CELEBRITY IS SOMETHING I'VE NEVER REALLY PAYED A LOT OF ATTENTION TO. PEOPLE THAT ARE FAMOUS THAT WE ADMIRE LIVE THE SAME WAY THAT WE DO FOR THE MOST PART. THEY EAT, SLEEP, WORK, HAVE FAMILIES, GO AND HANGOUT WITH THEIR FRIENDS, ALBEIT THE VARIABLES WITHIN THOSE ACTIVITIES MAY MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE AVERAGE PERSON. BUT TODAY I LEAVE MY BILLY MAYS KEY ON BECAUSE HE'S ONE OF THESE PEOPLE THAT 10 YEARS AGO WHEN HE WAS JUST STARTING TO CATCH ON WITH OXICLEAN, WAS LIKE MANY OF US. THE SAME WAS PROBABLY TRUE OF ED MCMAHON, FARRAH FAWCETT, AND MICHAEL JACKSON (NOT AS TRUE SINCE HE'S BEEN AROUND SINCE HE WAS A KID), BUT BILLY MAYS WAS PITCHING ON THE BOARDWALK. FROM SEEING HIM SKYROCKET TO THE SPOTLIGHT IN THE LAST YEAR, IT IS EASY TO SEE WHY HE GOT TO THE LEVEL HE ACHIEVED. HE'S A GUY THAT STANDS FOR WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, TELLS THE TRUTH AND FOR ME BROUGHT SOME JOY WHENEVER HE APPEARED ON THE SCREEN. BELIEVE ME, I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE THAT SEEK ATTENTION, BUT BILLY MAYS WAS UNIQUE IN THAT ATTENTION CAME TO HIM, BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF BUT FOR THE THINGS HE WAS PUTTING HIS FAITH IN. TODAY WE LOST A GUY THAT WAS LIVING THE DREAM, A MAN THAT GOT THERE BY TAKING THE INDIVIDUAL STEPS UP THE LADDER AND THEN CONVINCED YOU TO BUY THE LADDER.

-MIKHAIL

I've been really type lazy lately. Last night I managed to get my first two entries done and realized that out of the 67 hours my 1 credit requires me to do, I did 66 in the first two weeks. Given I signed up for 10 weeks, its amazing how much I've already done in just what is now my third week. Today went to Giants mini camp which was cool, since its the first pro "event" outside of baseball I've ever attended. If there's one thing that was immediately clear, pro football players are massive. I got to see reporting during the off-season at its best, although now that the NBA just wrapped up we'll hopefully jump into that next week with the Draft.

All else is well I suppose.

-Mikhail

Man Bob Martin is gonna enjoy reading my 1st week journal thats for sure. Today I went in at 1 instead of 4 after Scags asked me to come in and log the Yankees game. So I'm sitting around watching the game and they decide to let me go out and do post-game. I rode off with 27 year veteran Vince to Yankee Stadium and first pick up my one day press pass (note the correct spelling of my name).



After that we headed down through the press elevator, that I pointed out to my brother during our visit last month, to the press room where crews from NBC4, NY1, YES Network and SNY were already hanging out. The game still wasn't over and we watched the last inning and a half on one of the many HDTVs lining the concourse of the stadium, while we waited for Girardi to come down. Yankees down 4 in the 9th and they cut the lead in half, but couldn't pull off the comeback this time.

Girardi came in maybe within five minutes of the last out and in between that time some 20 other reporters swarmed in (about six of them being Japanese media in a game where Matsui only pinch-hit, I suppose this has been regular since he's come over to the states though). Not a lot of questions for Girardi, since the obvious focus in a game like this is his trust of Mo, so we headed to the clubhouse. I got handed the CBS2 microphone and stuck it in front of the monstrous CC Sabathia (for as big a guy as he is, he's pretty soft spoken), Johnny Damon (and his extra spiky hair) and Mariano Rivera (who a security guard said would've liked to seen him pitch to Longoria because he's "Mo" and reciprocated that statement).

