Self Help Radio 090225: Avalon

Self Help Radio traveled to Avalon for this show. Figuratively, of course. Avalon is a legendary place. It most probably never really existed but that hasn't kept people from looking for it! They could've just waited for this show - there are enough Avalons on this to satisfy most Avalon searchers. I even know someone named Avalon - I talk to her on the show - maybe she's the Avalon someone's been looking for! What I'm saying is, instead of spending all that money going to Glastonbury Tor, maybe just listen to this show when you feel like seeking Avalon.

You can visit the Avalon show anytime you'd like at either the KBOO web page or the Self Help Radio web page. If you choose, the latter, please remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp - you may need them. Everything that happened on the show is listed below.

Now we wait for Arthur's inevitable return.

Self Help Radio Avalon Show

"Avalon Town" Bing Crosby _The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings 1954-56_

"Avalon" Nat King Cole _The Unforgettable Nat King Cole_

"The Avalon Boogaloo" George 'Harmonica' Smith _Blowing The Blues_

introduction & definitions

"Avalon, My Home Town" Mississippi John Hurt _Rediscovered_

"Stones For Avalon" Tyrannosaurus Rex _Unicorn_

"Avalon" The McCalmans _Ancestral Manoeuvres_

"Key To Avalon" Eliza Gilkyson _Undressed_

"Avalon Of The Heart" Van Morrison _Enlightenment_

interview with my friend Avalon

"Avalon" M People _Fresco_

"Fields Of Avalon" Idha _Troublemaker_

"Avalon" The Hang Ups _The Hang Ups_

"Good Old Pig, Gone To Avalon" Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard _'Em Are I_

"Avalon Or Someone Very Similar" Yo La Tengo _Popular Songs_

interview with Arthurian Studies Professor Irwin Cottington

"Avalon" The Rosebuds _Songs From Crap Kingdom_

"Avalon" Black Whales _Through The Prism, Gently_

"Avalon" Foxygen _Hang_

"Avalon" Hudson Abadeer _Languor & Dolomite / Volume Two_

"Avalon" The White Buffalo _Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights_

interview with president & founder of the Portland Avalon Society: Chester Hardington

"On The Avalon Stairs" Fruit Bats _The Pet Parade_

"Take Me Avalon I'm Young" Pond _9_

"Avalon" Blur _The Ballad Of Darren_

"Road To Avalon (feat. KT Tunstall)" Brian Lopez _Tidal_

"Avalon" Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi _They're Calling Me Home_

conclusion & goodbye

"Avalon" Matthew Ellis _Matthew Ellis_

"Avalon" Coral Collapse _Symmetries_

"Avalon" Daddy's Beemer _Tangles_

Whither Avalon?

(illustration of Avalon from here)

When it comes to these themes I explore, I sometimes have straightforward ways of deciding on them & sometimes roundabout ways. Because I write in this blog about the origins of my themes I try to keep in my mind how they came about. & this one was one of the more roundabout ways.

Recently I was watching the second & final season of Netflix's adaption of the comic book The Sandman. I enjoyed though I found it somewhat s l o w & a little too self-serious for me. I also probably found the (spoiler alert) bodiless Orpheus a little too ridiculous when I was probably supposed to be more sympathetic. It just made me laugh. You can talk & sing without lungs? Yay magic! Anyway.

Because the show had long moments of characters glaring at each other my mind wandered a lot, & I tried to remember if Neil Gaiman in the Sandman comic ever dealt with Arthurian legends. I might even have visited the Sandman Wiki to see if the names Arthur or Merlin were noted there. (I still can't remember so if they did turn up in The Sandman, remind me if you can in the comments.) After I had found myself back to watching the show, & the glaring had turned to sulking, I started to wonder if I had ever done an Arthurian-themed episode of Self Help Radio. I guess I hadn't.

Obviously I could've chosen anything but Avalon seemed promising, so I made a note & started looking for songs. It helped that I have a friend named Avalon that I could interview for the show. Once I felt I was ready, I began putting that show together. Thanks Sandman series!

The Self Help Radio Avalon show happens tonight, Monday September 1, from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. Tonight is the night I get to pull that sword from the stone!

Preface To Avalon: King Arthur & Me

(The cover of Camelot 3000 # 1 found here)

As a child, I loved fantasy & sci-fi more or less equally, though when it came to old stories of Britain, I was much more attached to Robin Hood than to King Arthur. It took the comic book above, Camelot 3000 by Mike W. Barr & Brian Bolland, to draw me into that legend. It was of course both fantasy & sci-fi - it took place in the year 3000 - but the story was great & Bolland's art remains magnificent. What really hooked me to the Arthurian legends was the essay Barr wrote in the back of the first issue about Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur, which I checked out from the library very soon after I read that piece, &... Never finished. It was written in difficult old English & not all that gripping. I was just fourteen, I wasn't really going to suddenly go nuts for something written like the Canterbury Tales. I might have mentioned this to my tenth grade teacher, who might have suggested T.H. White's The Once & Future King to me. That was more my speed. I think I read that book twice in a row.

