I have to admit, it’s a real bummer to get excited about reporting a story, only to have it fall through.  The bummed out feelings are only exacerbated when I have Live Apartment Fire sitting a few feet away, constantly admonishing me to go shoot a story.

But this morning’s assignment really exemplified the circumstances and frustrations that I have been feeling lately.

I should have known from the moment the assignment was made.  It was born out of an e-mail from a viewer:

“A high rise office building… has one of those giant inflated gorillas on its roof with a sign on it that says “I’m Barack”… I find this offensive and racist and I think most people would agree with me…are they comparing our President to a gorilla??

Fueled by the desires of our newsroom and the newsrooms of our national affiliates and smelling a story that would bring outrage and conversation to the viewing masses, I set out on my trek to find this inflatable gorilla.  It didn’t take me long.

An inflatable gorilla sits atop an office building near Powers Ferry Road.

As I approached the office building, sure enough, there was a large inflatable gorilla, menacingly looking down upon the masses with a frightening message: “I’M BAAACK!”

An inflatable gorilla sits atop an office building near Powers Ferry Road with a sign that says "I'M BAAACK!"

I had to smile to myself.  Clearly this would not be a story of bigotry and outrage.  Clearly this would not be a story at all.  I got a couple of shots of the building and the cartoonish inflatable gorilla, just to cover myself. (A wise Executiver Producer once told me “Never come back to the station with nothing.”)  It’ll never air.

I called back to the station.  Eager voices awaited my early report.  “It says ‘I’m back,’” I told them.

“It’s a bust,” the assignment editor called out to the newsroom.  “Come on back, Chris.”

“B-roll” is apparently an “old film term” which I am too young to understand, and you probably don’t care about the details anyway.

Here’s what’s interesting: Sometimes reporters will find themselves assigned to cover a story that is “weak on video”.  Usually that means the story is about an event that was not visually capture, or a story about an issue.  These are often referred to as a “great story for newspapers”.

Apparently, an Asian media mogul has developed a way to fudge that b-roll by making news reports look like video games.  As this report from CNN shows, his company creates animations to depict the news.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to call these guys?

But, I have a lot of friends who you might call “die-hard” sports fans.  They’re involved in endless “fantasy” sports leagues and such.  It’s not my thing.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

It with those folks in mind, that I refer you to my Brother-in-law’s brother (would he be my Brother-in-law, too?).  He’s quite the sports guy.  Some might call him a “walking sports almanac”.  A sports history savant.

A.J. writes his own blog, dubbed A.J.’s Old School Sports Blog.  Today’s post is particularly interesting for the NFL fans out there for he has compiled not the top 5, top 10 or even top 25, but the 50 Greatest Moments in NFL Playoff History, including perspective on each ranking moment.  Read and discuss.

The Late Show with David Letterman has had a Twitter account for some time, but the feed has historically been little more than a promotion space for upcoming shows.  Now, Letterman’s thoughts are being mixed in.

Dave’s first tweet: “Do you smell veal and peppers?”

My favorite of Dave’s tweets (he only has three so far): “I’m making toast!”

National Public Radio talked with Trudeau about @Roland_Hedley and his penchant for tweeting.

Courtesy of Andrew McMeel Publishing

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes profiled Tyler Perry, an Atlanta media mogul who making a name for himself, by bucking the trend.

Ironically, his success has upset much of the Hollywood establishment, and Perry has drawn a lot of criticism, especially when it comes to race.

In his closing moments of his profile on 60 Minutes, Perry responded to those criticisms, especially those from Spike Lee, in this thought provoking commentary.

First the saga of “balloon/cardboard box boy” continues with the discovery of two theme songs Richard Heene.  Apparently he fancies himself starring in either a “Psyience Detective” show, or a reality contractor show.  He went so far as to produce theme songs for each show:

Then, for you Real Housewives of Atlanta fans, there’s this video from FunnyorDie.com.  Enjoy.