Erica_at_Fox's Blog

Just arrived in Beijing tonight and it raining like crazy.  That should be good though to help clear the air.  Don't have much of a feel here yet only that this city is BIG.  Navigating myself around has been a challenge so far.  There are so many people eager to help that I think they are confusing themselves.  It's funny and frustrating all at the same time.

2 Chinese kids working at my hotel have been teaching me some Chinese to use aroud town tomorrow.  We'll see...

I've just come in from Tokyo and Hong Kong and watching the Olympics abroud is very interesting.  Of course in Tokyo, all coverage was on the Japanese. I watched some of the China/Spain basketball game in Macau two days ago as Chinese sports coverage is now what I'm surrounded by.

  But I thougt you all might be interested to know that Michael Phelps is making the papers in Japan and China every day and earlier this week Manny Ramirez was on the front page of the Japanese paper in his Dodger uniform

Oh yeah, and since I'm a traffic producer...trains during rush hour in Tokyo are bananas.  And forget about it in Hong Kong - so many cars and people!!

I haven't blogged in a while and much to my surprise some of you have written to ask where I've been.  Which makes me feel great...and think that you might be a little crazy.

Well, I've been here.  I don't know that I have any ONE topic I'd like to address.  My brain works pretty randomly most days and I can flip a topic like a pancake.  So, I'll give you a little sample of my radiohead...

I can't believe I have less than a week before I leave for Japan and China - don't forget to call my credit card companies and let them know I'll be using my credit abroad...Gas at my corner has dropped to $4.21/gal - remember to stop on my way home...This Lean Cuisine pasta is not half bad...If we have another earthquake, which is best...getting under a desk or standing in the doorway - must buy desk...I don't care that Chief Bratton has outed Lindsay Lohan, I do care that he doesn't want to do anything about the paparazzi situation...time to hit the grocery store - grab my list.

Have a great weekend guys!

What a week in the traffic department.  Our live Realtime traffic webcast started the week with a wild pursuit ending.  This woman led officers on a pursuit for about an hour.  Then, when they pinned her in, she got out of her BMW grabbed her purse and started walking away.  It was as if she was saying, "Thanks for the chase. Catch ya later".  Needless to say she was immediately charged by three male officers who took her to the ground.  But boy did she put up a fight. Check out the video:

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video
.jsp?contentId=6578725&version=1&locale=EN-US

(I stink at the whole adding a link to video thing so you may need to copy and paste this.  Sorry.)

AND today we had rain, hail and tornadoes!   What is that about?  As I sit here writing, Maria Quiban and Mark Thompson are having a heated conversation about non-cutoff lows and some weathery words that I don't quite understand.  Very nerdy.  But seriously, today was a great day - A total geek fest for the Traffic and Weather department!  Tons of slowing on the freeways, flooding in the streets, and lots of weather watches and warnings.  It's great when we have stuff like this to report on because it makes the day go by so much faster.

Did any of you get caught in this wild weather?  Write me if you did.  Did you start the day off in flip flops and wish you hadn't?  I did.

Random Notes:
-Heading to DC next week.  Curious to see what their gas prices are like.  Plus, driving in the district is always an adventure.

-Glad Cook won Idol!

-Have a great Memorial Day weekend.  Between the beers and BBQ's, let's take a little time to remember exactly what this holiday is all about.  Freedom is not Free. Peace.

I have a pet peeve that may or may not change the way people look at me around here (At the station, I mean.  Not planet Earth).
If I pass someone in the hall and I ask how are they doing...THIS answer makes me crazy:

"It's Monday."

Or sometime I get the response, "It's Tuesday."   Or, "It's Wednesday. We're almost there."
And of course, don't forget, "It's Friday!"  You get the idea.

Two reasons I have a problem with this...
Number one: I know what day it is. Most of the time, anyway.
Number two: News is a 24/7 business.  Not all of us are lucky enough to have a Monday - Friday schedule.  So, any day-of-the-week/mood-of-the-day correlation is moot.

There is nothing wrong with a simple, "I'm good.  And you?"   And a smile always puts everyone in a good mood!

Random Notes:
-I work with some pretty funny (?) people around here so I know I will now be greeted with many days of the week reports.

-Happy Mother's Day!

We’ll get to Beijing later…let’s talk Boston.

Made my first trip to Boston this weekend.  Great city, great people - hilarious to drive in.  And by “hilarious” I mean frustrating to the point where I thought I was losing my mind.

Forget it!   I’m sorry, I mean “Fahget it!”

I have never gotten so lost and laughed as hard doing it.

My map was bad, the road signs were unclear, and when I stopped to ask one of the locals (who was very nice and eager to help) where a particular street is, she said “down theh”.  Oh, and she pointed which was very helpful.

I’m telling you, our hotel address was 1600 Commonwealth and not one inch of it even faced Commonwealth.  It was one block in, off a completely different street.

