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I thought you might be interested in my interview with the creator of Rambo, David Morrell. He just wrote a new Captain America comic book series that has the superhero fighting in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, Captain America died.

Read my article, "Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America" to find out if Captain America is coming back to life.

When you're done with that, check out the Sierra Star newspaper article, "Yosemite Writers Conference gives attendees at the Tenaya Lodge an inside look at the book business," about a panel I moderated on blogging with Genevieve Choate from the Fresno Bee and Rik Bollman who works for Clear Channel in Las Vegas. I interviewed the creator of Rambo at the Yosemite Writers Conference.

OK, that's all for now...

Mike Hart always says what's on his mind in his blog, From the Hart. Now he's going off on Pitt Bulls after his kid had a Mexican stand-off with one.

Excerpt:

I yelled to my neighbor's boy to walk away and stop waving his arms. My son came out of the house and I told him to turn around and walk back inside.

Read his piece, "Animal Control" to find out what happened and share your opinion.

Personally, I would have done the same thing and been just as argumentative with animal control people on the phone.

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Jackie Parks new ABC23 post, "In Search of Parental Justice" raises questions about what parents should do if their kids are involved in a serious wrongdoing in their community.

Excerpt:

So the question that always rolls around in my mind when something like this happens is: what would I do if my kids someday were responsible for something like this? I'm not naive enough to think my children would never do something dumb, just hopefully not this dumb. And no, I would not let the justice system handle it, at least not alone. I think the system would be far too kind.

(Read the full entry)

Mike Hart started blogging about a week ago.

The man is on a relentless mission to vent about Kern County news. He's talked Marketplace kids, Valley troubles, first day of school and now Roads to Nowhere...

Mike writes:

My schedule allows me to bypass the congestion at rush hour, but I've still managed to time my route to hit as many green lights as possible, as long as other commuters either tuck into my draft or get out of the way.
Still, I'm waiting with great eagerness for the Westside Parkway to open.
A multi-lane roadway taking me from Stockdale Highway and Heath Road, all the way into downtown Bakersfield.
It's a dream for me still, just a dream.

(Read his full entry and leave a comment or two)

And tell him to start spacing more between sentences... (I haven't got on his case about it yet).

Side note: By the way, Ralph Bailey talked about Michael Vick and Paris Hilton recently in the same Two-Minute take... If you want me to post it to youtube, just send me a note or comment here...

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I'm sure many of you are aware of Water War issues Kern County has been involved in for years.

Now we have a state Senator declaring water in the Central Valley is scarce, and that nearly 4 billion dollar plan is needed to create more dams and reservoirs to protect the future of Central and Southern CA.

You may agree with the plan. You might not. Democrats have opposed the plan which reached Bakersfield Friday in the way of a huge water-related forum.

I'm still wondering if it's all really about protecting the quality of water of if it's about big money, big agriculture, and big water deals for gov't agencies.

I wrote an article yesterday on ABC23 titled, "Water Wars Over Northern Calif. Supplies Hit Bakersfield."

Here's an excerpt:

Kern County is also part of the state's ongoing water crisis which Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto called the worst drought in California history.

State Senator Roy Ashburn who called the forum believes Californians need to have more water, build more damns, and build more reservoirs. He said California has more water in north and not a lot in the south or in Central California.

According to a report sent out by Senator Cogdill, the $3.95 billion SB 59 Reliable Water Supply Bond Act would solve the crisis.

The bill has stalled in recent months from Democrat opposition in the California state Senate. Four Democrats opposed the bill and one abstained. According to the Aquafornia blog water flowing one way from north to south is a problem in itself, and that northern California water officials claim details are lacking regarding the water plan.

Senator Ashburn said, “It’s been decades since we’ve made any changes in our water supply, yet we’ve continued to grow.”

The report claims that California’s water system is in need for improvements. Declining snow pack levels and increased population growth mean that more storage capacity for water is needed, especially for dry years like 2007.

(read the full article)

What do you think?

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Check it out. Bailey in his Two-Minute Take on ABC23 straight out used the 'S' word.

Slander...

Personally, I disagree with Bailey. If the mortgage song guy's tune is slander, then so is my novel, Lords (Cheap plug for sure) and a whole lot of other novels out there like Dominick Dunne's A Season of Purgatory. I believe the song is like a fiction novel. It's based on reality and experiences, but no names are named. It's fiction. It's a song and it's protected under artistic freedom.  Yet it does hint at stories people have heard in the media. I think that's OK.

It's what fiction does at times: reminds you of the reality that surrounds your community.

But you might take Bailey's side.

Watch the video and discuss...

Wow, all the comments on the Ralph Bailey vs. Dolores Huerta blog article are off the Richter scale... thanks for the comments. Although I will keep blogging over here on the cool-as-heck Bakersfield.com blogs, Jackie Parks of ABC23 has her own blog that she started up today.

Now, she's brand new to the blog world. But that's OK. She has a great first piece titled, "First Day of School Blues." It's an honest piece about a worried mom (her) because her kid is about to start school.

Here's an excerpt:

For years, I silently shook my head at friends who cried when their children started their first day of kindergarten. I thought, “Really. They’re only 5 years old. This isn’t an empty nest. You have many, many years until you write the tuition check.”

But now that it’s me who has a firstborn child entering the hallowed halls of our public school system, I confess I am a mess. Not exactly a basket case – at least not yet. But come Monday morning, all bets are off.

Maybe you have kids starting school too. Maybe you're just interested in what Jackie is going to be blogging about...

(Read the full article and leave a comment)

I'll be posting some pics throughout the day/evening as hurricane Flossie passes by the Hawaiian islands.

