"And they said I couldn't do drama!"

Been having an interesting day at work today. The JCPenney Television Studio has been buzzing since 6:30 this morning. Today is the day we broadcast the CMMA Professional Development Conference. No need to wonder about the content. Corporate stuff. Anyway, if you can imagine how a television station operates during a live broadcast, there is much action afoot. Technicians drift from room to room, assistants are moving around, headsets are beaming instructions around to the various stage hands and cameramen. The director is shouting to "Roll VTR 5!" and "Prepare to roll Bumper #7!" and "Fade out and cue!". If you have ever seen the movie The Naked Gun 33 1/2: The Final Insult, then you remember the scene during the Academy Awards when Lieutenant Frank Dreben infiltrates the production in search of the lethal "Best Picture" envelope containing an earth-shattering bomb. The director works like a clock cueing up different cameras and actors and announcers and instinctively pouring out the bottle of Aspirin he is about to ingest. It is a thing to behold, and is lots of fun to watch when it goes right. Throw in a few bumps in the road for good measure, such as: waiting for a camera to get a close-up, watching the on-air talent pause as the teleprompter guy catches up with him, and other assorted oddities. Rest assured, much alcohol will be gulped this evening. The producer of this conference had been here at the JCP facility until 2 in the morning, which means he had roughly 3 or so hours of sleep. I'm glad I am not in his shoes, but that's why he gets paid the big bucks.

But at least we don't have to see Phil Donahue throwing up in a Tuba.