Jamey Tucker’s BlogSquat

Ours was in Roebuck. In the early to mid-70s, K-Mart with its blue-light specials and frozen blueberry Icees, was a regular stop for my family.

Generally, I think it was Friday nights when my dad came home from work and wasn’t “too tired to drive right back to Birmingham”. We couldn’t go “to town” like my other friends on Saturday nights because my mom and dad worked at my grandparent’s store every weekend.

But when we needed something, like a new pair of shoes, construction paper for a school project, underpants or anything else we couldn’t get at Tucker Salvage, we headed to Roebuck and our K-Mart.

I can still remember how that K-Mart smelled. Like fresh popcorn and bubble-gum and artificial flowers. They also sold hot ham sandwiches and subs which I thought were the best sandwiches I had ever eaten in all my life.

We could get it all at K-Mart. Grab a buggy and stroll the aisles of the K-Mart and you could walk out with batteries, motor oil, curtains, dish towels, tennis shoes, Fiddle-Faddle and toothpaste. If I had been old enough, I would have bought stock in K-Mart. There was nothing else like it on earth. No way would K-Mart ever lose its customers.

FFWD: 2008

I walk through the automatic doors of a “Super K-Mart” and it was like stepping back in time to 1978. Trouble is…going inside K-Mart today IS like stepping back in time to 1978. I half expected ABBA or Boston to be singing on the intercom system.  There was no fresh popcorn smell and no “Blue Light Specials”. It was almost as if the colors weren’t as bold and clear…like from those 1970s era movies and tv shows. K-Mart has faded and worn badly.

So what happened to this wonderful utopian department store from my memory? Wal-Mart? Well, sure that had a lot to do with K-Mart losing its luster. In fact, the K-mart in Roebuck where we used to shop is now a Super Wal-Mart. Try finding a K-mart.

The truth is, K-Mart never evolved. In the 1980s, shoppers stopped going to K-Mart. The stores were out-dated, often not very clean, and just dingy. Wal-Mart didn’t really get going until around 1987 but had been building its empire since 1962. The K-Mart folks had to have known about Sam Walton and his little store. They had to have known what was coming. What did they do? Nothing.

According to Wikipedia, K-mart executives decided not to update K-Mart’s look and focused instead on other companies they had acquired. There’s been a bankruptcy and several other unfortunate business decisions but K-Mart is all but gone these days. When was the last time you walked into a K-Mart? How long did you have to think about your answer?

Bottom line is K-Mart never moved with the times. The outdated stores in 1984 are even more outdated today.

My point? I wonder if local television news is like K-Mart in the 1980s. Coming off very good times, but the new kid on the block (the internet and broadband video) sure seems to be a lot like Wal-Mart. It’s shinier and more convenient. Can’t find anything for the family to watch on network primetime tv? No problem, ignore K-Mart and watch what you want when you want over at Wal-Mart (YouTube, Apple TV).

In need of a breather, I’m taking a couple days vacation in the middle of the week. Just catching my breath, hoping I can come back on Friday with a little more energy and a little less apathy.

I don’t know if I feel burned out because this reporter isn’t as young as he used to be, or whether it’s because during an average day my workload has doubled. Sure it has. And that has to be it.

Oh I’m not complaining. I rather like being a video journalist, but I do think working straight through the day takes a toll. Here’s the difference:

A general assignment reporter who is part of a two-person reporting team will:

• pay attention in the meeting, throw out a few story ideas and either choose one or have one chosen for you
• make phone calls, re-read the newspaper or internet article (haha) and set up interviews
• interview two-three people on maybe two angles of the story
• gather soundbytes to be used in the story, write story
• hand the script and audio track tape to the videographer/editor
• have a coke or coffee while the other half of your team makes tv picture magic

Now the photographer/videographer half of the team will do the following:

•     have a coke or coffee with the other videographers while the reporters and producers attend the morning meeting/powwow
• listen with some interest while the reporter tells you what story you’re about to cover and where you’re about to drive
• videotape the interview, making sure the audio sounds good, the light looks good and you get reversals and reaction cutaways
• videotape the b-roll you’ll need to cover the reporter’s voice track
• figure out if there is any archive video to use, where that video is and if and how it can be used in the story
• have another coffee or coke while the reporter is logging the video and soundbytes and writing the story
• cut video teases for earlier shows and promotions
• capture the video on the computer hard drive
• edit the package plus any additional vos and vosots that producers of other shows want to use

Video Journalists or one-man-bands combine those two jobs into one. As a result, and I didn’t realize this until after I took the job, there is absolutely no downtime. No handing a script off and no waiting while a script is created.

No complaints from me, but I think it does bring some burnout a little quicker than when you’re part of a two-man or two-person crew.

So, needing a little time away from that daily rush, I’m slowing down the next couple of days. Maybe I’ll play some golf. I do hope to work on my podcast a bit and get it running again by the first of the month.

