Play it again Sam

Before anyone writes to me and tell me that the quote I used for the title of this piece is wrong, rest assured I know that.  I have seen Casablanca and remember what Rick said in the movie, but that is not what this is all about.

Over the last year I found that I listen to live radio less and less.  I can’t find a station that will play the music I want to listen to at the time I want to hear it.  I also discovered the wonderful world of podcasts.  I typically listen to books read by their author(http://www.podiobooks.com), and sermons by prominent Christian teachers.  With the invention of the MP3 player and the ability to carry your entire music collection in your pocket, why would you listen to radio?

Nowadays radio is filled with “jibber-jabber”, commercials, and outlandish contests rather than hours upon hours of music.  Much like what happened to MTV, for those of you who remember it when it started; but I digress.  I prefer to plug in my MP3 player and decide what to play, or just put it on shuffle.  If I don’t like what’s playing I just hit the “next” button and something else plays.  You can’t do that with live radio!

Anyway, my wife and I were on our way to Mobile to visit our daughter at college; it’s a 3-hour drive, a 3-hour drive [thunder crash/lightening flash].  Sorry to all of you who never watched Gilligan’s Island.  We just turned on the radio for the trip and were rewarded with a variety of songs including Elton John, One Republic, some commercials, and mention of a contest for tickets to a local play.  About 30 minutes into the trip the John Tesh show came on with a good mix of music and interesting tidbits about how to improve your life.

A short time later we stopped for breakfast and to stretch our legs.  I know it is a relatively short drive, but the older you get the more you need to stop and stretch.  When we were back on the road, we noticed that the John Tesh show was not on anymore.  We thought it odd, but what can you do?  Then we noticed that they were playing the same music, commercials, and contest notices that was on when we started the trip.  This continued when the John Tesh show started about 30 minutes later, again with the exact material that was broadcast earlier.  Unfortunately by the time that show was getting to new material the signal was fading; and so began the search for something else to listen to.