Preface To Small Talk: Sunday Off

cartoon by Ellis Rosen, found here

Hey. You might have noticed. I wasn't on the radio today. I'm usually on the radio on Sundays. Yeah, I do a radio show called The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. No, really, I do. But today was International Women's Day so they preempted my show. I mean, I could've done a show, but you know. Not a woman. I've known lots of dudes who think they know women's music better than women & nope. That's not me. What I should've done is work on my KBOO show, which is on tomorrow night. What I did instead was play a game on my phone. I don't know why I procrastinate so except that so far - really for all my life - I've never been sufficiently punished for doing that. Procrastinating. I used to write papers in college not the night before they were due, but sometimes hours before they were due. & I got decent grades. I can pull a radio show together pretty well - not to say it'll be a good radio show. But I'll be there ready to be on air with two hours of songs about small talk! At least tomorrow night. Truth be told I kinda liked having a Sunday off. There are folks at Freeform Portland - & at KBOO - & some at XRAY - who do their show every other week. I think it might be hard to find an audience for your show in that situation but I kinda envy them their week off. There hasn't been a repeat of The Dickenbock Report since it's been on Sundays on XRAY. When I'm out of town, I prerecord an episode. Having a day off - wow. That's a cool idea. Oh hang on. Is this post like small talk? I might not be very good at small talk. I'm not very good at lots of stuff. But it might be fine to not be very good at small talk. I once had someone at a radio station ask me, Do you only talk about radio? I guess it was what we had in common so I talked to them about it. Like here with you. I talk about my dumb radio shows. That's probably small talk. Which is appropriate because that's what the show is about this week!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: The Dickenbock Report Is Not On Tomorrow

That's right, because tomorrow, March 8, is International Women's Day, & because, though he is many things, Dick Dickenbock is decidedly not an international women, XRAY is preempting the Report for special Amplify Women programming.

Find out more about the day by looking at the schedule. & tuning in! 7am to 7pm!

This Week In Self Help: March 1 + 3

John Singer Sargent, "Capri Girl On A Rooftop" (1878) found here

Peanut butter & rooftops, that's what I spent my week on.

The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM on National Peanut Butter Lover's Day. Guys I ate so much peanut butter & I still love it. Listen on the XRAY website.

That was March 1st. On March 3rd:

Self Help Radio on KBOO, a show about rooftops. Guys the older I get I am more afraid of heights but I still love to be on rooftops. You can listen to the show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Finally Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Another morbid show, guys. Artists we lost in September & October of last year. You can listen to the show on the KBOO website (after Self Help Radio) or by itself on the Self Help Radio website.

& that's it for the week!

Self Help Radio 030326: Rooftops

No, I was not allowed to do this radio show, which was about rooftops, on the KBOO rooftop. Did I maybe suggest I might try to replicate the famous Let It Be Beatles rooftop show? Except with me as a one-person band? Maybe I did. But think of the optics! & there was going to be a lunar eclipse! Sadly, I was unable to do a show about rooftops on a rooftop. Rather it was in a very unrooftop-like studio.

Nonetheless the theme of rooftops was thoroughly explored without (as usually happens with me & rooftops) me getting accidentally pushed off. Weird how often that has happened. Lots of music & guests & maybe if you look really closely a bit of fun.

Listen now: at the KBOO webpage. Or at the Self Help Radio page. Everything that happened on the show is noted below.

& no, no one invited me to their rooftop during the show. Maybe I didn't make it clear that was my desire. But it seemed obvious!

Self Help Radio Rooftops Show

"The Orange Rooftop Of Your Mind" The Blue Things _Mindrocker_

"High On A Rooftop" Charlotte Russe _High On A Rooftop_

"Rooftop" The Sons Of Champlin _Loosen Up Naturally_

introduction & definitions

"Rooftop Singing" New World _Believe In Music_

"Rooftop Garden" Lou Reed _Legendary Hearts_

"Rooftop Death Dive" Coyle & Sharpe _The Absurd Imposters_

"Blue Rooftop" The Weather Prophets _Temperance Hotel..._

"Rooftop Brawl" Bishop Allen _Grrr..._

interview with rooftop watch member Eddie Masters

"Rooftops" The Bats _The Deep Set_

"Rooftops & Chaotic Streets" The Cavalcade _Meet You In The Rain EP_

"Rooftop Judy" Alaska _These Sacred Floors_

"Third Floor Rooftop High" The Woodentops _Granular Tales_

"From The Rooftop" Trailer Bride _Smelling Salts_

interview with rooftop singers Marcy & Paul

"See You On Rooftops" Neil Halstead _Sleeping On Roads_

"Rooftops" Henrik Appel _Shadows_

"Standing Blinded On The Rooftops" Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub _Blank Expression: A History Of Singles 1986-2016_