After the interviews we headed out to this Little League game where A-Rod and Richard Gere were coaching the two teams facing each other. A-Rod was not nearly as excited as Gere was in his managerial role, but did go to the mound congratulated the pitcher for a fine outing before taking him out and walking back to the bench with him. A very awesome day indeed!

-Mikhail

Today, I met a couple of anchors. First was Maurice DuBois early in the day while I was eating a bagel, and he nodded and I nodded back. He said "Hey how's it going?" and I couldn't say anything, since I had a mouth full of bagel. Shortly before I left I met Sam Ryan who does sports and she let me have some trail mix. Good times. Anyway, today I just logged a couple matches from the French Open, some sound bytes from the Yankees post-game and shots of the seagulls and midges from during the game.

-Mikhail

Day One at CBS, pretty good. I got a nice tour of the massive CBS Broadcasting Center, which takes up the entire city block of 56th and 57th between 10th and 11th Avenues. I'm sure a lot more shoot there, but so far I've seen the news studio (and its ballin ass control room), the 106 and Park set (which I didn't know they still aired), Guiding Light (which won't be airing much longer soon), the CBS Sports desk where they do NFL Today and March Madness coverage (those studios were locked though). Otherwise it was a lot of just familiarizing with the system and some of the equipment, but not a lot. Considering I'm gonna have to write a journal on this once a week for my credit, it wouldn't be a bad idea to just write for my memory's sake later. So far I've really only talked to three of the other five interns there today and they seem pretty chill, including one from Penn State, go figure.

-Mikhail

Week 3 of 3, time has really flown by and yet it really hasn't. After all it IS still May and I've already been home for 24 days. The fact I've spent between 14 and 18 days in my room, proves how really interesting my vacation has been thus far. Not really, last week I hung out with the jerks and went to the Yankees game. Tuesday I got really messed up playing Wizards and while a fun time, I haven't had a desire to go outside since. I'm a weekend away from starting my internship at CBS2 which will add an element of activity for the next 10 weeks to fill the hours I've spent playing my Marlins franchise on MLB 2K9. But later today I get to party with a friend from school in which I'm 98% sure will have the highest concentration of people wearing adidas track jackets in Manhattan. Heating up? Hope so.

-Mikhail

Week 2 of 3 of do-nothings definitely much better. All the jerks are back in the city so I've gotten to hangout with them the last 3 days and possibly later tonight and more this weekend. Definitely lots of things left to do before the intern orientation June 1st, so yeah.

-Mikhail

Week 1 of 3 do-nothings is almost complete. I've gone outside for no more than 30 minutes total since Sunday when I spent about an hour and half going to the Ed Sullivan Theater to request tickets for the Late Show and getting Jamba Juice. So really the last time I was out for a considerable time was last Friday. It might be a result of the absolute shit sleep schedule I always have during breaks, which leads to it being 2:30 and I still haven't even rolled out of bed to brush my teeth. I'm hoping I can stop that tomorrow since I'll make a valiant effort to go to the Door and then see one of my favorite people in the world, Katie!

Aside from that all this time breathing my own air, while watching Bob Ross (damn shame they only give him once a week now, also the difficulty of finding clips of him online), I've thought of just about everything:

- When am I gonna take driving lessons?
- I've met fans of other AL East teams except the Blue Jays, need to meet some Canadians.
- How am I possibly gonna work and make no money this summer?
- Am I ever gonna get around to reading Living on the Black?
- How long is it really gonna take for me to get the Big Boss Emblem in MGS4?
- Is it weird that I've been a pretty apathetic about how things kinda left off with Cat?
- Will I actually make time to go re-register as a voter in New York?
- How is it that I care so much about a girl I've at most talked to for 15 minutes?
- I really need to get new shoooooooooooooeeess.
- Who could I possibly get to go see The Price is Right with for Spring Break next year?
- I really should have done those extra credits for 387 and 405 (would've have a sweet GPA)

Hopefully a more exciting week awaits.

