Saturday, June 25, 2005
Ruidoso, N.M.
I apologize for not having posted much to the unofficial site, and would again direct you to the official My America blog at:
www.courierpostonline.com/blogs/mccann_america.html
This town, in the southern mountains of New Mexico, is gorgeous. I would truly live here for at least part of the year, if given the chance. The only blemish on my stay, which has lasted a day and a half now, was a bit of nonsense I had to go through yesterday (Thursday). One of the editors wanted a photo of me either on the bus or getting on the bus, or near the bus, or standing on top of the bus, or under the bus (you get the picture) for a house ad. My mugshot, which runs with the stories and the official blog, was not good enough. I'm only venting, so there's no need to name the editor, other than to say it wasn't the sports editor. Anyway, I tried a couple of times Wednesday and Thursday to get this thing done, but the photo came out hopelessly blurry both times. I had hoped that this editor would understand that things don't always go perfectly, and if the photo for the house ad was the only fuck up, that's a good day out here. But I would be disappointed. The word came from New Jersey that the need for this piece-of-shit photo was imperative.
I need to set the scene a little bit:
When I got this phone call, I had just spent an hour lost in a strange town, dragging my bag up and down hills in an ensemble meant for an overly air-conditioned bus and not a sun-baked roadside. I had just checked into the hotel, and was busy staring at the ceiling, trying to decide whether to go straight to sleep at 10 a.m. or go out and see what I could see. I had not slept for more than a 30-minute stretch in over 48 hours. I had not eaten food in more than 24 hours. If someone could have explained to me the importance of this house ad, I might have given a rat's ass, but the reason I was given -- Editor X really wants it -- wasn't making a dent.
Anyway, I got up to do my duty. Unfortunately, the suffering wasn't over. You see, my journey from the bus station to the hotel did nothing for my bearings, and while I thought I knew exactly how to get back to the station, I actually had no clue. So ended up lost in the woods part of the way up a mountain, turning what should have been a one-mile, 20-minute walk into a three-mile, hour-long nightmare. Thanks to a true angel, bus station co-owner Vicki Lee, I was able to get the photo and send it back to South Jersey at about 6 p.m. EST.
Was the photo good enough? Did I make it in time? Will I have to go through this again?
Who knows. I haven't heard word one since sending it.
I don't really want this blog to be the place where I come to bitch with impunity, but I have just one more thing. Many of you know that a Philly-area cable network is doing a cross-promotional thing with the C-P, and I go on their morning show for a five-minute segment twice a week. The only 'Suggestion" I got from them after the first segment is that I take more photos to go along with the story so they can have something to slap up on the screen. Whatever. The next segment is Monday, so it will cover the Friday story and the Sunday story. The Friday story, about ex-con Juan Carmen starting life after prison, did not have a single photo. The dude wouldn't let me take one, and I wasn't going to argue with him. The next story I found was on the bus Wednesday. Her name is Johna and she's from Wichita Falls in North Texas. She grew up in foster homes, but eventually landed in a very loving family. She's now married to an Air Force major, with whom she has four kids, one of which just gave birth to her first grandchild six weeks premature. Until Sunday, the baby's life was in danger in a hospital in Dallas. Her youngest daughter is in a hospital with suicidal depression. Her sister is sick in Salt Lake City, and her mother in law is near death in Wichita Falls, and her favorite nephew said the only person he really wants at his wedding in Utah this weekend is her. This woman is a battle-tested warrior of life who is nearing a very deep breaking point. When I met her, she was on her way to Salt Lake, and I don't expect her to break. It would be tough to get all of her story into 20 inches or less, but I was resolved to try. Unfortunately, since I met her on the bus, I only got her head shot. To get much more, I'd have had to follow her to Utah, something I was not prepared to do.
So you see the dilemma. Two stories to talk about during Monday morning's cable segment, with one photo between them. Not what the suggestion had in mind. So I had to put the Johna story on the back burner and find something else, something shootable, which I did without too much trouble. I still want to do the Johna story, but Wednesday seems out since that story will be the only topic of the next cable segment. Then we're talking Friday, and by that time, we're horrible out of order, and I can only assume that other things will come up. If I can get it to run online only, maybe that's the way to go, but I don't want to forget about it.