"Rooftops" Ruby Bones _Laser Tooth Tiger_

"I Am Rooftop" Cloud Nothings _Turning On_

interview with Eric Meadows, who likes to be on rooftops

"Rooftop Dancing" Sylvan Esso _Free Love_

"Rooftop" Fieh _In The Sun In The Rain_

"Rooftops" Malini Sridharan _Tombeaux_

"Rooftop" 9353 _Overdoses At Your Mother's House_

conclusion & goodbye

"Rooftops (feat. Coppa)" Beat Pharmacy _Wikkid Times_

Whither Rooftops?

some of the rooftops of San Francisco

My wife & I visited one of her sisters - one of my sisters-in-law - who lives in San Francisco last October. There are many places in San Francisco where one can look down on the city - & I don't mean in a snobbish way. The picture above is one of those places. I think it might have been taken from Twin Peaks. Someone from that part of the world can probably identify better where exactly it is - it was just one of dozens of photos I took that I recently - over a month ago - was sorting through.

It's true I take a lot of dumb pictures & it's more true that it takes me a long time to get through them - in this case like three months, although I've taken longer. I think it's just that I don't take so many pictures in the winter time. Anyway, sometime before or during looking at these pictures - many of which are looking down at rooftops in the city - I thought it might be nice to do a show about rooftops. The idea for the show might even have been in San Francisco in October - I just wasn't reminded of it until I saw the photos.

Now you know. Why Self Help Radio this week is about rooftops. Because it is. Tonight. Midnight to 2am. On 90.7fm in Portland. kboo dot fm everywhere.

& no, KBOO won't let me do the show from the station's rooftop. Alas.

Preface To Rooftops: Wish I Spent More Time On Rooftops

For most of my life, I lived in apartments, not in houses. (I did a series of places I've lived here on this blog, just search for "Photographs Of Places I've Lived" in the blog search field.)

But now that I think about it, I don't know if it's most of my life. Maybe just much of my life. Please don't make me do the math. Are you going to make me do the math?!?

Sigh. For the first four years of my life, we lived in rental houses. When I was four, my mother left my father, & for the next thirty-three years I lived mainly in apartments. In 1982 I lived for six months in a rental house. From late 1990 to the end of 1991 I lived in an apartment carved out of someone's home (basically two rooms, with a kitchen & bathroom). From 1993 to 1999 I lived in a fourplex, & from 2000 to 2005 I lived in a duplex. Which I still count as apartments. I bought my first house in 2005 & have been living in houses - sometimes rented ones, when we were new in a city - since then. I am 58. 58 minus 33 is 25. So yes. I have lived most of my life in apartments or apartment-like dwellings. If I live only eight more years, & my wife has not kicked me out of this house by then, I will have lived half of my life in each - houses or apartment-like dwellings.

Are you happy now that you made me do the math?!?

What was I going to talk about? It seems so pedestrian now. I was going to say, "I have not spent as much time as I'd like on rooftops." I have lived in this house now for almost six years & haven't been on the roof yet. I am awkward around ladders. I somehow feel I don't know how to use them properly.

What I really want is a building like in New York where you can hang out on the rooftop. I'm sure there are some buildings like that here in Portland too. Maybe someone who hears this week's show will invite me up to their rooftop! Oh boy!

This post did not turn out anything like I wanted it to.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Peanut Butter Lovers Day

(image found here)

Although around one to two percent of Americans are allergic to peanuts, that means 98% of us aren't, & also more peanut butter for us. We greedily gobble all the peanut butter on March 1, which is National Peanut Butter Lovers Day. & everyone at The Dickenbock Report loves peanut butter. Maybe too much.

Tune in tomorrow, Sunday, March 1, for musical reports about peanut butter & more. Only on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help: February 20 22 + 24

What a busy week I had last week, it's a wonder I had time to do these dumb shows. But they were:

February 20. The Songcircle on KBOO. Lots of new releases + an interview with Stephen Kalinich. Listen to the show on the KBOO website.

February 22. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. Be Humble Day. Listen to the show on the XRAY website.

February 24. Self Help Radio on KBOO. I took "a week off." Played electronica jazz + experimental stuff. Listen on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Now let's see if I can get my act together for the next week!

