MySpace Blogs
This one is mainly for Mary, since she sounded so enthused to hear my fantastic stories of work. They're all behind the cut, unedited and full-on boring. Feel free to comment if you feel compelled :-) Just from the past two months, though.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Live, Day 2!
Hmm. Weird day today. Both of my live shots went... all right. But I think the most frustrating thing is not having a teleprompter. It feels like I'm improvising to no end and not really telling that much of a story. Just filling time, really. Go figure! I'm hired for my storytelling abilities, and I'm really just a photog with a suit on and the ability to say a few things in a weird tone of voice. That's a one-man band bureau guy for you.
However, I love the fact that I can goof around and have a blast and (for the most part) find the stories that matter to me. If I give them tons of little stories, they'll take them. If I tell them I'm going to package a big story, they'll take just that... unless I tell them about the other things going on during the day. That's why I've learned the art of limiting myself when it comes to telling the higher ups what I've found during the day. Mwah ha ha!
Anyway, that's all for today. Our bureau actually looks really slick now!
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Live, Day 3... Advice from the Dancer
Oh yes, my friends! You are absolutely right! Today was the day in which Rick Dancer called me up 20 minutes before I was due to go live today to give me some of his famed advice.
Now, before I tell you what he said today, let's review what he said last time we chatted about my performance.
"First of all, lose some weight. Start working out. You want your chest to be popping out so you look like you're the king of the newsroom. You ARE the news. Remember that. Second of all, you look dead out there. Wear powder, start getting make up on everytime you go on the air. You look awful without it. Okay, and finally, get a suit. I'm sick of that suit."
Okay, so I bought the suit, bought the powder, worked on my posture for a bit before I completely forgot about it and stopped worrying so much. And lo and behold, I suppose I must've fallen back into my old habits. Why's that? Rick's comments today:
"Ben, thank God you didn't fold your hands at the desk. You did the first day you went live -- it looks bad, it's distracting. Don't do it anymore. Okay, secondly, you look like you're slouching, like you're a little kid. You need to stick that chest out. Let me see that chest. It'll give you more prominence. Now, here's some advice -- before you go on the air, you need to tell yourself that you're the man. Write yourself a note and repeat this -- I'm not joking. "I'm Ben McKee, and I'm the man." Seriously, do it. It'll make so much of a difference. You have to tell the news. You have so much potential, and I want you to learn something, all right?"
...
"But don't overthink it. Just be yourself. Keep up the good work. See ya Ben."
I have no words.
Friday, November 04, 2005
All Right! Explosion!
Exploding trailers!!! Ted Kulongoski!
Tonight on Nine News at Five!
Let me just say, by the way, that Ronna Sweeney from KCBY is totally awesome.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
The Eugene / North Bend Dilemma
This weekend has been a strange one. Maybe because last weekend was so amazing, and now I'm seeking the same feelings that were just ridiculous only a few days ago.
I knew this time would come. The time in which I'd have to decide which place to start spending my weekends. Eugene versus Coos Bay... The Emerald City versus North Bend! AGH! Today was a day in which I looked for a car, returned something to Circuit City, and went out to eat with my brother. Then I come home, watch the Ducks game... and now I'm just bored out of my mind. Sitting, waiting, wishing if you will... wondering why I'm even here in Eugene. Damn, I really want to just buy a car. It's such a long process. UGH.
Anyway, sipping on my peppermint mocha (with sprinkles on it), I'm just kind of bummed out. You know that feeling of being a total loser when you have all the friends in the world, yet the stars just aren't right for a night or two and you end up having to sit at home alone? Yeah, that's tonight for you. And for some reason, it just gets to me. When I drive two hours to spend the weekend with friends, I want to see my friends... not talk to them on the phone. And yet, inevitably, that's what happens. Lots of chatting it up, planning some big thing to happen, only to find myself going to bed wondering what everyone else was doing.
Part of it might just be the fact that I miss Sarah. Hey, just cause we're not together doesn't mean I can't miss her. Afterall, we're close. Damn.
So now that I've whined and whined a bit more (man, the last two blogs have been completely EMO-city!), I'm going to close by saying that any man who gets sprinkles on their peppermint mocha is awesome. I was apparently the only one to do it today at the campus starbucks. Take that, you metrosexuals!
