Or does the news do Urban Guy? Last week I had the pleasure of having Emily Stroud and Brian Holt interview me for yesterday’s episode of WBIR’s “Alive at Five at Four.” The idea came from a suggestion by a reader of Inside of Knoxville, my photography teacher, Tom Geisler. He called them, told them they should interview me and they set it up. Clearly, it’s a slow news summer.
I’ve honestly always enjoyed being on television. I’m much more intimidated in front of a large crowd than in front of a camera. Most of my appearances over the years have been on WBIR and I’ve always found the reporters and anchors to be easy to work with and generally pleasant. Over the years I’ve met and talked with Bill Williams, Edye Ellis, Ted Hall, Margie Ison as well as a few of the more recent additions.
Emily and I have a mutual friend, so we had that in common and Brian was exceptionally professional and fun when he attempted to hold the light for me to take photographs of the two of them. It was a very comfortable and fun experience without any fun drama to report. Of course, I turned the camera on them and made it a two-way story.
My favorite parts of the video that resulted involve the close-up of my typing. In my attempt to seem very professional, I typed as fast as possible, attempting to make the rhythm of the keys sound like a real reporter. That meant I had mistakes and misspelled words all over the page which I didn’t think mattered until I realized he was taking close-up shots of the computer screen. Look closely and you’ll see every other word or so underlined in red.
Of course, the back of my computer has two stickers: Donald Duck provided by Urban Girl and a salamander exclaiming “Far Out” provided by another young lady who wanted to put her stamp on my machine. So much for the gritty, mysterious urban image I’ve worked so hard to project.
I attempted to embed the video but, alas, was unsuccessful. If you want to see my big moment of stardom, just follow that link.
Have a great, safe weekend. I’ll try to post the downtown schedule on Sunday, but otherwise, I’ll see you on the other side. Hopefully, there will be big news of great new sponsors of the blog.