When it comes to Syracuse men’s basketball, I am the eternal optimist. As I look at the team this year I see a team that has all the ingredients to make a deep run into the NCAA’s. They have big dominant players inside who can score and play aggressive defense. They have guards who can run an offense and shoot the three and they have depth. OK, well, maybe not a lot of depth but there’s enough for a run. They have a coaching staff that has experience and success in the playoff’s and they have played a schedule (so far) that has them battle tested.

I think the one thing I haven’t seen this year is a team that can play for 40 minutes with intensity. It shows up but not as often as they’ll need it come tournament time. Can they do it? A qualified yes because, as they say, you play like you practice. If you’re practice sessions don’t have intensity, it probably won’t show up on the court. Now, I have no idea how this year’s team practices but based on the performance on the court this year, I could conclude that the practice sessions have been inconsistent too. But you know, they had that insane stretch where they played something like five games in 10 or 12 days against ranked competition. How would you like to go to school and have the toughest final exam you’ll every take . . . every day!?

And having watched Syracuse basketball for 30 plus years, the team has always seems to do better when they fly under the radar a bit. Right now they’re a middle of the pack team in the Big East, not ranked in the top 10 and they’ve lost some games they should have probably won and lost, badly, to G’Town, Villanova and UConn. They’re definitely under the radar so I see a deep run into the tournament, maybe Sweet 16.

But I say that every year.

My head hurts

H.264, MPEG-4, Codec, HD, SDI.

This is a tiny sample of the future of television. And it makes my head hurt.

I started in television when there were three major commercial networks. The proliferation of cable was still a few years away and “working in TV” meant getting a job at a television station, perhaps working your way up and moving on to bigger markets. Working in a “Top 10” market was seen as a sign of success. I guess I don’t have to tell you things are different today.

Just like when you go to the grocery store and are blown away confused with the number of choices you have for something as simple as toothpaste, so goes the medium of television. And it’s funny how when computers first came out they were complicated, erratic and intimidating but over time they got easier to use and understand. Not so with television.

As the industry steers toward high-definition, the “kind” of high definition one chooses to create is as important a decision as any you’ll make. Will you capture in HDV? 1080i? 1080p? 720p? Uncompressed high-definition? These are some of the questions and issues I deal with now as I try and steer the Orange Television Network toward high-definition.

My experience and background is mostly on the creative side as a producer, director, editor and videographer. The technical side is something I’ve learned along the way. And let me tell you, this HD stuff is mind numbing. But fortunately I have some good friends who know this stuff better than I do and I’m consulting with a couple of vendors who are really knowledgeable so I think I’ll be able to figure out the right and best solution for OTN.

But in the meantime, google H.264 and see why my head hurts.

TV, Music & Mr. D

Last night I had my weekly rehearsal in the Lyncourt Community Band. The conductor is Tony DeAngelis otherwise affectionately known as “Mr. D.” Mr. D has been a fixture in the Lyncourt Community for well over 50 years. He only recently retired but he agreed to come back to conduct the community band last year.

There are a couple of stories here; the first one is Mr. D. He is an accomplished musician (original member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra) and a gifted teacher. Many of his students over the years have gone on to either careers in music or continue to play as a hobby, like myself. So you’re saying, what’s the big deal? Lots of communities have a “Mr. D.” Maybe. But when you don’t retire from teaching at a very small elementary and middle school until you are in your seventies, and it’s not because he needed the money, that says a lot about him. The man has lived to teach and he has lived to be around music. Period. I don’t want to shortchange his personal life as he has been married to the same woman for a bunch of years and raised three very successful daughters, but it’s been music that has been the thread that weaves through his life. He gave us the gift of music, taught us high standards with the blessing of passion and humor. For me, and many, many other former students, he changed our lives.

The second story here is the art and skill of playing music. Playing in a band, small, medium or large, requires you to listen to each other and contribute your part with as much skill as you have. It’s kind of like working on a television production. I watch my students work on SUper Sports or productions at the Schine or live television shows from the Dome and I see the exact same dynamics in play as I do in community band. Many times we get it real right and sometimes someone is playing the wrong key. But hey, that’s the way it goes when you put your creative soul on the line isn’t it?

