwise, maybe ill be back up if we ever get on air

Costa Rica

2006-11-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Bleary-eyed and a touch out of it, and maybe with a little over exposure from the sun I walked into the office this morning ready to show the fruits of my four day rendeavous to Central America, and then it hit me ....

Standing on a cliff a hundred feet above Playa Hermosa, shooting the gorgeous sunset (INSERT PICTURE HERE, its coming guys ...) while sipping Imperial (cerveza de Costa Rica)I couldn't help but smile a little to myself as I took a quick second to think about my not so lucky cohorts running around the streets of DC. I quickly snapped back to reality, chugged my Imperial and drunkenly stumbled through the next four days, speaking terrible Spanish, shooting beauty shot after beauty shot, and checking out anything and everything possible around this nearly deserted alcove an hour from anything even slightly resembling a city.

I managed to jam nearly 4 hours and 50 gigs worth of video into this "vacation." Enough video from one camera for a 5 minute promotional video, and enough from my work camera for a nearly 10-minute piece about a Washington DC man, buying a mountain, and bringing a little taste of America to the beauty of Costa Rica. Interesting guy, interesting project, GREAT VIEW!

While there I come home to find we are now sans a producer and we may not go on air til God knows when. I would say it put a little damper on the vacation but really, who am I trying to kid. Hey, if this thing does go down the tubes, at least it will leave me a little more time to take some more well deserved "vacations."

16,000 Miles and Counting ....

2006-11-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

First off, I know I have been a little slow on the blogging trail, but things have been hectic around here. Between my foray to the bars and churning out story after story I've found little time to free my brain and write a few verses of prose here.

But a few days ago I had a fantastic opportunity to follow around a pair of women who will be traversing the United States ... just not in a way ever done before. Mrs. Priscilla and her daughter Sarah will walk the 16,000 miles it takes to trek from Key West, Fla. to the northern tip of Maine, across the Canadian border (litterally, through the North American outback), down the coast of California, and across the southern border, with a few trips to our southern friends, and finally two years later, they plan on arriving back in Key West, just a short 16,000 miles later. Craziness if you ask me ....

Walking for their own valition, these two women want to prove that little changes (insert sarcasm here) can make a big difference as they plan on losing 300+ lbs. between them. 16,000 really is a little change :). But they are great women who were engaging, friendly, and even invited me out for a quick bite after the last of their major training walks through the nations capital. Check back for updates, I guarantee, I'll have some fun tidbits for you.

As for whats on my plate next? Ill be spending the next four days on an all-expense paid (thanks IRS) trip to Costa Rica. You see, I will be following a local Washingotn D.C. orthdontist on a foray down to his new realty enterprise in the state of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, shooting a story for Fios 1 (our Verizon channel's name). Don't tell ole Uncy Sam that I may or may not write off this little excurision as a business expense, I mean hey, I am coming home with a seven plus minute story.

Anyways, I'll give the noggin' a little chance to relax, I know he's had a hard week ....

P.S. More updates on the project, my personal work, and the likes are forth coming.

My Apologies ...

2006-11-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't died, I haven't become one of those non-blogging bloggers, just being my first few weeks in DC, I've felt its been my civic duty to check out some of the local establishments, and low and behold to me, its two weeks later, and I've become one of those guys. For this I apologize, but I can't take all the blame, my friends Mr. Cuervo, Mr. Beam, Mr. Walker, or again Mr. Cuervo, have played an intricate role in my shrinking brain something or anothers, and my lack of a memory for a few days, but have no fear ....

I promise to bring you tales of blind mechanics, women walking around the perimeter of the United States, and local orthodontists taking over the real estate market in small third world countries, but for now, its me and my friends back to the tavern.

Its Tuesday night in the nations capital, what else would I be doing?

Furioua Political Forray

2006-11-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

Standing 10 blocks from the Washington Monument, 10 blocks from the Captial, and two feet from a congresswoman, I realized I may have just broken a promise. I'm not a man that regularly breaks promises, but this was one I knew I couldn't keep. Come to D.C. and stay out of the political scene, but more than that, come to DC and work in news and stay out of the elephant and donkey show? So what if I was ignorant enough to say I'd stay away.

No, I wasnt special enough to get into the den of the white house press room, but I did walk around with my first political dignatary. But in my defense, I spoke with the ONE Congresswoman that can't vote on the floor. Ahh, how I love DC. Ladies and Gentlmen, boys and girls of all ages, I give you Mrs. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congresswoman for the (non) state of the District of Columbia.

