LIFE'S A BEACH!

Laugh Break!

Greetings... I'm a little late in posting this because I just found and uploaded the pictures!


http://photobucket.com/tvcommandocomedycentral 


Last year, I was lucky enough to be asked to shoot stand-up comedian John Caparulo. (Here's a clip running on his site. My camera had all of the close ups!) Caparulo made a triumphant return to the buckeye state when he brought his straight-talking (OK, potty-mouthed) humor to a sold out show at the Ohio Theatre. Caparulo was born in East Liverpool, Ohio and like me, is a Kent State grad. Unlike me, a mere amateur, Caparulo is a professional wiseass!


The shoot aired on Comedy Central last December and was produced and shot in HD by the production company of Blue Collar comedy legend Jeff Foxworthy.


The show was hilarious! I had to literally let go of the camera several times because I was laughing so hard...and, best of all, the check didn't bounce! All in all, not a bad day for a TVCommando.

Is that a Mini-Laptop in your backpack? Or, are you just glad to see me?

Evening all... Today's entry is a shameless technology plug to all those looking for a small, portable laptop. Called 'Netbooks in tech/geek speak (or is it geek/tech speak?), they sport many of the standard features their larger, portable cousins do but in a much smaller package. How small? Think smaller than a regular-sized laptop, but bigger than your average smartphone:



'Netbooks feature all that we've come to expect from today's laptop technology:

• Small screens (8" -10") typically
  
• Wi-Fi
  
• Web Cam (w/ Mic)
• External monitor connections
  
• USB ports
  
• Audio/Headphone I/O ports
  
• Regular HD and SSD HD technology
  
• Plenty of RAM 
• Flash memory card readers
  
• Small keyboards

'Netbooks sport many flavors and are produced by a host of manufacturers: Dell, Acer, Asus, HP and MSi all currently sell their version. In fact, the market for UMPC's (Ultra-Mobile PC) is growing, especially in a down economy when prices for these bad boys start at less than $300 for basic models.


Where the Computing Rubber Meets the Road


As a teacher, TVCommando, writer, part-time traveler and photographer, I found what I call the UMPC portability to power ratio worth the investment. Remember though, YMMV - Your Milage May Vary. Ask yourself first, what are my computing needs? These are not machines intended for serious computer tasks like video editing, gaming or AUTO CAD. Also, what is your budget? Do you travel?


For my trip to China last summer and for my teaching, I was looking for a laptop with a small footprint that wouldn't break the bank. It needed to fit in a backpack without sacrificing my mainstay computing demands - word processing, web/email...and because I'm a pretty serious photographer, I need the ability to run Photoshop efficiently for image manipulation/management. Lastly, it needed to have the ability to drive an external monitor, and/or the ability to hook up to a projector in a classroom for lesson presentations.


And the winner is...


After researching regular PC and Apple laptops, and all of the UMPC models (available last summer) and consulting an IT friend and fellow tech/geek, I chose the MSi Wind - Model  U100. And because I'm a serious geek, I added another 1gig of RAM (for a total of 2gigs) to mine and a slightly faster/larger 2.5" SATA HD (the MSi Wind sports a regular 2.5" HD).  Fully loaded my MSi Wind weighs in at less than 1.5 lbs! I took off for Beijing with it in my backpack loaded up with Microsoft's XP Professional, Office, Skype, Photoshop et. al. Total price with add on hardware? $575.


(For the record, a similarly configured 13" Macbook is $950. The new 13" Macbook Pro is $1,099.) *Source: Apple.com. Prices quoted include my education discount! Your prices may vary*


Mighty 'Wind rocks!

So, how'd my little gadget do on its maiden voyage to the far east? In a word: terrific! Despite the fact I'm not a Microsoft OS fan (OK, full disclosure: I use Macs because I want to...I use PC's because I have to!), the MSi Wind met all of my demands with flying colors and then some! In fact, it's still in my backpack today, albeit with some slight modifications (more on that in a later post!)


Bottom line? No matter what you do, and especially if you have to travel to do it, if you're in the market for a laptop and want a surprising amount of computing power packed in a small package, check out one of the hottest trends in laptops: UMPC 'Netbooks.


Good things do indeed come in small packages.

It's a Digital World. We're just live'n in it!

Want an economic indicator of how high the legal stakes are for media companies, software companies and consumers in a digital world? Two words: lawyer fees!  Naturally, the folks over at Wired Magazine covering the latest Digital Millennium Copyright Act fight between the MPAA and Real Networks over their software RealDVD, which allows consumer's the ability to copy material on DVDs, are all over the story.