Golly I had so much time when I was young.

We did have movies we could turn to when we liked legends - sometimes old ones, like Errol Flynn in Robin Hood - but while there were lots of Arthur movies out there - I was too young to watch Excalibur but would see it later - I think my favorite Arthur movie of the ones I've seen remains Monty Python & The Holy Grail.

This website ranks the Arthurian movies worst to best. I am surprised I never saw The Sword In The Stone. But I guess by the time I was off to college I had consumed as much King Arthur as I wanted. Tho now looking at that list it appears I want more. Dang it.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Zoo Awareness Day

(sign at the Dublin Zoo, found here)

Are you not aware that we still keep animals in zoos for our own amusement? Also that zoos often employ smart, caring people who work to make sure the animals' lives are good? That's the function of National Zoo Awareness Day, & on The Dickenbock Report tomorrow we shall endeavor to make you aware of zoos, whether you're currently aware of them or not.

That's Sunday, August 31, from noon to 1pm, on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere (even at most zoos) at xray dot fm.

It turns out Dick Dickenbock wasn't even aware there was a zoo awareness day!

This Week In Self Help: August 24 & 26

It was one of the first regular weeks I've had in a while - I just did my three shows. One show of which follows immediately another show so it's like it's only two shows. Which means I got more sleep than usual!

The Dickenbock Report reported on National Knives Day.

Listen at XRAY website. Listen at Self Help Radio website.

Self Help Radio continued the Indiepop A To Z series with the 78th installment.

Listen at KBOO website. Listen at Self Help Radio website.

Corporate Standardized Programming played more artists we lost this year.

Listen at KBOO website (after Self Help Radio). Listen at Self Help Radio website.

If you listen at the Self Help Radio website, you may need this information:
Username: SHR. Password: selfhelp.

Really it was nice to get more sleep than usual. It might just be I'd sleep best without radio!

Self Help Radio 082625: Indiepop A To Z # 78

(images in collage found at Discogs & Bandcamp)

This show was a show of two firsts, one trivial, one alarming. The trivial first is that, for the first time ever, I deliberately (not accidentally) went out of alphabetical order. You can see where on the list below. I explain why during the show. The alarming first is that, for the first time ever, I fundraise for a station that is truly under threat of a fascist government. There's a lot of begging for donations to KBOO on this show. You can find out more - & help! - at this web page. Sorry to interrupt the music with what we in the biz call "pledge pitches." But it has to be done or there's no place for as unprofitable a show as Self Help Radio!

You can listen to this episode anytime at either the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. If you choose the latter, please note the username SHR & the password selfhelp. It was all music (except for the begging) so below is a list of songs that appeared on the show.

Next indiepop alphabet show is in December!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 78 Show

"Losing It" Shrimp Tractor _Losing It_

"Carefree Clothes" Shrubbies _Memphis In Texas_

"Weiter Weiter" Shy _Pullover_

"Alison Song # 4" Shy Camp _Friendly Society - A Harriet Records Compilation_

"Omtagning" Sibiria _Norrlands Inland_

"Sunshine Thuggery" The Siddeleys _Slum Clearance_

"Of My Heart" Signed Papercuts _Of My Heart_

"AM Radio" The Silent Boys _Beauty Tips_

"Until I See You" Silent Film _Moshi Moshi (Pop International Style)_

"City Ghosts" The Silent Reach _Secondment_

"The Forest" Silent Truth _A Chance To Shine: A Dorian Compilation_

"Time Zones" Silly Pillows _New Affections_

"Advice To The Graduate" Silver Jews _Starlite Walker_

"TV Playtime" Silicon Teens _Music For Parties_

"I Have Known Love" Silver Apples _Contact_

"The Lonely Singer" Silver Scooter _The Blue Law_

"Preciously Inside" Simpático _The Difference Between Alone & Lonely_

"Nice" The Simpletons _Matter_

"Come Together" Since November _Stamp Collecting (For Beginners)_

"Feels Like Summer" Sing-Sing _The Joy Of Sing-Sing_

"Do What You Say (Richard, Richard)" The Singing Bush _Drive-In Season_

"The Hanging Tree" The Singing Ringing Tree _The Hanging Tree_

"Fotos" Single _Monólogo Interior_

"Out In The Traffic" Single File _Out In The Traffic_

"Your Mouth Is On My Mind" Sink Tapes _How You Mean_

"You Can't Push Me Away" Sinking Ships _Out Of Key Harmony_

"It's You" La Sintesis _September EP_

"She's Cuckoo" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Downside Up_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 78?

