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Blazinghand
United States25562 Posts
The morning commute always feels longer than the afternoon commute. It's darker. The edges of night still tug at my consciousness, and there's nothing on the usual pop stations worth listening to. Normally, there's music on, but in the morning they all roll out their talk show hosts, a normally welcome change from the empty repetition of the overplayed Top 40. If I want to hear people talk, I listen to NPR. In the morning, I need music.
I am not a huge fan of Hip Hop and R&B. I'm your typical whitewashed child of immigrants born in the USA, and I grew up listening to whatever Wild 94.9 or Whateveritscalled 99.7 would play, and it was always the same soulless music. The point is, I like pop music, even if there isn't any of it playing in the morning. In time, I gradually searched for stations that played music in the morning. They only one I found was 106 KMEL, a station entirely devoted to music I didn't understand. I had never listened to Rap, Hip-Hop or R&B before in any meaningful sense, and KMEL pulled no punches. Occasionally a popular song would be played, but it stuck to its guns in playing real music.
And that's the biggest thing about the station that I guess drew me in. It was real. There were local musicians on it. The DJs were clearly connoisseurs of the genre, and would creatively select music, play mixes, and generally display their own artistic talent in a tasteful way. On Sunday afternoons, instead of playing music, the station airs show called Street Soldiers talking about developing communities and regrowing struggling neighborhoods, regularly bringing on authors and activists to speak.
It's a station with a soul. I spent some time really getting into the music, even though I'd never experienced it before. Every day as I got up to drive to work or school, I'd tune in and feel like I was listening to something genuine, something real. I'd hear new songs, and sometimes they'd be bad or good or just new. I finally feel like I understand something of what it means to come from the bay, at the very least in an "arms-length" sort of fashion. And when I go back to the pop stations, it's nice to hear the usual catchy tunes, but it all feels so much more hollow.
I also hear music with meaning. Even if I disagree or don't fully understand, I know that... that somehow this is what music was meant to be. Maybe I don't need to understand it, and maybe I don't need to have grown up with it, but at least I can appreciate it. I don't really know what this blog is about any more, but here's a song I met today on the radio. Acquaint yourself with it, if you have a moment.
 
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I used to listen to Classical 96.3 (Toronto, Canada) on my commutes, but now I'm just on 680 News most of the time. 680 News is good especially for morning commute because I can get a good 30-minute of non-stop news ranging from local traffic and weather to business trends, breaking news, sports results, and such. Useful for striking up a meaningful conversation in the morning coffee breaks with co-workers - much more useful than "Hey I listened to Mozart Symphony No.xx Mvmt.x and I loved how the orchestra interpreted the second theme." Nope, not in my workplace lol.
I really wish I had some classical music enthusiasts at my work >_<
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I listen to the morning mashup on Sirius xm.
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Blazinghand
United States25562 Posts
Hmmm.... I've seriously considered getting a satellite radio or installing an audio jack for an MP3 hookup, but both of those cost some money that, although I have, I'd rather spend on other things.
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On February 07 2012 01:09 LonelyIslands wrote:
I listen to the morning mashup on Sirius xm.
Ooh I listen to that too! Gets me perked up for the day.
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On February 07 2012 01:17 Blazinghand wrote:
Hmmm.... I've seriously considered getting a satellite radio or installing an audio jack for an MP3 hookup, but both of those cost some money that, although I have, I'd rather spend on other things.
Sirius XM has some of the worst programming of any stations in the country. They play the same bad songs over and over, unless you like Howard Stern I don't see any reason to get Sirius.
When I used to have a long (30 minute) commute to my college freshman year, I used to listen to the Steve Harvey Morning Show just about every day. Other than that maybe the generic top hits stations or news.
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I used to listen to Coast to Coast am over nights but now I just listen to this stupid talk radio 610 cktb. some day i'm gonna prank call one of them.
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I really enjoyed this blog. Cool writing style-- very reflective, subdued mood. I've been feeling really nostalgic lately, and this is the kind of mood in writings I've been really getting into.
5/5 ^_^
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On February 07 2012 01:34 Roe wrote:
I used to listen to Coast to Coast am over nights but now I just listen to this stupid talk radio 610 cktb. some day i'm gonna prank call one of them.
Coast to Coast is so good. Well, some shows are really good, the ones where they bring on the newage healers and stuff are crap. The alien and government coverup shows are great though. They have a membership dealy where you can download podcasts of all their shows. Might be something worth looking into.
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On February 07 2012 01:44 TheToast wrote:Show nested quote +On February 07 2012 01:34 Roe wrote:
I used to listen to Coast to Coast am over nights but now I just listen to this stupid talk radio 610 cktb. some day i'm gonna prank call one of them. Coast to Coast is so good. Well, some shows are really good, the ones where they bring on the newage healers and stuff are crap. The alien and government coverup shows are great though. They have a membership dealy where you can download podcasts of all their shows. Might be something worth looking into.
i used to love the ghost/alien shows because I'd be up all night with adrenaline, hiding under my covers  some really great music as well. In high school I'd just have coast to coast on while playing WoW. Man, those were the times 
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On February 07 2012 02:07 Roe wrote:Show nested quote +On February 07 2012 01:44 TheToast wrote:On February 07 2012 01:34 Roe wrote:
I used to listen to Coast to Coast am over nights but now I just listen to this stupid talk radio 610 cktb. some day i'm gonna prank call one of them. Coast to Coast is so good. Well, some shows are really good, the ones where they bring on the newage healers and stuff are crap. The alien and government coverup shows are great though. They have a membership dealy where you can download podcasts of all their shows. Might be something worth looking into. i used to love the ghost/alien shows because I'd be up all night with adrenaline, hiding under my covers some really great music as well. In high school I'd just have coast to coast on while playing WoW. Man, those were the times
lol! Friday shows where they do open lines are my by far my favorite. So many of the guests on the show are just there to sell their book/DVD/some other crap, but open lines callers are just regular people calling up with bizzare and creepy stories. I love it!
Not going to lie, in college I spent a good number of Friday nights listening to Coast to Coast AM while playing games. So much better than partying. Also was great to have on while working on all-nighter projects, which happened more than once. I still listen to it when I can't sleep some nights.
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check blogs section, see Blazinghand made a blog, click, see blurry photo, scroll down, JMT vid!
5 stars
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/In6QVl.jpg)
