Snow Standup FAIL

So it started snowing for the first time since I've moved out here to DC, and I spent the day cooped up inside watching the news and all the reporter live shots one after another...apparently when it snows in DC there is no other news  (they might have even passed a healthcare bill that day and they probably would have just ran it in a breaking news scroll at the bottom of the screen while they continued tossing from one reporter to the next all in various snowy locations around DC and Virginia).

So of course I start to think that it might be cool to try to shoot my own live shot/stand up-esque thingy. I get all layered up (its in the single digits and yes, still snowing) and lug my equipment outside...my friends kindly snapped pics of me as I struggled to assemble it in the snow with two pairs of gloves on...

Having no cameraman and a flipcam that doesn't allow you to see the screen when you're facing the camera, I planned on doing one practice take to see where I was in the frame and then go back to correct it. Of course the framing was totally off, but by the time I got back to my camera, the snow was getting the camera wet and the tripod was totally icy. So I had to call it quits and take the equipment back inside before I ruined yet another camera outside (dropped a digital in the sand, sand got stuck in the gears). When I tried to set down the tripod I realized it was stuck to my wool gloves and had to take my hands out and wait for the thing to defrost before I could peel them off. Anyways I guess you can say I now have a little bit more respect for those reporters who stand out there doing live shots in the snow all day...granted they have it all figured out and a few extra pairs of hands to help, but let's just say snow certainly doesn't make it easy. For your viewing pleasure...here is my one failed trial, complete with friends throwing snowballs at me while I was filming and all....Enjoy.

After I gave up, I joined in with my friends frolicking in the snow like children experiencing their first snow storm...I guess in this case, Californians, children....no difference really.