He told us his name was Ray Casados but on the street they called him Rah-Rah. He was a young tatted up heroin addict who was spending 90 days at the Hoy Recovery Program in Velarde, New Mexico, hoping he could finally kick the habit that had him by the balls, and move forward with a new life as a barber. He hailed from nearby … Continue reading My Week in Detox
This powerful story by Justin Horner of Portland, Oregon appeared in the Lives section of the New York Times. Hope it makes everyone look at the people around us with more tolerant eyes and think twice about looking away when someone is in need. The Tire Iron and the Tamale By JUSTIN HORNER During this past year I’ve had three instances of car trouble: a … Continue reading The Tire Iron and the Tamale by Justin Horner
Correspondent Ron Allen of NBC News was standing in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt when the news broke that Hosni Mubarak had stepped down. He was in the thick of it and handed the microphone to men standing near him in the crowd for their reactions. They shouted and screamed in triumph. When he retrieved the mic he said “this is what freedom looks like.” … Continue reading “This Is What Freedom Looks Like”
Just returned from San Angelo, Texas where reporter Carol McKinley and our crew worked on a story for HDNet’s World Report about the FLDS and how the polygamous fundamentalist Mormon sect is integrating into the local economy. If you recall, members of the FLDS picked up in 2004 and left their homes in Utah to relocate to Eldorado, Texas. They built a huge compound and … Continue reading Fear and Loathing in West Texas
My 12 year old son, Blair Ewalt, a budding filmmaker and 7th grade student at Denver School of the Arts, just produced his first professional film. It is a two and a half minute promotional piece for an exhibit called “The 4000 Year Road Trip: Gathering Sparks” at Denver’s Mizel Museum. The exhibit opens on February 2, 2011. It took Blair less than two weeks … Continue reading Blair’s First Filmmaking Job
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow. Crunchy numbers A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2010. That’s about 26 full 747s. In 2010, there were 85 new posts, growing the total archive … Continue reading 2010 in review
What a beautiful message during this Christmas season! Narayanan Krishnan is a bright light in the impoverished streets of Bangalore, India. His spirit of giving can inspire all of us. He is one of CNN’s Heroes. When I was in India I often saw desperately poor people squatting down and begging for food. Giving food was a way people would get good karma in their … Continue reading The Joy of Giving
Thanks to my friend, Randle Loeb, for sharing this inspiring story with me. Randle is a tireless voice for the homeless and wanted me to see this Washington Post article about Eric Sheptock, a homeless man in Washington, D.C., who is advocating for those like him using social media, Facebook and Twitter. People can make a difference anywhere. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/12/AR2010121203509.html?hpid=topnews For more information on Vicky Collins … Continue reading “A Homeless, Homeless Advocate”
What a clever way to make complicated and essential statistics user friendly. The BBC hit it out of the park with this program. For anyone interested in global poverty and the inequities between the haves and the have nots, Hans Rosling’s demonstration is must see TV. For more information on Vicky Collins visit http://teletrendstv.com. Continue reading BBC: The Joy of Stats
Just bought a Nikon D7000 camera and Nikkor 18-200 mm 1:3.5-5.6 GII lens. Have set a goal to teach myself to shoot and edit video in the year ahead. My television colleagues are trying to talk me into Final Cut Pro. Also looking into continuing education at the Santa Fe Photography Workshops. Need to enhance the skill set. Time to step up as a photographer … Continue reading Photography: Stepping Up My Game
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