Aug
13
2008
WOW! This looks pretty freakin’ painful..
Excerpt from Daily Mail:
This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai’s first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.
Baranyai was trying to snatch 148kg in his third lift in the men’s 77kg division, when his elbow popped out of its socket.
No longer able to support the weight of the barbell, his right forearm bent backward. The 24-year-old Hungarian fell to the floor in shock, shaking and crying out in pain.
Hungary’s coaching staff and competition officials rushed to Baranyai’s aid as he lay trembling on the floor, his arm limp and twisted out of position.
Read article and see pictures HERE
Watch OFFICIAL NBC Video HERE
(Update: Video from LiveLeak has been deleted by host)
Aug
11
2008
Yesterday at Bass Pro Shop, I met Gayne C. Young an accomplished outdoor write for most of the popular sporting magazines and also the author of “Texas Safari”.
I had a chance to thumb through the book and it seems like a great resource for Texas hunters. Even includes information about legendary Texas Trophy, Auodad aka Barbary Sheep. I see alot of Auodads on my ranch and have found info on them scarce.
You can order the book at Amazon.com by clicking the link below
Aug
11
2008
Having an insane travel schedule takes it’s toll on you. 5am flights and late nights start to catch up with you after 3 non-stop weeks. How do most people deal with this? Many are turning to energy drinks.
Last Saturday after a sleepless night, I packed up the crew and headed for a beach vacation in Port Aransas, TX. After about 50 miles of driving the fatigue set in and I need something to keep me awake. I stopped at the nearest convenience store and picked up my favorite energy drink, Rockstar. About 1/3 of the way through the drink, my heart started going nuts! I was short of breath and I started feeling horrible. The nearest hospital was in Corpus Christi, TX so I put the “hammer down” and got to the ER as quickly as I could.
Yes, I’m a dork who takes my camera everywhere.. Including the ER. After 4 hours of EKG’s and blood tests, the ER doc said that I had an abnormal heart rate and it is very likely that this could have been caused by the energy drink.
After my ER visit, I started talking to various medical professionals that I know and was suprised to find that EVERY SINGLE ONE shared energy drink horror stories. Kids are putting these things away like they were candy and also mixing them with Alcohol! An ER friend of mine said that he sees college kids almost every night with energy drink related heart problems.
Aug
9
2008
Chicago Sun-Times broke the story this morning
“Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial hospital early Saturday morning, according to Sun-Times Columnist, Stella Foster. He was 50.”
Read the article HERE
Aug
9
2008
For the 43rd time in less than a year, members of the Mexican army crossed the US border. This week a report was released about 4 members of the Mexican army held a US Border Agent at gunpoint on US SOIL!
U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers, members of an entry identification team, watch the U.S./Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz., Jan. 17, 2007. National Guard Soldiers and Airmen participating in Operation Jump Start are acting as the eyes and ears for the Border Patrol in securing the border. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)
The feds claim that they are trying to “protect” us with increased airport security, sneak and peek searches, warrantless wiretaps, etc.. The fact that they make little effort to stop the flood at our southern borders contradicts anything they say about trying to “protect” our country.
Thanks to the National Guard troops that are lending a hand at our borders!
Read the Washington Times article HERE
Aug
5
2008
I hope my blog readers had a chance to watch the web coverage of Criss Angel’s Building Implosion Escape. What a great event. As you may already know, I spend most of my time working with sports leagues, teams, networks, etc.. This was my first opportunity work with someone from the magic business. Have seen a few episodes of Mindfreak, I didn’t really know what to expect coming into the project.
Philip Nelson in front of the soon to be imploded Spy Glass Hotel
From start to finish I was extremely impressed with Criss Angel. He is a true showman and is great to his fans. He showed up early in the day and worked the crowd and spent time signing autographs and taking photos with fans both before and after his show. The crowd of 15,000 that showed up at Clearwater Beach, FL didn’t leave disappointed.
Criss Angel greets his fans before the big show
Observers were given goggles and masks to protect them from the dust and debris.
I’ve been getting questions about the TriCaster setup for the show so I’ll give you guys an inside look into the project.A&E used the TriCaster Broadcast for the project fed by 4 cameras(2 Building Shots and 2 handheld shots) and two audio sources (Natural Sound and Mic from host Joe Monti). The output from the TriCaster was fed to a delay box to allow A&E to have a 5 second buffer incase someone got crazy and started flashing the camera.. The Joys of LIVE! The TriCaster Broadcast was outfitted with both an LC-11 and a TimeWarp (Had to show an instant reply of the building implosion). The output from the delay box was sent to TWO satellite uplink trucks which fed our show back to HQ for encoding and distribution.
