PIXEL - A Blog

2018-04-16T05:01:00.000-04:00

We rented a great movie tonight on DVD. Some of you may be interested in watching it as well. It is called THE GLASS CASTLE (2017) and stars Woody Harrelson. He should get an award for his acting as the father, as should Ella Anderson who plays his young daughter Jeannette Walls.

That daughter in real life wrote a book about growing up in a poor, extremely dysfunctional and nomadic family. The movie based on that book is dark and depressing at times, but it is actually redemptive. The Walls children show such strength, banding together as they grow up to survive their crazy family life, eventually turning out to be sane and happy adults.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2378507/reference

2018-04-16T04:39:00.001-04:00

We watched the Academy of Country Music Awards show on CBS Sunday night. It was great entertainment, and not a nasty political comment or "social justice" protest song. Thank goodness.

As a former union theatrical stagehand, I appreciated the amazing stagecraft, set and lighting designs, special visual effects, flawless audio quality, the stagehand's frequent and fast set changes, as well as Reba McEntire's hosting.

Performers I enjoy who were on the show: Reba McEntire, Lauren Alaina (Angela's mother knows the family well, and we have been cheering Lauren on since she started performing), Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, and Kelly Clarkson. I do not like the trend of pairing Rap music with country. That performance was a fail. I DO like Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. and his group B.o.B., though.

Thanks for a good evening CBS.

www.acmcountry.com/

OUR AMERICAN FLAG IS WEEPING TODAY - A Meme About Racial Violence

2014-10-21T16:47:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2014, Porter Versfelt III

I OWN A PIECE OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE, AND AMERICAN HISTORY

2014-10-20T16:27:00.001-04:00

Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1883 June 2, p. 341. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/93512102/

Sitting on one of my many bookcases at home is an item I use as a book-end
something that most people don’t use, a large, heavy piece of cast iron from the 19th-
century called a turnbuckle. But this isn’t just any turnbuckle; you see, it came from one
of the most historic and iconic manmade structures in the world. More than twenty
years after it came into my possession, I still can’t believe I own this special object.

Think of a turnbuckle as a kind of huge nut used to tighten cables and wires. It is
about a foot long, eight inches thick and cylindrical, with flat sides to make tightening
with a huge wrench easier. It weighs about 20 pounds. My turnbuckle is one of thousands
used in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. It, like the others, is
hollow and threaded at either end, used to connect two, two-inch-thick steel suspension
cables together. The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883 after 13 years of
construction, was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world and is the world’s
oldest. My turnbuckle has “Brooklyn 1881” stamped deep into the cast iron.

As a child I traveled across the Brooklyn Bridge in automobiles and saw it from a
distance many, many times. My father was born and raised about twenty-five miles from
Manhattan Island in Montclair, New Jersey, so our family traveled to New York every
year for summer and Christmas vacations to see my grandparents and all of our relations.
While I consider myself a southerner, raised in Dallas and Houston, Texas, I am also part
“Yankee”. The Versfelt Dutch-American ancestry dates back in New England to before
the American Revolutionary War, and my mother’s British-American heritage goes back
even further to the early 1600’s near Boston. The Brooklyn Bridge is one of many very
visible icons of our family story in New York. My grandfather Porter Versfelt Sr. told me
throughout my childhood about his encounters with that bridge (He was born the year it
was completed.), traveling across it over some 90 years of his life on foot, by train, by
automobile and via street car. So you can understand why, in the early 1990’s, when I
finally had the opportunity to stand on the Brooklyn Bridge myself, receiving that
turnbuckle as a gift was a very special event for me.

At that time I worked as a public television producer, director and scriptwriter for
the PBS station at The Pennsylvania State University and its state-wide educational TV
channel. I had chosen the Brooklyn Bridge as one of the backdrops for important parts of
a documentary I was producing about the state of the American economy, in partnership
with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. In 1993, re-building America’s infrastructure of
highways, roads and bridges was an important topic of the national conversation and I
felt that what better prop could one use to illustrate the importance of transportation
infrastructure than THE Brooklyn Bridge. Plus, I really wanted an excuse to have an all-
expense paid trip to New York City.

Looking back all of these decades later, that moment when I first stepped out of our
TV crew van onto the asphalt surface of the Brooklyn Bridge roadway will be forever
burned into my mind’s eye. It was mid-July, cold and overcast for a New York
summer day. The wind whipped us around relentlessly as we unloaded ourselves and our
TV gear. I was concerned that we wouldn’t have enough sunlight to film our segments
with the host of our program, Patty Sattalia. Despite having a large steel construction
hard hat on her head, as we all did, that vicious wind blew her hair out from underneath
the hat like a scene from a Wagner opera. I could almost hear the off-stage thunder claps
and feel the sense of foreboding in the story. I had just turned thirty-six years old and
I was, frankly, feeling a bit full of myself; I was in charge of a big budget national TV
documentary, head of a crew of some eight people and the instigator for shutting down
one lane of traffic on one of the busiest highway bridges in the world for a good part of
the day.

