BrandonRittiman.com

Cam the Ram in TV ad for question 2C. (Source: A Smart Deal for Denver) It flashes by so quickly, most TV viewers in Colorado might not give it a second thought. Cam the Ram, the mascot for Colorado State University athletics, appears on screen for two seconds of a 30-second political ad asking voters to vote in favor of extending a tourism tax to benefit the area around the National Western Stock Show complex. He's there because CSU stands to gain a new Agricultural facility as part of the master plan that ballot question 2C would help to fund. While working on a Truth Test of the ad for 9NEWS on Monday, I wondered how it came to be that CSU would participate in a political ad this way. In similar circumstances, local school district officials are loathe to appear as though they are campaigning in favor of bond issue questions, even if they think the measures are vital. So, we asked CSU what made it okay to use Cam on camera. "In August, the CSU

A presumably normal woman, blowing marijuana smoke. (Image: DPA) After celebrating some victories on the ballot, marijuana advocates have another issue to blunt: They want pot to be seen as a substance that normal, everyday people do. Which is what sparked a new high in pro-marijuana public relations. I give you: the marijuana b-roll project. Put this in your pipe and smoke it: Yes, the puns in this post are on purpose. This is all supposed to be in good fun. B-roll is TV shorthand for footage that can be shown while somebody talks. The Drug Policy Alliance is (fairly, I think) sick of, in their words: "watching cheesy b-roll footage of textbook stoners for every television news story about marijuana." What they offered is an amusing, too-perfect collection of 21 clips of people buying and using marijuana-- which brings back fond memories of the infamous " we got that broll " YouTube sketch: 1. He's helping, but looks like grandma's teach

It's a question I keep getting in some form as the Aurora theater trial crawls forward: "what's it like in there?" As I write this we are in week 3 of what's anticipated to be a 4-5 month long mass-murder trial, so large in scope that it can be hard to grasp. This case has more victims of attempted murder (those wounded in the July 2012 shooting) than there are seats in the courtroom. Countless others are touched by the loss of the 12 people who died as a result of the attack. The truth is... there just isn't a simple answer to the question of what it's like to cover this trial. There are many moments in which I feel like I'm on a 1,000-mile long moving walkway: this thing is moving, but I can't even imagine being near the end yet. There are other moments that I know I'll remember for the rest of my life. I can't even begin to fathom what it's like to have lost a person to an attack like this, but I do get glimpses. Insid

Rep. Klingenschmitt reaches the end of his song. You never know what you're going to get when you show up to the Colorado legislature. On a snowy February Thursday morning, business got underway in the state House of Representatives with an original song. Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R-Colorado Springs,) who arrived in the legislature as a polarizing figure , belted out a motion to start up business for the day to the tune of "Yesterday" by the Beatles. Just watch it: If you find yourself inspired, here are the lyrics so you can sing at home: