There are a lot of reasons why we don’t shoot "News To Me" in a studio.

For one: Eric is allergic to teleprompters. It’s a rare allergy, but it can be quite debilitating. Especially for someone who makes their living as a TV presenter.

Two: Inside a TV studio there are a lot more of US than there are of YOU, and the "News To Me" motto is, "YOU shoot it, we show it." So we steer clear of the climate controlled sound stages and get out into the elements, where YOU are.

For this weekend's show we blurred those lines just a little. We shot Eric’s "on camera" stuff all around CNN Center here in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Some of us refer to CNN Center as "The Mothership" because it’s home to CNN (of course), CNN International, CNN en Espanol, CNN Radio, CNN.com, the Airport Network, the Inside CNN Studio Tour and HLN – the home of "News To Me."

The Inside CNN Studio Tour is a behind the scenes tour of the Global Headquarters of CNN and it is VERY popular. In the shot above you see Eric with Kat who brought her parents (visiting from England) to take the tour that also includes a look at the newsroom and studios of HLN. Little did Kat (or her parents) know that before the day was over she would actually end up ON HLN!

It’s not hard to find a bridge in Atlanta... a lot of the city is actually built a few stories above the ground in order to leave passages open for the freight trains that rumble through all day long.

Cameraman/writer/editor/Activia-eater Teague is a master at making something as mundane as this concrete bridge belly interesting ... see if you can spot the shot he’s shooting above in the show tomorrow!

What's going on here? Three little words: I dare you.

OK... Eric didn't really lick that graffiti-covered support pillar in the parking deck. Or did he? Find out if he's immune to the Norwalk virus this weekend on "News To Me!"

Almost exactly one year ago I was in Beijing on vacation. It is one of the most electric and exciting places I have ever been. I've never been anywhere else in the world where science fiction and ancient history come together like they do in China. That juxtaposition is exactly what led to some of the most spectacular video in "News To Me" this weekend.

During my visit the Chinese were celebrating the beginning of the year of the Rat, and from our high rise hotel room my partner and I could see fireworks going off all over the city. Not "official" displays, just happy Beijingers setting off high powered pyrotechnics on their own, in the streets, in front of their apartment buildings. Explosion after explosion echoed off the concrete and glass walls of the buildings all around us. Beijing's notoriously hazy air seemed to amplify the light so that each explosion lit up the entire city. Underneath it all, the constant crackle of firecrackers. This went on all night. It was joyous and we loved it, but I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this safe?"

"The Chinese INVENTED fireworks and they've been using them to celebrate happy occasions for millennia, they know what they're doing," I reassured myself. "You are just being a typical overcautious American."

One of the highlights of my trip was seeing the massive construction site where the two buildings that will soon house the government run China Central Television Network are being built. The complex includes the gravity defying, Möbius strip of a skyscraper that some have dubbed "The Big Pants" and second structure that they call "The Boot". Together these two Blade Runner-esque towers equal an investment of over $700 million!

Fast forward 12 months...

It's still not completely clear why or how, but earlier this week on the final night of celebrations to ring in the new year of the Ox, some China Central Television employees took advantage of the fact that neither "the big pants" nor "the boot" is occupied yet and set off what are being officially described as "firecrackers" between the two buildings. Those "firecrackers" somehow started a massive blaze that completely engulfed "the boot" in flames. iReporter Fred Rice called it a "Towering Inferno."

Incredibly, given the restricted nature of information coming from inside China, the spirit of citizen journalism filled the crowds who gathered to watch the blaze. Reports of a massive fire in the Central Business District started POURING into iReport.com. Henry Hanks and other iReport producers began to send out emails to HLN and CNN staffers containing links to the incredible pictures and video. I was shocked at how easily information was flowing from a country that is notoriously tight lipped when it comes to disseminating bad news. In fact, as it turns out, iReporters provided coverage of the fire even before some Chinese news outlets did!

Big thanks to ireporters Fred Rice, James Marks, Ant Yeung, Chad Moore, Ray Ally and everyone else who sent in pics and video from the scene.

Catch "News To Me" tonight on HLN to see their work on the air!

During the 5 days leading up to our shoot on location in Historic Roswell, it had been colder than Vladivostok at Christmas here in Georgia!

Happily for us, whatever God, Saint or diabolical secret government project in charge of controlling the weather decided it was time to cut the "News To Me" crew some slack that day. No clouds, no wind, highs in the upper 60's. Gorgeous!

All that sunshine and the springy temperatures coinciding with Valentine's Day clearly had an effect on Eric. Take a look at some of the objects of his affection... on the next page. »

"News To Me" hit the Las Vegas strip for the show this weekend! What better backdrop for a show about citizen journalism than a city where everyone has a story?

Speaking of stories Eric has some DOOZIES to tell this weekend on "News To Me." He'll introduce you to an idea man in search of a man with a plan, take us behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and into the world's largest gadget convention! It's our version of a splashy Las Vegas show... except it's free and Eric won't be wearing a sequined jumpsuit. At least not for the whole show...

More pics from our shoot on the strip after the jump »

Howdy! Eric here, fresh from Vegas!

What a wild week it was for me! Let me first start off by saying, "Wow, where has the year gone already?" I am almost ready to turn the magic number of 38 years old in February. More on that later.

Anyway... back in November I was asked to be the HLN reporter for the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. What an honor! However I was not 100% prepared for the experience at hand... until I got there.

The plane ride there got me started. I used to be afraid of flying, but through all my travels on small jets and big 'uns... [my fear of flying] has subsided for the most part. BUT, the "unexpected turbulence" I experienced on the jet from Atlanta to Las Vegas, got me a little off... (never been on a plane where people screamed and had to use the "magic bags" in the seat pockets - usually this happens on the plane ride HOME from Vegas). But we made it through.