After a time, we had our camera and audio equipment set up along with our lights.
Police arranged especially for the occasion were directing traffic safely around us, but
they couldn’t keep the aggravated car, truck and bus driver’s anger at being delayed at
bay. We were not the only impediment on the Brooklyn Bridge that day, a multi-year
renovation project had begun recently and all of the thousands of miles of steel-wire
cables and thousands of original 1870’s and 1880’s cast iron turnbuckles were being
replaced. I had been told by the construction supervisor that the wiring and the
turnbuckles could probably last another 50 years at least, but engineers and politicians
were worried anyway, so hundreds of workers were being employed. It was a boost
to the economy, and that was the subject of our documentary.

Because we started shooting in the morning, and the Brooklyn Bridge ran roughly
northwest-to-southeast, I wanted the sun at our backs and behind the camera so our on-
camera host Patty would be illuminated well. It also didn’t hurt that the western end of
the bridge had that lovely and timeless (or so we thought) view of the lower Manhattan
skyline of tall buildings. From our perspective behind the camera, we saw the western
terminus of the bridge behind Patty and just to the left, standing majestically over the
Battery at the tip of the island stood the twin towers of the famous World Trade Center. A
huge American flag, some 20 feet wide and 50 feet long hung vertically from the
overhead girders on the bridge. Those towers and the flag and the New York skyline
added up to one impressive image all in one shot. We had no idea, of course, on that Jul
day of 1993 that just eight years later those towers would be gone, destroyed by 19 Arab
Muslim men and their handlers who wanted to send a terrible message to the United
States. Every time I watch our completed documentary, seeing the old and original World
Trade Center on the screen makes me well up with strong emotions of sadness, regret and
anger. As I write this and bring my memories back to that scene, I listen to Albinoni’s
classical Baroque musical piece Sonata #5 in G Minor and I can’t help but see the old
news video of the passenger jets crashing into the Trade Center towers and a montage of
dust-covered and frightened people running away from them in terror with that music as
the accompaniment.

John A. Roebling, engineer and designer
of the Brooklyn Bridge. Painting (c. 1930?)

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7005, Box 187, Folder 1. http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?view=&dsort=&date.slider=&fq=online_media_type%3A%22Images%22&q=john+roebling

After we completed filming our documentary segments that day on the Brooklyn
Bridge, I walked over to the renovation supervisor to thank him for all of his help. He
surprised me with a present, that huge turnbuckle. It was made of cast iron, the iron ore
mined and shipped in from western Pennsylvania. The iron rock was smelted and cast
into this turnbuckle just on the other side of the bridge, in its shadow, in fact, in
Brooklyn. Stamped on my turnbuckle is “Edgemoor - Brooklyn - 1881”. Edgemoor was
the name of the iron foundry. All of the physical strain and risk taken by the men who
mined that iron ore, transported it by railroad and river barge from Pennsylvania to
Brooklyn, the many years of dreaming, planning and personal sacrifice by the engineer
who designed the bridge (John Augustus Roebling), the men who died from the
“bends” (nitrogen narcosis) while digging the underwater stone foundations, all of these
things and much more are wrapped up in my turnbuckle. It is not just a hunk of iron, but
a part of American history. Our history. My history.

The Secret Lives of Teachers - Not What You May Think

2014-10-20T13:40:00.002-04:00

Many teachers in the United States remain at their school until 6, 7 or even 8 o'clock at night writing lesson plans, fulfilling school district, state and Federal education bureaucratic requirements and mandates, and many take their work home with them on the weekends. God love the teachers who have emotional and physical energy, and time, left over to lead "secret lives". But, some do, and that ultimately benefits their students.

"The Secret Lives of Teachers" is an interesting new reporting series from National Public Radio about what America's public school teachers do in their spare time.

"The Secret Lives of Teachers" - National Public Radio

Copyright 2014, Porter Versfelt III

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

1802 January 1. (Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut).
From: http://www.monticello.org

ATTENTION YOUNG JOURNALISTS - BE YOUR OWN BRAND

2014-08-06T14:35:00.004-04:00

Journalism has obviously been a cyclical profession and is reflected in journalism school enrollments (1), especially since I started my career in the mid-1970's. When I left the University of Missouri-Columbia J-school in 1979, jobs and good pay were plentiful, especially in local TV news where I worked as a reporter/photographer in Missouri, Kansas, Texas and Florida.

One thing I've learned since then - you will be penalized by journalism employers for growing older and being more expert at what you do, especially in TV news. I also learned that with such a nomadic and volatile employment environment, it's best to have additional non-journalism skills that can serve as a back-up "day job". That's why I morphed in the mid-1980's into corporate TV production, public relations, movie and network TV production. Now, I am on a path to teach middle and high school history and am attending college again.

Today, compared to the 1970's and 1980's, young people with a journalism degree have so many more opportunities to do what they love because of the dramatically increased numbers of ways they can reach a news audience - print, "radio", magazine, TV - as a result of the Internet and wireless device revolution. The medium is no longer the message (sorry Marshall McLuhan), the CONTENT is now finally the message.

You Tube, podcasts, blogs, Internet radio channels and networks (iTunes, IHeartRadio, etc.) and other ways of connecting with an audience proliferate now. Back when I started as a journalist, there were local TV, radio and newspapers to work for and to gain experience with, and of course the big national newspapers and network television news programs were there for a select few achievers to join. No CNN or Fox News, no Yahoo News. The opportunities were limited.

