Monthly Archives: December 2007

Thanks for the three hour commercial, guys. Hugs & Kisses, the NFL Network

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I am a casual football fan, but I have to admit I kept an eye on the controversy surrounding Saturday night’s game. Those who don’t have the NFL Network were peeved that such a historic game would not be available to them for free, and the matter finally aroused the interest of Congress.

I don’t know the motivations behind the whole matter, but a deal was struck to simulcast the NFL Network game on CBS and NBC. Presumably it was to keep Congress off the back of the NFL. I was under the impression that the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 allowed Congress some oversight authority in exchange for granting the NFL anti-trust exemption. So the NFL made a deal with the devil, in the parlance of our times. I was eager to see how it all panned out.

What I saw, in addition to a good football game, was something of a win-win for the NFL Network. They turned it into a three hour commercial for their network. Game interstitials promoted NFL-N exclusives such as draft coverage, game recaps, NFL Films presentations, and the like. And NBC & CBS were forced to carry it! Imagine if the NFL had tried to buy three hours of commercial time…something they got for free Saturday night.

I have NFL Network on my satellite dish, so I’m no stranger to it. Frankly, I think Bryant Gumbel is one of the worst announcers to ever call the game. But I do like a lot of their exclusives, and they were granted access to two national broadcast networks last night in order to promote those exclusives to millions of potential subscribers. I bet there are NFL Network executives laughing themselves silly now that it’s done.

I couldn’t help but wonder what NBC and CBS execs must have thought while watching plug after plug for the NFL Network airing on their networks. I had to chuckle, because I think the NFL Network has every right to do so and were “sticking it to the Man” in a way. I hope they sent NBC and CBS a belated Merry Christmas card, because they got a heck of a freebie: 3 hours of promotional time on TWO broadcast networks during the game of the year, a game which set a historical record for the league. At the same time they got Congress off their backs (for now) and came out looking like the good guys. Good for them.

Stairway to…well, nowhere really

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As my truck crested the hill where the gravel road I’d been following met Highway 1804, I planned to just head north and scoot back to my family. It was early in the morning and I expected little PJ to be waking up soon, so I wanted to be the one to haul him out of his crib. I did, however, spot this on the way home…just north of the aforementioned intersection.

I suppose this could fit into my Fallen Farms series, but instead I just decided to push it around a little bit in Photoshop and leave it at that. Sadly, this is all that’s left of what probably housed a family at some point. What was once home is now gone. I know how that feels; a couple of years I went back to the old homestead in the Montana Rockies and found that my childhood house had been replaced. Bummer. But it sure makes for nice pictures, I suppose.

Download the Governor’s “Angel Day” proclamation

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I wasn’t there Wednesday because I work for a living, but the state capitol was all abuzz with the folks getting their certificates for taking part in the snow angel record. I was there, but I wasn’t flapping my arms. I was flapping the shutter in my camera from the roof of the capitol.

Now the governor has proclaimed December 26th, 2007 to be Snow Angel Day in order to commemorate the event. You can download a PDF of the proclamation by clicking here (Adobe Reader required). Save a copy to your hard drive and print it out to go with your Guinness Book of World Records snow angel certificate, if you have one. And get ready…those Michigan folks are preparing to take another run at the record! That means we’ll have to reclaim it if they succeed, with another outing on the capitol lawn and another day of passing out certificates when we emerge victorious. Ah, the thrill of competition, eh?

Sunrise on the Eve

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My wife woke me up Christmas Eve to tell me of a lovely sunrise developing. I’d fallen asleep with my contact lenses in the night before, so I was pretty well ready to roll out of bed and into the truck. I’m so blessed to have a wife who realizes my need to just get out and roam, and she was graceful in getting me out the door for a brief Christmas Eve outing. I missed the red part of the sunset, but things stayed golden for quite a while.

As I’ve mentioned before, the best sunrise, sunset, or aurora photo is one with a nice foreground. I set out southeast of town in search of that foreground, which is why much of the color got away from me. No worries, though – I found the broken down windmill in the first picture, then moved on to this intact one a little further down the road.

I soon found myself in the river bottoms, in what looked like a graveyard for forgotten cottonwood trees. It was quite a sight, especially so given the sun’s position. I poked around down there for a little bit and even considered hopping out of the truck to pound a few rounds at the gun range, but I didn’t want to be out too long.

I popped out of the other end of the bottoms onto Highway 1804 and pointed the truck home. I gave the boys at KFYR Radio a Merry Christmas phone call along the way and caught up on the latest happenings in local broadcasting, then marched through the door to hug my wife and boys. It was nice to get out and poke around, yet get home early enough to enjoy the rest of the day with family.

