My First Halloween On-Air

Sorry to anyone included in this photo collage, I guess
you have learned an important lesson about taking photos
with me.

My stomach feels like an alien baby is trying to escape me. I have consumed more than my fair share of Halloween carbs today. 

This morning I woke up dreading today, dreading a day that has in the past been one of my favourite celebrations of the year, Halloween. I have not really taken part in Halloween the past three years since I graduated from university and started dating a Halloween’s Eve Baby. Yes, my boyfriend’s birthday is the day before Halloween so he (rightfully) opts out of Halloween every year because he claims it steals the attention he should be receiving because of his birth date. My birthday is the day before April Fool’s Day (March 31) and my little brother’s birthday is the day after April Fool’s Day (April 1) so I completely understand how annoying it is to have another occasion steal your day.

Today, I am committing one of the cardinal sins of Halloween. I am wearing a Halloween ‘costume’ that is basically defined by a prop. Here’s why: yesterday it was decided that we would acknowledge Halloween here at the station by handing out cookies and hot chocolate and as a bonus we are would be expected to take photos. Last night, I rushed to decorate the studio for photos and then I rushed to get home in time to pick up groceries for a nice supper for my boyfriend’s birthday and some Halloween garb to dress up in to appease the boss-man. Only one of those things ended up happening, the studio ended up getting decorated.

So today I am in a jean jacket, a lbd, cowboy boots and have to carry a guitar around with me all day for my Taylor Swift ‘costume’ to make any sense. Seriously, no one gets it. Not even after I markered a 13 on my hand. I have to drop, “oh my gawwwwd” and stand speechless with my hands covering my mouth, wonderstruck on life for people to understand. Fun fact: my ‘costume’ is three small items away from being the simple witch that I wanted to be. Another fun fact: it was impossible to find a witch’s hat after 6pm in Castlegar and Trail the night before Halloween.

For the first time today, I am having a lame costume Halloween. My mom has always prided herself with giving us children incredible costumes, no matter what the challenge was she always rose to the occasion with the help of my grandmother. Here are a few epic costumes from the past; some of them were used both for our town’s children’s parade and for Halloween. We may have also had a pretty impressive recruitment process to find people to take on additional characters.

But, after hammering out a four hour radio show where I almost exclusively talked about Halloween I had the most fun I think I have ever had on-air. It really turned my attitude around, getting a ton of requests and talking about something that clearly so many people are excited about.

I guess I will start planning next year’s costume now… 

Here are some pictures from today around the station.

The Perfect Halloween Date!

I absolutely love listening to Orson Welles' broadcast of 'War of the Worlds'. To me, cuddling up with the lights off, having some snacks and listening to a recording of the original broadcast is the best way to spend Halloween. I remember being absolutely entranced by the story and the hype about 'War of the Worlds as a child and it has not lost its magic for me as an adult. Why not celebrate the original broadcast's 75th anniversary (yes, it first aired on October 31st, 1938) tonight by giving it a listen!

October 29: National Cat Day

I am a dog person.

I realized this in Grade 2 when my family moved to our very own farm and we were given our very own catfrom my Grandparents farm. His name was Leo; he may have been a she. I fought tooth and nail to have a cat, a very specific cat that was my Grandparent’s barn cat that was named Pumpkin. Pumpkin may have been feral, so my parents opted to adopt one of Pumpkin’s golden kittens (less feral) and named it Leo.

Creative names for cats would come later for the Bruce family. Willard, Fletcher, Jimmer, Vesuvius/Olympia, Ugly, Sylvester and Gimp are just some of the names given to the many cats that have lived at Annandale Farm over the years.

So, even though I am a dog person I thought I would pay tribute to my favourite cats on this National Cat Day.

Here they are:

The Queen of sass.

Truthful cat.

Broadway cats.

The Disney cats, even when they are bad they're good.

The World War Z cat.

How could I leave Puss out?

Avenger cats.... the most majestic.

Salem, the lovable pest. 

