Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Hocus Pocus by FOCUS

Dear Universe,

The last five years have absolutely flown the heck by, but the update I have to give you picks up right where we left off, so it may seem it took five years for the next part of life to begin when the truth is that life happens one single moment at a time and each one, whether gorgeously painful or wonderful, is best savored because it’s the only one of exactly such a moment you’re ever going to experience before one day you do not have any more experiences, SO, enjoy now as best as you are able. Here’s what I’m attempting to enjoy: The final days with my WPPB family before the exciting renaissance of becoming Long Island’s only local NPR AND PBS station 🤯

This is just. (Not beyond) EXACTLY my wildest dreams (or, well, close to it. I could probably ROCK a TV show)

But yes, I recently (not celebrated as we’re contending with a global pandemic) my first anniversary as producer/host/tech of “The Heart Of The East End” on 88.3 and while moving from a one-hour weekly feature interviewing two people to a three-hour morning program where I’m running the board, scheduling the spots, making the playlists and doing upwards of 10 interviews per day has been an adjustment, it is one in which I’m proving a “natural,” so I could seriously cry from how proud I am to have gotten myself good enough to be producing a program on my lonesome that is. SO. ON POINT.

My career coach (don’t snicker at me) says I need to get some new awards, which is awkward because I’ve only ever gotten because of another person’s nomination, but maybe I will come around to totally selling out. Why not? I mean, if you told high school me that I’d one day be playing pop music ever, let alone on the radio, I would‘ve rolled my eyes and been like, “YEAH RIGHT — GOOD ONE” before asking, “What are you? Some sort of time traveler?” That’s how it would go if it were some time/space continuum flick.

But right now I’m just too buried in making sure I’m doing the best dang show every single morning. I’ve been stacking up experience—Hungry like the wolf—because if my power to produce is in any way diminished I’ll know I squeezed EVERY second from my time with our listening audience &
that I brought them surprising, unique and incredible content.

“You’re a broadcaster, you’re not just a DJ,” Dr. Wally Smith said to me a week or so ago (but in the film those phrases are switched because it sounds better to end on broadcaster) and, well, I probably didn’t need to eat anything for the rest of the week because that compliment was the richest of foods. I am constantly unsure these days whether it’ll be the last time that I see him. Today was kind of a gut punch kind of a day since I
will no longer see Jimmy the Mailman every day either, which was extra weird because I promoted a piece using Mr. Rogers as a sort of frame for doing good during this time and here I’m watching my own little entrance into my neighborhood crunch closed like a wadded sheet of paper amidst a fist, but look, it’s just life. It’s full of not niceties and what I DID accomplish, to the best of my ability, was to soak in every dang second of my time knowing well that these moments would not last forever.

Nothing does.

Probably not even diamonds.
Please hold while I google that.

LOL DIAMONDS BECOME PENCILS

Sorry, where was I?

Oh!

I’m on the precipice of the next step in my life and am going to invest in my first home if I continue to thrive through transition!

And I’m doing work in which even I am incredibly proud (though there is certainly room for improvement when/if the team grows!)

For example, I did a fantastic interview with a doctor this morning (With whom I’ve had discussion every Mon through the pandemic) & we had a pretty serious chat about HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE, which looks even more intimidating when it’s capitalized like that—
Until you learn it’s in aquarium cleaner and you’re like, oh, ok then —and I’ve set up a “butt-load” of interviews for this week, among them a gentleman from Southold’s sister, “Southwold, Suffolk, UK”

But since it’s inappropriately late/early (0342) and I’m probably just rambling at this point, I will TRY to find sleep now and I‘ll leave you with a five-year-old draft I found upon signing in here and the following thought that I may have finally met my person!

Imagine that?

I read a cool thing about how “you know when you know” and it’s true because you choose it—You know—so that’s exciting.

Knowing one thing. That’s a lot of things to know in life!

(And if you don’t know, now you know, chica)

Five years ago, I was writing you the following words and dangling participles:

“I'll be honest, people (That's kind of my thing)

I've quit tending bar and am actually terrified about continuing to make ends meet out here on the beautiful East End, but I've been encouraged by my support system to take the risk and focus on my writing career full-time - at least through the summer - so that's what I'm doing.

And here's something cool - I asked US Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) a question at League of Women Voters of The Hamptons this Sunday.

The coolest part is I got to say, "Gianna Volpe - Sag Harbor Express."