Another helpful resident explained (using a word/hand combination that could lead any nation’s enemy astray), “go that way and turn at the cornah, then you come to a spot with 5 cornahs.  Stay on the fah cornah next to the mall and theh is the 93.”  Well, the 93 wasn’t anywhere near where we were and the mall was a park.  Good to know.

Having said all this…Boston is a great town to get lost in.  Please go if you haven’t been.  Rent a “cah” and get lost in the best way!  You will not be sorry.

 Now for the Beijing…

I was in Boston for the Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials, supporting my good friend Deena Kastor who not only made the team but won the race.  We are so proud of Deena and the whole weekend was full of excitement.  I plan on making my way to Beijing this summer and can’t wait to see her do her thing at the Olympics.

 

 

Have a great weekend everyone!  And I forgot to wish a Happy Passover this last week!

-Erica

I took the Metro Red Line for the second time this weekend. It was great! 

The first time I rode was a year ago and it was empty. But it seems that the number of riders is on the up.  Having lived in two other cities with some of the best underground railways on earth (DC & London), I have to say LA can compete.  Of course, we can use more lines.
I would love to ride the train more often but I don't have direct access from my home.  This past weekend I was headed to Hollywood for the Thai Festival and what was sure to be a horrible parking situation...not at the Red Line station.  It was as fast and easy as any city who's railway has been running for decades.  Even the honor system riding is a trip.  (I hear the fine for being caught without a ticket is around $300.  Yikes!)



If you haven't tried it, get out there and explore!  If you take the train regularly, let me hear from you too!

At the festival I was given my introduction to Muay Thai...Thai Boxing.  It's the national sport of Thailand and there were a number of competitions.  Check out these junior boxers.  These kids were about 7 or 8.  I couldn't believe how much butt they kicked in that heat last week.



There are some other photos from the festival in my album.  It was great fun and I look forward to going again next year.

Random Note:
-Flying American Airlines tomorrow.  Fingers crossed they won't cancel my flight or go out of business.  Flying is a betting woman's gig these days.

I've been working night side on the new Realtime Traffic Webcast, so I thought I'd share some photos of what we do.
On the day I decided this would be my blog we were surprised by a visit by a Boy Scout troop from Mission Hills...So I had to add them in!



Our new webcast is a two anchor show.  On this day it was Tricia Takasugi and Phil Shuman.  We've also had Amy Murphy and Ed Laskos sit in.





Everything is pulled together by our stellar crew in the control room.



Here's where I sit to throw maps, cameras, and information your way.  On this day, Producer Jeff was filling in but if you add long hair we're practically the same person.  Well, not really but you get it.



And as an added bonus I caught Christine Devine getting her make up done for the 10 pm News, and she kindly agreed to a photo for my blog.  I'm sure make up artist, Jerry, will agree that it doesn't take much to make Christine look terrific!



Random Notes:
-Sebar, I'll have to check out your Youtube stuff.  Do you think these innovations are what has made traffic so light these past weeks?  ;)

See you next Thursday!

There’s something new on the Web - MyFoxLA’s new Realtime Traffic Webcast. Check it out every weekday from 4:45 to 6:15pm!
One of the coolest new features is our Live Drive dashboard camera commute. Our Live Drive commuter takes off every evening to hit a new commute and show you live pictures from the road.

This is our launch week and the commute has been light. When you’re in the biz of reporting traffic, it really helps if there is some! Sure, there are pockets of slowing in all the usual spots but even the congestion is lighter than normal. Once Spring Break is out of everyone’s system things should pick up. Of course I never wish anyone be involved in major collisions that will tie up traffic for hours, but a stalled vehicle in lanes, a mattress on the roadway, something, would be helpful. The absence of traffic today made our Realtime Webcast seem more like a talk show – a funny one at that. Lucky for us we also feature up to the minute traffic maps that let you zoom in on any portion of the freeways and let you know if there any incidents working.

Let me know what areas are on your evening commute. I’d love to work them into our show!

Random Notes:
-I was at the Venice boardwalk this Sunday and one of the street performers asked a little girl from the audience to participate and then he took the ice cream cone out of her hand and ATE IT!
Dude, get your own. I felt so bad for her. She turned around to her parents and they left. I hope they got her a really big replacement cone – 2 scoops.

-I’m heading to Boston in 2 weeks for Marathon weekend. I’ll tell you all about it.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write this week until I heard Steve Edwards read a story on a $35/seat movie theater opening in Chicago this year.
ARE YOU KIDDING?!

For those who missed it, the Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas (that name is too long and stinks anyway) is opening a theater and charging $35 a ticket. You get a recliner seat and a server to bring you food and drinks which, by the way, you pay additional for.

