Sunday, July 13, 2025

Preface To Good Enough: How Good Is Enough

A graphic that just says Good Enough
(image from here)

In 1986, in my first year of college, I took an Introduction To Philosophy course. I thought I was supposed to be interested in philosophy, but found it hard to read the texts & - though I didn't want to admit it - realized my mind was mostly bored but otherwise confused by philosophy as it was taught. What I remember most about the class was sitting next to a cute woman with whom I talked about the Smiths - who were my obsession at the time - & who, after I made her a Smiths tape, offered to give me a book she had made - with her boyfriend - which consisted of a bunch of images from pornographic magazines - mainly close-ups of genitals - as a thank you. I'm not sure what sort of reaction she expected from me, but I was a bit horrified. I gave her the book back & said I wasn't interested in it.

How I wish I knew the name of the professor of that class so I could tell him - it was a man, an exhausted but smug man - that I remember nothing about his class except that strange interaction with a lovely punk rock girl. I should also tell you, she & her boyfriend made me a tape of American punk from the mid-1980s & I discovered I didn't enjoy that as much as British punk from the late 1970s.

This is just to say that early on in my life I wearied of questions like "Is this good enough?" or "Am I good enough?" Which is to say, questions one asks in philosophy classes. I know too many people who really, really, really, really want to finish sentences like, "Good is..." or "Enough is..." They would love to dispense wisdom in the same way they see/hear/read it dispensed in books, from religious texts to opinion pieces. As I get older - & I know this makes me absolutely irrelevant in our culture - I refuse to express my opinions as absolutes. I am certainly not a relativist but I find it tiring that everyone not only needs to have an opinion about everything but that they need that opinion to be right. Correct. True.

Here's an example from someone who doesn't talk to me anymore. I posted something on the Facebook by a current comedian. This former friend responded, "That person isn't as funny as he thinks he is."

Imagine the inflated ego of someone who would write that! Not - "I don't think that person is funny" - but reaching out to judge the humor of someone they really don't know.

Must I add that the person whose comedy I posted on Facebook is successful, does stand-up, has a podcast, is well-known, while my former friend is... someone you'll never hear anything from?

You might surmise I titled this post "How good is enough" as a reason to stumble through this clumsy explication of my lack of interest in being someone who speaks "truths." It's not. I titled it before I knew what I would write. I sometimes wish I could be the critic that writes snarky shit as if it were fact. That stuff amuses me greatly, even when - especially when - I disagree with it.

But I confess I feel sad for those folks who think they know the Truth. If you follow them long enough, read what they write, you realize they themselves find their own idea of Truth malleable. Not that they're hypocrites - just that they don't realize their opinions are just opinions. They want them to be facts so they act like they're facts. But they're not facts, so they end up as slightly puffed-up opinions.

Which is probably a disservice. The average opinion is just glad to be heard, it doesn't need to be turned into a Holy Fact.

Oh shit look what I did that. I turned my (obviously dumb) opinion into a fact. Fuck me. I want to tell you this has something to do with this week's show but - nope!

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Delaware Day

The state flag of Delaware.
(image from here)

Wow, is that the state flag of Delaware? Growing up in Texas, whose flag is simple & dynamic & has no writing on it at all, I am struck by the inclusion of the date/year. Who puts dates on a flag?

It turns out ten other states do! Illinois, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Missouri all have some date or year on their flags - with the latter (Missouri) having the year in Roman numerals.

Yeah, yeah, I've lived in Oregon for six years & didn't know it had a year on it. I am just used to the elegant simplicity of the Texas flag. Although have you seen Alaska's flag? That's a beauty!

What is this post about? Oh yeah, tomorrow, Sunday, July 13, is National Delaware Day. We'll talk about & play musical reports about that state on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. That's 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, online at xray dot fm.

It will be difficult but we'll try not to disrespect their awful flag.

