Eff This

How often do you get sick of your daily routine? I'm pretty easy to please and my work schedule is nuts, so I don't get sick of mine very often but I imagine your run of the mill banker or office worker often sits in their cubical and wants to get up, hop in the car, drive to the airport and go somewhere far, far away on a regular basis.

Enter Matt Pedigo and Drew Hunt. Matt grew up in rural Kentucky, was a Marine and eventually ended up shooting tape in Reno and Knoxville before Covering the Carolinas for WSOC. Drew hails from Savannah and is an enormous UGA and Panthers fan who shot news in his hometown before making his way to WSOC a few years ago. Oh yeah, Drew also was a professional wrestler who has more than one belt. Two great dudes who are good enough friends they decided to rid themselves of local television news and skip town.

Leaving Charlotte wasn't quite far enough. Leaving North Carolina wasn't far enough. These two bought a one way ticket to Ireland. Next Sunday they'll land in Dublin, spend a couple of days sampling the locals and the local beverages before they start walking. They'll probably hitch a ride here and there, but for the most part, they'll lug big assed backpacks around the country for a while, then make their way through various other parts of Europe relying on their friendship and the kindness of strangers for survival.

Matt just got back from shooting a documentary in The Republic of Congo and Drew sold his condo and truck so they have nothing American to worry about while they're over there.

When I see people I know doing stuff like this, I always wonder if I could do it. I'm not sure I could, even when I was single. Let's be honest. It takes enormous balls to say, "Eff this, let's go backpacking!" That's exactly what Matt and Drew are doing. I'm impressed and happy for them. It's always nice to see folks who used to do what I used to do for a living do something really cool on their own accord. They'll have a freakin' blast. Many of their friends, colleagues and coworkers gathered at The Gin Mill Wednesday for a final pint and goodbye before they head east. Neither one of them looked nervous, just really freakin' excited.

Oh, and they'll be blogging along the way, too.

Bummed with the Sanfords

I try to stay away from the popular stories. I find if media if providing way too much coverage, there isn't a chance anyone would want my opinion about it. Lucky for all of you, I'm not a Michael Jackson Fan. I have been fascinated by the Mark Sanford deal, though. I love this dudes fiscal policies. Anyone who pisses off Republicans by refusing to accept federal money is my kind of politician. As the governor of the lesser Carolina(yep, I said it,) he hasn't given a horse's ass what anyone thinks about what he does. As governor, he's always seemed to do the right thing. Democrats hate him and alleged 'fiscal conservative' Republicans hated him, too when he brought pigs to the state house. It almost made me want to move to South Carolina. That's a big almost.

I was fortunate to cover the Republican National Convention last year and we got to do a ton of cool stories as part of my last big assignment in news. Hurricane Gustav was about to Katrina the Gulf Coast again and they were talking of halting the convention to focus on the would be victims of Gustav. The Republicans mobilized a bunch of their politicians, their wives and delegates to get ready for Hurricane Relief. Reporter Shawn Flynn and myself scoured St. Paul, MN looking for people doing hurricane stuff and one of the Republican PR folks set us up with Governor Sanford's wife.

I knew nothing about Mrs. Sanford. I knew I liked almost everything I'd heard about her husband but I'd had no reason to hear anything about her. We met up with her in a random section of the XCel Energy Center and when you set up for an interview, there is typically some awkward small talk while we photographers get set up and typically the reporter takes care of that small talk. Mrs. Sanford was different. She immediately told us to call her Jenny and asked us where we were from. This was way better than small talk. Jenny was cool. Way cool. She told us she was from Illinois and loved everything about The South. She even mentioned she enjoyed shopping at Wal-Mart. Weird, yet pretty badass considering three weeks before we talked her husband was mentioned as a serious contender for John McCain's vice presidential nominee. We did the interview and more talk continued between the three of us while I got some cutaways. A few minutes later, she issued Shawn and I a very sincere invite to the South Carolina delegates party later that night. Unfortunately, we already had a ton of free beer lined up for the evening at a different party, but she was serious about having us over. Once I got done with the cutaways, she shook hour hands and took off. What a cool first lady. It wasn't until this week I learned she went to Georgetown and was a Vice President for a banking firm on Wall Street. After she was gone, Shawn and I both had your typical dude reaction, "She's kinda hot, especially for a first lady." Anyway, she made an impression.

