Hockey lovin'

Last night Lori scored tickets to the Alaska Aces hockey game. The Aces are a minor league hockey team, playing in the ECHL and are playing in the first round of the playoffs against the Las Vegas Wranglers. 

How Lori came into possession of these tickets is an interesting story. It all started when she received an email from the producer of a morning local radio show a couple of weeks ago. The producer asked Lori if she would be a guest on the show. After some thought, she agreed. Come to find out, the purpose of her going on the show was for Bob, of the Bob and Mark show on KWHL, to be able to meet her in-person. He had seen her on air, reporting the news and thought she was beautiful. Thankfully for him there is DVR in this world, and he kept fast-forwarding and rewinding in slow motion, trying to see if she had a wedding or engagement ring on her finger... He was pretty sure that she didn't, and he decided that she had to be a guest on his show. 

From what I understand, the show went well and Lori had a good time with lots of laughs. Fast-forward to the recent few days and you have a smitten Bob Lester texting and calling Lori every day. Hence, the Aces tickets. Not only is Bob a radio personality, he is also the PA Announcer for the Alaska Aces games. He left two tickets for Lori at Will Call, and she asked me to go with her. 

We arrive at the Sullivan Arena, home of the Alaska Aces and the Alaska Wild (of the arena football league), just before game time. As we are waiting in the lobby of the arena in a line to pick up the tickets, things go eerily quiet. What's happened? Is everyone OK? Did something happen? The constant hum of conversation, and the distant cheering of pumped up fans awaiting the first home playoff game of the season are hushed. Then, I hear why. The Star Spangled Banner is being sung. Things at the arena simply stopped for the duration of the song. The employees stopped searching for tickets for people, the ticket takers stopped scanning tickets, the fans entering the building immediately sensed what was going on and quietly let the doors shut behind them, people wearing hats took them off and held them over their hearts. Being there in that moment, I felt patriotic and proud that people had that much respect for our country's National Anthem. Over the years of working at Fenway, the Control Room staff recognized the song similarly, always standing, the silence among the singing broken only by the voices of the TD and Producer giving directions over headset. Other parts of the Park did not share the same level of respect. I can remember being out on Yawkey Way or in the cafeteria, and other places, where life continued on as though the song was not being sung, even though it was in the same building and could be heard. 

This is one of the things that I really like about Alaska. People here are respectful and mindful of others.

The night continued on for Lori and I by sitting in seats that were two rows from the ice and next to the Aces' bench. There was a lot of action going on the ice around there, and after a little while I started cheering for the hometown team, which was weird, because I don't know the first thing about them. The fans that were there were really into the game...and they all brought their cowbells...it was so frickin' loud. There was a family of three in front of us that was obnoxious as all heck, and really passionate. I was praising them and cursing them at the same time. I thought it was great to see them so into the game, the team, and the atmosphere...but at the same time their cowbells and the stomping of their feet LOUDLY and forcefully on the aluminum flooring of the seating bowl was deafening and actually hurt my ears.

Lori and I ended up leaving after the second period, with the Aces losing 4-1 at the time. I would have loved to have seen the rest of the game. I've always felt weird leaving a sporting event, or any event for that matter, early.  It's as though what you've been rooting for, hoping for, becomes pointless. The rug taken out from under your feet. What was the point of expelling all of that emotional energy for the past hour or so if there is no payoff? Even if the payoff is a loss, there is a payoff, a conclusion, closure. So I'm lacking that closure from last night...thank goodness it wasn't a Red Sox game we were leaving early from! 

Part of the reason why we left early was so that we could get some food, as neither of us had eaten supper yet. We went to a restaurant called the Bear's Tooth, which had food that was pretty darn good. Bob, the gentleman who gave Lori the tickets, met up with us at the restaurant after the game and continued to entertain us into the night. Bob has ADD and is a constant ball of energy, with little explosions of detoured conversations every thirty seconds or so. All the while Lori is laughing and I'm sitting there wide-eyed in disbelief. He is completely smitten with her. It should be really interesting to see what happens with this new relationship. Will Bob get bored with Lori, who happens to be spoken for? Will Lori succumb to his advances? It is all just for the fun and love of entertainment at the moment. We'll see how things progress. 

