#rbd109

My favourite YouTube channel is a toss-up between RoosterTeeth and the vlogbrothers Hank and John Green. The two channels are totally different, so I'll give a little insight as to why I like each of them.

vlogbrothers - I love the vlogbrothers channels, because Hank and John post every week or so, sometimes more often, and they talk about all sorts of different stuff! It's literally either Hank or John sitting in a chair and talking to a camera/their audience about whatever is going on at the moment. They've sparked a whole following, the Nerdfighters, and their online shop and etc DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome) with all sorts of cool and nerdy stuff. John Green is also one of my favourite authors, coincidentally. The vlogs started as a sort of communication line between the brothers while they were apart, and they kept it up as they started gaining more followers. There are all sorts of topics, and actually, a lot of them are fairly educational, because they have this need to keep the public informed and smart. So that's cool.

RoosterTeeth - The RoosterTeeth community is full of complete video game nerds. They've got their videos and their podcasts, and all sorts of stuff in between. They make their image on being completely silly and ridiculous, and fun. I love binge-watching them when I've got nothing else to do, and just listening to them interact with each other (which usually involves swearing at each other and making fun of each other.) and listening to them tell stories about whatever is going on at the moment.

So for today's topic, I've been instructed to write about my favourite podcast.  Since I don't really subscribe to any podcasts and have been drowning in assignments and work this past week, I've chosen to write about my new favourite podcast, "We the Black".

I realize that this blog post is going to sound extremely narcissistic considering that "We the Black" is the podcast that my friends Andriana, Justice, Tiana, and I created as an assignment for RBD-109.  So... in a way... this is "assignment inception" or as I have decided to coin it, "Assign-ception".

My experience in creating this podcast was awesome.  We picked the name, "We the Black" because all of us have some black roots in our heritage.  It has nothing to do with our content, but we thought it was comical.  Our subject is "People We Thought Would Be One-Hit Wonders, but Turned Out to Have Successful Careers".

In our episode, we talked about how we thought celebrities like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber initially came out with songs that didn't impress us.  We then went into how they released more popular songs that launched their careers and discussed how (occasionally) we were saddened by this fact... *cough* Bieber *cough*.

Overall, the experience was a lot of fun.  We all talked naturally, had amazing chemistry, and expressed ourselves in a fun and creative way.  Who knows... perhaps "We the Black" will continue to be a podcast?

I can't say that there are really many podcasts that I listen to, but one that I try to watch on a fairly regular basis is the RoosterTeeth podcast. 

RoosterTeeth is a gaming channel on YouTube (but of course you know that, Steve), with a bunch of really awesome stream paths. They've got a show dedicated to MineCraft, they have Michael's RageQuit series where he plays video games and freaks out over how stupid they are, they've got Achievement Hunter, their own new animated show RWBY, Immersion where they bring video games to real life, usually using Gavin and Michael as test subjects, and a couple others. Every week they also release the Achievement Hunter Weekly Update, and a podcast where they talk about stuff they've done on the show, stuff that's going on, new releases, play pranks on each other, etc. 

Howdy Tumblr.

Pardon my lack of focus, but a lack of sleep has left me with a fuzzy mind.  I had two really late shifts this past week at American Eagle which really threw off my sleep schedule.  And on the topic of minimum wage jobs that can (occasionally) drain you, I figured I'd share a gem from my previous workplace.

(The following story take place at a Canadian Tire in Burlington where I worked for several years as a cashier.)

The first Boxing Day I ever worked was a closing shift at CT.  They had me on as the last cashier to clock out, which meant that I had to wait after the store closed for the last stragglers to exit the store.  My final customers were an absolute nightmare.  The father reeked of pot and was so zoned out that he wouldn't make eye contact with me and refused to speak.  His wife barely spoke English and had insisted on purchasing some odd 30 Christmas ornaments that had been marked down to individually different prices.  Their grown son was incredibly undisciplined and loud.  I began their transaction with as much courtesy as a sixteen-year-old could muster while working overtime on Boxing Day.  As I scanned through their many ornaments, the lady would often stop me to tell me that a price was incorrect and demand (in the rudest tone) that I go with her to see the shelf prices myself.  Meanwhile, her awful son had taken it upon himself to open up a lollipop and start eating it.  This caused an argument with the lady who refused to pay for the lollipop (even after it had been in her son's mouth) and tried to wrap it back up and put it with the others without my noticing.  Eventually, my manager came to my rescue, told the lady off, and convinced her to pay my prices for her ornaments and lollipop.  After a lot of arguing, the customers left and I was allowed to leave.  But I got out an hour later than I was supposed to, had no time to go Boxing Day shopping, and was not paid overtime for my delay...

In short, Tumblr, minimum wage is pretty rough.

So my recent posts have been pretty light, I'd like to think that everything in my life is peachy keen, but after recent events, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret...

This week has been a rough one, which reassures me that I am human. I've been in a slum like this before, but this time it's taking longer to get out of it. Might be because I'm sleep deprived or maybe I just need to watch a compilation of sad soldiers coming home so I can have a good cry. All these things seem silly but if it works why not do it. The fact that I'm listening to Wanted by Hunter Hayes right now as I'm writing doesn't help, but man is he talented.

I've dealt with anxiety for a while now, but it has been especially prominent. This is super annoying considering the amount of work that we have due within the next couple of weeks and that the semester is coming to a close. Not to mention that with radio comes the difficulty of making sure all your audio is up to par and that you as a student know how to work with all the different type of editing software we are given. But I think it's important to talk about problems like anxiety. Wow I sound like a crazy person!

