Good Music, Bad Music

First, the bad music.

My friend and coworker Amber Stuart has some, well, questionable taste in music. Some of her music choices I like -- for example, Robin Thicke.

Not this one.

Recently, Amber bought the new Britney Spears CD, 'Blackout.' God knows why. And even worse, she admits it to the world in her new blog post.

I applaud her for the two other CDs she bought. Those are reputable musicians. Spears is not.

While we're on the subject of music, I want to talk about one of my favorite musicians. I saw Keith Urban in concert this past weekend at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.


Urban is something else on stage. He's taken some hits in his personal life, and the tabloids bash him quite a bit, but they should stick to Britney Spears. Urban has talent and deserves a break.

He seems happy, and much of that is probably due to his new wife, Nicole Kidman. I love the two of them together. Wish she had been there, but he did dedicate a song to her with his charming Aussie accent! I really hope the two of them make it. It's wonderful to see them both so happy.

Back to the concert. Mary Calurso of The Birmingham News posted this review of the concert, and I have to say she is dead on. Mary, I apologize if some of what you wrote bleeds over in to my blog. I don't mean for it to. I just think you and I agree on many points about the concert.

I don't go for grungy rock stars, but Urban doesn't fall in to that category. Some might say he does, but there are plenty of ladies out there who will agree when I say that Urban gives me goosebumps. He can sing.. play the guitar, piano, drums, and really rocks the crowd. Even the guys who attended Saturday's concert had a good time.

Urban was also very gracious to the crowd. You could tell it's been a challenging year for him, and he's glad to be back on solid ground, which I believe he is.

My friend and I especially enjoyed watching a cowboy with too-tight jeans slide back and forth across the aisle.

We also enjoyed the Bob Jones High School drumline, from Madison, AL. They joined Urban on stage at the end of the song "I Told You So", which has a heavy drumbeat.

They only played for about a minute, but were STELLAR. The crowd loved them! I was really looking forward to this part of the concert because one of our NewsChannel 19 photojournalists, Colby Knight, profiled the drumline getting ready for their performance a few weeks ago.

The drumline's advisor says the students didn't actually get to meet Urban, which disappointed me a bit, but they did get to hang out with the crew. And the crowd made them feel very appreciated, too.

This is the second time I've seen Keith Urban live. He continues to get better.. because he has more songs in his repertoire now. He performed for more than 2 hours this time, as opposed to his concert in Huntsville last year, which was still good, but not as long.

Did I mention he is SEXY?????? Can't wait to see him on his next trip to Alabama.

Happy Thanksgiving, and I Love Nick Saban

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Hope you have a good Turkey Day and enjoy your family.
Notice, I said "enjoy." Yes, I know that's not easy all the time... but they mean well. Some just don't know any better.

On to my thought for the day. Nick Saban. The man keeps Bama fans, and media folks, on our toes.

I don't envy Saban. He has one of the toughest jobs of anyone in the world. He's the head coach of the University of Alabama football team, for those of you who don't follow sports. He's caught flack from all directions this year, and he makes a zillion bucks, so he can handle it.

At the beginning of the season, Bama fans thought we'd win the National Championship this year. I didn't. Would've loved to see it happen, but I'm a realist.

Saban's not perfect. Neither is his team. He's trying to clean up a mess left behind by the last coaching staff, when I guess they ran around like hoodlums, as we are led to believe.

Saban's latest comments have some people in an uproar.

The Iron Bowl is this week, and we've lost our last two games to Mississippi State and Louisiana/Monroe, both of them at home. Not good. Not good at all. And the heat is on to beat, well, let me say "compete" against Auburn.

On Monday, Saban brought up two major events in American history, 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, in the same thought as Alabama's recent losing streak. He was trying to make a point that after those two things happened, America responded and came out stronger because of them. And, in turn, Bama would learn from its recent embarassments and do the same.

I watched the comments this morning (watch them here for yourself). I see what he meant. But others think the comments were too strong. Judge for yourself.

I don't expect a win against Auburn this weekend. I expect the hand, and a new thumb. (That means 6 losses in a row to our in-state rival). And I don't think the score will be close.

Are we not at rock bottom yet? God, I hope so. But Saban is trying to turn the Alabama football program around, and I think he's doing the right thing. He suspends players who don't follow the rules. I think he knows what he's doing.

The thing I love about Saban is he doesn't care what anyone else thinks. It's his way or the highway, and he's proving that. I'm glad I don't work for him... I couldn't handle it. But Alabama needs some stern leadership, and we've got it now. What's left of the old regime at the Capstone is learning that, and they might not be there much longer. GOOD.

No, Saban's not perfect. Some think he's supposed to be, because he makes more money than Oprah. Well, not that much. But let's have some faith in what he's trying to do.

Bama will ROLL again, maybe not this year or next. But we'll get there. I just hope our fans and alumni let Saban hang around long enough to prove he and the team can do it.

