It wasn't difficult, but can be hectic, especially at key news hours such as 5,6 and 11 p.m. EST, when reporters did live stand-ups during evening newscasts. Since my shift was Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. until 3 a.m., I worked through the peak of the convention.

The way it works: affiliates purchased time on CNN's satellites, allotted in five minute increments such as 11:00-11:05, 11:06-11:11, etc. Many times they'd buy longer windows of twenty minutes to a half-hour, or in Univision's case on Thursday they purchased nine hours worth for their coverage, even though they only used one-fifth of it.

The affiliates' reporters would do a stand-up from one of our suites overlooking the arena, and my job was to make sure their video and audio was being sent to the satellite truck and that they could talk to their local station via the IFB. Not all work was done with reporters, though. We'd also send video and packages (the pieces that reporters show in newscasts that are a couple of minutes long), usually in the hour preceding their station's newscast in order for their producers back home to edit and prepare it for use when their reporter did a stand-up from the Convention.

Our paths were color-coded to make it easier for producers and affiliates to coordinate, and I was purple. Beth then decided to have some fun by giving us call-signs (red became Red Leader, of Star Wars). I chose Tinky-Winky, the Teletubby, which may have been a bad idea, since Beth repeatedly mistakenly called me Stinky-Winky, which meant the nickname stuck all week. Too bad I forgot my magic bag. Although that was better than her original choice, The Purple Peter Eater (yes, Peter, not People, which caused even more jokes at my humble expense).

Some of the funniest moments occured during the live stand-ups when we patched the IFB from the reporter to their local station's control room.

	Follow our path. Really, you can trust us. [click on photo for larger picture]

Thus, we could listen in on their conversations. Many times it is humorous, but seconds later can become very chaotic if a piece of video doesn't show in the control room or time constraints have everyone yelling "Wrap!" The reporters, with their perfect smiles and the women with perfect bob hairdos, would smile and say back to you in the studio. Then they'd race to get off their IFBs, switch out microphones with the next affiliate reporter in the booth and we'd do it all again in the next window.

Some of the stations we dealt with included WJLA, the ABC affiliate of Washington, D.C. I remember this fondly since I worked with a reporter named Kathleen Matthews, better known to political junkies as the better half to CNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews.

Three times a night I would help out Maryland Public TV, and switched out between KCAL out of L.A. and affiliates from Detroit, Houston and Orlando. The one I looked forward to the most and the least was Allentown, Pennsylvania. Their cute and perky reporter had the thinnest eyebrows with that perfect arch so many women seek, but gave me nightmares not experienced since the flying monkeys of The Wizard of Oz..

By far my favorite experience with affiliates was dealing with Univision stations. When they fed video or had a stand-up, I was so impressed with how bilingual the reporters, producers and photographers were. In the same sentence, the control room would ask a question in English and the reporter would answer in Spanish, then ask a question in English and the control room would answer in English, then switch to Spanish in the next breath.

	Tinky-Winky, at your service. [click on photo for larger picture]

The English-Spanish banter would continue like this until I had a headache trying to understand what was being said! I'm pretty sure Sacramento's talking head was talking about how Taco Bell's chihuahua had a better chance of winning the election than Gore, but I could be wrong.

But even though my schedule had me there until 3 a.m., only one night did I work past midnight, and only then because I volunteered to take fellow Headliner Mark's path since he had stayed until 2 a.m. the previous two days. I still ended up with almost 40 hours of overtime for the week, not including the glorious per diem to cover meals (and since there was a catering trailer, I most definitely did not spend much outside of the compound so as to reap the full benefits of the per diem).

It didn't feel like I worked that much, though, because I was having too much fun enjoying the camaraderie of my coworkers. During down time there was plenty to keep busy (playing Uno, trying to finish crossword puzzles with Ladonna, reading, eating, taking pictures), and always someone to talk to.

	Are y'all tired? Because you've been running through my mind all night. [click on photo for larger picture]

I couldn't ask for a better group of coworkers; such a fun group and also at the top of their games in their field, thus confident and able in their jobs. I didn't know most of the Newsource crew prior to the trip, but had a great time getting to know them as they welcomed us with open arms. I also had just an easy time with the affiliate crews, getting to know my fellow Headliners better and enjoying the youthful enthusiasm of the runners (all college students using this as kind of an internship).

MONDAY, JULY 31

The Republican National Convention finally begins with the bang of a gavel and a lot of white people shouting "No more Gore!" Now is the time for long hours and sometimes stressful work. Yes!

Even as I watched the convention coverage Monday morning in my hotel room, I already picked up a bias from the press. The pundits were very cynical towards the GOP's "compassionate conservatism" banner and refrained from being negative towards anything related to Al Jr.'s team. That's like going to a party and telling the host that his choice of music and food is not near as good as your friend's gatherings. But the media and Democrats are one in the same, so monkey see, monkey do (and seeing monkey do-do will get you fifty bucks on e-bay).

For 15 minutes CNN International�s Richard Roth talked to CNN analyst Bill Schneider, who like a robot only talked about Dick Cheney as being �far right-wing� and part of the �right-wing establishment.� I never heard him talk about Joe Lieberman�s liberal voting record during the Democrat�s convention.

The press also kept saying that Bush was "coronated" at the Convention. That is a biased and inflammatory comment that has no place in so-called objective journalism. They didn�t come close to saying the same thing about Gore and the Dems two weeks later (also never talking about how it's �boring� and �very scripted�).

