This Week In Self Help: June 29 + July 1

(image from here)

Just one of those weeks where I only do my regularly scheduled shows.

The Dickenbock Report got muddy because it was International Mud Day.
Listen to the show on the XRAY website.
Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

Self Help Radio had a show about clover.

Listen to the show on the KBOO website.

Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

There were so many songs about clover I just played them on Corporate Standardized Programming.
Which is part of the KBOO file above.

But if you'd like to listen to it alone:
Listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website.

On the Self Help Radio website you might need a username & a password.
Try SHR & selfhelp respectively.

Fireworks are noisy all around, my dog Pauline doesn't like it so I'm going to go cuddle with her now.

Self Help Radio 070125: Clover

The month of July begins with a radio show about clover. & not just any old show - there are three hours of songs about clover on this show. Plus information! How could there be this much information about clover? I don't think I really even thought about clover before this show! If that's your situation, prepare to be surprised - but probably not surprised at the number of times you'll hear "clover" rhymed with "over." Between you & me I suspect that that's a contributing factor to singing about clover. If you're a singer who wants to rhyme.

Clover fans are in clover with this show! It's now at the KBOO website & also at the Self Help Radio website. At that website you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp. I put the list of songs I played below.

You're lucky because KBOO is like a four leaf clover!

Self Help Radio Clover Show

"I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover" Joni James _Put On A Happy Face_

"I Found A Four-Leaf Clover" Al Miller _Complete Works In Chronological Order (1927-36)_

"Clover Blossoms" Riley Puckett _Old Time Greats, Volume 1_

"Burr Clover Blues" Muddy Waters _The Chronological Muddy Waters 1941-1947_ 

"Visit To A Four-Leaf Clover Farm" Bob & Ray _Classic Bob & Ray, Volume One - Selections From A Career: 1946-1976_

"Four Leaf Clover Blues" Bill Haley & Four Aces Of Western Swing _From Western Swing To Rock_

"Four Leaf Clover" Don Crawford _Teen-Age Dreams (Vol. 22)_

"Clover In The Meadow" Shirley Jones _Then & Now_

"Doctor In Clover" Kiki Dee _I'm Kiki Dee: The Fontana Years 1963-1968_

"Crimson & Clover" Tommy James & The Shondells _Crimson & Clover_

"Fields Of Clover" The Box Tops _Cry Like A Baby_

"The Proper Four Leaf Clover" Every Mothers' Son _Every Mothers' Son's Back_

"Michael Clover" The New Yorkers _Land Of Ur_

"Rollin' In The Clover" Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution _Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution_

"Spinning Coins & Wishing On Clovers" Sonic Boom _All Things Being Equal_

"Knee Deep In Clover" Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson _Lover's Heaven_

"Clover" Earth Wind & Fire _Head To The Sky_

"Four Leaf Clover" Blue Magic _Message From The Magic_

"Touch A Four Leaf Clover" Atlantic Starr _Yours Forever_

"Clover" Gospel Machine _Your Holy Ghost_

"Foaie Verde, Foaie Trifoi (Green Leaf, Clover Leaf)" Taraf De Haïdouks _Band Of Gypsies_

"Clover" Tall Dwarfs _Louis Likes His Daily Dip_

"Four Leaf Clover" Mighty Mighty _The Girlie Years_

"Clover Over Dover" Blur _Parklife_

"Clover Valley Road" Holiday Flyer _You Make Us Go_

"Finding Clovers" The High Water Marks _Polar_

"In Clover" The Wonder Stuff _30 Goes Around The Sun_

"Clover Paradise" La Femme _Rock Machine_

"Four Leaf Clover" Peel Dream Magazine _Rose Main Reading Room_

Whither Clover?

You must know that my show ideas come from the dumbest places. Not just the dumbest themes. Although I guess it's up to you if you want to think a theme is dumb.

Tonight's theme is clover. It was suggested to me by my backyard. Which is apparently full of clover. Not that I had noticed it. But my wife was complaining about it a few weeks ago. She said, "We hardly have any grass at all back here! It's all clover!" Truly I hadn't really looked. I said, "Where?" She said, "It's all over!" I took a picture.