And everyone's fave, Nic Cage cat.

Must Watch: Ohio State University's Marching Band's Tribute to Hollywood

You need to check out this video, yes it is long… nearly 9 minutes but it is worth it! Start after the one-minute mark and enjoy every second of Ohio State University’s Marching Band’s tribute to Hollywood. My personal favourite? Jurassic Park of course! 

So good...

Hoarding With Kate: Concert Posters

Okay, so I know this is a little girly (as my blogs sometimes are) but I have always loved vintage concert posters. I have always wanted to collect them, but my posters always get so damaged when I move that it would break my heart to see them damaged. Also, I tend to collect things (my mother is dealing with my collecting habits from the first 24 years of my life in Nova Scotia right now) and I would hate to start collecting concert posters because it would quickly would become an addiction, like buying vinyl and other small things I have dropped big cash on in the past.

With that being said, I had to just write a quick blurb about how much I love this concert poster and how I would proudly display it on my bedroom wall. This is just amazing, I absolutely love it so I had to repost it up on my blog so that it is forever with me, regardless of moves and flood damage.

Kate's 30 Day Novel Writing Challenge, Part of National Novel Writing Month

I have always wanted to write a book.

I fancy myself a way better writer (you may disagree if you read my blog) than on-air personality. To be honest with you I hate listening back to myself unless I am saying something that I am ecstatic I wrote. I try for every one of my on-air breaks to be perfectly scripted as possible, to get the most out of every second I have in your head. My voice annoys me, so it is always my hope that what I am saying is worth a listen.

So, coming up in November I am taking part in National Novel Writing Month in the first of my monthly challenges. Everyday I will write a little bit to get to the goal of 50,000 words, in just 30 days. 

As the website says, “the world needs your novel”. So why not take part with me! Head to www.nanowrimo.org and get ready to write with me!

The website is a great resource to help connect writers that are in the same area with local events or if you want to keep your piece of work private (like me)  you can explore by yourself too!

Let Her Have Cake... for Breakfast

There are things about my childhood that I have a hard time letting go of, especially when it comes to desserts. My mother is incredible, she always has a dessert on display in our kitchen ready and waiting for someone to indulge. Since I have realized how crazy wheat and sugar make me and cut them out of my everyday diet I have had a few lapses and I can tell the moment I wake up that I am in need of a relapse trip to Sweetsville. 

Often growing up I would emulate my mother's dietary pattern of eating desserts for breakfast, living by the concept that you have the whole day to work it off. Today I woke up with a cake craving that was out of this world. I drove by all the muffin dealers (McDonald's, Tim Horton's etc.), not giving into to what people like to think of as a healthy alternative for breakfast, let’s be honest most muffins are really just cake. I got to work, sans coffee and sweets. Jones-ed at my desk and then sent out a desperation text to my current life partner Jenny Fines to meet up at Starbucks to sin.

And, I sinned hard. I got my coffee and cake in one beautiful streusel-ed and cinnamon-ed chuck of miracle coffee cake and a less than amazing slice of cheesecake, in my opinion cheesecake should always be served cold. In hind sight I really regret not getting two slices of coffee cake. 

I went back to my desk and basically plowed down my monthly dose of wheat and sugar. Shortly after during our weekly programming meeting I feel into an intense sugar coma. 

Do you ever wake up craving weird things? Have your parents influenced your diet in a strange way? Do you just love cake? 

Let me know your story, kate@mountainfm.net! 

Okay, I do secretly love Starbuck's coffee cake (even though their food is garbage).

#TuneTueday: October 22, 2013

Unfortunately we will never share a #MusicMonday because I work Tuesday to Saturday. So I will be hooking you up with my favorite music cuts on what I am calling #TuneTuesday. I would love it if you called it that too, lets make it a thing;)

Only one video this week, an artist I have been jamming to since Grade 9 when I first heard City of Lakes, it is the latest video release from Matt Mays!

