Insomnia + Radio = FAIL

Well, it's now about 4:30 AM and I've been unable to sleep after waking up an hour or so ago. I'm rather irritated because I would really like to be sleeping at this point in time rather than composing a new blog post. At least insomniacs like me can always turn on the radio and attempt to find something good. Then again, I can't fall asleep while listening to the radio because I pay attention a little too closely.

I am a genuine talk radio junkie. There's no doubt about it; I simply love my talk radio. Generally speaking, I enjoy all of the politically Conservative show, minus Sean Hannity. His voice grates on my nerves, and I get tired of him saying "You're a great American" blah blah blah...we get it already. I also like listening to Coast To Coast AM, although it hasn't been the same since Art Bell "retired" a few years ago. These days, I'll listen to an internet station that plays rebroadcasts of old C2C shows featuring Art Bell, and that's exactly what I'm doing now.

Ok, so listening to talk radio is doing little to help me get back to sleep. One might think that I don't actually want to sleep, but really, I do. I promise! It's just very hard, considering I'm such an addict.

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Compression Fracture

Recently, I've made a "discovery" of sorts and it has led to a complete change in direction for me in terms of the music I listen to. No, I don't mean the genre, either.

What I am actually referring to is the use of MP3 files. I will only be using these things for my car stereo and portable MP3 player from now on. I'm not bothering with them on my home theater system ever again. Why? Well, I recently got a few songs as FLAC files just to see if I could tell the difference in quality. They are a bit more expensive, but the quality is perfect so I see it as a worthwhile expense. One thing though...FLACs are large files. Very large compared to MP3s, but smaller than WAVs. FLAC is compressed, but in a lossless manner. No audio quality is lost whatsoever, and the files can be used to create exact audio duplicates of the CD from which they are ripped. Of course, iTunes won't play FLACs, so a lot of people won't bother, but iTunes is crappy anyway. I prefer Winamp, which happens to play FLAC natively.

So back to the quality issue now. The problem is that so many of us have experienced music via MP3 now that we've lost sight of what music should actually sound like, so we're used to the compressed sound that MP3 provides us. That compressed sound is now normal to us. After listening to these FLAC files, however, I'm feeling what I've been missing all this time. MP3 cuts out too many frequencies. Granted, many of these are frequencies that we cannot hear, but many of them are frequencies that are required to drive subwoofers, and those are quite necessary in electronic dance music.

The bottom line is  you like bass frequencies like I do and you like clean, crisp sounding tunes, ditch MP3 for everything except portable players. Actually, if you like music at all, you should go with FLAC.

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Narcotics Anonymous

No, I'm not a drug addict, but I am definitely an addict as far as music is concerned. I should point out, however, that I am extraordinarily picky when it comes to what I consider good music. Terrestrial radio is pointless to me, except for the talk radio aspect. I can't stand the way radio dictates what is good and what is not. If people are only exposed to a handful of songs, then how can they possibly judge for themselves? Well, they can't, so they just accept what they are given and then move on once they are told who the next big artist is. How pathetic.

What sets a song apart for me is whether or not it triggers endorphins. Before you ask how I can really tell this, listen, I can. Believe me, I feel it. When I had to take codeine for an ankle problem, I got such a wonderfully warm feeling when the medicine took hold, and that is exactly the same feeling I get with certain songs. I find it amazing that 99% of people don't believe me when I tell them! Sorry, but it is true for me, and lest anyone think I'm just sort of willing it to happen, let me just say that it only happens with certain songs. Just because others might not have the same experience doesn't mean it doesn't happen to me

I believe myself to be a "Deep Listener". If you want to see what this is all about, I strongly urge you to read "Deep Listeners" by Judith Becker. What a fascinating book. Be forewarned, though. It is by no means an easy read. It's rather heady and was written more for study than pleasure reading. It took me about two weeks to make it through the first chapter!

Time to get "stoned".

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And Then There Were None...Still

Thus far I have yet to convince anyone to read this blog. I realize that this isn't exactly high on the priority list for most people, but come on! It kills me that I write this stuff and no one reads it, or if they do, they choose not to leave any comments. Oh well, it's not the end of the world. At least I don't think it is.

Ok, so the point of this blog is really just for me to vent and get things down on "paper". Since I love to write, it's no big deal. Hopefully, somewhere, someday, someone will notice my quaint little blog and say "hey, that's exactly how I feel".

I won't hold my breath waiting though.

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