-Mikhail

Well intertubers, I got the internship with WCBS-TV! I got interviewed by the head of the sports department today with my hair quite crazy (because there was no hot water in the morning so I skipped the shower) and dressed in my extra-wrinkled suit. Had a good half-hour chat about sports (naturally), the layoffs at the station, union jobs, and briefly possible tasks and availability. I'm pretty excited about this especially since its likely that I'd get to work at a few games. If you couldn't tell already, I am home.

-Mikhail

The very dirty ads for the Quiznos Toasty Torpedo sandwiches suddenly all make sense. I had one for the first time today and the first observation upon my first bite is that its the most phallic sandwich you'll ever have. That's why the oven really wants some torpedo in it, because the thing is a friggin foot and a half long! Add in the fact that its on ciabatta, which is typically a pretty hard bread (although theirs isn't really), and you've got some sexed up metaphors.

-Mikhail

I'm not sure if it has ever been mentioned on this blog, but I along with my brother have a genuine obsession for a man name Paul Lukas and his column on ESPN's Page 2 (and now blog as well), Uni Watch: The Obsessive Study of Athletics Aesthetics. I was just reading an absolutely hilarious article about NYY Steak, in Yankee Stadium.

-Mikhail

I meant to post this earlier today shortly after it happened, but my BlackBerry was being incompetent. Anywho, I was waiting for the bus looking around bored as shit and saw this ant dragging around a leaf. So I'm just watching it going across the sidewalk, when this chick walks by and steps right on the poor guy. It didn't get crushed, but it was so distraught and lost the leaf it was carrying it around and just scrambled back to its hill presumably. That's all really.

-Mikhail

Hey party people, so I've got 3 of the most intense classwork days ever. Tomorrow I've got my presentation for 381 on universal service. We decided to make a replica of your typical Zach Morris cell phone, which this guy in my group made look absolutely badass. I'll have a pic of that hopefully soon. After that I'm directing my project 4 for 283, which might be the thing I'm most worried about. Wednesday I got a test for 387, which shouldn't be too bad. Thursday is really just busy for 283 again working on the other two groups projects. Still working on getting the internship secured, so more words on that soon I'm sure. I'm going home May 5th, so I have a nice 5 day weekend to enjoy, not worrying about work and stuff and of course looking for a party to crash.

-Mikhail

Man, I really wish I had gone to that British Sea Power concert I got a ticket to last year. I listen to them nonstop now. Oh well, catch them around next time.

Edit: This led to me looking at some of my other favorite bands websites and I found a very interesting movie about Rogue Wave's drummer Pat Spurgeon. He is apparently looking for a kidney donation and in the meantime is still performing! I haven't gotten a chance to watch it myself, but I'm sure it is an awesome flick (featuring live performances from Ben Gibbard, Nada Surf, and of course Rogue Wave among others I'm sure). You can read more on that at dtourmovie.com as well as make a donation and download an exclusive Rogue Wave song.


That was from last summer, look how awesome he is! I wish him the best.

BRING ON THE WAVE!

-Mikhail

So, Letterman came back from break today, but guess what? The friggin CBS affiliate here sucks dick and has a blacked out picture! This feels like the brief time that Letterman was simulcast on CBS radio many years back.

Minus: I don't know when commercials are and can't mute it.
Plus: Don't have to see Zach Efron's creepy looking face!
Push: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning are gonna be on. This is particularly peculiar because I don't listen to the show, but whenever they get a perspective from the duo during Sportscenter there's a picture. Of course since they're making a television appearance I won't be seeing it, just listening.

Personal life is being very interesting, but once again saving that for another post. Looking forward to the weekend though, New York on Friday, Relay for Life most of Saturday and last parties of the semester! Woooooo!

