Thanksgiving Day Parade 2010

Behind the scenes at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

At a time when most people are still warm and asleep in their beds, my dad and I were headed to 34th Street and Herald Square in Manhattan for the 84th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday.It was almost pitch black when we left, but the sky began to lighten up as we traveled in our cab on Fifth Avenue.

We got out on 36th Street and walked over to Broadway with a crowd of other early risers, all anxious to get the holiday season under way. With a flash of my press pass to a police officer, we were on 34th Street in no time. As soon as we were ready, my dad took out his camera and I started my video report just as the sun was rising.

The scene on 34th Street was at first more busy than noisy, but as soon as NBC Today Show anchors Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieria arrived, it got really noisy with rehearsals and even more hectic than before.

People began to arrive for the parade and the grandstands soon were packed with spectators. We nabbed our own seats with about an hour to go until the parade began.

As we were waiting, I looked over to another part of the grandstands where I sat last year to do my video report. With almost five minutes to go, people started handing out rainbow colored confetti to throw. I couldn’t wait for the parade to start!

The cheerleaders who kick off the parade got into position, a nervous but excited look on their faces. As the parade began and I started my video report, a cloud of rainbow-colored confetti whirled in the air, landing in my hair. I did my best with all the craziness around me and managed to do it all in only two takes.

As the parade moved along, I especially checked out the clowns. I knew the best clowns would be the Pool Hall Clowns—one of which was my mom!

The parade was packed with giant balloons, clowns, marching bands and more, but the best is always saved for last. Santa Claus arrived in his sleigh at the Macy’s store in Herald Square amidst a whirl of white confetti. Happy Holidays!

—Alexis Wiseman

VIDEO: Kid Reporter Alex Wiseman's Thanksgiving Day parade report from 34th and Herald Square in New York City. (Video Courtesy Alexis Wiseman)

Find Finkle for a Fun Read

 Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher/Release Date: Scholastic Press; 1 edition/March 16, 2010

Number of Pages: 240

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out by Meg Cabot is a fun and enjoyable book that all girls can relate to. This book is filled with drama on every page—you won’t want to stop reading it.

Allie and her friends are back in the fifth book in the series on a new adventure that takes Allie on a journey to find who her true friends are.

Allie’s mom is the movie reviewer on a local news show called Good News! The mother of Allie’s ex-friend Brittney calls her mom to talk about the show. She also invites Allie to Brittney’s birthday and Allie wants to go. The problem is, her friend Erica’s sister is in a baton twirling competition on the same day at the same time and it is important for her to be there.

Allie has a big decision to make: she could either tell Brittney she can't make it or come up with a big lie to tell her friends about why she couldn’t come to the baton twirling competition.

I really enjoyed this part because it made me think about what I would do if I were in Allie’s situation. Her mom told her a little about what the party was going to be like—they were going to ride in a limo! Allie didn’t want to miss out on the fun, but she didn’t want to lie to her friends either.

I really enjoyed all of the different personalities in this book. Along with Allie (who tries to stick to her book of rules), you’ll meet her friend, Erica (who is always trying to look at the positive side of things), and Brittney (who is always bossy), and many more!

I wanted to read this book because I’ve read the other books in series and really enjoyed them. I can always relate to Allie and her situations. When I read any book in the series, I feel like I’m Allie’s best friend. I can relate her relationships with her friends to my relationships with my friends.

As I came closer to the end of the book, I wished I hadn’t been reading so fast. I would recommend Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out as a great book for anyone who loves a fun book and a relatable story.

—By Alexis Wiseman

PHOTOS: (TOP) Cover Courtesy Scholastic (BOTTOM) Kid Reporter Alexis Wiseman in her favorite reading chair. (Photo Courtesy Alexis Wiseman)

Shrek Forever After

At the premiere for Shrek's final chapter.

It was a rainy night in New York City as my dad and I ran to the red—I mean GREEN!—carpet for the premiere of the new Shrek movie, Shrek Forever After.

As we walked inside the media tent, we were given special press passes and directed to our spot on the carpet. I caught my breath and started filming my video report.

It was a very hectic event, but there was also a lot of waiting around for the celebrities as they made their way down the carpet, stopping to talk to different reporters along the way.

Filming the video report was a lot of fun, but the best part was meeting the stars. This was no time for being nervous!

Before the stars of Shrek: Forever After arrived, other celebrities who came to see the movie arrived. Donald Fasion, the star of one of my favorite movies, Big Fat Liar, stopped to say hello. He was so excited that I knew and loved his movie, he gave me a hug!