The Aces lost to the Las Vegas Wranglers, 5-2. The team is down 3-0 in a 7 game series. If they lose tomorrow night, their season is over. And, if any of you are at all curious, yes, Bob has already invited Lori and I to the game...too bad I'm working nightside tomorrow night. 

Temperature update: 34 degrees and cloudy

Alaska trivia: In 1915 the record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon.   The record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.

17+ inches later...

Last night, after work, around 11:20p.  

Darn good thing I took the news vehicle home, because I'm not convinced that the Volvo would have made it into my parking spot. As it was, when I was at work, I had to park the Volvo in a designated area so the parking lot could be cleared... It took me about 25 minutes to do that, repeatedly driving, then digging myself out. I was driving through snow that was above my bumpers.

My knees.

Post-snowfall

I'm not sure what the official total is from this snowfall, but I do know that we got at the very least 17 inches. I'm going to guess that the grand total is somewhere around 12-14 inches. 

Once again.

Much of the week we've been lucky with weather in the 40's and 50's...and today I awoke to snow accumulation. What gives??  "Welcome to Alaska"

---

Hope this pictures give you an idea of the personalities I mentioned in a previous post...

[Self portrait, M.N.]

Alyeska

A little catching up to do:

The end of last week ended well considering how the beginning went. I was on-call all last week, until this morning. I got called out just once and that was for a story about three bears who were leaving the Alaska Wildlife Conservation for the Minneapolis Zoo. I ended up having to put the story together as a NatPack - a natural sound story. This is a story that is carried by subject interviews and the natural sound of the story; no reporter track. I'm not sure how much longer the video is going to be up on our website, but if you go to ktuu.com and look through the flash player on the home page, you'll see a story called "Portage Bears Migrate South". It's not the greatest by a far stretch, but at the very least it was really good practice for me having to think like a reporter and covering all the bases of a story by myself. It was a bit stressful considering the time constraints faced, but all in all I was able to get it to air; that's the most important thing.

This past weekend was a busy one. It was J-Week (Journalism Week) for the Alaska Press Club. Saturday was a day full of presenters and professional learning seminars. My day started with listening to Scott talk about Video Basics, then on to Mr. Boyd Huppert, a reporter at Kare11, and his presentation on Visual Storytelling. I've been to several presentations by Boyd over the past couple of years and every time I attend his sessions I learn something new. He is a wealth of knowledge with his craft and is tops in the country for his profession. Later on in the day I was able to sit in on a lighting presentation by Clark James Mishler, and yet another session hosted by Mr. Huppert. All in all, it was a superb day of learning and professional growth.

Sunday morning was a spillover of Saturday's events with yet another presentation by Boyd. This one focused on storytelling as a team. It was really good to see so many of my co-workers there, as there have been some issues recently with the reporter-photographer relationships at work. Boyd had great things to teach us about about the "marriage" and the "dancing" that is involved while reporters and photographers are out in the field. I took lots of notes!! 

After the Sunday session, Scott, Boyd, one of my co-workers and myself went to Mount Alyeska. It was Boyd's first time to Alaska and Mount Alyeska was the point of destination to show him the magnificence that is the state. I wish that I had brought my still camera so that I could post some pictures here of that trip. The co-worker who joined us on the trip, and myself, are planning a return trip to the mountain to take some photographs and to enjoy the view again. It is absolutely stunning. 

After spending a brief time on the top of the mountain, we met up with a couple of other co-workers and went to a restaurant called the Double Muskie. The food was really good, however pricey. 

Moving on to stories that I've been planning on writing about for several weeks now but have been sidetracked for one reason or another...

Three weekends ago now one of my co-workers and I thought it would be a good idea to go skiing. It was only her second time going ever, and my first. We had a blast even though we didn't really know what we were doing. We took a lesson with Nurse Nancy and from then on out we just tore it up. We had such a good time!!  We even talked about getting our own gear and trying to sneak in another day on the slopes before the mountain closed for the skiing season.  

photo credit: L.T.