Every four months I try to get closer to the end of my Indiepop A To Z series. Begun with the letter A in 2004, I am now in the letter S, where I'll probably be for quite a while. I have nothing more to say but I share with you a picture I took of something a child put up on a fence in our neighborhood. Why is it so cute when a child misspells a word? It's so cute to spell cute "cuet"! & I confess I can't draw a star that "adorabl."

Listen tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 78: Cute Animals

One defining feature of me is that I am wholly incapable of successfully making any sort of mark on social media. It's not that I wouldn't like lots of people knowing about my show, it's that it's a kind of work - self-promotion - that I find inherently distasteful. I do sometimes wish I was better at it, not for my own sake, but if I were good at getting someone's attention, I might be able to help raise money for the radio stations at which I volunteer. It is a sadness that I can't contribute financial to them commensurate with my love for them.

Over on my otherwise barren Bluesky account, I post pictures of my youngest animals every day. I do this as much for me as for anyone else - it's nice to see how they grow & change over time & making it into a ritual benefits me in the long run. I wish I had many more pictures of all my animals. I am sad I don't. I know my memories of the time I spent with them will fade - my own brain may well betray me. If my heart doesn't give out on me first.

This week I'm playing more indiepop & cute animals are part & parcel of the substance of twee. I remember going to a show & my then-girlfriend trying to convince the band afterward that the beagle was the most indiepop of animals. They may well be. I don't really make pronouncements like that. Not when there are adorable chihuahuas in the world!

This was not meant to be me moaning about anything. Just showing pics of my animals. As I listen to indiepop for the next silly show.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Knife Day

August 24 is National Knife Day. We will be reporting on knives on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. We have spent the whole week reminding the staff & crew about knife safety. We have reviewed first aid procedures. We have asked that no one bring knives from home. When last we reported on this day, there was a lot of blood. Stitches were required. One of our interns lost a finger. It is not one of the safer days to report on.

That's Sunday, August 24, 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. There was so much blood last time, though. So much blood.

This Week In Self Help August 15 17 19 + 21

Another busy week damn.

Friday the 15th: The Songcircle on KBOO.
All new releases.
Listen at KBOO. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Sunday the 17th: The Dickenbock Report on XRAY.
National I Love My Feet Day. Really.
Listen at XRAY. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Tuesday the 19th: Self Help Radio on KBOO.

The theme was eternity.

Listen at KBOO. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Tuesday the 19th: Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO.
Continuing Self Help Radio's theme, lots of instrumentals with "eternity" in their title.
Listen at Self Help Radio. (It's included in the KBOO file for Self Help Radio above.)

Thursday the 21st. Subbing Welcome To Your Good Day on XRAY.
Just playing music & talking about stuff.
Listen at XRAY.

The picture of the clouds above is supposed to be some attempt to show eternity.
I'm outta ideas here.
If you go to the Self Help Radio website, you might need the username SHR & password selfhelp.
I promise next week will be far less busy.

Self Help Radio 081925: Eternity

Driving to do the show last night, I reflected on how many late-night radio shows I've driven to, in all kinds of weather, in the darkest nights on the loneliest highways. Not to mention road trips driving through the middle of nowhere. My closest intimations of eternity have been in moments like those - alone in a moving vehicle, often listening to only the ambient noise caused by automobile & movement through space, seeing very little beyond what the headlights can show, or a light in the distance, or (if I'm lucky) the moon & some overachieving stars. Time, which was obviously moving forward as I was, still seemed to be slow, or even still, as you might yourself feel when you can't judge your own speed by another object nearby.

Maybe someone was driving down a similar highway listening to the show too. & maybe they had the same experience & it blew their minds.

Listen to a radio show about eternity in two places: the KBOO website & the Self Help Radio website. If you are asked for a username & password, maybe try SHR & selfhelp. All the things that happened on the show are listed below.

& don't worry - it's a show about eternity but it's only two hours long.

