Wednesday 18 April 2012

Local Hero?

Some towns are blessed to have their own local celebrities. Hamilton is no different. We have the pleasure of claiming many local and national (not to mention worldly) talents. Talent comes in all different forms. Some of our talent is art, some of it is music and some of it is knowing about those two things, throwing in some politics and basically touching every single media student that flows through our community college, Mohawk College (and no not that kind of touching :P).

Jamie "Gunner" Smith is that talent. He is the producer, promoter and organizer for Mohawk College's radio station, INDI 101. He also hosts the show Sounds of the Hammer on INDI. He is present at many community events and broadcasts from Hamilton's most popular clubs and scenes. He has done so much for our city and our college. Now budget cuts have threatened his position at Mohawk. This is unacceptable. Nobody could ever endeavor to fill his shoes, err headphones. 


Since news of this broke many past and present students have taken to Gunner's aid in the hopes of saving his job. I am by no means a close friend of his but he was always good to me and taught me a lot of things about radio and unknowingly helped give me the push to become the much more confident lady I am today.


All I know for sure is that Gunner lives, breathes and is the heartbeat of Mohawk College and the music scene in Hamilton. To take away his position would be a detriment to Hamilton's local talent and to the city itself. 

So if you have actually read all the way through this and you know Gunner and want to help him out or even if you don't know him and just really like signing petitions could you please go here and sign this petition?!?! Pretty, pretty please! (and thanks)

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/gunner 

Support Gunner!!
Here are a few (AMAZING) things that Jamie "Gunner" Smith has achieved during his post at Mohawk College.


- won the 2011 Radio Show of the Year award, Hamilton Music Awards
- 2009 Radio Station of the Year, Hamilton Music Awards
- founding member of our beloved Supercrawl (which featured the super famous band, Broken Social Scene)
- possesses what many claim is arguably the most perfectly-shaped head in the city
- and so much more...(I do believe I saw a Juno Award in his office...)

Monday 2 April 2012

Feeling the itch

Sure, Hamilton has some great attractions but I need to travel. It has not even been a year since I went on vacation but I am certainly getting that old familiar itch. I yearn to see the world. I don't even care where I go. I have a few places I would very much like to visit, like Italy and Greece and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida but this is somewhere I just heard about and am dying to go to. I've been to England twice already but I would love to go back and now it seems that I finally have an excuse to go!

http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=harrypotterstudio

How amazing does that look? I need to go! I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I saw a lot of the sights when I was in England and Scotland, but this is just too amazing to miss. I don't know when I'll go but I know I will get there. Oh yes. I will get there.

Here's some 'Harry Highlights' from my travels:

This is the school in Edinburgh, Scotland that inspired Hogwarts.

This is the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. The top middle window to be exact.

They now sell draught beers! Too bad it wasn't butterbeer.

Here's me at King's Cross, Platform 9 3/4 in London, England!
In Stratford-Upon-Avon we found a museum of witchcraft and wizardry! We had gone to see Shakespeare's house but this was much more exciting for me!

Here's me in the mirror of erised! If you're ever in Stratford-Upon-Avon I would recommend checking this place out! It was fun! Here's the website! http://www.seekthemagic.org/enchantedmanor.html