Halloween 2007

I've been trying to get around to posting these photos for a few days now. We had a great Halloween this year. My husband Joey and I always make a point to dress up, and this year, our two-year-old daughter got into the spirit, too. This is the first year she actually 'understood' it was Halloween, and definitely wanted to go for the candy!

Joey and Elena went for the "Wizard of Oz" theme, because Elena loves the movie right now. Don't they look great? Elena is Dorothy and Joey is the Scarecrow. I love how he really gets into the Halloween spirit.

Before you say anything, I did try to find a Wizard-related costume, but didn't have any luck. I was going to be 'adult Dorothy' but couldn't find a costume. I could have been the wicked witch, but didn't want to have to mess with green face and hand paint, or find a Glenda "good witch" costume.

Hence, I was Medusa. She was always my favorite character from Greek mythology.

Medusa would fool men - she appeared beautiful at first, but one look could turn men to stone.

I was impressed that most people knew who I was this year!

Hope you and your family had a great Halloween, too.

Reminiscing...

My colleague Carson Clark recently wrote a post about his first week at NewsChannel 19. He recently marked his 8th anniversary as a full-time staff member, although he interned here before that.

Carson and I go way back. We worked in Tuscaloosa together, and both went to the University of Alabama. I remember he came to intern at our old station, NewsChannel 49 in Tuscaloosa (now WVUA-7 News) and he wore a mint green shirt on St. Patrick's Day. I thought that was funny, because Carson is pretty conservative, yet he wore that colorful shirt.

You can check out Carson's blog here.


You can check out Carson's blog here. I keep encouraging him to update it more often!

Well, anyway, back to my first week at NewsChannel 19. My first day was October 16, 2000 a Monday, just after my birthday on the 13th. I trained on days for 2 weeks, then switched over to overnights to produce NewsChannel 19 This Morning.

Remember the Jason Hayes story? (No relation to Jerry). Jason Hayes was a local sailor injured in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. NewsChannel 19 flew him and his wife, Roxanne, back to Huntsville for a hero's welcome.



It was nice gesture. However, we put our 19 logo all over the private jet, so that when it flew in to the airport, it became a "NewsChannel 19 event." We even had one of our employees act as a bodyguard so none of the other TV stations could get to him. And those general managers called our TV station, ticked at what we did, as they should.



I didn't know what to think. This was my first week, and I had come to work with a great group of people at NewsChannel 19 - but this was a shock to me. We caught heat about this from all kinds of media organizations - we bought this story, they claimed, and in my opinion, they were right.



We haven't done anything like that since that week in October 2000... and I'm glad about that. Don't get me wrong, it's great to "own" a story, but not like that.

Marriage License Struggle

I've been meaning to write about this for a few days. Maybe I should change the name of my blog to "Things That Drive Claire Crazy" - James-Paul Dice suggested I do a blog like this a year ago. I promise all my blog posts won't be about my pet peeves... maybe I'm just trying to get a few things out of my system.

This one has to do with an article in the Huntsville Times over the weekend. It was a GREAT article, by Patricia C. McCarter, about one couple's wedding at Huntsville Hospital, in the bride's room. There's something about it that set me off, though.

Kimberly Douglas had been involved in bad auto accident while driving to see her fiance, Troy Morgan, who is an airman stationed near Valdosta, GA. She had four fractured vertebrae, cracked ribs, a huge gash on her head. She wore a neck brace in her hospital bed, but the picture on the front page of the Huntsville Times by Eric Schultz showed her gorgeous smile, when she got to marry Troy.

The story had me in tears. I loved it. Great job to Patricia and Eric for their teamwork on it, and to Eric for the "money shot" of the groom kissing his bride.

Here's the article, unfortunately, it doesn't have the pictures.

There was one part of the article that made my blood boil, though. The red tape the couple had to go through, to get a marriage license.

In the article, it states Troy went to the Madison County Courthouse to apply for a marriage license, but the employee said no, the bride had to be there, too.

(Did that employee listen to the couple's predicament? I'm sure Troy nicely explained it to him or her, that his fiancee was not able to make it that day). "Sorry, no bride, no license."

That is our state government at its finest. Could the office not have sent someone to the hospital, with the necessary papers, so Troy and Kimberly could sign them together? I mean, it's about customer service, people. You work for Alabama's citizens. Their taxes pay your salaries. Why not give them something back in return, about 15 or 20 minutes of your time.

Working at NewsChannel 19, we try to go out of our way to help viewers. We can't help everyone who calls, or comes in with a story. We have a limited staff, but we make the best effort we can to find solutions for people who need them, or at least point them in the right direction.

It's a good thing the hospital chaplain knew a judge in Fayetteville, Tennessee who could help Kimbery and Troy. They got a marriage license after all, and they're now happily married. In fact, I see that Kimberly just got released from the hospital after having surgery, and she's at a relative's home in Tuscumbia, resting.

