“You can’t take a picture of this; it’s already gone.”
But I shot a picture of the house anyway. Multiple pictures, in fact.
I started watching “Six Feet Under” (SFU) when I was about 11 or 12. I understood most of what happened on the series, actually. I’m sure some people would argue I shouldn’t have been exposed to this subject matter so young, but it is what it was.
I watched SFU before online streaming services were a thing. I used actual DVDs to watch the show (I didn’t have whichever channel SFU played on in Canada), so the show carries a nostalgic factor for me.
It was well acted. Frances Conroy, who played Ruth, performed her role with such nuance . I once stood next to her between takes on the set of “Happy Town” while working as an extra. I remember wanting to tell her how great she was as Ruth, but I didn’t follow through because I didn’t want to bother her. Claire’s story resonated with me the most. I understood her frustration. Her green hearse was neat, too.
I recall watching the last few minutes of SFU’s series finale on YouTube before finishing watching the final season. Even though it was was spoiled for me, rewatching it — this time in chronological order — was intense. I felt emotionally moved by that ending. Powerful, so beautiful. It was the most fitting coda.
I visited the house in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, 2014. It’s located at 2302 W 25th St. According to a plaque on the property, the building is the Auguste R. Marquis Residence (Filipino Federation of America). It was built in 1904 and is historic-cultural monument number 602. Something was being shot inside the house at the time (a short movie, if I recall correctly). A friendly crewmember let me go into the lobby. The house was mainly used for exterior shots (the inside doesn’t look like the set used during shooting), as is the case with many productions. It was surreal to stand there on that porch.
Four months after finishing grad school, I was hired as a reporter/anchor for Global Regina in October 2013. I was adamant I had to report for television ASAP to prove to myself that I could do it. I left Toronto within a week of accepting the position, and my first report aired on Oct. 28.
I have reported for professional news outlets since I was 15, but this, at 23, was my first full-time reporting job. I worked there for one year, five months, and 18 days before being laid off on April 9, 2014. I was part of a couple dozen of others laid off across the network after an announcement of changes to the production of newscasts. It was an ending of a chapter that led to a better one bringing me back to the network.
So today I was laid off: "Global News announces significant changes to how news is produced" http://t.co/iGy5RXpdTO
I had never stepped foot in Saskatchewan before, but it turned out that I had a decent idea of what I was in for by researching it online: it gets extremely cold in the winter, and people are obsessed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Regina reminded me of the Etobicoke suburb of Toronto, where I have lived most of my life; both have similar populations and land areas.
On top of my regular duties, I was also a video journalist (VJ). VJs, also called multimedia journalists (MMJ) and one-(wo)man-band (OMB) reporters, shoot and edit their own stories. At the time, I was the only reporter at the station who handled those extra duties on a regular basis. To my knowledge, all reporters were VJs at CTV Regina. I recall seeing only one CBC News VJ in the city.
Other reporters I came across in Regina were from 620 CKRM, MBC Radio, News Talk 980 CJME, the Regina Leader Post, and The Canadian Press. Prior to closing, Metro Regina and Sun News Network also had reporters in the city. Some journalists had specific beats, particularly reporters at the Leader Post.
It was obvious that Regina is a starter market. Most reporters I met had been reporting for only a few years (if that), and there were a lot of young reporters originally from other provinces starting out like me. Some reporters took the competition too seriously but most were nice to each other. CTV VJs especially liked me because I was always willing to hold their microphones in scrums when I had a photographer with me (and even without). My record was holding all three main Canadian TV networks’ microphones in a scrum.
Because the Saskatchewan Legislative Building is in Regina, some of my stories were about provincial politics. Many of those stories were straightforward: embargoed email came in by 9 a.m., then scrum + other side’s scrum + any other voices I could fit in = story for 6 p.m. My stories often aired on Global Saskatoon because of the station’s proximity. I also noticed that Global Edmonton aired a lot of my stories.
I found myself doing a significant number of sports-related stories. Regina reporters don’t have much of a choice, really. People truly are obsessed with football team the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That, and I was reporting when the Grey Cup was held in the city in 2013. The rest of my stories normally focused on events, community issues, policy changes, weather, and the hard news standard fare (homicides, fires, and such). I also covered several stories in Moose Jaw, about a 45-minute drive away. Saskatchewan has a significant population of indigenous people, and I enjoyed getting to learn about their communities’ traditions.
I enjoyed covering stories outside of the city the most. I liked learning about what people did for fun in small-town Saskatchewan, what made them tick. I met some of the most genuine, good-natured people there. They would do anything it took to make sure I got every last thing I wanted for my story. It felt like they didn’t want me to leave; I didn’t either.
A story on Elmer Lach’s hometown reflecting on his death was probably my favourite story done outside of Regina, probably my overall favourite story I did in Saskatchewan. I went there thinking I might not get anyone to speak for my story. Instead, I got to speak with a lifelong fan, and, without even requesting it, the fan got a 97-year-old childhood friend of the hockey star to drive into town on his truck to speak with me.
(I sometimes felt like I was the only person in the province without a truck.)
I didn’t mind working weekends because my Saskatchewan social circle was, initially, nonexistent. I became friends with a few reporters who worked weekends at other stations; we would hang out during our weekends. I also enjoyed the schedule (Friday-Tuesday) because I could get so much accomplished on Wednesdays and Thursdays (dental appointments, etc.).
During my off-hours, I’d watch other stations to see who produced the better story, call sources for story ideas, and such. No journalist is ever off the clock, really (and I’m a workaholic).
The weekend crew at the station was small. We’d plan out on Fridays what stories we’d air on the weekend. The anchor and producer would start work at 1 p.m. (or so), so the photographer and I would have have to deal with everything before then by ourselves.
