Today I thought I would move away from the fluff for a bit and discuss something
Sirius.
Sirius - get it? clever huh?
Ok - maybe not. But don't let my pathetic attempts at humor diminish the wonderful entertainment goodness that is Sirius Satellite Radio, the next in my series of things for which I am thankful.
I always need to have music playing. Easy enough to keep the good tunes rolling at home and work, the internet and my CDs keep me entertained there.
In the car though, it has always been a challenge. I don't like to bring my CDs in the car (heat and such) so I tend to rely on the radio.
For a major market, the radio in Chicago is just horrendous though. The proliferation of Infinity and Clear Channel in the market has made it unbearable really. WCKG is talk, The Loop is all Aerosmith, and while WXRT plays an occasional good song in between their hourly REM and U2, they really are few and far between (they haven't been the same since they got rid of their daily featured artist cards)
Besides I'm not really a traditional radio kind of guy, my favorite songs tend not to be the hits or standard radio fare. I tend to change channels a lot looking for something that doesn't suck, getting more and more frustrated.
So enter
Sirius Satellite Radio. My
wonderful wife bought me the radio and subscription a couple of years back and it really ranks up there as one of the gifts that I enjoy most.
Offering a boatload of stations, there really is a lot of choice available. I tend to listen mostly to either the Jam On station or The Vault. A good mix of Classic Vinyl, BuzzSaw, Blues and Howard tend to fill up the rest of the time.
The coolest thing though is a feature of the radio I have. It has the option for me to preset 30 artists (or songs) and then it notifies me when a song by any of those artists is playing on any station on the dial. A subtle beep and I am pretty much guaranteed to find something that I like.
Wide musical selection, a ton of channels, good news coverage, and Howard in the mornings really makes my time in the car much more enjoyable. I don't work that far from home any longer but I do drive to client sites and run errands routinely so it really does make a difference.
I love my Sirius Radio. I really can't recall the last time I listened to terrestrial radio.
SB
(FYI - this isn't a sponsored post or an ad. There are no affiliate links embedded. Sirius Radio is just such a cool thing that I wanted to include it in my list)
I guess it's the same thing that happened with TV. As more choices became available, living with what you had becomes more difficult.
It is especially ridiculous when the "classic rock" station plays the same thing over and over. Come on, with over 20 years of music to pick from, why does "Sweet Emotion" get so much air time?
In Hawaii there was one radio station that wasn't bought up, "Radio Free Hawaii", and they were great. They would play the most odd ball songs, and stuff that you never had heard of.
Unfortunately, here in Colorado, there is no Radio Free. The radio is horrible, short playlists, shorter periods of music breaking up unending commercials. My iPod is my solution, and that's how I keep good content in my vehicle.
SB