Naturally I thought, "Would clover make a good theme for a radio show?" Because I am always thinking that. & I think it will be a good theme. It might also be a dumb theme.

Tonight! The first radio show in the first hours of July! Midnight to 2am. On 90.7 in Portland. Online everywhere at kboo dot fm. A radio show in clover.

Preface To Clover: The First Time I Ever Thought About Clover

(Red clover - image from here)

It may seem strange to be so certain - memories being what they are - but though I have nothing to support this but my own general sense of feeling & self - I think I can safely say the first time I heard or considered the idea of "clover" - & this would be as a plant with magical powers, because why else as a child would I think about it otherwise - happened in a Bugs Bunny short where he sang the song "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover."

But you know how it is. You do a fucking search & you discover that Warner Brothers used that song all the fucking time. Cue playlist.

It was such a prevalent thing that for a time I believed a four-leaf clover would be something I hoped to find. I spent a childhood looking for magical things. I can confidently say I never found a four-leaf clover.

My dumb childhood is not the reason for this week's show. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: International Mud Day

(image from here)

June 29 is International Mud Day. Mud being one subject almost all nations can agree on. Yes, there's mud. Sometimes lots of mud. Sometimes not so much. But there is in fact mud.

We report on mud tomorrow, Sunday, June 29, on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. From noon to 1pm on 91.1 & 107.1fm in Portland, online at xray dot fm.

Apologies if we track muddy radio all through your house.

This Week In Self Help: June 20 22 + 24

(image from the IMDb)

It may come as a surprise that I make radio shows since no one has ever listened to the ones I've made but I present evidence that supports my assertion that I actually do. This is what I did the previous seven days:

Friday the 20th on The Songcircle on KBOO, I played lots of new releases.

Here it is on the KBOO website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Sunday the 22nd on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY, I celebrated Kris Kristofferson's birthday.

Here it is on the XRAY website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Tuesday the 24th on Self Help Radio on KBOO, I played songs & talked about black holes.

Here it is on the KBOO website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Also Tuesday the 24th but on Corporate Standardized Programming, I played lots of new releases.
It's on the KBOO file above. If you'd like to listen to it alone, here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

If needed, to access files on the Self Help Radio website, the username is SHR & the password is selfhelp.

To answer a question you probably didn't ask, no, I didn't watch The Black Hole before I made this show. I saw it I believe in the theaters back when I was 11. I fell asleep during the film.

Self Help Radio 062425: Black Holes

(original image here*)

We made it into outer space! Or at least our radio waves did. & probably they'll be sucked into a black hole eventually.

Lots of songs & lots of silly interviews & maybe even some knowledge dropped although I wouldn't hold my breath. The regular sort of Self Help Radio nonsense, you understand.

You can listen now at the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. At the latter you may need a username & password - try SHR & selfhelp. Almost everything that happened on the show is below - some of it almost certainly disappeared into a black hole.

Self Help Radio Black Holes Show

"Ghosts Of The Black Hole" Bearsuit _The Phantom Forest_

"Black Hole" Bishop Allen _Lights Out_

"The Black Hole Understands" Cloud Nothings _The Black Hole Understands_

introduction & definitions

"Black Hole" The Gun Club _In Exile_

"Black Hole" Be Your Own Pet _Get Damaged_

"Black Hole Love" Urusei Yatsura _We Are Urusei Yatsura_

"Blackholes & Brokenhearts" Drugstore _Anatomy_

"Black Hole" James _Stutter_

interview with physicist Dr Phil Scolly

"Black Hole Sun" Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme _Lounge-A-Palooza_

"Black Hole Baby" Superorganism _World Wide Pop_

"That Old Black Hole" Dr. Dog _Be The Void_

"Black Hole, Weirdo Shrine" La Luz _Weirdo Shrine_

"The Black Hole Tube" Negativland _Happy Heroes_

interview with astronaut Major Josh Hendricks

"Big Black Hole" The Oblivians _Soul Food_

"Big Bangs, Black Holes, Meteorites" Love Is All _A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night_

"Black Holes" Dirty Sidewalks _Bring Down The House Lights_

"Black Hole" The Rosebuds _Life Like_

"Little Black Holes" Elf Power _Elf Power_

interview with musician Bret Oster

"Black Hole Era" Kisskadee _Black Hole Era_

"Black Holes In Stereo" King Tuff _Black Moon Spell_

"Black Holes" Bob & Doug McKenzie _Great White North_

"Black Hole" Love Tractor _Black Hole_

"Black Hole, Son" Field Mouse _Meaning_

conclusion & goodbye

"Big Black Hole" Malcolm Middleton _Summer Of '13_

"Black Holes Of Negativity Part 3 (Saying No)" The Get Right Band _iTopia_

* Licensed under the Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Whither Black Holes?