Friday, November 18, 2005
I hate shooting football!
It makes my shoulder hurt. Damn heavy camera.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
The Holidays and Work
Hmm. The past few weeks really haven't felt that bad at all. I must say, I think I'm starting to get adjusted to this whole working full-time business. And driving back and forth between Eugene and Coos Bay is still a pain in the you know what, but it's good to be so close that I'm able to come home or visit friends whenever I want to. Assuming I have the money for gas. So there really aren't too many complaints on my end!
Let's talk about Thanksgiving though. A time in which people find the excuse to plow down a ton of food because it tastes really, really good. Try this one on for size: leftovers, people! That food's not going anywhere! Spread it out over a couple of nights, and you'll enjoy it much more!!!
Wow, this has gotta be the most boring blog ever.
Oh, but here's an update for you: I have a car now. It's a 2000 Toyota Camry that only had 40K miles on it. I got it with an 8,000-dollar loan and a big pile of cash that was in my checking account. I'm struggling with funds just a smidge. Drivers insurance is a biotch at more than 150-dollars a month (that's what getting a loan from a credit union will do to you), but fortunately my family is helping me out a bit with the payments. Otherwise... well, it'd be a while before I see anyone who's not living in the fabulous Coos Bay / North Bend.
On that note, I have 3 hours of driving to do today, and I just woke up about half an hour ago. So adieu.
Oh, and if you want to know why my awesome KEZI pics left? Well... the company found out they were on MySpace and told me I needed to delete them, for I risked getting fired now that I'm working in the "corporate world." Others were warned too. Gosh, it was just for fun! But I'm not taking any chances... hence the reason this is not a public entry.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
A Day by the Bay
Well, I must say that this past month has definitely been the longest of all of the time I've been here. The upside of the past month is that it had a whole lot of delicious treats involved (of which included a turkey and several dinner rolls). The downside? Work's still got me down. I have a couple of good weeks, and a couple of really, really slow weeks. I guess it's just the nature of working in a business in which every day is completely new. I'm still getting used to it. And then I wonder how much more I can really learn from being out here for another 18 months.
I can't believe people have done this before. It kind of blows me away how someone can start up a bureau by themselves and live in the same place with no co-workers for 2 years. Two years isn't eternity, but it certainly isn't a walk in the park. I guess I can look at the positive and say, oh, I'm already a fourth of the way through my contract! On the other hand... man, that's a long way to go. And a lot to learn I'm sure before I'm ready to head to a larger market.
But seriously, I'm really sick of feeling like the news I'm covering isn't substantial at all. I know people appreciate what I"m doing here from talking to them about the coverage in Coos Bay on our newscasts, but enough with the stories about Christmas lights or discount drug cards or flu shots. Or recycling centers, "hit and runs" and icy roads. But hey, I can't force someone to get murdered or fall off of a cliff so I can package something newsworthy. And I know from the sound of it that Eugene isn't really doing that much better in terms of stories the photogs are having to cover...
On the other hand, I guess it's only really been a few months of Coos Bay news for me here. I really started "covering" this place at the beginning of October. Maybe there are a few fishing trips to go on in a big boat before I should throw up my arms in frustration and stop trying. But I really don't feel all that challenged as a journalist right now. And maybe that's the most frustrating part of the whole thing. I feel like the few chances I get to write turn into Rick Dancer rewriters, or even better, they're tossed into VO/SOTs for the sake of filling more time with sexual assaults and attempted rapes. And it's doubly frustrating realizing that my job isn't really to be a journalist as much as it is to be a "news coverer." There's no time to do real journalism or set-up great stories because I'm pushed to fill my day with teeny headlines in a newspaper instead of compiling interviews for my own top story. Okay, enough complaining.
With that, my day by the bay was one that made me feel a little pointless. I got to do a holiday video for KEZI's 45 anniversary party, and I also had the amazing opportunity to do a story about the world poker tour coming to Coos Bay and icy roads that had led to six car crashes.
I'm out. Enough whining. I'm getting paid to do all of this, I need to just keep reminding myself that...