Maybe bluesman Robert Cray had it right when he sang, "Tell me a boat full a lawyers just sank!"

Toured Tiananmen Square

Now that our schedule has eased a bit at the boxing venue, we've been able to hit the must see landmarks of China and Beijing. Monday it was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Very impressive...

Check out the photos here:
http://photobucket.com/tvcommando_tiananamensquare
http://photobucket.com/tvcommando_forbiddencity

Olympic Scoring for Boxing: Are You Seen'n What I'm See'n?

OK, checking the big boxing tote board, two sessions a day...24 bouts a day...times seven 16hr. competition days in a row so far...errr...carry the one...man, they're starting to run together!


Day 8 (I think!) from the Olympic boxing venue and like many of you watching boxing from Beijing, confusion reigns. Judging from the line up of countries with their boxers in a bunch, international amateur boxing has a huge problem on it's hands. Their credibility is on the ropes.

Indeed, after shooting over 150 Olympic Boxing matches from my perch in the upper deck of the Worker's Indoor Arena, I think I'm ready to offer a humble TVCommando's through the lens opinion on Olympic boxing scoring - wacked!

It appears the International Boxing folks have managed to do the impossible; design a scoring system more complicated (and flawed) than the scoring for Olympic Figure Skating. No easy feat. Sadly, the Olympic boxing ring like many other Olympic fields of dreams suffers from scoring controversies.

In it's current form, boxing scoring has no accountability by turning judges into button pushers. With all of the dynamics of two guys moving, jabbing, weaving and throwing sometimes multiple punches, this system seems too complicated and painfully slow. For a punch to register as a point three of five judges have to press a button (a red button for the red corner, and blue button for the blue corner...get it?) within one second of impact for the scoring system to register one point. It's almost comical to watch a fighter land what is obviously a scoring punch and have the point register with the other fighter, or worse, not at all.

For now, I've learned from boxing pros like Teddy Atlas that several sure things exist in international amateur boxing, left jabs will slow down a charging opponent, everyone hates the scoring system, and by the time the next summer Olympics roll around, the scoring system will probably change.

NBC Covers Olympic Boxing: With a Little Technical Slight of Hand!

Several people have asked technical and production questions regarding our Olympic venue, on which NBC affiliated network our shows air (CNBC), and other behind the scenes TV tidbits about how the sports are covered, so here’s the skinny:

In terms of event coverage (not including news), basically there are two sets of broadcasters working in Beijing, the Host Broadcasters (the world feed known as BOB) and NBC. While NBC has paid a pagoda full of cash for the right to broadcast the games back to the US, the Host Broadcasters are charged with providing TV coverage for everyone else.

What the NBC folks have done is rank their Olympic venues on an A, B, C scale, divided up their assets and augmented coverage at the smaller venues with these BOB video feeds.

At our venue, we’re ranked a “C” with a small, but mighty crew of 30. (Track & Field has a crew of 100.) At the Worker's Indoor Arena NBC has three dedicated cameras, one shoots reporter Jim Gray in the interview area, another shoots the “play-by-play and analyst/former boxer” at the desk ringside, while the third (the one I’m manning) shoots Anchor Fred Rogan in a small “booth” perched in the upper deck of the arena. Those cameras are connected to a whole separate (and portable) HDTV control room that has been built outside in the parking lot of the Arena right next to the BOB broadcasters.

Simultaneously to our coverage, the BOB feed has nine cameras covering every one of the 286 boxing matches, so what our NBC production team has done is to structure their CNBC shows to seamlessly shoot our anchors and then to “cut” to the world feed of all of the actual boxing matches. But like much of what’s on TV it’s really a constructed reality. At home, it looks to you like NBC is “covering” boxing, and technically we are, but not without a little technical slight of hand.

Hope this helps!

Boxing in Beijing: A Look Inside the Arena

Much to the NBC crew's ire, trying to communicate with home via the Internet is not easy here in China. The wireless router failed in our building (overloaded!) so I'm a couple of days late and filing from my work site. Here's a look at my office for the next few weeks. We are covering 286 boxing matches!

Here's our schedule. All of our matches air on CBNC/Telemundo.
A History of Olympic Boxing is here.


My camera with teleprompter. (Notice there's no viewfinder. I'm using a small monitor gaffe-taped to a garbage can underneath the tripod! Hey nothing but the best...)

