March 29, 2013

I was very much looking forward to seeing one of the members from Wu-Tang www.wutang-corp.com/ clan last night. Unfortunately for Raekwon, he was in an accident in Connecticut, on his way to Bangor, Maine to preform. Fortunately for me, the show will be on Saturday!

I really wanted to go to Club Tantrum to see him perform, but I was not keen on the idea that I would be up late, and  a long day of classes beginning at eight o'clock the next morning, which happens to be today!

I was with my friend Sean, who was the one whom made this show happen, while I was helping him get some last minute things ready, he got a call that the performer had to postpone due to transportation issues. While Sean and some of our other friends weren't happy about this, I on the other hand, was jumping for joy inside when my friend told me the date it would be rescheduled!

Sadly (for him), when my friend hung up the phone, he told us that it would be rescheduled for this Saturday. In my head I'm thinking great, I have no class and I have no plans! Yes, it's Easter Eve, and I have a very early church service but it's not as if I haven't been tired at church before. After that one hour of worship, my brain doesn't really even need to function! This ultimately works out very well for me, I'm sure you can tell! Not that I wish one of my favorite artists any misfortune by getting in an accident!

If you don't have your ticket yet, I've heard of some floating around!

 You don't wanna miss this!!

Oh, and Happy Easter and Happy Weekend!

As4MS Benefit Concert

Don't forget to get your tickets for the 2013 AS4MS sponsored by WHSN www.whsn-fm.com and The MS Society (Multiple Sclerosis)www.nationmssociety.org. It's the 10th Annual benefit concert that the station and The MS Society is putting on. Tickets are $10 and one hundred percent of the profit will go to the New England MS Society, and help people living with MS. You can purchase tickets at all Bullmoose Music locations. Tickets will also be sold on the night of the show at the door for the same price.

The Acoustic showcase is on Friday, April 5 and it starts at 8pm with great music by, The Other Bones www.Theotherbones.bandcamp.com/, Dustin Saucier Dustinsaucier.bandcamp.com/,  Beach The Whale BeachTheWhale.bandcamp.com/,  and The Box Tiger  The Boxtiger.bandcamp.com/!!

It will be a great show, so come help the MS society and WHSN raise money to help those living with MS. You'll be helping a great cause and helping your ear!

Tomorrow Morning!

If you remember a couple weeks ago, that I talked about  my friend Adam Babcock's band, well the name of it, since I was having a memory cramp is Tomorrow morning! www.reverbnation.com/TomorrowMorning. This is some great music that everybody should check out! I recently went to their show,(and they play most nights of the week at different venues across the state-YOU CAN'T MISS THEM) at Mainely Brew's! They are amazing! The most exciting part about his band, for me is that I got to play their songs on WHSN 89.3 www.whsn-fm.com during my radio shift. I logged on to Facebook before I played him to let him know and he immediately signed on, thanked me and turned into WHSN 89.3 to hear his voice through the air-waves. It made me feel great to help a friend out and get his music some air play! I know that he was forever grateful. 100.3 WKIT is also playing Tomorrow morning, so make sure you give them a listen. You have no excuse since you have the direct link right here in this blog post. I promise you wont regret it!!

North Carolina

This week's on air shift went pretty well. I feel that I am getting more comfortable with reading my newscast! Definitely a lot less stumbling over my words. I just need to get more comfortable connecting with listeners. I'm not there yet, but certainly getting there. www.whsn-fm.com

For some reason I just feel award, talking about the music on HSN. It's not the type of music that I know a lot about. If I was working at a rap/r&b station, I would be set. My future goal is to go back to Charlotte, NC after graduation. I am friends with a few people who work at my favorite station, which is Power 98 97.9 WPEG in Charlotte. www.power98fm.cbslocal.com I'm pretty sure that is where I will be doing my intern in a year and a half. I've been to the station a few times, and it seems like such a great place to work. My best friend Kristin's roommate works for the station, so it would be so convenient for me to intern their on my last semester here at NESCom, in hopes that they would hire me when I graduate. I'm praying that if they know that I'm doing my intern then just have to go back home for graduation, that they would hire me as a paying employee, because regardless, I'm moving back there!!!

I miss my friends their so much, and it's been so long since i've seen them. There is nothing for me here in the great state of Maine, even though I grew up here and have lived here for what seems life an eternity, there's nothing going on here for me except family and school. Luckily, my parents are going to move to Raleigh, North Carolina where my brother and his family live so there will be no reason to have to come back here. No more getting home sick because i'm too far away to drive home!!

Power 98 Dj Competition

Every spring, I start to miss my life and friends down south, and it started again this morning. I am getting a lot closer to accomplishing my goals, and that is huge for me with everything that I have gone through in the last ten years. This time when I move back, there will be no more, "I wanna go back to Maine," because I have learned how much I really dislike this state. Now that I am finally finishing my education, and getting my life in order I am getting really excited for the next phase in life!

