Foti Kallergis' Blog

LOCAL TRANSIT UNION VOTES TO STRIKE

 (This is a poster that I saw at the Transit Union Headquarters in Southeast Austin.)

Last night, hundreds of union members decided to strike down Captial Metro's final offer and strike.

The vote doesn't mean that bus drivers will leave their jobs anytime soon. It just gives the President of the Union, Jay Wyatt, the authority to call for a strike in the event Captial Metro denies a plan to go back to the drawing board.

Captial Metro has offered union members a 10 percent increase in pay over the next three years along with a $1,000 bonus. Here's the problem. Union members say the bonus is before taxes and the 10 percent raise would be over 2 1/2 years since negotiations have been ongoing. The biggest point of contention is the health benefits package. Union members said yesterday they want lower premiums and co-pays.

There's also been talk that Cap Met bus drivers are among the highest paid in Texas. An article I read claimed some drivers and mechanics can make up to $90,000 a year (with overtime.) The union president said that's completely false. He asked members to raise their hand if they make $90,000 a year. No one did, but everyone in the room laughed. 

One things for sure, if a strike does happen, get ready to walk.

Give me your thoughts.

 

It's always difficult to cover stories like this one.  A teenager and two of his friends were trying to swim across Lake Travis and got hit by a boat. Now, clearly you're never supposed to swim in the middle of the lake where all the boats travel, but in Lake Travis, boats aren't just in the middle of the lake... they're everywhere. This could happen anywhere in the lake.
The teenager who was injured is Stefan Bogdanich,15. His left foot was sliced in half up to his ankle. His right foot was mangled in the boats propellor. He's had 3 surgeries to put his feet back together. 
Stefan was swimming from Lago Vista to Pace Bend Park. He and three of his friends reached a lake marker in the water, and rested up for second. That's when a boat came speeding by. The teenagers dove deep into the water to avoid the boats, but Stefan didn't go deep enough. His feet got caught in the propellor. The boat didn't stop.
The family needs your help in finding the boat. Stefan says the boat is white with a red stripe. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, whose investigating the case, says the boat is a 30-40 foot long cigarette boat. 
A family friend is offering a $1000 reward to information that leads investigators to finding the boat.

Daniel Eveleth lost his gun on Monday. It was found at the bottom of a metal slide at the Metropolitan Park at Slaughter Creek...three hours later.

Austin Police announced today the officer's K-9 may have unlocked his gun holster which caused the loaded glock to slip out while Eveleth sat on the slide.

Eveleth was at the park at the end of his shift to give his K-9 some fresh air and exercise.  The Department also announced today the gun holsters, which strap on to an officer's thigh-- will not be used by officers in the K-9 unit.

One BIG question... how did he not notice his gun dropped and how did he not notice it was missing once he got home and took off his gun holster?  No real explanation from APD.

What do you think????

JAIL BREAK CAUGHT ON CAMERA

On Thursday, 21-year-old Jose Guerra was arrested in Gillespie County on supervised release violation. (He originally served time in Federal jail for smuggling drugs in Del Rio.)

While in handcuffs, deputies say he spit on them, tried to bite them and even head-butted one officer. So, after he was booked in, they placed him in time out... in a restraining chair.

The chair is like nothing else I've ever seen. It has four seat belt type straps. Two that go across your chest, one across your lap and another across your feet.  (all of the The chair also has arm and leg cuffs that are pulled back to you can't move.   I asked the jailer to put me in the chair so I can have a better understanding on how Guerra got out.  If you saw the story... I could barely move.  I don't know how he got out. 

It took only 25 seconds for him to escape. 

If you haven't seen the story... check it out on the homepage or under the news tab.

IT'S A BOY!
...and his name is NOT Nick.

If you've seen the My Big Fat Greek Wedding, then you know Greek people love to name their children Nick. I have at least 4 Nicks in my family.

The newest addition to my family is Vasilis (Va-silly)- after my father. I call him silly Vasili... He's about a month new and he's adorable. He's my brother Kostas' first born.
Kostas says Vasili loves to sleep when people come over. But he's no match for Uncle Foti. I had to wake him up, and he was not happy...until he saw me for the first time.

WHERE WAS SECURITY?

That's the million dollar question still 4 days after the Governor's mansion caught fire early Sunday morning.

DPS troopers are assigned to security detail at the mansion. Up to this point, DPS is keeping its lips sealed saying if they reveal any info, it could compromise future security.

What do you think?

Just before I was about to undergo hair transplant surgery, executive producer Chris Walker gave me a present... a Homer Simpson Chia Pet.

After my surgery, I followed the instructions and planted the seeds. I made a joke that my hair would grow faster than his. I was wrong, kind of.


This is Homer now. The front of his hair NEVER grew in. Having undergone the surgery, I decided to help him out.



I am the surgeon. He's my patient. My mask is on and my scissors are sharp. It's time for the harvest.



Then, the transplant.



It only took about a minute for Homer... It took about 8 hours for me. But the result is pretty good.

BALD ISN'T ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL

Not everyone has a head that's shaped for a clean shave. Before I got my first job in TV, I tried it. And that's when I noticed that the top of my head comes to a weird point.  Luckily, it all grew back before I was hired.