On a side note real quick, my good friend Justin suggested that I try an online photo album for all of the pictures that I take here. I've decided to go with Picasa. Instead of the long line of pictures that take up a lot of space here on my blog, you can click on these links to see my pictures. Please let me know if there are issues with the links or pictures. 

Alyeska Trip 1

Based upon the success of the first trip of skiing on Mount Alyeska, we came up with the keen idea of making another trip.  Let me just preface this with an "oh dear". 

This trip involved the same co-worker as before (Lori) and myself, along with another co-worker whom had never been skiing before. Three of us total, with a combined skiing time of roughly 17 hours. Luckily for our co-worker who's first time it was, we were able to meet up with an acquaintance of Lori's: Tall Paul. Tall Paul has been skiing for over 30 years, and let me tell you, he was a HOOT. A real character. He was a lot of fun, and very helpful...for the most part... He joined us early in the day and was able to provide us some tips for further success on the mountain...  After a couple of hours of warming up on the "easy" slopes of Chairs 3 and 7 on the mountain, we broke for lunch. During this time, Tall Paul was able to convince me that it would be a good idea to go to the top of the mountain for a trip down the "intermediate" slopes of Alyeska. Sure thing, I thought. Why not, I was having a blast and felt that no matter what the slope was, he wouldn't be putting us at risk, and I felt it would be a grand adventure for me to take advantage of...  Lori, after some thought and reluctance, decided to join us.  Our co-worker whom was trying to feel her feet again after being strapped in ski boots for the first time, decided against the idea of going out again. She had had enough for the day. 

So off were Lori, Tall Paul and myself up the side of Mount Alyeska. To get to the very top, we had to take two chair lifts. The first chair dumps you off about 3/4 up the mountain and you ski down a little ways to reach the second chair that will take you to the very top.  So as Lori, Tall Paul and I are slowing climbing along the mountain in the chair lift, Lori and I are realizing just how high we are. By the time we reach the end of that first lift, I'm intimidated by the view and the height. The vastness of the mountain is overwhelming!!  Lori seemed to have chilled out a bit after the ride up, as I took her picture with Tall Paul and a beautiful view of Girdwood, the mountains and Cook Inlet at their backs. As I hand Lori her camera back and she turns around to take in the view....that did it. She froze and said I'm not going anywhere. I think it was her reaction to our location that calmed down my own nerves. From that point on what should have taken us, considering our skill level and the terrain of the mountain, roughly 35 minutes or so to get down the mountain....Lori had other plans. TWO hours later, the three of us rendez-vous'd at the bottom. It took us that long to get Lori down the mountain. Lori's trip down included skiing, walking, being dragged by her boot, being carried by Tall Paul, and finally, being picked up by the Medic Squad when she sat down and refused to get up, that there was just no way, no how, not that afternoon, not ever was she going down the mountain without the help of the Medics transporting her down in tow. Lori, I'm sorry I laughed, just as I'm sorry I'm laughing as I type this!!  ...as for myself...after I relaxed from taking in the view and just how high, open and intimidating the mountain was, I was able to feel confident about getting to the bottom. My methods down the slope included skiing, tumbling, and sliding feet first on my belly. It was pretty freakin' hilarious - every time I landed hard, I laughed even harder! I even lost my skis twice!  It was embarrassing, a challenge and a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again, and to do it better. 

Alyeska trip 2

Temperature update: 40 degrees and fair. Sunset: 9:43p; sunrise: 6:15a

Alaska trivia:  Mount Alyeska elevation - summit: 3,939 ft; base: 250 feet; vertical Rise: 2,500 feet.

Getting better

Most of today was a hangover from yesterday.  Tomorrow should be spectacular.

"...in a trail of excellence, is better than being in the fast lane of a road to nowhere".

~Cousin David.

For Mama Birch...who has seen snow before...

