Self Help Radio 111924: Parasites

(Original image here.*)

That was a show not for the squeamish. By which I mean me! I am the squeamish.

There was lice, tapeworms, bedbugs, even some mosquitos bringing along malaria. Parasites are so loathed that calling someone a parasite is quite an insult. & there are so many of them. They probably don't deserve their own radio show. But I'd rather give parasites a radio show than a place to thrive!

Listen to the show if you dare. It's not only at the KBOO website. It's also at the Self Help Radio website. Make sure you remember the username SHR & password selfhelp if you listen there. It was a lot of songs & other stuff. The details are below.

Wow I think I need a good scrubbing after that show.

Self Help Radio Parasites Show

"Mean Old Bedbug Blues" Lonnie Johnson _Steppin' On The Blues_

"Me & My Tapeworm" Sylvester Weaver _Songs Of Humor & Hilarity_

"Be Nice To People With Lice" Alan Sparhawk _See You On The Moon - Songs For Kids Of All Ages_

introduction & definitions

"Parasite" Teenage Head _Trouble In The Jungle_

"Parasite" Fields _Everything Last Winter_

"Parasite" Momus _Vivid_

"Parasite" Robyn Hitchcock _Way To Blue (The Songs Of Nick Drake)_

interview with Craig Edwards, who had a tapeworm

"Tapeworm Of Love" I, Brute Force _Confections Of Love_

"Moonglow Tapeworm" Birds Of Chicago _Birds Of Chicago_

"Tapeworm" Honeybunch _Project: Echo_

"Love Parasite" Fad Gadget _Under The Flag_

interview with Debby Carter, who has lice

"Here Come The Fleas" White Noise _An Electric Storm_

"Parasite" The Mr. T Experience _Making Things With Light_

"Like A Parasite" The Queers _Punk Rock Confidential_

"Parasites" Itchy & The Nits _The Worst Of Itchy & The Nits_

interview with Edgar Dean, who has scabies

"The Flea" Gus Englehorn _Dungeon Master_

"The Naughty Little Flea" Miriam Makeba _Miriam Makeba_

"Kuna Kunguni (The Bedbugs Bite)" Zawose & Brook _Assembly_

"Parasite" Obongjayar _Some Nights I Dream Of Doors_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by

"Bedbug Town" Quasi _Mole City_

"Parasite" Baby In Vain _Afterlife_

"Bedbugs & Ballyhoo" Echo & The Bunnymen _Echo & The Bunnymen_

"Parasite Inside" Aquarian Blood _Last Nite In Paradise_

conclusion & goodbye

"Parasite" The A's _The A's_

"For Jacob With Malaria" Boca Chica _For Jacob With Malaria_

* Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Whither Parasites?

(image from here)

You might think, as a parasitical invasion seems to be descending upon the capital of our nation, that the theme for this show is surprisingly timely. But it's not! This is Self Help Radio, after all. The very few times we're timely are either because we like the holidays - Valentine's Day, Halloween - or entirely by accident.

The reason this show is about parasites has to do with a discussion I overheard not too long ago between my wife & a friend of hers about our cat Bluto. Our cat Bluto was adopted in early 2023 & he was a beautiful kitten but he brought with him ringworm. It mainly affected our other cat, Boone, but I did have a little ring on my arm once & my wife told me that was ringworm. Everyone is better now & no-one had that terrifying thing where giant swollen red rings appear on your face - it never got that nightmarish. But it was a concern & we had to deal with it. Like you do.

Anyway, my wife was talking about this with a friend not too long ago & the friend asked, "Is ringworm a parasite?" & my wife said, "No, it's a fungus." But to me, it sure seemed like a parasite. & why call it a worm if it's not a worm? I went down a rabbit hole about ringworm & then parasites. & I learned a lot. & I thought hey this might be a good theme for a show.

Not ringworm! Parasites!

So it shall be. Tonight on KBOO - which is on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo dot fm. But when? From midnight to 2am like always.

Is there are chance of infection?!? Always.

Preface To Parasites: Human Parasite In Feces

Oh shit! "Human Parasite In Feces!" That's what that image is called! It's from the Wikipedia & it says "Microscopic examination of feces, also known as a fecal microscopy or stool microscopy, can reveal the presence of various human parasites, which are often responsible for gastrointestinal infections & diseases."

