What I'm Listening To

Like many people I got a new ipod over the holidays this year. So I've had to do my best to fill it like a pinata (I can't make my tilde go on top of my n) with sweet chocolate music, pictures, and podcasts. I went to get a glass of water so I could think of how to extend that metaphor, but I've decided instead to abandon it and just go on. Bleh.

So wanting to listen to good stuff without having to fish through my thousands of songs has lead me to downloading podcasts. Very quickly I have developed strong attachments to several of these. I now, unlike most people in the western world, enjoy workdays better than weekends because my podcasts get updated then. How sad is my life that these random voices I download have become my friends? Actually, I like some of these personalities better than most of my friends. Alas, I shed a tear. 

There are some great and popular things out there. And believe it or not, the two are not always mutually exclusive. Some of NPR's offerings are worthwhile. And I truly do miss me some Terry Gross now that I'm spending most of my time outside the states. So Fresh Air is a must. Also from NPR, I get Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! which is like Hollywood Squares except it's funny, smart, and entertaining.  I also get This American Life, but I think that comes from Chicago Public Radio via NPR. It's very good for filling up large chunks of time. Like when I'm changing trains in Prat de Llobregat and the train that was supposed to arrive at 12 minutes before the hour actually arrived at 13 minutes before the hour causing me to miss it, and the next one doesn't get there for 56 minutes. It reminds me of when I was a kid and got my first cassette recorder for christmas and I went around "interviewing" adults. Except these adults take the kids with the tape recorders seriously, so you get some quality shit. 

Not at all as far as I know associated with public broadcasting is Dan Savage. The Savage Lovecast updates like the blog on Tuesdays. I'm beginning to suspect he's growing weary of the whole naming sex acts after people and organizations we don't like schtick. (But Saddleback is a fucking stupid name for a church.) Beyond that there's a shitload of sex advice, which is good. It's especially fun to laugh at all the morons. Actually, I'd say the show is 10% politics, 20% sex and relationship advice, and 80% laughing at the morons. (Dear blog gods, please don't let my first comment be someone pointing out my math.)

OK, so that's the popular stuff I listen to. Almost everything else I listen to is gay. In the homosexual way, not the stupid way. Hot Gay Comics from Here! is a talk show about, you guessed it, gay comics. It's often funny, but the word hot is way overused these days, and here's a prime example. Also from the queer media world I get something that was called Wisecrack when I first started downloading it. These days it seems to have about three titles depending on what Logo is shunting off as comedy. 

My partner doesn't like it, but another daily podcast I enjoy is Feast of Fools. These guys actually make me want to live in Chicago. And buy their t-shirts. I have to write them and see if they ship internationally. They have some great guests, and even when they don't, it's worth tuning in for their take on gay news and events and just about everything. They led me to Deven Green's podcast. She's about the funniest saucy boozehound in Hollywood. Actually her comedy is largely based on dubbing new vocal tracks over cheesy 80s TV shows. She's not gay but her husband is damn sexy. I also want to buy her t-shirts (and have Joel's babies). 

Last but not least are two podcasts from Lavender Media. Big Gay News is a daily news update with Bradley Traynor. I honestly wonder where he gets his headlines. He seems to know stuff at least a day before every other queer news outlet. Traynor's alter ego is Wanda Wisdom. She's the hostess of Lucky Bitch Radio. Her show is more of a talk show type thing with some news thrown in. It's funny, informative, and often uplifting. And the giant cherry at the top of all this whipped cream is the Random Mini Disco Dance Party, a surprise intrusion of a song from the 70s or 80s in the middle of the podcast. I'm just nelly enough to love it. 

So there you have it. My friends. I mean other than you, ladies and gentlemen and the rest of you. These are my friends who actually talk to me. I only have to press play first.