Adam Sacasa is a photojournalist with the Texarkana Gazette newspaper in Texarkana, Texas.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Founders Day

Today I realized how important gathering good audio and taking a wide variety of pictures is. I swear I could have busted this out in under a half an hour if I did what I needed to do before hand. Hopefully what I learned will help during the next football game. It'll be over in Missouri in 2 weekends I think. Good thing because there are three sports going on this weekend. I really need to make some sort of sports photography how to packet. I am working with photographers so unless they can see it, the words can only go so far. Can't believe October is coming already. Being an editor is a lot of work but as tired as I am, I'm enjoying it.

I need some sleep,

adios

Saturday, September 20, 2008

getting back on topic

Whoa, got way off topic again on some AC rant. I really got to work on staying focused Getting back to the topic of podcasts, listening to the NYtimes front page podcast and they're talking about the dangers of texting with the recent train wreck. Something studnets could easily relate to. Texting, not trains. Might even be my first opinion article if I can get something out soon enough. Last think I need to be is untimely. I admit, I've texted while driving. Usually while on an open highway but it is stupid. As if talking wasn't bad enough, now we're trying to type out messages? The brings me to Jott feeds. I think Jott could become pretty popular since you could sent emails just my speaking your message instead of typing it. Something I definitley want to talk about in the podcast.

Need some stats once again like amount of text related accidents and so on. Starting to seem more conclusive that the conductor of that train was in fact texting around or at the time of the crash. 25 people dead I think. Might even check with the Macomb PD to see how many accidents around here are text related or just cell phone related. Could be an article too I guess. Feels like it's been so long since I wrote one. Last thing I wrote was this article about the Geothermal truck here working on the multicultural center. Not the most exciting thing. Also need to remind Ed to get his writers conducting more interviews. One interview for an article is just lazy journalism. There's alway someone else that can say something. Just gotta look for them sometimes.

I think I got off topic again. Getting back on podcasts, need something entertaining. but not like some hollywood gosip crap. Want to get in some tech news but reach I wide audience. Can't just be something I like. Speaking of audience, don't want it too wide. If it's too broad, won't have the same connection but we'll figure that out.

Interviews- Try to get the president in at some point. Probably make a list of people and contact them to try and get an interview and if we're going to do this, probably need something a little more professional that a video camera that we extract audio from. Took me forever to figure out how to convert .mov files to mp3 but I did so that's good.

Students. Talking to students will not only give people someone else to listen to but let other people know about the show. Maybe we should get some business cards out for the podcast. Also, special guests on campus like musicians, entertainers, etc.

We need a length too. I was thinking something under 10 minutes that students could listen to between classes and then maybe a longer show on the weekend for a recap.

Need to let people know what there is to do around town since Macomb isn't the most exciting place.

I heard a lot of mistakes I was doing during the first cast like rubing my hands is really noisy and probably need to breathe quieter. Yes, I am a mouth breather and the mic always seems to pick it up. Sometimes, I have good days where my nose is pretty cleat but others, not so much. I know how I sound now so I'll try to sound more professional for next time but not boring. I'll find something in between.

Don't think I really feel like typing much more. Football today at 6:05pm and Volleyball at 7. I'll have a few of my new photographers out there learning how to shoot sports. Thing is, I think only one of them has a camera so I'll need to figure out that and do the same for Sunday when there's soccer at 2pm and I'll have 2 more people out there. Sounds like it's going to be a busy weekend. I better get to the office and get ready.

later.

Just need ideas

Second home game of the season of football. Wish the game was in Texas but whatever. As for the podcast, I've been trying to get some ideas on what exactly it's going to be about. We definitely need an outline and a set day to record with a few extras here and there.

Been checking a whole bunch of different sites. Started out with what's going on on Campus. Campus briefs like what's going on for the week. It'll be quick becasue unless something is ridiculous, it'll probably get old and boring quick.