Boring news story about the National Mall bedamned I spent the day talking to a Congresswoman and following around a man giving a tour of our Nations Capital on a segue. Talk about lemons to lemonade, but its probably our last 75 degree day of the year, can you beat spending it running around after a mechanical bi-ped in the shadows of some of our greatest landmarks.

One promise I will make and keep ... this will NOT turn into a political blog PERIOD!

PS - Hope you all enjoy sweps, I know what I'll enjoy ... not having sweeps :)

Promo's and Dispelling Myths

2006-10-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

I never thought I'd be the one to shoot them none the less be a part of one, but there I was standing in front of the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue and a host of other national monuments gettin' my promo on.

There were no fancy lights, gimmicky graphics, or artist-like directors hanging over our shoulders, just an assistant producer, two VJ's and a catch phrase. It was fun, interesting and what I came away from it all with? I'm much happier being on the jaded, hawaiian-shirt side of the camera, and just letting my voice do a cameo or two here and there. Get ready for yours truly to be plastered across every TV screen in Ameri .... er Washingt .... er you get the idea.

And with all the ruckus, and correct me if I'm wrong D.C. local newsies, I'd be willing to bet none of you have even seen any of us VJ's roaming the streets, none the less taking up space in your local news stories.

Some of you have said that hyperlocal news is just a buzz word, or catch phrase, but I can tell you with five of us pumping out stories everyday, some good, some great, and some terrible, there is a strong definition to hyperlocal. There are tons of people with stories to tell, but between Captial Hill and grime and crime, local news misses these people, and THATS OK. Coming from local news and now VJing it up, i know that this type of journalism/news doesn't necessarily belong with local affiliates because thats not what you expect from the news, but it does hold a place in the newsisphere, the large city newsiphere that is.

What we are doing here is more 60 minutes-ish than local news. We are a daily newscast with stories that are timeless. If we pose a threat to anybody, it would be a threat to documentry style, people driven national tv shows, and why is this? Because we offer the local DC communinty compelling, controversial, interesting LOCAL people. Who identifies with millionaire coach Charlie Weis? Not me, but if I talk to the Wheaton (local HS) head football coach who is allowing a kid to play on his team who is standing trial on armed robbery and collusion charges, I bet you in DC would tune in to see why. All this hubbub and commotion is over nothing, there is and always will be a place for local news, there is just an expanding market for alternative news, we are meerly holding down our piece of the newsisphere. But don't worry for now its thanksgiving and you local newsies will always get that last piece of mama's pumpkin pie.

And maybe I'm a bit brainwashed from being a part of it all, but hey, just wait til you see that promo, Im gonna be on teevee!

Horse Masseuse

2006-10-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

I half expected to show up and see a hard plastic table, and white towel draped over his unmentionable's. No, not Jim Masterson the horse masseuse, but Harlem, the gentle gelding that was left to Jim's magic hands. Now, I'm no horse whisperer, but when I heard this equine aficiando ask his patient to turn and cough, I was suspicious ... wouldn't you be?

You see Jim, has a nice back story, the kind of feel good crap you might find on Lifetime (I secretly just threw up a little in my mouth mentioning said network, I tell ya, ex-girlfriends continue to haunt you years after your through with them.) Sorry, back to the story, so Jim has a good back story, but you won't hear about it in this post, because I'm sure you're still hung up on the fact that there is such thing as a HORSE MASSEUSE? It took me some time to come to grips with it too, but hey, this is the world we live in right?

Prior to competitive jumping or racing, Jim gets with the horses, and when I say gets with them, I mean he is in tune with this horse. The littlest blink of the eye, shifting of posture, or even tongue action ... thats right I said tongue action, see this equestrian mare's magic hands yearn to evoke the slightest sight of said pink and brown speckled organ. Sure having a horse fall asleep at your touch strokes the ego, or having him neigh like there's no tomorrow would be nice, but Jim's pinnacle lays firmly planted between Mr. Ed's giant lips.

The fact that I feel relatively in touch with Harlem on this day makes me a little uncomfortable, but having him rest his giant hulking head on my shotgun mic and having Jim yell out in triumph that he just reached Zen with this guy really made me feel like the odd man out of a tw- man menagerie. But Mr. Masterson was a master of the sound bite, and for that I couldn't complain too much.

Where else can you work for a day and step away knowing that the most uncomfortable moment of the day wasn't when a man, told a horse, to turn his head and cough.

Better yet, what other job ... sure beats sitting behind a desk all day

STFD

2006-10-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

While everyone critical of the VJ model goes into exasperating detail about the, to create a word uniquely mine, overworkedness and hurriedness of said journalist (or should I say film-maker), I found it interesting the Rosenbloom motto is STFD .... SLOW THE F*CK DOWN. Interesting huh?

