Hurricane Katrina
I've spent a good part of my afternoon with CNN on watching the coverage of the devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina.
This is unbelievable. There's a clip from Mobile, Alabama TV station WKRG-TV shot in Biloxi, Missisippi that CNN has been running a lot. In it, a dazed and crying man named Harvey Jackson tells a reporter how he has lost his wife. He was hanging on to her when she said "Let go. Save the children." The reporter, Jennifer Mayerly, starts to cry too, as he tells his story about his wife getting swept away. The camera zooms out and you can see his two kids clingling tightly to their Dad. I think that clip must be showing just a millionth of the emotions and devastation that has happened there. I feel so helpless being so far away. I wish I could help.
In Gulfport, Mississippi, a floating casino was literally picked up and dropped a 1/2 mile away. The idea of that is mind boggling.
In New Orleans, the levee broke and now 80% of the city is underwater. They've tried to fix the levee, but they just announced that it was unsuccessful and they expect the water levels to rise to 12 feet. My friend David (who's about 6'5") lives there now. I'm hoping he managed to find shelter. I tried calling him before the hurricane hit only to find that his phone number has changed, again. So I'm hoping he gets in touch with me.
This brought back a flood of memories from July 31, 1987. I was 9 years old and living in Edmonton. On that day, an F4 tornado touched down in my neighbourhood leaving a path of destruction up the east side of the city. The scene was similar to some of the images I'm seeing today. But this hurricane is obviously worse.
Six Feet Under Finale - A Week Later
I know it's almost a week late, but I thought the Series Finale of Six Feet Under was the best finale of any TV series ever!
Today I watched the final 5 minute montage set to the song "Breathe Me" by Sia for the eighth time.
To Alan Ball, Alan Poul, Robert Greenblatt & David Janollari and the writers of Six Feet Under, Kate Robin, Scott Buck, Nancy Oliver, Craig Wright, Rick Cleveland, Jill Soloway & Bruce Eric Kaplan (I know I've missed a few from seasons 1 and 2): Thanks for having faith in your viewers by treating us like intelligent human beings instead of mindless oafs. I know there were jokes on The Family Guy about the show being "pretentious." I feel it was more "smart" than "pretentious." Not all television has to be mindless.
I haven't listed any spoilers here in hopes of not spoiling it for anyone who may have not seen it yet.
What Is My Generation Doing For The Next?
I've asked this question several times. My generation is very egocentric and self-centered. I have written about this before in my blog (see February 24, 2005 entry). Will this ever change? I don't think we know how good we really have it. Admittedly, I tend to forget that I could be worse off and get caught up in the petty problems of my own life.
This all popped in my brain again today because this was sent to my e-mail box:
A college student at a recent Carolina football game challenged a senior citizen sitting next to him, saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his.
"You grew up in a different world," the student said loud enough for the whole crowd to hear. "Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, man has walked on the Moon, our spaceships have visited Mars, we even have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers with light-speed processing, and, uh ."
Taking advantage of a pause in the student's litany, the geezer said, "You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young; so we invented them, you little shit ! Now what the hell are you doing for the next generation??"
Peter Jennings and my buddy Rick
I was devastated, this morning, to hear about the death of Peter Jennings. As a Canadian who works in TV that wants to work in the US someday, Peter Jennings was a role model. Work your way to the US network and remain Canadian at heart.
It saddens me in another way though. ABC News has a forum to post your thoughts on Peter Jennings. Several conservatives in the US have used it as a soap box. Voicing their discontent for Peter's so-called "left-wing" agenda. In fact, Fox News Channel's website has buried the story while every other network has it in their days headlines. Have a little class, guys. There's a time an place for politics...and this isn't it.
Could it be that American's resent him for being Canadian? Do they feel threatened? He was my favourite news anchor and has had an influence on my TV career.
Peter's actually the second person to die this week that's had an influence on my career. A fellow colleague Rick Taylor, who taught me a lot of what I know about TV production, died this week too. Rick died of a heart attack. Unfortunately, I think it was his past catching up to him. He was a good man also, a good teacher and a good friend.These things usually come in three's. What's the next one I wonder.
Bye guys. Thanks for everything.
