The ABC23 Newsdesk

New Jam Kit Fox Mascot Unveiled By ABC23 Weathergirl

2007-09-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

There was this giant creature walking through the newsroom Thursday. No, it wasn't my giant newsroom ego. huh huh huh.

It was the new mascot for the Bakersfield Jam. It's name is "Swish" and it's a Kit Fox. Gotta dig it.

By the way, I thought Todd Karli looked like an FBI agent today. He thought I looked too much like a reporter. So I peeled off the tie.

Swish doesn't wear a tie either and disappeared before I could ask if it lived in a drainage ditch.

Check out Swish and Christina Loren:

The Babe Incident - By N.L. Belardes

2007-09-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

(This post is PG rated, watch accompanying video at own risk)

I have so far avoided visuals and names involving newsroom drama. But now I think it's time to show the human side of the newsroom. Especially since I got permission from the two parties in question regarding "the babe incident."

Let me set it up for you.

Jay Jones, cool hipster Executive Producer who worked with Geraldo and Dr. Phil behind the scenes often calls people "rock star" or "babe." I'm just as guilty, calling people "big daddy," "brutha," etc. But then, no one is as cool as Jay Jones. And I haven't used "babe."

Enter ABC23 cameraman. He gets called "babe" by the maestro of lingo, mister Jay Jones. Right away the cameraman expressed his distaste at being called "babe" saying he draws the line.

I fired up the digi-cam.

The rest is history, or shall I say, "the babe incident."

WARNING: language used in video. Watch at your own risk:

Everybody is a Will Ferrell - By N.L. Belardes

2007-09-04T14:15:00.001-07:00

I was sitting in the fish bowl trying to take a phone call a while back when some really loud talking started up. And it wasn’t just one voice. There were two voices.

There were two loud booming voices pontificating.

The two people talking were standing less than two feet from each other. It was a normal conversation. And it was normally loud. I mean really loud. I think the decibel level was higher than usual because it was right after a newscast.

For some reason I thought “Anchorman.” You know the movie. Will Ferrell talks abnormally loud through the entire flick.

Sometimes in the newsroom everybody’s a Will Ferrell. I mean their voices can boom! They think they’re talking normally, but their voices are practically on the verge of an opera solo.

I couldn’t hear a thing. I had to leave the room to take my phone call.

When I came back I told one of the newsroom folk my theory that everybody’s a Will Ferrell. She agreed. And we laughed because she knew she was one of the Will Ferrell’s I was talking about.

ABC23 Mangy Newslot Cat - By N.L. Belardes

2007-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

This video will probably annoy you as much as it annoyed me to take it. Yes, I know this isn’t a gossipy-in-the-newsroom piece. It’s actually the ABC23 news lot, and for that matter it’s about a cat not a person.

So what happened?

Nothing much really.

Or maybe I should say it all started after work one day.

It ended pretty much at the same time too.

I was tired. I felt mangy. I’d put in a long day of uploading content to ABC23.

I walked out to my vehicle and there was the mangiest skinny black cat I had ever seen. It looked like it had been feeding off some bare chicken bones. When I opened the door of my truck, the cat tried to jump in.

I didn’t swing a bat at it like you’d expect from Mike Hart. I just shooed it away. That’s when the stare down started.

The cat didn’t walk away. It turned, sat in the lot, and stared at me. Was it mad I didn’t take it home? Was it wanting to curse me with its mangy black cat magic?

It really just sat there… staring.

So I filmed it. I closed the door of my truck, rolled down the window, started the truck. While I think I won the stare down, the cat didn’t leave until I looked away and turned the camera off.

So who won?

Annoying One-Minute Video:

Cameraman Analogy And The Geese Video - By N.L. Belardes

2007-08-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

I don’t want to say that cameramen are weird, crazy or otherwise. With that said, I can’t explain everything they do. Dramatically speaking, they’re generally loners who speak their mind and carry cameras like big sidearms in the old west.

At news events you see cameramen grouped like posses. They're honorary sheriffs of image-making. They gallop behind breaking news like no others (except cowboys).

With that said, I can’t explain this video. It’s geese. It’s strange. It’s pointless. Yet, I’m captivated and I don’t know why. I’m as curious about the geese as they are about the cameraman.

And then it’s over. The friendship breaks apart like the plot to a cheesy 1970s pilot.

Back in the office I’m handed an SD card from the cameraman. He doesn’t explain the video. He just says, “Geese.”

The loner rides off into the sunset.

The Bulb Nazi - By N.L. Belardes

2007-08-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

The newsroom is sometimes a messy place. Desks are askew with various trinkets: photos, loose stacks of papers, press releases and newspapers. A few personal items are sprinkled here and there.

Reporters don’t seem to mind if you sit at their desk, or if you occasionally take a Post-It.

One reporter, I have to report is someone I’m going to start referring to as the Bulb Nazi. You remember the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld, right? Well this reporter declared open war on anyone who takes from her supply of light bulbs.

“You just stay out of my desk, OK? I bought these with my own money!”

I have no idea who she was talking to.

I could hear her words through my little fish bowl office open-air window as if such daggers were meant for me. I don’t even know what the little light bulbs are used for. I just know they’re kept in a drawer, her drawer.

So I snuck over to for a quick photo.

I put them back just as fast.

The next day I found out what she wants to do to anyone who takes one. “Forehead to light bulb,” she said.

There’s nothing pretty about such a statement.

Welcome to the Newsroom.

The News Desk Comes To Life - By N.L. Belardes

2007-08-14T17:26:00.003-07:00

Does this desk have a mascot?

My name is Nick. Some people call me N.L. I'm the managing editor at ABC23 and this is a glimpse of my desk. Some of you have read that I've called this room I work in the fish bowl. Call it what you want. It's a room adjacent to the regular news room. Only, my room has a hole in the wall that a guy named Frank made. He used to be a cop in Spain so I wasn't even going to be around to get in his way when he was set on making the hole to the newsroom: the hole that allows others to peer into my world (and allows me to peer into theirs).

You'll be getting some serious news room drama on this blog. It is like a sitcom, you know. All these personalities I work with. It's like a TV show within the real world of television news.

OK, so you're wondering about the little dog with the funny hat. That's a mystery to me too. Someone from ABC23 sales brought it down so I could get in touch with my heritage.

It's not working.

The dog stares at me while I'm writing the day's news stories (Not to mention it sings).

I want to give it back but I don't want to walk up to everyone and say, "Are you missing this dog?"