My view of the ring. The anchor (Fred Rogan) will sit in the chair next to the HD monitor.



  





The announcer table ringside.

Beijing or Bust: Travel Day

Here's the TVCommando (and Hoover) route to China! (Not the recommended way to travel abroad!)

Sunday, August 3rd (Mountain time)
- 6am wake up call. Check out. At golf course by 7:15am.
- Shoot final round until golf goes by 13th hole (about 3:30pm). While viewers watch the rest of the tournament, early hole crew begins tearing down cameras on the course.

- Teardown equipment until 6:30pm. Released from site.
- Drive directly from Colorado Springs to Denver, about 90-minutes.
- Arrive/Check in to Hampton Inn at Denver Airport 8:30pm.
- Repack for a 6am international flight.
- To sleep 11:50pm.

Monday, August 4th (Mountain time)
- 3am wake up call. Check out of Hampton. Board 3:45 shuttle to airport.
- 4:30am, Hoover and I check in for flight to Beijing through Chicago.
- 6:02am, wheels up to Chicago. Take short nap. Land ORD 9:15am. (Central time)
- 12:05pm, board UAL flight 851 to Beijing.
- 12:40pm, Pilot informs us we've been given a "ground stop" and can't
 take off due to weather in Chicago.






My bldg. is on the left...

- 12:50pm, Pilot announces it will be at least a one half hour delay.
- 1:05pm, Plane taxis out to holding area and stops.
- 1:20pm, Pilot says because of delay (and the fact we will be flying over Russian airspace) that new flights plans have to be filed. Refiling should take "a few minutes..."
- 1:50pm (Central time), final begin to taxi and take off. Flight time: 12 hours and 50 minutes. Napped for a total of about 2hrs. total in fits and starts.
 
The view out my room window. (PS haven't seen a thing since Monday because of the haze!)

 
- Flight includes three movies, one meal (chicken or meat loaf), many, many snacks. I eat my big bag of peanuts and drink 12 bottles of water.
- Read 225 pages of my book, One Bullet Away, by Nathan Fick.
- Land in Beijing 3:50pm local time.
- Shuttled to Media Village, check in...
- 6:50pm Beijing time fall asleep.

Seemed like my 7am alarm happened an hour later. Reported for first day of work at boxing at 8am Tuesday.
Tomorrow, a look at the boxing venue!

Broadmoor CC: Senior Open (aka Wild Kingdom!)

We TVCommandos had quite the day at the office today. While this year's Senior Open field includes a Shark and a Walrus, the real wild kingdom is the wide array of creatures calling the Broadmoor CC home. The grounds have a rather large collection of what the locals call mule-deers. My daughters didn't believe me when I told them the deer just walk around on the course. To prove it, I set out this morning with camera in hand. It didn't take long for me to find a very cool deer family out for a little brunch.

Photo Gallery

 




Wild Kingdom Update: In case you missed it, the SportsCenter highlight and the latest animal story from the Senior Open this afternoon had a rather large black bear making his way onto the course today. See Story.

Your intrepid TVCommando (and Hoover) were manning our post atop the 13th tower when the bear headed across our fairway! So like any good cameramen, we bagged our golf coverage for a shot of said bear ambling amongt the golfers, caddies and spectators.   












Courtesy: USGA.ORG (USGA Museum | John Mummert)

 

The good news is the bear made his way off the course and no one was hurt. (I kept hearing Nick Nolte's voice as Vincent the Bear from the movie Over the Hedge! for the rest of the day!)

The bad news is I was concentrating so hard on my impromptu TV shot I didn't grab my still camera and squeeze off at least one once in a lifetime shot. And I call myself a cameraman!

Royal Gorge:

We shutterbugs have been busy in the 'Springs this week. First, we checked out the Royal Gorge! And, of course, took pictures!

Photo Gallery

ps Some of the really brave (OK, really crazy!) souls on the crew paid extra to strap themselves into the "Royal Skycoaster," which basically swung them out over the edge of the 1,000' gorge from an extra 200' feet above the Arkansas River... PASS!

Garden of the Gods!

Next, we explored around one of Colorado Springs' coolest attractions - Garden of the Gods! Enjoy!!

Photo Gallery:


If you squint, (or click on the image) you can see two climbers atop this rock preparing to repel down from their climb. I'll stick to taking pictures from the ground!

Broadmoor CC: Day1: Hoover Shoots Golf