I have to admit, since I've gotten into the news business, I've notice my hair has been falling out at a faster rate. Call it stress or call it genetics. My twin brother Mario is completely bald now. We are 27 years old.

I had the hair transplant surgery because I felt bad about how I looked...not only in the mirror and but on camera. I've become really depressed and obsessed about it. 

So why did I decide to get the surgery done in front of the public? One, because it's hard to hide, but most importantly, I wanted to make men feel like it's okay to be open about being bald.  Men don't like talking about their thinning hairline or bald heads.  They don't like pointing it out.  

I hope we (men and women) can become more open about it.  And if the surgery isn't your calling, then maybe the series can help lead all of us towards acceptance.

Oscar Makes Me Love Trash

HILLARY CLINTON IS REALLY A MINI-MAN

Tonight was my first time at the Austin Music Awards, and I had a blast. I had a chance to talk to the guys from Jolly Garogers. They were dressed as pirates and were so funny.

I also interviewed two guys who were the opening act for Jolly Garogers. They were dressed up like ninja pirates. They performed a live sword fight for all the folks who tunned into our live web cast. What some of you might not have seen... one of the guys punched the other in the throat, then stomach and finally, with out warning, in his package...not once but twice!!!  Ouch. I told him he wasn't going to be able to have kids. I'm not sure if this guy even had balls.  It seemed not to phase him.  WOW.

The big winner tonight was Spoon. And no, we didn't get to spoon with them. I'm not even sure they made it to the awards show. They must have arrived late or something. Anyways, they received 6 awards. Impressive.

If you went to the awards show, share your story with me.  I look forward to reading it.

Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay

I had a chance to preview the movie on Friday. I can't stop thinking about it. It was perhaps the funniest movie I have seen in a long time. The movie is a sequal to the first; but this time around it better.

I also had a chance to sit down with Kal Penn (Kumar) , John Cho (Harold) and Neil Patrick Harris, who plays himself.  It was one of the most interesting interviews I've ever experienced. The guys were funny, but it was difficult for me to get any questions out since they were engaged in a conversation with themselves. Mind you, I only had five minutes to interview them.  So time was ticking away and they just felt like visiting with themselves instead of answering questions.  In the end, there was a few bits that were usable.

Second Skin

I saw the documentary Friday night. I was amazed on how many people are addicted to internet games. The documentary followed a handfull of people; some found love through the games while others fell to the darkside of the gaming world. One gamer became so addicted that he wanted to kill himself, lost his home, and life. He also gained a lot of weight and became depressed. And when he stopped playing the games, his life turned around for the better, but his brother also became addicted and gained lots of weight as well.

I didn't know this but there is a group called gamers annonymous. The women runs it was featured in the film; her son committed suicide after she say he found out a gamer he became involved with was a man instead of a woman.

Austin's Bioware was also featured in the film.  This might be one we follow up on.

Films to Look Out For:

Nerdcore Rising- about the underground world of Nerd Hip Hop. Stars rap sensation MC Font-A -Lot, and Weird Al Yankovich.

Run Fatboy Run- Stars Simon Peg ( Hot Fuzz), Thandie Newton and Nank Azaria. It's about a guy who keeps running from relationships. I know lots of people like that.

Beautiful Losers- 1st time film-maker Arron Rose chronciles the lives of a group of underground artists who are on the rise.  An insperational film. It took about six years to film this documentary and 700 hours of footage to condense into an 80 minute movie.

 ....more coming soon.

 

Please post your favs.

 

 

A SEMI-PRO INTERVIEW WITH WILL FERRELL

As you all know from my last post, I had a chance to interview the great Will Ferrell. I was one of the last reporters in line to interview him and could tell that he was getting worn out. Will was also battling a cold, but needless to say he still delivered.

We talked about his new movie which is loosely based on a re,

You can catch the full interview with Will Ferrell and my story this Friday right here on MyFoxAustin.com.

GET A TASTE OF WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A CELEB.

The company is called Celeb 4 a Day.  And they get paid to harass, stalk and flash bright lights in your face.  If you haven't seen the story, here's the link.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?
contentId=5758484&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VST
Y&pageId=1.1.1

Is this something you would purchase?  One of my co-workers, who shall remain nameless said it's sad that someone has to pay to feel special. I say that's not what it's really about. I compare it to getting a limo for a special event or birthday party. 

What do you think??? 

ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW WITH WILL FERRELL

Semi- Pro is his new comedy, and on February 16th, Funnyman Will Ferrell will be in town to promote his movie. I have been chosen by my AWESOME New Director to have a one on one interview with Will.  I'm so excited; I have trouble sleeping at night. But I have to keep my cool when I meet him.

I want to devote a portion of my 7 minute interview to ask Will viewer questions. Please submit them below. Don't forget to include your name, age and city with your question.  Remember it's Will Ferrell, so anything pretty much goes.

I will pick the best questions to ask him. You will be see Will's interview in full when it's made available on myfoxaustin.com.

Here's a trailer of his new movie. It's going to be real funny.  By the way, Semi-Pro opens up Feb. 29th. I'm going to a private screening Feb. 11th!!!