The Stream Team - Webcast Producer - Andrew Lipson, Webcast Host/Criss Angel Magic Consultant - Joe Monti & Chief Slacker - Philip Nelson
Webcast host, Joe Monti was AMAZING to work with. He is a guru of magic and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Probably one of the best webcast host that I’ve ever had the honor of working with. This guy can really think on his feet. One classic moment from the webcast was when Criss’ brother JD showed the camera the first brick taken from the collapsed building and Joe grabbed it from him and ran off. Classic!Joe Monti just can’t believe that this little box can be running the entire webcast.
One thing that impressed me about working on this project is Criss Angel and his family. The all seemed like very cool people and the entired team seemed to be very close.
Criss Angel signs autographs for fans after the show
Philip Nelson & Criss Angel. Funny fact one of Criss' brothers is peeking through between us and the other is taking the picture! Rock on!
Aug
2
2008
I couldn’t help but comment on this one. 😉
Answer me this.. Could you identify a “Blue Tit”?
Who wants to see a blue tit? If you do, click HERE
Read the article HERE
Hey kids… Put down the XBox controller and go out side to check out the blue tits.. and no.. i’m not talking about Mystique from the X-Men.. LOL!
Jul
29
2008
I’m here in Clearwater Beach Florida getting ready for the worlds first LIVE episode of Mindfreak. TriCaster sits in the shadow of the “Big Daddy” live truck from NEP ready to stream live coverage of this history making event.
Broadcast veteran, Andrew Lipson is at the helm for this production flanked by his partner, Anna George. Their production company Image First Productions is actually producing the webcast.
Where to see the webcast.
www.aetv.com/criss_angel/ or www.crissangel.com
Coverage Starts at 9PM EDT tomorrow night. (Wednesday 7/30/08)
Jul
29
2008
Whew.. What a weekend. Sorry that I didn’t have a chance to post updates from Days 3 until now! Day 4 is coming soon.
We opened up day three with a trip to the VooDoo/Saints training facility in Metarie, LA for the KidsZone event. We were streaming the Sirrius Satellite Radio show live from the event. In the middle of our live webcast, the Cleveland Gladiators mascot decided to get a little airtime by riding between the cameras and the hosts, Peter Schwartz and Wayne Morris.
When Mascots Attack
Tons of stuff for the kids to do including players signing autographs and a free concert from Radio Disney recording artist Jordan Pruitt.
9 Year Old uses TriCaster to show FanZone show
I left the TriCaster in the capable hands of the ArenaBowl Interns and headed off to the Tech NO-Bowl. This was a technology panel hosted by the Sports Video Group where key ArenaBowl technology partners discussed the tech behind ArenaBowl weekend. Participants included FOX, ESPN360.com, Sling Media and the Louisiana Film Commission.
Saturday night was a HUGE party at the Hard Rock Cafe. The headlining act was Huey Lewis and the News but I was PUMPED to find out that Dash Rip Rock would be one of the opening acts. GREAT SHOW!
VIP Passes are SWEET!
L to R – Jim & Spencer Plant, Noel, Philp & Phil Nelson
Noel Nelson & Marshall Faulk
Jul
25
2008
Day 2 of ArenaBowl weekend has come and gone. Today we did 4 projects starting with Media day live from the New Orlenas arena. Had a great time streaming live interviews from the turf! We even had the honor of interviewing Eagles legend, Ron Jaworski
Wayne Morris and Ari Wolfe get the latest Soul info from Ron Jaworski
After Media day, we packed up the TriCaster and headed to Radio Row where the AFL interns took over and ran the TriCaster webcasts as I sat back and enjoyed a few energy drinks from ArenaBowl sponsor Black Mamba!
From Radio Row, we head to the Super Dome where we streamed the live ADT ArenaBall and at the same time recorded interviews with the winners to the TriCaster hard disk.
(L to R) Philip Nelson, Soul QB Matt D’Orazio, Ari Wolfe & SaberCats QB Mark Grieb
Well, that about wraps up Day 2 of ArenaBowl.. I’m off the Gala after party!