Friends!
Last September Hubby decided I needed a new car. We had planned to wait another year, but sometimes you have to go with the flow and DO stuff. I got a 2010 Ford Escape, and it came loaded with everything except the heated leather seats. It gets great milage, is fun to drive, and has nice get-up-n-go when I need it. It has a decent sound system...
...and it came with a six month trial subscription to Sirius Radio.
OMG.
My morning commute isn't long, only fifteen minutes, so I don't have much time to get in a couple of good tunes to start my day. I NEED my morning music as much as coffee. Maybe even more. Coming home, I want something instrumental to unwind to, a nice long jam band is perfect.
Allow me to digress. I grew up in the Chicago area, with a vibrant music scene. Chi-town blues & jazz clubs, the Opera House,and 492 different ethnic neighborhoods meant lots of good listening on the radio. Free radio. Radio stations that specialized in nothing BUT arcane one-hit wonders. Stations devoted solely to soul. And never less than four major stations playing current rock and alternative music. Chicago shaped me into a picky listener, and I thought the whole world was like this, full of wonderful stimulating tunes.
Then I moved to the cultural wasteland otherwise known as Las Vegas.
Don't get me started on the lack of decent coffee shops, museums, and crappy overpriced restaurants. Let's talk about the pathetic selection of free radio stations. They suck, big time. Nothing but angst-filled teenagers, i.e. Justin Bieber and his ilk, angry rap, and ho-ridden hip hop. Oh, and country, which is a dirty word where I come from. (sorry!) There's one "oldies" station, featuring the top 40 from the past 50 years. Like Ive never heard "Hey Jude" before, or even worse, EVERY song ever sung by Journey. I started listening to National Public Radio to save my sanity. Which, by the way, is pretty interesting, but definitely not melodious.
Then along comes my new Ford, with satellite radio.
OMG.
It's Nevada living with Chicago choice! There's stations playing stuff by bands I've never heard of--and I know my bands; Hubby has a music-related business, and we listen to everything we find that's new to us. There's opera, alternative, blues, rock (new and classic), disco, & soul. There's CELTIC music for crying out loud! And three NPR stations, heh heh.
My commutes are complete.
You might ask why I don't just pop in a CD or plug in my MP3 player, and the short answer is that I want something NEW. Like Reggae played on a pipe organ accompanied by pygmies playing oboes in 5/4 time. You know, something interesting.
My six months are up on my free Sirius subscription, and you'de be correct if you guessed I subscribed.
Twelve bucks a month.
One Satisfied Listener.
Priceless.
And that's what I like best about my new car.
xx
trish
7 comments:
Yay for technology actually making life lovelier!!!
Speaking of non-commercial radio and tv - that is why I'll defend the bbc to the death - it being so under attack and threatened constantly - but it's a gem that needs to be treasured and nurtured, darn it!! and that's why I gladly pay my licence to fund it.
Ahem. Enjoy your subscription!!!! Take care
x
LOL! Well, that was an easy way to get your fix. I listen to jazz during the day at work, mostly. But there's an awesome independent radio station out of Michigan:
http://www.grcmc.org/radio/
They play stuff you would NEVER hear anywhere else, very eclectic. I listened more in past years, but once in while still will tune in. Just depends on my mood.
Here we have a couple of classic rock stations which are pretty good, when I'm in the mood. Country, country, country -- not my thing. Pop and whatever it is that kids are into today--also not my thing. I'll take Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett or Michael Kaeshammer or Sophie Milman, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, etc. any day, thanks.
My boy got that 6 months free with his new Ford hybrid. He loves it and will subscribe. :-)
""pygmies playing oboes in 5/4 time. You know, something interesting."" HAhaha!! oh dear, thank you for that.
Have you found the radio porn station yet?
You're lucky you don't have to listen to OUR crappy stations. And I don't think there's satellite radio here... :(
"Like Reggae played on a pipe organ accompanied by pygmies playing oboes in 5/4 time."
Funniest thing I've read in quite a while!
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