Origami/Candy

(image + instructions here)

You don't have to tell me that it went unnoticed that there was not a new episode of Self Help Radio this week.  The show has disappeared without a trace from many radio stations, & will do so again.  Obscurity is always the same kind of punishment, something akin to neglect really.  So I didn't expect anyone to reach out & say, "Hey! Did something happen to that show on Tuesdays?"  No one did.

Still, I can imagine a crazy science fiction alternative reality where at least one person likes the show & kind of misses it, & I'm hoping this blog post falls into a wormhole or something & gets to that person, as the Gary in that reality might have already totally given up.  This blog post is for you!

If you missed this week's Self Help Radio, & were thinking, "I guess I can wait till Monday night but I have time right now to listen to a radio program," might I suggest you listen the show's sibling-program, The Dickenbock Report?  It's a lot like Self Help Radio except there aren't any collaborators & it pretends it's a newscast hosted by Dick Dickenbock.

There were two new episodes in the past two weeks, which are on the Self Help Radio website if you wanna listen to them.  One was for National Candy Day (November 4) & featured nothing but songs entitled "Candy."  The other was for National Origami Day (November 11) & featured songs about origami.  That was a tough one, I kinda hoped someone would have said, wow you found two hours of songs about origami?  But of course no one listens so, you know, there's no one to be impressed by the show.

Anyway, imaginary other-dimensional listener, you can find those shows by clicking the links above, or these here: candy show + origami show.  Remember you'll need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp) to listen.  They might be enjoyable if you're the odd person that wished they could have heard Self Help Radio this week but did not.

By the way, I am aware that Self Help Radio covered the theme "candy" way back in 2005.  It was a completely different show, I promise.

One last thing - I also subbed a show on XRAY this past week, you can listen to it over on their website.  If you wanna.

That's all!  New show Monday!  I promise to no one at all!

Climb It

That photo, like this particular post, means nothing.  But it's been days since the previous post, which promised a radio show about socks, & there wasn't one.  There was a Self Help Radio this week at all.

Perhaps you get all your Self Help Radio news from this blog.  If so, that's not the best idea.  Information appeared on the show's Facebook page as well as in the show's Twitter feed that an emergency occurred which made it impossible for me to do the show, & a repeat was played instead.

What was the emergency?  It was about one of my elderly animals.  He's fine, although we're taking him to a specialist tomorrow.  So perhaps he's not fine.  We don't know, actually.  It's been quite stressful.

Anyway, I'm fond of taking pictures of telephone poles & wires.  I'm a little amazed how they're all around us but we taking them for granted.  On long road trips, when I wasn't driving, I loved to just follow the single wire that seems to run alongside the highway, so different from the many wires in the city.

The socks show will happen Monday.  At least I hope so.

Whither Socks?

(Retro radio socks - available - & image from - here.)

A radio show about socks.  I don't understand why there would be any questions about a radio show about socks.  Chances are, you're wearing socks now.  What else are you - & everyone else who might be near you - wearing no matter who you are, how you identify yourself, what age you might be?  Socks.  Probably just socks.  So damn it, socks get a radio show!

& you might think, have we gotten to the point in Self Help Radio where Gary's just staring at common things around the house & saying, "Yeah, let's do a radio show about that."  What's next?  Tables?  Hungry cats?  Nosy neighbors?  A glass of whiskey too early in the day?

The truth is, I don't remember why I thought it would be fun to do a show about socks.  But it will be!  Lots of songs & lots of guests.  Even if you don't like socks - & one of my guests does not - it'll be a grand time.  Like running around a shiny wooden floor in your socks!

Tonight! From midnight to 3am! On 90.7 fm KBOO in Portland.  Online at kboo.fm.  I would say, "It'll knock your socks off," but it's cold out.  That would be mean.

Preface To Socks: Dick Wears Black Sox

(image from here)

This is true: I just wear black socks.  & there's really one kind of black socks I like, the ones linked above, by Dickies.  Officially they're Dickies' Non-Binding Crew Socks.  They feel like your average sock but are black.  Other black socks are usually for dress shows, & they're too thin.  Dickies black socks are just right.

