Sex And The City

The Sex and The City movie on the whole was a bit of a let down to tell you the truth. However, the outfits, glam New York City scenes and performance by Sara Jessica Parker exceeded expectations.

Don't worry, if you haven't seen the flick yet, I'm not going to give anything away about the plot so you can keep reading...

I was thrilled to see the characters of Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda back on camera together and looking as fabulous as ever. The fashion was fun but a bit 80s.

Fashion Sidebar: My favorite Carrie outfit was the cream colored suit with pink top and tight, short vest. I hated the dress she wears in the last scene. Samantha looked smashing in the black high-waisted bikini and Mr. Big was looking hot as a slimmed down version with hardly any grey hair. Although, what was up with his trousers in the closet scene? He is practically waiting for the floods. Cynthia Nixon looked gorgeous during the movie with a wonderful straight hair style in some scenes and oh so skinny.

What disgusted me about the movie was the inevitable American-movie bathroom humor scene which would NEVER have aired in the HBO TV version. The soundtrack was crappy and the New Year's Eve scene where Carrie makes a mad dash to Miranda's side is forced. Plus, the writing is just not up to par with the TV series. What happened to Charlotte's character? What happened to Carrie's insights scripted as her thoughts/writing?

My favorite parts include Samantha sushi scene, of course the wedding Vogue shoot and the scene where the girls help Carrie pack. They are all comfortable with one another on screen and the audience has no problem believing they are best friends loving the New York City life.

Please, if you see the movie (and yes, it is worth paying the price to go - DON'T wait till video) let me know what you think.

A Visit from Mom and Dad

My folks are in California this week for a Beltone convention for my mom's biz. While on the west coast, they are going to venture north to Oregon to spend some time with me this weekend!



We have dinner reservations at a Willamette Valley winery, King Estate for Saturday evening. The chef heads out to the garden on the grounds each day to select fresh veggies for that evening's menu. Co-workers and friends have given their recommendations for this place so I have high hopes. The weather should even be lovely. Yahoo.

Sunday, we'll go to Florence to have a look at the Pacific. Someone suggested a side trip to the Heceta Head Lighthouse so that's a possibility. Just hope I get to feeling better. I'm a bit under the weather... or maybe it's my allergies. The Oregon vegetation apparently lets off more pollen than almost anywhere in the world.

Yay for visitors! I think Kate might be next...

The Good Fight

That's strange. Why would I get a parking ticket when my permit is showing and I'm parked in the designated area? I asked myself that question a few weeks ago when I walked out to my ride and saw a small, green envelope from the city under my windshield wiper. I looked at the sign again, and yep, I was parked legally. My temporary permit was displayed but my ticket was marked No Permit. Ugh. I took a few pictures of my permit and the ticket and the sign where I was parked. The city wanted $12 of my hard earned dough for parking LEGALLY?

Okay, I know. $12 isn't that much. But I was not happy about the City of Eugene issuing me a parking ticket for no reason. So, I paid the ticket and marked NOT GUILTY on the form.

A few days later a notice for my date in court came to my mail box. I was to appear before a judge and state my case. As the time drew closer, I fretted. I have never been in court as a defendant (I've covered dozens of court cases as a reporter.) and I wished I hadn't tried to be a bad a$$ and just paid the money and moved on. But NO. Sometimes I have to do things the stubborn way.

On time to court, I parked in the city lot and paid them another $1.50 for a spot. Walking into court, I listened to other cases for traffic tickets and another guy got a notice about skateboarding in the street. When it was my turn I think the judge was pretty surprised. He looked up from the docket and said, "A parking ticket?" The officer read her remarks saying she gave me a ticket for no permit. I had prepared my statement ahead of time. I read my remarks, submitted my pictures and dated permit for the judge and he ruled in my favor!

Yesterday I got the reimbursement check from the City. I think I'll celebrate by buying a latte or a movie ticket. I fought hard to keep this $12.