-Mikhail

As of this moment I only have 3 weeks of classes left in the semester. Time has flown right by since spring break and overall things are working quite well. Just taped my project three for my production class, where I made my directing debut. The practice really got me into a good flow, but overall it was quite sloppy. The second take was much much better, things worked out really well and I did some more creative shot selections than the group before, which made me happy. I think a third take may have made it perfect, but I didn't want to have our guest bored. By the way, my job was made really easier when the host/guest combo was absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to see how it actually came out on tape though. Campus is definitely gonna be a little empty since many went home for Easter, but most of my primary comrades are hanging around so I'm sure we'll find something to do.

-Mikhail

So it appears that next weekend I won't have any plans! Sure Jim may end up finding us a party to go to, but aside from that no work since the baseball team will be on the road and I don't think I have anything due next week (probably do, but I don't know it yet). I have something in mind that I could be doing, but more on that for another day. Anyway this weekend was just fine. Registered for the fall, partied a bit Saturday night, ran into many people that I was not expecting to see, which is always welcome. It is safe to say that I'm doing pretty okay...well except for losing to the Angels in MLB 2K9, but I'll recover.

-Mikhail

I'm supposed to be writing on the relationship between citizenship and consumerism right now. If the deadline wasn't changed to 5PM as opposed the noon, like it was before Wednesday, writing this right now would an issue I'd say. But the great thing is that I intend on getting this done before I go to sleep. Why? you may ask, well let's say I have 3 other cans of Red Bull waiting in case I do start thinking about sleep. Anyway, baseball has been in my thoughts all week. Started working the baseball games last week and have two more this weekend, me and my brother ordered Yankees tickets on Tuesday and baseball is starting back up in 9 days. I'm hoping any plans for Friday night won't be bothered by my having to register on Saturday, but that might be the case unfortunately. Maybe I'll try something I'm not so used to doing instead or maybe I'll catch up on all those movies I downloaded, but haven't seen. Well, back to the citizen-consumer, joy!

-Mikhail

Back to the old grind it is. First day of the second half of the semester is through. Nice and quick as is always the special on a Monday, it kinda sets up the rest of the week especially once I'm back home from Innovation Park on Tuesdays it really means I have to do the same thing I just did for Wednesday and Thursday. Again, although I hate the idleness, not having classes on Friday is the shit.

A quick note Spring Break: good, but boring many days.
Highlights: uncarded boozing, inconvenient raving and trials of being a lifeguard with Franco and Lopez; a visit to The Door, briefly saw everyone I wanted to see though lacking the nice sit-down chat; Red Mango > pinkberry (yeah, I said it); usual Katz's Delicatessen family trip, never fails.

The phone interview Friday, went well one could say. I think producer Lisa Ammerman, may have been slightly impressed with my knowledge of the show, though it felt more like a viewer feedback survey than me trying to get an internship. Unfortunately they were filled up for the summer and of course asked if I could take the fall or spring next year to do it instead, but this is another of the Harrisburg groin pulls, that maybe I'd be able to do if I were here for all four (should've changed majors sooner). Oh well at least that saves me going Hollywood and turning out like this (yes, it's still funny!).

Finally, I just finished working out my schedule for the fall, since registration is next Saturday. At the end of it I'll have 2 credits left for the major, 3 credits left for the minor, which obviously means Ballroom Dancing and/or Dinosaur Extinction for Spring 2010. Here's the catch: 1 class on Mondays and Wednesdays, 4 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:45AM-3:45PM (almost high school-like hours). I'll see what the advisor thinks of it, considering he told me not to take 381 and 387 together this semester and I did anyway.

-Mikhail

Well tubers, I'd like to let you know that for the first time in few months (definitely the first time this year), that my major stresses have gone in decline. Got papers, presentations, projects out of the way. Applications for internships, cover letters and the simplest resume ever done. I'm going into Spring Break, just finishing the awesome home basketball season for Penn State (most for home wins in a season by the way). Still got a little work ahead during the break, like securing an internship. I have a phone interview with a producer from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson next Friday, so I'm gonna be figuring out what a summer in Los Angeles may cause me. I'm hoping this week will entail a good bit of relaxing, especially since I'll be home the entire spring break for once.

-Mikhail