This is the rare occasion where I have an opinion about what I wear.  I generally wear tee shirts & jeans or shorts (depending on the weather) & don't really pay otherwise much attention - as a woman at KOOP in Austin told me once, "You dress like a thirteen year old boy!"  But I prefer to wear black socks.

Why though?  I dunno.  When did I start doing that?  Probably in the 1990s at some point.  I was definitely a black sock fellow by the early 2000s when my nephew moved in with us.  He apparently started wearing black socks too, because one trip back to my hometown my sister - his mother - asked me, "What have you done to my son?"  Apparently somehow encouraging him to wear black socks (which I only could have done by example) was worse than all the drinking he & I did together.

It might seem I am mentioning this to endorse a product, but that would somehow mean I was enough of a "celebrity" to "endorse" anything.  I'm not.  If Dickies thought to send me some socks, however, I would not be averse to such a delightful gift.  Though I probably won't talk about socks again on Self Help Radio after this week's show.  So Dickies would have very little to gain indeed.

Don't - Not In The Grass

Bad grammar & misspellings are slightly more fun to point out when they're in public places.  This picture was taken two years ago on this day here in Portland.  It encourages me to check with someone before I put a sign out, no matter what.  It of course begs the question, where am I supposed to dog shit, if not on the grass?

Interestingly, I took this picture about six months ago, also in our neighborhood:

Sad for all the green recycling bins mistaken for "a trash."  But at least I now know I should dog shit at home.

Fold Like Origami

(This image, from here, is the first that comes up in a image search for origami.)

It is true that I don't much about that other radio show I do, The Dickenbock Report on Freeform Portland, here on this blog.  It's mainly because the Dickenbock Report isn't Self Help Radio.  But the truth, except for the dumb "news reader" aspect of it, it's much more like Self Help Radio was in its first few years than it is now.  I didn't intend for that to happen - I wanted there to be more different segments - but it started to feel more right if the entire show was focused on a single theme.

For example, the show yesterday was on National Candy Day, so every song on the show was called "Candy."  That's something I have tried to do on SHR - in fact, the show this week, with the theme "Vacations," featured for the first ninety minutes all songs called "Vacation" - something that doubtless interests me more than any listener.  But it's next week's show that is kind of fascinating.

November 11 is Veteran's Day, but I didn't want to play songs about war or veterans being mistreated, so it was intriguing that it's also National Origami Day.  But.  Are there enough songs about origami that I can make a show out of it?

Perhaps.  My big thing is that I remember a song with the lyric "fold just like origami" & I can't find it anywhere.  But.  I am thinking I can pull it off.  Despite not knowing what song uses that exact phrase.  Because there are lots of songs that say "fold like origami" but that's not how the lyrics plays in my head.  There's a "just" there.

Anyway, that's all I'll say about the show I affectionately refer to as "The Dick Report."  It's on Thursdays at 8am on Freeform Portland.  It's kind of like Self Help Radio but it isn't.  & next week it might be about origami?!?

Self Help Radio 110221: Vacations

Do you need a vacation?  Wouldn't that be nice, especially as it seems to have become cold & rainy despite all objections?  If you can, please take a vacation!  If you can't, perhaps take a vacation show - which is this week's Self Help Radio.  Yes, it might be as dreary & dirty as your average highway motel, but at least no one's gotten bedbugs from a radio show!  (Not yet anyway.)

There's no air conditioning, pool or cable, but the first half of the show features songs just called "Vacation."  Why that would be a draw I'm not sure but it's the sort of accomplishment obscure radio deejays pride themselves on because no one gives them any encouragement.  Imagine what the show would be like if I were loved!  Oh, let's face it - there wouldn't be a show anymore.

How did I get from there to here?  I'm supposed to be talking about this week's show!  It's about vacations, it aired this morning on KBOO, & you can listen to it now & wherever (even on vacation!) at both the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.  As usual, if you use the latter, remember the username (SHR) & the password (selfhelp).  What happens on the show is below.

Happy travels!

