David_Martin's Blog

Rock the Universe, the annual Christian music event at Universal Orlando, is taking place on September 5 and 6.  An amazing talent lineup this year that includes chart-toppers Switchfoot and Third Day (the complete lineup is below).  Also, Brian “Head” Welch (the former lead guitarist of Korn) and TNA’s AJ Styles will be celebrity guest speakers at the event.   

Friday, September 5th

Saturday, September 6th

Switchfoot

Third Day

Relient K

Jeremy Camp

Newsboys

Jars of Clay

Skillet

Stellar Kart

Grits

Leeland

Group 1 Crew

This Beautiful Republic

New Method

Special D

Joel McHale, host of The Soup on E!

And YES.... he's perfoming at Hard Rock Live on October 3rd.

I just bought my tickets. See you there.

Anyone care to challenge my assertion that he's the funniest man on TV?

I am one of many Americans who lives with chronic pain.

If it's not my right shoulder blade, it's the right side of my neck. If it's not my neck, it's my tennis elbow.

I'm in good health otherwise. Fit too.

But waking up and going to sleep in agony is getting old, really fast.

I'm considering some cortizone shots in the right places. Any of you have any experience with these that you can share?

Sorry to get too personal here, but desperation is winning.

One of my very best friends has collected Entertainment Weekly since day one. He has every issue; more than 1,000. The magazines are in good to excellent condition.

But he's moving into a small condo. No more room for the collection. He's thinking about throwing them away.

What would you suggest he do? He says for the trouble of shipping them, he'd sell them for $1 an issue.

Should he just toss them? Who's got interest in going back to read all that stuff?

I read somewhere that there's a guy in Northwest Florida who has a barbed wire collection.

Got me thinking... what do YOU collect?

Do you know of anyone with an unusual collection that deserves some feature coverage?

Let me know!

(For the record, I collect very rare, unreleased movie soundtracks).

Grab your Kleenex, and click on this story called "Portrait of Compassion" out of KARE in Minneapolis, MN.  This is an example of incredible storytelling in local news.  Please respond as you see fit, because I am trying to develop this style at FOX Orlando.  But for whatever reason, I'm getting some resistance.  Fear that these stories aren't "hard" enough. Give me your input. 

http://www.nasites.net/projects/1296/indepth.asp>

Friday , April 11, 2008

A couple can't agree on which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join.

A fight about the decision led to a public disturbance with the father's arrest. Joseph Manzanares went to the video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays, police told KMGH Denver.

Police arrested Manzanares at his home, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval told KMGH Denver.

The girlfriend told authorities they were fighting over which gang their son should join. The girlfriend, who is black, is a member of the Crips while Manzanares, who is Hispanic, belongs to the Westside Ballers.

"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised," Sandoval said. "Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim.'"

Click here for more coverage from the Denver Channel.

This little gadget may give you the evidence you need.

http://gps-snitch.com/

Kinda expensive though.

Click on the link below, sit back, and enjoy. It just might restore your faith in TV Journalism.  The story comes from WTHR in Indianapolis. I absolutely love this report:

hoto.asphttp://www.nasites.net/projects/1
296/newsfeaturep

(You first have to sit through a 15 second commercial, but the wait is worth it).

I'd love your comments on it after you watch.

Tuesday , March 18, 2008

Happy cows produce more milk. That's why Bill Timmons has put 200 waterbeds in his barn.

The Geauga County farmer says he spent nearly $40,000 doing it, too.

Crazy? Timmons says far from it. He says daily milk production jumped more than 20 percent after just two weeks of the cows relaxing in their new beds.

"You take care of them, and they'll take care of you," Timmons told MyFOXCleveland.

Each waterbed — slightly smaller than a full mattress, though without a headboard — holds 14 gallons of water within a tough rubber hide. The liquid cushions a lounging cow; in essence, the 1,500-pound animal blissfully floats atop inches of water.

At this point, he's one of the first northeast Ohio farmers to invest in the bedding, a trend that began in the United States about ten years ago.

Dean Throndsen is owner of Advanced Comfort Technology, the lone North American producer of cow waterbeds. He says there are about 150,000 of the beds around the country.

Temple Grandin, an animal-welfare expert and professor at Colorado State University, studed the beds and admitted being surprised by the results.

"When we first started doing our study, we thought it was a joke," Grandin told MyFOXCleveland. "Then we saw the data. They work. If I built a dairy today, I'd put them in."

Click here to read more on this story from MyFOXCleveland.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.