This whole situation is but a symptom of this disease: the stories I find on the bus are not photo-friendly. And given the fact that the bus-found stories are one of the main reasons for the project in the first place, it seems kind of whacked to treat them like unwanted stepchildren in this way, effectively limiting them to one of three stories a week (since I need at least one art-heavy story to carry each of two weekly cable segments.) I honestly don't know what to do. I want the cable coverage, it's a great thing for everybody, but the idea of a TV show's priorities deciding the stories I write makes me sick to my stomach. I need to think about this more, then talk to PA about it Monday. Any "suggestions" would be welcome.
www.courierpostonline.com/blogs/mccann_america.html
This town, in the southern mountains of New Mexico, is gorgeous. I would truly live here for at least part of the year, if given the chance. The only blemish on my stay, which has lasted a day and a half now, was a bit of nonsense I had to go through yesterday (Thursday). One of the editors wanted a photo of me either on the bus or getting on the bus, or near the bus, or standing on top of the bus, or under the bus (you get the picture) for a house ad. My mugshot, which runs with the stories and the official blog, was not good enough. I'm only venting, so there's no need to name the editor, other than to say it wasn't the sports editor. Anyway, I tried a couple of times Wednesday and Thursday to get this thing done, but the photo came out hopelessly blurry both times. I had hoped that this editor would understand that things don't always go perfectly, and if the photo for the house ad was the only fuck up, that's a good day out here. But I would be disappointed. The word came from New Jersey that the need for this piece-of-shit photo was imperative.
I need to set the scene a little bit:
When I got this phone call, I had just spent an hour lost in a strange town, dragging my bag up and down hills in an ensemble meant for an overly air-conditioned bus and not a sun-baked roadside. I had just checked into the hotel, and was busy staring at the ceiling, trying to decide whether to go straight to sleep at 10 a.m. or go out and see what I could see. I had not slept for more than a 30-minute stretch in over 48 hours. I had not eaten food in more than 24 hours. If someone could have explained to me the importance of this house ad, I might have given a rat's ass, but the reason I was given -- Editor X really wants it -- wasn't making a dent.
Anyway, I got up to do my duty. Unfortunately, the suffering wasn't over. You see, my journey from the bus station to the hotel did nothing for my bearings, and while I thought I knew exactly how to get back to the station, I actually had no clue. So ended up lost in the woods part of the way up a mountain, turning what should have been a one-mile, 20-minute walk into a three-mile, hour-long nightmare. Thanks to a true angel, bus station co-owner Vicki Lee, I was able to get the photo and send it back to South Jersey at about 6 p.m. EST.
Was the photo good enough? Did I make it in time? Will I have to go through this again?
Who knows. I haven't heard word one since sending it.
I don't really want this blog to be the place where I come to bitch with impunity, but I have just one more thing. Many of you know that a Philly-area cable network is doing a cross-promotional thing with the C-P, and I go on their morning show for a five-minute segment twice a week. The only 'Suggestion" I got from them after the first segment is that I take more photos to go along with the story so they can have something to slap up on the screen. Whatever. The next segment is Monday, so it will cover the Friday story and the Sunday story. The Friday story, about ex-con Juan Carmen starting life after prison, did not have a single photo. The dude wouldn't let me take one, and I wasn't going to argue with him. The next story I found was on the bus Wednesday. Her name is Johna and she's from Wichita Falls in North Texas. She grew up in foster homes, but eventually landed in a very loving family. She's now married to an Air Force major, with whom she has four kids, one of which just gave birth to her first grandchild six weeks premature. Until Sunday, the baby's life was in danger in a hospital in Dallas. Her youngest daughter is in a hospital with suicidal depression. Her sister is sick in Salt Lake City, and her mother in law is near death in Wichita Falls, and her favorite nephew said the only person he really wants at his wedding in Utah this weekend is her. This woman is a battle-tested warrior of life who is nearing a very deep breaking point. When I met her, she was on her way to Salt Lake, and I don't expect her to break. It would be tough to get all of her story into 20 inches or less, but I was resolved to try. Unfortunately, since I met her on the bus, I only got her head shot. To get much more, I'd have had to follow her to Utah, something I was not prepared to do.
So you see the dilemma. Two stories to talk about during Monday morning's cable segment, with one photo between them. Not what the suggestion had in mind. So I had to put the Johna story on the back burner and find something else, something shootable, which I did without too much trouble. I still want to do the Johna story, but Wednesday seems out since that story will be the only topic of the next cable segment. Then we're talking Friday, and by that time, we're horrible out of order, and I can only assume that other things will come up. If I can get it to run online only, maybe that's the way to go, but I don't want to forget about it.
This whole situation is but a symptom of this disease: the stories I find on the bus are not photo-friendly. And given the fact that the bus-found stories are one of the main reasons for the project in the first place, it seems kind of whacked to treat them like unwanted stepchildren in this way, effectively limiting them to one of three stories a week (since I need at least one art-heavy story to carry each of two weekly cable segments.) I honestly don't know what to do. I want the cable coverage, it's a great thing for everybody, but the idea of a TV show's priorities deciding the stories I write makes me sick to my stomach. I need to think about this more, then talk to PA about it Monday. Any "suggestions" would be welcome.