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Party Weekend
WOO HOO! Wow, I haven't actually done this much dancing, drinking... and whathave you for a long, long time. And never before with people who I only knew related to work in the first place. So this has been quite the weekend. I don't know how Sunday could possibly measure up!
Okay, so Friday night was the company party for the station. I invited my brother along for the reason that he is one of my best friends, and there wasn't really anyone who I thought would've had a better time there than him. He had a blast, even though he probably felt a little left out. He enjoyed my dancing and seemed to find Derek Diedrich to be just about as hillarious in person as he is in his promo. So he found that to be quite amusing. Everyone was there dancing though, and most of us stayed until about 2:00am. PARTAAAY! Hell, I danced with Korenza Burris!!!! Who else can say that!?
Then there was yesterday. I headed back to Coos Bay because I hadn't been told about the "Peterson / Templeman" party that was in Eugene until I was already back at my apartment. But there was a reason for going back to North Bend! The KCBY girls had invited me to a housewarming party at an apartment just about a minute's walking distance from my apartment. Classic! So Ronna, Sabrina, Amber and a whole ton of people welcomed me into their arms of loving tv goodness, and we all drank quite a bit before heading out to one, two, three sketchy bars! How frickin' totally awesome. Lemme tell you Eugene guys: I'm not much of a Taylor's kind of guy. The reason? They're all packed with really gross people who wanna get some organ up in there. But imagine Taylor's without attractive people (besides, of course, the people that I was hanging around! :-D) and you'll get my idea of the dance club we went to. And when your slogan is, "Hottest Dance Club Bay Area The Underground," you know something's wrong. Hell, it's the only dance club over here.
But alas, the only one who would dance was Sabrina (yay sister!). After a few dances and inhaling far too much cigarette smoke, I was ready to head out. Sabrina called up her boyfriend and we got out of there around 1:30. I quickly disrobed and showered, because... wow. I must be spoiled, but I'm not used to smelling like smoke after hanging out in a public place. Maybe that's because Corvallis banned smoking. Heh. No chance of that happening here...
Anyway, I had an awesome time last night. It was so much fun. Seriously.
And now, I'm headed to church in an attempt to praise the Lord enough to get any remaining alcohol out of my system.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Live, Day 2!
Hmm. Weird day today. Both of my live shots went... all right. But I think the most frustrating thing is not having a teleprompter. It feels like I'm improvising to no end and not really telling that much of a story. Just filling time, really. Go figure! I'm hired for my storytelling abilities, and I'm really just a photog with a suit on and the ability to say a few things in a weird tone of voice. That's a one-man band bureau guy for you.
However, I love the fact that I can goof around and have a blast and (for the most part) find the stories that matter to me. If I give them tons of little stories, they'll take them. If I tell them I'm going to package a big story, they'll take just that... unless I tell them about the other things going on during the day. That's why I've learned the art of limiting myself when it comes to telling the higher ups what I've found during the day. Mwah ha ha!
Anyway, that's all for today. Our bureau actually looks really slick now!
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Live, Day 3... Advice from the Dancer
Oh yes, my friends! You are absolutely right! Today was the day in which Rick Dancer called me up 20 minutes before I was due to go live today to give me some of his famed advice.
Now, before I tell you what he said today, let's review what he said last time we chatted about my performance.
"First of all, lose some weight. Start working out. You want your chest to be popping out so you look like you're the king of the newsroom. You ARE the news. Remember that. Second of all, you look dead out there. Wear powder, start getting make up on everytime you go on the air. You look awful without it. Okay, and finally, get a suit. I'm sick of that suit."
Okay, so I bought the suit, bought the powder, worked on my posture for a bit before I completely forgot about it and stopped worrying so much. And lo and behold, I suppose I must've fallen back into my old habits. Why's that? Rick's comments today:
"Ben, thank God you didn't fold your hands at the desk. You did the first day you went live -- it looks bad, it's distracting. Don't do it anymore. Okay, secondly, you look like you're slouching, like you're a little kid. You need to stick that chest out. Let me see that chest. It'll give you more prominence. Now, here's some advice -- before you go on the air, you need to tell yourself that you're the man. Write yourself a note and repeat this -- I'm not joking. "I'm Ben McKee, and I'm the man." Seriously, do it. It'll make so much of a difference. You have to tell the news. You have so much potential, and I want you to learn something, all right?"