With Verizon bureaucracy in full effect, our launch date, and thus when stories will be available to you, has been pushed back to the end of November, and thats just fine with me, as I'm sure (any of) you can attest, it takes time to hone your craft ... and hey, five of us are responsible for 22 minutes of content daily, we've got to have some bank of stories to draw from on those slow days.

I've fielded questions from:

how its going to be available?

A: Verizon FIOS is currently being broadcast from sea(ttle, Wa.) to shining sea ... literally

where can we see it

Aside from FIOS, it will be available on the Verizon web site (will provide link when I can) and through V-Cast on cell phones, blackberry's and any other handheld device you could think of.

and finally why the hell did they hire you?

The brains of the operation must have taken that day off.

Sorry its not a more rousing post, I figured I'd get some of the logistics out of the way, so you can all rest easier tonight ... But I leave you with a question, how would you feel about focusing your journalistic talent into four-minute feature films?

Arriving in Arlington ...

2006-10-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

The Washington Monument whizzed by, the Kennedy Center steadily shrunk in my rearview mirror and the Potomac River dissapeared beneath my tires, as I approached my new logo'd home, aptly located next to the courthouse, and minutes from a smorgasboard of culinary delight, a feeling of calm came over me.

While finding the new digs was easy, dealing with rent-a-cops proved much more difficult. I know media folk are supposed to deal with this seedy side of the "law", but at YOUR OWN OFFICE??? After an hour or so of hagling, the crew and myself finally made it to our ninth floor palace (or conference room whichever you prefer). As I passed the hard-nosed hooligans, that tried to pre-empt "the future of local news" (please accept my grain of salt, thank you) I saw a familar red patch, SECURITAS?!?! The rent-a-cop Securitas scheme/scam bamboozled my old logo'd haven good, I didn't think they could get media mega kingpin Verizon too. The Securitas I knew had walki-taki's, watched tv, and proved to be nothing more than human trip wires, while these guys may as well have been protecting Fort Meade. Someone needs to buy the sales team at Securitas a margarita, or corona at the very least.

But I digress ....

I know you probably came here looking to get the gory details of the first day, but being a man who shy's away from first impressions, I'll save that for another day. I will say I'm a touch dazzled by the brand spanking new P2's, and 17-inch Mac G4 Powerbooks we got. Feel free to dab at the drool on your keyboard, I know I'm having a little trouble keeping it under control.

The biggest thing I got from day one: There's nothing better than the freedom of feeling the wind in your hair, and not having it be at the whim of some scanner seeking supervisor.

I have a feeling I'm going to like this job, yes sir I am ... maybe I'll order up that margarita.

Cheers!

Video Journalist

2006-10-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, breathe ... Take a second and let it sink in, let your jets cool, your blood come to a slow simmer. Still not relaxed, maybe this will help you, for the rest of you read on ... (Please?)

Hi, my name is Mitch and yes, I am a VJ. Before all fruits, vegetables and who knows what else goes airborne, let me start off by telling all of you, I'm not here to hurt you, not even a little. I'm not here to take your job, or ruin your craft, or even fuddle around in your news conferences, I think we all know I'll be steering clear of most of these.

Being a rather uncontroversial fellow, it almost pains me to be knee-deep in a polemical quarrel of Titanic (no pun intended) proportion, but ahhh, the life we choose.

Concerning local, and now "hyper-local news", photojournalists (the guys with the wild hair, unkempt countenance, and fancy cam's) feel they're getting the perverbial short end of the stick. Guys like Michael Rosenblum (again, breathe, try Lamaze, word on the street is it works great), are changing the way SOME local news is being created, and its got some panties in bunches, eyepieces being readjusted, and a few news directors brains a stirrin'.

I'm not going to go into the specifics, as I'm sure anyone who's bothered to stick around to this point probably knows the gory details, but in case your interested here's an All Thing's Considered NPR audio snipet (Thanks Stew).

We here in the nation's capital start tomorrow. I'm optomistic we'll find our little piece of pie and until then you know we'll be scurrying around, turning lemons into lemonade, just like the rest of ya, and I'll wait for the viewer(s) to decide if we're any good. But before you judge us, look around your shop and I bet you'll see a few VJ's, disguised as photojournalists. I know I worked with one hell of a photojournalist, that happened to be a pretty good story teller, and under a shaggy exterior wasn't too bad on the little screen either, or so I'm told. But hey, I worked with the best ... literally. Why I left, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but who among us isn't?

We start tomorrow eh? ... maybe I should try some of that breathing stuff...