Recently I was reading a book - a sci-fi book - in which it was discussed how hard it was in English (in the book English is an ancient language) to figure out when nouns modify nouns. For example, you can call something a "house cat" but a "cat house" is a different thing entirely. & so it is with "human parasite." Like, I've met those people. They're unpleasant. But they look a lot like you & me - often much better - & nothing at all like that frankly nondescript worm up there.

Maybe "parasite in human feces" would be better. But of course the important thing is that it is parasitic to humans. On humans? In humans? I'm not sure which is the proper use. Sadly it doesn't tell us the name of this parasite (tho if I were to guess it's probably Todd).

But what could it be? Lots! According to this website. It helpfully asks & answers this question:

What is the most common intestinal parasite?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 25% of the world’s population has an infection related to an intestinal parasite. In tropical & subtropical areas with limited access to clean water & sanitation, that number is as high as 50%. The most common intestinal parasite infection globally is ascariasis. It affects about one billion people worldwide.

In the U.S., the most common infections are from protozoa, especially the giardia parasite. Pinworms are the most common intestinal worm in the U.S.

But it isn't giardia, because the web describes them as "pear-shaped & measure 10-20 micrometers in length." More likely that's ascariasis, which the web tells me are "typically pink or white with tapered ends." So now you know.

Oh damn this week's show is going to be awful & informative!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Hiking Day

Usually when someone tells you to "take a hike," it's insulting. But it's a fine suggestion on November 17, which is National Hiking Day. It's the only day that people say that to Dick Dickenbock & it doesn't hurt his feelings! Tune in to listen to musical reports about hiking as well as an interview with an "extreme hiker."

That's tomorrow, Sunday, November 17, on 91.1+107.1fm in town & online everywhere at xray dot fm. There are just so many places to hike to on the air!

This Week In Self Help (November 10 12 + 13)

That picture above is from 2022. I don't print out lots of stuff to read on the air anymore, I read from an iPad. I think our printer went kablooey during the pandemic. I suspect I wasted lots of paper. This is the radio I radioed this radio week.

Still in the dumps about you-know-what, I celebrated Ennio Morricone's birthday on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM Sunday. Here's the link for the show on the XRAY website. Here's the link for the show on the Self Help Radio website. Hint: username SHR password selfhelp.

Self Help Radio on KBOO was a show with the theme "shotgun." I know, I know. Here's the link for the show on the KBOO website. Here's the link for the show on the Self Help Radio website. Hint: username SHR password selfhelp.

Included with the KBOO link is this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, which featured a lot of new releases. Here's the link to listen to that show alone on the Self Help Radio website. Hint: username SHR password selfhelp.

Finally - & the playlist for this show isn't current available because it was a sub show on KBOO Wednesday morning & I haven't added it to the Self Help Radio page yet but I completed the third installment of the 1969 Project & it aired in the wee hours. Here's the link for the show on the Self Help Radio website. Hint: username SHR password selfhelp.

That's all. Until it starts all over again.

Self Help Radio 111224: Shotgun

(Original image here*)

Bang goes the shotgun show. A mostly silly affair with only occasional references to violence. I say this utterly unaware if a shotgun can shoot blanks but - the show shot mostly blanks.

So rarely do guns enter into my life that I have no images of shotguns on my computer. Luckily there are cool ones online like the one above - weird to see how a shotgun actually works! That image is more informative than my entire show.

Which you can listen to now & whenever should you choose. Where? I can think of two places:
the KBOO web page + the Self Help Radio web page. Should you choose the latter, please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access. But you can download the show! Everything that happens on the show is listed below.

Be safe with this show!