Friday, July 11, 2025

This Week In Self Help: July 6 8 + 9

A humorous emergency sign that reads in case of emergency run like hell.
(found here)

This was the week I had:

July 6 on The Dickenbock Report it was Build A Scarecrow Day.
Listen at XRAY. Listen at Self Help Radio.

July 8 on Self Help Radio it was a show about Emergency!
Listen at KBOO. Listen at Self Help Radio.

July 8 on Corporate Standardized Programming I played artists who died in January 2025.
Listen at KBOO (it's with Self Help Radio). Listen at Self Help Radio.

July 9 I subbed a show on KBOO playing interesting sounds late at night.
KBOO doesn't archive its sub show but. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Username is SHR & password is selfhelp if you need it.
I'll put the playlist for the sub show up on the website next week.

Tuesday, July 08, 2025

Self Help Radio 070825: Emergency!

An emergency vehicle speeding past in the night, red lights flashing, with the Self Help Radio logo inexplicably on the vehicle's side.

Boy this episode was almost a real emergency! I came into the KBOO studios to find an unannounced mini-rave happening, & at some point there was a skipping song, & the whole thing felt fraught & unstable. There had also been issues before - a recording with a collaborator had such terrible sound quality I couldn't use it - that suggested that the theme might come to life & eat the show whole, & thankfully I'm not too superstitious or else I would decide never to do themes like this again!

Hopefully it doesn't sound too much like a disaster. We know at this point no one's coming to help, so it's best we be careful. I just don't remember things going this badly when I did the accident show!

You can listen now or when you feel safe at both the KBOO web page & the Self Help Radio web page. At the latter you might need a username & password, I would use SHR & selfhelp. Everything that happened is below. Be careful out there!

Self Help Radio Emergency Show
"Emergency!" Nelson Riddle _Television's Greatest Hits Volume 5: In Living Color_
"Emergency 999" The Alan Bown Set _Ain't Nothing But A House Party (60s & Early 70s Club Soul Classics)_
"Emergency" Ed Wahonka _Wahonka_
"The Emergency" Gileah & The Ghost Train _Gileah & The Ghost Train_

introduction & definitions

"Emergency" The Sweet Inspirations _Estelle, Myrna, & Sylvia_
"Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Basic Supplies)" Unknown _Atomic Platters: Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security_
"Emergency" 999 _999_
"State Of Emergency" Stiff Little Fingers _Inflammable Material_
"Emergency Cases" The Undertones _True Confessions (Singles=A's+B's)_

our favorite librarian Carole stops by

"Emergency" Shack _Zilch_ (Ghetto, 1988)
"Emergency" The Go-Betweens _G Stands For Go-Betweens: The Go-Betweens Anthology Volume 3_
"Emergency" The Pooh Sticks _Tonight - Single_
"Emergency" Edith Frost _It's A Game_
"Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Brilliant Nuclear Flash)" Unknown _Atomic Platters: Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security_
"Occident & Emergency" DJ DisOrientalist _Peace Not War_

interview with Emergency! Fan Club founder Todd Mantooth

"This Is Our Emergency" Pretty Girls Make Graves _The New Romance_
"Emergency" Summer Cannibals _No Makeup_
"Emergency & Me" Speedy Ortiz _Rabbit Rabbit_
"Emergency" Deep Sea Diver _Billboard Heart_
"Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Not Contagious)" Unknown _Atomic Platters: Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security_
"Accident & Emergency" Lucy Wainwright Roche _Lucy_

interview with ER worker Natalie Dunlap

"Emergency" Oblivians _Popular Favorites_
"Emergency" Dirt Bike Annie _Show Us Your Demons_
"This Is An Emergency" The Pigeon Detectives _Emergency_
"Civil Defense Spot: In Time Of Emergency (Take Notice Of Fallout Shelter Signs)" Unknown _Atomic Platters: Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security_
"Slow Emergency" Gold Motel _Gold Motel_
"Emergency Telephone" Billy Nomates _Emergency Telephone EP_

conclusion & goodbye

"Emergency Call" Judy Mowatt _Tighten Up! Trojan Reggae Classics 1968-1974_
"Emergency Exit" Tig Notaro _Boyish Girl Interrupted_
"The Emergency Exit Man" Spray _Ambiguous Poems About Death_
"The Emergency Kisses" Stereolab _Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night_

Monday, July 07, 2025

Whither Emergency?