Believe it or not this was my first time to Sin City... and for someone like me who doesn't gamble it was a shocker.

We arrived and immediately began our treasure hunt of the latest gee-whiz-wowzers-techno-gizmos. From the moment we landed to the time we took off again, we worked the floors of this 1.7 MILLION square foot trade show. I made friends, I made people mad - it's what I do. BUT I got the stories HLN wanted - what is hot, what is not. Thanks to Ashley Preskar, and Paul Chase for editing all the pieces, Dan Wright for everything and Ferre Dollar and Eric Yanak for making it all look and sound good... a great crew.

See below for the ERIC LANFORD "what's hot and what's not" list for CES:

HOT:
3-D TV: is a'comin' but you will have to wear those geeky glasses.
Touch Screens: EVERYTHING will be touchy feely soon... I mean everything.
Convergence: ONE device that does everything.
Really small computers: really small, but yet you can still type.
Remoteless TV's: Do it all with your hand, not remote.
Vegas: Need I say more?

NOT:
Flat TVs: They are getting much thinner...trust me...like paper thin.
WebTV: Didn't see much about this, is it still a viable thing?
Vegas: Man, everything costs...I mean everything...

I could go on and on, but they limit me on the blog.* In summary, I had a great time and it got me back to my roots of having fun with people and showcasing my personality (and yes, I do have one).

That's all for now... see you on the "tech-side!"
-Eric

"News To Me" will come to you from Las Vegas next weekend! Including much more from CES!

*Editor's Note: It's not that Eric is being "limited" from the blog, it's more like YOU (the reader) are being "protected" from Eric.

Jeopardy, the actual TV game show Jeopardy, shot several episodes here at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. You won't see the shows on TV until March, but you can take a video tour of the set with Eric right here, right now! Click the picture above to go behind the scenes and get a view of the stage that only Alex Trebek and the contestants usually get to see!

It's online right now at CNN.com!

A lot of the products being unveiled at CES this year are prototypes. They work, but they're not going to be on the shelf at Best Buy for a while. One of the most talked about items and one of the most closely guarded is the cell phone watch from LG. Eric is one of the few people at CES who actually got a chance to try it on and seen it in action! Even though it's much larger than a standard wrist watch it's not SO bulky that it stands out, and the touchscreen interface is very slick. It probably will not replace your Rolex but your calculator watch has met it's match!

Speaking of bulky things that you wear, this is the latest in underwater photography fashion. Meet the scuba mask/HD video camera/lighting rig combination! It's from Liquid Image and I'm certain the video it records looks much cooler than the person wearing it.

Coming up... a special behind the scenes video of the new Jeopardy Game Show set that debuted at CES this weekend!

Here's the answer: The Signaling Button.

The Question? What is Eric Lanford not allowed to touch!

Here at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, HLN, CNN, CNN International and CNN.com are based in the Central Hall. The workspace is basically a large office cube except with much higher walls and a second story. Want to take a look? "News To Me" host Eric Lanford will be happy to escort you on a tour. No credentials necessary!

Watch the video on CNN.com »

Left to right: "News To Me" host Eric Lanford & CNN Photojournalist Ferre Dollar at the CES.

Maybe it fell between the cushions, maybe you left it in the other room, maybe your dog thought it was a new chew toy... at one time or another we have all found ourselves looking for a lost remote control. Or even worse, finding out that your remote has used up all the juice in it's batteries. You'd think we'd learn to keep AAA's on hand for such an occasion, but we never do.

Well, the folks at Hitachi have come up with a solution to both these problems: get rid of the remote! It's not quite ready for prime time, but devices that you can control with a wave of your hand or a twirl of your finger are on the horizon. To change the channel, swipe your hand left to right in the air a few feet away from the TV. Adjust the volume by pointing at the screen and twirling your finger, like you are spinning an imaginary ipod clickwheel. This particular demonstration included a "home automation" feature that will (someday) allow you to change the lighting or even the temperature in your home with just a gesture.

At the Gesture Tek booth across the convention hall, Eric used a similar system to play a driving game. No special accessories required, he just "gripped" a virtual steering wheel in the air in front of the game monitor and drove. Yes, the car in the game was totaled several times, but it was still cool!

You can catch Eric demonstrating the Hitachi system from the floor of the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today on Morning Express with Robin Meade!

Left to right: Eric Lanford: host of "News To Me," Brian Cooley: CNET.com, CNN Cameraman Leon Jobe

Brian Cooley from CNET.com dropped in to give Eric a lesson on how to live in "The Cloud." Connectivity is a big buzzword here at C.E.S. It's a convoluted word that alludes to the fact that soon everything, absolutely everything, will be connected to the internet. "The Cloud" is the ultimate in connectivity... it's an invisible bubble where people are already starting to store all their files so that all that data is accessible anywhere and everywhere.

Brian showed us four new gizmos that are already using a lot of the media that lives in "The Cloud", taking connectivity to the next level:

- Linksys by Cisco Director – wireless music player and touchscreen remote.

- The Dual XNAV 43 HD gives you both GPS mapping AND HD radio plus tons of other info at your fingertips.

- The Asus Eee T91 is a tiny notebook computer, that turns into a tablet computer... inside is a GPS antenna, TV tuner AND FM transmitter! See convergence! Lots of different utilities in one "do-everything" package.

- Samsung Internet-connected Blu-Ray Player which opens up a world of streaming video AND DVD extras.

We'll see you bright an early tomorrow on Morning Express with more from C.E.S. and we'll see you this weekend for an all new episode of "News To Me" on HLN!