Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Spring Break


Last week was my 5-year-old daughter's first spring break. We took it upon ourselves to make it to Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, Lauren became sick on the 10 hour drive to the Sunshine State. A couple of days of doing her best to get through Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were enough.

If you'd like to see how Lauren suffered through with a half-smile on her face you can check out the pics on my Flickr site.


Caroline loved every minute of it, seen here meeting Chip and Dale with her big sis.

After we made it home, it was Caroline's 2nd birthday. Lauren was just as excited and made her a little gift. I guess Caroline wasn't so impressed.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Hardest Workers in Television

Lenslinger and TVPhotog have posted some pictures of our gathering at the station for a photo op. I'll post a couple of pics of the occasion but they have many more. It seems they must have more time than I to spend away from work plugging away at the keyboard.


Our General Manager, Karen Adams, and News Director, Karen Koutsky made it in for one picture.


Before taking the group photo, everyone was hanging out and catching up on war stories.

Esteemed sports photog Timmy Hawks is always a great "sport" when it comes to well, just about everything. This guy has been at FOX 8 for about 20 years and everybody knows him by name... even if he only calls you, "hey guy!


Stewart "Lenslinger" Pittman was on hand capturing images of.... um, feet? Maybe it's those long trips to LA that have his bearings off kilter.

Chris "TV Photog" Weaver was on hand to document the moment with his trusty XD cam. Maybe we'll see a promo airing on FOX 8 soon?

Monday, March 13, 2006

Station of the Year

I have to pat ourselves on the back a little and give a shoutout to my fellow photographers. FOX8 WGHP is Medium Market Station of the Year by the National Press Photographer's Association (NPPA). You can view the entry here. It's been real busy lately both professionally and personally so I'll probably post more later but suffice to say, we're all very proud of what we do here at FOX 8 News.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Exclusive

It's been a busy week of exclusives for Brent and me. You know, those Only on Fox stories all those in television news strive for. Oh sure, sweeps are over, but it's always nice to bag the exclusives.

I heard through the grapevine that our new Dell plant was planning on building servers soon. In addition to the desktop computers already being built at the W-S 1 plant, the capacity to build servers will give them options if something happens at the facility in Austin, Texas.




So, Brent and I went to the plant Monday afternoon to talk with Dell about the latest upgrade in their plant. We also talked about the early success of the Winston-Salem facility. We talked to a worker who had been laid off from 3 places in the past four years. She's now working at Dell and it looks like she's not going anywhere anytime soon.

It's nice to see how Dell officials are handling us in the media at this plant. I remember when Brent and I went to the plant in Lebanon, Tennessee. We visited not long after the announcement that Dell had chosen North Carolina for its newest production plant. We got a tour of the plant and a first-hand look at how they do things. But, I was told where and what I was allowed to shoot. "Don't point that way," and "you can't tape from up here," were common phrases uttered from our tour guide. Not that we have all-access at W-S 1 but it certainly was easier to shoot video without someone constantly in my ear yappin' about legal issues. It is quite a sight to see thousands of computers rolling off the assembly line at record pace.

Tuesday brought a tip from our friends at Old Salem. The old Coca-Cola plant close to the historical downtown attraction was being sold to developers to build some new townhomes and live-work space. Some of them will have retail type space on the bottom and livable units on top. The old Coke plant will be torn down, not a problem since the 1960's architecture left a little to be desired.



And then today, Brent got a call from one of his Davie County contacts. It seems the old Confederate Flag that has flown for about a decade on the Forsyth-Davie county line is coming down. You see Bert put up the flag to protest urban sprawl. Kinderton, a new housing community was set to start and Bert didn't like it. He wanted to keep Davie County the small farming community it was. So he put up the flag and there it has flown for all to see driving along Interstate 40 since then. But tomorrow afternoon, it comes down. A local soccer association is looking at putting playing fields and a park in the space so Bert agreed to take down the flag. He agreed it touched many people in different ways, some liked it, some hated it. He said, "at least I didn't put a picture of Muhammad on there." I guess it takes all kinds to make this world go around, huh?

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Mmmmmm, Sushi

It's no secret among those who know Brent and myself, we make time to eat lunch. Contrary to the usual news crew drive-through, scarf-it-down-while-driving lunch ritual, we sit down and enjoy ourselves. Our newest spot is one we're now hitting a couple of times a week. Sakura Japenese Steak and Seafood has great Hibachi dishes among others but it's something else that keeps us coming back.


The freshest sushi in the area is second to none. We've tried several in the area and have settled on Sakura because, well, it's the best. Sakura's owner, Dori, told us the secret to fresh sushi. Most get their fish from a distributor who drives in and delivers to each individual restaurant. Sakura goes a different route. A plane flies into Smith-Reynolds Airport several times a week and Dori goes and picks up the fresh catch herself.

The Winston-Salem Journal food critic, The Dinner Belle, recently gave Sakura a nice review, but I'd go a little higher on the rating. Maybe the Belle doesn't appreciate good Sushi.


The Wake Forest Roll, just another name for a spicy tuna roll, is one of the top choices on the menu. The Dragon Spider roll is another one for those willing to live a little. Of course, if you're not willing to go out on the edge you can play it safe with the Philadelphia or California rolls. It's all fresh, and all great.