Whither A Flat Show?

(This is the flattest place on Earth! Image from here.)

Why a flat show?  You may well ask, why a theme-based radio show at all?  Why a radio show?  Why gather songs & travel to a radio station in the dark of night to play those songs & interview people & say dumb things in a studio?

The answer to the first question is, I don't remember.  The answer to the others is, I like doing such things.

What I do know if that I'll be live tonight at KBOO & I'll play songs about different kinds of flatness.  I'll talk to some folks, I'll talk to whoever is listening, I'll still be a little giddy that I'm allowed to be in a radio station at all.  I used to do this all the time!  It feels a lot more precious right now than it has.

Yes. A flat show.  Tonight from midnight to 3am.  On 90.7 fm KBOO in Portland.  Online everywhere at kboo.fm.

& yes, the show will also be flat in the sense of stale.  It's Self Help Radio, after all.

Preface To A Flat Show: Oh It's One Of Those Shows Again

(image from here.)

Yeah, yeah, it's another Self Help Radio based on a word as the theme rather than something that has one fixed meaning.  Flat can mean smooth-surfaced, or deflated, or lacking carbonation, or it can be an apartment or it can be a "note played a semitone lower than a natural," which is something I don't understand because I know very little about music theory & also it's in quotes because I took it from the Wiktionary.  It'll be one of those shows, get over it, whatever.

What I want to talk about is that image up there, which illustrates a fascinating article called "What If The Earth Was Flat?"  In case you don't read it, here are some spoilers:

Well, first, the reason our planet is a sphere is because of gravity, & if it were somehow flattened, gravity would turn it back to its roundish self.  As the article states, "Once you get rid of gravity, everything about our planet rapidly stops making sense."

But things like plate tectonics wouldn't work either, so a flat earth would have no earthquakes.

You know what?  Read the damn article.  It actually says, "Every explanation of the moon's existence involves gravity."  Did they tell that to the illustrator?  Because the earth is flat but the moon in that image is round.  Which makes me wonder - do flat earthers think the moon is flat too?

In this article, which asks that question, we get this fascinating response: "Davidson says he doesn't have any sense of what planets are made of or what shape they would be. 'I wouldn't go so far as to say everything's flat,' he said. The sun, moon, & planets, 'They appear to be spherical, they could be disks,' he added. 'I don't think it really matters too much,' he said. 'I just don't believe that we're on a sphere.'"

Astounding.

Will we talk a bit about flat earthers tomorrow night?  Who knows?  Not me!  Not yet anyway.  Still.  That moon in that picture up there.  Wow.

1985 In Film Continued

 

(image from the IMDb)

On this week's episode of Self Help Radio, we played some more of my favorite music from 1985.  Ou friend Chuck stopped by to talk about foreign films released in 1985.  You can listen to that show if you want at the Self Help Radio website & also at the KBOO website, & there are other places you can explore the stuff Chuck watched & recommends.

His Twitter feed.

He made a Youtube playlist of foreign films from 1985.

Here are the Letterboxd reviews of films from 1985.

This is an IMDb list of films available to stream free elsewhere.

& finally here's the list of all films released in 1985.  Find your favorite!

Back In 1921

(image from here)

There's something I don't talk much about on this blog, which is the other radio show I do, which is The Dickenbock Report, which airs on Thursdays from 8-10am on Freeform Portland.  The main reason I don't talk about it is because this blog is supposed to be about Self Help Radio, but I'm too lazy to start another blog for The Dickenbock Report & too cheap to spring for another web page for it.  So I talk about the show on the SHR Twitter feed as well as on the SHR Facebook page, but don't really want to repost anything about the show here, since I only write on the blog once a day five days a week.

But the last couple of shows I've done I quite liked, so I thought I'd take the time today to talk about one of them, which aired a week ago.  I thought I would play a couple of hours of music from one hundred years ago.  It was an interesting time - there wasn't really any folk or country to speak of, & the idea of one person with a guitar singing the blues hadn't yet been committed to record.  There was jazz, & the rise of the woman blues singer, & of course plenty of what we'd now call "pop" music.  It was fun to gather & put together, so I thought I'd share.