That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for! Overhearing someone order food while I’m trying to enjoy a movie is a dream come true. The folks at VRGCC (ridiculous) should offer free wireless and Mani Pedis because you know I can’t go 3 hours without those conveniences.

To the movie companies who will release their product in these theaters…shame on you.

I love movies but a certain amount of etiquette is required for sure. Here are just a few shout outs to some fellow audience members I had the pleasure of sitting with this past year.

To the woman who sat 5 people to my right at “There Will Be Blood”:
Please chew with your mouth closed. Seriously.

To the family of seven who brought their 2 year old to see “American Gangster”:

1. How am I supposed to enjoy the drugs and violence I expect in a gangster movie knowing your toddler is walking around back there?
2. You might be bad parents. That’s just opinion, but I’d get that checked out. 
3. When I left you, I moved to the next theater to see “No Country for Old Men” and loved it.

To the Senior crowd who enjoys the new Landmark at the Westside Pavilion:
Just because there is assigned seating doesn’t mean you should show up 5 minutes late. I really don’t need to hear “Mortie, you take the aisle in case you have to go” in the middle of the awesome opening credits to “Juno”.

Random notes:
*Some people have had trouble leaving comments and it might be your internet browser. I had to download Mozilla Firefox and that solved my problem. It’s free, try it.

*Mr. E & Samo, I don’t get the donut jokes but you guys are enjoying yourselves and that’s all that matters. :)

*I’m working night shift for a little bit and it’s different than the mornings around Fox 11, but cool. I’ll write about it next week.

The overwhelming response to my first blog was quite a surprise…to everyone. 

My co-workers want to know how a blog with such little content solicited so many comments.  I’m mystified as to why anyone would take the time to read what I have to say. This disposition has afforded me the label of “reluctant blogger”. 

So, here’s the deal…I’ll keep blogging, if you keep reading. Great.  Shake on it.

Curious what our pre-show routine is like? Rick Dickert and I have 2 types of mornings in the weather department.

Type 1.  We’re chatty. 
If you walk by you may hear, “I slept like crap”, “listen to what I heard”, or “I may have eaten bad Chinese”…and that’s just from me!  Rick, ever polite and tolerable of my complete inane-ness (yes, that’s now a word), is a fun contributor.  We have pretty similar taste when it comes to music and movies so we catch up on that stuff too.  In general, we just crack each other up.

After we build some graphics, Rick is off to the chopper and I slip into Traffic mode by checking our CHP logs, Real Time maps, etc. to see what’s going on out there.

Type 2. We’re silent.
Complete silence. These mornings are great too.  It’s nice to share a comfortable quiet and not feel obligated to talk.  We get in EARLY and some mornings feel earlier than others.

We take care of biz, manage a few mumbles to ourselves under our breath, and nothing until Rick takes off.  Then it’s, “talk to you on the radio” and “drive safe”.

 

I'm sure you'll find that this photo captures the excitement of both scenarios.

 Random notes:

I just filled up at $3.80/gallon for regular 87 octane.  I’m slightly aggro because of it.

Wasn’t this weekend gorgeous once the storm passed?  Check out my photo.  Dickert calls them Cumulus clouds.  I call them “Simpsons” clouds because it reminds me of the show’s opening.  There’s no AMS seal next to my name!

I plan to post every Thursday so let's see what you can come up with this week!

Yours,

Erica

 

When my boss asked if I’d like you to start blogging on our website, I told him that I hardly felt I was interesting enough.  To which he replied, “It’s not about being interesting.”

Because I’ve worked with him for several years now, I can make the quick and accurate interpretation that what he really said was, “It would be great to get your behind the scenes input to our award winning newscasts.  And yes, Erica, you’re captivating.” 

This whole thing is pretty new to me.  I’m not completely inept but, for the most part, technology moves faster than I do.  I’m a per diem, or “freelance”, employee here at the station.  I work a full-time schedule doing a number of jobs.  I spend most of my shifts as a Weather & Traffic Producer.

Still reading?  Why?   Surely, there is paint drying somewhere.

On my days producing, I come in early, build some weather graphics, and when the show starts I focus primarily on Traffic.  The goal is always breaking news – getting there first and getting it on the air.  Working closely with Rick Dickert and the Skyfox crew is a great time.  Skyfox is always streaming live on our site.  Check it out.  When you hear Rick talking to someone on the ground…chances are that’s me!

Ok, if you’re still reading it’s because you work in our web department and it’s your part to make sure this blog gets posted.

I’m boring myself to tears.  I’ll sum up by saying I love my job.  That’s no B.S.  It’s not always fun, but it doesn’t get old.  I’m looking forward to this blog thing-a-ma-jig.  What do you want to know?  Hit me with your best shot.

Seriously, if your reading this right now you are either insane, incarcerated, or in my family.  I can only imagine that nothing short of a bloodline obligation is keeping you here to the very last word.

Promising to make it interesting,

Erica