The stars of Shrek began to make their way soon after. First was Cameron Diaz, the voice of Fiona. She was very nice and let me ask all of my questions. She treated me with a lot of respect and I really enjoyed talking with her. When you see her in the interview, you can see that she’s a very nice down-to-earth person.

The next big name was Eddie Murphy, the voice of Donkey. Unlike Donkey’s voice, Mr. Murphy’s real voice was so much softer and calmer. It was really exciting to talk to so many famous people in one night.

I’ll never forget my ‘green carpet’ experience and even though it’s all over I am still excited just thinking about covering the Shrek Forever After premier.

—Alexis Wiseman

PHOTO: Eddie Murphy, the voice of Donkey, with Kid Reporter Alexis Wiseman at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Shrek Forever After. (Photo Courtesy Alexis Wiseman)

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Behind-the-scenes at the season's signature parade.

The sun was just starting to rise when my dad and I hopped out of our taxi on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street on Thanksgiving Day. We went from dark to day when we walked onto the NBC broadcast set where Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer were getting ready to announce the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

I was the only reporter who got to interview the Today Show hosts right before the parade! I felt so excited. I still can’t believe that I met them. They were so nice and easy to talk with. Check out the video above!

The scene on 34th Street was really hectic, with police cars trolling up and down the street, stagehands running around with last minute fixes, and rehearsals under way before the sun even came up. I walked in front of the cast from the Broadway revival of Hair! as they prepared for their performance.

After dozens of floats and giant helium balloons, the parade came to an end with the final float—the sleigh carrying Santa Claus. It was a picture-perfect winter wonderland moment with white confetti flying everywhere. I felt like all of the brightly colored paper landed in my hair. By the time we left, there must have been five different colors and shapes of confetti littering the ground.

The Santa Claus float stayed in front of the grandstand as people began to leave, so we followed them onto the street. It was almost like we were walking in the parade! People were still in the stands, throwing confetti and screaming with excitement.

After getting up at 5 a.m., interviewing stars like Matt and Meredith, and covering the two-hour-long parade, I was exhausted. But there was still a story to write, as well as this blog! Hope you enjoy them both.

—Alexis Wiseman

Cloudy Meatballs: Book vs. Movie

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs—the book and the movie—are ingenious tall tales with lots of action. Which do you prefer?

Learning about the movie version of one of my favorite books, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, turned out to be a day of fun in candy land. Recently, I attended a press day for the movie at one of the biggest candy stores in New York City: Dylan’s Candy Bar!

One of the best parts was getting to load up my gift bucket with all the free candy I could cram in. And then there was the chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, and pretzels. AND the miniature teeny tiny hot dogs, hamburgers, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum!

The most bizarre give-away had to be the movie-themed bacon-flavored chocolate bar. Several people told me it tasted terrible, so I saved room for my favorites and left the chocolate bar to my dad.

More to the point, reporters were given copies of the book and video games based on the book. The day before we watched the 3-D version of the movie. Each medium very different with different things to draw in the reader, watcher, or player.

It all started with a 30-year-old book of the same name about food falling from the sky. Both the directors of the movie and the author and illustrator of the book were all on hand to talk to the press.

Making the children’s picture book into a feature-length movie was no easy task. While the book took two years to write and illustrate, the movie took six years!

For one thing, a feature-length movie needed more elements than the book offered. The story in the book is a tall-tale narrated by a grandfather and his two grandchildren. There are no main characters driving the events of the small town of Chewandswallow. The weather in the form of falling food is the main character.

The movie, however, is full of colorful characters, all trying to do something to help their town. None of them fully succeed in being good at what they want to do, until….well, you’ll just have to watch! But will you read the story first? I promise it won't spoil the movie.

Both mediums tell fun and interesting stories that are definitely related, but they are two very different experiences. I began to wonder: which do I prefer?

With so many books now being made into movies, is it better to just watch the movie and save your reading time for books that you can’t see in two hours? Or does reading the book help enhance the experience of the movie?

I know if it’s not done well, a movie can ruin the story in a good book! What’s your favorite book made into a movie? And which do you prefer? Click on the blue comment button below and tell us what you think!

—Alexis Wiseman

PHOTO: Kid Reporter Alexis Wiseman tries out the chocolate fountain at Dylan's Candy Bar at the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs press day in New York in September. Photo by Suzanne Freeman