Self Help Radio Shotgun Show

"(You'll Be Just) Another Notch On Father's Shotgun (Effen You Don't Marry Me)" Dorothy Shay _Another Notch On Father's Shotgun_

"Shotgun Blues" Lightnin' Hopkins _The Very Best Of Lightnin' Hopkins_

"Shotgun Boogie" Tennessee Ernie Ford _The Tennessee Ernie Ford Collection_

introduction & definitions

"Go Get The Shotgun Grandpa" Ann Castle _Rock-A-Billy Dynamite_

"Shotgun Wedding" Dub Dickerson _Boppin' In The Dark_

"Shotgun Talking Blues" The Highwaymen _Homecoming_

"Shotgun" Jr. Walker & The All Stars _The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 5: 1965_

"The Shotgun & The Duck" Jackie Lee _The Duck_

interview with Ferris Humboldt, who renovates & repairs shotgun houses

"Act Like A Shotgun" G.C. Cameron _Love Songs & Other Tragedies_

"Shotguns" Tee-Set _The Golden Years Of Dutch Pop Music (A&B Sides)_

"Shotgun" Big Black _Racer-X_

"Shotgun Dream" Attrition _Recollection 84-89_

interview with Frank Harold, gun safety expert for Portland schools

"Shotgun" Colourbox _Colourbox_

"Hemingway Shotgun" Geek _The Machines 1990-1993_

"Shotgun Wedding" Gore Gore Girls _Up All Night_

"Shotgun Dedication" Beulah _Handsome Western States_

interview with my friend Floyd

"Shotgun Blues" Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan _Sunday At Devil Dirt_

"Shotgun" Ida _Will You Find Me_

"Shotgun Betty" Sarah Shook & The Devil _Seven_

"Shotgun" Atmosphere _To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EPs_

interview with gun club member Felicity Hope

"Shotgun Funeral" Party Of One _Shotgun Funeral_

"Shotgun" The Jane Shermans _The Jane Shermans_

"Shotgun Vision" Islands _Ski Mask_

"Shotgun" Soccer Mommy _Sometimes, Forever_

conclusion & goodbye

"Shotgun" Kristin Hersh _Wyatt At The Coyote Palace_

*the image is by Andrew Davidhazy & is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Whither Shotgun?

(image from the comic Regarding The Matter Of Oswald's Body
by Christopher Cantwell & Luca Casalanguida)

This is something maybe important to know - I plan my show's in advance. I find a theme (or a theme is presented to me), I start gathering material for the theme, & when I feel like I can make a radio show, I assign a date to it. The date like the theme is arbitrary. It's usually only around holidays that I am scheduling a theme for a time of year, for a date on a calendar.

It's the same in my "real life." I scheduled a dental appointment for 8am the day after the election. Granted, I made the appointment six months earlier, but most people might have thought, hm, maybe not the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday in November when the world might be falling apart. Not me!

So please don't read into this week's theme, which is kinda dumb: shotgun. It's the result of a kind of negotiation with someone who really, really wanted me to do a show about guns. As I explained yesterday, I am loathe to make radio shows about very general themes. Finally I asked this person what their favorite kind of gun was, & the response was, "I don't like any kind of gun at all!!" So I asked what kind of gun did this person like least. & the answer was shotguns. & I said, is it okay if I do a show about shotguns, to which the person said, "If you can find enough songs about shotguns!"

There were plenty of songs about shotguns. But mainly I hope you don't think the theme has anything to do with recent events, because it doesn't. It was set into motion before I was even thinking about what a terrible time the first week of November would be.

Which brings me to: tonight from midnight to 2am Self Help Radio has a show with the theme "Shotgun." You can listen in Portland at 90.7fm & online at kboo dot fm. If you're listening in someone else's car, make sure you call shotgun! It will annoy them.

Preface To Shotgun: A Ramble

(Did I ever think I was going to link on this blog to an article about shotguns? Nope.)

One of the things that I try to avoid with my dumb show is (you've probably heard me talking about this before) overly general themes. I would not want to do a show with the theme cars, or drinks, or weather. I have nothing against those kinds of themes or shows but they weigh me down. How many songs about cars must I listen to to decide what to play on a two hour show?

It's true I did that early in this show's life but also back then I tended to put the show together the night before I did it. That would be hard to do nowadays. What happens now is I gather songs over a longer period of time & I come up with themes weeks before I explore them. I have some themes I came up with years ago that I still don't feel I'm ready to make a show with. None of those shows have themes like stars. Or the moon.

One of those themes that people have suggested to me before is guns. Wow that would be like nine hundred songs to listen to. I'm not sure I'd know where to start. & can I say something else? One of the reasons I like to find challenging themes is because it takes me out of my comfort zone - makes me find & listen to songs that I otherwise wouldn't necessarily play if I only had a few hours to put a show together.

