We had a scare today at work. Scott Matter (25?), production editor, was experiencing confusion and disorientation this morning at work and was taken by ambulance to AMC and then airlifted to Rochester by Mayo One shortly afterward.
We have now heard that he suffered a minor stroke.
Best of luck to you Scott on your recovery.
[7/26 Update]
from Dan Collado
Good News! Scott Matter is doing much. He is up and awake, though he is still in intensive care. He will be moving to a regular room later today and probably be in the hospital for a couple of days for observation. He did not suffer a stroke. There is some "irregularity" in the MRI results, though the medical staff expect a full recovery.
[7/27 Update]
from Dan Collado
Scott Matter is doing better, but he is still not "out of the woods".
MRI scans indicate lesions on the brain that may be causing the problem. Brain scans indicate "minor-clinical" seizures occurring, though Scott does not realize it.
They are performing a kind of EKG on his brain today. He is still in ICU, but hopes are that he will soon be moving to a room in the Neurology section. He still has some problems with short term memory, and though he communicates well, he occasionally stumbles on finding the right words to complete sentences.
They will perform another MRI next week to compare with earlier MRI.
[7/31 Update]
from Dan Collado
Scott is out of the hospital! As a matter of fact, he and his dad stopped by the station. Scott looks great and is happy to be out and about. It will still be a while before he returns to work. Doctors are still doing tests to fully evaluate cause and rehabilitation process. There has been no real definitive reason for his condition. It was not a stroke. They said that Scott should fully recover, though he cannot drive, operate power tools, or ride a bike for 3 months. For now, Scott's family is keeping close watch and making sure that everything is OK.
[8/6 Update]
Scott's out of the hospital now. In fact, today he came to the station for a picnic we were holding to welcome a couple new people to the station (News Director and Business Mgr). He seems to be doing better, but when I asked him he told me that he was still having memory and comprehension problems. Still much better than being stuck in ICU. He doubts that he will be back for another month or two, but Hubbard's got a good coverage for it's employees for situations like his.
I'm pulling for you Scott. Get Well Soon.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
More Loss
Last month we lost a member of the KAAL family, Greg Gengler (35), to a brain aneurism. I had known Greg for years. First at this station where he was the director of the 6 & 10pm news shows, and director of the "Baby Beasley" movies. Then bumped into him again when he was working at Suncoast Video in Rochester. Not to long ago, Greg returned to direct the 6 & 10 news at KAAL.
Greg was a good guy. I'm sorry I was not a closer friend, but I would like to think that we respected each other.
Greg was a good guy. I'm sorry I was not a closer friend, but I would like to think that we respected each other.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Random Thought: Video Games
Funny thing about video games. Every year designers and producers feel that they have to make video game graphics (for PC or Console) look more and more realistic in order to make the games better... Truth is, no matter how good the graphics are, a shitty game is still a pile of shit no matter how pretty you make it look.
It's the story and the mechanics that really make a game succeed.
I mean if the story doesn't engage or interest the player, why bother playing? And if the game is handicapped by bugs and unintuitive controls, people will throw it aside.
However, that is not to say that beautiful graphics can't improve a game that already succeeds in the story and gameplay.
K.I.S.S. and don't play gamers off as stupid gitts.
It's the story and the mechanics that really make a game succeed.
I mean if the story doesn't engage or interest the player, why bother playing? And if the game is handicapped by bugs and unintuitive controls, people will throw it aside.
However, that is not to say that beautiful graphics can't improve a game that already succeeds in the story and gameplay.
K.I.S.S. and don't play gamers off as stupid gitts.
Transportation and Entertainment
Car's finally been repaired, but now the insides smell of fresh paint. *ugh*
I forgot to mention that I've been to see a few movies in the past month or so:
Spiderman 3 (3/5)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (3/5)
Ocean's 13 (2/5)
1408 (3/5)
Live Free or Die Hard (4/5)
Paris, je t'aime (5/5)
Transformers (3/5)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (4/5)
At least those are the only ones that I remember going to. *laugh*
Spiderman 3 just seemed to try to pack to much story into itself. IMHO, it should have just been Parker, Osborn, and Sandman. why do they have to go overkill on superhero sequels?!
F4: RotSS was better than the first, and the SFX were pretty clean. Dr. Doom still leaves a but to be desired.