Porter Versfelt III in the Florida Everglades working for

WCKT-TV (NBC) in 1981. The station news helicopter is on the left.

I and my young colleagues back then would have killed to have so many ways to distribute our work. Today I believe, if you are a good journalist and writer, and perhaps also have a good on-camera presence (video), you are in control and do not have to be dependent on working for a news organization. I urge you to freelance, BE your own brand. There are no limits to your future. You are now in the age of Free-agent Journalism.

(1) Anderson, Monica, Pew Research Center: "The Job Market Tightens, But New Journalism Grads Remain Upbeat" (06 August 2014) Source: Journalism Enrollment Study

Copyright 2014, Porter Versfelt III

Atlanta Is On The Map Now For Movie & TV Production

2013-09-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

NEW STUDIO COMPLEX FOR ATLANTA

Well, the latest news this past week that EUE/Screen Gems will lease the old Lakewood Fairgrounds near downtown Atlanta as motion picture and television production facilities is GREAT news.

We in the movie production community heard about this months ago but the news is only just recently becoming public.

More jobs (an estimated 1,000) are foreseen for the production industry here and this will be a further cementing of Atlanta and Georgia's growing pivotal role in movie and network TV series production.

VCGTV shot EPK promotional material for Screen Gems at the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta.
The focus of this production was the cast of the motion picture NOTORIOUS who attended the event and the after party at an Atlanta mansion.

Now, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is claiming that the Screen Gems facility will be "state-of-the-art". Whoa there AJC. Not quite. Not YET.

http://www.ajc.com/business/ready-for-your-close-528580.html

Uh, this is NOT the first Atlanta-area "state-of-the-art studio complex".

Riverwood Studios was built years ago south of Atlanta in Senoia, Georgia and still operates. Tyler Perry opened his studio and backlot complex in November 2008.

Screen Gem's studio facility will be the latest. But it won't be state-of-the-art for a while. Word on the street is the first movie shooting there - FAST AND FURIOUS IV - will use existing, upgraded Lakewood Fairgrounds buildings. New construction will occur at some point in the future.

Every week we receive job applicants from veteran Los Angeles production people who are moving to Atlanta. This is, after all, where much of the work is going. Atlanta hosted more than two dozen major movie productions to LA's nine in 2009 is my understanding.

Let's hope we Atlanta-based folks who worked and lobbied hard for the state tax incentives for movie and TV production, honed our craft and lived in the shadow of LA for so long will get many of these new jobs.

MUSIC LIBRARY FIND

Last night I stumbled upon a great spin-off web site from Wikipedia that offers free, high-quality, downloadable music of many genres. Wikimedia Commons.

Wikimedia Commons offers public domain, high-quality and downloadable photos. They also offer music as well.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Music_sound

Many of these music cuts are public domain. These photos and especially the music will be a huge low-cost public service to those of us editing finished product for TV and movies.

Copyright 2014, Porter Versfelt III

2013-02-20T22:36:00.002-05:00

THIS JUST IN:

#TLC + Authentic Entertainment #TV series TODDLERS & TIARAS will be shooting in Columbus, Georgia on 28 February and 01 March 2013. Rumour has it they need a local PA. No other details available. #ToddlersandTiaras #Authentic Entertainment #Toddlers #Tiaras #TheLearningChannel #Kids #children #competition #pageants

2013-02-20T18:21:00.002-05:00

ANNOUNCED TODAY:

Georgia TV producer Tyler Perry's sitcom FOR BETTER OR WORSE has been picked by the OWN television network. A third season has been ordered.

Looks like another year of employment for the Atlanta-based production crew, extras, etc.

#TylerPerry #AtlantaTV #GeorgiaTV #TV #television #comedy #Atlanta #Oprah

http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/own-picks-up-tyler-perrys-sitcom-for-better-or-worse-orders-third-season/

With Free Speech Comes Responsibility

2012-09-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

I have a Christian friend who is a photojournalist in Pakistan. I will not reveal name, etc. to protect this person's safety. But a message today sent to me by my friend touched my heart and I believe what my friend writes is reflective of so many people around the world and what they think about the USA.

My take is that in this day of high tech communications, the truth and facts still don't always get to everyone. My friend and many others believe that the anti-Islam film upsetting Muslims around the world right now was created by the United States government. I have assured my friend that the film was done by an individual and not by our government. I also reminded my friend about our concept of "free speech" and the 1st Amendment to our U.S. Constitution. But I added that with free speech comes responsibility and one should always consider whether what you say will hurt others. There ARE limits to free speech.

I believe that having and expressing opinions is good as long as those opinions are based on fact and fairness. The film in question played fast and loose with both and it is making all Americans look bad and hurting our national security and commerce.

I just wanted to say all of this to my fellow Americans this morning to remind you that there are many around the world who still believe in the United States of America, it's core concepts and principles, and what we stand for. "The shining beacon on a hill" as President Reagan has said.

I think we should read what my friend says below and be humbled. We should stop our petty fighting amongst ourselves in this election season and recognize that we have a responsibility to our nation, ourselves and to the world, to be our very best and remain that beacon on a hill. Because what we say does matter and does affect folks. In the case of my Christian friends in Pakistan and those living in other Muslim-dominated nations this morning, what we say here in the USA can bring wrath and violence down on them.