Self Help Radio Eternity Show

"Eternity" Peck's Male Quartet _The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume 2 (1928-1932)_

"From Here To Eternity" Frank Sinatra _The Complete Capitol Singles Collection_

"Eternity" Ernest Kador _The Specialty Story_

introduction & definitions

"Three Day Eternity" Richie Havens _Mixed Bag_

"Eternity" Glenn Yarbrough _Let The World Go By_

"One Minute Past Eternity" Hank Locklin _Hank Locklin & Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass_

"Eternity" Buell Kazee _Buell Kazee Sings & Plays_

"Eternity In Between" Morgen _Morgen_

interview with mystic Madame Ruby

"From Here To Eternity" The Only Ones _Even Serpents Shine_

"Eternity Is Here" The Gun Club _The Life & Times Of Jeffrey Lee Pierce & The Gun Club_

"Eternity Road" Lowlife _From A Scream To A Whisper_

"From Here To Eternity" William S. Burroughs _The Best Of William Burroughs From Giorno Poetry Systems_

"From Her To Eternity" Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds _From Her To Eternity_

interview with the Rev Wesley Fish

"Eternity" Imperial Teen _Seasick_

"Promises Of Eternity" The Magnetic Fields _69 Love Songs_

"Eternity Changed Her Mind" Outrageous Cherry _Why Don't We Talk About Something Else EP_

"Eternity" Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith _Mummer Love_

"Into Eternity" Jens Lekman _Night Falls Over Kortedala_

coming to terms with eternity Eternity visits!

"Eternity" Marty Feldman _The Crazy World Of Marty Feldman_

"Eternity" Siddal _The Crossing_

"What Feels Like Eternity" Metric _Formentera_

"Baby, Eternity" Amber Arcades _European Heartbreak_

"Eternity" Paris Angels _Sundew_

conclusion & goodbye

"Eternity" Here Come The Mummies _Terrifying Funk From Beyond The Grave_

"Brief Eternity" Bobby McFerrin _Vocabularies_

Whither Eternity?

One day recently eternity was on my mind. Not in any supernatural sense - I don't have any supernatural beliefs - but in the sense of "can things go on forever"? I think I had been reading about planned robotic missions to Saturn's moons & I thought about humans putting themselves in spacecraft traveling to other stars & how long it would take & how it would feel like eternity to us but not to them. & when I think about eternity I think about the Thoreau line: "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity!"

Which is very clever but doesn't really mean anything, which may be why I appreciate it. I don't believe that wasting time - which what the idiom "kill time" means - has anything to do with one's soul (I don't believe humans have souls) so I don't think it impacts their lives after death (since I see no evidence that such a thing exists). I repeat though that I think it's clever & it would probably be a great line in a song.

The point is this - when I find myself pondering something - like the concept of eternity - sooner or later my brain, which is always in the process of working on radio shows, thinks, "Would this be a good idea for a radio show?" & once I feel like enough of the pieces are in place for the show, I schedule it. This show happens tonight.

& yes, like most of my shows, it will feel like an eternity but will only be a couple of hours. The jokes write themselves.

Tonight! Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm in Portland. kboo dot fm everywhere. & then out to eternity!

Preface To Eternity: My First Glimpse Of Eternity

That's it. That's Steve Ditko's drawing of Eternity from the Dr. Strange comic. I don't know if when I was a kid I had an idea of what "eternity" meant but I'm sure when I came to understand the concept I thought about this incredible drawing by Steve Ditko. Even now, after being familiar with it for most of my life, it continues to astonish me. Just amazing.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National I Love My Feet Day

August 17 is National I Love My Feet Day. To a person, none of the members of the Dickenbock Report staff - including Dick Dickenbock himself - loves their feet. We have an explicit "keep your shoes on" policy at the Report because frankly the feet we have are either difficult to look at or just smell awful. Maybe something about radio news lends itself to a total lack of healthy foot care. Perhaps what we reveal in our reporting will help us all out. Anyway, dog & cat feet are more awesome.

Get your feet ready for tomorrow at noon on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & xray dot fm everywhere. & no not take your shoes off before you enter the house. We'd rather you track dirt in then have to deal with whatever surprises your exposed feet will reveal.

This Week In Self Help August 8 10 12 + 14

Oh dear I was on the radio a lot this week. Eek!

Last Friday the 8th I subbed a show on XRAY. Listen to the show on the XRAY website. Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Sunday the 10th on the Dickenbock Report I played tunes for National Lazy Day. Listen to the show on the XRAY website. Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Later that day I played two hours of electronica on KBOO. KBOO doesn't archive its sub shows but you can listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website. & you can see the Spinitron playlist here.

Tuesday the 12th on Self Help Radio I played songs & talked about porches. Listen to the show on the KBOO website. Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

After that show on Corporate Standardized Programming I played an hour of new releases. It's included on the KBOO website file above. Or you can listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Finally yesterday Thursday the 14th I subbed another show on XRAY. I have not put it on the Self Help Radio website yet but you can listen to the show on the XRAY website.

As always, for the Self Help Radio website, you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to listen.

That was probably too much radio. Somebody should say something.