The Bane of Drivers

It hurts. It really does. I'm filling up at more than $4.00 per gallon. And yes, as a driver, I've changed my ways. I no longer drive all the way to Target when I need something. My weekend plans include a strategic route so that I'm not wasting gas money. It also doesn't help that I bought a small SUV. My dreams of heading to Oregon's coast on the weekends are not reality because I'm using my extra money to pay down debt and get ready for home ownership. Gas prices are bleeding us dry.

Picture by BBC.

We're not the only ones suffering. Kingsley was telling me about lorry (truck) drivers in London who protested by walking along the A-1. The Telegraph reports drivers drove their lorries to the center of London and jammed traffic to protest climbing fuel prices.

They're paying double what we pay in the U-S.

Picture by Associated Press.

And in France, fishermen are blocking ports in protest of the cost of fuel. Some are refusing to bring in fish because its costing them money to do their jobs.

Tonight I worked on a story about Americans who are passing up summer holidays to "Staycation." Clever non-word that labels the cut of summer vacations. Families are spending their money to spruce up the home theater or head to some lame local theme park but they are not driving cross-country to visit grandma. It's just too expensive.

As for me, I'll be paying for rising fuel in the skies. Travel by plane has also become more expensive.

Quake Rattles China's Grip on Media

Image from Associated Press

My friends from China opened my eyes to the freedom of press we take for granted daily. In our International Journalism classes, they explained the Chinese media could not critize the government, and if someone dared to, he could be punished by law. The government also routinely blocked internet access across the country to sites such as BBC because it would report on the government in unfavorable but factual stories.

Image from Associated Press

With the latest earthquake, it seems the government's tight censorship of media has loosened. Reporters are able to broadcast interviews with parents furious over the shoddy construction of schools. (Many children were killed when schools toppled in the earthquake.) Even foreign journalists can freely report on the devestation and disasters without someone monitoring everything recorded, photographed and written.

The changes could be a way to drum up more fiscal support from the outside world but whatever the reason, it seems like progress.

The Reception at Loose Mansion

The reception was held near downtown Kansas City, Missouri in the Loose Mansion - a gorgeous venue. The decorations were romantic and the food delicious. We danced all night and enjoyed the company of extended family.

Going to the Chapel

The church was gorgeous - as was the bride.

Following the ceremony...the bride and groom left the church to the tune of party horns.

The Bride Gets Ready

My cousins Amanda (the bride) and Lauren pause for a before picture.

Mimosas are served!

Friday the wedding party met at the salon for up-dos and makeup. We sipped Mimosas and nibbled fresh strawberries and sweet pastries. The day was amazingly stress-free.


Amanda consults the stylists on Lauren's up-do.
In the chair and half-way up.



The bride's do was full curls cascading down the back to be hidden slightly by the veil.
Lauren - happy with her style. No tears! (Amanda and Lauren both get a little misty-eyed when having their hair done. When asked about it Amanda said "hair is just emotional for us!")

Oregon

After a grueling day of flights - I'm back on the West coast. Lots of pics ready to upload from a beautiful weekend celebrating Amanda and Vic's wedding. Will do it first thing in the morning. Need....sleep....zzzzzzzz.

Cross-Country Flying

Yesterday was filled with long flights across the country to the Mid-west. I flew from Eugene to San Fransico for a 30 minute layover then to Denver for another change then on to Kansas City. My first flight left at 10:30am and I arrived at my final destination at 9:35pm. Ugh. That's the tough part about living on the west coast...it is far from the family and the east side of the country...where most of my friends live.

So far the wedding weekend has been perfect. I went to the salon with my cousins and aunt this morning for an up-do. We laughed over mimosas and talked with the bride about whether to bustle the dress before or after they greet guests at the church. And should the veil stay on for the first dance? So many imortant decisions. We are having a lovely time...

Wedding Bells

Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow at 10:30am...

Heading to Missouri and I can't wait to have a couple of days off from work and see the fam. Not sure when I'll have the time to update the blog but I plan to take lots of pictures of everyone so you can meet the extended Crawford clan.