I was like a lot of people who were taken by surprise by Memphis mayor Willie Herenton’s decision to resign. The news hit the Commercial Appeal website sometime Thursday evening. I was watching Belmont nearly beat Duke and didn’t hear the news until 10pm on our station in Nashville.

This morning when I turned on my computer again I see that Fox 13 got the interview that everybody was bound to be watching. Willie Herenton, the five term mayor sat down with anchor Mearl Purvis live on the air for what appeared to be a very candid talk about his decision and his legacy.

Wow. In this day and age of every station having a live truck or three, and talented reporters and anchors and websites, this was as big of an exclusive as one can get.  These days, every big story is reported at practically the same time on two or three tv stations. Exclusives are much harder to find and keep exclusive until newstime. But this one, the story that everybody is going to be talking about today, and I do mean everybody, came to just one tv station.

It isn’t every day that a reporter from one station is hanging out by the door of another station, hoping to get a soundbyte from a newsmaker.

Congratulations to Purvis and to news director Ken Jobe. Following up all of those Emmy awards with a big night like this is sure to turn some heads, and channels. (Frankly though, I’d like to have seen Cameron Harper at 24 do this interview…wouldn’t that have been fun).

I wonder how Fox got this one? Did they get tipped off before the other stations? Did Jobe or Purvis have an “in” with someone on Herenton’s staff? Does hizzoner favor Fox 13 over the other news departments? Was this something Herenton or his staff had thought out ahead of time? They certainly expected a media frenzy, so did they have a plan ahead of time for which station would get the first interview?  And what was that night like inside the Fox 13 studios?

I remember nights like that, when we killed the competition with a story that they all wished they had. This one belongs to Fox 13. And if there’s anyone at 3 or 5 who still thinks the market is just a two-horse race, they better hope they’re still one of the two with Ken Jobe in the next couple of years.

(or “My Time to Quit”…no really this time)

Has it been 15 years since I put that first dip of snuff in my lip? Good times, sure. The wintergreen fine-cut and me had plenty of good times. Shoot, just about every good time I’ve had in the past decade and a half were shared with Red Seal or Red Man or Skoal.

I’ve got pictures of me holding my newborn babies with an ugly pouched out lip. I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands of spit cans and cups and bottles and even wal-mart bags. But now…I think I can say officially “I’m Quit!”

It hasn’t been easy. I first tried to quit soon after we moved to Southaven in ‘98. I remember painting the walls of my office and saying, “I’m quitting this stuff”. Sometime around 11 o’clock I drove to Wal-Mart to buy nicotine gum. I also bought “my last can”. Only it wasn’t. Neither were any of the next 3,500 cans.

Don’t believe it could really be 3,500 cans? Well that is an understatement if anything. I was going through at least one can a day. 365 days times 10 years brings us to 3,650 cans. At the very minimum. The really sad part of the story is each of those cans cost $2 at the least. I’ve also forked over as much as $4.50 for a can if I’ve been on vacation. So at that price and at that many cans I’ve spent a small fortune on tins of tobacco.

Stupid.

During those 15 years I’ve dipped at Disneyworld, Sunday School (it was a class Christmas party), on the job and even once, just a few seconds before a live shot, (seriously, I spit it out while the anchors were tossing to me).

But now..I’m quit.

I know I’m not completely out of the woods yet but I’ve been dip-free for four weeks. That’s not free and clear I understand, but during these four weeks I’ve taken several long car trips by myself which, for me, is the real test. I’ve worked in the yard, stayed up late on the computer and have had plenty of stressful days. Still, I’m quit.

I’ve found that Freedent gum is good for me. Other chewing gum is too soft, but this Freedent is thick and more difficult to chew. The consistency seems to be perfect for putting “between my cheek and gum” to replace what my lip has gotten used to.

So now I’m quit. 15 years after buying my first can of Skoal for $1.74.

On the first day, God created the dog and said: “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said: “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?”

So God agreed. On the second day, God created the monkey and said: “Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.”

The monkey said: “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?” And God agreed.
On the third day, God created the cow and said: “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.”
The cow said: “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?”
And God agreed again. On the fourth day, God created man and said: “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.”
But man said: “Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?” Okay,” said God, “You asked for it.” So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone. Life has now been explained to you.

