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Consumer Reporter Lim Leaves WFLA To Take Time Off For Herself, She Says

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2007

Victoria Lim's Blog

Victoria Lim is taking a break from the newsroom.

The 38-year-old consumer reporter has been a professional journalist since she was 17.

"I want to take some time off for myself," she said Friday, her last day at WFLA, Channel 8.

There were tears and laughter, cake and applause as co-workers said farewell.

Station officials wanted to renew her contract, but she was determined to leave.

She said that she wasn't leaving town and may do so part-time or freelance work here in the future. Her immediate plans include visiting relatives on the West Coast.

As the senior consumer investigative reporter, Lim has helped viewers solve problems. She exposed shams and scams. She also won local, regional and national awards.

She also wrote a consumer column for The Tampa Tribune.

Lim joined WFLA in May 1997, coming from WWMT-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before that, she worked at WNS-TV in New Castle, Del., and she has worked at several other television and radio stations since beginning her career in broadcasting.

A graduate of Temple University, Lim holds a bachelor of arts degree in radio-TV and film, and she is a gifted pianist, having performed once with the Hernando Symphony Orchestra.

Lim says she probably will return to journalism one day because she enjoys the work.

WAR GAMES: Most of us have seen or heard about people who dress up in Confederate or Union uniforms for Civil War re-enactments.

But what about people who dress in medieval armor to wage mythical battles with fake swords, maces and spears?

That happens a little at Renaissance festivals, but those who participate in Darkon kick up the role-playing a notch or two.

Darkon involves several hundred people (mostly 16- to 25-year-old males) who spend a couple of weekends every month engaging in full-contact war games.

This unusual hobby is the subject of "Darkon," a fascinating documentary debuting at 9 tonight on the Independent Film Channel (IFC).

Filmmakers Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer originally set out to make a documentary about people who are fanatical about Dungeons and Dragons when he stumbled upon the Darkon players.

His documentary follows Darkon devotees who live in the Baltimore area. The group was started in 1985, and players gather at school grounds, parks and ball fields to do battle. There are a few female players, too.

To play, participants must create original characters, many of which appear to be inspired by Conan the Barbarian, "Braveheart," "Lord of the Rings" and even the knights in King Arthur's Roundtable. Players fight on teams called "countries." They vie to conquer "land" on a map of an imaginary realm.

Those who fall in battle "die" for 12 minutes. The "weapons" are padded and inspected to minimize injuries. They create elaborate stories about their fictional kingdoms.

Although it would be easy to make fun of all this, Neel treats the game and the players with respect as he attempts to get past the "look at these kooks" aspect of the story.

"Everybody wants to be a hero, and in everyday life, most of the time you don't get to," says one of the players. "Most people either spend their time not doing anything or being a victim, and when you're a player character in pretty much any game, you control your fate."

Indeed, the game seems to build self-esteem for some of the players who toil away at mundane jobs on assembly lines or as office drones or servers in restaurants. On the weekends, they can become fierce warriors, brave heroes and clever rogues.

One man says the game allows him to experience things he couldn't do in the real world (such as clobbering your enemies with a mace). He says his role helped him become an effective manager in his office job.

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