I'll miss you!

The Oregon Primary

A few interesting things about the Oregon Primary (today May 20th).

Oregon is the only country in the United States where voters can vote by mail. Wow. It's so much easier than driving to a polling place, finding parking, standing in line and voting. Instead I filled out my ballot and walked to Pearl street last Friday - in the glorious sun - to drop it in a drive-up ballot box. No voting in the booth for Oregonians. I think this adds to voter turnout. Before tonight's results even come in 29% of voters have already sent in ballots which is up 5% from 2004.

Also noteworthy...the Secretary of State race. In most states, the Governor is followed by a Lieutenant Governor as second in command but not in Oregon. Our Secretary of State is number 2. This year the candidates include a former KEZI (Eugene news station) anchor, Rick Dancer.

Amanda's Wedding

I'm gearing up for my sweet cousin Amanda's wedding on Friday. Amanda, my brother Dannen and I grew up together in St. Joseph, Missouri. Some of my fondest memories of all of us are from holidays and birthdays at my grandmother Crawford's house. A scary home video of us at a young age has surfaced with me hosting "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous" and Dannen and Amanda acting the part of the rich...and famous. It is hilarious but I'm deathly afraid of when I might see the video again. My aunt has threatened to send it to the news station I land at in about 10 years.
My parents and brother will meet me in Kansas City on Thursday for a fun weekend of celebration. Here's hoping this week goes quickly.

Theatre and Jazz

Saturday night I joined some friends at Jo-Federigo's in Eugene. It's a nice little jazz club with a cozy atmosphere and a lovely selection of wine. The band was great and we listened to music and talked about plans for the summer. It was nice and warm here Saturday and Sunday and people were in the mood to be out and about.



Before heading to the jazz club, I went to the Lord Leebrick Theatre to watch an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet renamed Or Not To Be. The theater is intimate and the actors were surprisingly good. The play included zombies and fake blood so the whole thing was entertaining but a bit surreal.

Shameless Chick Chaser

Silly boy.

Where are you from?

It's that lovely season on the brink of summer when most Americans are planning a vacation. For those of us who are heading Across The Pond, let's weigh in on how to answer a question that comes up often: "So, where are you from?"

When I first moved to London, I wasn't quite sure how to answer that so I said silly things like: "America!"

Right. Okay - North America or South America? Get my drift? There's more to 'America' than the U-S. Which is why, in my opinion, the correct way for United States Citizens to answer, "Righto young lass, where do you hail from?" is "I'm from the states." Or, "I'm over from the U-S." "Um, The United States" would also work.

If you're going to Europe, enjoy. Wish I was heading to Spain but I'm thrilled about an upcoming week in London with my pook. Yahooooooooooooo.

The People Have Spoken

So I asked my Blogger pals (you) to vote on whether I should get another cat or fly Dewey over from Ohio. The vote is split 50/50 and one vote for a dog. So I think to be fair, I need to fly Dewey from Ohio AND get another kitty! Maybe the next poll should be about a name for the new cat...

W 7th Street Fire

We did a live report from the scene of an apartment fire in Eugene for our early newscasts. Just click on the link to watch the video. This is the live 5pm version of our fire report.

Bike, 5th Street, Thai Food

Hope you had a lovely weekend. I spent mine exploring, biking, cooking and just enjoying life. As a wise man tells me often: Life is a Journey, Enjoy the Ride. Even though the weather was a bit crap, I made the most of my two days off. Saturday I spent time repotting my little green onion and tomato seedlings. They are doing very well in my kitchen window sill.


I also went to the grocery store to load up on food as I only had a packet of oatmeal left in my pantry. That evening I broiled a small steak and enjoyed a fresh salad and green beans. (Felt like I needed some iron!) Afterwards, I emailed friends and just relaxed on my new sofa which is surprisingly comfy.




