Things are finally starting to calm down a bit at work. And by starting to calm down, I mean that I got a couple hours to go home after arriving at 6:00am and leaving at 8:00pm today. It's nice to be busy and all, but this is getting ridiculous.

Last month I shot an interview with Bill Clinton. It was conducted in NYC at the start of his Clinton Global Initiative event. I brought a bunch of lights up from DC and had Paige and Nathan bring some more. They only gave us an hour and a half to set up, which is not a lot for a big-name, two-camera shoot. When we were almost done setting up, they made us move the lights and cameras to the sides of the room to make way for catering. Twenty minutes before Clinton's arrival we were finally let back in the room to re-set everything. It was a mess. The interview went well though and he stayed around afterward to take pictures with us. The edit took a lot longer than I expected, because I was using a new camera and a new recording format. I ended up missing the last train back to DC and had to wait for the 1:30 bus. I didn't get back to DC until 7:30am, but there was so much going on at the office that I had to work all day. That was probably the worst part, but the best part was that the Colbert Report picked up a clip from the interview! Oh, and no one touched the catering.

At the beginning of the month, we put on the First Draft of History event with the Atlantic Magazine. It was a forum for famous journalists to interview politicians and other newsmakers. Emily did most of the planning, design and production. She did a great job, but I don't think she had a single day off in September. She became the main point of contact for all of the people and organizations working on the event. In addition to being on the phone 12 hours a day, she designed all of the graphics and took over the Managing Editor's job for a couple weeks.

I was in charge of the video side of the event. I set up the control room, directed four cameras, and controlled the switched feed going to the major networks. I am not sure which networks showed our video, but I did see a clip on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

There were some great guests at the event, including John McCain, Lindsey Graham (who comes to all of these events), General Petraeus, Alan Greenspan, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, Janet Napolitano and CEOs from Google, AOL and Time Warner. Given this was the first time they have done this event, it went really well. The Atlantic is planning to do the event next year and I'm sure Emily is the first person they will call.

Yesterday I helped my friend Ted shoot some green-screen footage for Georgetown Basketball. This footage, plus some some stuff from the highlight reel will be played on the Jumbotron at their games. We used a 400 sqft freestanding green-screen, plus over 20 lights to fill the basketball court. The shoot went well, but I wish we could have hired some extra people to help us carry all the equipment. It took us six hours just to set everything up.

Today Emily and arrived at the office at 6:00am to shoot an hour long talk show about Hispanic American issues. Emily designed and constructed the set. I set up all the cameras, decks, monitors, sound equipment and switcher. We did it for the first time last week and we're suppose to do it every week from now on. I just hope that the set up will take less time in the coming weeks than it has for the last two.

Sorry I haven't updated much this month, but anyone following me on twitter should know what's going on in my life...

Our manager at work has been out of town for the last couple weeks. Emily has taken over all of the scheduling duties and she's doing a great job. Our co-workers are even starting to call her "boss". We also started working on a big event for the Atlantic Monthly. Well mostly Emily has been working on it. She is meeting with all of the big-wigs like David Bradley and helping to organize the whole thing.

I helped out another production company with a green-screen shoot in Baltimore. I always enjoy working with them, because their projects are so much different than ours. We do broadcast TV news, while they do mostly corporate videos. And I don't get to do many shoots in a proper studio. There are much fewer time constraints, so you get to spend hours tweaking the camera and lighting.

My Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes are going well. The school is very small, so there are usually just a few students. This is only my first month of classes. I have yet to learn many submissions and counters. Therefore, I spent most of the class either getting choked or with my joints being forced in the wrong directions. It's fun though.

I had a busy weekend. Saturday I had to film the President's sister, Maya Ng. She was at the opening to an exhibit of her mother's textile collection from Indonesia. She didn't show up for the press conference, so I almost left. But soon after I started shooting b-roll of the fabrics, she showed up. Immediately all of the reporters attacked her. Someone alerted me just as she walked in, so I was able to get in front of the crowd and get a good shot. She answered some questions and posed for photos while everyone stuck various recording devices in her face. She obviously wasn't use to the attention and didn't have any security to keep the rabid journalists at bay. As the crowd pushed forward she kept backing up, until she was finally behind one of the displays and almost against the wall. Everyone left when she stopped talking.

After the shoot I saw the latest Harry Potter movie, which was highly entertaining. Then I went straight from the movie to Buffalo Billiards to see the UFC pay-per-view event. Kat usually comes with me, but she decided to stay home. I met up with my new Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher and watched the event with him and his friends. Did I mention that I started taking BJJ classes? Well I did and they are lots of fun.