Thus, I was bummed for a couple of reasons. I was hoping Sanford would keep pissing off Republicans enough they and the rest of America would eventually figure out a more Libertarian fiscal policy was the cool policy. I'm also bummed because Jenny is a cool lady. She should run for congress or something.

I could go on about the whole deal but none of us really know anything. I'm sure the governor has his reasons and they may or may not be legit, but the whole situation is one big assed bummer. I hope the Republicans find someone else to carry their fiscal torch who feels the same way Sanford does. More importantly, I hope Jenny is doing alright.

Los Angeles

While a kid in elementary and junior high school, I'd often tune into The Late Show with David Letterman because his sarcasm made me chuckle even at such a young age. I would often look at the bump shots of New York City and want to go there so badly. I didn't know anything about it but it looked cool on television. I knew I would love it once I got there and sure enough, in 2000 I finally made it there and it indeed whipped ass. I loved it. Back in 2004, I was in the city working for ten days and I was ready to get the eff out of there. Up until that point, I had always thought I could live in New York, but that rid me of that desire(though I still flirt with the possibility.)

Enter Los Angeles, another place I'd always wanted to visit. All I knew of it was sun, celebrities, Compton, traffic, beautiful weather and of course, good friends Debora and Polo. Deb had always told me I'd like California because it's pretty laid back, much like myself. That was another draw for me and yet another reason to visit. Of course, I'd read a ton of stuff about daily life in greater Los Angeles courtesy of BeFrank. His tales don't often take place in rosy neighborhoods and I still was pretty sure I'd love LA.



Thankfully my red hot smokin' wife agreed a spring jaunt west to Los Angeles would be the right thing to do in April and so we did. Touchdown! Jennifer and I arrived around lunchtime that Sunday, rented a thugged out Dodge Magnum and drove about five minutes to the Ornelas-Wong household high atop a bluff in West Los Angeles. We walked inside, hugged the hosts and took a tour of the house. Shortly after that, Debi and Polo headed to a birthday party and we headed to Manhattan Beach. For those of you that don't know Debi, she is one of the best people I know. Real, polite, a wonderful person in every way whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for more than seven years. Of course, she had prepared us a beach bag full of goodies like towels, water, Trader Joe's snacks, sunscreen and even a volleyball. What a freakin' hostess!



Manhattan Beach is about as good as beach life gets. You cruise south past a couple of beaches and enter a cool town that is everything a beach town should be. Cool restaurants and bars, awesome houses, a spacious and beautiful beach and a big assed pier! People were nice and jetlagged Jennifer and I were able to catch a quick nap. Once some kids playing nearby woke us up we walked to a restaurant and had a wonderful meal outdoors. After about ten minutes, we decided we could absolutely move to California. More on that later.



Day two brought forth an amazing breakfast from Debi who all of the sudden is the Asian Martha Stewart. Strada, grapes and a salad got the day started off great. That worked out well since the time change had us waking up at 7 AM which never happens for us on the East Coast. We hopped in the Magnum, got on the 405 and headed east on Santa Monica Blvd to Beverly Hills where we parked and did a TON of walking. As soon as we got on Rodeo Drive we spotted our first celebrity. I know you were hoping for Brad Pitt or Megan Fox, but it was even better. It was character actor Michael Nouri! I know, I was excited to see Dr. Roberts, too. We walked through some shops and checked out the Wilshire, typical Beverly Hills stuff. It was pretty neat. Did I mention it was literally 95 degrees? Sure, it's a dry heat but it was quite warm.


That didn't keep us from enjoying cupcakes from Crumbs. I can't help myself anytime I walk past a Crumbs Bake Shop. I always get the Artie Lange. It didn't suck but I must say an enormous, sweet cup cake on a 95 degree day wasn't the greatest call. Jennifer didn't seem to mind it, though. We left Rodeo Drive and instead of paying money to be a bad tourist on a Star Tour of celebrity homes, we hopped in the Magnum and drove around neighborhoods where celebrities probably live. Big assed houses and beautiful scenery once you got up into the hills. After the drive, we headed to Culver City where Polo hooked us up with a sweet tour of Sony Pictures and we sat in on a pilot taping for a CBS sitcom. It was mildly funny and only twice did I emit a fake guffaw. We followed up the taping with dinner at Akasha where we sat about ten feet away from Adrian Grenier. I'm pretty sure Jennifer peed her pants, but I was more excited about seeing Dennis Dugan at the studio than sitting near Adrian Grenier. Maybe it's because I'm a dude. Regardless, it was a great way to end a wonderful day. The food whipped ass, too.