(image from NASA)

If it isn't already obvious, I'm a science fiction nerd. Not all science fiction nerds are Star Trek nerds, but my Venn diagram shows definite overlap there. I am not a big enough Star Trek nerd that I watch Star Trek all the time - it's been a while since I've watched an entire episode I've seen before - but I do occasionally, usually when I am cooking, watch fellow nerds on YouTube review Star Trek episodes. & recently after one ended, there was a video about Deep Space Nine that showed its introduction.

If you haven't seen Deep Space Nine, well, I recommend it - it's my favorite Star Trek series. It's about a space station near a stable wormhole. & I know what you're thinking Gary! A black hole isn't a wormhole! I understand that. But I got to looking for songs about black holes anyway & then... tonight's show started to take shape.

There were far more songs about black holes - some of them about literal holes, not astronomical ones - than about wormholes.

That's what's happening tonight on Self Help Radio on KBOO. Midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. I'll try to keep the nerdiness to a minimum but seriously no promises.

Preface To Black Holes: Carl Sagan

(image from here)

Click here to see an excerpt from Carl Sagan's Cosmos series where he talks about black holes. I'll excerpt this for tomorrow's show but won't be able to use the visuals, you know, because radio. I have no idea how the science has changed in the - gosh almost fifty years since he made the series - but it's always a joy to listen to him talk. Sigh.

Can I just play a couple hours of Cosmos instead of my dumb show this week? No? Too bad.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Kris Kristofferson's Birthday

(image from Discogs)

Singer, songwriter, & actor Kris Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas. He left our world last year. We at the Dickenbock Report would like to spend what would have been his 89th birthday listening to many of his songs as interpreted by artists who admired & were influenced by him. A little musical wisdom might be helpful in our perilous times.

That's Sunday, June 22, from noon to 1pm, on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in town, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help: June 13 15 + 17

(image from the Wikipedia)

Here's what I've been doing the radio this past week.

On Friday the 13th (a week ago) I subbed an evening show on KBOO & played lots of new stuff. KBOO doesn't archive its fill-in shows but I put it over on the Self Help Radio website if you wanna listen.

On Sunday the 15th I was on the Dickenbock Report playing songs about prunes on National Prune Day. You can listen to it on the XRAY website or on the Self Help Radio website.

On Tuesday the 17th I played a lot more Howard Gently appearances on Self Help Radio. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Finally, the last hour of that show on the KBOO link above is an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played artists we lost in January of this year. You can also listen to that show on its own on the Self Help Radio website.

My usual note: if you're listening on the Self Help Radio website, you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file. Sorry for the inconvenience. Have some prunes.

Self Help Radio 061725: Howard Gently Year Four Continued

Here it is, the ninth collection of appearances of Howard Gently on Self Help Radio. It takes place in the middle of 2017 & includes the one-hundredth appearance of Howard Gently on the show.

Howard Gently was performed by my dear friend Russell who died two years ago today. I have been playing his appearances in chronological order in shows about every three months. He was a very funny person & I miss him too much. But I am glad I have these recordings. Just so they're not all talk talk talk I play a song from the show - the songs & bits are based on the show's theme - before the interview. I tried to pick a song I knew Russ would like &/or one I thought he might like.

There's a need for an apology - I was very tired during this show so I am a little low energy. I'm also trying not to be too sad - which can be, as you probably know, exhausting.

Listen now or whenever you need a fake spiritual mentor at either the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. You might need the username SHR & password selfhelp to access at the latter. What happens on the show is below.

If I were funny as Russell was I'd have a spiritual-sounding but incredibly silly word or phrase to end this post. I'm not, you know, so I don't.