Sunday the sun came out and I hopped on my silly little bike and tooled down to the 5th Street Market. I also stopped at the St. Vincent DuPaul's boutique on 5th and bought a sarong for my sweetie. (Strange...hey? A guy that likes a sarong... he's from the coast in South Africa...not sure if that is a good enough excuse...anyway...it is cute and in masculine colors.) Later I met up with a friend for a lovely dinner at Sweet Basil Thai.

"Hippie" Bar

After a busy Friday, Kim, Natasha and I met at Davies in Eugene for a cocktail. It wasn't too crowded and we enjoyed a nice chat. Afterwards, we moved next door to a less-sophisticated Luckey's. After ordering a drink we went to the back of the bar to sit on the leather sofas and discuss important topics such as Microdermabrasion.

After being there for around 20 minutes a man sat down opposite us (okay...a boy really he was 24) and said "I'm surprised you guys are still here...you don't really fit in." Hmmm. One of us asked him the obvious question "Why's that?" He looked shocked at our question and said - "Well this is a HIPPIE bar." I laughed and laughed. I guess I've never been to a bar which is classified by the type of people that go there. There are other options such as "Biker bar" or "Gay bar" but have you ever heard of a "Hippie bar?" Last I checked this is 2008 not 1968.

We made the best of it of course and moved on. I'm finding Eugene to be different in unusual ways. Peace.

Check the View

I snapped this shot on Friday. This is the view from the KVAL parking lot. The station is located on a mountain that overlooks part of Eugene. You can see why the deer and wild turkies always seem to be close by. This place is remote but beautiful.

Proud Auntie

My little bro Dannen has a little puppy. His name is Tank and I'm so proud of the little guy. He's an English Bulldog and one of his teeth hangs out over his lip. How cute! Dannen says he's just a few weeks old and will be spending LOTS of time outside chasing tennis balls and such. Best of luck, bro. Can't wait to meet the little guy.

Motherly Love

From CBS Evening News:
Lily, a mix of Labrador and who knows what, was found along an old farm road. She was pregnant and soon had six puppies who all got adopted. And everything was fine, until the kittens showed up ... without a mother. "And we didn't know what to do," says Teresa Kurth, who works for the shelter and helped come up with the solution. "I mean it takes a lot of effort to bottle-feed all these kitties." Lily adopted the kittens. The video is precious...

Oregon in Bloom

All of a sudden the trees and shrubs in Eugene have opened up beautifully. The weather hasn't been warm yet but next week it might get up to 79 or so. Glorious...

Eugene Is On The Map

This afternoon we found out that Barak Obama is going to be in Eugene tomorrow AND we can have a one-on-one interview with him. Bummer than I don't get to do it. My co-anchor and our politics guy, David Walker will get to ride on the campaign bus with him and talk to him about Timber money for Oregon.

I was on campus today for the setup...

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Insomnia. We've walked together before.

It's 4:48am Pacific and I have tried for more than an hour, lying in the dark willing myself to go to sleep. No luck so I thought I'd blog about my lack of shut eye.

Please, after reading this post resist the urge to give me advice on how to fall asleep. Yes, I've tried: warm milk, warm bath, good book, soothing music, exercise, therapy, sleeping pills, yoga, meditation, and so on. Sometimes nothing helps.

My insomnia has been going on for about a month now and I know it has to do with my change in time zones and at the same time my change in work schedule in which my work day ends at midnight.

Anyway, I have a series of what I like to call "Insomnia Topics" or ITs which rotate through my head as worries. Here's my night:

I sit in bed, read a book and look at the clock. Oh no. I know I need to try to go to sleep but for some reason knowing that I won't be able to makes me stay up longer.

Finally turning off the light, I attempt to quiet my mind. Then immediately one of the three ITs comes to mind. They are: Career, Money, Love. I really try to push the night's IT away and breathe but to no avail. Tonight I was up worrying about Love. Last night it was Career.

