1386. We recently recieved word here that a YouTube vlogger we enjoyed quite much has unexpectedly and, in an extremely untimely way, met his end.
Update 20:10 25-Feb-08: Straight dope on Roger's last days from his sister Lisa (who verifies that the cause of death was complications from meningitis and pneumonia) mashed up with a tribute from his girl which is sentimental and dead honest and touching to the extreme (if you don't fight back a bit of wistfulness while watching then we think you maybe have no feelings, or have anyone in your life to lose) ... Original main post after the video below.
In a quote that has nearly been loved to death someone who was nonetheless perceptive said we all live lives of quiet desperation. Roger, known to his viewers on YouTube as The Boring Dispatcher, may have been living in desperation, but it wasn't so quiet. YouTube certainly allows a lot of people that option.
Some people have that something that is ineffable though that makes them compelling. Roger was typically unhappy in his job, which was after-hours tow truck dispatching somewhere in Southern Cali. He was foul-mouthed, he got into arguments with other YouTubers, was suspended once or twice, smoked while recording vlog entries on-the-job, was hugely overweight, and usually cranky. Not really preposessing, but something about just the straight-ahead "deal with me" attitude of the unhappy fellow in the dead-end job that has an opinion, a YouTube channel, a laptop with a webcam and the chutzpah that comes from being unafraid about doing what you want.
I couldn't stop watching him.
Here's a bit of Roger at his foulmouthed best (No. NSFW and not for your kids):
Emphatically not for everyone, but interesting and darkly funny to a whole lot of people.
Roger died sometime last week. Speculation had naturally to do with his weight and generally unhealthy lifestyle but official word seems to be (as much as it can be in the YouTube world) that it was meningitis and pneumonia (the unhealthy lifestyle no doubt contributed to his chances in one indirect way or another).
He was just 31 years old.
A fan has put up a memorial channel, The Dispatcher Days, with the best of Roger just being Roger. It has 358 subscribers as of right now.
If you like not-so-quiet desperation, we highly suggest it.
Update: and as a closing thought, isn't it strangely funny that someone named Roger made his living in radio communications? Dicuss
And How About This? His passing was written up in the Hindustan Times. Not bad for an everyman dispatcher dude from SoCal. Pity he had to die to get there ... Very touching little story. Won't take long to read.
Tags: roger samway, the boring dispatcher, youtube, youtube stars
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