• Got another call about the aforementioned “wedding couple”. Apparently it is true. A reporter from WREG and a reporter from WMC did exchange vows recently. I’ve known producers and photographers and directors to be married to employees at the competition, but this is a first as far as two on-air competitors doing the nuptials.
• I ran into a former co-worker this week. Kevin Osgood, who was known as Kevin Yodjas back when we worked together at WHNT in Huntsville in the ’90s. Kevin is out of the business and working for a company that designs news sets for television studios. It caused me to remember what a magical time it was for our news team. We started as the #3 station in the market, but in two short years we were #1 in nearly every show. We had some great people working for us. Not only were we all dedicated to the station, we were having a blast.
• Speaking of WHNT, an older man walked up to me when I was at a doctor’s appointment yesterday and asked “aren’t you on tv?”. I introduced myself and told him where I work, but he said…”yeah, but I remember you from when you were in Huntsville.” The guy had no idea I was working in Nashville now but somehow placed me back at WHNT. That never stops surprising me.
• I covered the Presidential visit to Nashville this morning. Does it seem like it’s been 8 years since George W was on the campaign trail for the first time? He came to Memphis about this time 8 years ago.
• Brooke White may not be the best singer or the most exciting contestant on American Idol this year, but if she gets the right songwriters and producers, she could be the biggest star from this group, even if she doesn’t win it.
• Anybody else get the feeling that Governor Spitzer’s wife might have had a grip on the waistband of his underwear during his news conference Monday? For her to stand there with this creep for television and front page photos, she should have been granted the right to give him a royal wedgie for as long as he made his speech. She could have hooked the edges over his Dumbo looking ears.
• My son’s new little friend is the grandaughter of a singer who is half of a famous ‘70s pop group.
• Have you ever teared up a little just by hearing a favorite song that you haven’t heard in a long long time?

Wouldn’t it be cool if we got to set our clocks forward an hour Friday afternoon at 4 instead of in the middle of the night Sunday morning?

A quick poll this morning and I couldn’t find anyone who’s ever known a reporter from one station marrying a reporter from a competing station. I’m hearing that happened in the Memphis market last weekend. If true, congratulations to the happy couple. Anybody able to confirm this with a wedding cake photo?

I’m going to try the M.R.I again next week. This time, it’ll be in the afternoon instead of first thing in the morning. I’ll stay up most of the night before and work through the day. I’m banking on being sleepy enough to relax with the medication. Insurance doesn’t want to pay for the open-MRI so this may be the only way I can get it done.

Wal Mart is opening dozens of stores in small towns across America on Friday. Wouldn’t it be interesting to follow a local mom and pop business for a few months to see what impact a supercenter has on these folks?

I’m glad Danny Noriega was voted off Idol this week. Same with the other guy, whathisname.
Too bad Asia’h Epperson sang first Tuesday night. I think she may have gotten lost in the crowd. None of the people leaving had a chance of winning so it really doesn’t matter when they leave.

Paula either needs to double up her medication or cut it in half. Her current dosage isn’t working.

I haven’t had a dip of snuff in nearly two weeks. I’m jonesing for one tonight though.

Never mind what the publicist is saying, if Patrick Swayze has pancreatic cancer he is not doing well. I’ve known two people with that type of cancer. Both died within two months of being diagnosed.

What is it about American Idol that seems to find the most sissyfied guys for the top 24? How many of the male contestants sing like girls? That may be fine for a lot of viewers and I’m not suggesting that feminine sounding guys should be tossed, but it’s not for me.

Tonight was 80’s night and several of the guys…er boys, took on some of the worst songs of that decade. Luke Menard sang “Wake Me Up Before you Go Go”, a Wham song. Last time I head this song it was being made fun of in “The Wedding Singer”. I haven’t liked anything Menard has sung since Hollywood week. I didn’t think this one was very good either. He could go this week.

Danny Noriega, the guy a lot of people are comparing to Sanjaya from last year, sassed his way through “Tainted Love”, one of the songs that identifies the 80s music era. He sashays on stage more than any contestant since Katherine McPhee. His winks to the audience are creepy. I really think he’s leaving this week. “Votefortheworst.com” thinks he should go too, so the website is encouraging people to vote for him this week. Votefortheworst aims to make a mockery of the show by pushing the worst singer every year to the finals. The site took a lot of credit for Sanjay’s lengthy stay last year. Noriega is definitely the worst of the remaining guys.

I thought Michael Johns, the guy from Australia was rather ordinary again this week. But the judges really like this guy. I don’t think I’d buy one of his cds but my wife likes him. I thought the last two weeks showed he isn’t that good of a singer and is more style and look than voice.

David Archuleta, the 17 year old who sang “Imagine” last week, was really really good tonight at the piano. He sang “Another Day in Paradise” from Phil Collins and I thought it was great. The judges were a little cool on him this week, urging him to pick up the tempo and attitude next week. I think the kid is one of the best singers and song stylists that this show has seen in 7 years.

David Cook surprised me tonight. He came out with an electric guitar and rocked up a version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello”. I thought it was great and even told my wife that I’d buy a cd of that song tonight (and I probably will on iTunes). I liked the rock-style version even better than Richie’s version from 1982.

Chikeezie was good tonight with a Whitney Houston song and Jason Castro’s version of Hallelujah was okay. The judges thought it was great though so what do I know? I thought he was a bit off tempo several times and ran out of breath on the last line.

And I think Paula either doubled up on her medication or didn’t take it at all. At the end as she was trying to give the guys a standing ovation she nearly stumbled or fell back into her chair. She was even more incoherent and annoying tonight than usual. I used to think the show wouldn’t be the same without her cheerleading the contestants, but now she’s too predictable. Hopefully though, they won’t play her music video again.

Who goes? I think the worst this week was Menard and Noriega. Both should go but I think there’s a chance that Noriega hangs around, sort of like Sanjaya did last year.