"The Milky Way Playground", by Jennifer Ahn

You like that picture don’t you?  It’s a pretty cool interpretation of the Google logo isn’t it?

Would you be amazed if I told you a 4th Grader painted that picture?  Well, be amazed because that’s the truth.

Nine-year-old Jennifer Ahn painted that picture and entered it into a contest called Doodle 4 Google.  More than 33,000 other people entered.  Jennifer is now one of 40 finalists.  Pretty cool, right?

As a finalist, Jennifer has already won a trip to New York to hang out at Google’s offices and meet all kinds of artists and cartoonists and what not.  They’ll probably have lunch or something, too.  Maybe sit around in some beanbag chairs.

If Jennifer wins the Doodle 4 Google contest she’ll bank an $15,000 scholarship.  Her school, Shakerag Elementary in Johns Creek, will score a $25,000 technology grant.

Oh yeah, her doodle will appear on the front of the Google homepage for a day, too.  That’s pretty awesome.

So, go check out Doodle 4 Google and vote for Jennifer.

Maverick and Goose

I came across a tweet on my twitter stream this morning letting me know that today, May 13th, is Top Gun Day.

Official in any capacity?  Probably not.

Awesome in every capacity? Absolutely.

There’s a website, Facebook page and Twitter feed dedicated to Top Gun Day.  On the website, you can find a handful of suggestions for the proper observation of Top Gun Day.  Some tips include quoting Top Gun throughout the day and wearing aviator sunglasses.

Will Ferrell guest stars for Express
(KXAN) — Will Ferrell made a special appearance at the Dell Diamond Thursday night. The comedy star enjoyed the Express’ baseball game from the owner’s suite and then emerged from center field to start the sixth inning.

He was dressed as Billy Ray “Rojo” Johnson, an American-born pitcher raised in Venezuela.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHlFA_bDkI

This is a great recognition of the hard work and dedication of a truly outstanding and innovative news staff.

I hope to write more about how some of the work that went into the earning these awards.  In the meantime, here’s the official news release:

11Alive Wins 8 of 13 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards
Earns More Awards Than Any Large Market TV Station

ATLANTA (April 7, 2010) – WXIA-TV’s 11Alive news team won top Edward R. Murrow awards in eight categories announced today by the Radio Television Digital News Association, the world’s largest professional organization exclusively serving the electronic news profession.

The Atlanta-based NBC news affiliate won more Edward R. Murrow Awards than any other large market broadcast station. 11Alive received this honor in a year when it worked to change the face of local news in the Atlanta market. The station has focused on solutions oriented newscasts.

11Alive broadcasts solutions-oriented newscasts across metro Atlanta to provide news that helps viewers resolve issues in their community. “We knew that we were making a difference by programming a newscast that isn’t just crime and car crashes, that isn’t a copy of other local stations,” said Ellen Crooke, vice president of news at 11Alive. “To earn eight Edward R. Murrow awards – more than any other large market TV station – is certainly the biggest validation of our commitment to revitalize TV news that I can imagine.”

11Alive competed in Region 13 against all large market stations in Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. The station received Edward R. Murrow awards in the following categories:

• Overall Excellence – 11 Alive News
• Video Breaking News Coverage – September Floods
• Video Continuing Coverage – State of Stimulus: Tracking the Money
• Video Feature Reporting – Leo
• Video Reporting: Hard News – Loss of American Dream
• Video Investigative Reporting – A Voice for Stefan
• Video News Series – Raven
• Video Sports Reporting – Woodland Warriors

The Murrow award for Overall Excellence is the result of 11Alive’s commitment over the past 18 months to listen to viewers and community leaders and provide an innovative newscast that renews interest in local TV.

“We hear you,” 11Alive promised. The station took the motto as a call to deliver truthful, solution-based news that supports the community it serves. Learn more about 11Alive at www.11alive.com.

Thoughts, questions and meditations will be accepted in the comments below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9D9f_ySvkA

There are several reasons I enjoy working with a photojournalist from time to time.  One, it’s great to have a fantastic shooter to make a story come alive.  And two, it’s great to have somebody to talk to while you’re driving around town.

Dan has been around the 11Alive newsroom for quite some time.  He’s a great guy and always willing to share a story or two about the characters of years past.

This week, we were discussing one of the icons of 11Alive, photographer Bruce Mason.

Bruce is known in media circles as one of first people to tie a rope around his waist and hang out of the side of a helicopter to capture aerial news footage.  This was a time before robotic cameras were mounted on the bottom of the chopper and gyroscopically stabilized.

This week, Dan told me the story of how Bruce was quite a celebrity in Japan in the mid-90s.

As one of the few people in the world crazy enough to hang out of the side of helicopter flying hundreds of feet above Atlanta, in 1995 Bruce was featured as the answer to a trivia question on a Japanese television game show, “Show By Shobai”.

Bruce was kind enough to share video of the game show with me.  I have no idea what is going on here.  But it is quite entertaining.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoWVNFGTu08

The proliferation of the OMB/BPJ has caused much consternation among old school reporters.  “How can I do all of this?” they ask. “The quality of my work will surely suffer!”

Now, with the growth of social media, reporters are finding one MORE task to add to their daily workflow: updating Twitter, Facebook, etc.

But, I contend that there are plenty of OMB/BPJs out there getting the job done and getting it done well.  Case in point: Julie Wolfe.

Take a look at this picture.  That’s Julie, sterilized and scrubbed in for a story she’s working on.  In the picture you can also see the tools of the trade: two cameras.  What’s that?  You only see one camera?  Look closer.  That’s right, she’s holding the other camera in her hand.

Armed with her iPhone, Julie (@juliewolfe on Twitter) has been Tweeting her way through covering her stories.  She posts messages and updates regularly, and has developed quite a following.  Afterall, Julie’s job is to communicate stories, ideas and information to people.  That’s what a journalist does.  Even though she’s employed by a TV station, she knows she needs to reach her audience on different platforms.

You might call Julie (with all of her gadgets) the Journalist of the Future.  But I’d say you’re wrong.  I’d say she’s the Journalist of Today.  And a darn good one at that.

By the way, the story she’s working on is remarkable.  It’s scheduled to air Friday morning.  But of course, you can follow the developments online:

Quinn’s Transplant: Photos and twitter transcript
Atlanta (11Alive) – On Tuesday, September 29th, 8 year old Quinn underwent surgery and got a new kidney.

Quinn has Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). PKD is a life-threatening genetic kidney disease affecting 600,000 Americans.

11Alive reporter Julie Wolfe spent the day in the OR with Quinn. Julie and others posted surgey updates throughout the day using twitter.

At 11:43 a.m. on September 7, 2009 I reached a milestone (literally) with the Jetta. It was Labor Day and I was returning home from St. Simon’s Island, Georgia after attending a wedding. During that drive, my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta crossed the 100,000 mile mark.

I was able to capture the moment using my cell phone video camera.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOHV0ECtLrw

The 100,000 mile mark used to have a lot more significance in a time when cars were not built to last nearly as long as the Jetta has lasted me (knock on wood). The moment was also made more significant because many odometers in older cars only accommodated five digits of mileage. When you hit, 100,000 miles you paradoxically hit zero miles at the same time as the odometer rolled over.

Despite all of that, it was a rare moment worth documenting.