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Friday / IU / photo / video — Comments Off
21
Apr 17

Little 500 and the night show

Today we saw a bike race, and you can see the part just before they started:

The 30th Women’s Little 500 race was won by Kappa Alpha Theta — the time in the middle of the front row here at the start. This was their third victory in the last four years and seventh all-time championship. That’s the most of any team. The women’s race is 25 miles long and was an entertaining way to spend an hour. Also, many of our students were broadcasting or covering the race, so it was fun to see the familiar faces hard at work throughout the facility.

Some of the women that won this race, by the way, came into the studio for our morning show a few weeks ago:

Anyway, after the race, it was back on our usual side of campus, more of our hard working students were producing the series finale of Hella Late with Rob Sherrell our late night host treated his live audience to a rap battle. There were some talented people there. I watched from the audience. This guy won.

Here’s my friend Rob, who hosts that show:

Rob Sherrell is a writer, a comic, a filmmaker. He pitched and co-produced Hella Late. He’s also a standup comedy major. His first professional gig, after school, is directing a documentary in Thailand in just a few weeks.

I asked him, How’d you get that?

“Because of this, because of IUSTV,” he said.

He’s such a cool guy. Smart, thoughtful, funny. He’s got a quiet drive and a prominent, eloquent urgency. He’s one of those, you just know, he’s going somewhere.

He’s about to graduate, so like all of the seniors, you’re ready to hear of the big things in their future.

We say, “Hey, come back and talk about your careers and give the current students hints and tips. And also give us some of your money.” But first, we knew them when.

IU / photo / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
19
Apr 17

Happy IU Day

Today was IU Day, which is a big annual fundraising and general let’s create some magical moments and positive publicity day around here. Lovely time, beautiful, warm and sunny weather for it. Everyone was in a chipper mood, perhaps even more so than usual.

I checked in on a few podcasts and other recordings and got a button from a friend that works in the library:

I got to watch a bit of a documentary. I got some office work done. I spent the evening in the studio. The sports guys shot two shows. Here’s part of The Toss Up:

First, tonight, there were highlights and sports updates:

And then the talk show. They talked about whether high school athletes should be able to go pro in the major sports without a stop off in college.

Here’s a video they did afterward:

We have one more week and then they’ll be stressing over finals and dreaming about the summer. And I’ll have to find my own content somewhere else.

IU / photo / Tuesday — Comments Off
18
Apr 17

In 5, 4, 3 …

I managed to step outside just in time for the clouds to roll in. But I wanted to take pictures, and so take pictures I did. Here’s Franklin Hall, from a slightly different perspective than I have shot it before. This is the place where we spend most of our time:

And here are the Sample Gates next to the building, all decorated out in bright spring landscaping:

Inside Franklin Hall tonight, in the Beckley Studios, we shot a news show tonight. And tonight’s anchors, two seniors who are now counting the days, had a little fun before they put on their serious faces:

Lawson and Neil are talented people. Neil is the outgoing station manager. Lawson is a show producer and she’s packing for a Virginia TV market right after graduation. Their colleague at one of our reporter stations is also incredibly talented. Alex may well be a star reporter in the making:

The crew also shot What’s Up Weekly tonight, and we learned all about the current events, celebrity and style happenings. Also, there was a big surprise, but you’ll have to wait until Sierra and Sheila’s show runs to see that:

Friday / IU / photo — Comments Off
14
Apr 17

Friday work is easy work

This is the one where I brag about people doing extra work for no other reason than because they want to do it.

Here’s the hosts for the morning show. One of the young ladies is in the Media School. The other is a business student. She appears on two or three different shows each week. She just enjoys it, and this is a show they’ve developed this semester themselves.

Today’s guest was Mitchell Paige, who was a receiver at IU. He’s getting ready for the draft. In a few months he’ll be the guy in the NFL who is gritty, smart, has good hands, a nose for the football and all of those other cliches. Nice guy.

So, just three more people to say I knew them when, I suppose.

This evening I went over to the other studio to watch Hella Late, the evening show which is also new this term. Rob Sherrell is the host, and I will say I knew him when, too. He’s a standup comedy major. He developed the curriculum himself. And then he went out, with a small crew and found a larger crew and, together, they’ve built this show.

This is what he sees when he’s looking out to four cameras, hoping to make an audience laugh and think:

And in the next room, on a Friday night, a room full of students producing the program. They could be anywhere:

But instead of being stereotypical students on a Friday night, they are there. And that’s never not impressive to me.

history / IU / photo / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
12
Apr 17

Today was a lesson in knowing things

One of those days that you don’t look out of the window until it is almost too late:

Isn’t that some kind of problem to have, not looking because you don’t know better — especially when you know better. Life teaches you so many things, and some of them you are just determined to learn over and over again. Until you finally do. Know better, that is.

Anyway, that’s the side of the newly christened Frances Morgan Swain Student Building as seen from the Media School. Swain became the wife of the ninth president of the university. She was also a math student, a suffragist and an advocate for more prominent roles and facilities for women on campus, including that one. She seems like an impressive woman.

In the next building over then, our building, tonight:

Sometimes, I have the chance to say something that I know to be true. In those rare moments, like one tonight, I realize I have learned basic things, earnest and true and important things. And sometimes you get to share those things, as advice, because you see the chance. Occasionally you do know.

It is a sports night:

We have less than 10 tapings left on the term. Time moves faster. You’d think it might ought to slow down, with the rest of us. But you know better.