Ocean's 13... Where do I start. It really lacked everything from the first one that made it great!
1408 was an interesting haunted house (hotel room) story. I really liked that they never leave the room (well they kinda did/didn't... Go see for yourself) durring the hour Cusak's character is stuck inside. The last scene in the film left feeling kinda, huh?!
LFoDH was pretty much what I expected from another John McClane film. Lots of action, explosions, gun play, etc... Just goes to show that Willis can still fill the role of an action hero.
Paris, je t'aime is an art house flick. Wow. Haven't been to one of these since... Aria. I'll have to pick this up on blueray when and if it comes out in that medium (and once I get a blueray player...PS3).
Transformers makes it's live action debut in typical Michael Bay fashion. I was not all that keen on the new look, which made it rather hard to see what was going on in fight sequences. I didn't like the fact that they spent so much time in the beginning focusing on the human characters and their teen angst. Fer cryin out loud, the movie is called Transformers!!! They should have been the main focus of the first 20 minutes followed by their first contact with Witwicky. Follow that with 45 minutes of Witwicky helping the Transformers learn about life on Earth and them telling him about the spark, "the cube" (I guess they didn't want to confuse it with that Keanu Reeves movie), and the Decepticons. Follow that with loads of combat as the two factions clash and turn the planet upside down looking for "the cube". Then the last 10-15 minutes for resolution and foreshadowing of a sequel.
HPatOotP like each of the previous movies strips the book to it's component parts, sends them through the sifter, and glues what's left onto 2 hours (2'18" to be more precise) of celluloid. Still, it's a fun ride full of really wicked visual FX. The last couple of movies have been getting darker for obvious reason's, but it's a shame that so much of the books get slimmed down or lost during the transfer to the movies. Maybe, someday, someone will do the books more justice and do them in TV series format. Imagine the budget...
I forgot to mention that I've been to see a few movies in the past month or so:
Spiderman 3 (3/5)
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (3/5)
Ocean's 13 (2/5)
1408 (3/5)
Live Free or Die Hard (4/5)
Paris, je t'aime (5/5)
Transformers (3/5)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (4/5)
At least those are the only ones that I remember going to. *laugh*
Spiderman 3 just seemed to try to pack to much story into itself. IMHO, it should have just been Parker, Osborn, and Sandman. why do they have to go overkill on superhero sequels?!
F4: RotSS was better than the first, and the SFX were pretty clean. Dr. Doom still leaves a but to be desired.
Ocean's 13... Where do I start. It really lacked everything from the first one that made it great!
1408 was an interesting haunted house (hotel room) story. I really liked that they never leave the room (well they kinda did/didn't... Go see for yourself) durring the hour Cusak's character is stuck inside. The last scene in the film left feeling kinda, huh?!
LFoDH was pretty much what I expected from another John McClane film. Lots of action, explosions, gun play, etc... Just goes to show that Willis can still fill the role of an action hero.
Paris, je t'aime is an art house flick. Wow. Haven't been to one of these since... Aria. I'll have to pick this up on blueray when and if it comes out in that medium (and once I get a blueray player...PS3).
Transformers makes it's live action debut in typical Michael Bay fashion. I was not all that keen on the new look, which made it rather hard to see what was going on in fight sequences. I didn't like the fact that they spent so much time in the beginning focusing on the human characters and their teen angst. Fer cryin out loud, the movie is called Transformers!!! They should have been the main focus of the first 20 minutes followed by their first contact with Witwicky. Follow that with 45 minutes of Witwicky helping the Transformers learn about life on Earth and them telling him about the spark, "the cube" (I guess they didn't want to confuse it with that Keanu Reeves movie), and the Decepticons. Follow that with loads of combat as the two factions clash and turn the planet upside down looking for "the cube". Then the last 10-15 minutes for resolution and foreshadowing of a sequel.
HPatOotP like each of the previous movies strips the book to it's component parts, sends them through the sifter, and glues what's left onto 2 hours (2'18" to be more precise) of celluloid. Still, it's a fun ride full of really wicked visual FX. The last couple of movies have been getting darker for obvious reason's, but it's a shame that so much of the books get slimmed down or lost during the transfer to the movies. Maybe, someday, someone will do the books more justice and do them in TV series format. Imagine the budget...
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