...
"But don't overthink it. Just be yourself. Keep up the good work. See ya Ben."
I have no words.
Friday, November 04, 2005
All Right! Explosion!
Exploding trailers!!! Ted Kulongoski!
Tonight on Nine News at Five!
Let me just say, by the way, that Ronna Sweeney from KCBY is totally awesome.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
The Eugene / North Bend Dilemma
This weekend has been a strange one. Maybe because last weekend was so amazing, and now I'm seeking the same feelings that were just ridiculous only a few days ago.
I knew this time would come. The time in which I'd have to decide which place to start spending my weekends. Eugene versus Coos Bay... The Emerald City versus North Bend! AGH! Today was a day in which I looked for a car, returned something to Circuit City, and went out to eat with my brother. Then I come home, watch the Ducks game... and now I'm just bored out of my mind. Sitting, waiting, wishing if you will... wondering why I'm even here in Eugene. Damn, I really want to just buy a car. It's such a long process. UGH.
Anyway, sipping on my peppermint mocha (with sprinkles on it), I'm just kind of bummed out. You know that feeling of being a total loser when you have all the friends in the world, yet the stars just aren't right for a night or two and you end up having to sit at home alone? Yeah, that's tonight for you. And for some reason, it just gets to me. When I drive two hours to spend the weekend with friends, I want to see my friends... not talk to them on the phone. And yet, inevitably, that's what happens. Lots of chatting it up, planning some big thing to happen, only to find myself going to bed wondering what everyone else was doing.
Part of it might just be the fact that I miss Sarah. Hey, just cause we're not together doesn't mean I can't miss her. Afterall, we're close. Damn.
So now that I've whined and whined a bit more (man, the last two blogs have been completely EMO-city!), I'm going to close by saying that any man who gets sprinkles on their peppermint mocha is awesome. I was apparently the only one to do it today at the campus starbucks. Take that, you metrosexuals!
Friday, November 18, 2005
I hate shooting football!
It makes my shoulder hurt. Damn heavy camera.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
The Holidays and Work
Hmm. The past few weeks really haven't felt that bad at all. I must say, I think I'm starting to get adjusted to this whole working full-time business. And driving back and forth between Eugene and Coos Bay is still a pain in the you know what, but it's good to be so close that I'm able to come home or visit friends whenever I want to. Assuming I have the money for gas. So there really aren't too many complaints on my end!
Let's talk about Thanksgiving though. A time in which people find the excuse to plow down a ton of food because it tastes really, really good. Try this one on for size: leftovers, people! That food's not going anywhere! Spread it out over a couple of nights, and you'll enjoy it much more!!!
Wow, this has gotta be the most boring blog ever.
Oh, but here's an update for you: I have a car now. It's a 2000 Toyota Camry that only had 40K miles on it. I got it with an 8,000-dollar loan and a big pile of cash that was in my checking account. I'm struggling with funds just a smidge. Drivers insurance is a biotch at more than 150-dollars a month (that's what getting a loan from a credit union will do to you), but fortunately my family is helping me out a bit with the payments. Otherwise... well, it'd be a while before I see anyone who's not living in the fabulous Coos Bay / North Bend.
On that note, I have 3 hours of driving to do today, and I just woke up about half an hour ago. So adieu.
Oh, and if you want to know why my awesome KEZI pics left? Well... the company found out they were on MySpace and told me I needed to delete them, for I risked getting fired now that I'm working in the "corporate world." Others were warned too. Gosh, it was just for fun! But I'm not taking any chances... hence the reason this is not a public entry.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
A Day by the Bay
Well, I must say that this past month has definitely been the longest of all of the time I've been here. The upside of the past month is that it had a whole lot of delicious treats involved (of which included a turkey and several dinner rolls). The downside? Work's still got me down. I have a couple of good weeks, and a couple of really, really slow weeks. I guess it's just the nature of working in a business in which every day is completely new. I'm still getting used to it. And then I wonder how much more I can really learn from being out here for another 18 months.
