I spent Tuesday and Wednesday following around Jacob Zuma (presumably the next president of South Africa). Sherwin, the SABC correspondent from New York was in DC for the week. He was in constant contact with Zuma's press liaison, who told us exactly when and where we should be each day. Of course, plans quickly changed. Zuma was suppose to meet with Condeleezza Rice at the state department. So we got there early to film his arrival. We waited and waited, but he never showed up. Sherwin got a call saying that Zuma was on his way to the White House to meet Bush. We rushed to the White House and got there just in time to film his arrival. He was detained at the front gate and almost not let in, because he didn't have ID. When Zuma was finally let in, his body guard pulled me aside and told me not to use the footage because it was embarrassing to the president. Oh well, I used it anyway. After the White House meeting, we got a quick interview with him and went back to the office to file a package.

Wednesday Sherwin and I went to the Ritz to film a story about Zuma's meeting with Richard Branson (the owner of Virgin Airline, among other things). They were meeting to discuss plans for Branson's charity to help with health issues in South Africa. We waited outside the room while they met and talked to Branson's personal assistant. She had a cell phone, two Blackberrys and a laptop. She didn't have time to chat because she was constantly talking on the phone, e-mailing on the laptop and answering messages on her Blackberrys. After the meeting, we interviewed Branson and Zuma together, then hung around the hotel suite eating their delicious baked goods and drinking coffee. They hadn't even touched the food!

Emily, Kat and I went to Eastern Market today. I've lived in DC for years and I have never gotten over there. It was fun! I spent most of the time looking at bikes, but I walked around with Emily and Kat for a while while they looked at home decor and the like. They went into the food area and got a bag of homemade fettuccine, which we just had for dinner. After Eastern Market, we went back to Costco. We were there yesterday, but Kat had to return something. I got some new thermal pants to prepare for the winter. We went for a jog this afternoon. Then Em and I watched some TV before falling asleep on the couch. Now Emily and Kat are watching some dumb movie and I'm bored.

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Chicago. I flew in on Monday with Susie, the MEP consultant who is producing the video. We went straight from the airport to a company which manufactures the glass on oven doors. There we conducted a few interviews and I got some b-roll of the factory. I got some ok shots, but the manager was very touchy about certain things being filmed. We had a huge deep dish pizza for dinner at Gino's East. After dinner I walked up and down the Magnificent Mile. It wasn't really that magnificent, just a bunch of shops. Tuesday I attended a meeting to learn about the PickensPlan from T. Boone Pickens. The presentation was interesting, but there wasn't much we could use for the video. The trip was easy and I enjoyed being in Chicago without freezing my ass off.

Today I went out to Fredricksburg Virginia for a Newshour project. It was another long, grueling day of interviews and b-roll. At least I had it easier than the correspondent. He flew into DC early this morning and took a flight back to New York at 7:30pm. The best part of the day was shooting at a local Italian restaurant called Basil and leaving with our arms full of fresh Italian food. It is definitely worth eating there if you are in the area.

Emily and I were in Boston last Friday and Saturday. We went to shoot the opening of the Greenway park, which is located where the highway use to be before the Big Dig. We got into Boston on Friday, filmed at the produce market near city hall and had a very nice dinner of homemade pasta in the North End. Saturday morning we went up and down the Greenway filming the events, including the official opening of the park. We spent the afternoon in the North End, which is like the little Italy of Boston. It is filled with delicious restaurants and pastry shops. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant that was so small the host had to stand outside. We had to squeeze in with all of our camera gear and wedge ourselves between the wall and another couple. At least the food was good. Neither of us had been to Boston before, but we had a great time. I would have liked to stay longer and see more of the city. Hopefully I will get up there again soon.

I spent last weekend in Jacksonville with Ted from FutureView. We stayed at the Marriott Sawgrass, a famous golf resort. It was quite an enjoyable weekend. Ted and I were producing videos for Georgetown University, who where having an alumni fundraiser there. Saturday we shot interviews with many of the alumni and I cut together a collection of soundbites. Sunday I made a photo-slideshow for them and Ted filmed their events. They had delicious buffets at every meal and all the free alcohol we could drink. It was so different from working in DC. The hotel staff were incredibly friendly and never asked any questions. In DC, they wouldn't have let us into the building without checking our ID, calling their supervisor and writing down all of the personal information we would give them. They even gave us a golf cart and let us roam the course.