Day three we got back on Santa Monica Blvd. for lunch in Beverly Hills at The Ivy(which is pretty amazing considering yet another super Deb breakfast. This one included a Mango smoothie.) Though ridiculously expensive, The Ivy was quite good. After lunch we got back to The Magnum and Jennifer noticed the paparazzi was shooting someone inside a store on Robertson Blvd. Who could it be? Somebody yelled it was Britney Spears so Jennifer got pretty excited. You wouldn't believe the fuss. People were stopping their cars in the middle of the Blvd. to see who it was. I assumed LA residents wouldn't go nuts for celebs but I was wrong. After all of the fuss it turned out to be Samaire Armstrong. Michal Nouri still takes the cake for biggest celeb thus far(at least in my opinion,) and that includes Jose Canseco who was on our flight.


After lunch we continued east to Hollywood where we did the Hollywood tourist thing. We only took three or four star pictures. I went with Marty Robbins and George Takei(Hey Now!) Jennifer went with Betty White. A solid threesome! After a long walk down both directions of Hollywood Blvd. we realized that Hollywood is just okay. In fact, with all of the souvenir shops it's not unlike Myrtle Beach.

After a change of clothes we parked the Magnum on La Cienega for some pre-sushi beverages. The Belmont was the first place since it was near the car. It seemed like a friendly neighborhood joint with lots of locals. Of course Jennifer and I are beautiful and classy so we fit right in. After one pint there we walked next door to a place called STK for another beverage. It seemed pretty fancy and I may or may not have been a bit underdressed in flip-flops. We paid three times more for the same beverages there but despite giving them our debit card and signing a receipt, they never charged us. Thanks for the beer and martini, STK! Finally we crossed the street to Koi for dinner. Sushi is a new love affair for me. I'd never tried it until I met Jennifer but it's quickly risen to top 3 status on my list of foods that whip ass. Koi was amazing. I tried a dish that marries raw tuna with sushi rice and fried onions. My gracious what a meal! Jennifer ate a crab concoction that didn't suck either. David Spade dined a few feet away from us and somehow never managed to hit on Jennifer. That was kinda disappointing but didn't ruin a fabulous meal.

Our final day we went to Venice Beach, rented bikes, rode to Santa Monica and walked on the pier. We then walked around with the crazy people at Venice Beach. That was neat. I like crazy, weird people. We called it a day early and headed back to the house to get ready for dinner with Deb, Polo and Matteo. They took us to a whip ass tapas bar called Primitivo in Venice. I tried Ox Tail for the first time and we all enjoyed some tuna tartar on potato chips. Matteo enjoyed his first glass of wine at the ripe age of eight months. We followed up dinner with a walk down to Pinkberry for some amazing ice cream or whatever the hell it is. It was a great evening and a wonderful way to wrap up a great week.

This is a group of days I'll look fondly upon for quite a while. It was the first time since our honeymoon Jennifer and I have had several days together without work being involved. We were able to spend time with three of my favorite people in the world. Debora is the best. I could write three separate blog posts on how much ass she whips. Polo was slammed at work all week and still went way, way out of his way to hook us up with cool stuff. I know all babies are cute, but Matteo is the cutest damned kid in the country. Seriously. Plus he bites everything. It's hilarious.

Los Angeles agrees with us. I've known a few people who have been to LA who didn't care for it. Sister Anna spent last summer there and really enjoyed it. Jennifer and I, we felt eerily at home driving around. I am 100 percent sure we could move there tomorrow with no regrets and be happy. All we need is jobs and a place to live. Sure, our entire families are here in Charlotte but I've never moved away from here. We love it here. Our lives are here, our families are here, the Panthers are here, The Gin Mill and The Thirsty Beaver are here and I've always pictured us raising our family here with our families around the corner. Moving that far away would certainly put a big assed damper on all of that stuff.