Apparently I need to update this thing more frequently!!  That's a good thing - that means it's being read. Thank you  :)

Well, today is as good a day as any to talk about. Normally I try to post about positive happenings. I knowingly ignore and neglect to write about many of the struggles that I've faced since being here. My blog isn't here to be my wining post; I don't want it to become a complaint factory. Nor do I want it to become a cause of worry for some people back home. I realize that not everything in life is grand and glorious, there will always be ups and downs, good with the bad, insert other appropriate cliches here... Clinging cautiously here to my journalism background, here's a day of truth about my downs. 

This morning I arrived to work at the sometimes usual time of 9am. It's April 14th and the NPPA Quarterly Clip Contest submissions are due. This contest judges your work against other photographers/editors throughout your region, on a quarterly timetable. Based upon the whirlwind transitions I've been going through, which by the way feel like going through the entire cycles of puberty and menopause at the same time in just two months... I am nowhere near ready technically or psychologically to be submitting for this contest. I don't think this was evident to people based upon the course of events from this morning. 

Because we were all submitting to the contest last minute, everyone was rushed trying to quickly snag the best of their stuff from the past four months to get it onto tape in time to be in the mail postmarked with today's date. My boss was walking briskly from edit bay to edit bay, from one end of the newsroom to the other, getting everything ordered and together. He's a crafty fellow, for as he is multitasking and walking briskly, he is asking me what I want to submit (assuming the sale, if you will). I decline to enter anything this quarter and am immediately told that "I should" and "why not", to which I reply "I don't have anything worth submitting", to which he replies "you have to make the other guys work for their points". Well, as one can imagine, this went back and forth a bit. Finally, because I don't want to disappoint nor do I want to become the black sheep, I struggle to find two stories to add to the bunch. Neither of those stories were ones that I was proud of. In fact, I don't think I've done any stories that I am proud of. I'm glad that I'm getting better and learning something new every day, but there is not one story that I feel solid about. I know that part of this is me being hard on myself. Another part of it is that I'm just not there yet. Plain and simple. I didn't want to enter, period. 

Now for whatever reason this happened, I honestly couldn't tell you. I'm still shocked at how I felt after this showdown.  I immediately got into a strong funk. And man, I shot like CRAP today. My psyche just took a complete nosedive and I struggled the rest of the day (and still am actually) to get my mental state back to where it was when I first arrived at the station this morning. It's the oddest thing that happened. It was like the whole scenario of submitting work that I was not comfortable with to be judged regionally just tore down whatever confidence I had been able to build up to at that point...and I'm still trying to get it back. Is any of this making sense at all...?  I don't understand it. 

With the exception of most of Saturday, the entire weekend I was itching to get back to work. I was bored and lonely and just wanted to be doing something worthwhile to me. And that meant being at work. I even had a hard time falling asleep last night because I was looking forward to what today was going to throw at me.

Maybe that's what it was - I had worked myself up all weekend to just get back to work, that when something at work happened that I hadn't planned on, something other than working with a reporter, shooting or editing, I crumbled...?  Isn't that weak?  If not, what is it?  What happened? I'm telling you my excitement and enthusiasm was just gone for the entire day. Even just talking on the phone with a good friend of mine this evening was a forced good mood. I didn't feel right - I didn't feel quite myself.

I hated it.

I need to be more resilient than this. I need to suck it up. I need to move on. Things like this cannot affect the work I need to be producing. I'm a weakness on the photography staff and a pothole on their trail of excellence. I can't let this happen again. It is mind over matter. 

I've had one other mental funk since I've been here that was close to being this strong. Other than that I've had little ones here and there that I know are just homesickness. I think the big difference with today was that it was a direct, work-related issue.

I don't know what to call this one.

With all of that out in the open now, I'd like to say that I do want to actively be a part of the Quarterly Contest. I think it is truly worthwhile and a good way to gauge the work I'll be producing. I'm looking forward to being at a point next quarter where I will be submitting and feeling comfortable doing so. Should be fun!!          

...if this post is a newscast, that was the kicker.

Temperature update:  37 degrees and mostly sunny; feels like 31 degrees

Alaska trivia: The Alaska Highway was originally built as a military supply road during World War II

Today's sunset: 9:21p - Tomorrow's sunrise: 6:37a

My next post will be another example of the struggle of mind over matter.