Seven Little Lambs

My co-worker's neighbor had excitedly told her community that one of her ewes had given birth to seven little lambs, an impressive number even for the finn sheep, which apparently give birth to a bunch. We figured it was a nice, cute, little quick video story.

On the Space Needle's Roof

Some time ago, the Space Needle kicked off their 50th anniversary celebrations by inviting a bunch of journalists to the Needle's roof to photograph the family who owns the landmark paint the roof. So on a regular cloudy Seattle day, we went to the top.

A taste of the 1990s at the Sonics rally

With Payton, Detlef, and Kemp making appearances and a KUBE 93 DJ emceeing, a recent rally for the return of the Sonics felt a little like a time capsule. But overall, it was quite fun to shoot.

The Squirrel Eating Lady

Some time ago, we did our own version of the story featuring a Seattle lady who likes to trap neighborhood squirrels and eat them from time to time. I guess this is quite common in some parts of the South but here in animal-loving Seattle, this was a bit of weird news.

The woman used to be a vegan, by the way.

Flash Bang

 I was almost hit by flash bang at a recent Occupy Seattle protest.

And it was kind of fun.

That day my assignment was to cover the Occupy The Ports protest in Seattle. Similar protests were happening along the West Coast. In Seattle, Occupy had decided to march from downtown to Port of Seattle's Harbor Island, which houses a handful of terminals.

It all started with the standard fare: people blocking semis, then police moving in, followed by chants, and speakers. Like many Occupy events, it wasn't exactly an organized event. From the get-go, the crowd of about 500 people split into several areas near the entrances to the port. One group had speakers, others picketed in front of an entrance, and yet another, had more disruptive plans.

To make their point, a group of the protesters grabbed debris from the area _ wooden crates, metal scraps _ and blocked one of the main streets. They had a huge banner, and began to chant.

Mounted police moved in.

By the time I got there, the protesters were trying to "hold the line" by pushing against the mounted police. I saw a couple of them lighting flares, then I saw one of the flares fly toward the horses, prompting the cops to become more aggressive about cleaning the street. A tussle broke out, with the cops forcefully removing people, and protesters pushing back. One person threw a sign at the cops.

As it was getting heated, I was in the middle of the barricade, I decided to step to the side to avoid any injuries. As I did that, a loud boom went off, and smoke from a percussion grenades went up. Then a second grenade went off near me, about 10 feet maybe. Check the video out.

I was told the police horses were hit by paint, which they had a hard time removing from their skin :(


And here, a picture from my phone:

Missing Child

A few weeks back I got to do a video report on the disappearance of a 2-year-old boy in Bellevue, Wash. The story around it is weird, to put it nicely. The mother claimed that he left the boy in her car after it ran out of gas, but police later on said there was enough gas in the tank. This plays against the backdrop of a bitter custody battle between the two parents.

Occupy Seattle

As protesters in Occupy Boston were getting arrested, word came down that police were moving in on Westlake Park and warned the Occupy Seattle campers to vacate or face expulsion. I shuttled there at midnight and hung out til about 4 a.m., filed a couple of photos and got some raw footage for video. It was a good assignment, except for the pouring rain.

No arrests were made, and the occupiers stayed. Because the city doesn't allow them to use tents, most sleep under tarps.

Paddleboard Yoga

Here's my latest video for AP, a standard lifestyles, TV-type report on people using paddleboards to do yoga.

Check it out.

Terrorism Plot

Soon after word came out that two men _ one from Seattle _ were being charged with planning to bomb a federal building that houses an Army office, I was sent out to get video.

Here's a standard video report.

I'm slowly getting the hang of it now...

Sweetie Rolls Her Rs

Sweetie, one of our family's dogs, can roll her Rs. This is further proof that growing up in a bilingual household leads to higher intelligence. She makes this noise whenever she greets someone she hasn't seen in a while.

Sweetie used to look like this. She was cute.

This is our other dog, Nikolas Tesla Valdes:

He used to be cute. Now he pees like a girl.

Back Behind The Camera

It had been months (thanks OLYMPIA!) since I had pressed the record button. This week I was sent to get comments from the Barefoot Bandit's (aka Colton Harris-Moore) lawyer after a federal court hearing. Probably could have zoomed tighter on the lawyer.

Photo by Kevin P. Casey

Skateboarding videos

These videos were passed around the Internet a few months ago, but they are worth re-posting.

The two skateboarding-themed videos - one a commercial equipped with nifty special effects and the other a short documentary sponsored by the denim company Diesel - are beautifully shot.





SKATEISTAN: TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL from Diesel New Voices on Vimeo.




Burn Ignite :: Ride :: feat Steve Berra (OFFICIAL HD) from Burn Energy on Vimeo.

Minihorses!! (Updated)

Recently, I decided to do a video of a couple in Olympia who own minihorses, which are, well, miniature horses. The video should publish soon.

But I took some pictures just in case we did a text story, so you can enjoy those now.

The pictures feature a minihorse breeder in Renton and one minihorse owner and a friend walking the minihorses around their neighborhood in Olympia.

Update:
Here's the video.

Mary Ann, a minihorse breeder in Renton.

She must have had like 25 minihorses in her farm.