Weather is something I want. Something more than just weather though. Somehow relate it to peoples actual schedules (wake up, heading to class, comming home, out at night. The average temp just doesn't do me any good if the temp drops 20 degrees at night and I'm freezing my arse off walking home after production night in the office.

It'll just be the next day or 2 becasue I never remember much past then. Maybe weekend.

Speaking of weather. It was the middle of August and I was back in Macomb FREEZING. I really hated that first week in the dorms. I'm not a big fan of the cold and hate winter (love summer) and it was such a huge change becasue I go from the heat of summer in Kansas for the internship to my parent's house back in Chicago. My mom isn't running the AC and we've just got fans going around the house to stay cool so going from that to the dorms was soemthing I wasn't used to. The part that was so frustrating was I couldn't control how much the AC was on in my room. I'd leave the window open just to try to stay warm and let some heat in. I even covered the top of the AC with duct tape and put a towel below but it really didn't do much.

As much as I hate it, I wonder how much money Western wastes on blasting the AC. I'm going to have to check on that. I know other dorms have some controls but mine, none. I'm sure I just sound like I'm complaining but students end up footing the bill when energy prices are skyrocketing and the University does little to change. What I want to find out is the cost of comfort.

I can understand partly why the university doesn't completely change things becasue I'm sure somebody's gonna go apesh*t when the temp goes up a few degrees becasue they can't handle it. If the university got solid facts, some thing concrete that students could see and then used those numbers to show how much money could be saved and what that money could be used for, who knows? Doubt anything is going to change but when I'm wearing a sweatshirt and hat in the middle of the summer, maybe it's just a little wasteful.

I remember last year, the theme was global responsiblity. I saw a few things the university did to try and be more green. Now, I don't mind being cool and people can suck it up and deal with it but when I'm needing to remember to bring a sweatshirt with me to the library when it's 80+ degrees outside, maybe it's just a little bit much.

Speaking of stats, I'll try to get some of those.

Wow that was long.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Up and running

Finally getting those podcasts started again. I'll be honest, they suck now or I guess I should say it sucks since we've only done one. I'll talk to Jon Oakley, a broadcasting major for some tips and once we get interviews and some stories to talk about, we should be good.


http://www.westerncourier.com/podcasts/



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Now playing: Bush - Cold Contagious
via FoxyTunes

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Choices

It's nice to have options. Liberal/Conservative, Energizer/Duracell, PC/Mac. Choices allow people to think about decisions instead of having others do it for you. Let me just get right into it. So the university theme or whatever is Health and Wellness and yet the only late night options we have around campus are Pizza, Burger King and the crap in the C-stores?

This semester, The Union lost the sandwich place I never went to and replaced it with Mexican food. Don't get me wrong, I love good Mexican food. The problem is I love good Mexican food. Now I'm left with Burger King at night. Despite getting a salad when I can make it in time for dinner in the dorms, the overall menu's there haven't seemed to change much either.

Now, what can Western do to change this or... oh I don't know, be more healthy? Leaving a fast food restaurant as the only option doesn't seem like a good start. After eating at Burger King, I don't feel healthy or well. Actually, I end up feeling a little gassy.

Complaining only does so much so what can Western do to be more healthy or well? I understand being healthy usually costs more money but if the university is going to make it a theme, they better but their money where their mouth is. I appreciate the effort the university puts in to get various speakers and maybe there are things going on for the first year students but besides what the university already offers such as intramural athletics or the Rec, nothing is really standing out and changing my feelings about wellness.

Hopefully the theme is much more than speakers and posters. Students should take advantage of whatever comes next, if anything, and make real changes for a healthier life.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

BK

25 minute wait for a crispy chicken sandwich at Burger King. Seriously? I got to find another option.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Gotta work out tomorrow morning. Got some homework to finish by noon and probably getting my photographers mugshots and get some press passes printed out for them.

Other than that.... not much.



Yup.

WIU Football vs. SDSU

It was a big change from Arkansas. We got in South Dakota on Friday in Sioux Falls. It was boring. Seemed like nothing but banks. Took a while to find a chain resturant. There were a ton of little local resturants but all expensive. Lot's of older people around. Seemed like a big Macomb.