I love getting to represent those I work for; It’s something I don't think I'll ever get tired of doing.”

Saturday, March 28, 2015

What is the question?

I wonder, at times, why I stay here on the East End.

When expressing this sentiment recently, I received the following response :

When asked on her deathbed by Alice Toklas "Gertrude, what is answer?", Gertrude Stein replied "What is the question?"

If you keep asking the right questions you will eventually get the answer to why you stay here. Perhaps you will become the person whose is so accomplished that everyone will claimed to have known you when you were growing up here? :)

Boy, I hope that's true.

Perhaps I am here because I have never been one for giving up; because when I moved to the North Fork four years ago I found a feeling of being "home" that I've never felt before in all my 20-something years.

Perseverence in the face of adversity has always been the name of my game; my father tells me the most successful people get to the top by clawing their way there.

And so I claw on.

I feel sentimental, at times, for the past but the past is called such for a reason and, in most ways, my present is far superior, so I'm merely awaiting the next chapter in my life to begin.

Here's to it, folks.

(Taken from imdb.com)

Hannibal Lecter: ...would they have you back, l think? The FBI? Those people you despise almost as much as they despise you. Would they give you a medal, Clarice, do you think? Would you have it professionally framed and hang it on your wall to look at and remind you of your courage and incorruptibility? All you would need for that, Clarice, is a mirror.

Friday, February 13, 2015

THE STORY: Take One

Howdy friendlies!

I am going to try to blog more often because I obviously don't write enough.
(meaning most moments in my case)

Journalism is in flux. Dying newspapers are allowing advertising to control their content to a degree that is, in this reporter's opinion, entirely inappropriate and misinformation is running amok as institutional knowledge is undervalued in favor of commercial flash and low-cost labor and journalism fetishists.

But these folks are entirely missing the point. News reporting is not a competition. It's an honor.

The job of a professional journalist is to provide the public with the information they need to form a more perfect union. That's it. It's not about us; it never was.

I pride myself on usually having "the scoop," but the reason I'm proud of that has nothing to do with me.

I already know my dreams are going to come true because I don't ever give up, work incredibly hard for what I have, truly enjoy what I do and truly care about the stories I write and the communities for whom I write them.

There's innate satisfaction that comes with being a good journalist; I don't have to worry about me.

My gift is one of giving; pride in my scoops comes - quite simply - through the fact that I've created solid enough relationships in my community to be viewed as a trusted place to store information thus increasing my chances of being able to provide the public with information.

I used to think garnering a degree in journalism wasn't worth the dough seeing as one learns most of the job by practicing it, but I was lucky enough to be instructed under "The Missouri Method," which teaches one journalism by practicing it and after my first five years in the business aka The Aftermath of a Great Recession meeting the World Wide Web of exponential technological advances, I now know the true value of my journalism degree.

I earned my degree in photojournalism - a specialized sequence nearly outdated by my 2010 graduation in favor of convergence training in all media forms - from the nation's very first journalism school

[ The University of Missouri's School of Journalism, 1908]

Mizzou ingrained in me not only the knowledge of how to expertly and ethically do the job of journalism, but a sense of real pride in doing exactly that.

It is because of what I learned there that I've never once done something untoward to get a story.
And I never will.

For me, speed has never been even close to as important as quality and ABOVE ALL ELSE accuracy in reporting news.

I think that's something my first editor, Peter Boody, one of our last true Newsmen, (quite similar to the dying breed of Bluesmen) respected about me.

It's certainly one of the things that I respect most about him, which gives me hope that others like me will reform the industry and see journalism returned to its former grandeur.

Peter didn't care much for the Non-tent the Web demanded; producing this frivolous nonsense was cutting into what precious time we had to do all the things one must to put out the Best Possible Newspaper each week.

I'm talking about working the beat by hunting the field:

Requesting the documents, attending the meetings, asking the questions, writing the lede, re-writing the lead, (see what I did there), checking the grammar (Mine is like nails on a chalkboard to Peter), cutting the fat (obviously not my strength), checking and collecting the sources (absolutely my strength), and above all else, FOLLOWING UP.

Peter Boody transformed me from a tail-chasing puppy dog -

(I was often referred to as the newsroom's puppy dog, which was only embarrassing because there was an actual dog in our newsroom)

- into a house-broken bloodhound flushing bunnies from the bushes along a tree line.

I'd been taught to couple enthusiasm with technique.