My kids are currently in Maui. You can read my first report, "Hurricane Flossie skirting near Maui, kids going surfing," and see a pic of bands in the sky.

Thanks for all your comments so far on the Ralph Bailey vs. Dolores Huerta blog...

- Don't forget to read the latest headlines at ABC 23.

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Ralph Bailey appeared on ABC23 Monday night for his Two-Minute Take show, this time to talk on the topic of social justice.

Really the topic seemed more like Ralph Bailey vs. Dolores Huerta.

On a personal level I disagree with Bailey in this particular episode. I think that even though David Couch was making a symbolic political move that aligned him against people like Dolores Huerta, I still think it's smart of Latinos as a social group to speak out, even though symbolically, rather than just taking Couch's symbolic political lumps.

Of course, you may completely side with Bailey. He makes some interesting points.

Whichever side you're on, it's a heated debate, and worthy of speaking your mind.

Oh, and I think I will add a fun video too as I filmed Ralph Bailey doing some "Lock" dance moves on his KNZR 1560 web cam. I call it "Dancin' Bailey".

I will be in Ralph Bailey's chat room daily (just to stir up trouble with he and Preston Nash). I log on around 3:30PM.

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I was excited to find out Friday that my ABC23 article "Untitled Korn Album Debuts At No. 2" made the top entertainment stories list on CNN.

Click here for CNN Entertainment while the link lasts. Not sure how long the story will be linked. I noticed the link Friday around 3 or 4 pm. I'm guessing it may last through the weekend.

Going from a local blogger duking it out in the online scene, to having a direct connection to CNN in the past month, has been part of an exciting journey into the media world. It's sort of a weird rags to riches story for any blogger to go through.

I'll be curious to see how much traffic will come to ABC23 through CNN. I'm guessing somewhere between 25,000-50,000 visits? Could be double that.

Rock on and thanks CNN!

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Mike Dallas II packs a mean fist, inherited from his tough-knuckled pop, also of the same name: Mike Dallas.

Of course the elder Dallas said his son's fists are a gift from God. I'm not going to argue with that.

Back in the 1980s when I was a terrible wrestler I met up with Mike Dallas Sr. He put a hold on me at Bakersfield College that I also took as a sign from God: time to end my wrestling career and become an academic.

My shoulder is still a little sore when I think about it.

I worked hard at college after that day. I earned a few degrees and eventually changed from an art major to history major, and eventually became a writer (Still working on the writing part).

It's funny, those life changing moments, and here was one of mine by the father of a potential Olympic qualifier.

I finally told Mike Dallas Sr. about that day. He laughed. He got a little embarrassed. I told him that I like to tell that story now and then just to embarrass myself. We all had a good laugh.

We spoke further. I had to ask Mike Sr. a burning question:

How would the best Bakersfield wrestling teams of the 1980s compare to today's Bakersfield High state-dominating teams?

"The teams from the 80s would win," Dallas Sr. said. He spoke a bit about how techniques have changed, how controlled wrestling isn't taught the same way. He said he even worked over one champion who was a little amazed at Dallas wrestling prowess.

Those are interesting thoughts about a sport that's often about bragging rights: who was the toughest, is the toughest, and will be the toughest. That's just good competitive spirit.

As I left I emptied what little I had in my wallet into the donation bucket KRAB radio had set up for Mike Dallas II. He's on his way to the Olympic Trials. And I'm proud to have met the kid, as well as talked to his father.

There's going to be more fundraising, including a dinner event complete with a boxing exhibition.

I'm going to go ice my shoulder now.

(Read: "Boxer fights way toward Beijing" for more info).

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How do you handle when the mother of a child killed in a tragic accident needs to appeal to viewers? Do you bring her into the studio? Do you interview her in her home? What do you do?

We chose to bring the mother into the studio so she could appeal to viewers for help with a memorial fund...

What are your thoughts?

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OK, ABC23 fans, I need a big favor.

This contest called The Giant Dream is going on with Bakersfield model Jillian Hallman.

She needs your vote now!

Yes, now!

I'm going to be doing a big write-up and photo shoot with Jillian, but the clock is ticking.

SUPPORT this BAKO BABE so she can become the face of a major clothing line.... oh yeah...

Click this link to vote and see some cool photos: VOTE NOW!!

- Nick, ABC23

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I thought I would add an image today from inside my office. My office is a little room that one cameraman calls, “the fishbowl.”

Actually the room has been expanded after starting out as a little closet. I joked that I would be glad to hang anyone's coat before work got underway to knock out a wall.

Looking out from my fishbowl you can see into what looks like an empty ABC23 newsroom.

Don’t let the photo fool you.

There are a few people in the room. Jay Jones is working the phones on the assignment desk while the scanner blasts into the room.

A few reporters sit tucked out of sight, working on who knows what--probably tonight's big stories.

Today is one of those days in the newsroom that starts off a million miles an hour.

There’s the morning news meeting, the ideas flying through the air like darting hummingbirds, the reporters and camera folks taking off to assignments.

I, on the other hand, quietly retire to my fishbowl.

It’s not like yesterday where I took off to greet Brian “Head” Welch at the marketplace and snapped photos while schmoozing with Meaty from KRAB. Today I update news stories on the web, peer into the newsroom now and then.

I listen to news stories that are discussed, and reporter's personal stories.

One reporter was bit by a spider. Another discusses a theft that happens to a friend. Someone else talks about a kitten seen in a trash can.

All while the news rolls on.

More soon...

In the meantime, check out our latest stories.