A Cocoon of Tunes

No doubt it's out of politeness that people have yet to ask what music is on the 'cocoon of tunes' I enjoyed while waiting at the Gulfport-Biloxi Airport for 10 hours last Saturday (disclaimer: due to my error, not anyone else's).

I take music with me whenever I travel, as well as a large set of noise cancelling headphones. They come in very handy not just on the plane but during long layovers. I used to try to find "CNN-Free" zones at airports, locations where either the tv was turned off (good luck) or there was no tv to be found.

Then I decided to fight back and purchase an iPod. I don't have to tell you what that is. If you are savvy enough to read a blog you know how the iPod has revolutionized the music industry and the ability to discreetly ignore people all around you. A little electronic box the size of a deck of cards, or smaller, means that you never, ever have to listen to a used car commercial again if you don't want to.

iPods were banned on the Habitat construction sites for good reason - you have to be able to hear your team leader and co-workers. But at the airport they're a great way to shut out the loud cell phone talker next to you, the unhappy child, and of course, CNN. (I don't know how that deal slid through - being able to install tvs at every airport tuned permanently to CNN - but someone needs to go to jail.)

Why all news all the time? Why not the Food Channel? Bad news makes people grumpy. Food makes people happy. Simply changing the channel at all the airports in the US could really help the airlines these days.

For example: your flight has been delayed and now you are going to miss your connecting flight home. With CNN broadcasting the latest flood, fire, mass murder, earthquake, corrupt person, or hardened criminal in a continuous loop you start walking around like a lab rat helplessly trapped in a maze, seeking a way out.

But if the Food Network were on (or for some people, NASCAR) you'd be a much happier lab rat. "Well, okay, I guess I'll be delayed 10 hours, but wow, they're having a Paula Deen marathon all afternoon so I'd better get some Moon Pies, a Coke, and settle in."

At any rate, having a cocoon of tunes is such a civilized way to spend time, as long as you keep the volume down so that the people next to you can't hum along with you.

And what's on mine? So far, 2,500 of my favorite songs, but I still have several hundred CDs to download. Last Saturday I listened to:

*Marvin Gaye - Midnight Love

*Barry White - Greatest Hits

*Herb Alpert - Herb Alpert's Ninth

*Acoustic Alchemy - Red Dust and Spanish Lace

*The Rippingtons - Kilimanjaro

*Big Maybelle - Candy

*Walter Wanderley - On My Mind

What I did NOT listen to: Just about anything, other than Jazz, produced in this century.

I am decidedly unhip. But that's the great thing about creating your own playlist. You can groove to your favorite tunes and no one has to know that Tom Jones is singing "It's Not Unusual." Which, by the way, I'm thinking of downloading. For 99 cents it's a steal.