Things THIS Radio announcer is getting tired of hearing.

There are many things in life that tend to rub people the wrong way. For the most part, we as the human race remain respectful and polite about these kinds of things. (Yes radical extremists are another story, but for day to day life; I would say people are pretty good about it) However, everyone has a top ten, and mine usually revolve around my career. So; here’s a list of things I (and probably a few other of my fellow Radio peeps) are tired of hearing.

10. I’ve always wanted to get into radio!

Lets face it. You haven’t ALWAYS wanted to get into radio. You were once the confused high school student with no idea what you wanted to be when you “grow up.” Now, this isn’t the worst I’ve heard; in fact, radio is amazing and a fun experience. I encourage people to peruse it as a career, but don’t lie to your younger self, come on; you probably wanted to be a super hero once.

9. So are you like, Napanee famous?

Well, I guess so, if this is what famous is. My biggest fans are my family, which doesn’t make me the next Howard Stern or Dean Blundell… Most of the time, if I hear this or someone says “you’re famous” I’m kind of shocked, because I always wanted to be famous when I was younger. But to me, radio is my career, I love it, but I don’t feel famous.

8. “You said it was going to be nice outside today! Its (raining, snowing, crappy out ect…)

No. The internet told you that because, guess where I get my info? I don’t make the weather, I don’t control it. Mother nature does, and sometimes shes in a bad mood. If there’s a 40% chance of bad weather, it can swing either way.

7. “Have you ever considered working for (insert station here)”

Yes. No. Possibly. Right now I’m still pretty new at radio in general. It’s a tough industry and can be hard to find employment unless you’re willing to pack up and move. Some companies are hard to get in to and require more experience than I have. Right, now, I’m perfectly okay with working where I do. Home.

6. “So do you know (insert name here) He/She works in Radio too?”

Chances are I don’t know who you’re talking about on a personal level. More or less I’m sure I’ve heard OF them, maybe even shook their hand once. But do I call them up on a Saturday and ask them to make plans? No.

5. “Well, you’ve got a face for radio.”

Let me stop you right there. This is SO insulting! I get it. Not everyone is a hot bombshell of a human being. Some people aren’t outwardly GORGEOUS, but looks aren’t what got me this job. It was my personality. Also, when someone says this to me, it really hurts. As a young child I wanted to be an actress SOOOO bad. Then you grow up ad realize you don’t have the hair, body, personality, skills ect… But to blatantly tell someone they’re ugly, even in fun, can dig deep. You never know when you’re crushing someones dreams.

4. I’m a disk jockey too, think I could get a job at your station?

Probably not. We follow a certain format and you don’t get to decide what music you play. This is not a “do your own thing” industry. Anyone with some money and space could go out, buy the equipment and call themselves a “DJ” In my industry, we are called announcers. News announcers, morning announcers, afternoon announcers, over night hosts…. If you really want a job, apply here, check postings, see if we have an opening. But don’t think that because you can spin disk’s means you’re entitled to a job in the radio industry.

3. So can I get some free advertising for my event?

That’s not my department. If your event is for charity or helps out more than just yourself I will probably do a news story on it. That’s a small free-be. But if you’re looking to seriously advertise your business or event you’re hosting, you have to put some money into it if you really want results.

2. I could do your job easily.

Excuse me?? I’ve been working in my news field for 3 years and I still have a hard time. My job is more than just reading the news. It’s preparing it, hunting down those stories, editing, perfecting my craft, being able to speak to people outside the office. Plus, live on locations means needing to improvise on the spot or take very little detail and turn in into something exciting all while keeping it under 2 minutes. But there’s more to that as well. Cut-in’s are Minute to a Minute and a half, you need to be able to fill a minute, but not go over. Some events are doing a lot in one day, not every break can you talk about it all. My job takes skills, skills that some people don’t have. but by all means, come on in here and DO my job for me, use these programs like you know everything, no please, go ahead, I’ll give you some help when you need it.

1. “There’s no money in Radio, you should get out while you can”

I chose radio because it’s something I’m good at, something that I’m interested in and something I’m passionate about. This isn’t just my job, it’s my passion and my career. I LOVE this job! I don’t sit at my desk all day waiting to go home, most days there aren’t enough hours to do everything I want to get done. I chose radio because it’s what I want to do. Not for the money. But for myself, and that’s all that should matter.