I can't believe people have done this before. It kind of blows me away how someone can start up a bureau by themselves and live in the same place with no co-workers for 2 years. Two years isn't eternity, but it certainly isn't a walk in the park. I guess I can look at the positive and say, oh, I'm already a fourth of the way through my contract! On the other hand... man, that's a long way to go. And a lot to learn I'm sure before I'm ready to head to a larger market.
But seriously, I'm really sick of feeling like the news I'm covering isn't substantial at all. I know people appreciate what I"m doing here from talking to them about the coverage in Coos Bay on our newscasts, but enough with the stories about Christmas lights or discount drug cards or flu shots. Or recycling centers, "hit and runs" and icy roads. But hey, I can't force someone to get murdered or fall off of a cliff so I can package something newsworthy. And I know from the sound of it that Eugene isn't really doing that much better in terms of stories the photogs are having to cover...
On the other hand, I guess it's only really been a few months of Coos Bay news for me here. I really started "covering" this place at the beginning of October. Maybe there are a few fishing trips to go on in a big boat before I should throw up my arms in frustration and stop trying. But I really don't feel all that challenged as a journalist right now. And maybe that's the most frustrating part of the whole thing. I feel like the few chances I get to write turn into Rick Dancer rewriters, or even better, they're tossed into VO/SOTs for the sake of filling more time with sexual assaults and attempted rapes. And it's doubly frustrating realizing that my job isn't really to be a journalist as much as it is to be a "news coverer." There's no time to do real journalism or set-up great stories because I'm pushed to fill my day with teeny headlines in a newspaper instead of compiling interviews for my own top story. Okay, enough complaining.
With that, my day by the bay was one that made me feel a little pointless. I got to do a holiday video for KEZI's 45 anniversary party, and I also had the amazing opportunity to do a story about the world poker tour coming to Coos Bay and icy roads that had led to six car crashes.
I'm out. Enough whining. I'm getting paid to do all of this, I need to just keep reminding myself that...
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Party Weekend
WOO HOO! Wow, I haven't actually done this much dancing, drinking... and whathave you for a long, long time. And never before with people who I only knew related to work in the first place. So this has been quite the weekend. I don't know how Sunday could possibly measure up!
Okay, so Friday night was the company party for the station. I invited my brother along for the reason that he is one of my best friends, and there wasn't really anyone who I thought would've had a better time there than him. He had a blast, even though he probably felt a little left out. He enjoyed my dancing and seemed to find Derek Diedrich to be just about as hillarious in person as he is in his promo. So he found that to be quite amusing. Everyone was there dancing though, and most of us stayed until about 2:00am. PARTAAAY! Hell, I danced with Korenza Burris!!!! Who else can say that!?
Then there was yesterday. I headed back to Coos Bay because I hadn't been told about the "Peterson / Templeman" party that was in Eugene until I was already back at my apartment. But there was a reason for going back to North Bend! The KCBY girls had invited me to a housewarming party at an apartment just about a minute's walking distance from my apartment. Classic! So Ronna, Sabrina, Amber and a whole ton of people welcomed me into their arms of loving tv goodness, and we all drank quite a bit before heading out to one, two, three sketchy bars! How frickin' totally awesome. Lemme tell you Eugene guys: I'm not much of a Taylor's kind of guy. The reason? They're all packed with really gross people who wanna get some organ up in there. But imagine Taylor's without attractive people (besides, of course, the people that I was hanging around! :-D) and you'll get my idea of the dance club we went to. And when your slogan is, "Hottest Dance Club Bay Area The Underground," you know something's wrong. Hell, it's the only dance club over here.
But alas, the only one who would dance was Sabrina (yay sister!). After a few dances and inhaling far too much cigarette smoke, I was ready to head out. Sabrina called up her boyfriend and we got out of there around 1:30. I quickly disrobed and showered, because... wow. I must be spoiled, but I'm not used to smelling like smoke after hanging out in a public place. Maybe that's because Corvallis banned smoking. Heh. No chance of that happening here...
Anyway, I had an awesome time last night. It was so much fun. Seriously.
And now, I'm headed to church in an attempt to praise the Lord enough to get any remaining alcohol out of my system.