streetbeat

allright—may 3 is la fiesta, then. mark it, vat@s! it’s a saturday dropped down perfectly between may 1 (mayday) and el cinco de mayo (may 5), and so good energy is wrapped allllll ’round it (plus it’s right after Kevin’s bday, can’t lose). there are numerous hotel/motel/lodges nearby, as we are in eugene, oregon, one of the well-populated and hip towns that exists in oregon (one of the two?), not to mention this is a university town. while my home is not big (just an apartment), the livingroom is relatively large, and if anyone needs to crash out there, they are welcome. i think there’s plenty of room for whomevah shows up, there’s even some room on my outside benches to chill (parties are best anyway when you can drift around a little), but if in the event we get enough peeples showing up that we are cramped, we’ll take it out into the town. there’s my favorite mexican joint which has tables outside, there’s a fantastic bar and grill place (with, of course, veggie dishes), there’s really no lack of places we can take it. and i’ll know by then how many to expect, i’m sure. SO. right on. it will be a combo birthday (only gift i want you to bring is ya badself!)/spring/takin-the-blog-crew-into 3D fiesta.

so i’ve really finally begun to shift my life in some ways, to this new gig. shift the room and such, the living space.

room decor has changed. actually moved two guitars, so that tells you a lot. took them down and put up my videojournalist gear in its place. opposite that, i’ve got a giant corkboard, a big calendar on the wall, a map of oregon, and i spent a while putting up these two sturdy shelves. all my gear from tripod dolly to sound recorder to hi-8 to blackbag is up there (not that i have much use for a blackbag anymore, a light-tight black tent you change film reels in or work with photo-sensitive material). lav mics and videotapes and a zip-up little accordian jobbie for all my release forms. i’ve got to run one of the fones in here and maybe even the fax, but that’s it. i have to decide if i want to give up the blue armchair and just push it totally into the functional. if so, a table for the fax and phone gear.

and tomorrow’s the first real day i’m going to hit the bricks and try this thing out on the fly. the cold is mostly hanging out in my lungs, so that’s good, it’s out of my head. i wish it would leave altogether, but it’s manageable, i think. so i think i’m gonna hoof it around the university and random sample people there, and on the way there…and then walk around town proper and see who fate directs me to. it’s wide open. i’m going to have to design a few different versions of gear. heavy, light and medium. tomorrow will be a good test. what can i walk around with. be like a soldier, weighted down, but very deliberately and carefully and efficiently weighted down.

for tomorrow:

• scan pages again to get the story and facts solid. bring print out.

• assemble light mobile shooting kit. make sure to bring as many release forms as possible, especially for people. just in case.

• call university and other contacts about [-----] story, get interview, hopefully for today, even something quick. or try!

• write list of questions, even if i don’t get to each one, be familiar with a basic line of questioning.

• hit the bricks! if you talk to people and have the time, hit them up with questions for more than one topic. might as well have them weigh in on first two project topics, who knows where the gold will be? remember that in the areas in which you choose to travel. go as wide as you can to get good samples. make the very first step simply signing the release.

• pick up ink.

• print out cards or have cards made. need something for quick contacts. very important that i have something to hand to people and that they can hold on to. especially those who have no cell phone to plug info into.

• come home and digitize footage. decide if another day is needed.

• don’t mistake the due day this time. it’s wednesday. wednesday. 7 am.

oh, and tonight,

• check batteries, charge if necessary.

it all still feels a bit trippy. but i better get used to it quickly. and i’m sure that after tomorrow, it will begin to feel less fantastic. after i’ve had a solid day of being Señor Public Citizen Journalist. get a system down, or begin to.

i can see this turnaround is going to be very fast. one week is not much. but if you think of it in TV terms, it is nothing. in TV news people turn a story around on a dime. complete with snazzy graphics package and new soundtrack. so this is, again, in this nether area. an experiment! in more than one way.