If "shotgun" feels like a compromise because recently someone asked me to do a show about guns - well, you've anticipated tomorrow's blog post.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Ennio Morricone's Birthday

(image from here)

Most of the news is bleak. Bleak & ugly. & it ain't getting any better soon. So we thought we'd celebrate a great musician composer & artist on The Dickenbock Report this week.

The great Ennio Morricone was born on November 10, 1928. On what would've been his 96th birthday, we'll talk about him & play his music as interpreted by the artists he influenced & who admired him.

That's noon to 1pm tomorrow, November 10, on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in town, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help (Nov 3 + 5)

It was a terrible week for 99% of this country, even those who thought they won. They are not smart & they are horribly racist & sexist & when it goes bad for them - as it almost assuredly will - maybe they can find in their despair the ability to change & forgive themselves. Ha ha! No, they'll keep blaming people they fear! We are doomed.

It seems I was right to not work on a Self Help Radio episode this week. My anxiety was entirely justified. But there was radio from me anyway & it went like this:

On the Dickenbock Report, I had a fun show about sandwiches on National Sandwich Day. Listen at the XRAY web page. Or listen at the Self Help Radio web page. For the latter, remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp.

Where & when Self Help Radio should've been, I played a bunch of jazz, electronica, & experimental music. I called it a "Mental Health Day." I hope it prepared me for the shitshow that was election day. Maybe I'd be feeling worse if I hadn't done that. Listen at the KBOO web page. Or listen at the Self Help Radio web page. For the latter, remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp.

The last hour on the KBOO recording is an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming. It was an episode dedicated to artists we've lost recently, mainly July of this year. If you'd like to listen to that episode alone, you can listen at the Self Help Radio web page. Please remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp.

& also remember the famous adage: it's always darkest before it goes completely black.

Self Help Radio 110524: A Mental Health Day

(original image here*)

This isn't an episode of Self Help Radio but I'm in the habit of letting you know what I am doing on Tuesdays so what the hell. Here's one of those blog potsts.

As I've explained, I was too preoccupied with the impending death of my country to focus on making an episode of Self Help Radio this week. I just couldn't get my act together. My brain kept telling me to "take a mental health day" - something I've never done. Instead of an episode of Self Help Radio, I just played a lot of music that I might not ever really play on Self Help Radio - electronica, jazz, experimental. All taken from new releases I've listened to over the past few months. As I played them, I do think I was distracted a bit from the coming shitstorm.

Maybe it'll help you too. You can listen at the KBOO web page. Or you can listen at the Self Help Radio web page. (If the latter, username SHR + password selfhelp.) It's very little me, very much lots of I think interesting toons. See you on the other side.

Self Help Radio Mental Health Day Playlist

"A Problem With The Stars" Eldritch Priest _Dormitive Virtue_ (Halocline Trance, 2024)

"Melt All The Guns II" Devin Gray _Melt All The Guns II_ (Rataplan, 2024)

"What Nature Does" BK-One _A Blackbox Recovery_ (Self-Released, 2024)

"Vocoder (Club Mix)" Floating Points _Cascade_ (Ninja Tune, 2024)

"Reverie" Airflow _Head In The Clouds_ (Self-Released, 2024)

"Morsure Profonde" Soft Violet _Sterner Stuff_ (Alien Transistor, 2024)

"Sorrowful Bouquet" Alex Henry Foster _A Measure Of Shape & Sounds_ (Hopeful Tragedy, 2024)

"Destitute For Dreaming (Single Version)" Lisa Cuthbert _Destitute For Dreaming EP_ (Self-Released, 2024)

"It Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago" Woody Jackson _Cowboy Yoga_ (ElectroVox, 2024)

"The Droopy" Max Jaffe _Reduction Of Man_ (Whited Sepuchre, 2024)

"Broken (Alternate Version)" Hidden Orchestra _Broken EP_ (Lone Figures, 2024)

"Clemency" Uniform _Nightmare City_ (Sacred Bones, 2024)

"Slow, Simple" Tim Brady / Instruments Of Happiness _Imagine Many Guitars_ (Redshift, 2024)

"Dylar" Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (Exit) Knarr _Breezy_ (Sonic Transmissions, 2024)

"Erase" Umberto _Black Bile: Variations_ (Thrill Jockey, 2024)

"Soft/Focus" Mark Templeton _Two Verses_ (Faitiche, 2024)

"Une Nuit Devant Soi" Orson Claeys _Odyssey To Self_ (Sdban Ultra, 2024)

"Calm Shores" Carl Lord _Sacred_

* A note about the image manipulated: the license is Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic. It has been manipulated by adding the Self Help Radio logo.

