Yeah, Yeah, Yeah..."When Life Gives You Lemons,,,,"

We've all heard it dozens of times, right? From our parents and other family members, former bosses, spouses (or is that spices?) and of course, our closest of friends, who've probably never tasted a lemon in the last ten years because they're too busy drinking their frappa-lappa-miko-apo! And as tired as we are of hearing the phrase, it does have a ring of truth and the Wikis and other online files can deliver plenty of true tales. Sometimes though, you can't jump directly from the lemons to the lemonade; you just have grab the lemon and bag of sugar and move towards the new action. And that is exactly what we (Dalmatian Productions, Inc.) are doing. 

First though, a word of thanks to those of you who read this blog, follow us on Twitter (@Dalmatprod & @CAUSE_ORIGIN) and/or listen to the podcasts. Without your understanding and support, we probably would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. So please, keep it up!

Here's the story - As many of you know, we have working for over 20 years to bring a quality program about our great fire-rescue services to television. First we tried early reality TV; the days of "Rescue-911,"  "On Scene: Emergency Report," and several others. That didn't work.We tried again when "reality" grew up a little bit like, "COPS." That worked - only a little bit and only outside of the U.S. or Canada. 

"What else can we do?" we would repeatedly ask ourselves. Here you had four first responders who only knew about the "real" in reality. We didn't know anything else. That brought us to around ten years ago or so, when I was just browsing the Internet, just to browse, not looking for anything in particular. I found a fire story that I liked, read that and it led to a few more. I was just reading some reports of working fires, rescues, etc. Then, after almost two hours, I came across an article about the Philadelphia Fire Department. This I liked. Why? Because my wife's sister and her family have lived in that area for over 40 years and we had visited often. And during almost every visit, I would visit firehouses all over Montgomery County and the City of Philadelphia. However, in reading this article, I learned something new - the structure of their Fire Investigation Office and how unique it was.

Besides the Fire Marshal, there were some unique investigators in with he mix; a firefighter who had also been trained in investigative and forensic work, a full-time detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, who was assigned to the Fire Investigations Office, an agent from the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) and his dog, who were assigned to the city and others. 

"WOW!" I thought. "This could be a great show!" Then I reconsidered. They'd never let us do a "ride-along" with them for a reality show. But....what if it wasn't a reality show? What if it was a drama? Initially, I didn't share my idea with my partners. I just tossed it around for a while, writing a page here, a page there.That was the birth of "CAUSE & ORIGIN." (and yes, we understand that today, the more common phrase used is reversed to "origin and cause," but that just does sound as good as our, older version!) Yet, with no leads, we didn't know what to do next.

The rest of the story until now, is history, as they say. We have tried for the last 2-1/2 - 3 years to get this TV show picked up for the production of a pilot episode. But that hasn't happened either.

Thus, about three weeks ago during one of our conference calls, our L.A.-based partner told us interesting news about some of his immediate past work on a movie, some people he had met and some others who had re-entered his life. And he pitched the idea that with no progress on the television front, let's try to produce a feature film-length movie. Whether it played in a theater or through a streaming service, wasn't important. We would do it. 

That is what we announced yesterday. We are going to produce a film about the fire service, by firefighters, hopefully, supported by firefighters, for firefighters and all other interested parties.

Interested? Good! Stay tuned!

Be safe and let's make sure every one goes home!

 

Equality - What Does the TV News Have to Say About It? (Nope - Not About the Supreme Court)

I'm a "newshound!" There, I've said it. I have watched both local and national news ever since I was a little kid. And for the majority of this time, in all the places I've lived in the U.S., it has almost always been NBC News. Why? I'm not quite sure. I believe it's because that's how my parents raised my two brothers and me. After dinner each night, we would sit down to watch the local (Boston) news (when it was still just 30 minutes!) followed by NBC Nightly News anchored by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. NO!! This post is not about Brian Williams/Lester Holt, etc. This paragraph is just to set my background. 