Self Help Radio Vacations Show

"Vacation" Connie Francis _Dreamboats & Petticoats_

"Vacation" Textones _I Can't Fight It 7"_

"Vacation" Critical Mass _Doctor Death's Volume IV: The Marvels Of Insect Life_

introduction & definitions (featuring the Definition-O-Tron 3000)

"Vacation" The Frogs _Unsealed: A Tribute To The Go-Go's_

"Vacation" The Concretes _Boyoubetterunow_

"Vacation" Duck Hunt _International Hip Swing_

"Vacation" Freezepop _Freezepop Forever_

"Vacation" The Gay _You Know The Rules_

a report from Self Help Radio Travel Correspondent Orville Francis

"Vacation (feat. J-Live)" Jazz Liberatorz _Clin D'Oeil_

"Vacation" Aaron Espe _Songs From A Small Town_

"Vacation" Beach Fossils _Beach Fossils_

"Vacation" Mermaids _Tropsicle_

"Vacation" The Blank Tapes _Vacation_

interview with Gary's radio friend Don

"Vacation" Onward Chariots _Take Me To Somewhere_

"Vacation" Florist _Holdly_

"Vacation" Chris Staples _Golden Age_

"Vacation" Sobs _Telltale Signs_

"Vacation" Pynkie _# 37_

a Self Help Radio rerun: Chuck talks about tourist films (from back in March)

"Endless Vacation" Ramones _Too Tough To Die_

"Felt Just Like Vacation" Bomb The Music Industry! _Vacation_

"Vacation Town" The Front Bottoms _Going Grey_

"The Meaney's Summer Vacations" Kevin Meaney _That's Not Right_

"Punk Vacation" Places To Hide _Strange Lyfe_

a discussion of popular vacation destinations

"Vacation Blues" T-Bone Walker _The Chronological T-Bone Walker 1947_

"Bo's Vacation" Bo Diddley _Bo Diddley Is A... Lover_

"Your Mind Is On Vacation" Mose Allison _Allison Wonderland: The Mose Allison Anthology_

"Permanent Vacation" Marion Sodd _Northern Soul Fever Volume Two_

"I Need A Vacation" Jim Backus _Andy & Pat's Groovy Cosmic Love Hour Record Collection (Funky 45s)_

"Vacation Song" Ruth Wallis _For Sophisticates Only_

a discussion of hip vacation idioms

"Natty On Vacation" Big Joe _At The Control_

"Useful Phrases While On Vacation In Russia (Introduction To Spoken Russian)" Eugene Mirman _I'm Sorry (You're Welcome)_

"Vacation In Tehran" The Judy's _Washarama_

"Two-Week Vacation" The Embarrassment _Heyday 1979-83_

"Summer Vacation" Presidents Eleven _Behind The Banana Curtain 1975-2000_

"Island Vacation" Louise Burns _Mellow Drama_

conclusion & goodbye

"Sad Vacation" Johnny Thunders _Hurt Me_

"Al's Vacation" Shack _Zilch_

"Big Vacation" Dressy Bessy _Come Out, Come Out_

"No Vacation" The Apples In Stereo _Travellers In Space & Time_

"Take A Vacation!" The Young Veins _Take A Vacation!_

"Brak's Hawaiian Vacation" Brak _Space Ghost's Surf & Turf_

Whither Vacations?

(image found here)

Do people vacation in November? Can we say for the sake of a radio show that they do?  Thanks!

Since people vacation in November, it seemed appropriate for Self Help Radio to spend some time playing songs & talking about vacation.  It's been a while since I've been on a vacation myself, unless you want to consider this pandemic a vacation, which I do not.  But it's true that the show itself is a kind of vacation from the intense five-guest programs I've been doing recently.  Just two guests tonight!  & maybe I'll banter with a computer or something.

Self Help Radio's vacation show starts promptly at midnight tonight & lasts until 3am.  Only three hours?!?  If that's all I can get, I'll take it.  It'll happen on 90.7fm KBOO in Portland & online everywhere at kboo.fm.  Remember to take some snaps.  You'll want to show people where you've gone afterwards.

Preface To Vacations: Is Halloween Over Yet?

(image by Mr. Joshua)

It's over, yeah?  The kids are all inside, deep in their sugar comas?  The parents have self-medicated?  We've turned off the lights & let the blow-up things deflate?  Is that true?