From my Christian friend in Pakistan:

"dear brother plz tell ur govt not to make these kind of flim cuz of that we have to face so much persecution the money they spending on making flim by that they can help poor Christians , yesterday i face so much bad thing due to that they abuse JESUS ur in media u can convey message , we are not so much rich that we can sattle in other countries my self earn a very little money which only help to run wheel of house plz dont take me wrong GOD BLESS USA and his people but the side effect of these kind of flim come on poor people like me who is Christ beliver in pakistan"

https://www.facebook.com/notes/versfelt-communications-group-pr-atlanta-tv-movie-epk-crews/a-reminder-that-free-speech-comes-with-responsibility/412035672190302

KEEPING THE TRAGEDY IN AURORA, COLORADO IN PERSPECTIVE

2012-07-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

KEEPING THE TRAGEDY IN AURORA, COLORADO IN PERSPECTIVE

Some of you sincerely believe that guns are evil and that they should be banned in the USA. I understand your emotions. But emotions must be tempered by facts, in my opinion.

These are the leading causes of death in the United States. Gunshot victims are not in the top-10.

From the USA Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

2009 leading causes of death ...

Heart disease: 599,413

Cancer: 567,628

Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 137,353

Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,842

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 118,021

Alzheimer's disease: 79,003

Diabetes: 68,705

Influenza and Pneumonia: 53,692

Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 48,935

Intentional self-harm (suicide): 36,909

Injury by firearms ...

2009 ... 31,347

2010 ... 31,513

Death by intentional assault by firearms ...

2009 ... 11,493

2010 ... 11,015

Preliminary 2010 causes of death:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf

As a nation and as neighbors, I encourage you to keep these statistics in mind as your local, state and Federal officials and politicians speak about further curtailing our 2nd Amendment constitutional rights.

It was awful, but I'm not going to parse the scenario to death.

Yesterday, I prayed for the victims and their loved ones and did battle with the ignorant and lobotomized liberals.

Today and beyond, I must now concentrate on living life, God, my family and friends.

2012-05-17T12:23:00.001-04:00

TO FACEBOOK OR NOT TO FACEBOOK ... THAT IS THE QUESTION

Funny, there are social misfits throughout history. Those today are defined by militantly not using Facebook. You're missing out folks.

This Associated Press article from today profiles some of those anti-Facebook holdouts. :

http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-grows-millions-no-thanks-073535378--finance.html

You don't have to reveal anything except your name to Facebook if you don't want to, nor do you have to accept friend requests or private messages.

Heck, even my 85 year-old Father uses Facebook and loves it's able to connect him to news organizations, magazines, special interest groups, new ideas, institutions and hobbyists around the world. Just like I do.

That's why I like Facebook. It's another great library to use, IF you use it to it's fullest. I also get professional work through my Facebook connections and have met people all over the world that I never would have met or befriended.

The ability to more easily stay in touch with family and friends - even long-lost friends and acquaintances - using photographs, videos and text, are another superb strength of Facebook I believe. Those people who don't like Facebook just don't like people or socializing. I think that is at the core of their Facebook phobia.

Like anything, Facebook can be abused and can monopolize your time if you let it. Don't. It's a wonderful resource for our modern age.

I have a few Facebook pages; Personal as well as professional. Please check them out. I'm friendly and won't bite. :)

Visit our new web video production and SEO subsidiary Bizzy Tube:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bizzy-Tube-Viral-Videos-TV-For-The-Web/309264322421299

I would like to invite you to join my Atlanta Video & Film Production Professionals page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-Video-Film-Production-Professionals/126713170694533

Or my Southern Video & Film Production Professionals page, which is aimed at TV, video and movie production folks outside of Georgia throughout the southern USA, or those interested in production work in this part of the USA.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Video-Film-Production-Professionals/119598211452314

If you have an interest in filmmaking and television production in North Carolina, please join NORTH CAROLINA FILMMAKERS.

Porter Versfelt III / Versfelt Communications Group Atlanta - Administrator

http://www.facebook.com/groups/42948068170/

Or "like" VCGTV's company Facebook page here to keep up with what Versfelt Communications Group is doing and interesting commentary and news articles about using video for PR, marketing, advertising, etc.:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Versfelt-Communications-Group/129162750441165?ref=mf

Oh, and I "tweet" as well about the TV and movie industries - creative, production, technical, financial and distribution - web video production, advertising, marketing, journalism and developments with the general media today.

See my Twitter page at: http://twitter.com/#!/vcgtv

Attention To Detail

2012-04-16T10:55:00.003-04:00

Attention to detail.

You learned it in school.

Your grandfather taught you about attention to detail in his workshop.

You learned about it the hard way when your college professor gave your A+ term paper a "D" because of its many typos.

Attention To Detail is a core belief and central part of our culture here at Versfelt Communications Group.

At other television public relations agencies ... not so much.

Google Chrome is a big deal. It certainly was for Google, but its ad agency didn't pay full attention to detail in this 2011 full-page print ad for Google Chrome in the New York Times.

