Whither Puppets?

(image by Mr Joshua, found here)

The first Self Help Radio of 2026 is about puppets. & for the life of me I'm not sure why. I did meet a puppeteer in December, but it was certainly before that that I planned the show. I have a feeling it has something to do with a Serge Gainsbourg listening spree from back around Halloween that led me to become reacquainted with Mick Harvey's follow-up recordings, Intoxicated Woman. I had been obsessed with his Gainsbourg covers in the 1990s, Intoxicated Man & Pink Elephants, & had all but forgotten the third record. So I was listening to it, & to the Gainsbourg originals, & enjoyed "Puppet Of Wax, Puppet Of Song" a lot. It was probably why I decided to do a show about puppets.

But who knows? That was what, three months ago? In 2025-2026 time that's like fifty years! I can't be expected to remember that far back!

What I do know is that the Self Help Radio "puppet" show is happening tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm KBOO in Portland, which is also available everywhere at kboo dot fm. It'll be songs about puppets. One day I'll do an entire show with all the songs sung by puppets. But that's not this show.

Preface To Puppets: I Never Had A Puppet

(found on Tumblr)

As a child, I had stuffed animals. I had dolls - insomuch as GI Joes & the like were dolls. I had Fisher-Price humanoids. & most of all I had Star Wars figures - which may as well include what followed from other series. But I never really had puppets.

Which is not to say I didn't love puppets. In talking about this show with someone recently, I mentioned that - besides Sesame Street - I was a fan of puppets on Sid & Marty Krofft series, on Gigglesnort Hotel, on The Great Space Coaster - which featured Gary Gnu - on The New Zoo Revue, & probably many others.

But one thing I didn't have was - okay well two things I didn't have were - a desire to have a puppet & a puppet - even one made from a sock - to manipulate & play with.

Even now I don't think I would enjoy that.

It doesn't mean it wouldn't make a decent radio show tho!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: World Hypnotism Day

The first Dickenbock Report of 2026 involved World Hypnotism Day. What is hypnotism? Can Dick Dickenbock be hypnotized? Will Dick Dickenbock be hypnotized on air? How many musical reports entitled "Hypnotized" can there be? Almost all of these questions - or perhaps none of them - will be answered on the show.

Which airs Sunday, January 4, on XRAY FM - that's 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Suggestible listeners should tune in.

This Week In Self Help (Last Year Tho) December 28 + 30

Look it's me walking all my beagles. I did that a lot last year. Though most of the year I only had two beagles. Anyway that was last year. This also was last year.

December 28 The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM.
It was Card Playing Day. I lost big. Listen to the show at XRAY FM. Listen to the show at Self Help Radio.

December 28 KBOO.
Someone couldn't make their Sunday night show so I stepped in & played lots of newish stuff. Listen at KBOO FM. Listen at Self Help Radio.

December 30 Self Help Radio on KBOO.
The 79th installment of the Indiepop A To Z series. Listen at KBOO FM. Listen at Self Help Radio.

December 30 Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO.

More music by artists we lost in July 2025. Listen at KBOO FM (after Self Help Radio). Listen at Self Help Radio.

Are you listening at Self Help Radio's website? The username is SHR & the password is selfhelp.

So glad 2025 is over & I don't have to write about it any more!

The Year In (My) Radio (Shows)

A couple of years ago - during the pandemic, probably, when I was doing more radio shows than usual - I started keeping track of the shows I do. & I just spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to count the shows I've done, to get the number of shows plus the amount of time I've wasted spent on the air.

There is a note here. I have two radio shows that air back-to-back - Self Help Radio & Corporate Standardized Programming. They are however two distinct shows - & the latter is prerecorded, so I don't even stick around after Self Help Radio to do the show. I therefore count them as separate shows - though if you don't, you can subtract that number from the total.

What is that total? Here it is:

52 episodes of Self Help Radio.
52 episodes of The Dickenbock Report.
49 episodes of Corporate Standardized Programming.
52 sub shows on KBOO, XRAY, & Freeform Portland*.

That makes 205 radio shows I was responsible for in 2025. I did 104 of them live, 101 of them were prerecorded. It's a total of 304.5 hours of radio in 2025. & this is probably approximate - I had to have missed something somewhere.

In addition, in between Self Help Radio & The Dickenbock Report, I explored 70 new, unique themes.

What to make of this? I dunno. I didn't have a goal in mind or anything. I just made radio shows when I could. & that's how it'll probably be in 2026 too. So, you know. Apologies in advance.

* This includes episodes of The Songcircle, though I am technically a member of the show's collective, & not a substitute deejay, but I started out the year substituting. I'll count it differently if I do this again next year.