Ain’t That the Truth- Matt Mays

This brand new video from Matt Mays premiered on Much Music yesterday and I just love it, this video is the rock and roll dream and the song is a perfect follow-up to Indio. Indio is the unofficial song to my summer, I am a big  Matt Mays fan. I have seen him live a few times now and every time I appreciate his music even more. This video is a party, an impressive non-stop ride where (if you are a fan like I am) you feel like your face could pop in the crowd at any given moment. This video will make you want to throw on a Matt Mays t-shirt and haul ass to the next town his tour takes him to shoot fireworks off and rock out.

Here is the link to check the video out http://www.muchmusic.com/music/playlist/cid/1025849/pid/63921/

You can also listen to it here on Soundcloud!

Kate's Confessions: Being Serenaded

I'm not going to lie; I am not very experienced romantically. I have had one serious boyfriend in my 24 years and I know that regardless of how long we do this dating dance I will never be serenaded by my less than musically inclined boyfriend. 

That is why I love today's viral video, of a couple of random Joe-blow guys wandering around Ontario universities serenading every woman in sight. They walk in on lectures, everything... even female professors. 

Now, I am not sure this would be something I like to happen to me in real life, I imagine it would be pretty awkward having someone stare into your soul and sing to you, but if anyone ever wants to give it ago you know where to find me every day between 10am and 2pm.

Check out the video for yourself!

http://www.jokeroo.com/videos/serenading-university-girls-with-a-guitar-and-flowers.html#

I guess this runs in my family, my father has had my mother serenaded before on Valentine’s Day (it is also a day off their anniversary), helping out local fundraisers raise money and she absolutely hated it. I want your stories, what do you think? kate@mountainfm.net

Adulting With Kate: An Unexpected Stop Over

I set really high expectations for pretty much everything in life. I personally think it all stems from learning

how to read those stupid classroom signs with inspirational quotes on them. I may have taken them to heart a little too much.

It is kind of strange. I had never really thought about it until right now. When I was a child I thought I would be a world travelling professional (specifically a lawyer or a journalist) that would not have to settle down and still manage to wrangle my four or five kids into bed every night after a lovely homemade supper. I have grown out of that fantasy, the one where I was a serious adult with very serious career and demanding personal life. That being said I do take my career very seriously, I absolutely am in love with my job and my adventure working in radio so far, but I still expect to take the world by storm some day when I have gotten the practice and developed the patience it takes to be a real adult. I love my career tract enough to let my personal life suffer a bit, moving across the country away from any friends and family I have ever had to start my career off working independently was a choice I made and that until recently had not really bothered me.

The real adult part is the struggle. Sometimes I set the bar so high on my expectations that I end up a little heartbroken when they don’t work out the way I see them in my head. I am a very visual person and have always embraced visualizing and willing myself to win. I was the kid who always cried on Christmas Day when the magic had worn off and the sugar had set in (and DisneyWorld was still not in the card for the upcoming year). My parents were thrilled when I became able to drive myself to hockey games, I never thought I had played very well and usually was a huge ball of nerves before and after every game. 

I could continue this list of setting relatively high bars to hurdle and uber competitiveness mashed with a side of temper flare ups but I think two examples is enough. I never really was a very whimsical child, I obsessed over music and sports until I went to university and then went on to obsess about getting out of university on time and onto something I would enjoy a lot more. If you haven’t read my previous blogs I was not the best student at university, I freely admit it.

I have always been super passionate about the things I have become involved in, from cutting carbs to travelling there are things that are always on my mind. My attention span may dwindle, but the passion never really has been drained. Let’s just say I can be a little intense.

But, as being part of an adult today’s lesson is that I need to stop reading those damn quotes and taking them so seriously. It is amazing to have aspirations, huge plans, and incredible dreams and to live the fantasy but at some point you have got to get your head out of the clouds and take a breath. Yes, shoot for the stars, but be okay with an extended stopover flight. Sometimes that is what life is, life is a massive journey full of experiences that won’t wait for you to experience them yourself sometimes. These situations thrust themselves on you and though they may not be welcome, or what you expected they are a reality that should be greeted with warmth or at least curiosity.