You see, I didn't want to write about this week's show until Halloween was over, but also I didn't want to wait until tomorrow.  It's a whole new show tomorrow.  Nothing to do with Halloween.  It'll be a show about vacations.  I will talk more about it tomorrow.

Damn it!  The doorbell!  More kids!  I wanted to save the rest of this candy!

Halloween Shows!

As an FYI, there are quite a few Self Help Radio Halloween shows - basically every Halloween show since 2005, or a total of seventeen (17!) Halloween shows, over at the Self Help Radio website.  It's not linked on the page, but if you click here:

https://www.selfhelpradio.net/halloween.html

You can get to those shows.  Please remember (as it says on the page) the username (SHR) & the password (selfhelp) to listen.  I make no claims about the quality of the shows - I can barely remember doing most of them - but gosh I had fun making them!  Perhaps there's some joy to be had listening on a Halloween night.

Halloween Pumpkin Movies & Stuff!

(image from here)

On this year's Halloween episode of Self Help Radio, we played songs about & talked about pumpkins.

During that show, there was another installment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner, in which our resident cinephile talked about movies involving pumpkins & Halloween.  Here are helpful links so you can see what we talked about & then see the movies!

Here is Chuck's twitter thread, which leads to his playlists.

He has two playlists on Youtube to check out, one featuring family-friendly films (G to PG), which you can find if you click here; & the other featuring more adult films (PG-13 to NC-17) which Chuck calls "Pumpkins (After Dark)," & which you can find if you click here.

Chuck reviewed several of the films on Letterboxd, click to read what he thought!

Here are his IMDb keyword lists:
The one for pumpkin is here.  The one for jack o'lantern is here.

Chuck also has prepared a list of Halloween + pumpkin films (courtesy of the IMDb) which you can stream for free elsewhere, & that list is here.

Finally, Chuck would like to give a shout out to Game For A Movie Podcast which gave Chuck & this segment a shout-out which they discussed the film Osombie (2012).  If you'd like to watch that film, which does not have any pumpkins in it, darn it, you can here or here.

Thanks Chuck!  Now, Self Help Radio listener, go watch some Halloween pumpkin films & stuff!

Self Help Radio 102621: Halloween 2021 - Pumpkins!

What's more central to Halloween than the venerable pumpkin?  Not ghosts not candy not scares not nothing! Whether you carve them or not, you probably have them in front of your house for the autumn season.  Heck, some of my neighbors even grow them, so we have to stumble around them on dog walks!

For its annual Halloween show this year, Self Help Radio decided to shine a light on - rather than through, from holes carved into its flesh - the pumpkin!  & not just pumpkin songs for Halloween but songs about pumpkins in all its glory - including pumpkins in metaphor & "pumpkin" as an endearment.  Not only are there a plethora of pumpkin ditties, but there are interviews galore, ranging from the incredibly informative to the absolutely ridiculous.

You can listen to the show at both the KBOO website & the Self Help Radio website.  At the show's website, you'll need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  It's three glorious hours long, & the details are below.  Now get to carving!  Halloween is only a few days away!

Self Help Radio Halloween Pumpkin Show

"Punky Punkin (The Happy Pumpkin)" Rosemary Clooney _Memories Of You_

"The Pumpkin Tells" Wade Denning with Kay Lande _Halloween_

"Ding! Dong! Fill My Plastic Pumpkin" Mike Chick _Ding! Dong! Fill My Plastic Pumpkin_