Sunday, I helped my friend Aaron shoot a video for the Republican Liberty Caucus, of which he is deeply involved. We shot at my office where it was scorching hot; they leave the a/c off over the weekend. And the video lights made it even worse. Everyone was a bit testy because of the heat, but we got through one of the videos he wanted to do.

Emily picked me up from the office and we went to her mom and Tom's house for a joint birthday dinner. We were celebrating Emily's, her step-brother's, step-sister's and step-dad's birthdays. They made hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and finished it off with brownies and yellow cake (two of my favorites).

Below are some photos I took of an apartment fire a couple blocks from my house.

Here are some photos from our trip to Mexico:

Yesterday, Emily and I spent the entire day sitting on the beach and reading our books. It was great! The resort has beds as well as regular lounge chairs on the beach. I spent a few hours napping on one of the beds under an umbrella.

Today we also spent the day at the beach. I decided to try sailing again. But this time, I had someone show me how to do it. I was able to go back and forth in front of the hotel a few times, but on my third turn I flipped the boat. It happened so quick that I didn´t even realize what was going on until I found myself in the water. My glasses fell off and started sinking. Somehow I was able to grab them before they were washed away. The instructor had to paddle out in a little kayak to help me turn it back over. I was able to sail past the hotel one more time, before making my entirely ungraceful landing on the shore.

Overall the trip has been really nice. We haven´t had to think about anything. There are eight restaurants, all of which are included in the price of the trip. The staff is wonderful and they take care of your every need. I imagine it´s like living in a very nice retirement home on the beach.

Emily and I arrived in Mexico last night. Our resort is beautiful, but the food is basically inedible. We spent all day today sitting on the beach or by the pool reading. I tried to sail a small, one person sailboat, but failed miserably. I thought that my sailing experience in Sudan would be sufficient, so I rented a boat from our hotel. The first time I got about 20 feet from shore, then headed into the wind and came right back to where I started. The second time, I went out much further, sailing parallel to the shore. When I passed the resort, I tried turning around and heading back. The wind took me right into the resort's swimming area. I narrowly dodged some swimmers and landed on the beach. Someone helped me pull the boat ashore so I could get someone to sail it back. The guy who rented me the boat seemed to have no problem zipping right back along the shore to the dock. When I get back to DC, I want to try taking some lessons.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Things have suddenly gotten really busy at work. Manalisi, the SABC correspondent, is back in town (and busier than ever) and we have a couple new clients. Emily has been doing about seven shoots a week for Newsmax.tv, a conservative website. Most of her shoots are with Republican members of the Senate and House. Last week, I came with her to interview Ron Paul, which was very exciting. Here are some photos from my recent shoots:





My upside-down tomato plant is doing great! I haven't had much luck growing tomatoes in the past, but this year I cut a hole in the bottom of a bucket and suspended it from the outside of our house. I let the tomatoes ripen on the vine and they are the most delicious I have ever tasted. Here are some photos of the plant and my pesto pasta with tomatoes:




Tomorrow we leave for our vacation in Mexico!

I have a love / hate relationship with the Fourth of July. The problem is that it gives my neighbors an excuse to light fireworks. They really take it too far. The "celebration" starts on July 1st and goes till July 7th. During this time, my dogs huddle in the corner shaking and refusing to eat or go outside.

We did manage to get out of the city for part of the day. Emily, Kat, Turtle, Piggy and I went hiking at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. The hike down was great. Going back up, not so much. The route up the mountain didn't allow for a gradual incline. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the car. After the hike, we stopped at the Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard for their Fourth of July celebration. They had a nice outdoor seating area, a delicious fruit and cheese plate and plenty of wines to taste.

Last night someone was setting off dynamite on the corner. Literally dynamite. It rattled all of the windows in the neighborhood and set off car alarms. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting on the porch for one of the explosions. My hearing will never be the same.

The people behind our house were blasting Michael Jackson's greatest hits at full volume. Kat saw a fat lady moonwalk across the alley. Judging by the abandoned cars in the ally, our neighbors clearly spend more money on fireworks than they do on car repairs.

We sold our house in Orlando! We bought it four years ago, hoping to fix it up and quickly re-sell it for a profit (check out my post from 8/4/05) Unfortunately we got it right at the end of the real estate bubble. Just as we finished the renovations, houses in Orlando stopped selling. We've been trying to sell it since then, and have had a series of tenants living there while it was on the market. The rent never covered the mortgage, so we lost money every month.