Self Help Radio 022426: A Week Off

(all album cover images from Bandcamp)

After a particularly heavy week - wherein I had to travel back to Texas to see a family member that took ill - she's fine now tho! - I realized I didn't have the time to put together one of my regular shabbily-constructed shows. I really did not have the time or the energy. So I said to my wife, "I think Self Help Radio is going to have to take the week off." She said, "So you're not doing a show this week?" I said, "I'll do a show, it just won't be a theme-based Self Help Radio episode." She rolled her eyes at me & said, "That's not taking a week off."

But you have to admit, it's better than a repeat!

So here's a selection of recently released jazz, electronica, experimental, etc., with very few interruptions from me. You can listen if you'd like at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. The songs I played are below.

Back to the regular nonsense next week.

Self Help Radio Takes A Week Off

"Tidal Motions" Dapper Blob _Most People Are Other People_

"Theme For Fruitful Tangents" Squanderers _Skantagio_

"AZK" Florian Stéphant _La Sympathie Des Horloges_ 

"Decreation" Venera _Exinfinite_

"Sunder" Leslie Keffer _Sunder_

"Out The Door" Matt Bachmann _Compost Karaoke_

"Conjunctions I For Saxophones" Shane Krause _I Measured The Skies_

"The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Within" Rich Brown _Nyaeba_

"Shiver" Valley Voice _Stars, Engines_

"No Bread For You" Cookin' On 3 Burners _Cookin' The Books_

"Causeway" The Necks _Disquiet_

"Book Of Changes" Faten Kanaan _Diary Of A Candle_

"Exp" Aatocaster _Superstition (Studio Works '23 - '25)_

"Uncontrollable Thoughts" Anushka Chkheidze + Robert Lippok _Uncontrollable Thoughts_

"Dreams Like These" Doug Bielmeier _Electric Rodeo Revival_

"Dream Palette" Loneward _Musings Of A Painted Sky_

"Junoon" Didon _Bab El Mdina_

"Generation Amiga" Duid _Let's Duid_

"Les Grands Départs" Géraldine Eguiluz & Michel F Côté _Hors Temps_

"Illuminance" Midori Hirano _Otonoma_

"Cloudseeding 10" Devin Maxwell _Megadrought_

"Gestations" The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis _Deface The Currency_

"Marwa The Mountain" Shabaka _Of The Earth_

"Magic Touch" Nick Schofield _Blue Hour_

"Flourishing Flakes" The Setting _The Setting_

"Hum" Leo Chang _Live At CPR_

Whither A Week Off?

Listen. I had a heck of a week. A family emergency took me to Dallas. Once back, I had a radio show on XRAY, a meeting at Freeform Portland, & I helped with a show at KBOO. & I'm not as young as I used to be.

What I keep saying is, "I'm taking a week off." That's not entirely true. I'm not doing the planned episode of Self Help Radio this week - the show with the theme "rooftops." I'll do that next week. This week I'll just play lots of sounds I find interesting - in the jazz, electronic, & experimental genres - that have been released in oh the last six months or so. Instrumentals mainly. Not so much me talking.

Hopefully it'll give me a chance to recharge & spend the time to make sure the show is a good one.

So listen to me "take a week off" tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere - from midnight to 3am. It isn't that I couldn't play a rerun or anything - I just don't think anyone should be subjected to one of my shows more than once.

Preface To The Next Show: What Will It Be?

(image found here)

If you look at the Self Help Radio web page right now, you will see that the theme for tomorrow night's show is "rooftops." Or is it?

You see, I had a hell of a week. A family member took ill & I had to go to Dallas. & I am still very, very tired. & not a little discombobulated.

So there's a very good chance I'll take a week off. I'll still have some kind of show - it just won't necessarily be a Self Help Radio episode about rooftops. That will have to wait until next week.

But. We'll see. Maybe if I get a little sleep tonight, that will help & I'll be bright-tailed & bushy-eyed & be able to navigate the day. Chances are slim but there's still a chance. Maybe?

Let me think on it & I'll tell you tomorrow.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Be Humble Day

(image found here)

Because he is the epitome of humility, Dick Dickenbock will proudly report on February 22, which is Be Humble Day... Nope. Can't do it. We all know Dick Dickenbock is the very opposite of humble. If there were a Be Excessively Vainglorious Day, well, yes, we could hold him out as a shining example for the day. But humble? Dick Dickenbock? Please.

Find out how he squares this circle tomorrow, Sunday February 22, on the Dickenbock Report, noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

Dick Dickenbock humble! It is to laugh.

