Favourite Radio Station: CBC Radio One 99.1 FM
Oct 31, 2013
My car radio plays 99.1 and keeps me informed and entertained on my drives short and long (via podcasting). My weekday routine involves a short morning drive and a short evening drive. Metro Morning keeps me informed about the city(news, events and traffic) in the morning including refreshing music(often local). My evening drive is filled with smiles and intellectual stimulation thanks to As It Happens. It is a news program with a clever twist. Often, I would hear something interesting or moving and replay like the one about a talking pig called Mouse or read more at their website like the show about the new theme music. Other shows that I listen but with lesser frequency are interviews on Q with Jian Ghomeshi, interview of authors on Writers & Company.
My favourite is Vinyl Cafe. Vinyl Cafe needs no introduction. I could go on about it for a very long time because it is story telling at it's best. The introductory piece in the program takes me to places in Canada I have not been to, giving me history and comments in a way only Stuart McLean can: factual, entertaining, opinionated and funny. The musical guests entertains us between different segments (introduction, letters and story). The letters from listeners of the show tells us remarkable stories that are original and private of ordinary people, the kind we usually tell over dinner or on the bus but it gets lost in time and not shared. The Pièce de résistance of the show is the story about Dave. Once a week, Stuart McLean reads us a story about misadventures of the main character Dave. Dave has a wife Morley, children Stephanie and Sam, a family dog Arthur and "friendly" neighbours (Mary Turlington is the most interesting one). The motto of Dave's store - and of the radio show - is "We May Not Be Big, But We're Small"!
Enough said, please go listen to the past stories at CBC podcasts or check out other options. You will not regret it. Be warned: Listening to Vinyl Cafe stories can lead to embarrassingly uncontrolled laughter and prolonged smiles. My favourite story is "Hello Monster".