Whitewater Rafting Slideshow

The wolves of Colorado

June 2010

Recruiting for SOC far and wide

Journalists like adventure so it made a lot of sense to visit a Wolf Wildlife Center while in Colorado and learn more about wolves, wolf dogs, foxes and coyotes.  One never knows when a potential student might be on the horizon so I wore the SOC colors.

The big, beautiful animal tolerating my visit is named Wakanda – a Native American name meaning “strong-willed, independent, ” so he made a big hit with me. He is a nine-year-old timber-arctic wolf, rescued from Puget Sound, Washington. He is a gentle 147-pound, silver-grey wolf who inspects you and greets you with kisses. Her brother Shunka also lives with her.

Whitewater Rafting – A dunk in the Arkansas River

Whitewater rafting on the Arizona River, Canon City, Colorado

Summer vacation 2010

Vacation this year was really only a couple of days of leisure in advance of my attending the Hispanic Journalists Convention in Denver. I drove to the Pikes Peak area to commune with some wolves and to experience my first whitewater rafting trip. As I was driving toward Canon City, Colorado my cell phone rang. The rafting company was calling to say that a 700-acre wildfire was sweeping through Royal Gorge Canyon so I was being diverted to Bighorn Sheep Canyon.  That should have been my first clue as to how the day would go.  With some roads shut down the  sheriff’s department directed traffic through some blackened canyons to reach our launch site.  I smelled the smoke while listening to safety lectures about how to save yourself and others should you become a “river swimmer,” all the while thinking that such dire circumstances could never happen to me. Hah!

Keeping in the raft – or NOT

Our group launched about six rafts together and we began our travel down the Arkansas River.  All was well for the first three or four rapids – just getting wet with the waves washing over us as we responded to the commands of our guide, “Hammer,” a small woman who is an avid rafter in the summer and a college student on summer break.  She called out “paddle one” or “paddle two, ” meaning we were to paddle in unison and we did pretty well despite fingers that were stiff from the cold. It was supposed to be a scorcher of a day with high 90-degree weather, but with an overcast sky and the mountain-temperature water, all of us were already shivering from the COLD water. Suddenly the command was given to go “high, high ” which means to get quickly get over to one side of the raft to try and balance out and not flip over. It didn’t work. All of us got dumped into the rocky Arkansas River in a split second. I ended up under the raft for a short but scary time till I bopped up and got precious air. “Hammer” was standing on top of the overturned raft and I backed away (as directed by the safety lectures) so she could try to flip it back over.  The swift current carried me down the river and the jagged rocks started banging my legs and ankles and I felt like I couldn’t get enough air. Enough of that.

The Rescue

I decided to flip over on my back to float and avoid the rocks, a good decision if not a bit late.  Pretty soon I saw a paddle being extended from another raft and grabbed it. I tried to climb into the raft but was so cold and exhausted that I didn’t make much progress at all. So, I clung to the paddle and tried to catch my breath. A man in the raft then took my lifejacket straps and yanked me in. Eventually the raft  got over to a landing area and we all took inventory. Everyone was successfully hauled in by other rafts though we nursed cuts and bruises. Feeling a bit sheepish (this was Bighorn Sheep Canyon after all), we slopped back into our raft in soggy clothes to continue our whiteknuckle rafting in search of more rapids. Ibruprofen and ice packs are my new best friends. By the way, we followed directions in my raft – apparently we tanked because another raft hit us. Hah!

Shooting the rapids on the Arkansas River in Colorado

New Media Chuckles

The truth can hurt. So can some semblance of truth. Recently a creative person put the story of what is happening in media and in news departments across the country to the song by Don McLean, “American Pie.”

The Reel Journalism Festival

Hollywood movies about journalism don’t always get it right, but a few do.  Some of those films are featured in the film and discussion series at the Newseum, “Reel Journalism with Nick Clooney,” cosponsored by AU’s School of Communication, where Clooney is a distinguished journalist in residence.

The 2005 movie Good Night and Good Luck, which stars Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney,  profiles the  anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.  Legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow takes on McCarthy against intense political pressure.  Clooney also directed, co-wrote and starred in the docudrama.  In the discussion moderated by his father after the screening of the film, Clooney discussed his inspiration for bringing the tale of Murrow’s most memorable moment to the silver screen.

The Reel Journalism series began with a showing of Broadcast News, the 1987 comedy-romance whose heroine, played by Holly Hunter, was modeled on AU graduate and 48 Hours producer Susan Zirinsky. The festival also featured Citizen Kane,  and All the President’s Men.

Before the event there was a reception for actor George Clooney and he was gracious enough to spend lots of time talking with us about his films and his father Nick.

George Clooney tells a story that captures the attention of Jill Olmsted

George grew up around television news stations as he watched his dad anchor the news in Cincinnati. In fact, he even ran the teleprompter for him.  For the past several years the father and son have shared a passion for helping for human rights issues and filmed a documentary about the crisis in Darfur.

The Root Inaugural Ball

Celebrating at The Root Inaugural Ball-Angie Chuang, Amy Eisman, Jill Olmsted, Sharon Metcalf

On Sunday, Jan. 18, an A-list crowd of celebrities, as well as a few American University academics  attended one of the hottest Inaugural Ball parties.

The Root Ball was hosted by the daily online magazine, The Root, a publication written from an African-American perspective and is owned by the Washington Post Company.

The ball was at the beautiful Museum of American History. Among those who showed up was the queen of talk-TV Oprah Winfrey, along with actors Samuel L. Jackson and Isaiah Washington, directors Spike Lee and John Singleton, talk host Larry King, comedian Chris Tucker, designer Diane von Furstenberg, and the Apprentice’s Omarosa, along with a few administration types like the Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder.

On the dance floor, music by Biz Markie’ got hundred of bodies close together including ‘Meet the Press’ host David Gregory, and Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan.

Most Inaugural Balls are pretty bad affairs – bad food, few drinks, and lots of people crammed together. This was different. It was royal. The food was incredibly good and you couldn’t possibly drink all the free booze being offered. It was also free – at least to the partygoers.

The media covers the red carpet

It was also interesting to watch the throngs of press watch as the celebs walked the red carpet, not exactly a very Washington-like experience.

Once past the meters detectors and inside the Museum, security was remarkably calm. It was easy to walk up to a celeb and start a conversation which is exactly what I did with AU alum and Meet the Press host David Gregory and Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein.

Jill & Meet the Press Host David Gregory

Jill and Watergate Reporter Carl Bernstein

The Root Ball was “unofficial,” which is WHY is was so much fun. There were ten official balls, planned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, and those were the only ones that the Obamas and Bidens attended.