introduction, definition, & origins

"Punkin Center Tennessee" Lonzo & Oscar _Country Music Time_

"Put The Pumpkin On The Table" David & Jad Fair _Halloween Songs_

"Pumpkin Song" Casper Myers _Karma Shot_

"Pumpkin Carving Party" Evil Streaks _Talk To The Dead_

"Hole In The Pumpkin" Ini Kamoze _Shocking Out_

interview with the star of Evil Pumpkin Man Mike Stout

"Jack O'Lantern" Babe Ruth _Babe Ruth_

"Jack O'Lantern" Supreme Dicks _The Unexamined Life_

"Jack-O'-Lantern Man" The Bravery _Stir The Blood_

"Jack O'Lantern Soccer Ball" The Sharksons _Best Halloween Songs Ever_

"Pumpkin" Male Bonding _Nothing Hurts_

interview with the creator/writer of Evil Pumpkin Man Damian Raven

"Magical Pumpkin Seeds" April Mae & The June Bugs _Boogie Boo! 3_

"Pumpkin Seeds" Devendra Banhart _Oh Me Oh My_

"Pumpkin Seeds" Fred Thomas _Night Times_

"Who Pick De Pumpkin" Zap Pow _Who Pick De Pumpkin_

"African Pumpkin" Pinchers _African Pumpkin_

interview with pumpkin farmer Booster Fromholz

"Pumpkinhead" Christmas _In Excelsior Dayglo_

"Pumpkinhead" Dharma Bums _Bliss_

"Pumpkin Head Xscapes" The Fall _Ed's Babe_

"The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead" XTC _Nonsuch_

"The Great Great Pumpkin" Eddy Bell _Rockin' Rollin' Vocal Groups Vol. 6_

our librarian friend Carole stops by with books about pumpkins!

"Little Peter Punkin Eater" Gene Autry _Always Your Pal, Gene Autry_

"Pumpkin Eater" Terry Jacks _Seasons In The Sun_

"Pumpkineater" Butch Hancock _Eats Away The Night_

"Pumpkin Pie" The "5" Royales _Soul & Swagger: The Complete "5" Royales 1951 - 1967_

"Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" Odds & Ends _A Treasury Of Northern Soul_

"Pumpkin Pie" Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds _Dracula Boots_

another installed of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner featuring pumpkin films

"Pumpkin Eyes" Silver Scooter _The Other Palm Springs_

"Pumpkin Time" The World/Inferno Friendship Society _East Coast Super Sound Punk Of Today!_

"Pumpkin" The Starlight Mints _Drowaton_

"Pumpkin In A Tie" Beloved Binge _Blender Theory_

"Pumpkin Creme" White Mystery _Blood & Venom_

"Rotten Pumpkin" Slothrust _Everyone Else_

conclusion & goodbye

"Punkin'" The April Fools _Punkin'_

"Daddy's Little Pumpkin" John Prine _The Missing Years_

"Pumpkin Rose" Helvetia _Nothing In Rambling_

"Pumpkin" Islands _Taste_

"Pumpkin" Mount Eerie _Sauna_

Whither Pumpkins? (Hint: It's Self Help Radio's 2021 Halloween Show!)

(People in Portland love their Halloween!)

Every year, Self Help Radio celebrates Halloween with a show that tries to focus on some aspect of the holiday, rather than a general assortment of Halloween tunes - not that there's anything incorrect about doing that kind of show!  So far, in the nineteen years of doing the show, we've examined ghosts, vampires, monsters, zombies, witches, werewolves, haunted houses, graveyards, nightmares, hell, mummies, clowns, death, black cats, voodoo, Frankenstein & his monster, & last year we thought about horror films which feature the phrase "Attack Of The..." & had songs about horrible things attacking.

Truly I despaired this year finding a unique theme & even asked on the Self Help Radio Facebook page, where I did get some great suggestions that may turn up on future Halloween shows.  But then, like it sometimes does, inspiration sideswiped me & I thought, what symbol is more important to Halloween than the pumpkin?  There's hardly a house on our block without at least one in the front yard.  & those who for religious reasons might find the holiday of Halloween problematic can still enjoy the pumpkin as the official fruit of the harvest.

So tonight on Self Help Radio we will play lots of songs about pumpkins & we'll talk to lots of folks about pumpkins & it's a Halloween show almost a week before Halloween!

From midnight to 3am! On 90.7 fm KBOO in Portland!  & kboo.fm everywhere!  & don't worry, pumpkins aren't scary!

...Or are they?

Preface To Halloween 2021 - Pumpkins! Featuring Much More Pumpkin Content

Though it appears to have fallen out of favor, Self Help Radio still has a Tumblr account (it's here), & there are lots of Tumblr users who love love love Halloween (like this one) & there's tons of cool Halloween content right now including pumpkin stuff.  Like below!