Look at how Chrome is spelled where the ad states "Download Google Chome" ... what ? !

The agency misspelled it's client's name!

We see this happening more often today than in decades past. But not in our shop. Not on our watch.

At Versfelt Communications Group, we pay attention to detail.

http://www.businessinsider.com/huge-typo-in-googles-campaign-for-the-chrome-browser-2012-4?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Advertising+Select&utm_campaign=Advertising+Select+Mondays+2012-04-16

2012-03-29T23:00:00.001-04:00

Did you know John Schneider starred in the recently released movie OCTOBER BABY?

Good for John, and standing up for being Christian. That's tough to do in Hollywood.

Great interview with The Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-schneider-christian-films-pro-life-dukes-hazzard-306023

The anti-Christian viewpoint in Hollywood is endemic and the worst kind of blacklist. I know, I work there and have seen and experienced this often. It's tough to be conservative as well.

On a lighter note, Schneider said about the DUKES OF HAZARD movie:

"The only thing they got right was the color of the car".

Please Support Political Cartooning

2012-03-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have enjoyed the political cartoons from the very talented A.F. Branco over the last year or so. I believe that, no matter what your political leanings or beliefs are, it is healthy for Americans to laugh at ourselves, and perhaps think a little more deeply about important national issues. This is why political cartoons are so valuable to the public discussion.

If you can help spread the word about his work, advertise on his web site or encourage your local newspaper to publish his cartoons that would be wonderful, thank you.

Porter Versfelt III

This message is from A.F. Branco:

"Dear Friends

First of all thank you for sharing my Political cartoons and your thoughts. It has been an honor to serve with you as a fellow patriot.

For approximately 2 years I've devoted my self passionately (Full Time) to getting the conservative message out through my cartoon art work for little to no income at all. Although I originally didn't do this for the money or to retire wealthy to an island somewhere in the Bahamas, I had hoped at some point I could turn this into enough financially that it would allow me to continue my passion into the future, but hard times have hit us all.

I'm a better artist than I am a Businessman. but for the next few days I'm going to try to sell myself a little better so that I can stay in the game. The next few weeks will decide my political cartoon fate.

(THIS IS WHERE I COULD USE YOUR HELP) I'm going to start selling add space at the bottom of each cartoon, and increase local and national news paper subscribers. (Subscribers will not have the add on their cartoon).

If you like the cartoons please contact your local NEWS PAPER and ask that they subscribe to A.F.Branco's cartoons at

If you know someone who would like to run an ad at the bottom of my cartoon viewed by thousand daily, please have them contact me at

Your participation will be very appreciated and may determine if I can continue in the future

Thank you.

A.F.Branco"

Spike Lee Is A Vindictive Moron - There, I said It

2012-03-27T20:19:00.001-04:00

Spike Lee should be prosecuted for making this poor couple's life miserable and full of fear because of his tweet.

Spike, there ARE consequences for mindless, vindictive and moronic acts such as yours.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/spike-lee-zimmerman-tweet-567891

UPDATE:

As of Thursday, 29 March 2012, Spike Lee has made an undisclosed financial settlement with Elaine McClain and her husband David.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/spike-lee-settles-twitter-mcclain-address-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-306315

Finally, Spike Lee did the RIGHT thing.

CBS News:

The Blaze: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/spike-lee-reaches-settlement-with-elderly-couple-after-retweeting-wrong-address/

Washington Post:

Associated Press (AP):

MAD MEN - A Show About "Nothing"?

2012-03-26T22:41:00.001-04:00

I have finished watching the season opener for MAD MEN on my DVR and I give it a solid three thumbs up. :)

A friend posted on Facebook tonight that the show "is about nothing and nothing ever happens". Really? Have we been watching the same TV series for all of these years?

Gosh, MAD MEN is a social commentary on an era gone by, a time when Madison Avenue created things that didn't exist, a time contrasting so much from today when anything goes, there are few social or cultural standards and people once dressed up just to leave the house.

It's about people and their foibles and watching this we know we haven't changed much in 50 years.

The show is about secrets and betrayal and love and lust and all of those things that have made good drama since "cave men" told stories around a camp fire and made hand puppet shadows on a cave rock wall.

MAN MEN is brilliantly written, directed and full of nuance. SEINFELD is a show "about nothing". ;)

http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men

Living The Data Intense Life, Or Hardly Living?

2012-03-24T20:00:00.006-04:00

It is Saturday night and my wife and I are babysitting two of our grandchildren, so I don't have time to write a full and well-reasoned blog post. That is why I give you this link to an excellent essay on modern-day data distraction, with more personal commentary to come later.

http://blog.commonflame.org/battling-distraction/

We all are increasingly accosted by data and information via smart phones, TV, Internet web site advertising, blogs, news stories, radio, movies, tweets, text messages, IM's, etc. I am a huge consumer of information and love the Internet for that purpose. I am very guilty of consuming information most of the time. I did the same before the Internet as an avid (and continue to be ) book and magazine reader. But we can go too far in our consumption and I am learning that my life and work are much more creative, productive and less stressful by controlling that data stream into my brain better.

This is why so many Americans have sleeping problems and frequent headaches. We are always (or nearly so) consuming data during a typical day, even on weekends.

