We want to update you on one of the stories that ran last weekend... the cautionary tale of where you should NOT "go."

iReporter Eric Bower emailed to report the latest on the story behind a video he originally uploaded to us in April. Security camera footage of a man caught in the act of urinating into a car's gas tank. Eric's wife's car's gas tank. Well, the young man has had his day in court.

Eric sent us a "clipping" from his local newspaper that said the 19 year old was ordered to pay over $700 in fines and another $515 to the Bowers to cover the cost of "flushing out the gas tank."

Does anyone else find it funny that the process in which urine is removed from a gas tank is called "flushing?"

The paper went on to quote the urinator as he left the courtroom with his mother, "I made a terrible mistake and I am ashamed of myself." Mom wrote the checks, by the way.

If you are still asking yourself, "But WHY did he pee into a gas tank?" According to the paper his blood alcohol level was "more than twice the legal limit for drivers." So that MAY have had something to do with it.

I know there is a moral to this story somewhere... If you can think of one feel free to leave it in the comments.

Now then... this coming weekend's show is just starting to come together. Amongst all the other goodness we have planned, we're going to take you big wave tow-surfing (REALLY BIG), introduce you to a headless/homeless robot, and show you why it is NOT a good idea to lead police on a high speed pursuit while naked. I can also safely say that this show will be urine-free. At least it is for now. Things could change.

Two of us on the "News To Me" team took this last week off. The world of 24/7 news makes it tough to take vacations. As Apu the owner of the Kwik-e-Mart on "The Simpsons" once remarked, "This store is open 24 hours a day. It puts great demands on my time!"

The Headline News "store" also never locks it's doors... so when some of us are M.I.A. the rest of us on "News To Me" have to work a little harder and in some unusual capacities in order to get a show on the air. For example: writers become producers, producers become editors, Eric becomes the coffee boy (cream and two sugars please).

Lucky for us we also have YOU on staff to help pick up the slack... we are overloaded with YOUR videos this weekend. Check out how much stuff came from iReporters in this weekend's show on the next page »

As the Web Producer for "News to Me," I like to think I’m up on "webby stuff" and "viral video." A couple weeks ago, I stumbled across what I thought was insane video of an office worker having a total meltdown. I mean, I’ve seen videos of workers gone postal before, but this one was PRIME. I passed it along to the “News to Me” staff, thinking it might work for the show. After all, I figured... it’s video, it’s viral. Should work, right?

James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie are shown in a scene from the Universal Pictures film "Wanted."

Imagine my surprise (read: embarrassment) a week later, when Coordinating Producer Mike Kane forwarded our team a press release hot off the wire that read:

Music Clip for 'Office Meltdown' Video – Revealed as a Commercial for Film WANTED With Jolie and McAvoy

Turns out, I’d been had! Thankfully, the staff did their research. Check out the video for yourself, and let me know what you think. Would you have known it was a fake, or would you have been fooled right along with me?

Read the full press release »

Producer Grayson asked me an interesting question… first he asked, "why don’t you blog more often?" I couldn't find a way to answer this other than I am real lazy when it comes to assignments. Then he asked me, "what do you think about when you run?"

Now, for those who cant tell from my girlish figure, I run all the time (at least I did, until my heart starting having this freak out thing). I really enjoy running. Why? Because I do my best work while sweating to REM blasting on my iPod. I think about the show, how to improve it, how to make it more entertaining for you. Most of all, I think about how can I get my face in more places… on sides of buses, in Times Square… or maybe I should lower my expectations and just get someone to recognize me in the street (but if you know me, you know I could care less about that). Here are some thoughts that I actually wrote down while running:

I hope my heart keeps beating…

How much I really enjoy the outdoors.

How much I have enjoyed ThePioneerWoman.com…and the story we did.

How this global warming thing is a crock.

How to tell REM (my friends) that they need to go back and listen to Murmur.

Theexplodingwhale.com

My MySpace photo. (check it out)

How I lost thought #8 by seeing a beautiful female runner pass me by…

How can I get more people to watch?

What is the meaning of life?

My friend Dave Aguar. (he passed away recently)

Will the UGA Bulldogs go #1 in pre-season polls?

Who will win the British Open? (I know it will not be Tiger)

"News To Me" airing in the next hour, the 9:30 PM ET one…

Sweat

And finally, Isn't life great?

A pretty lame title for a blog posting, huh? Sorry, no predictions on gas prices, elections or pennant races... I just want to share a few things the NTM team are "efforting"... as they say in this biz (I had never heard that dumb expression until I started working in TV newsland).

In the crystal ball...
"The Reel Geezers"
These two octogenarian film buffs are fast becoming YouTube superstars. Their movie reviews are blunt, biting and often right on the money. We'll be talking to them in the coming weeks.

"Big Wave Surfing"
We caught up with world famous "Glacier Surfer" Garrett McNamara for more thrills. He'll show us how he uses the web to track the world's gnarliest waves in real time.

Also, he will eat it, repeatedly... and then show us his scars.

"Meet the iReporters"
Tapping the collective power of regular folks armed with cameras is a no-brainer, but no other news organization is doing it this well and, frankly, COULDN'T do it this well without smart, dependable citizen journalists. We'll get inside the heads of our emerging "Superstar iReporters."

That's all for now... oh... and the Yankees will crumble in August.

See you this weekend.