Video was rough. I had the laptop up in the press box. I get back and the thing won't turn on. On the plane, tried, kept trying, still nothing. Wasn't until I got back in Tanner till the thing finally worked so just a quick edit. Home this weekend.


No more Burger King. That crap is killing me, or just making me gassy. Nap, then I'm out to the Rec.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

WIU Football vs. Quincy



Took a while but I finally figured out how to get the multimedia up on the front page. STILL waiting for a response from College Publisher. Really want a box on our front page of site so things don't just vanish into oblivion. Plus podcasts. Looking to get those going soon. People seem pretty excited about it. Every section, 1 podcast. Kind of thinking maybe an overall podcast to cut down on the clutter but I guess options are good too.

Well here's the assignment I've been meaning to get up for Rich's class:

Jack Board's big adventure:

Well, I guess the .docx won't open up on this computer so it'll go up tomorrow I suppose.

Just got some great news. FLYING!! When I was looking at the itinerary for the South Dakota State trip with football, thought we might be busing it but luckily, not. Football always goes big so that works out for the media. As for food, I think we might actually be getting fed this time. I mean I don't mind eating at Sonic but I'd rather not have to spend money every time I travel.

We'll be heading out to the Quad Cities airport at 10am on Friday and back Sunday at 3:15am.

Tomorrow is September 11th. There's going to be a few things going on on campus. No photo requests but I'll probably try to get some multimedia up by the end of the day. Plus, trying to get a game preview for football up tomorrow. Along with production night, it's gonna be a busy one for me. I need to figure our what assignments my photographers have and hopefully things go smoothly.

I guess I probably have some homework to do and I gotta get packing too.

Adios


CERN

Completely forgot to try and write that article about the CERN being so busy being the photo editor. Just a if you're still reading this... yada yada. Don't think anything's gonna happen but it sure would spark interest in science. Well I'm typing this at a wierd angle off my bed listening to Buzz Out Loud so I'm out. Busy day at the paper but I'm out. 5 minutes till CERN, whoop.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Pregame Prep


1_6055, originally uploaded by blazinhispazian.

Just another pic that'll probably never make the paper. Just saw the groundskeepers spraying the field on my way back to my dorm. Always wanted to shoot the guys doing this. I talked with them for a little, watched the process, got some info and yes I have captions. I'm really trying to avoid pics with none. I'll get my notebook from the office tomorrow. Nice guys.

Game is tomorrow at 6:05pm. Not sure what I'll do with multimedia. Feel like I'm getting burn out. Gotta slow it down and just relax. I'm trying to walk through pics with the new people. Guess we got a few for next Tuesday's meeting. Hopefully they all show.

We had this major error on the front page where one of the new reporters got all these dates wrong for the completion of a building on campus. Makes us look bad. Problem is, these writers are being sent out with no experience and they have no idea what they're doing I guess. Things at the paper are rough. I'm trying to do whatever I can to keep my section producing with all the new people we're using. So far, been getting by, hopefully get easier as the year goes on.

MTV is somewhere in Macomb. Some show called Busted so I'm sure there'll be a bunch of people acting stupid for the cameras. I got the scanner going so if anything crazy goes down, I'm gettin outta bed and finding it.... maybe.

So far, it's been someone passed out across the street from Sherman, a streaker on Adams St, a suicide threat (happens several times every week) and the typical loud party complaints. Ahhh, college. Just don't get calls over the scanner like this back in Chicago.

Well I got work to do in the morning. Later.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

2 quick ones

Just had 2 assignments today. One was a portrait of a woman who's retiring. It was just the standard off camera lit portraits in the office. I tried to add some motion blur but got a cool effect. Ended up looking a little ghostly but maybe its a metaphor? Eh, whatever.

Next was my favorite. A building shot. Just basic stuff but I seriously need to step it up and light these suckers. Just gotta pack strobes, lightstand and shoot around dusk.