We've had a few offers on the house, but none have been very serious. Finally someone came along who actually wanted to buy it. There were some scary moments throughout the sales process. The buyer's realtor didn't contact our realtor for a few weeks. We figured they walked away from the deal. Eventually they got back in touch and the closing process started. At first our bank said that we would have to come up with $14,000+ for the closing. I was able to negotiate that amount down to a much more reasonable amount. I'm not surprised they wanted us to bring money to the closing. We sold the house for almost $100k less than we paid for it. Eventually the bank agreed to the terms and the sale went through. Anyone trying to sell a house in Orlando should contact Pam Potenza at Sutton and Sutton. She'll take care of you.

Yesterday was a big day for Emily and I. On the way to work, we stopped by the AT&T store to buy our new iPhones. We've been waiting a long time to get out of our Sprint contract. It ended just in time for the release of the iPhone 3Gs!

Last night was the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner. It would have been fine, if we didn't have to get all dressed up. The one thing that saved it was the fact that our table was right up front in the center of the room. Obama was seated about 15 feet away. He got up and told some jokes and one of the guys from the Daily Show delivered the keynote speech. Priscilla posted some more photos and stuff on the FSN Reporters' blog.

I got back from shooting a conference in the Bahamas a few hours ago. Unfortunately the entire event was 'off the record', so I can't tell you who hosted it or who was there. It was centered on strategic goals for the global war on terror, but they focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The conference itself didn't really hold my interest, but the resort where it was held was great. It was the same place the Pirates of the Caribbean people stayed when they were shooting the movie. I had a room with a spectacular view overlooking the ocean. The conference lasted until 4:00 pm everyday, so I had time to go for a swim in the clear blue water.

It took me awhile to feel comfortable around the other attendees. I was in a sort of a limbo between the guests and the staff. But there was an open bar each night, so I eventually became more comfortable with them. The people were actually really interesting. They were heavily involved in the war and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and they had great stories to tell. I probably would have liked it better if I understood what they were talking about. The topics were so focused on specific regions and tribes, that most of it went straight over my head.

Emily and I have started learning how to make radio stories. Our company runs a news radio feed which is used by broadcasters around the world. Until now, we have stayed away from the radio side and only done TV. But we decided to expand our skill set and learn how to write and voice stories for the feed. Here is my first attempt at radio and here is Emily's latest story.

Also check out the FSN reporter's blog while you are at it.

I feel so cheated! I just tried to watch the movie Rocky for the fist time. It was playing on On Demand, so I set aside a couple hours to watch it. It was a bit strange though, because there were two copies of the movie on On Demand selection screen. The only difference was that Sylvester Stallone's name was spelled wrong on one version. I thought noting of it and choose one.

By the end of the movie, I was thoroughly confused. The plot made no sense and it seemed to be missing some of the most famous scenes (like Rocky punching the animal carcasses). I went back and checked the other version by fast forwarding through the entire movie. Sure enough this version made much more sense and had the missing scenes. I then fast forwarded though Rocky II and found the problem.

Someone had cut off the second half of Rocky 1 and replaced it with the second half of Rocky 2. Then they cut off the ending of Rocky 2 during the climactic fight scene and switched back to the ending of Rocky 1.

Now I have to watch both movies again, even though they are ruined.

I spent the morning chasing Sonya Sotomayor around the Senate office buildings. She was meeting with a couple of Senators who are involved in the confirmation hearings. The first place she stopped was Senator Barbara Mikulski's office. They let the still photographers in first, then the videographers. By the time we got into the office, Sotomayor and Senator Mikulski had started talking about how much they like Nancy Drew books. It was like listening into a phone conversation between two teenage girls. Sotomayor said that her local library did not carry many titles, so her mom had to buy them for her. Then they started talking about how strict the nuns/teachers were at their school.

Her next stop was in the Russel office building. I was able to get a nice walk in shot, but the cameraman next to me kept elbowing me and telling me to stop moving around. I was standing perfectly still and not touching him. These photo-sprays are always hard, because everyone wants to get the shot and they will push you out of the way to do so. I had to hit a print reporter on the head, because he was leaning his face into my shot. It is much easier when they let the cameras set up first, then they come into the room. Hillary Clinton always does her photo-sprays at the State Department that way and it makes them much more civilized.

I just got back from my trip to Florida with Emily, Kat and Sara. We got to the beach house on Friday and took a short walk along the beach between rain storms. Saturday it rained in the morning, but we were able to spend the afternoon on the beach, before going out for pizza. Sunday we had better luck with the weather. We spent most of the day on the beach. I huddled in the shade of the umbrella fully clothed with a thick layer of sunblock covering my skin. Emily laid out in the sun and burnt herself to a crisp, except for the odd hand-print on her leg where she tried to use sunblock. We sat on the back deck at North Turn and ate dinner. Emily and Sara loved the Alaskan crab they ordered, but I refused to try it. I've never liked weird seafood like that.