This week, I did something with the news that I've never been interested in doing before, for a stories based in our country. I consciously watched the news to see nothing. To see the absence of the news that should have been aired.

Earlier this week, we lost two, brave LEO's (Law Enforcement Officers). We didn't lose them, rather both were murdered. Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim was shot and killed upon arrival to a call. Just a few days later, New Orleans Police Officer Holloway was shot and killed by a captive, who had been handcuffed behind his back and secured in the back seat.Now, in the several weeks prior to these two deaths, there were several deaths of citizens by police officers in several different situations. 

So, this week, I monitored the newscasts to see the difference in how they are covered and reported to the public. This post is not to judge the police officers who fired their weapons and whether or not they were justified. This post is to judge the disparity in how these two, very-closely related stories are reported by network news.

Each time in the last few months that a citizen died at the hands of the police, a hue and a cry erupted. Most, if not all of the dead were African-Americans. Most, but not all of the police officers involved were Caucasian. Immediately, a gigantic wedge of racial strife split communities and the country. Demonstrations, some peaceful, some not, occurred. As both the network anchors and the on-location reporters presented their stories, instead of remaining local stories, they were suddenly blown up into national and international events.

Yet, this past week, the deaths of Officers Kim and Holloway barely earned a mention on the national news. Let's not forget that Officer Kim was an Asian-American and Office Holloway was an African-American. And they didn't lose their lives in traffic accidents or in an attempt to save someone from a dangerous situation. They died doing what they had sworn and loved to do. Nevertheless, they barely earned a mention on the news. 

Should not the very same African-American citizens of New Orleans and the rest of our country have stood up and shouted for justice for Holloway's death? Should not the vocal and famous leaders of this section of the populace have flown immediately to New Orleans to be with Officer Holloway's family and colleagues and lend them emotional support? Where were the rest of America's non-law enforcement, non-firefighting,non-EMS leaders, to speak about how man officers are losing their lives almost every week in this country?

And what of Officer Kim?  Where was the outrage and his murder? Where was the national attention and support for his family and the Cincinnati Police Department, and the City of Cincinnati, which had just lost a firefighter in a Line of Duty Death a couple of months ago? A quick perusal online shows that there are even a smaller percentage of Asian-American police officers than African-American. Yet, isn't each man and woman, Asian-American, African-American, Caucasian, Native-American or whatever, worth the same as any other human being?

We were all terribly hurt by this week's hateful and racist shooting and murders in Charleston SC. Nine innocent people, doing nothing more than studying the Bible, were shot down and murdered, not because of something they did, but because of who they were! And there is no doubt that this incident is a national tragedy. But so is the death of anyone who willingly puts their life on the line to protect the rest of us. Look at the honor and respect we give our men and women in the armed forces. Even though it has increased since the post-Vietnam days, it still does not measure up to be on a par with what they do for us!

There is an old adage that says that, "One bad apple can spoil thew whole barrel!" Really? Still today? If you read or watch any news whatsoever, we know that every occupation has people that make mistakes (to be polite). In this week's firefighting news, a volunteer firefighter was sentenced for arson! Yes, for starting an incident that normally, he would respond to mitigate. And yes, there are police officers who make poor choices, who are racist, who are burnt-out. There are unprofessional doctors, business people, bank officials, elected officials and many, many more. We know that. We don't like it, but we know it happens. And we do try to hold a great many of these people to a higher standard because of the very positions they hold. Yet, whether we like it or not, we are all human and thus, subject to error. Did not the Lord in Heaven believe He had erred and regretted creating humanity, which led to the Noah story?

Look around your home, your office and somewhere, either tucked away in a drawer or lying out on the counter or desk, you'll see a pencil. Take a good long look at that pencil. Besides its probably yellow color and its graphite (no, not lead) tip, look what else it has the very, very few other writing instruments do. It has an eraser. Now I ask you, "Why?" Why do most pencils have an eraser? 

That's a question each of you must answer for yourself.

Till next time, Stay Safe!