Now I don't want you to get depressed from reading this, so I apologize but I just needed to get some things off my chest... to make you feel better I've been really into finding pictures of cute animals so here's one that's been making me smile. If you enjoyed this you should follow BABY ANIMALS on twitter because they are constantly posting the best pictures of animals everyday that will definitely make you smile, or just make you feel warm inside.

The thing in the world I am most passionate about has always been music. Ever since I was a small kid, I've always had a deep love and appreciation for different types of music. My mom was (is) a top-40s kind of lady, with a little bit of rock here and there. My grandparents listened to reggae and R&B mostly, along with classical and opera from my grandma. My stepdad at the time was a huge metal fan. His parents liked country. To this day, country is the only genre I'm not all that fond of. But these early experiences shaped my listening habits. The music I enjoy and listen to. Obviously my taste has grown, changed and evolved since then, I listen to many different genres, but my roots always go back to those. 

By far, music is the absolute number one most important thing to me. It’s the one constant variable in life. No matter how much things change, and people leave, and it feels like your life is crumbling apart, music will always be the same. Once a song is released, it’s there forever. You can make remixes, and covers, but the original remains constant, unchanged. In a world of chaos and change, it’s nice to have something constant. Growing up, I moved around a lot. To date, I've moved 14 times. Because I never stayed in one place for very long, I found it hard to make friends and keep them. I had a hard time relating to other kids. Things in my life weren’t exactly stellar from the time I was really young until roughly two or three years ago. I dealt with a lot of things I didn't really understand, and feelings I couldn't name, place or understand, so I was in a dark place for a long time. I was, for the most part, very alone, or so I thought. I didn't really know anybody who could relate or help me cope with what I was going through. Music was pretty big in my life before that, because it always calmed me. But then I started to search for music to relate to how I was feeling. I found some artists and bands that sang about situations like the ones I was going through, and it helped me feel less alone and that somewhere, someone out there understood exactly how I was feeling. It gave me the strength to see through another day. And another. Until finally, it didn't feel like dragging myself along the ground anymore. It was less like simply surviving, and more like actually living. Music gave me a purpose in life, and it helped me really try to cope with my problems. I sought help from many different professionals, but none were as good as being able to come home at night and just write everything down in a song. That was my therapy. I think music has the power to change the world, starting with one fucked up kid at a time.

That's most definitely not to say that music isn't for everyone. You don't need to have problems to enjoy and appreciate music, that's just my personal experience with it. It's not something I particularly enjoy talking about, the things I went through. But they definitely gave me a deeper appreciation for the things I already had and loved. Namely, music. 

Where to begin... My name is Tori and I'm 20 years old, I enjoy donuts, pugs and long walks on the beach. Which is pretty evident if you scroll through my blog. My passions you ask... well radio, YouTube, and all social media, which is why this class is definitely something I am looking forward to.

How I became passionate about these things you may ask? Well it all started with YouTube about a year ago, I started off with no subscribers and just made weird videos for fun. Now I have a whopping...wait for it... 57 SUBSCRIBERS!!! Pretty sweet deal I know, and even though I don't have that many subscribers I still do it because it is something I love to do.

And this is how I discovered my love for radio.

Not just the announcing portion of it, but EVERYTHING. I enjoy the idea of getting to know people and now being in the Radio Broadcasting program for 2 months I've grasped that radio is all about the relationships you make. That you should never burn bridges and that communication is key, I mean it is radio, isn't it?

A little more about things I love about radio... well Marilyn Dennis, she's great. Everything she's done with her career and to represent women in radio is very inspirational and really makes me strive to be the best I can be.

SOCIAL MEDIA = LIFE ♥

My favourite type of social media other than YouTube which I spend most of my days on is Twitter. I am constantly tweeting and I feel like it's the easiest way to express myself on social media, even though there's a 140 character restriction. I think that's what makes me like it so much because of that restriction and people can't just rant for days about something I don't care about. I can simply scroll past and it's not a mass of text just taking up my screen, just like this mass of text you're reading right now.

Well I've reached my word count requirement and hands are now hurting, so I hope you got to know a little more about me and what I'm passionate about.

See you next week,

I was born in the great prairie province of Alberta in the capital city of Edmonton Sept. 26 1990.  After about 10 years of living there my family decided that it was time for a big change and we ended up here, in Toronto.  Not at first; I lived in Barrie for a year as well. Literally..a Year.  August 28, 2001 to August 28, 2002.  After moving to Brampton and attending high school and such, I tried my chances at Humber college twice( both times dropping out due to losing interest AND the issues of money.)  But now I’m back!  and this time with a burning desire to be everything I can possibly be in RADIO! BOOM!

I decided to get into radio..hold on…I don’t think I actually decided. I think the world decided that for me.  Everyone has always said that I have an amazing radio voice.  After ignoring it for years…I’ve finally realized that countless people were right about that.  Not to sound pompous.. but that’s not all I realized.  I realized that I truly and passionately love radio.  Besides my girlfriend and work, I’m always thinking of radio and doing things radio.  My life is becoming radio… and I absolutely love it.

I thought I always wanted to be a disk jockey like Dean Blundell or Howard Stern.  Turns out I’m more of a Cormack McSweeny type of dude.  News radio is where I want to be hopefully one day becoming part of The Electric Playground team out in Vancouver.

Nine weeks in and I have only found one issue being on this journey.  There is not enough time in my day to put in as much work as I really want to.  Although I feel I am doing well, I know I can be doing better. But it’s those DAMN time restrictions.  I’ll get over it eventually.