(Sorry there are no attributions - Tumblr users don't say anything about where the images originated - the horror that is constant reposting.)

Enjoy!

Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 2

As I mentioned yesterday, I take a lot of pictures of pumpkins around the Halloween time when people have pumpkins out.  They're a very photogenic fruit.  But!  I forgot to mention yesterday the reason why I am doing this is because the Halloween show this year will be about pumpkins!  Please enjoy three pictures below I took of pumpkins when I was living in Texas from 2016-2019.

As an aside, this last one has made me a bit sentimental - it was taken at the Dallas Arboretum on a visit with my mother, who we lost last year.  It makes me a bit sad to know we'll never stroll around that place anymore together - not the least because she loved it quite a bit.

Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 1

It's true, when they're out, I take lots of pictures of pumpkins.  Here are some from when I lived in Kentucky.

Self Help Radio 101921: Radar

(Original image here.*)

It was almost certainly off your radar this week, but Self Help Radio's show about radars might've been a steady blip in some listening situations from midnight to 3am Tuesday morning.  Despite its subject matter, it didn't locate any enemy aircraft, missiles, submarines, or ships; it didn't indicate any weather systems or changes in environment; it didn't communicate successfully with extraterrestrial life; & it certainly didn't give anyone any speeding tickets.  It just played lots of songs & talked about radar, talked to a couple of guests, featured a disastrous in-studio performance of a pop song, & was generally happy to continue live in the KBOO studios in the middle of the night.

You can listen to the radar show in two places: at the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.  If you use the second link, be prepared to supply a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  You won't need one on the KBOO website.  All the things that happen on the show are noted below.

The things that are on this show's radar are quite ridiculous, yes, we are aware.

Self Help Radio Radar Show

"Radar" Link Wray & The Wraymen _Link Wray & The Wraymen_

"Radar" J.B. Hutto & The New Hawks _Rock With Me Tonight_

"Radar" Gruppo Sportivo _Sombrero Times_

introduction & definitions (feat. the Definition-O-Tron 3000)

"Radar" The Legendary Stardust Cowboy _Rock-It To Stardom_

"Radar" Laurie Anderson _Home Of The Brave_

"Radar" Morphine _Yes_

"Radar" Comet Gain _Tigertown Pictures_

"Radar" Beautiful Assassins _Preamp_

interview with archaeologist Dr. Renate Phelps

"Radar" Catherine Feeny _Hurricane Glass_

"Radar" The Transmissionary Six _Radar_

"Radar" Riz MC _Microscope_

"Radar" Moving Panoramas _One_

"Radar" Teen _Good Fruit_

interview with inventor Giorgio Rasp

"Radar Love" Centerfold _Radar Love_

"Radar Blues" Big Joe Turner _The Swing Time Records Story_

"Radar Blues" Chris Connor _Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection_

"Radar Blues" The Holy Modal Rounders _Indian War Whoop_

"On My Radar" John Tirado _Slow-Motion Party_

a brief history of radar a live performance cover of Britney Spears' "Radar" by Captain McCheese

"Radar" Mr. Bear & His Bearcats _Hot Rods & Custom Classics_

"Radar Gun" The Bottle Rockets _The Brooklyn Side_

"Radar Detector" Darwin Deez _Darwin Deez_

"Funky Radar" The Weathermen _Global 851_

"Music Is My Radar" Blur _The Best Of_

a brief history of radar

"Radar In My Heart" Bill Nelson's Red Noise _Sound On Sound_

"Radar Man" Halmens _Halmens No Kindaitaiso_

"Radar Eyes" Sic Kidz _Teenage Obsessions 1978-84 Recordings_

"The London Radar" Cornershop _Handcream For A Generation_

"Elmer W. Litzinger, Spy: Yukon Radar" Bob & Ray _The Very Best Of Bob & Ray, Vol. 1_

"Radar Follows You" Versus _Two Cents Plus Tax_

idioms with radar

"Underneath The Radar" Underworld _Underneath The Radar_

"Living Under The Radar" Asian Dub Foundation _Punkara_

"Under The Radar" The Vibrators _Under The Radar_

"Under Radar" The Mendoza Line _Lost In Revelry_

"Under The Radar" Nah... _Nah..._

conclusion & goodbye

"Contrapuntal Interstellar Radars" Conrad Schnitzler _Space Box - 1970 & Beyond (Space, Krautrock & Acid Trips)_

"Radar Receiver" Solvent _Apples & Synthesizers_

"Radar" Hauschka _Salon Des Amateurs_

* "Radar" by BenFrantzDale is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Whither Radar?