Sidenote: When I was twenty-one I did end up going to Disneyland (I know it’s not quite Disneyworld) with my boyfriend and I must say it was a trip beyond all of my expectations, even though everyone had informed me after a lifetime of dreaming of a Disney vacation that I would be disappointed, I was not. 

Horoscopes, Moons and Madness

I am not one to look to any outside sources for influences on my life. I like to be in control (yes, I am a massive control freak) and with it the entire time. I like to think that I am the guiding force in my life and what star I just happen to be (I am an Aries by the way) is irrelevant.

With all that empowered crap being said, my horoscope has been frighteningly accurate lately, paired with the full moon and eclipse things have been a little strange. Making me more than a little bit crazy, or maybe just crazier… I will not lie to you lovely blog readers; I was a little bit of a wreck Saturday night. Blame it on the moon right?

I want to know what you think; does the moon affect you? My mother always warned me that people always do crazy things during full moons and I read a few article backing her up. Afternoon Ride host Jenny Fines is a believer too.

I can genuinely say that I have not been myself over the past few days, I am a massive fan of alone time and I can’t seem to be around people enough. I got the sudden urge to need to party, instead of watch Saturday Night Live on Saturday night. I am aching with homesickness, which just never happens. I have been reading my horoscopes, again another thing that I just don’t do and I even paid money (out my own pocket) to eat crappy Starbucks food. That was the big one.

Yes, my friends, something was off with me. Hopefully it is just the moon; rumor has it those things will be back to normal on November 3^rd after the solar eclipse.

Until then, let’s just get weird together to Muse.

Kate's Reading Challenge Book 10: '50 Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James

One of my goals I set for myself on my twenty-fourth birthday was reading a book a week.  I am a little behind, moving twice and finishing school put a damper on my plan. To help motivate myself to finish books on time every week my new plan is to share my latest read with you on my blog. I w
ill read anything and everything and I would love your suggestions, feel free to email them to me at kate@mountainfm.net.

Book 10: '50 Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James

After saying I would never read ’50 Shades of Grey’ I can now say I have. I made the pledge to get through the book on-air when it was announced that Charlie Hunnam would play the lead role of Christian Grey. I had made several attempts to read the book in the past, but I just could not get into it. After forcing it, I finally managed to turn the last page a couple of weeks ago.

My thoughts?

I’m not impressed. I didn't expect a realistic story line in this book, so no disappointment there. I really did not like much of this book; I found it hard to sympathize with Ana because she was just too pathetic to me. Imagining Charlie Hunnam as Christian got me through the book. I was prepared for so much more and it seemed a little green and drawn out, maybe I just have a super dirty mind? The books pace was so slow and then it abruptly ends. I know that there are more books in the series, I will not be wasting my time on them, I have no more time to waste on a set of books.

I am also very discouraged that Hunnam has since decided not to do the film adaptation. 

Getting Goosebumps Nails

I am not a very girly girl. I rarely paint my finger nails. But this vine video has inspired me to ‘Goosebumps’ my nails this Halloween. I am thinking of going with pink nails and blue ooze off the top (inspired by one of my favourite Goosebumps books). I love it!

Rant: Girls Night Out

I have come to realize that the phrase ‘girl’s night out’ is one of the most annoying things you can say to a guy…ever.  Seriously, even in a text message you can feel things tense up the second those words are used together. When I throw the idea out there to my boyfriend his eyes squint, just a little bit, as if he is imagining the high decibel screams and eventual tears that will be shed as part of the festivities.   

The headache is also is because most of the time when screaming ‘girl’s night out’ there is a chorus of two or three other ladies joining in and you all have had one or two adult beverages (on the night of). I know just in the planning stages when I say those three little words I picturing those ladies saying it with me in my head, as I pop a bottle of champagne and look hella fine.