No reason we couldn't move out there for a year or five, right? I'm off to do a serious/pretend job search. Seriously. Kinda.

R.I.P.

Becky Hill died Sunday evening. She was a friend to our family for more than 30 years. I hate this is the only picture I have of Becky, but I think it actually fits her pretty well. Becky probably weighed damn near 400 pounds and as far as anyone could tell, she was ok with it. Here she is watching Jennifer walk down the aisle probably whispering to herself, "boy she sure is a skinny little thing." Becky was like that in a joking manner. She whipped ass.

Most of ya'll know Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a little more than ten years ago. At first, there were some dicey weeks where Mom wasn't doing well at all. Becky cooked dinner every Tuesday or Wednesday for a couple of years. After mom was better, she kept cooking dinner for them every week even though everyone was healthy. Her husband Ralph always delivered the meals. After he died, Dad would go by Becky's to pick them up every week. She was the greatest cook, so good she submitted more than 75 recipes for her latest church cookbook. She used eight different names for her recipes so she could remain "discreet." She whipped ass.

After Ralph died in 2004, Becky was certainly sad. She'd never kill herself or anything, but she always made it known she'd be ok if she died sooner than later. Mom used to get upset with Becky for saying that but Becky never lied about anything. She was a nurse for thirty years and was pretty sure Ralph died because a nurse gave him a blood transfusion of the wrong blood type. When questioned about why she never said anything to doctors or hospital administrators, she smiled and told everyone that Ralph would still be dead if she went through all that. She missed him dearly. She whipped ass.

Becky had severe type 1 diabetes and was on insulin, but that never stopped her from sugar. She took her coffee with sugar and would eat dessert anytime she wanted. She'd just take an extra insulin shot beforehand to offset the effects on her body. She whipped ass.

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Becky. It may have been four or five months ago when Jennifer and I picked up something from her house. It may have been our wedding day. I'm not sure. That kind of sucks. She gave us a wonderful wedding gift, that cookbook and an heirloom Chrismas tree that will remain in our home for the rest of our lives. Becky was sarcastic, kind and self-aware. Brutally self aware. My kind of girl. She whipped ass.

Becky has been in and out of the hospital several times in the last few years for heart issues. Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given nine months to live. She went into the hospital last week with unrelated issues and Saturday developed congestive heart and kidney failure. Becky had been wrestling with whether to fight the cancer or let it run it's course. I'm glad she didn't have to decide. Ralph is, too.

You Betcha!

Prepare for the most random post in this blog's history. I've nothing in particular to say so here she blows!

I wish I blogged more. Every time I get back on here I remember why I used to update this thing every day. Maybe I should get out more and blog about whatever it is I do, even if it isn't that exciting.

Sister Anna marries her fiance Brad next month. She and Mom are neck deep in planning, a process I've deliberately stayed out of. I did have a say in bachelor party activities, though. That should be a good time. I'm excited for them both. Two good people who seem to have good qualities where the other one doesn't. Does that make sense? Regardless, they seem awfully good for each other.

I haven't seen my grandparents in more than a month. That makes me a complete douche. They live an hour away.

The day after Anna and Brad's wedding Jennifer and I are headed to Los Angeles! We are staying with old friend Debora, her husband Polo and their little son Matteo. I can't wait to see them and introduce them to Jennifer. They are two of my favorite people and I haven't seen them in five years. We are stoked. We've always wanted to go to LA. I've been skeered to visit California because I'm afraid I'm going to like it. It's the same reason I've never smoked weed.

Yard work is upon us. I've cut back the monkey grass, blown the last of the leaves and currently Jennifer and I are working on a new patio in the back yard. Their was a dog pen the previous owner used for his 85 pound golden retriever. It has a concrete pad and everything but Jennifer cut down the bushes around it and I'm about halfway finished tearing down the pen which unfortunately was built very well. It's been a big job but has been helped by my good friend Craig's List. I've gotten rid of a bunch of rocks and a doghouse thanks to the list and I have another guy coming back for the fence part of the dog pen. If you have any junk, don't take it to the dump until you post it on Craig's List. People will come get damn near anything, god bless them.

