I know it has been a while since I have posted, but I have been rather busy. I have basically taken over running the scene shop at citrus, so that has been filling my days. I have also spent a lot of time up at the fires.

I have had a few trips up to the fires, but Saturday was the most exciting. I Started at around 3pm, and left the fire a little after 3am. I started off at the northern edge of Haven Ave. in the city of Upland. It happened to be where Ted Chin from NBC was reporting from as well as CNN. It was fairly calm for a wildfire, with the flames high on the hill above creeping towards our location and many homes. The CDF crews decided to light 2 backfires, one to the west, and the other about 100 yards up the road. to try and create a break between the fire and the homes when the winds changed. The backfire set to the west quickly raced up the hill to meet the main fire which caused a vacuum pulling the second backfire into the now large blaze. As soon as they collided, there was a violent gust of wind, and as the area quickly went black with smoke and embers, the fire formed a tornado of flame and raced back at us. Of coarse, as soon as I saw this everyone including the fire crews made a quick retreat back down the hill. The tornado stopped about 10 yards shy of where we had all originally set up, but the threat to the homes was not over. Luckily there was a large force of fire crews available that were able to hold the flames back, and all of the homes in that block were saved with no damage.

unfortunately, this was not the case for many homes off of Mountain Rd. In Claremont which is where I ended my day. The Fire crews were spread very thin as the fire had such a large front. I was lucky enough to meet up with Engine Company 61 from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and got to watch first had as they put up an amazing fight to save a home. They staged them selves in the back yard right at the ridge of a steep tree filled ravine. The 100ft tall flames were slowly working there way down the opposite side. The Santa Ana's kicked up through the canyon causing those flames to lay over sideways and almost instantly it was on top of the us and the home they were fighting to save. The 4 man crew did an amazing job of keeping the raging fire at bay. While the wood pile in the back yard was burnt down, there was no damage to the home at all. Sadly, some of the neighbor's were not so lucky as the fire quickly destroyed a few homes that the fire crews just could not get to in time. There were just not enough crews available to do what was needed to save them all. The firefighters were spread thin over the neighborhood with approx. 1 engine which is 4 people for every other block. All of the crews in the area did all they could and saved a lot more of the homes than I had expected when I saw it approaching.

As for myself, I made it out just fine. My Mom is not to thrilled about the idea of me being there, but I have make sure I keep my distance. I keep the rule of don't go anywhere there are not fire crews, and when I here them start to talk about backing off, I quickly leave the area. I have a pretty good cough, and a rather sore throat from the smoke but it was still worth it to be there and witness the force of a raging fire first hand.

I have a fair amount of video, and if I can find a service that will host it, I will get it posted.

In my guestbook that all of you need to sign, It was mentioned that I need more jokes. This one is one that my Aunt sent me the other day.

Two parrots are sitting on a perch, and one says to the other, "Do you smell fish?

and one that she has used for a while

What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
Anyone can roast beef.
and a oneliner from http://www.tech-sol.net/humor/one-liner10.htm

What do Eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?
Polaroids.

I guess that is all for now.

C

Sorry it has been so long since an update, but I have been a bit busy with work. We had to shows at citrus this last week, and I started with meetings today for the upcoming Dance Concert. The night of Music from film went great. It was a fun show that came off with out a single problem. Then we had Momix, which is interpretive dance similar to Cirque De Solei (I am sure I did not spell that correctly, so I will look it up and correct it. It was a great show, it did have a few slow moments, but defiantly worth seeing if you get the chance. That's it for now, hopefully more tomorrow.

C

Last night and this evening I have been working the rehearsals for "A Night of Music from Film". It looks like it will be a very good show as always. It is a joint show between the music and theatre departments at Citrus College. It involves multiple musical groups from the campus including a wind orchestra, a rock band, and a jazz band, as well as a choir, solo vocalists, and dancers. All of the performances are done under a projection screen showing clips from many famous movies. The show opens tomorrow morning with an early show for schools with an 8pm performance on both Thursday and Friday. Hope to see you there.

I will leave you with a little gold fish joke.

C




Best Goldfish Joke Ever!

Two goldfish were in their tank.
One turns to the other and says,
"You man the guns, I'll drive."

So last night I went out to see if I could get anything on the grocery strike. Yeah, there was a strike, and it had to be the most boring news event I have ever seen. It was very dissapointing. No riots, no fires, not even a flipped car. Today, we had an open house. It was rather pathetic, the realtor did not even get the signs up until 2:45, it ended at 3. He was just a tad late. Nothing has really happened, so I have taken a joke from www.jokes.com

A Fisherman's Tale

Two fellas are fishing in a boat under a bridge. One looks up and sees a funeral procession starting across the bridge. He stands up, takes off his cap, and bows his head. The procession crosses the bridge and the man puts on his cap, picks up his rod and reel, and continues fishing.
The other guy says, "That was touching. I didn't know you had it in you."

The first guy responds, "Well, I guess it was the thing to do - after all, I was married to her for 40 years."

Hopefully I will be able to post better soon, but with eveything that is going on, I am not sure when the next post will even be. Until next time

C

Dont worry, I am going to try and keep politics to a minimum in here, but this is a news article that I think everyone should see. It is from the Associated Press, in regards to touchscreen voting machines.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031006/D7U0JA900.html
If you dont like the idea of having no proof of your vote, go to http://verifiedvoting.org/ to find out what you can do about it. Unless something somewhat large happens, that should be the only political stuff for a while.