I urge you to take stock of your life and think about what you value most. I vote for God, family and friends in that order. News and information have their places, but in smaller, better-organized and scheduled chunks than we have now.

I don't stand around with my face glued to a smart phone when idle in public - say, in a grocery store checkout line or waiting between meetings - or when visiting family. I know so many people who do this. I find it rude, and sad. I think about what those folks are missing.

I talk to people, have conversations, watch the birds and the clouds, laugh at children playing and learning. The world God gave us is the most entertaining and informative data there is. I have found enjoying that first, and taking in electronic-distributed information in smaller, controlled doses, is the best pathway to a longer, less-stressed and happier life, both professional and personal.

This has been on my mind this afternoon and evening as I have played with toddlers and dogs outdoors in the beautiful Spring weather. Feeling the breeze on my skin, laughing at childhood discovery, having a conversation with my three year old granddaughter sitting on my lap. This is what life is all about. There is plenty of time to pack our brains with even more data. Times and experiences like these come first.

Links to writing about data overload and distraction as cited in the Common Flame blog:

Sharon Begley writing for Newsweek ... http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/02/27/i-can-t-think.html

Jimi Jones on productivity and setting deadlines in order to relieve stress: http://jimijones.com/productivity/productivity-the-importance-of-setting-deadlines/

Finally, this Bible passage which is among my favourite guides for living life. In essence, there is a right time for doing everything in our lives, just not all at once. :)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

2 -8 A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

Now I Have Made It To The Big Time!

2012-03-23T02:35:00.008-04:00

Well, I have finally made the big time in the Twitterverse. A prominent Reuters news service financial writer has mentioned me on his official Reuters blog. This is exciting!

Felix Salmon writes about financial news for a global audience via the famed and venerable British news service Reuters. In his 22 March 2012 blog he wrote about Twitter becoming more annoying and mentioned me as the poster boy for those who are both annoyed by Twitter tweeters and, apparenty, also annoying. To him at any rate.

Here is the blog:

http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/03/22/why-twitter-will-get-more-annoying/#comment-37238

And this was Mr. Salmon's reference to me:

"And then there are people like Porter Versfelt III, who will get annoyed if I dare to express a personal opinion on Twitter. For Mr Versfelt, I have a “core purpose” on Twitter, which is to provide him with financial news, and anything I do outside that purpose is annoying.

Going forwards, all of us are going to find Twitter increasingly annoying. "

This was the tweet I made in reference to Felix Salmon at 12:07 AM on 22 March and what he was responding to on his blog:

"@felixsalmon What does Trayvon Martin have to do with financial news? Can you plz stick to your core purpose here?"

Mr. Salmon had tweeted this:

"Prosecute the killer of our son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-our-son-17-year-old-trayvon-martin?share_id=zRMaJTMMzv&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter I'm signature 960,458. Let's make it a million."

This was my reply in the comments section of his blog that mentioned me:

"Hey Felix, thanks so much for mentioning me in your blog.

The reason that I tweeted Wednesday evening about your "core purpose" being '... to provide him (me) with financial news ...' was because the public description of your Twitter account is this:

'Felix Salmon is the finance blogger at Reuters.'

Your tweets about the Trayvon Martin shooting incident in Florida had absolutely nothing to do with the financial world in my opinion. As a journalist of some 30 years of experience, I DO find journalists who interject personal editorialization into their work as, yes ... annoying. ;)

I never tweeted that YOU were 'annoying', by the way, as your blog here hints at. :)

So thanks for the free publicity sir. This is a first in my brief Twitterverse career. I now consider myself a Twitter "professional" now that a Reuters reporter has taken the time and effort to present me to the world as someone who annoys him. :)

Sincerely,
Porter Versfelt III
Versfelt Communications Group
Atlanta, Georgia - USA"

Now, back to tweeting. Let's see who I can annoy next. ;)

Gulfstream's Aviation Career Day Is A Good Flight Path

2012-03-16T12:21:00.005-04:00

I am so glad to see that Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in Savannah, Georgia have changed their attitude about communicating with the general public.

Back in 1995, working as a freelance TV producer for Georgia Public Television on the education TV series GEORGIA STORIES, I contacted Gulfstream's head of public relations about doing a show about them and their excellent aircraft.

The focus was on teaching 8th graders about economics with a history bent. I thought Gulfstream would be a perfect Georgia success story to showcase in our show.

Instead, I was told that Georgia 8th graders were not in their client demographic and that Gulfstream was not interested in working with GPTV on a documentary about their company.

http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2012-03-16/high-flying-experience-local-high-school-students-gulfstreams-aviation-career

CNN's Soledad O'Brien - "Social Change" Journalist?

2012-03-14T13:09:00.007-04:00

This is an interesting examination of one well-known CNN news anchor and her supposed objectivity.

Michelle Malkin's analysis here rings true, as I have witnessed and experienced this same kind of behaviour among TV anchors and journalists whom I have worked with over the years - from Missouri to Miami and Abilene (Texas) to Atlanta, including at CNN.

Anecdotally, it is interesting to note that many TV photojournalists (TV news cameramen) are often much more conservative than their in-front-of-the-camera, hair-sprayed colleagues.