Self Help Radio Howard Gently Year Four Continued Show

"Do The Oswald" Russell Miles _Do The Oswald_

"Question The Answer" Sheila Chandra _Nada Brahma_

Howard Gently on the theme "Questions"

"Closing Time" Leonard Cohen _The Future_

Howard Gently on the theme "Bars"

"Rise" Public Image Ltd. _Compact Disc_

Howard Gently on the theme "Rise"

"You Are In My Vision" Tubeway Army _Replicas_

Howard Gently on the theme "Visions"

"Venus" Television _Marquee Moon_

Howard Gently on the theme "Venus"

"Warning Sign" Talking Heads _More Songs About Buildings & Food_

Howard Gently on the theme "Warnings"

"Rubberband Girl" Kate Bush _The Red Shoes_

Howard Gently on the theme "Rubber (Sort Of Not Really)"

"The Pencil Broke (& That's All She Wrote)" Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra _The Lionel Hampton Story_

Howard Gently on the theme "Pencils"

"Crooked" Kristin Hersh _Crooked_

Howard Gently on the theme "Crooked"

"Only Seventeen" Beatle-Ettes _Girls With Guitars_

Howard Gently on the theme "Seventeen"

"Uncontrollable Urge" Devo _Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!_

Howard Gently on the theme "Control"

Howard Gently on the theme "Machines"

Whither Howard Gently Year Four Continued?

(a Howard Gently side-hustle?)

Tonight on Self Help Radio, I continue to play, in chronological order, improvised comedic bits made by my dear friend Russell. He played on the show my "spiritual mentor" the Reverend Doctor Howard Gently, a kind of new age huckster, & Russell found ever-more outlandish things for Dr. Gently to be involved in. It was a thrill to relive these appearances on the show - all from 2017 - & I hope you'll find them as funny & creative as I do.

That'll be tonight, from midnight to 2am, on 90.7fm in Portland & online everywhere at kboo dot fm. As Howard Gently often ended his interviews, I say in conclusion, "Blessed be."

Preface To Howard Gently Year Four Continued: Memorial Middle School

(image from here)

This week on the show I play more improvised funnies I made with my friend Russell, who died very unexpectedly two years ago. He portrayed my spiritual mentor the Rev Dr Howard Gently for many years starting in 2014. The recordings I'll share this week will be from 2017, the fourth year he appeared on the show.

We met at the place above. In or around 1981 I believe. It was then called Memorial Middle School. It's now called Memorial Pathway Academy. I really need to dig into my old yearbooks & scan better photos but this is all I got at the moment. Where you see the last letters of "academy" is the big gym. I suffered many phys ed classes in there. Did many awkward calisthenics. Russell was a year ahead of me so we never had to spend unpleasant times in p.e. together. He was a bit scrawny. I was a fat kid.

The first time I became aware of Russ was in a Beta Club meeting at the end of my sixth grade year. I guess he was in seventh grade. Beta Club was or is some kind of precursor to the National Honor Society. I watched him being funny & wanted to be his friend. At some Beta Club gathering at someone's house we found ourselves in a bedroom talking about the Beatles. It was the first time I had met someone my age as obsessed with the Beatles as I was.

One thing's for sure, I don't believe either of us believed we'd stay friends for decades. Russell had so many qualities I admired - he was funny, he was a musician, he was creative. I was kind of a blob, amorphous, unformed, seeking out things I liked but not really thinking I could be a part of those worlds. Russell formed a band & wrote songs. I kinda scribbled & drew comics but never really finished anything. So you may say I was in awe of him.

Sometimes I wonder what he would think of me replaying all his bits. I think he might say, "Maybe don't air that one again. It's not that good." He could be very self-critical. But then as now I knew what I'd like & I would plow ahead - "I think it's funny!" I'd say - & he'd let me do it. Okay it seems I know what he'd think. But also I know he'd let me do it if I thought it was funny.

This is how I give myself permission to share these recordings with you.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Prune Day

(image from here)

June 15 is National Prune Day. Seeing as we at the Dickenbock Report root for the underdog, it's only natural we dedicate a show reporting on this mostly maligned fruit. Dried fruit. You know what we mean.

That's Sunday at noon, on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. A more regular episode you'll not hear.