Whither A Mental Health Day?

(Image from the Wikipedia)

Like lots of folks, this election has caused me a great deal of anxiety. Not the candidates I support - but the fact that so many in our country seem to support the candidate that will do the most destruction. It hasn't been a healthy time for me & I found myself this week unable to put my all into Self Help Radio. So. I decided it was best to take a mental health day.

But I couldn't leave you with a repeat or some other programming, so tonight at midnight, in place of Self Help Radio, I'll just play some music. I listen to a lot of music. Some of it would never find its way onto an episode of Self Help Radio because it wouldn't fit one of my dumb themes. So I'll shall some of that tonight.

& hopefully next week, when the dust clears, if we're all okay, if the country isn't on fire, we can return to whatever dumb theme I was going to explore - oh yeah, shotgun. That's the theme! Maybe because we'll need one next week to fight in the second Civil War.

A radio show. Just not Self Help Radio. On KBOO tonight midnight to 2am. 90.7fm kboo dot fm.

Preface To This Week's Show: What's A Mental Health Day?

(Original image here)

Here's what very well mind dot com says a "mental health day" is: "A mental health day is a day you take off from work or school, & minimize any commitments or responsibilities. You can use this time to focus on relieving stress, relaxing, having fun, & preventing burnout."

In my case, the relieving stress part seems paramount. I am incredibly stressed out by the upcoming election. I think I had a panic attack on Election Night 2020. It has made the past few days difficult for me. I am finding it hard to concentrate. I get genuinely anxious when I see anything on the news.

Usually Sundays & Mondays are days I work on Self Help Radio. I hope you don't think the interviews on the show are real - they are really improvised, but I usually do that with the funny people who act as the interviewees during the previous week. I managed to scrape together an episode of The Dickenbock Report today but have not done any work for SHR today. & I can't imagine tomorrow will be any better.

Last night I was up late looking over the mayoral & city council candidates for Portland. It was pretty taxing & stressful. Voting for President was not but it's not my vote I'm worried about - it's the rest of this country.

So I believe I'll take a mental health day tomorrow & forego an episode of Self Help Radio. I'll have some music programmed & there'll be a new episode of Corporate Standardized Programming but no theme, no interviews, no lame attempts at me being funny. I just don't have it in me.

& yeah, I stole the above image for World Mental Health Day & removed the World. Sue me.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Sandwich Day

Never before has it felt more fortuitous for a program to be on during the noontime hour!

November 3 is National Sandwich Day & that's what we'll do doing - not just eating lots of sandwiches - which we always do during our show - it's lunchtime! - we'll also be reporting on & playing musical reports about sandwiches.

That's tomorrow - Sunday - from 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Bring the chips, will ya?

This Week In Self Help (Oct 25 27 29 + 31)

On Friday last week I caught a cold. It happens. It wasn't covid thankfully! But I was laid out for most of Saturday having sudafed lunches with nyquil chasers.

However I got the cold, I was not sick when I subbed KBOO's The Songcircle last Friday. It was a lot of new releases. For some reason the show did not end up on the KBOO website. Luckily I recorded it & put it on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

Sunday morning I was convinced the worst was behind me. It wasn't true but I foolishly made my way up to XRAY for this week's The Dickenbock Report. That show was sort of a Halloween show because it was National Black Cat Day. You can listen to that show on the XRAY website. Or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

My wife made me promise to rest & get better & not go up to KBOO on Monday night & infect everyone there. So I made the Halloween show - about scarecrows - from home. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. Or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

The KBOO show contains an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming but it's a repeat of last week's episode. I just wasn't well enough to make another show. My apologies.

& Halloween is over, but I did manage to make a one-hour Halloween special - it's about zombies - for KBOO on Halloween night. You can listen to all five hours - 7pm to midnight - on the KBOO website. My hour aired from 9-10pm, & tho I haven't added the playlist to my website yet, you can can still download the show from there if you'd like. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

That was fun to make. & I'm feeling a lot better now!