Quick night in the office. Got 2 of the videos from the weekend football game in Arkansas on the Facebook group.

I made up a quick list of rules for our new photographers to follow. I'll probably try to email it or print out some copies of it. They have no photojournalism experience so I'll try to start really basic. My goal is to get them all better than me. I want the best photo's in the state in a school with no photo-j. It's my job to teach and motivate so hopefully I can and through teaching, and I'll learn myself.

This weekend, might be heading to Bradley University with mens soccer or maybe it was womens? Not sure. I think theres another sport on Friday and maybe a photo assignment? Things are starting to get busy and we at the Courier need to keep up and then some. We need major changes and need to make the paper more exciting. News is changing. Other mediums are comming up and newspapers need to adapt. Can't have long boring articles about things no one cares about but we still need hard news. Last thing I want to see is this newspaper turn into a Chicago Sun Times or a New York Post.

I don't know. We need changes, more multimedia. I was talking to Martyn about starting up podcasts again. He's got an english accent and I'm sure we American's would be ammused rather than just me talking about whatever. We need a show with direction though. Should be fun. Maybe a week in news.

We also need some campus newsbriefs section. Right now we have this What's happening now section. A map with stars and some AP stories. Every single week. It's insanely boring. Just need something better. Important but better. New design, yada yada. Speaking of which, need some front page design. To be honest, I hate the font on the cover, no offense to whoever picked it. Just seems outdated and ugly. I got goals and hopes but I can't do much without a good nights sleep so adios.

Oh yeah, have students vote for a new front page design. Got a lot of ideas up this head of mine. Some good some bad. Either way, better than no ideas.

Monday, September 01, 2008

More Muli-Media

Been having some fun with this. This video was the first time I tried to make something during sports. It was rough to say the least. I decided not to bring a tripod becasue of space contraints. Thats another thing. When I'm shooting both video and photos, it means more equipment to carry.

Even with all the equipment, only lost one thing, my hoodie. Thank you USA JET airlines.

I know I missed a few shots, sometimes it was my position and other times, just too many players or refs in the way.

In total, there was about 35 minutes of footage to go through. About 7 minutes was the view inside my pocket. Hoped to get some audio from the mistake but nope. For photo's, I shot a gig on the first day and 5 more on game day.

Everywhere we went, there was a police escort. It was pretty cool. The crowds were huge. Not sure what the capacity of the stadium was but I know it was in the thousands and it was PACKED. I couldn't imagine competing in that. The noise was incredible too.

The game was surprising. WIU recovered a fumble right off the kick off and things were looking good. After the 1st half, still good, 3rd, good, 4th, things started to fall apart. WIU was up 24-21 but with about 1:45 to go in the game, Arkansas scores and takes the lead. After a few more snaps, that was that.

I had a hard time getting audio. Didn't get into huddles as much as I should have to get voices. Plus it was hard combining photos with game sounds. Videos actually turned out okay. Only a few worked but for not being able to move the camera, it was still alright and caught a few things.

One other thing was charging all the batteries. I definitely messed up on this. Sometime during the 2nd quarter, my 20D with grip died. Some of it might be the connection but I still should have had those batteries in the chargers the night before. Luckily I had enough spares to get by for the rest of the game.

Got a few post game things but missed the press conference. Took forever to get up to the press box . Only had to go up 1 floor but it was so packed, I had to find another way up. Half time was horrible too. I think the stadium really needs to do something about that. Traffic was moving slow for everyone. Luckily I didn't have to transmit.

All in all, it was a very good experience. After finishing the second day's footage and photos into a multimedia piece at 2am, realized how long it takes for sports. Guess I should write times down. Wouldn't mind a copy of Photo Mechanic either. Learned a lot, hopefuly improve next time.

We got back in Macomb at 3am and my sleep schedule is all outta whack. It's almost 4am so I guess I should get to bed.


About Me

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Macomb, Illinois, United States
writer/photojournalist. Mostly the later.