Today was a boring day, so I won't waste your time with the details. I will be moving in the VERY near future, possibly even starting tomorrow, so updates may be a bit slow over the next couple of days. I will try to post as often as possible, but I am not sure what time and internet connections will be like for the next few days.

Since I dont really have anything to say, I will post a couple of short comics from TMCM













Thats it for now, maybee more tomorrow.

C

If you have already seen this blog, then I am sure you are noticing some differences. Hopefully they are good changes. To the left, you can find some contact information, and to the right, you will find links to some of my favorite sites. If this is your first visit, you will just have to take my word for it that this is a huge improvement. I am sure many changes will come in the future as I get the hang of this whole blogging thing. If you see a way to help improve this besides getting a more interesting author, please let me know. I do not know if I have the archives set up correctly, I will just have to wait and see if it works. If you happen to use blogger, and know how to set up the archives on an outside template, please fill me in.

As far as today, it was rather boring. I worked on getting photos for the portfolio. Figured out how to get a better template. I also got pulled over for the "modified exhaust" on the T-bird. Luckily the officer was really nice and did not right it up, just gave me a warning. Since that is the second time that has happened, I guess it is time for me to start looking into making it a little quieter. I really don't want to, I like the way that it sounds, but it really is inconvenient.

Well, it is getting late, and the eyes are starting to cross so I am off to bed.

C

Today, I have added a few photos to the Landscape folder and 1 to the misc. folder. The photos are all in thumbnail form, so it does not take to long to load even on a slower connection. I will continue to post updates here as I get more photos online. As you view the photos, please, post comments (small link below picture). Tell me what you like, and don't like. You can also post comments in the guest book. The link above will open in a new window, so you can check out the new photos without losing your spot here.

C

Great news, I got the photo server to work, so I have about 15 images online with more to come very soon. The majority of what is there are shots from a training fire in Chino, and From the Williams Canyon fire on September 23, 2002. I will be scanning more images in the next few days. Please feel free to pas the links on to anyone you wish. The more people that see my photos the better. Once again the photos are located at 22photo.com/crismateski Hope you enjoy them

C

Well, today I was approved for and received my press credentials through the San Bernardino County Sherriff's Department. So know I am actually official, and I won't have to try and talk my way onto a scene. I have to give credit where it is due though, I could not have gotten the credentials with out the help of Inland News.


I said I would try and get some back information posted, so here it goes. I just sold my first freelance video. CBS in La used my video of the property search in regards to the E.L.F. eco terrorism case. The video ran during the 4 and 5 o'clock news on Sat. Sept. 13 2003. Kcal 9 in LA also ran the video, but I am not sure of the time.

As for photos, I have not sold anything yet, but if you want to buy some, I would be more than willing to let you. If you want to check out some of my photos, you can go to my online portfolio at http://22photo.com/crismateski/. I am having problems with the server, so there are only a couple of photos online, but there will hopefully be more up by tomorrow. I will put an update here as soon as they go back up.

C

Well, just as I hit post on the previous entry, I heard sirens. This is not uncommon as I live near a freeway, but I took a peak out the window just in time to see a high speed chase go past. I ran to my room, grabbed some shoes and headed for the car. Even though I was going a little over the speed limit, I was not able to catch it before it ended not even a mile from my house. I got there just as they were walking the suspect back to the police cruiser. They were very fast about getting the suspect away from the scene. I did shoot some video, but I really don't think anything will come from it, though it was nice to see that an Ontario PD car can easily go through a chain link fence

C

Well, this is my Blog. I am not a writer, but my Mom keeps telling me that I should take notes on what I do so I can look back on it someday. So, I guess I should start by telling you a little bit about myself. I am 22, Male, live in So Cal, and am currently attending college as a technical theatre major. I work with I.A.T.S.E Local 33 in LA, as well as working at the Haugh Performing Arts Center on the campus of Citrus College. As well as all that I am getting started with Inland News as a freelance Videogropher / Photographer, and I work as over hire for Gothic Moon Productions. I know, with all this, how do I manage to sleep. Honestly, I have tons of free time. It seems like the more jobs I get the less time I actually spend at work.

So you ask, just what do I do with all the free time? Well, I spend a lot of time with my vehicles. I have a 1962 Ranchero, 1977 Thunderbird, and a 1978 General Marine Tri-hull ski boat. Pictures and more info of these will come soon. I also spend countless hours playing Diablo (uswest screen name: Octiron) and Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (screen name: Octiron)

My hobbies (in no order) include: classic cars, boating, fishing, trying to water ski, photography, technology, politics, war history, theatre, and classic rock. I will get links to all of these soon, but I have to get a link for one in particular done ASAP. There is a local performer, Brendan Beach, who you just have to go see if you are in So Cal. He is far more talented than he gives himself credit, and could really go far if he wanted to. Along with his Guitar and vocal talent, he is one of the greatest pumpkin carvers you will ever come across. If you o to any other web site today, make sure it is the web site of Brendan Beach. The only thing more important then checking out his web site is to go see him, and of course, send me cash.

Well, that is at least a start; I will try and update this every couple of days. In the next couple of days, I am going to try and get some past stuff written out. Hope you come back, and make sure you sign my guestbook at the bottom of the page.

C