My presence was being accepted and enjoyed in one of the most insular communities I'd ever known, I'd befriended the town clerk and librarian, was getting colorful commentary from the Town Board (even following them to Yaphank for 2011's absentee ballot count, which reversed Glenn Waddington's initial third-party win as the Shelter Island Supervisor elect), knew all the gossip and welling controversies, pursued leads with such non-threatening aggression and true curiosity the Superintendent of School (singular) said I reminded him of Columbo, learned to maneuver office secretaries well enough to extract comments from wealthy second-home owners I'd hunted down to their 700th floor (slight exaggeration) Manhattan office compounds - And my photographs almost always ran in color.

I was still green as Kermit the Frog, but the flame for doing the job of journalism had never burned so brightly within me.

This is the type of rookie reporter Tim Kelly inherited when I was moved up to the Mothership Office in Mattituck, which I will henceforth refer to, most lovingly, as M.O.M.

A very serious one. Too serious.

Tim wasn't just weird and wonderful - and he wasn't just damn good at his job - Everyone absolutely freaking loved the guy, so he rarely had a problem uncovering the truth.

If my overactive news nose had caught a scent, he'd rock back in his creaky, unholy monster of a rolling chair, call up the highest, most credible possible source and, turning his pen end over end in his hands, find out the entire story in seconds.

And his columns were hilarious.

Tim Kelly took Peter's house-broken bloodhound flushing bunnies from bushes along the tree line and turned it into a highly-trained guard dog that spent all its off-time allowing the family toddler to pull at its whiskers.

Tim taught me how to laugh, and in turn, he taught me how to be an East Ender.

To be continued....

Over and out

Thursday, December 18, 2014

The Vendettas Bring Family Friendly Rock and Roll to Bay Street Theater

Publication: The Sag Harbor Express

Posted online 15 December 2014

In print 18 December 2014

By Gianna Volpe

For four years, local Long Island musicians playing together as rockabilly cover band, The Vendettas, have performed a family-friendly holiday spectacular at Bay Street Theater, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 21 this year.

The $15 show features a host of holiday music spanning generations, including some lesser played tracks like “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa,” according to the 49-year-old guitarist of The Vendettas and creator of the Rock and Roll Holiday Spectacular at Bay Street, Jay Janoski.

“All the Vendettas shows are really family-friendly because we attract a lot of different ages,” Mr. Janoski said of the group’s fan base. “The music we play is 60 years old but it’s still rock and roll, so it’s got a punk energy to it because that music scared parents in the same way. When you think about guys like Elvis and Eddie Cochran – and especially guys like James Vincent – their music was very dangerous and raw because at the time nobody was doing what they did. So when younger people see our show they can tap into the raw energy that that kind of music has and for older people, it really just brings them back to their high school days. We have such a great time playing, especially when that vibe gets to the audience and goes back and forth, so we’re all really looking forward to it.”

This year female vocalist Erin Doherty will join the Vendettas line-up for the Rock and Roll Holiday Spectacular after she was first introduced to the band at Bay Street’s Philippines typhoon relief fundraiser last November.

“She’s been playing with us going on a year now,” said Mr. Janoski. “She widens the range of material we can do, but she does Elvis songs as well, so that’s really cool.”

In fact, Mr. Janoski said the Vendetta’s holiday spectacular was itself borne from the band’s annual January concert to celebrate Elvis Presley’s birthday.

“It always struck me that we should be doing Christmas songs because of it being so wintery out, so I said we should put together a rock and roll Christmas show since there’s certainly an abundance of material, especially from that 50s and early 60s era,” he said. “We wanted to make it a little more special than the trio, so we added a piano player and horns.”

The band’s line-up changes each year based on who is able to make it for the show and this year, The Vendettas will include keyboardist Mike Ryan, vocalist Erin Doherty, horns section members Bob Hobey, David Elliot and James Micelli, as well as the core members of The Vendettas guitarist Jay Janoski, bassist Dave Doscher and drummer Lenny Brentson.

The show will be an hour-and-a-half long, though Mr. Janoski said the band has prepared additional material should they be allowed to exceed the time limit.

For Mr. Janoski, being part of a rockabilly group is something he’d “been gravitating toward” since 1980 when he saw The Stray Cats play in the gym of his Shoreham/Wading middle school as a youngster.