(image from here.)

The normal way for me to think of a theme starts with coincidence.  I notice a particular theme recurs in the music I'm listening to.  My brain says, "That might be fun to do a radio show about."

Next I visit the list of themes I've explored on the Self Help Radio website.  Nine times out of ten I discover I've already covered that theme.  It's surprising what one forgets.  Sometimes I even forget to check if I've done the theme already.

There's another step I've recently added, which is this one: is the theme so general it would take me way too long to sort through all the songs that fit the theme?  It's why I don't do themes like "cars" or "rain" - I would have hundreds of songs to listen to, & I don't have the time for that.  A corollary to this step is the opposite: are there enough songs for the theme?  I recently rejected what would've been a fun theme because I found maybe ten songs that worked for it.  & I just didn't feel I could find many more.

Once I've decided on a theme, I start gathering songs.  When I feel I have a critical mass of songs, I schedule it (put it on the website) & I start thinking about the show.  Oftentimes, like this week, I have enough songs for a decent two-hour show & then I recall, "Oh shit! I have a three-hour show!"  In that case I do as I did yesterday, set aside some time to find other songs that fit the theme that I like.

It's a misconception that I play whatever songs I find for the theme as long as it fits the theme.  You may not like the stuff I play on the show but I only play music I like.  It's the truth!  It's easy to find enough songs to fit any theme if you just play all the songs that fit the theme.  But it's my show.  I'm gonna play the stuff I wanna listen to.

This week those songs are about radar.  & the show will happen tonight (!) from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO Portland & online at the same time at kboo.fm.  & yep, I'll be live in the KBOO studios.

You won't need radar to find me tonight, although feel free to use radar all through the show!

Preface To Radar: O'Reilly

(image from IMDb)

It's impossible to say the word "radar" in American culture without invoking two things - & I'll completely understand if this is not the case for millennials or later - one of these is the song "Radar Love" by Golden Earring, & the other is the character of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H.

As a kid, I was inordinately fond of Radar.  You might never guess why.  I didn't possess his seeming telepathic gift to anticipate what someone wanted.  I wasn't very naïve though I was quite shy.  & I really wasn't a sheltered child.  My fondness for animals wouldn't really develop till later, when I was around more of them, though I did envy his menagerie.  None of these reasons were why I liked Radar.  The reason I liked him was kinda dumb: I knew his real name was Gary.

Gary Burghoff portrayed Radar O'Reilly & I knew this because I read credits.  When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader of everything including words on a TV screen & I loved to connect the actor to the name.  & here was someone on television with the same name as me.

& listen, then as now, Gary wasn't a popular name.  I have known only a handful of other Garys in my life.  When I was in elementary school, teachers & other kids were so unfamiliar with the name that I was often called "Greg."  It just made sense that I'd glom onto any other Gary out there.  It really did help that he was such a sweet character.  If other kids had wanted to call me "Radar," I wouldn't have minded.  But I had so few friends, I never even had a nickname.

There's one weird memory I have of the show.  On one touching episode, which must've aired when I was just seven or eight years old, Radar's family in - is it Iowa? - send him a film from home.  The main characters watch it, & Gary Burghoff dons a dress to play his own mother.  A child's mind works in weird ways, & mine was somewhat freaked out by the fact that Radar's mother looked so much like him.  I remember staring at my own mother, who was watching with me, & thinking, "When I get older, will I look like her?"

Yes, there'll be Radar O'Reilly content on the show tomorrow.  As well as "Radar Love."  How could there not be?  Sorry, millennials.

Handsome Chair

This picture was taken on this day five years ago, doubtless in Fort Worth, Texas.  I titled it, "Handsome Chair."

What else do you want from me today?