That is exactly what is going on in my head every five minutes as we approach the end of this short work week (yes, I know it is still Thursday). As the clock counts down minutes to freedom, getting ready for Friday, I have already pre-planned my outfit for Saturday night and about 90% of the details after my plans changed a slightly. Yes, in my head, I have the ideal Saturday night ready to go. It involves one of the two new dresses sitting in the JJ’s back beside me that I picked up on my lunch hour, a bottle of sparkling rose, some of my favourite people I have ever met working in radio (yes, they all have vaginas… it’s a girls night) and high heel shoes that I will most likely end up carrying at some point.

Yes, I am all about the planning. Always have been, always will be. As much as I love the wild, free, careless disregard of a ‘girl’s night out’ I still love being in control. I am not a very spontaneous person, not at all. Even when I was in university, when ‘girl’s night’ would happen at least twice a week I was all about the plan.

Growing up, I thought it was silly that all my female relatives would flock to the city together, complain that they never went out together enough and drink way too much. But, at the ripened age of 24 I have started to get it. I have a serious boyfriend and single girlfriends so I feel pretty guilty going out without him, it is pretty hard to find nights when we can all make plans without leaving anyone out (or sidelining the boyfriend without annoying him). Now I know half the pain my female relatives faced, the other half being kids… don’t even get me started there.

I cannot wait to sit in a car for hours with my favourite people in the Kootenays and get into Vancouver this Saturday night, end rant. Happy girl. 

#TuneTuesday: October 15, 2013

Unfortunately we will never share a #MusicMonday because I work Tuesday to Saturday. So I will be hooking you up with my favorite music cuts on what I am calling #TuneTuesday. I would love it if you called it that too, lets make it a thing;)

Only one video this week, giving you plenty of time to make a little breakfast if you are finding it hard to squeeze in after this lovely dose of inspiration from Prince.

Breakfast Can Wait- Prince

I think everyone has had ‘breakfast can wait’ moments. Prince (who is one of my favourite artists of all time) takes this common semi-dirty thought and gets down to the thick of it in his new track. Seriously, breakfast … work… whatever else is on the docket can wait if Prince says so. I am not physically attracted to Prince in the slightest (seriously, no thanks), but he continues even in the advanced stages of his career to make us ladies... well you know;)

How to I feel about a teenager directing and starring in the vid for this song? Sure, it makes me a little uneasy. But, I was in my Prince listening prime around 18 and I still love him. This track is by far one of the best newer cuts from Prince that I have heard. I am a fan of old Prince music, but I can totally get on board with new music from Prince if it is as slick as this sassy track. I saw Prince live in Halifax back in 2011 and it was one of best shows I have ever seen in my life, I am happy that this new single is living up to my Prince experience.

'Pay it Forward' Friday at Mountain FM

Everyone at Mountain FM was so part in the Kootenay Society for Community Living’s ‘Pay It Forward Day’ last Friday (October 11).  This incredible initiative was part of BC Community Living month and hopefully inspired random acts of kindness in our community.

I was so fortunate to get to spend the afternoon at A&W in Castlegar, I got to have the chance help be the messenger for Mountain and A&W’s random acts of kindness, part of the ‘Pay It Forward Chain’. We hoped to start the random acts of kindness by handing out free food (for orders under $10) to people coming through the drive-thru. I know I would have been stoked to have my cash ready at the drive-thru window, only to find out that my meal was free!

Morning Rocks co-host Darren McPeake visited A&W in Trail and the hosts from our sister station 1035 the Bridge in Nelson were at Grounded. 

People seemed to be really receptive to the ‘Pay It Forward’ concept. We had lovely stories come in online about people on the receiving end of random acts of kindness and from people who had paid it forward themselves, starting the chain of generosity.

I had so much fun with the team at Castlegar A&W, they even paid it forward for to me with an order of (my favourite) sweet potato fries. I can’t wait until next year, I know this was a building block for what is to come next year when this initiative grows bigger and better!