Finding experts in Regina for stories wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be, but getting them to meet up with me before my deadline was another story. Reginans are far more laid back than Torontonians.
Dealing with public relations representatives was challenging at times (this is a starter market for them, too) but was, generally, a fine experience. Some would take as long as possible to respond to my interview request if it was a story that, in their mind, didn’t paint their client/organization in the best light. On one day, one government representative would scold me for calling to ask where they were with my request; another day, the same person would “accidentally” forget about my request because I didn’t call to check in on their progress.
Once, a spokesperson asked me to hold their press release beside the camera lens so they could use it as a visual cheat sheet if needed during the interview. One spokesperson would send daily press releases that included a new photo of their dog. An encounter that stands out involved a representative who, just prior to a scrum, hugged every reporter in the room. Coincidentally, a similar incident occurred with a spokesperson from a competing group.
So, back to being laid off. I was called in on my day off and, having not been told why, I expected the worst. Another employee was laid off, too, though that person had another month or so left on the job. I was allowed to pack up all of my things myself, which was nice.
Being out of a job was oddly relieving. My goal was to be reporting elsewhere by that coming summer, so I made sure not to establish any deep roots. It was something that was (and still is) always at the back of my mind: a voice telling me not to get too attached to anything. I mean, it was 2015, and news outlets were doing more cutting than hiring. I simply didn’t and still don’t see anything in this industry as permanent. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to even buy a toaster because I doubted it would fit in my car when moving back to Toronto.
I think I went a year without bagels.
(It’s a weird way to live life, perhaps too paranoid a way to live life, but my logic is I want to be prepared as best I can for the inevitable.)
My desk life all packed up.
Thankfully, I had a few job offers in the prior months and was entertaining some of them on and around L-Day. The main bother was leaving the station without getting to say goodbye to some of my sources. I spent so many hours developing relationships with them, and I saw some spokespeople more than I did my family and friends. Eventually, I did get to reconnect with them (several actually reached out to me). Also, I think I forgot my scarf at the station.
I felt my storytelling skills had improved dramatically in the prior weeks; the aforementioned Lach story, the last story I shot and edited (fitting, no?), was probably the pinnacle of that. I’m thankful I got to leave on a noticeable — for me, anyway — high.
A road trip, which included a severaldocumentedadventures, and a few months later, I joined Global Halifax as a VJ in September 2015. It’s a better position for me, and I’ve definitely fallen for Nova Scotia. I’m getting to report on more things I’m interested in, and I’ve been given opportunities that would never have been possible in my previous job.
As the song goes, “You think there’s not a lot goin’ on,” but there is, and I try to keep the many great people I met and some of the memorable stories I produced top of mind when looking back on the whole experience in Saskatchewan. Yes, the winters were harsh, and I left unexpectedly, but I got to prove to myself that I could report for television. People trusted me to tell their stories, which is such an honour.
Having traversed the glass floors of both the CN Tower and Calgary Tower, the novelty has slightly worn off. Still, the concept of walk on an outdoor glass floor was enticing enough for me to take a detour to the Glacier Skywalk in Alberta’s Jasper National Park during a road trip. The ticket, which included a short bus ride from the Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre to the attraction, cost $29.95 before tax. I felt that the trip was informational and worth experiencing, mainly if joined with the other tour in the area.
Located about a four-hour drive from Calgary, the Glacier Skywalk officially opened on May 1, 2014. I visited the attraction on May 17, 2015.
The ride
The Glacier Skywalk is located on the south side of the two-lane Icefields Parkway. Parking at the site was only for buses, so I parked (for free) at the centre. The buses used to get passengers to and from the attraction were similar to the ones used by the Toronto Transit Commission.
The ride lasted fewer than 10 minutes.
The experience
I found that it still had that nice “new glass floor smell” to it. I’m kidding about the smell, but the site did look new and sleek. Visitors could pick up a phone-like device (seen in the penultimate photo in this post) that offered an audio tour at no charge. According to the attraction’s website, the tour is offered in English, French, Mandarin, Korean, and Japanese.
For some people, whether they enjoy visiting the structure will depend on if they like the view in the photo below; looking down through the glass floor shows a relatively plain mountain side. I didn’t see animals or anything that particularly blew me away. That said, looking almost everywhere else did offer up a nice view.
Selfies
Of course, because of the novelty of the floor, I had to be careful not to step on any faces.
Truly, it was one of the most popular poses.
I got someone to take one of me, too (not pictured).
That time I unknowingly shot a marriage proposal
Shortly after stepping onto the glass floor, a man asked me to hold a monopod that had a GoPro attached. Before I had time to figure out what was about to happen, he knelt down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. I found myself both freaking out and in awe. A video journalist at heart, I wanted to capture the unexpected moment as best I could. I started recording the scene a few seconds in. The couple said that they wouldn’t mind if I put the video online.
Next to the main balcony, presentations were put on by guides.
Stopping at every exhibit, and taking a few photos took about an hour.
Although the actual view seen looking down through the glass floor wasn’t remarkable, almost every other aspect of the trip was enjoyable. The other views were great, the option to have an audio tour was nice, and I felt that I learned a lot about the area through the interactive exhibits.
Conclusion
The attraction wasn’t compelling enough for me to want to go back specifically for it. I think that the best option, if you’re in the area, would be to buy tickets for the Glacier Explorer Combo, which grants entry to the Glacier Skywalk and the Glacier Adventure. The latter, which I enjoyed going on a version of about a decade prior, entailed a tour on the Athabasca Glacier across the road from the centre. Both attractions are neat, and buying the combo is cheaper than buying separate tickets.