	Angel and Nicole form an alliance to vote Beth off the island. [click on photo for larger picture]

Reporters also asked questions of Republicans that you didn't hear two weeks later, such as "what is the GOP doing to reach out to traditional Democrats?" During the Democratic Convention, never once did I hear a reporter ask what the Left is doing to reach out to traditional Republicans. Maybe it's because they're not doing anything!

Soapbox warning: There was such a hubbub over Bush "having" to speak at the NAACP convention back in June, but you won't see Gore anywhere near a meeting of the NRA or Christian Coalition. Yet, he is supposedly among the party of "inclusion." The Republicans allowed gay and pro-choice members to speak, and the only time a pro-lifer was mentioned in Los Angeles was during a memorial for a dead Democrat who was denied the right to speak in 1996 because of his anti-abortion views.

This is also why the Democrats will lose; they're abandoning the center of the political spectrum and letting Bush have those who don't believe the country is controlled by "powerful forces" (I'm not sure who that is, maybe the Cigarette-Smoking Man). A Democratic presidential candidate hasn't drawn 50% of the national vote in 24 years, and it won't happen in 2000, either.

I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't already know, such as the media is not any smarter than the average schmo, and certainly in many cases just as ill-informed. While interviewing Art Linkletter through one our paths at Newsource, a reporter mentioned that he had hosted the show "It's Your Life," to which Mr. Linkletter replied, "Well, I never hosted that show..."

How did the anchor recover? By saying, "Uh, well, I know, but my boss made me ask." I'm sure that she is now hosting a public access show on Ch. 155. Maybe Mr. Linkletter can re-touch his former show and call it "Anchors Say the Darndest Things."

TUESDAY, AUGUST 1

The city of Philadelphia went all out to prove it is better than its reputation as a rough town.

	New motto: Yo, not everything around here is dedicated to Rocky. [click on photo for larger picture]

The streets were cleaned up, hordes of smiling volunteers were out in force in their yellow polo shirts and police officers were everywhere, determined to deter and prevent melees with protesting troublemakers.

The city also became the bunting capital of the world during its week as the City of Republican Love. The red, white and blue banners were hanging everywhere and not just buildings, also from construction sites and the junkyard we passed from the airport. This isn't a new thing for Philadelphia, since bunting is about the only thing the Phillies are good at.

While the city really rolled out the red carpet for delegates and media, not so much for protestors. What would you expect, since most of the word in the streets was how those coming in were bent on causing mayhem rivaling Seattle from earlier this year.

I didn't see more than five minutes of the actual convention; all I saw was what the affiliates sent out on video and heard what the reporters had to say. And most of the news on Tuesday was regarding the protests downtown, which wasn't a surprise since the Convention was taking care of dull business in the afternoon session.

There were far fewer protestors than advertised, only about 5,000 or so, with about 200 arrested for trashing cars and dumpsters. Even clear-thinking Democrats said to lock up those chuckleheads.

I'm more upset that I didn't see any weird protestors running around. I wanted to see kooky people in turtle costumes!

Instead, all I saw was an influx of bandana-wearing spoiled middle-class white kids who were just out to pretend they have causes and relive a decade (the 60s) which they know nothing about. These idiot kid protestors were such wimps that a group of 15 of them couldn't even turn over a Toyota Camry to burn it! Remember, they're supposedly for the working class, not actually a part of it. Heck, at least five may have actually missed a day or two of work in order to come to Philly.

Even worse, there was no cohesion, no one knew what they were protesting. A reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer asked one guy's reason for being on the street, only to be told, "I don't want to be pigeonholed," and another said he wouldn't tell the reporter because he didn't know him.

Convention by the numbers 200 - full-time staffers 660 - participants in a youth program 2,066 - delegates 2,066 - alternates 5,000 - protestors 13,000 - volunteers 15,000 - news people, representing 1,500 organizations 21,000 - seating capacity of the F.U. Center 500,000 - square feet of media workspace $63.5 million - estimated cost $200 million - est. economic impact on Philadelphia

Uh, genius, a reporter is exactly who you should voice your opinions to! These are very paranoid kids, and if they have the munchies too, I can bet that one cause is for the legalization of marijuana.

Around the Liberty Bell, gun control advocates were prevalent, placing thousands of shoes placed in the park supposedly representing all deaths due to gun violence over the last four years. Across the park was a counter-protest from the Second Amendment Sisters, who planted American flags to represent those saved by having a gun. In between I wanted to plant millions of earplugs to represent those of us who are tired of hearing this argument, which is going nowhere fast.

For those walking the streets, there weren't even many signs being held up as one might expect. Most just seemed to be out there for exercise and a social gathering. Those who did have signs were against capitalism, for universal health care, against free trade and for freeing cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Animal rights activists tried to dump two truckloads of manure at the convention site, only to be stopped by police. Yeah, these people are the backbone of American society.

Even still, news anchors seem disappointed that the protests weren't bigger. An anchor of a national network picked up the cause of a poverty group, trumpeting their message of universal housing and health care and a living wage (which is what exactly?). Seems that this group was upset that neither Gore nor Bush will meet with them. Maybe that's because, in part, this group doesn't want to play by the rules. They didn't get a permit to march in Philadelphia, as most other groups did, so no one should be surprised that police were high-profile and kept a leash around them.

Legions of smiling volunteers were much more visible than protestors, but that didn't stop the media from making a mountain range out of an anthill. I was actually hoping to find the fenced-in corral that was set up far from the F.U. Center and check out all the nutcases, but I could never find it. I was told there was no one there anyway, because they wouldn't follow "the man's" rules, preferring to piss off the people of Philadelphia by blocking streets and interstate exits. Yep, that's the way to get out your message, piss off the 8-5ers who you want to influence.