I wish the couple many, many happy, healthy years together. You deserve it!

Big Media People

I want to write about big media people who go a little too far on the airwaves. Keith Olbermann got on my nerves for a comment he made last week.
Something had happened at the top of the news, which caused his live shot not to be ready - the director went to a fill-in host, or someone standing by until they had Keith ready... she did a nice job, and was only up for a minute or two.

Then, they went to Keith out of a soundbite. He made some comment like "we apologize for that unforgiveable technical mistake". Maybe he was just apologizing, thinking the mistake was unforgiveable for some ticked off viewer out there, but to me, it sounded like he was criticizing someone behind the scenes. Maybe a producer, or an engineer.. who knows why they didn't take Keith off the top of the show, but who cares. He was just going to criticize someone anyway once he started his diatribe of the night.

I do like some of what Olbermann does - he is highly critical of politicians with too much power (guess who I'm talking about here) and I appreciate that. The media should hold the powerful accountable, although I don't want to see 24/7 coverage of it, which is what we have today with all the cable news outlets.

Maybe I read too much into his comment about an "unforgiveable" technical mistake. Maybe not. If you're going to criticize someone behind-the-scenes for a mistake in getting you on the air, do it off the air. It's embarassing enough for that person, and sometimes, it's out of their control.

What to Say, What to Say...

Okay... I've now discovered why people don't update their blogs every day. Besides the time factor, you really have to come up with something to say!

And, you don't want to insult too many people, so I won't post my strongest opinions on here. I do have some, by the way. I moderate "The Rant" forum on WHNT.com and would love to jump into a few discussions on there to tell people where to stick it. But, for the most part, I just bite my tongue and wear my journalist hat, and let people go back and forth.

That is one of the tough things about being a journalist. Keeping your personal opinions to yourself. The blog world has laxed that a bit, and you see people writing opinions here and there, and that's fine. I just choose not to do it, for the most part. Someone jumped on my religion the other day though, and I couldn't keep quiet. He apologized. He is a frequent Rant poster, so I can't get too mad at him. I do appreciate people who keep coming back to WHNT.com!

I guess I'll talk about some of my co-workers at NewsChannel 19. A lot of people ask me "what is Jerry Hayes like? What is Steve Johnson like? Is Greg Screws really 9 feet tall?"

Yes, Greg Screws really is tall.. probably more like 6'5" though. He can't play basketball worth a lick, though, and he admits that.

Steve Johnson and Jerry Hayes are two of the nicest men you'll ever meet. They are gentlemen in every sense of the word. Steve loves to read (so does Greg, when he's not growing taller).. and can have a conversation about anything. Steve sits across from me, and sometimes I'll forget he's there and I'll start singing a tune.. Steve will say "Claire, I love it when you sing" and I'll be embarassed for a moment. But, he's nice to say that. Now, I don't mind it too much any more.

I love to sing, by the way. My husband Joey and I do a great karaoke version of 'Love Shack" by the B-52's. At least, we think so!

Greg is a nice guy, too. He's a newlywed, and loves his family. His daughter Emily goes to the University of Alabama and he couldn't be more proud of her.

Jerry is a hoot. He loves country music and telling us about his adventures with his identical twin brother, Terry. Did you know the two of them tried out for the Dukes of Hazzard? This was when Jerry had a bigger hairdo (a 'fro') and he wore the jeans, plaid shirt, boots, the whole nine yards. He also wants to marry Sara Evans. (Jerry's, she's single again!)

Jerry is also super-proud of his two daughters.

There are many others I could tell you about - Carson Clark is one of them. One of the most humble people you'll ever meet, and quiet, too. He also hasn't updated his blog in a while, (like, since he voted in June) but I keep asking him to.

Amber Stuart is a good buddy of mine. She keeps a blog, too, and does update it several times a week! I did a few guest posts on Amber's blog - one about Harry Potter, one about Keith Urban - and I guess that gave me the push to do my own.

There are many others I'll talk about in future posts. I'm really blessed to work with some great people here at NewsChannel 19. No, I'm not toting the company line. You hear about big egos in TV, but we're fortunate not to have them here. When I interned at a Birmingham station in 1997, there were some egos at that place, which will remain unnamed.. but we're in a good situation at WHNT. We work together well, I think.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I created this back in March, but have been too lazy to get around to posting on it. I figured after a few "guest blogs" on friends' sites, I should actually start my own.
I'll try to update this a few times a week. I welcome your comments!

I am currently the web content manager at WHNT. That basically means I oversee most of the website (the content portion) - you know, stories, videos, graphics, etc. Another girl handles the ad portion of it, and we collaborate on different things.

I used to produce for NewsChannel 19, which means I wrote the stories the anchors read during the newscast. That also meant throwing in breaking news at the last minute, etc. There's a lot to producing, and I'm glad not to be doing it anymore! I do fill in from time to time when we get desperate.

We'll talk later!