Kern County Raceway looking good

A four-story tower that will feature luxury boxes overlooks grandstands that will seat more than 5,000 initially. I say initially because there's a lot of room for expansion.I ventured out to Kern County Raceway Park on Saturday to watch bits of a tire test and to check out the new speedway about 15 miles west of Bakersfield at Interstate 5 and Enos Lane. 

All I can say is "wow!" There's still a ton of work to be done before the official March opening but it was great to see and hear real race cars on track. You can see a lot more of the track in a related photo gallery. 

And here are two raw and low-fi videos of different late models testing Hoosier tires. Love the bark as drivers fight centrifigul force. 

Update on Monday, February 4, 2013 at 8:41 PM by Logan Molen

Mike Griffith, my compadre at The Bakersfield Californian, posted a nice video story on Saturday's tire testing, including interviews with drivers and some telling close-ups of tires hot off the cars. 

Quality livestreaming on the fly and on the cheap

My journalism degree is in both radio-TV and print but after graduation I quickly opted for the latter because I felt like I had a voice and personality better suited for newspapers. I still feel that way, but that didn't stop me from going out on a ledge and hosting a Bakersfield Californian experiment in live-streaming from Rabobank Arena on Sunday.

To mark the regular season home opener for the Bakersfield Condors, I hosted a series of live interviews with Condors management and fans, and Californian hockey beat writer Mike Griffith. We started streamling live via Ustream at 3:30 p.m. and wrapped up shortly before gametime at 5 p.m. 

The Californian has been doing a ton of live-streaming recently but this was our first webcast that involved a string of guests in a remote environment, expanded production techniques and a novice host. The three-camera set was part of a mobile "TV studio" that Louis Amestoy, The Californian's digital convergence editor, put together to enable us to produce TV-quality broadcasts from remote locations. And yes, the total package -- three HD videocameras, Mac laptop, lights, tripods, mikes, switching software, rolling cases and more -- cost less than $10,000. 

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Talking Alan Tandy and Bill Lagattuta on 'Californian Radio'

On this episode of "Californian Radio," I talk with Californian reporter Antonie Boessenkool about her detailed profile of Bakersfield City Manager Alan Tandy. The profile was a great read and Antonie adds some great detail on why Tandy is such a fascinating subject. 

The show closes with a segment with former CBS News reporter turned artist Bill Lagattuta, who has a show opening at Metro Galleries this Friday.

You can also find an Mp3 version of this episode at bakersfield.com.