Our entire newsroom came to a stop yesterday when this massive tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa.

We were all grouped around the television watching this monster destroy everything in its path.

Meanwhile downstairs, the 5:00 show was showing it live via our SkyCam network. To my knowledge we have never shown a tornado live on air before.

When I went downstairs for the 6:00 show, my meteorologist told me there could be another touch-down in Birmingham. Just before the show started, our SkyCam network picked up this monster.

We blew out our preshow, even our show's opening title card and went directly into weather.

Being able to show such devastation as it's happening is rare... two tornadoes live in one day nearly unheard of. And yet, here we were watching another of Mother Nature's monsters destroying lives.

It was a truly awe-inspiring and terrifying experience.

I've been thinking a lot lately about dreams. Not the kind you have when you close your eyes, but the ones you have about your future or your life.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could say with all sincerity that they're living their dreams?

There are days when I look at my life and think, What am I doing? This isn't where I was supposed to end up.


Transitioning from the world of print journalism into the world of behind-the-scenes broadcast journalism has been quite an adventure for me, one I never imagined I'd take, but the journey has, in my opinion, revealed a great truth about my character.

The news is in my blood. It doesn't matter what form of it I'm working in or with, as long as I'm relaying important information to my audience in a truthful, unbiased way I'm fulfilling my purpose in life.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be where I am today. I'm passionate about my job, and I genuinely enjoy doing it.

If only everyone else could be so lucky.

Let me fill you in on life as of late. The following equation will sum it all up nicely.

The station I work for is right smack dab in the middle of the first phase of a total systems conversion. That phase consists of a transition from one script-writing system to another.

Training began last week. It hasn't been terrible, but as I've noted in previous posts I'm not very technologically-savvy.

So these training sessions have pretty much transported me back to my college days of sitting in Dr. P's Technologies in Journalism class, except the directions aren't in step-by-step form and there's no music from the 1960s playing in the background.

And here's the big difference - I don't understand why anything is the way it is. Back then I at least knew the ins and outs of the programs we were working with. Now I'm in a world that's only semi-known to me. My print origins are definitely showing, I'm afraid.

I've been the nerd in the sessions taking notes, writing down every little step so I'll have a manual of sorts to guide myself through my newscasts.

I have one more training session to attend on Wednesday, and then we go live with this new program on Thursday.

And then I'm off to the beach on Friday to destress. If only I can make it til then.

In honor of the recent passing of Elizabeth Taylor, Turner Classic Movies had a marathon if you will of her movies this past Saturday. Being as how Liz is one of my favorite actresses, you can imagine my delight upon discovering this.

During this homage, I learned something. Father of the Bride wasn't an original production, nor was Father of the Bride 2.

I watched this version from 1950 directed by Vincent Minnelli. It stars Spencer Tracy as the father who's prone to flying off the handle, Joan Bennet as the indulgent mother, Elizabeth Taylor as the bride-to-be and Don Taylor as the groom.

After watching this classic, I realized that the only thing that was original in the 1991 adaptation was the addition of Franck, and to be perfectly honest his character's absence in the original wasn't missed at all. In fact, it wasn't needed.

  

When compared to Spencer Tracy, Steve Martin's portrayal of the father figure is, what's the word? Oh yeah, crazy. He's irrational and prone to crazy antics, whereas Spencer Tracy is practical and reacts the way I feel most fathers do/would.

But I probably should admit that Spencer Tracy is another one of my favorites and in my eyes not many actors can hold a candle to his performances.

So, even if black-and-white flicks aren't your thing, I highly recommend you watch the original version of Father of the  Bride. If you like Steve Martin's version, the original is better.

I've recently become addicted to the A&E show Hoarders. I don't know why, but it's captivating.

I was watching it earlier today, before Law & Order took over daytime television programming, when an advertisement for Space Bags came on during the commercials.

So I'm thinking, 'How ironic. This is the perfect advertisement for someone who has a hoarding problem.'

In the commercial the voice-over said something along the lines of "Take back your closets."

I'm probably going to a bad place for this, but I started thinking about how you could advertise Space Bags for hoarders.

Hoard more with less evidence.

Happy Monday.