Welcome to Easter 2014

Easter^{[nb 1]} (Old English Ēostre; Latin: Pascha; Greek Πάσχα Paskha, the latter two derived from Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎ Pesaḥ^[4]) is aChristian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.^[5][6] Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter )

Now, I’m not of religious views, so when I was a child Easter was about a big rabbit who invaded your home and left candy everywhere. Then the family would gather around for large meals (usually brunch) or a fancy dinner and just enjoy what the Easter Bunny brought us. Talk, and have family time. But I’ve noticed something that disturbs me greatly, and that is the materialization of goods at Easter.

Just like Christmas, Easter is becoming about how much money you can spend on your children or grand children. I saw a post on Facebook where a woman said she had spent $200 on her child already (sounds like she’s going to be spending more) I agree, children have needs; new clothes for spring, maybe a new bike, new shoes, but there should be a reasonable amount or even an average that people spend on their children for Easter. Holiday’s are a great time to disguise NEEDS as gifts, but when do we draw the line? These uncertain economic times, with gas prices soaring, heating and water bills increasing, people swimming in debt (every year getting worse and worse) wouldn’t people be trying to SAVE their money?

All in all, Easter has (like Christmas) lost it’s true meaning over the years. Generations trying to compensate for what they never had? Trying to “be the parent you mother/father wasn’t”? Whatever it is, it’s unfortunate to see either the religious or family aspect of this holiday disappear, and become just another money grab. 

YouTube to host first ever music awards!

Driving in the car yesterday I overheard one of the morning announcers mention that YouTube will be hosting a music awards show that will stream live from NYC on November 3rd. This sounded epic! YouTube was once a place for people to post home videos, watch celebrity music vids and vlog for themselves and friends. But where is YouTube today? Now you can find international celebrities who found their fame through YouTube. For instance, Justin Beiber. But now their pulling out the big guns. Taking after the VMA’s you can tune into the YouTube channel to watch a live broadcast of these awards. Stars like Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Eminem, Miley Cyrus and several YouTube sensations will be attending this event to promote it. Hopefully it gets enough buzz to continue into next year. I’m going to post a link to an article about it below so you can check out more details about what’s happening and when it’s happening. But I’m pretty excited for this.

http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/youtube-music-awards-nominees-announced-1200749352/

The Walking Dead: what works, what doesn’t

 

Zombies have been and still remain a craze among this generation. From movies and books to board games and action figures, zombies have gone from something cheesy and unrealistic to something that has potential to exist, thus making them something to fear. The AMC hit series “The Walking Dead” which is based off a series of graphic novels really captures the realness behind a zombie apocalypse. The show follows Rick Grimes, an ex cop (only because most of the world is dead) who is not only trying to keep himself alive but his family as well. His family becomes more than just his wife and son however. As they continue trying to survive in a world where the dead eat you and a single bite can turn you, they cross paths with many characters both they and you as an audience come to love. Maybe it’s Rick’s officer of the law instinct, but he wants to make sure everyone makes it out of this alive.

Now, time for me to give the show a bit of a drilling. I will start with the negative things I have to say about the show, because I will leave here happier if I end with the positive. First off, some of the characters in the show were NOT in the books. Now, I like Daryl, I really do. In fact if he had been in the books, rock on! Secondly, Andrea sucks compared to her comic book alter-ego (as I will call it) she pretends she’s strong, she fakes being good at handling herself, she’s mouthy and a bit of a know it all and to top it all off she sleeps around with the bad guys. Andrea in the comic book is a natural sniper, super awesome chick who is not afraid to take a bullet and at least she was sleeping with one of the good guys. I don’t understand why the directors of the show would choose to make Andrea’s character so opposite to comic Andrea. For those who read the comic books and had to wittiness the horrid Andrea on screen I sympathize with you. Andrea was a character I was looking forward to seeing but was only met with disappointment. My final negative point (because I just want to add my top three) is that the directors are straying from the plot of the graphic novels. There are some entire episodes in the series that didn’t happen or have any relativity to the comic books at all. I know this is to keep the show unpredictable and to keep it going, because even I know that they would be out of scripts and story line if they were sticking directly to the book (they can only write the series so fast.) But when the show strays too far from the book I lose interest in the show all together and almost stop watching it. The show has some dry parts that aren’t necessary but time to move on to happier things!