Here I sit at the cpu at 1:56 Thursday morning. I'm staying up until 6 to prepare myself for a weekend of overnight shifts at work. Evidently this Formula 1 thing is pretty popular and my presence has been requested to make sure every second of of the Australian Gran Prix is forever embedded into a big assed server. I don't mind the occasional overnight shifts. It gives me an excuse to drink more than one Red Bull, eat from a catered omelet bar and learn more about a sport I'm not familiar with. Not a bad way to spend a work day.

I miss shooting tape, but I had my first gut punch this week since I left local news. It was media day for the Quail Hollow Championship. I wrote about this two years ago. It was such an amazing day and I was sincerely bummed to miss it. However, I'm happy to be where I am.

It sure did suck missing media day this year. Oh, sorry. I already wrote about that.

I love my BlackBerry. I never thought I would use it as much as I do. It is sweet.

I've been doing some writing for a couple of friends who are starting a new website in the next year or so. It's focused on local news jobs and it's been really neat to look back on some of my better days in this business and write about them.

Facebook is nuts. I've caught up with so many people I thought I'd never see or speak to again. It's been a blessing to see how everyone is as we all grow older.

My mom is whipping ass in grad school at the spry age of 55. She starts an internship in August and I am stoked for her. She knocked her first interview in 20 years right out of the park.

Every day I get more and more like my dad. The other day at work I stepped out of our area for a while to make some phone calls. Someone asked where I was and a coworker said, "He's probably somewhere telling a story." Even though that wasn't the case, it happens a lot. My Dad tells a shit ton of stories, some of which are interesting. I hope more of my stories are interesting. If not, I hope people tell me they aren't so I'll stop telling them. I also wear khaki pants in the yard, just like Dad. At least I can say I wear them so I won't get bitten by a brown recluse. Again.

I bought a sweet ass HD television from pal Tracy about 4 years ago. It's an old school tube CRT. I was looking at houses for myself back then and he needed to make room for his new tv. Of course, I didn't end up buying a house until Jennifer and I did a few months ago. Thankfully Travers didn't mind giving it a home in his basement for the time being. This evening, he and TV's Kris Cook helped move it to the house. It is now the centerpiece of what will be our Panther room. Jennifer ordered pizza and beer and we all had a good time.

Speaking of Jennifer, I'm digging marriage.

Kathy returned to Charlotte USA from Dublin last week for her second straight Charlotte St. Patrick's Day. She bought us shots at The Gin Mill, brought us Irish chocolate and brought me a six pack of Smithwick's in CANS!! You can't get those over here and they are terrific. Kathy whips ass and I wish I had gotten more time to visit with her. What a lovely person.

I've been learning a lot at the new job especially audio stuff. HD is a whole new world I'm proud to be a part of.

I'm going to go to The Thirsty Beaver one night next week. It's been too long.

Speaking of The Gin Mill, Jennifer and I returned for a media night since Kathy was in town. The crowd was great and I caught up with a ton of old friends. It was a super evening that reminded me of the good old days.

Some of you remember me covering the NCAA tournament in Detroit last year. For some reason I can't get that place out of my head. I check the Free Press website a couple of times a week just to see what's going on up there. It's such an intriguing place with some of the best people I've ever met to go along with its deteriorating economic issues. I love that place. I'll get back there someday.

I apologize for the rambling, it was probably a bit much.

Not Used To This

Working inside has been quite the adjustment. It's 2:41 AM on a Sunday morning and here I sit in a corner in the room I share weekly with six other coworkers . I work in a television facility that is new, clean, freshly painted and full of technology. It's badass, and completely different from life as a news photographer. I've gone from working for a local television station to a full fledged national cable network covering sports that typically involve motors and wheels. There are some good things about that. I feel I have a little more job security, a higher salary and catered meals on busy days. There are also some bad things about it. I'm inside, I'm not shooting and I'm dealing with more mouth breathing than I thought possible. Thankfully I get to keep my same, "it's just tv" attitude and force it upon people who feel much differently. It makes for some awkward moments and general good times.