Monday morning, Sara left and my parents and grandma came out. We spent most of the day on the beach, me under the tent and Emily in the sun burning any bit of pale skin she could find. My parents brought about 10 pounds of hamburgers and turkey burgers. I grilled all of it, but most was taken home for leftovers. Yesterday, Emily and I got our teeth cleaned at my dad's office, before heading back to Orlando for dinner. We went to Serena and Brad's house afterward and hung out with them. Emily won't admit it, but she had fun playing with their daughter Bella. This morning we had the mandatory First Watch breakfast, before heading back to DC. We are thinking of going back to Orlando in a couple months (when it might be less rainy) or meeting Serena and Brad for a camping trip somewhere in the Carolinas.

Kate and I are doing a story for Voice of America about how the recession is affecting people's eating habits. Yesterday, Lucy (our intern) and I went to the McDonalds at 14th and U to film some vox pops. I brought a small consumer grade camcorder and shot some interiors of the McDonalds. The last time I tried to shoot inside of a McDonalds, I brought the larger camera and was promptly kicked out. But while I was getting kicked out, I set the camera down on the counter and hit record. I was able to get a great shot of people ordering and receiving their food while I stalled the manager with pointless questions. Yesterday I had it much easier. No one seemed to care that I was shooting in the restaurant and I was able to get all of the shots I wanted.

The vox pops were hilarious. There was a large group of homeless people sitting outside and they all wanted to talk to us. I tried asking one man about McDonalds, but he just wanted to tell me how the soul food restaurant next door was much better. We interviewed many people as they left the restaurant and got them to say exactly what we wanted them to say. We may as well have written them a script. The basic idea was, "yes I know that McDonalds is unhealty, but it's cheap so I have been going there more during the recession."

At work we send all of our footage to Getty Images, who then sells it to other production companies for lots of money. One of the clips which sells every month is a shot of someone getting arrested. Around my neighborhood I see people getting arrested all of the time, so I decided to film it and make some money. Of course, when you're looking for something you never find it. Kat and I have spent the last couple nights driving around the neighborhood with a video camera and stopping when we see the police. So far we haven't seen anyone getting arrested, but we're going to keep trying until we get the shot.

I've has had a busy shoot schedule for the last couple days. Yesterday Emily and I did a two camera switched shoot for Rand Corporation. The event was held at the new visitor center of the US Capital, a beautiful facility which is well suited for these type of policy meetings. Plus they always serve delicious cookies. Immediately after that shoot, Malcolm and I walked over to the Heritage Foundation and shot an interview for Newsmax with former Attorney General Ed Meese.

Today I was at the National Press Club shooting a story on Diarrheal Disease for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. They also served nice food, but the topic sort of killed my appetite. I got back to the office just in time to leave again for our first two camera interview for Newsmax. The interview subject was Senator Kit Bond of Missouri. It was held in his office conference room. It is always easier to shoot interviews with people in the Senate rather than the House of Representatives, because they generally have much larger offices. You can check out the interview on the Newsmax website in the next couple days.

Saturday was the White House Correspondents dinner. Emily and I attended a brunch for the Washington big-wigs at Tammy Haddad's house. Most of the people there were from the news networks, but there were some Hollywood types there too like Val Kilmer and Christian Slater.

We arrived at the hotel where the Correspondents dinner was being held in the late afternoon and claimed our spots along the red carpet. Murry (our freelance cameraman friend) was shooting on one end and I was on the other. We hired Kat for the evening and got her to conduct the celebrity interviews. Before anyone even arrived, the photographers were trying to push their way in. There were a few photographers who showed up late and tried to squeeze into a spot up front. Those of us who were there early to claim our spots weren't having any of it. Some of them got pretty mouthy with me, claiming that I was taking up too much room with my tripod. I just said, "too bad, in this business you have to be on time." The guy next to us was from Extra, and he seemed to be personal friends with all of the celebrities. Kat just stood next to him and stuck her microphone near whoever was there. I will try to list the people we spoke to and hopefully I wont forget too many: Louis Gossett Jr., Barbra Walters, Woopie Goldberg, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Christian Slater, Samuel L Jackson, Wanda Sykes, Denis Leary, Jon Hamm, Mayor Villaraigosa, Alicia Keys, Carrol King, Ludacris, Rick Schroder, Al Sharpton, Clinton Portis, and Richard Belzer.

Last night I was really angry with someone in my dream. Emily had to wake me up when I started punching her. This morning, I let the dogs out. It was raining, so I grabbed an umbrella from my porch. When I opened it, a dead bird fell out and hit me on the head.