Cool Radio Websites

Copyright: popovia

I stumbled upon two very interesting radio websites which I wanted to share with you. The first is http://radio.garden/ which enables you to tune into thousands of live radio stations all over the globe. The site consists of a globe map which enables you to explore different regions of the world and listen to their local radio station offerings. You can save favorites to visit later, and you can also utilize the search bar to search by country, city, or specific station.

I also got a kick out of https://radiooooo.com/ which enables you to search for music from different eras, spanning from 1900 to present. The music featured is worldwide, so if you wanted to hear music from Italy in 1975, you could plug into that region and era, and listen to the music that Italians were grooving to in 1975. You can listen for free, but if you want to skip or rewind songs, or bookmark tracks, you would need to join their club, which is $4.99 per month.

Happy listening!

Hear About My Travel Promise To Myself On This Toddcast Episode

https://m.soundcloud.com/toddcastpodcast/stacey-naito-ifbb-bikini-pro-made-herself-a-promise-to-travel-every-2-years

Check out this audio clip from a wonderful interview with Todd Hancock on his Toddcast Podcast, in which I talk about the travel promise I made to myself back in 2014. I’ve been keeping that promise and I’m thrilled about it!

A Spoonful of Laughter

Copyright : Jacek Dudzinski (courtesy of 123RF.com

The curative effects of laughter are now widely known, and many people (myself included) thrive on humorous social media posts. From the time I was a small child, I gravitated towards comedy, watching Carol Burnett, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Dave Allen (does anyone remember this fella?) and Benny Hill faithfully, all the while leaving my mother puzzled by my intense interest in the funny television variety shows which were the order of the day back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. She became even more concerned when I picked up a copy of Eddie Murphy: Comedian in 1982 and laughed my ass off while listening to the album repeatedly. Eddie’s stand-up style was so off-color for my mother that she bitched and moaned about me listening to him, but I found him hilarious and kept on listening. I have the record album (yes, a vinyl LP) in my collection to this day.

My love of comedy has never waned, and though I don’t watch enough television to get drawn into current sitcoms or other comedic shows, I am in my car often enough that I have developed a habit of listening to comedy while I drive. I find it much more enjoyable to listen to comedy than music while I am in the car, and since SiriusXM has a number of comedy stations, I have them loaded as presets on my radio and rotate through them. I would much rather listen to a comedy bit by a talented stand-up comedian than to toggle through radio stations which often play the same tunes over and over. The fact that I can laugh while driving, especially in Los Angeles, is a godsend. It’s a great way to arrive at my destination in a relatively good mood, even if I have to sit through hellish traffic.

Even if you don’t have SiriusXM, you can catch some pretty amusing morning radio shows. In L.A., I like listening to Frosty, Heidi and Frank. Most large metropolitan areas host morning radio shows which are worth a listen.

Copyright : yuriz (courtesy of 123RF.com)

My TV Is More Like A Radio

TV
Though I usually have the living room television turned on while I am at home, I rarely glance at the screen, so it functions more like a radio, providing background noise while I work. One of my roommates likes to turn the channel to the Cartoon Network, so the audio is usually quite lively when he is home. He has the same habit I do, in which he turns on the TV for background noise but doesn’t actively watch it. Before you assume that it is a crappy old TV, let me clarify that it is a 47 inch LED TV, the screen size of which I lamented for no good reason since I rarely actually watch programs or movies on TV. I recently stated that with the rather large living room we have, it would make more sense to have a 65 or 70 inch TV (which I am nowhere near being able to afford), but I seriously doubt that a larger set would inspire more active viewing. That would be a pretty massive and expensive radio!

Even right now as I sit on the living room floor with my laptop on the coffee table (this is what I normally do despite the fact that I have a huge and very comfortable leather sectional sofa), the TV is on, dialed into the Cartoon Network, with American Dad airing and the sounds of cartoon voices at a low volume. Every ten minutes or so, I look at the screen briefly, to rest my eyes from staring at the computer. When my roommate isn’t home and I turn on the television, I usually do a bit of channel surfing to find something that isn’t too loud or annoying. I have been more drawn to tattoo shows lately for some weird reason, maybe because the bleeped out profanity captures my attention while I am writing. There is a certain comfort I get from sitting in the living room with the TV on as opposed to sitting in complete silence, which explains why I almost automatically turn on the TV before I begin working.

Does anyone else have this habit?