La Tomatina

Sunday was the La Tomatina tomato fight downtown to raise money for cancer research, so again I went to shoot video of it.

This time, I started shooting from up in the adjacent parking lot to get an overhead view before moving closer to the action.
These people are totally nuts.
I certainly didn't come home spotless, but I wasn't nearly covered like most of the people who participated. I did get hit in the back of the head with a whole tomato, and I can tell you it does not feel good. Then I became a target when people noticed I was both fairly clean and holding a camera.

I think next year I'll wear a helmet. And goggles.

It's that time of year again ...

Maybe next year

I tried to sign Scoop up for the Chihuahua races over the weekend. At first Auntie Mena told me it was wrong, but I convinced her that since it was for a good cause (funds raised went to SPCA) and since Scoop would dominate that it was a good idea. Once she was on board, I went online to sign Scoop up, but it was too late - sign-ups were closed. So I decided to go anyway and shoot some video. Next year, Scoop will rule the races (unless, of course, the qualifying interferes with the Derby party I also plan to throw next year!)

Here is the video:

Spring?

The morning after Easter we woke up to a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. I'm pretty sure this has been the Longest. Winter. Ever. Luckily, by mid-week, the temps were up in the 60s (heat wave!) and trees around town were spotted sprouting pink and white blossoms. It seemed as though Spring had finally sprung. The final piece of evidence came Thursday with the start of baseball season in Reno!
You may recall last year I was a little bummed to miss opening day, so I was pretty excited this week when I got to shoot the opener against Fresno, which the Aces won after 12 innings. Whoa!
Here is Chris, working hard in the press box ...
And here I am shooting some of the action. Hooray for baseball season!

P.S. It's currently 36 degrees and raining, with a chance of snow overnight.

Crossroads

This is me last night, getting in some reading in the Wolf Pack media room while I waited for the football game to end so I could shoot the post-game press conference for the RGJ. As I waited, I read about the Internet rendering newspapers obsolete. I thought it was a little ironic, but at the same time I thought about the press pass in my pocket. Soon, I will have to write a paper on how I think the Internet will ultimately effect journalism, and I think my theory is this (though it will obviously be fleshed out a little more): There is room for both professional journalists and "amateur" or "citizen" journalists to work together. Yes, a blogger sitting from home could easily write about the post-game press conference and generate a lot of hits and comments, but not just anyone can attend the press conference. Unless you are credentialed media, you have to wait for the press to report on the conference to write about it. Perhaps when we live stream on the Internet, or when TV broadcasts something live, we provide a shortcut to the "amateur journalist" - but in many cases they still look to us for the initial information. Last week, we read an example in a different book about the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond debacle in 2002, which led to his resignation as senate majority leader, in which traditional media largely ignored his racist statement until became a huge deal in the blogosphere. The thing is, the first blogger to take it and run with it read the quote in an ABC story. Because all those bloggers weren't at Thurmond's birthday party to hear the quote in the first place. Yes, there are some instances where everyday citizens can report on things just as well or better - taking photos of breaking news before media arrives, for instance - but I think there is room for both, a way to work together, to complement each other. Obviously, I don't have all the answers. But that is what I'm in school to try to figure out.

Ready for a nap

I was up early. Before the sun early. Way before the sun. Before 4. I went to the Great Reno Balloon Races. Me, and tens of thousands more people, all up before dawn, to see this:

Chris slept through it all. But it was pretty amazing to see. And, I think I earned the title multimedia reporter while I was at it. Want to see more? Photo gallery here, video here, story here. Now I'm going to take a nap ...

Dirty Job

I learned my lesson from the mud run, so for Saturday's La Tomatina en Reno tomato fight, I wore an orange swimsuit under a black tank top and black sweatpants. I think I can safely say that's the first time I've worn a swimsuit to work ... I was slightly concerned about my unprofessional attire, but once I saw even the local mayors were in sweats, I worried no more. Anywho, the tomato fight was crazy. Even the innocent bystanders spectating from a nearby parking garage got hit. It was nuts.

Tomatoes were flying everywhere ...

People were slipping and sliding, throwing, ducking .. and even dancing. Seems like everyone was having fun ... although for me, I was just worried about keeping my camera and my face safe - so it wasn't quite as fun. Someone even threw a tomato right at my lens. And I took a direct hit in the temple - you might be able see the orange in my hair. But considering what was going on, I came out relatively clean.