Good ol' Radio

I've been spending more time in my car lately. Not necessarily driving -- sometimes I'm just sitting. If there's a good song or program on, I'll just sit and wait until it's over.

Friday night I pulled into my driveway at 12:30 AM. I was really tired, but I was enjoying the Marie Antoinette soundtrack I burned that day, and I kept wanting to hear what came next. So I stayed in my car a good ten minutes until I decided I should go in.

Movie soundtracks are one of my favorite things to listen to. Not the "various artists" kind, although a lot of those are really good (Reality Bites, Garden State), but I'm talking about film scores. My all time favorites are Gosford Park, The Village, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I even have soundtracks to movies I've never seen before, like King Kong and Henry V, but James Newton Howard and Patrick Doyle are two of my favorite film composers so I'll listen to anything they write.

Lately though, I've been listening to The Age of Innocence and Iris. I've never seen Iris, but Joshua Bell does the solo violin for that soundtrack, and after the article I read about Joshua Bell a couple months ago, I wanted to hear some Joshua Bell so I raided my mom's CDs.

There's a great radio program on KBYU FM called "The Perfect Score". It's produced out of BYU Idaho actually, and every Saturday at 4 PM they play an hour of various film scores, based on a theme. Yesterday the theme was war movies, I think. One time they did soundtracks from movies about the sea or something weird. They did music from The Perfect Storm, Pirates of the Carribbean and The Little Mermaid. I just remember thinking how precious it was that they included The Little Mermaid.

I listen to KBYU FM a lot. I pretty much listen to it all day at work, and I'm becoming more familiar with their regular programs like "Thinking Aloud" and I'm beginning to listen to their "piano puzzler of the day". It's a nationally syndicated program where they disguise a familiar tune in the style of a famous composer. For example, a couple weeks ago, the tune was "I'm getting married in the morning" from My Fair Lady in the style of Erik Satie. It's kind of cool. I'm beginning to look forward to these programs as I'm working at my desk. I remember when I listened to the Abel Hour every day at 11 AM at my desk too (Abel and Jon, I kinda miss you guys).

I really like radio. I try to listen to it in the car. Unlike CDs or even my iPod, I get to be surprised at what comes next. I think these days we almost risk robbing ourselves from new experiences because with iPods and TiVos our lives are so programmable to our tastes. Don't tell me I can put my iPod on shuffle and be surprised, that's not what I'm talking about. And I'm not saying iPods and TiVos are bad. I'm just saying sometimes I'll hear something on the radio that I never would have chosen to listen to at that particular time, but because I didn't choose it, it reaches me in a way I didn't expect. And sometimes it really touches me, leaving a lasting impression. But do I end up listening to a lot of crap inbetween the good stuff? Yes, I do. So that's when I turn the CD player on, but by the time I think "Let's see what's on the radio now" I usually hit the end of a song I wish I heard the beginning to. It's a gamble.

Another radio program I try to listen to is "Showtunes Saturday Night." I never listen to Kosy 106.5, but I have it programmed in my car just for that particular show. I love Broadway Musicals, and it's kind of fun to play "name that musical" and see what comes up next. When Saturday rolls around I secretly hope I'll be in my car between 8 PM and midnight so I can tune in and see what they'll play. Last Saturday after a BBQ I had to hit the grocery store, so I tuned in. I pulled in to Smith's Marketplace in the middle of "Stars" from Les Miserables and so I just turned off my engine, turned off my lights and sat in the parking lot until it was over. It made me teary. I don't know why. I also teared up on the way home when they played "I'm Not that Girl." Great song. Great musical. In fact, that song just came up on my iTunes as I write this. It doesn't always make me cry, but for some reason, it did that night.

And then last night I went to an awful BBQ where I just didn't belong. I wasn't happy to be there and I was nearing miserable, so I finished up my conversation, hopped in my car, and I turned on Showtunes Saturday. I felt at home again. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it's nice having something to turn to that will center you. Music can really center me. It's funny because when I'm listening to something I really enjoy, I tend to drive more slowly. Instead of speeding through yellow lights, I slow down. I'll even take the long way home, or I'll go to Smith's Marketplace instead of Albertsons because it's further away. It's worth it to me to have those few extra minutes in my car to listen to my music.