This Week In Self Help: February 15 + 17

(Ellen Greene as Audrey in Little Shop Of Horrors, found here)

This week on Self Help Radio the show was about the name Audrey. Tho my guest Carole mentioned Audreys I & II from Little Shop Of Horrors, & tho I devoted an entire airbreak to the character of Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks, because I left them out of the collage of Audreys I made for the show, I was criticized for "forgetting them." You can't please an Audrey lover no matter how hard you try.

This week was all like:

World Hippo Day on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. Sunday the 15th. Listen here.

Audrey's Show on Self Help Radio on KBOO. Tuesday the 17th. Listen here. Or here.

New releases on Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Also Tuesday the 17th. Listen here (after Self Help Radio). Or here.

& that was it. I hope at least there was an Audrey out there that liked the show.

Self Help Radio 021726: Audrey's Show

(images found on Wikipedia)

Though I found no Audreys to talk to for Audrey's show, I did find plenty of songs about Audrey for Audrey to enjoy. Maybe a few of them were about Audrey Hepburn & none at all about Audrey Munson but! It is well-known that all songs about Audrey are, by some mystical mathematical property of transference, about all Audreys. It is the cosmic connection of Audreyness about which many philosophical treatises have been written & many mellifluous poems composed. At least one would hope. I just played songs.

Tell all the Audreys you know there's a show about her! If you're Audrey, tell yourself! You can listen now or when Audrey's around at either the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. As I continually bemoan, there were no Audreys for me to talk to, but you can see I talked about a few Audreys - the list of what happened on the show is below.

Gosh I hope Audrey likes her show!

Audrey's Self Help Radio Show

"Audry" The Rob Roys _Back Beat Records: Rock & Roll Party_

"Audrey" Billy Lehman _The Rockin' Spot Volume Five: Audrey_

"Talk To Audrey" The Hollywood Playboys _Talk To Audrey_

introduction & definitions

"Audrey" Owen Gray _The Singles Collection 1960-1962 (Classic Jamaican Collection)_

"Audrey" Winston Shand _Audrey_

"Norman & Audrey" Lord Nelson _Black Gold_

"Audrey" Mike Heron _Smiling Men With Bad Reputations_

"Audrey" Club Eternity _Audrey_

our favorite librarian Carole stops by!

"All About Audrey" Jim's Twenty-One _Nadine_

"Little Audrey" Stephen _Dumb_

"Audrey Hepburn" Die Fünf Freunde _The Marsh Marigold Review Gold 01-10_

"Audrey's Curtains" The Days _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 4_

"Audrey's Eyes" Velocity Girl _Copacetic_

a discussion about Little Audrey

"Audrey Hepburn" Planet Sunday _Planet Sunday_

"Audrey" The Automaticans _Audrey_

"Des Tours Pour Audrey (Turns For Audrey)" Souvenir _Points De Suspension_

"Audrey Hepburn's Beauty Tips" The Silent Boys _Beauty Tips_

"Hank & Audrey (feat. Tom Russell)" Katy Moffatt _Midnight Radio_

a discussion about Audrey Horne

"She Looked Like Audrey Hepburn" Little Man Tate _Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy_

"Audrey (Spending All My Time With You)" The Shacks _Audrey_

"Audrey" Superfamily _Back In Paris_

"Audrey" Someone _Owls_

"Oobey Dooh I Wanna Be Audrey Tatou" The Bobby McGee's _Yay 4 Cuteness_

conclusion & goodbye

"Audrey" Walking Concert _Run To Be Born_

"Simply Audrey" The Pooches _One Man Dog_

"Audrey" The Double Happiness _Roadhouse_

"Audrey Of Spirits" Dream Diary _You Are The Beat_

Whither Audrey's Show?

Here's the thing: I love doing shows about people's names. Names fascinate me. I remember one time in West Virginia when two (possibly inadvertently) racist people were making fun of African-American names. They said, "The names just sound made up!" I told them, "You're going to be very surprised when you learn that all names are made up."

Discovering where names come from - & songs that contain the names - is fun for me. & when I thought it might be time to do another show about a name, "Audrey" came to mind. It might have been because of a song I heard & it might have been because I knew a couple of Audreys I could interview for the show. So I gathered the songs & I reached out to the Audreys - & as you know, they didn't want to be interviewed for the show. So it's an Audrey show with plenty of Audrey songs - but, alas, no Audreys.

& it all happens tonight - midnight to 2am - on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. Even if I don't talk to any Audreys, I hope at least an Audrey or two will listen - & be charmed.