Career: Hmmm. Wonder if i committed career suicide by stepping back 93 markets to be a full time anchor when I'm really spending all my energy on reporting which isn't what I wanted to do. Gosh, I wish my news judgement and practice didn't seem so foreign in the newsroom. Is it me? Ugh. I must be paranoid... I'm reading that book about Be Quiet Be Heard maybe that will help.... Wonder what my former co-workers think of me. Geez, how can I get ahead? I need to plan my next career move and how I'm going to do it. I should apply for awards in news...what awards are there? Hmmmm. Maybe I should get online right now and find out. What stories could I do that might warrant an award.... and on and on and on and on...

Money: What can I do to save more money? I want to pay off all of my debt as quickly as I can..... Maybe I should speak with a financial adviser. Should I get out of bed and do some research right now so I can call first thing in the morning?... What options are out there beyond what I'm doing to grow my finances? I really want to buy a house...why didn't the mortgage officer from my bank call me back? That is so annoying. I'd really like to get in for an appointment soon. What can I do to save more money? If I could save more money I could make a plan for retirement at 62. (my thoughts just loop like a broken record...)

Love (This IT usually involves tears): I miss him so much. This is torture lying in the dark missing him. What am I going to do? We have no solid plans to get together except vacations. He has his career and here I am half way around the world. I love my job this is such a difficult sacrifice and adjustment. I thought I made the right decision by coming here.... this sadness really hurts. Wish we could just have dinner together or hold hands for 2 minutes. I'm sure this is all made so much worse by the fact I CAN'T SLEEP and I'm very tired...wish I could go to sleep...but I miss him.

We all have worries and my troubles pale in comparison to dire and complicated health issues and life problems that many face. I just thought blogging might help and in fact.... I feel a bit sleepy. Thanks for listening.

This Just In...

I think I've discovered how to link directly to my video reports.
Click on the links below and when the video screen pops up in the lower left hand corner of your screen, you can enlarge the video.

Hewlett-Packard employees brace for layoffs.

A man attacked and burned - allegedly by his adopted son interviews about his ordeal.

Oregon hospitals slated to ask patients about ethnic background.

Obama and Clinton

Busy news day if you live in a state like Oregon...with a primary on May 20th. Our state could play a part in deciding the Democratic nomination. Today Clinton is showing in Indiana (by a 51% to 49% margin) and Obama looks to be ahead in North Carolina. Hill has 64 delegates and Obama is at 71. A very close race.

I interviewed folks from Obama and Clinton's campaigns today (McCain doesn't have an office in Oregon) and learned a bit more about the candidates.

Seems Hillary vows to find a cure for breast cancer in the next 10 years and will also spend the first 60 days in office withdrawing troops from Iraq.


Obama's hot issues include civil rights, economic reform and improving public education.

If you are still undecided on who to vote for, educate yourself! Promise you won't vote for someone simply because someone else is. I've asked dozens of people today why they're selecting a certain candidate and you'd be surprised how many people can't answer that question. It only takes 10 minutes to skim through everyone's views on top issues...

Read about Obama's plans to lead America.
Read about Clinton's plans to lead America.
Read about John McCain's plans to lead America.

For me, Foreign Policy and world relations are important. I spent almost 2 years traveling in a world that has a low opinion of America. Even though we like to kid ourselves that other countries are just jealous of the US - people around the world think Americans are ignorant and arrogant.

That's hard to face but I know from traveling, this is one of the best places on earth to live - with the best opportunities. If we elect the right leader, we can get back on track and greatly improve our world image.

Dewey: On The Road

I'm trying to find out the easiest and cheapest way to bring my cat Dewey to Oregon. I miss having a little companion and my mother doesn't want to keep Dewey forever. So, I checked tonight on pet transportation for the little guy from Ohio to Oregon. The free estimate comes back at $490.00 from two different companies. Hmmmm. Wonder if it would be cheaper to just pay the gas to go get him myself. It would be a real trek.

This is sad because I'd really like to bring Dewey to Oregon to hang with me. But, you know how strange cats are. He might get out and walk all the way back to Columbus to be with his real pals: my parents.