“It was right before they went to England to make their first album, so at the time they were still Brian Setzer & The Tom Cats, but it was just so powerful,” recalled Mr. Janoski. “Here were three guys that really weren’t that much older than us – maybe just out of high school – and they had such a full, loud sound. We hadn’t really ever seen something like that at the time. My parents were big music fans – my mom listened to a lot of R&B and soul and my dad was a rock and roll guy whose favorite was Buddy Holly – so I did have a frame of reference for it, but here was a guy playing one drum and one cymbal with this amazing, full, energetic sound; it was just a pivotal point in my life.”

The Vendettas Rock and Roll Holidays Spectacular will be held on Sunday, December 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. Visit baystreet.org or call the box office at (631) 725-9500.

The frEElance Report

Happy almost 2015, my friends!

This blog entry is brought to you by WRIV, where I have just begun my first weekly radio show Thursday mornings between 8:15 and 9 AM

(Download the free tuneinradio app to listen in anywhere in the world!)

Here's a photo from my second show this AM (just before my interview with local musician Jay Janoski of The Vendettas)

I have been writing most regularly (as of late) for the Sag Harbor Express and Edible East End (and have continued freelancing for a number of local news organizations), however I plan to make inroads with some national organizations this winter, so wish me luck universe!

Right now I'm headed to Sag to interview Todd Jacobs of Fresh Hamptons for a biz piece in next week's Express and with any luck tomorrow I will figure out how to extract the audio files of my first two shows so I can podcast them on my digital portfolio: www.agentjanefox.tumblr.com

I have been waiting to receive PDFs of some of my favorite pieces this year, however I may just end up scanning them at my local library!

Hope you've all been very good this year

I'm super excited for what 2015 will bring.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

"Little Gerrys" raise money for ALS

Fresh Chickens, or “Little Gerrys” on Sale at North Fork Table and Browder’s Birds

July 15, 2014 | By Gianna Volpe | Photographs by Gianna Volpe

chickens_01_gianna volpe

Holly Browder gives the Little Gerrys scraps for North Fork Table.

You’ve heard about farm-to-table, but what about farm-to-table-to-farm-to-table? That’s right, the North Fork’s Browder’s Birds have begun a locavore poultry project that is sure to have you singing, “It’s the circle of life,” in no time. Mattituck’s organic free-range chicken farmers are currently feeding two of their flocks scraps from the highly touted North Fork Table and Inn and the chickens will ultimately appear on the restaurant’s menu on the weekend of July 25. The well-fed fowl are dubbed “Little Gerrys” in a playful synthesis of Seinfeld fame with the name of the North Fork Table’s executive chef, Gerard Hayden. “We’ve been working with North Fork Table for five years,” says Holly Browder. “They were the first restaurant we sold eggs to, and we’ve always talked about doing a local chicken for them, but it’s taken us five years to get to the point where we could do it, so we’re really excited.”

chickens_06_gianna volpe

Lucky birds, for now.

Through October, flocks of 100 Little Gerrys will be processed every two weeks with 40 chickens per flock to appear at Hayden’s table. The chickens will also be available at the Browders’ farm stand at 4050 Soundview Avenue in Mattituck, which is open every Friday through Sunday, this weekend. They will be sold fresh. Though these chickens will also appear on the menus of other East End hot spots, such as Greenport’s First and South and Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, Browder says she is hoping to be able to retail some Little Gerrys to the public. A portion of the proceeds, including the difference in the wholesale and retail price of Little Gerrys will be donated to aLove Shared. A Love Shared is a collaborative fundraising effort formed by the region’s brightest culinary stars to promote research for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and provide care for Hayden, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. More than 15 A-list chefs will be featured at a Love Shared’s River Cafe reunion tomorrow night, including Nick & Toni’s Joe Realmuto.

About Gianna Volpe

Gianna Volpe is a freelance multimedia reporter on the East End of Long Island and 2013's New York Press Association Rookie Reporters of the Year. She received her bachelor degree in journalism with an emphasis in photojournalism at the University of Missouri in 2010 and grew up at the foot of the Palisades in New Jersey, which overlook New York City. She now lives in Riverhead.

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Saturday, August 16, 2014

Post-Sandy aerial photo coverage

Slideshows

Sandy’s aftermath — a view from the sky

by The Suffolk Times |

11/03/2012 10:00 AM

Suffolk Times reporter Gianna Volpe took to the air Friday to document some of the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the shores of the North Fork, which was thankfully spared some of the more widespread destruction seen in other areas like the Rockaways and Long Beach.