Flashing red emergency lights at night.

One might ask, why would one do a radio show at this time with the theme "emergency"? & one might respond to the one asking, "Are you perchance living outside of the United States Of America in the year 2025?" & probably the one asking would respond, "Why yes! How did you know?" & one would almost certainly say, "Because were you living in the United States Of America in the year 2025, you would say with all honesty, that every day feels like an emergency."

Although that might make one think that a show about emergency in the middle of an emergency could be seen as masochistic or just dully redundant. & the one making the radio show might say in response, "Oh. I didn't think about that." & it would be too late to think of something else.

Self Help Radio's show with the theme "Emergency" airs tonight on KBOO from midnight to 2am. That's on the air in Portland at 90.7fm & online everywhere at KBOO dot fm.

Sunday, July 06, 2025

Preface To Emergency: That 1970s Television Show

The cover for the DVD box of the Emergency television series featuring its stars, the name of the show, & a fire truck & ambulance leaving the station.
(image from the IMDb)

Being a child of the 1970s, & growing up poor with a working mother, I watched a lot of television. I watched pretty much anything, although I preferred cartoon, sitcoms, sci-fi/fantasy shows, & cop shows. But I had a soft spot for the show Emergency!, which aired from 1972 - when I was four - till 1979, when I was eleven. Almost certainly I saw the bulk of it in reruns. I only just now discovered they made several television movies of the show, & will seek them out. But if you had to ask me my most indelible memory about the show - it was this one:

A still from the opening credits of Emergency which shows actor Randolph Mantooth & reads "Randolph Mantooth as Fireman John Gage"
(screengrabbed from here)

It's not that I didn't love the character of John Gage - I totally did - but I really, really, really loved the name "Randolph Mantooth." I have forgotten most of the plot lines & most of the characters (except Julie London as Nurse Dixie McCall) but I will never not be fascinated by the name Randolph Mantooth. It sounds like an exclamation, like something Perry White should say instead of "Great Caesar's Ghost!"

It holds a special meaning for me now because it was the sort of name that would crack my friend Russell up. He'd tell me he saw a movie on television the other night, & I would say, with excitement, "Did it star Randolph Mantooth?" It would always make him laugh.

Dang I wish I had time to watch some of these shows before the Self Help Radio Emergency show. At least you know I'll play the theme.

Saturday, July 05, 2025

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Build A Scarcrow Day

A scarecrow inexplicably leaning against a tree.

July 6 is Build A Scarecrow Day. Hm, looks like the person who built the scarecrow above didn't know what to with it afterwards. That's one reason we'll be tackling this important news story tomorrow - it's one thing to build a scarecrow, it's another thing to use it properly once it's built. Or maybe we'll just play lots of songs about scarecrows.

Find out by tuning in tomorrow, Sunday, July 6, from noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm. At the very least we'll be demonstrating how to build a scarecrow that looks exactly like Dick Dickenbock.

Friday, July 04, 2025

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 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.

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Self Help Radio 070125: Clover

A very green field of clover with the Self Help Radio logo overlayed on it.

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_

Monday, June 30, 2025

Whither Clover?

A close-up of the clover in my backyard.

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.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

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.

Saturday, June 28, 2025

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.

Friday, June 27, 2025

This Week In Self Help: June 20 22 + 24

It's the movie poster for the 1979 Walt Disney scifi movie The Black Hole, which shows the logo falling into a swirling black hole.
(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.

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

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

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.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Self Help Radio 062425: Black Holes

An artist's rendering of a black hole, an emptiness in space, surrounded by time-shifted stars. In the middle of the black hole, the Self Help Radio logo is peeking out.
(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

Monday, June 23, 2025

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.