10th Annual AS4MS

Support the 10th Annual AS4MS!! Tickets are on sale at BullMoose! Only ten dollars!

Saturday April 5, WHSN and the National MS society will be hosting the annual AS4MS benefit concert for muscular sclerosis. It's only ten dollars for tickets and there will be great bands all evening long. The ten dollars goes to people battling with MS in Maine. Everybody know's somebody who is living with MS, or MS took someone that you loved. www.Whsn-fm.com

For me, this is a very special event and I do it to honor a friend that I had for many, many years. I am also doing the walk for MS, if anyone would like to sponsor me, or give a donation to the cause. It's my way to remember Nick and earn money in hopes that it will help the researchers someday find a cure, so maybe you wont have to lose that special friend in the future, you never know what will happen in a lifetime.

I had a dear friend named Nick, and MS took his life. Growing up, he was athletic. He played lots of sports, hockey was his passion. It wasn't until after graduating high school and shooting around with friends on the ice one day, his legs started to feel wobbly. After some progression, and weak muscles he went to the doctors. Nick later found out that he was one of the people living with MS. His illness progressed very quickly, and it was very sad to watch him have to give up things that he loved because he could no longer do them.

I was pretty close with Nick growing up. A few years after graduating high school, I started dating Nick's brother Aaron, so Nick became like another brother to me. Aaron and Nick were very close and it really hurt Aaron to watch his brother go through this. He watched him try and fail at things that he could do with out even thinking about before the doctor told him those dread words.

Aaron began going to the local bars more often, and drinking very heavily as Nick got worse. I would go with Aaron sometimes, because he would drink to the point of stupidness, or until he fell off a bar stool or punched someone, so I would take my turn watching over him. Other times, I would stay home with Nick and have a beer with him and play cards because being wheelchair bound it was hard to make your way through the pub and the weekend high school reunion type get together's that could be found at the popular bars in my town. I didn't want Nick to feel like nobody wanted to hangout with him, even though he knew deep down that he was loved by many, many people. He understood that people wanted to socialize and mingle as they we young adults.

I spent many Friday and Saturday nights with Nick playing cards and watching hockey. I also tried to get as many people to come over on the weekends or whenever they had time instead of going out because Nick liked to have a good time too, but was limited to where he could go. Most people kept him entertained and most of the time he had company. Even if he didn't have anyone, he wouldn't have held any resentments. He dealt with MS in a way that makes you feel honored to be friends with him.

Nick knew that he didn't have much more time with his family and friends. It was hard to see him progressively get worse. Near the end I didn't see Nick as much because I was living away when he passed away. Nick died from complications from treatment.  Aaron and I had gone our separate ways and I was in North Carolina in 2011 when he went. The news was still shocking and hit me hard, but deep down I knew that he wasn't suffering anymore. I have a few things of Nick's, especially some books. At certain times of the year I read them to remember!

I hope that after hearing about the courageous, kind, enthusiastic person he was, and all the other wonderful people out there that unfortunately have to go through the same thing, that you will help this cause in whatever way suits you. You could contact Mark Nason to join the walk, sponsor someone already doing it, or spend ten dollars for the AS4MS benefit concert on Friday, April 5th at the Gracie Theater!

The Nightly News

                       The Nightly News

This week's air shift went pretty well, despite not feeling well. I had my eyes dilated earlier in the day so it was hard to see to read my newscast. I felt that the copy of my newscast was all jumbled. The more I read and get more comfortable with my newscast the better I am getting. It's also a good feeling when my broadcast teacher comes in almost after every shift and tells me that I have a natural radio voice and I am doing so well!! That obviously gives me the encouragement I need!

When I started my educational career here at NESCom, I knew that I wanted to do Radio. Then after two semesters, I thought hey, maybe I want to have some connection to Journalism, now knowing exactly what I wanted to do. So now I am almost halfway through my time here at NESCom and I think that I want to do Radio News!

I should have known as a small child when I looked forward to watching Tom Browkow at the age of five. I don't know how many little girls put down their dolls to watch the evening national news with their fathers! It was the highlight of my days. I got to spend time with my father, while he talked to me like I was an adult and I had absolutely no idea what he was saying but I pretended like I did just the same.

Then as I got older, the radio was something that I couldn't live without. I spent countless hours everyday just listening to the radio daydreaming. I must have lived in a fairytale land most winters (because that was the only time that I sat home, except for the 3 swim practices I had daily) Ok, I guess even then I didn't sit home often, but when I was home bet your bottom dollar that I did have the radio on. Then when I got older, it was buying CD's every tuesday when they were released. but I always missed that human element of listening to the broadcaster. The commercials is probably what led me to the very expensive CD collection that was my hobby for most of my twenties.

Looking back, I can see why I have made the recent choices that I have made to pursue a career in Radio News. I never knew that sitting on the couch with my dad would influence my decision to change majors for the the 3rd time since I began college at 19 years old. Why did I ever think that I wanted to be an accountant??