Life is different. My back hasn't felt this great in more than ten years. Wow! What a difference! I haven't even been to the chiropractor in three weeks, and I love going to the chiropractor. My schedule is different every week and I'm actually enjoying that. I get a good mix of days, nights and weekends. Jennifer and I have more time to ourselves and since sometimes I get bored at home I've picked up the guitar a few times recently and I haven't done that in a while. I also have some more nights free and since I don't work in news anymore, I can actually put my actions where my mouth is and get involved in politics. I've already been to one meeting. I've met some great people here at the new place along with some characters that make working in television great. I don't much care for being inside all day, but so far I enjoy the work. It was so much technology at the beginning, I'm just now getting a handle on it. Every time I figure something else out, it gets more rewarding.

Shooting news, you know every nook and cranny of your town. I still know Charlotte better than 98 percent of Charlotteans, but I don't feel like I'm connected to it much anymore. I drive to work every day. I drive to poker once a week. I've seen uptown maybe four times since I started the new gig. I don't really know what's going on in this town. What I miss most is just driving around. I have to pay for my own gas and drive my own truck if I want to that now. However, I didn't have to go to the airport when plane crashed 700 miles away. That whipped major ass.

I really can't complain too much. In a heinous economy I got a new job with a significant raise with a lot of new opportunities. I really miss Phat Burrito, though.

Another One.....

I love live in general. It's freaking awesome we all get to live. We get to wake up, eat good meals, enjoy relationships with friends and significant others. We get to listen to music that doesn't suck and sometimes we even get to score! Seriously, even when life sucks, it's really not that bad. Sorry, I didn't mean to get off on that tangent, but perhaps my favorite part of life is the random moments that help you realize there are reasons for everything. The coincidences that keep you thinking for hours, "This is really weird, and really cool."

Last weekend Jennifer and I went to Wilmington for Kelli's birthday. Her age is not significant, but is indeed a milestone. It's great to go to Wilmington. Most of Jennifer's friends are there and they are all super people. Plus, I usually get a chance to slide in and see cousin Lee and family, so I was really happy we made the trip. Kelli wanted to celebrate at Indochine, a pretty good restaurant featuring Thai/Indochinese/Indian/Japanese and probably three or four other kinds of food. It whipped a ton of ass. Good food, cold beer and good people. We had to wait a while in the bar and I thought the manager walking around the restaurant looked real familiar.
I didn't think much about it, but I was pretty sure I knew this guy from somewhere, but I couldn't quite figure it out. We sat down, ordered and he walked by our table. I decided to stop him and ask him where he was from and he had lived in Charlotte for a short time, but as soon as he said that, I realized Charlotte isn't where I first met him. Some of you know I was in real college for a few months at UNC-Greensboro as a vocal performance major. I sang pretty good in a previous life. Anyway, my good friend Brad got an apartment off campus our second semester and had a seriously flaming gay neighbor who was always throwing big gay parties on Spring Garden Street. They were always inviting us over but I was a bit skeered to take them up on the invitation. Mom had always taught me gay people were nice and not scary so I finally convinced Brad's then girlfriend to go over there with me one night. I was 18 and had zero experience around gay people. I was nervous and not sure what to expect but I vaguely remember walking up the stairs and some dude yelling, "Watch out!! Here comes some straight people!!" I felt a lot better after that knowing they all knew I wasn't gay. It was an experience I'm glad I had at that age. I found gay people to be way more entertaining than myself and my friends, and I got to see people doing hard drugs for the first time. This 18 year old was soaking up life, a completely different life than I'd ever been around, and it didn't scare me. The gay neighbor's boyfriend named talked to us for a while and even after that night always spoke to us and was real nice to us. Sure enough, that was Rob managing Indochine in Wilmington! Freaking random!! I'm glad I don't forget many faces and he actually remembered us, too. Talking to Rob brought back some good memories for me, memories I'd forgotten to tell Jennifer about so I was able to do that. Rob moved to Wilmington a few years ago, retired and now has what he described as a short, vietnamese boyfriend and is about to have a child with a woman. I don't know about all that, but it was good to see Rob.
We left there and headed to the Sofa Lounge for a few more drinks. Jennifer, Kate and Kelli talked about something whilst the boys talked about traveling to Wales for the next Ryder Cup and other manly stuff.

We need to make more trips to Wilmington.