Mike'd Up

It's good to go on vacation.  Who doesn't like vacation?  It's also good to come back to work.  It's funny how much less money I spend when I'm not trying to see the world.  

I did bring back a souvenir- one that I wore into work.  The boss wasn't happy.  It was immediately banned from TV.  Luckily I captured the outrage with the Mike'd Up camera rolling.

I don't do impressions.  Well, I guess I do; I did one for this Mike'd Up.  During a story recently I had flashbacks to Geraldo Rivera in what turned out to be quite an embarassing moment for him. 

 I wanted to replicate that.  But don't worry, I wasn't embarassed.  It ended up as an anti-climactic ending fit for this video blog.

The Jaycee Dugard case is getting worldwide attention.  I spent seven straight work days focused on no other story.  Then, Friday, a truly bizarre press conference.  

It's our job as reporters to stay objective and report without editorializing.  Sometimes being a good reporter means calling out nonsense.  And the line between the two can certainly be many shades of gray.  

The mayor of Antioch called an early evening press conference that clearly had every crew from the Bay Area and Sacramento TV stations scratching their collective heads.

When you do this job you're forced to meet a lot of people. Some you'd prefer to avoid.

These new "friends" come like moths to a flame with uncanny timing that seems to always correspond with my live shot.

We go out of our way to keep these people out of our live shot. This time I went out of my way to get him on Mike'd Up.

We had to do an emergency Mike'd Up entry after we spotted this little guy crossing the road.

A bank robber with an interesting disguise- not visual, but verbal.  The F.B.I. says he had a bad, fake British accent.  So we nicknamed him the Bogus British Bandit.
 
For my story I made people do their best bad British accent.  And when I met a real Brit with a drink or two in her I thought she'd make a great guest for Mike'd Up!

The California deficit gets higher by the day.  The governor screams fiscal emergency.  The legislature discusses a blueberry commission, pomegranate juice labels, and the definition of honey.  Work is getting done alright, but should the sole focus be on the budget?
 
There were a lot of fighting words from the dems in the capitol- and all barbs are aimed at the governor.  The behind the scenes fights and insinuations of racism, sexism, and incompetence... all only on Mike'd Up.

After flying down to L.A. Thursday after Michael Jackson's death, photographer Mike Lowry and I raced to the U.C.L.A. Medical Center where doctors pronounced the King of Pop dead.  The circus was in full effect attracting seemingly every nutjob withing a 100 mile radius.
 
That went on TV.  But, the party across the street I crashed is only on Mike'd Up.