Malkin writes in her piece (see full article link below):

" ... If you don’t accept the left-leaning agenda of “social change” journalism, you’re enabling racism. If you don’t support the pursuit of racial hiring goals as a primary journalistic and academic goal, you’re selling out."

"Now you know the reason for O’Brien’s thin-skinned reaction to Obama’s critics. When you vet the president, you vet the media. And they don’t like the narrative table-turning one bit."

http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/14/whats-the-matter-with-soledad-obrien/

It is mind-blowing to me that so many in TV news - both on the network and local levels - cannot see that their on-air advocacy hurts their brand, their credibility and ultimately, the reputation of journalism overall in the United States of America.

Update @ 1413 14 March 2012:

Upon reading this blog, a colleague reminds me not to paint ALL TV journalists with the same broad brush and that many are "moderate" rather than liberal.

I respectfully disagree.

In my 30 years of professional experience in news and regular media, and observing them to present-day, I see that on-air TV journalists - anchors and reporters - are more often than not liberal, especially on the network level. The "system" and corporate culture seems to weed the conservatives out of high-profile, decision-making and public positions.

I have met many, many closet conservatives while working at CNN, NBC and ABC News, local TV news in Miami and Atlanta, and in "Hollywood". I am often approached on the "down-low" by them, eager to speak to a kindred conservative soul in such a liberal profession where they dare not reveal their true beliefs without risking their jobs. In my view it is the new McCarthyism.

One of the reasons I chose to leave regular TV news employment was because of its inherent and pervasive liberality. Off-air comments and discussions among newsroom staff were often disparaging and jaded about anyone or any group who didn't agree with their world-view.

While objectivity isn't an absolute of course, one CAN try, and in my experience, many (not most) TV news reporters and producers don't try very hard today.

SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT SOLAR STORMS?

2012-03-07T16:36:00.006-05:00

Most of you are probably not aware that the biggest solar flare or CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) of solar particles since a least 2000 left the sun Tuesday night and is en route to Earthy as we speak.

The peak of this solar storm will be around 7AM ET Thursday 08 March 2012. Nothing to wish for.

What could happen? Massive loss of communications satellites, terrestrial cell phone service and electrical power outages. This isn't unprecedented. Look up the "Super Storm of 1859 when a similar CME event knocked out American telegraph service nationwide.

Geologic studies have found multiple past solar storms have hit the Earth before humans roamed it in the geologic record. It was not a good outcome for the life that existed then.

I'm not saying this event is a civilization-killer, but one must keep in mind that an X5 solar flare is nothing to cheer or look forward to, unless you are an astronomy nerd. :).

Also, satellite owners will literally put their birds into protection mode, turning their backs on the on-coming solar wind. Some services may shut down while the storm passes, others close shields over vulnerable electronics. There is no 100% protection for anything manmade in space. Also, the ISS astronauts will have to go into their radiation-proof safe room on the space station. The Earth's magnetic field should shield us from the radiation here on the Earth's surface.

What can you do about it? Nothing. Perhaps if you have very valuable shortwave or other electronic gear you might want to unplug all electrical, cable/sat TV, telephone landline cables and DSL/Internet cables connecting to the outside world to prevent damage.

On a positive note, if you live in the northern Hemisphere tonight, look up. You may have your only chance to see an Aurora (Northern Lights) in the mid-western/upper mid-western USA. Canada and Alaska? Definitely.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_SOLAR_STORM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-07-13-10-48

You can keep closer tabs on the latest solar news at www.spaceweather.com

This web site is also a great place for solar watchers ... http://www.space.com/14818-solar-flare-magnetic-storm-satellites.html

From Wikipedia about past big solar storms:

"The most powerful flare ever observed was the first one to be observed, on September 1, 1859, and was reported by British astronomer Richard Carrington and independently by an observer named Richard Hodgson. The event is named the Solar storm of 1859, or the "Carrington event". The flare was visible to a naked-eye (in white light), and produced stunning auroras down to tropical latitudes such as Cuba or Hawaii, and set telegraph systems on fire.[11] The flare left a trace in Greenland ice in the form of nitrates and beryllium-10, which allow its strength to be measured today (New Scientist, 2005). Cliver & Salvgaard (2004) reconstructed the effects of this flare and compared with other events of the last 150 years. In their words: While the 1859 event has close rivals or superiors in each of the above categories of space weather activity, it is the only documented event of the last ∼150 years that appears at or near the top of all of the lists."

"In modern times, the largest solar flare measured with instruments occurred on November 4, 2003. This event saturated the GOES detectors, and because of this its classification is only approximate. Initially, extrapolating the GOES curve, it was pegged at X28.[12] Later analysis of the ionospheric effects suggested increasing this estimate to X45.[13] This event produced the first clear evidence of a new spectral component above 100 GHz.[14] Other large solar flares also occurred on April 2, 2001 (X20),[15] October 28, 2003 (X17.2 & X10),[16] September 7, 2005 (X17),[17] February 17, 2011 (X2).[18][19][20] and August 10, 2011 (X6.9).[21] In 1989, during solar cycle 22 two large flares occurred on March 6 (X15) (see: March 1989 geomagnetic storm) and August 16 (X20) causing disruptions in electric grids and computer systems.[22]"

See more about this at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

See and particIpate in the on-going discussion of this solar storm here on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VCGTV/posts/383105948384231?notif_t=share_comment

More So-Called Blogosphere "Journalism" Hurts The Real Deal

2012-02-25T21:50:00.005-05:00

With a juvenile, crude and amateurish headline like this one, writer Kyle Whitmire, Second Front" and WELD Birmingham (www.weldbham.com)can't be seen as any kind of credible source for news.