Christmas on two wheels

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After a fun afternoon of Christmas frivolity, my wife remembered that I’d made a comment about riding motorcycle today. She suggested that I do so, and I didn’t need any arm twisting. Rather than get a sportbike wet and dirty, I decided to grab something with knobby tires. By the way, knobbies do NOT work on ice. I got it pretty loose a couple of times, but that’s all part of the fun.

Here’s the view from atop Tom O’Leary hill. There were some kids snowboarding when I rolled up. I had my crappy Olympus camera with me, not my nice Canon SLR, so I wasn’t able to do any really challenging shots. It was just nice to be able to enjoy a ride on my summer toy while the kids on the hill were able to enjoy riding their winter toys. We had quite a sunset tonight, too…I think everyone on that hill got some enjoyment out of it.

After running into a friend of mine from Madison, Wisconsin at the intersection of Avenue C and Griffin Street (no, not literally running into) and sharing a discussion about how nobody has sunsets like North Dakota, I flew down to the Memorial Bridge area to get a shot of the brilliant red sky. I wasn’t as fast as the sun, but there was still a little bit of a rosy glow (or pinkish hue) on the horizon as I snapped this shot beneath the Memorial Bridge(s).

My prayers for a White Christmas were answered this year, and yet I was still able to ride motorcycle on Christmas day! I think we’ll call that the best of both worlds. So what did you do for Christmas?

The four most important words you’ll hear this Christmas

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Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Peace on Earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.

My favorite Christmas music of all time is the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. I put it in my truck’s MiniDisc player as soon as the snow flies in the fall, and leave it in until the snow is gone for good the following spring. The verse that jumps out at me, the impact of which I never realized until I became a Christian, was the four words “God and sinners reconciled.” It’s those four words I have to share with you now.

You see, the reason for the season is the birth of Christ. But inseparable from Jesus’ manifestation is his mission. Let me make a few brief points:

1- Everyone on this planet is a sinner (Romans 3:10, Psalms 14 and 53). We’re cursed from Adam’s sin. Jesus came to pay to live a sinless life despite being tempted just as we are (Hebrews 4:15) and pay the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23). The fact that he came is no more or less important than the reason WHY he came.

2- As sinners, we are enemies of God. No, not everyone is a child of God as Oprah says. Without being redeemed and reconciled to God, as in the last line of that song verse at the top of this post, we’re destined to hell. We need to be forgiven. That brings us back to Jesus, and his work of reconciling us to God. Here are a few verses, look ’em up for complete context:


I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

II Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

II Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Colossians 1:20-22 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby

To get even a feeble glimpse of what those four little words means should stop a person in their tracks. All your sins forgiven through belief in Jesus Christ. A home in heaven, purchased by Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself in your stead. Guaranteed, because His work is final. That’s powerful stuff!

I’m not going to give you some deep doctrinal thesis on being born again. I’m not going to give you text from a church statement of faith, either. I’m going to put it in my own simple words and hope I make sense while typing at midnight:

-You need to realize that you are a sinner. I am too. We all are, that’s the point.
-Jesus paid the penalty for your sin (and mine, and everyone’s), living a sinless life yet taking on the sin of the world. He suffered, died, and rose again in victory over sin, death, and hell.
-You need only believe that Jesus is the Son of God (in other words, that he is God manifest in the flesh), that the price that he paid on the cross is sufficient for the forgiveness of your sins, the only thing that could ever be sufficient.
-Pray today and confess these things to God. Simply tell Him that you realize you’re a sinner who needs to be saved, that you believe Jesus is the Son of God, and that His sacrifice is sufficient to forgive you of your sins and give you eternal life.

I ask that you ponder these things today as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. If you’re not a Christian, it’s my hope that you take these things to heart. Pick up a Bible and explore the verses I’ve given. Use the “Contact Me” link on the top right of my website if you have any questions. If you are reading this on one of the sites that syndicates my blog, you’ll have to come to my website directly to get the link. It’s my sincerest hope that everyone who reads this would be born again. Then you’ll know how exciting a time Christmas really is, and the joy behind those four little words at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Christmas at the blockhouse…and I can still feel my toes!

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You may have noticed some lights atop the hill at Fort Lincoln lately…not every night, as I discovered this weekend, but most nights. They’ve got one of the blockhouses adorned with white Christmas lights, the one that sits on the edge of the hill nearest the river. It’s quite easy to see from Fox Island, actually. I could take a picture of it from there…but that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

Thankfully my friend Ken was willing to take a hike up the hill in the single digit temps and wind to take some pics of this event. We dressed warm, stowed our camera gear in my truck, and made our way south. State Parks pass firmly affixed, we entered a serene and completely abandoned park and began our walk at the bottom of the blockhouse hill.

