Tornado Week on The Weather Channel

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." If Dorothy Gayle lived in Greensburg today, the Emerald City wouldn't be the only green town she'd be seeing in the wake of a Kansas tornado.

It's that season again, twister time. And if you missed The Weather Channel's Tornado Week, the last week of February, it's not too late. "When Weather Changed History: Greentown," the show Dug worked on, aired as part of the Tornado Week line up. But you can still see the full episode here.

9th Annual Polar Plunge Chicago--Bikini Girls in a Blizzard

Chicago winters breed hardy souls and they were out en mass for the 2009 Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Chicago and Special Children's Charities. As temperatures hovered in the low teens and gusts of snow blew sideways, over 1,500 people donned everything from bikini's to winter coats to take the plunge into the icy waters of Lake Michigan.
Windy City Rollers Derby Girls could still outpace Cubs fans in a snowstorm any day.


Police and Fire dive teams were on hand in dry suits. The entrants were more colorfully, but less warmly dressed. Drownings weren't a big risk in the shallow water, but all rescue workers were trained in treatments for hypothermia and possible heart attacks. To prepare for The Polar Plunge, rescue teams practiced relay maneuvers to carry a victim from the water to an ambulance. Four men would take the board at a time and swap out with fresh runners half way up the beach in order to make the best time.

Chicago Park District employees drove two end loaders back and forth through the water to break the ice and keep an open area of water for people to jump into. Despite the giant Slurpee consistency of the lake, a playfulness permeated the event.

Entrants got creative with the costume contest including a well crewed yellow submarine and a plethora of Vikings and Nuns. Even Santa in sunglasses and the Statue of Liberty were sighted.

Daddy's a Ghost Buster--A & E's Paranormal Cops Now Shooting in Chicago

A&E, or "The Death Channel", as our friend Dave L. fondly dubbed it, is alive and well in these tough economic times. For the next several months Dug is shooting Paranormal Cops around Chicago and the burbs. It seems that people still love to see those worse off than they are, like the recently murdered and those not resting in peace.

The Live Feed featured a posting including this fun graphic, and most of the articles about the show are playing off the Ghostbusters themes, ala "Who ya gonna call? How 'bout 911." They're even resuscitating the infamous line "I ain't afraid a no ghosts."

Despite all the teasing, Paranormal Cops is taking the shoot very seriously. They operate with four real police officers, two tech assistants and a medium who can communicate with the spirits and translate. Here's the official press release . Their tag line is "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

The cast and crew are working 3 day weeks including brutally long Wednesday night shoots from roughly 4PM to 4AM with E.S.P.--(Extra Superheavy Packsofgear). I can't spoil any info about specific episode content, until that info is made public, but we'll update as more info becomes available.

Happy Holidays Outtakes

Happy holidays and apologies for the long delay in updating this blog. I had a novel to write and Dug's been too busy workin' to give me a rundown on TV land. Here are a few "making of" shots from the Dug Production Sound 2008 holiday card.





I promise a giant recap of Dug's exploits from October through December including show pilots, divers in a blizzard, missing persons, dead bodies and behind the scenes in the Bears locker room (sorry, no hot photos, girls). May 2009 bring prosperity and change and be everything you hope it will be.