"Poll: Santorum comes from behind in Alabama three-way"

http://weldbham.com/secondfront/2012/02/24/poll-santorum-comes-from-behind-in-alabama-three-way/

Atlanta Now On The Map For Movie & TV Production

2010-05-17T14:48:00.011-04:00

NEW MOVIE STUDIO COMING TO ATLANTA

Move over Hollywood!

Many of us in the movie and TV production community here in Atlanta knew months ago that EUE/Screen Gems planned to lease the property at the former Lakewood Fairgrounds near downtown for production. Now it is official.

The Atlanta Journal-Constituion has published an article claiming that this is the first "state-of-the-art" movie production facility in Atlanta. Well, not quite. Not yet.

http://www.ajc.com/business/ready-for-your-close-528580.html

Riverwood Studios in Senoia, Georgia south of Atlanta has been operational for years. The Tyler Perry Studios and huge backlot with standing street sets opened in November 2008. While Riverwood is open to the public for rental and while Mr. Perry's studio is not, his facility is the latest up-to-date production complex in Atlanta.

Word on the street is that Screen Gems will first produce a FAST AND FURIOUS sequel at their new Lakewood complex using existing buildings. State-of-the-art upgrades and new construction will come at some point in the future.

Versfelt Communications Group shot for EUE/Screen Gems at the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards held in Atlanta. The focus was on the stars and creative executives behind NOTORIOUS who attended the awards event and a lavish after-party at an Atlanta mansion.

Many in the film and TV production community and the Georgia Production Partnership (GPP) have worked hard for many years to encourage production in Atlanta and Georgia. The lobbying for the state-wide film production tax incentives worked in a big way. In 2008 and 2009 Atlanta hosted more productions here than Los Angeles did.

Hollywood is looking east and south. Not a week goes by that I don't receive many job applicants from experienced movie and TV production people defecting to Atlanta.

Let's hope that the new competition for jobs won't freeze out Atlanta-based crew who are very qualified as well.

Here are more stories about the Screen Gems move:

http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=144106

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/may/17/studio-expands-outside-of-state/

http://www.wsbtv.com/entertainment/23532642/detail.html

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/entertainment/Film-Studio-Coming-to-Atlanta-051310

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/05/10/daily35.html

FREE MUSIC LIBRARY FOR POST-PRODUCTION

Last evening I stumbled across this subsidiary of Wikipedia offering free and often public domain music for movie and TV production: Wiki Commons.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Music_sound

Wiki Commons also offers free-use photos as well. This is a huge resource for those of us who are producing content.

Christmas Evening Thoughts

2009-12-25T23:28:00.006-05:00

It is very late Christmas night and I am the only one awake in the house. At times like this, especially this time of year, it is natural to think of the past.

Reading the comments tonight on a web forum to the posting of a very graphic video from Australia about drunk driving, I thought back to my cub TV reporter days.

In 1980 in Abilene, Texas (United States) I worked as Chief Photographer and Police Reporter for the NBC TV affiliate there, KRBC-TV.

In my short career as a photojournalist up to that point I had covered more than my share of tragic traffic accidents for nightly newscasts.

One particular cold and rainy night I once again got out of a warm bed in the wee hours of the morning after my police scanner announced yet another fatal wreck outside town. I slept with my scanner on in those days. Now, I don't know how I did it.

The accident was caused by a drunk driver. A male driver of the other car - the victim in this crash - was killed. We had a rule not to show graphic film (we shot colour 16mm film back then) of dead bodies. However, this night I deviated from that rule slightly.

I wanted to make a statement about the senselessness of drunk driving. So after shooting all of the usual shots of wrecked cars, car parts strewn along the highway, police and flashing police lights to illustrate the story, I shot one more shot.

It was an extreme close-up of the dead driver's hand, hanging limply out of the shattered window. A small dribble of blood trickled down the back of his hand. I did not show his face or a wide-shot of his body slumped at the wheel.

The story aired at 6 pm the next day and created a firestorm. The local newspaper had a front-page, above-the-fold story about the controversy about this one short 2-3 second film shot in my story. The newspaper and many people in Abilene didn't approve of showing the dead man's hand.

I understood then and still understand their complaint. Looking back some thirty years now it seems like it was such an innocent time then in America compared to what is seen on television today. However, I still believe I did the right thing.

I made my point. Later, the families of the victims of drunk driving accidents thanked me also.

By the way, the drunk driver who caused the accident survived, as so many of them do.

So now through New Year's eve, please don't drive even the least bit tipsy. Your family and those of others will thank you for it.

Merry Christmas.

NOTE: I have linked the Australian DUI public service TV ad here. It is VERY graphic, but so effective in making its lesson clear.