The hike itself was great, and not even cold, other than the fact that my Airwalks wanted to kill me. They’re great shoes, but apparently use anything other than a dry surface to try to pitch me on my head (or worse). Once we got to the top, however, it was a matter of parking the tripods in the right place and snapping away. I’d get the shot set, activate the shutter, then stuff my hands into my gloves for a few seconds. We got a pretty good variety of photos and were able to have free run of the place until we finally started getting cold. That wind sure does bite!

We walked back down the hill (okay, I skated as much as walked) and hopped into the nice warm truck for a drive past the Schaaf house and back into town. Neither one of us had done our fair share of photography lately, so this was a great time for both friendship and our favorite hobby.

If you’re in the mood for a hike and have five bucks or a state parks pass, hoof it on up to the blockhouse! I recommend swinging through Fox Island recreation area first and looking across the river, just in case their generator ran out of gas. It would be a real bummer to brave the cold for nothing!

Santa drives a Freightliner for the first time in 14 years

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If you’ve traveled east Boulevard Avenue in the past week or two, you may have spotted this truck parked at the intersection with 14th Street. 14th is appropriate, because the guy I talked to says this is the first time in 14 years that he’s done this with one of his trucks. I’m glad I was there taking pictures when he pulled up!

Plastic Santa at the wheel, with snowman riding shotgun. I hope Santa has a CDL and keeps a valid log book!

I’m told that the only casualty of this unique Christmas display is the bear perched atop the truck. He snagged a low-hanging wire while the truck was backing in, snapping his brittle plastic head off. A little duct tape and some ingenuity got him back on duty, and you’d never know the difference. I guess you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs!

Make sure you drive by 14th and Boulevard to check out this big rig!

Winter freezes

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Spring she comes, spring she teases…brings summer winds, and summer breezes. Blows through your hair, till autumn leaves us.
But when autumn leaves, oh how winter freezes.

If you thought I was pulling out some renowned poetry, I have the last laugh. Those are lyrics from hair band 21 Guns. Winter does, in fact, freeze though…and I’m glad I didn’t have to trade places with this little scarecrow I found out by a rural Morton County road. I haven’t had much time for photography lately with early sunsets and two babies at home, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have pictures. I am itching to get out and stretch my legs — tripod legs, that is — on some sort of photography adventure soon. If I hadn’t had the FOX Sports job last weekend, I’m pretty sure I’d have been out on the prairie somewhere, with warm socks and long johns. It’ll happen soon, and the results will make their way here!

Saturday morning at the BSA

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As you may have heard, read, or watched on FOX Sports Net, the NDSU men’s basketball team rocked the house yesterday afternoon, defeating the Colorado State Rams. I’m told it was a good game, but I wouldn’t know…I was too busy working it, as a tape/replay operator for the network telecast. I busted out my 10mm lens and took some fish-eye pics.

Here’s the little truck we used for the event. Cute, isn’t it? It’s amazing how much stuff can be packed into the back of a truck like this. It’s still bigger than the truck that the local stations use for their state coverage. Not that size matters.

This is the front of the truck, where the director and technical director sit with the producer and graphics guy (his arm is on the right). It’s where communications with the network control center is maintained as well. You can’t read the pieces of tape below the monitors in this small pic, but my name is under the bottom row of one of the racks where the monitors for my decks sit.

This was my office for the day, in the middle of the truck. The EVS operator sat to the left, with his equipment in the left rack, and the tape decks were in the other three. I ran the two controllers you see on the left; I could have done it all with the middle one, but since we were running network commercials airing nationwide, I didn’t want to goof up and hit the wrong button. I ran replays off the tape decks using the middle controller, and ran commercial breaks off the right one.

Around the corner from me was this control area, where a guy controls all the cameras. He would ride iris and color correction controls for all cameras on the fly, so the operators simply had to worry about framing their shots. The only things the camera ops need to handle are zoom and focus, because this technician handles all the rest.

The door pointing out the back of the truck leads to this room, where all audio is handled. My buddy Jamie appears in this pic, although I didn’t ask if I could show his face…so I didn’t. He’s on the two-way radio with audio technicians around the basketball floor, as they are placing wired and wireless microphones to capture game noise. They also take care of setting up the headsets for the talent calling the game.

We had a good show. Naturally I caught a wild cold a couple of days before the game, as is customary for me. I cranked the heat in my hotel room and dried out my nose something fierce, then woke up at 4am to chug some Theraflu. That was all it took. I got to work with a great crew of guys and gals. I also got some swag, of course, but didn’t photograph it. I’m grateful every time my phone rings with a job like this, because it’s fun to get paid for what I enjoy doing most. I can’t wait until the next one!