I will say I love the show despite the negative things I had to say about it. The show really captures fear. The fear that all you have is time, and it’s only borrowed. You can’t say “I will do it tomorrow” with a definite tone in your voice because you may not be alive tomorrow. You realize that the threat is much worse than just zombies. Starvation, dehydration, hypothermia; all deadly and all very real in this show. No electricity means no refrigeration. Food is running out, animals are becoming sparse it’s not easy surviving when you so heavily relied on technology before hand. I admire that the show captures both the physical threat of the un-dead but also throws in your face the reality that there is no food and people need to eat. The directors and script writers hit the nail on the head with a few of the characters as well; Rick, Glenn, Carl, Maggie, Dale, Shane and Michonne were all portrayed (in my mind) exactly as they appear in the comic book. I suppose that’s good acting for you. And of course, I have to mention special effects and makeup! Well done makeup team! There are so many extras in this show and all of them receive zombie-esk makeup with the dark eyes, rotting mouths and flesh and of course blood. But there are a few zombies that take highlight and require hours of makeup application just to get a 5 minute shot. Visual effects are good, you can still see green screen highlights of zombie kills but if someone is boot stomping a zombie’s brains then it’s everywhere. You get the picture. 

So although I have some disappointments with the television series, it’s still really good! And I tried not to spoil too much about the show in case some are watching or reading or want to get into the series (well maybe Andrea a bit.) I will remain a die hard fan of the books since I read them first and still continue to read them. But the show brings to life what I read on a page, is well put together and for the most part very well acted. So cheers to The Walking Dead for gaining my respect and the respect of other zombie and si-fi fans alike! 

Lafarge 40th anniversary a huge success!

It was called many names; birthday, anniversary, open house, party but that’s not the point. The Lafarge cement plant just outside the city of Bath Ontario made waves (and more cement) on it’s 40th anniversary open house. I was working for the radio station that day. We had been asked to cover the celebration, play music do some live cut-ins and announce certain highlights of the day. Even though myFM arrived an hour before the official start of the day, it was already really busy. Demonstrations being set up, registration, the BBQ already cooking hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages. Volunteers setting up tables, preparing for the big day. My job was to take pictures of the event and do some on air interviews with important people like CEO’s, managers and special guests. The event itself was very family oriented; with games and crafts for the kids, giveaways, bus tours around the plant, hands on activities, free lunch, coloring and much, much more. Special guests that arrived had feathers, fur and of course skin. Earth Rangers brought their feathered and furred friends to the celebration to help educate the kids on wildlife. Animals like a bald eagle, red tailed hawk and a Lynx were part of the entourage of creatures. A main highlight of the birthday bash was HGTV star Brian Beaumler, a renovation and home improvement specialist from shows like Disaster DIY, Brain’s house and Leave it to Brian. The lunch line was busy from 10:30 until the speeches started at 1, as well as bus tours around the factory. By 1pm everyone (hopefully) had their name in the big draw that was happening later and were seated and silenced listening to the ‘Thanks’ from Lafarge employees. There was a small one-on-one with Brian and by 1:40 it was time for the big draw! Now, I can’t remember their names unfortunately but those winners walked away with $20 Timmies gift cards, fishing gear, a KOBE e-reader, an Xbox, and Ipad mini and an Ipad. So those were some hefty prizes that had been provided by Lafarge.

But what really made this day such a success? It was the participation of the community. Those who came out and supported Lafarge, who took their families out for the day and showed great appreciation for what Lafarge was providing them with; food, information and a great family day outing. The only thing that could have made it any better is if Santa could have been there. But he was probably busy.

 

 

 

Being Defiant over Definitely and Defiantly

Okay, here’s the deal, I can’t spell definitely without the help of spell correct or a dictionary. I feel the constant need to place an “a” or an “i” that’s not needed. But when spell correct picks up defiantly instead of definitely; oh that makes me mad! When writing dialogue I’m not deliberately going to write “Yes, I defiantly want a piece of cake!” It’s like I’m angrily accepting the piece of cake… or perhaps I shouldn’t be eating the cake, but it’s all about the context. It’s one of those words that; even when I sound it out it comes out DEF-IN-ANT-LY but then spell check comes in with it’s little red line and Definitely isn’t even an option! Come on! Phonetically, DEF-IN-ANT-LY sounds and looks like how it should be spelled. But nooooo DEF-IN-IT-E-LY! Where did that “E” come from?! Not that it’s a hard fix, I could use techniques that I have learned throughout the years; but I have become so reliant on spell check that when I go into default mode when it comes to spelling the “D” word, I have to spell it 3 different, incorrect ways in order to come up with Definitely! To me, it doesn’t look right. Working and writing phonetically has its advantages and disadvantages, but for me mostly disadvantages (tying back into relying on spell check) I guess with this being so direct towards both the words that seem to defy phonetic logic I will now know how to spell definitely. I love solving my own problems! So now that definitely is forever ground into my brain, I just have to figure out how to spell defiantly without the aid of spell check. And yes, I will definitely have that piece of cake now!