Ian's life is officially for sale. Kyle is trading the Red Paperclip house. How iReport.com made one man's cubicle famous. "The Redneck Mommy" has an ear ache. PLUS...

Those are News To Me's resident EMMY® Award winners in the pic above! Combined, Eric and Teague took home 4 statuettes from the 2008 Southeast Regional EMMY® Awards for their work on "TBS STORY/line" on Saturday Night here in Atlanta. Eric was so thrilled about winning (again!) that he just could not hold back his affection for the camera!

Actually that shot was taken a few hours before the awards were handed out. We were way down yonder on the Chattahoochee River being devoured by invisible biting insects and shooting Eric's parts of the show that will air in two weeks. Our vision for this scene was a black and white, kind of artsy, Fellini-style thing... but it turned into more of a really twisted version of Christopher Walkin's Saturday Night Live character "The Continental." Complete with Eric's creepy and bad French accent. You'll get to see how it all comes together on July 5th and 6th.

But what about Ian and the Red Paperclip house and the cubicle? keep reading »

You LIKE US, you REALLY like us! Thanks to y'all, last weekend, "News To Me" had its best ratings since moving to prime time! Needless to say, we're pretty happy about that. Apparently Eric's fan told some friends to watch, and then they told some friends and so on and so on and so on...

In an effort to keep that ratings ball rollin' we worked overtime to put together an even better half hour of YOUR stories, YOUR pictures and YOUR videos for this weekend.

Being the "active viewers" that you are we know you want MORE, NOW! OK. The links to most of the stories we featured on this weekends show are on the next page. click here for the full list

*UPDATE* We have chosen a winner for this Caption This contest and plan to announce his or her name and his or her winning caption on the July 12th and 13th show. So comments are closed for this one... BUT keep your eyes peeled for your next chance to be witty... it's coming soon!

First things first... congratulations to Jessica who came up with the winning caption for our last "Caption This" contest. A "News To Me" t-shirt will be on its way to her soon!

Now, there was a lot of discussion 'round the vast "News To Me" headquarters last week as to whether our new "Caption This" picture (above) is a Photoshop fake... it ain't. It was taken by iReporter Mon Enriquez earlier this month in the Zurich Central Train station. These bigger than life footballers were built to promote the UEFA EURO 2008™ Football (soccer) Tournament which is taking place through June 29th in Austria and Switzerland.

So how would you caption this photo? Here's a really lame one to get you started:
"Sheesh... I knew Soccer was big in Europe, but I had no idea HOW BIG!"

Click the "Add a comment" button below give us your best caption and it may be featured on an upcoming edition of "News To Me!"

Here's some more info on the display on the next page

There are two faces that work very hard behind the scenes at "News To Me." One you know... and one you'll recognize if you've been paying attention to some of our behind the scenes photos here on the blog. Eric Lanford and Teague Kennedy.

Eric is of course the host of "News To Me," but he also puts in LONG hours behind the scenes collecting and cataloging video, writing, and overseeing a good portion of the music you hear on the show.

Teague is a producer, editor, cameraman, writer and the main "B.S." detector for "News To Me." Nearly everything on the show is in some way touched by Teague every week.

You can probably guess that "News To Me" is not the first show these two have worked on. In fact, both guys have a long history at Turner Broadcasting and during that time they've been recognized by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their work. This year is no exception.

Both Teague and Eric are nominated for Emmy® Awards for their work on the show "TBS STORY/line." The show is no longer on the air but it (like everything now a days) lives on on the internet here: tbsstoryline.com. Click the "Lighter Side" tab there for a glimpse at some of the award winning teamwork between Eric and Teague.

If you are a fan of "News To Me" it's really interesting to look at the pieces they worked on together at TBS STORY/line. Teague's camerawork "style" really stands out, and you can easily see how that loose yet active look has crossed over to "News To Me." Eric's ease on camera, and his ability to connect with the people he talks to (rehearsed or not) comes through loud and clear too... which of course you'll also recognize on "News To Me."

The 2008 Southeast Regional EMMY® Awards presentation show is this Saturday night here in Atlanta. Eric is up for 6, and Teague is up for 2 for their work on TBS STORY/line. We wish them both luck and remind them to smile and applaud nicely even if their names aren't in the envelopes. After all, it's an honor just to be nominated. Nah, no nicey-nice... bring those statues home guys!

"News To Me" first brought you this story a few months ago. Aussie Ian Usher is selling his life, his WHOLE life... lock, stock and shrimp on the barbie on eBay. His house and all the furnishings, his vehicles, even his friends and his job! Ian emailed us this morning to give us the "head's up" that the auction will begin at midday this Sunday, June 22nd.

Click the video above to take a trip back to April 2008 when Eric sat down with CNN.com/live anchor Nicole Lapin to talk about Ian and his plans.

Note: Jump ahead to 2:21 in the clip to skip Nicole and Eric's witty banter.

Ian seems pretty excited about his upcoming auction. In fact if you happen to be in the Wellard Suburb of Perth in Western Australia this weekend Ian tells us that he is, "having a 'home open' on Saturday 21st June at 1pm to 3pm, for anyone who wishes to view the property, the day before the auction begins."

Visit Ian's site at alife4sale.com or check out his eBay page (just an advert for now, the auction does not begin until midday on Sunday the 22nd) to find out all the details and to register to bid.

We've asked Ian to be a guest on "News To Me" once the auction is over... stay tuned!