As I think of it, maybe there’s a third story here. When I was in the fourth grade I went to the music room and told Mr. D I wanted to play the trumpet. I didn’t know it then but that started a relationship with a man who changed my life. And to a certain extent, he might be changing yours too. Amazing how we are all interconnected isn’t it?

Four really good people

I don’t consider myself a “news junkie” but I do consider myself well informed. For the record, I consider a “news junkie” to be someone who is obsessed with news to the point where it’s all they think or talk about. I like sports and American Idol too much to be that obsessed.

So being well informed, I am inundated every day with bad news: the economy and jobs keep going south, oil prices are going back up and tragically, a beautiful young model from Brazil had both her hands and feet amputated only to die from the disease necrosis. I’m no doctor but the way it has been described, it seems like she didn’t get the best care she might have somewhere else. Tragic.

But push that all aside as I want to get out from under the doom and tell you about four really good people. I had the privilege of having lunch last Saturday with some current and former SU students: Melissa Morton, her boyfriend Steve Wanzik, current SU students Steve Andress and Torie Wells. What makes them “really good people?” Well first off, the fact they got up before noon on a Sunday to have lunch with me for one. Second, they are thoughtful, engaging and funny people. Third, they are working to pursue their dreams and are having success.

Torie is a reporter and producer for the ABC News bureau here at Newhouse in addition to working part-time here at OTN as well as going back on occasional weekends to work at the Fox affiliate in her hometown of Albany. Steve Andress called the play by play for a portion of the Syracuse/Pittsburgh basketball game last Monday on ESPN. Yup, that’s right, ESPN. Steve Wanzik is working for a small radio station near Philadelphia doing news and play by play of high school sports. His boss? The Philadelphia icon and play-by-play announcer of the Eagles, Merrill Reese. And Melissa is a special education teacher at a Philadelphia charter school doing at least four preps and co-teaching with the other teachers for those preps. If you know anything g about teaching, more than prep is hard, co-teaching is harder and doing all that in your first job while taking graduate classes is harder still.

The next time I start my day by being “well informed” and proceed to devour more doom and gloom, I shall remember my lunch with Melissa, Steve, Torie and Steve, four really good people making a difference.

Happy New Year!

I’ve been trying to zero in on what I should blog about after my absence. My holiday break? All the fun and exciting things we did at OTN this past semester and what we have planned for the spring? Andy Rautins knee?

I don’t think so.

I think I’d rather tell you how I feel today.

Mostly I’m anxious. I’m anxious about this economy. Coming to work everyday with NPR is like listening to a doctor when he comes into the examining room with the test results. Will it be bad news or good news?

The Dow goes up. It goes down. More people are laid off from a company and there’s another stimulus package being planned. It seems like when we get a really lousy piece of news; another follows it.

And I’m anxious for you, the students. How many of you are being impacted by this? I’m guessing that your family is feeling this in some way too which has to trickle down to you. If you’re about to graduate this May, you must be worried that getting that first job will be twice as hard as it was last year. And with those loans to pay off, I imagine you have concerns.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my father and his generation lately. Pop was born in 1916 and grew up during the Great Depression. When he was 25 the United States entered World War II. Compared to him and his generation, we’ve had kind of an easy time of things. But I’ve been trying to imagine what he was thinking with all the upheaval his generation was going through? They certainly didn’t ask for those troubles but they were handed to them nonetheless. Did it make them feel as powerless as it makes me feel today?

I played by the rules here, lived within my means, saved some money, worked hard at my job and tried to live a decent life. And it has all been upended by greed. And I never saw it coming. I guess I feel something else today, a little anger. I’m a little p@#$ed that there are people who knew that what they were doing was wrong but kept on doing it for their own rewards, not caring how it would impact the rest of us.

But then I think of my father. I never asked him how he felt about being handed such a lousy hand of cards in his early life. But based on his life, I’m guessing he did what we’re all trying to do, just trying to live a good, decent and fulfilling life.

I’m really glad Andy Rautins knee is okay, maybe that’s a sign of things to come.

Soul Food

Last week we took our daughters to New York City for an early Christmas present, tickets to The Naked Brothers concert at the Blender Theatre at the Gramercy. We also wanted to do a quick, drive-by visit of NYU, Fordham and SUNY Purchase for my oldest daughter who will be, hopefully, attending college in 2010. It’s the concert that got me thinking though and no, The Naked Brothers weren’t actually naked. As a matter of fact the tour was called “The Fully Clothed” tour. Plus the kids in the band are like 10 and 14.