This one liked me. Kept butting up against the tripod.

Donna and a friend walk Donna's minihorses in Olympia. It was pouring and I got soaked.

Aside two minihorses, Donna owns more than a dozen chickens, two dogs and a cat.

Chico, the minihorse

Wyoming, part 2

Check out this video I made from footage my girlfriend and I collected during  our trip to Wyoming. Her mother likes classical music, so I decided to set the footage _ mostly shots from a car window _ to the London Phiharmonic Orchestra's rendition of Bedrich Smetana's "My Fatherland."

Wyoming from Manuel Valdes on Vimeo.

Multiplatform Labor

The other day I accidentally recorded myself working while making a video about minihorses, so figured I'd post it here. It shows me as I try to take pictures while doing a video. And yes, it's poor form not to look through the camera's view finder :)

18 Seconds of Four Loko Video Glory

This past week I spent three hours driving around Seattle looking for a mini-market owner willing to talk about the ban on Four Loko and how that ban, which took effect last week, helped sales.

In the end, the interview wasn't used by the producers but I got 18 seconds of Internet glory in this video. Enjoy!

RIP Four Loko.

Green Burial, re-cut

This video is an extended cut of my AP video report on "green" burials. I've written about this project before here. 

To summarize, I followed an Oregon man as he chose his burial spot in a private nature reserve.

Steve Sall was an avid outdoorsman before he was stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease. He chose a "green" burial. These burials are a small but growing industry. With these burials, people chose to be laid to rest in the most natural way possible - no concrete, vaulted coffins or chemicals. Just the body and the earth.

I followed Steve when he picked his burial spot.  Three months later, he died.

In this cut, I expanded the video to about six minutes. It shows more of Steve as he picked his spot.



The Green Burial of Steve Sall from Manuel Valdes on Vimeo.

Giving back, even in death: Thoughts on making the 'green' burial story

Steve's son, David, takes a moment after the funeral service to take in his father's grave.

I wrote this for the AP's Facebook page, but unsure if they're going to use it, so here it is: 

During a busy afternoon editing, I got the unexpected call. On the other line was Teri Sall, the wife of an Oregon man with ALS I had met three months earlier. Her husband, Steve Sall, had chosen to be buried in a forest, in a so-called "green burial."

When I answered the phone, I asked her how she was. Not good, she said, Steve had died the night before.

Reporters often deal with the aftermath of death. From a brief on a fatal car accident to more shocking events where people lose their lives. Journalist in zones of danger and war see death even closer.

I've covered vigils, funerals, and memorials _ it never gets easy to talk to people who have lost a loved one.

Teri's call was different. The fact alone she called me was different. I had met Teri and Steve in June of this year. Along with their son, David, they had allowed me to follow them with a video camera while Steve picked a burial spot in a private nature reserve in southcentral Washington.

"Green" burials are a small but growing section of funeral services in the United States. People who chose green burials are hoping to be buried in an environmentally friendly manner. That means no concrete vault, steel or extravagant wood coffins and no chemicals to preserve the body.

Steve had been a hiker all his life, a lover of the outdoors. His eyes often lit up while touring the burial grounds.

By the time I met him, ALS had fully claimed the use of his speech and most of his muscles. He communicated using a pencil and a laminated piece of paper with a grid filled with letters and conjunctions. Teri would look at where he pointed and read his thoughts.

Through the process, Steve kept a sense of humor. Asked why he wanted a green burial, he said he wanted to "branch out."

Three months later I met Teri again, this time to bury her husband. All I hoped at the moment was to not get in the way of the family and tried to be as transparent as possible.

For me, seeing a family go through painful, but necessary grieving process, and to see a wife and son lose their beloved father, was something I hadn't experienced before in my career.

They had allowed me and the public into what is a very private ritual, and for that, I am especially grateful.

Rest in peace, Steve _ may your atoms become trees.

Read the AP story here.

Back in June, I met the family as they picked the plot.

I could see Steve's humor come through as we walked around the preserve.

David and Teri stand on what will become Steve's burial spot.

The flag that marked Steve's spot.

Big sunflowers for the burial ceremony.

Friends and family of Steve hiked a mile to the burial site.

Laying him to rest.

Jake Locker (Updated 2)

Here's a peek at an interview with UW quarterback Jake Locker for an upcoming video.

Check out the video:

Here's an unfinished cut of the video. This is the one that was edited by my producers. They basically just cut the last third, where Jake talks about hanging out at the stadium by himself.


Jake Locker from Manuel Valdes on Vimeo.

The Afghan War Comes Home

Last month the AP chronicled the painful ritual of mourning soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. A group of writers interviewed families across the country and a video was produced to accompany the feature. Below is the video. I attended the vigil of Jarod Newlove, the sailor from West Seattle, who at 25 (my age) was killed in a remote area of Afghanistan, leaving behind a wife and two young children.

Newlove's death became the focus point of international attention. For a couple of days, it was thought he had been captured by the Taliban. I hope his family found our coverage to be thoughtful and respectful. It is always hard as a journalist to drop down on a family who is grieving and in pain.  

Read the national story here. Read my story on the vigil here -- AP photographer Elaine Thompson took several poignant shots as well.