So, the concert.

Before this economic meltdown, we Americans just loved buying stuff. Stuff to use, stuff to hold, stuff to consume. We laid down our money and walked away with . . . stuff. Have you ever thought that when you go to a concert, you don’t really walk away holding onto anything? All you have (unless you buy the CD or a t-shirt) is just a memory, some feelings and maybe emotions. For such a consumer oriented, I want to hold onto my stuff society, we sure pay a lot of money for music we listen to in person and then leave without any stuff.

I think that speaks to the power of music. I’ve often marveled at the idea that no new notes or scales have been invented and the basic instrumentation hasn’t really changed and yet we still, for the most part, play music on guitars, pianos, woodwind, string and brass instruments and so forth. Music has been with us for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years and yet there are always new melodies and lyrics with new ways to move people through the artistry of music.

And it’s very personal. People have their likes and dislikes. I’m sure you’ve all been part of a discussion that goes something like “I love all kinds of music except . . . ” and this is where you fill in the blank with country, opera, bluegrass or whatever.

Ultimately, music is like any art form. It can move you, make you think or take you to a place in your heart, mind or soul that is very personal. You can’t physically hold it but where does your mind go if you hear Johnny Mathis singing “The Christmas Song” or John Lennon singing “Imagine?” Have you seen the beginning of the movie Platoon? Doesn’t “Adagio for Strings” just make you weep?

I think it also speaks to us as humans that we hold this art form in such high regard that we spend a lot of money on it and yet can’t hold it like a commodity. And yes, okay, I know you can hold onto it with your iPod as do I. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like hearing music you love, live and in person. Way before the computer, video games and the internet, live music is the ultimate interactive experience.

My friend Brenda

In the 80’s I was a producer/director at the local PBS affiliate here in Syracuse. It was a great time to be in public broadcasting because the wide diversity in programming we enjoy today had not yet taken hold so we at WCNY were able to do a lot of different kinds of productions: drama, music, documentary, sports and on and on. From a professional standpoint, it was a blast. From a personal standpoint it was equally as much fun. There were many young and single people working at WCNY then and we all got along pretty well. On Wednesday, after Barack Obama was elected as our president, I was thinking of one of those people, one of my best friends, Brenda.

When I got married in 1990, Brenda was one of my “groomsmen.” There she stood along side my brother and my two brothers-in-law. She loved being the only female and I loved having her there. Brenda lives and works in Florida now and has been there for 15 years or so. Shortly after I got married her husband got a job offer down there they couldn’t refuse. So off they went, Brenda, her husband Jeff and their daughter Jordan.

Let me tell you a little about Brenda. She comes from a good, close and loud family. Her father owned a bar in Rome, NY and they worked hard. Brenda never assumed that anything would be handed to her and she had high expectations for herself and her friends. Since moving down to Florida, she got her PhD and is a member of her local school board. Her husband Jeff is a respected psychologist and a few years ago they adopted another daughter, Paige.

Shortly after she moved to Florida I was on the phone with her and she said something to me I will never forget. She was talking about how different things were down there racially as compared to the north. She said that for the first time in her life she heard the “N” word. Brenda is African-American. In that same conversation she told me that while she was checking out at the grocery store, the clerk, whom she had never seen before, said, “Oh, you’re the lady married to the white guy.” I don’t remember if Brenda had a response to her or not but she was a little creeped out that someone who didn’t know her, knew that she was married to Jeff, a white guy.

I have a feeling I know how Brenda felt when Barack Obama was elected but then again, maybe not. No clerk at Wegman’s knows whom I am married to. I’ve never been subject to racial slurs. To my knowledge, no one has judged me based on how I look. But when Obama was declared the winner I’ll bet Brenda shouted screams of joy to her husband and then spoke with daughter Jordan who is in college at Harvard right now. I’ll bet she praised God too being the good catholic that she is.

And then I’ll bet she got up the next morning and got ready for work but knowing that somehow, that day would be different.

http://www.polk-fl.net/districtinfo/boardmembers/district4.htm