The show is on the Self Help Radio website, which you can go to directly at this very link.  Since it's on the website, you'll need a username - SHR - & a password - selfhelp - to access the file.  The songs I played are below.  I hope you dig.  It was, I'll say again, just a joy to put together.

The Dickenbock Report 071521: Back In 1921

"Margie" Original Dixieland Jazz Band _The Complete Original Dixieland Jazz Band_

"Say It With Music" Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra _Greatest Hits_

"Brown Skin (Who You For)" Daisy Martin & Clarence Williams _Clarence Williams 1921-1924_

"That's My Cup Blues" Katie Crippen with Henderson's Novelty Orchestra _Fletcher Henderson & The Blues Singers Volume 1 (1921-1923)_

"Laughing Rag" Sam Moore _Classic Ragtime: Roots & Offshoots_

"She Gave Them All The Ha Ha Ha" Eddie Cantor _The Early Days (1917-1921)_

"All By Myself" Ted Lewis Jazz Band _Is Everybody Happy?_

"Wabash Blues" Isham Jones & His Orchestra _Anthology: The Deluxe Collection_

"He's A Darn Good Man (To Have Hanging 'Round)" Alberta Hunter _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 1 (1921-1923)_

"Oh How I Hate That Fellow Nathan" Fanny Brice _Stars Of The Ziegfeld Follies, Vol. 1 (Recorded 1916-1925)_

"Saxophone Blues" Brown & Terry Jazzola Boys _Ragtime To Jazz 2 (1921-1922)_

"Eve Cost Adam Just One Bone" Bert Williams _His Final Releases, 1919-1922_

"Aunt Hagar's Children's Blues" Ladd's Black Aces _The Complete Ladd's Black Aces 1921-1924_

"Die Walküre, Act 1: Der Männer Sippe Saß Hier Im Saal" Lotte Lehmann _In Opera (Vol 1 1916-1921)_

"Don't Tell Your Monkey Man" Tim Brymn & His Black Devil Orchestra _Early Jazz 1917-1923_

"How Many Times?" Lavinia Turner _Lavinia Turner 1921-1922_

"I'll Be Good But I'll Be Lonesome" Southern Negro Quartette _The Earliest Negro Vocal Groups Vol. 3_

"Wait Until You See My Madeline" Frank Crumit _Frank Crumit Returns_

"Love Will Find A Way" Inez Richardson _Vocal Blues & Jazz 1921-1930_

"Ain't We Got Fun" Van & Schenck _Wonderful Nonsense: Fun Songs Of The Roaring Twenties_

"Dangerous Blues" Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Band _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 1 (14 February 1920 To 18 August 1921)_

"Arkansas Blues" Lucille Hegamin with Her Blue Flame Syncopators _The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records 1917-1927, Volume 1_

"Preacher Man Blues" Norfolk Jazz Quartet _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 1: 1921-1923_

"Oh Daddy" Ethel Waters with Cordy Williams' Jazz Masters _1921-1923_

"April Showers" Al Jolson _Early Al Jolson, Vol. 1_

"Nervous Blues" Edith Wilson & Johnny Dunn's Original Jazz Hounds _Rules & Regulations_

"Home Again Blues" Aileen Stanley _1920s Blues & Jazz Vocals_

"Sweet Adelyne" Four Harmony Kings _Four Harmony Kings (1921-1924)_

"There Ain't No Nothin' (Gonna Take The Place Of You)" Black Swan Dance Orchestra _Fletcher Henderson 1921-1923_

"The Harlem Strut" James P. Johnson _1921-1928_

"I Ain't Got Nobody" Marion Harris _Columbia 1 (1920s Jazz Vocals)_

"Corale" Luigi & Antonio Russolo _Awakening Of A City_

"Baltimore Buzz" Eubie Blake & His "Shuffle Along" Orchestra _Ragtime, Vol. 2_

"When My Baby Smiles At Me" Art Hickman's New York London Five _The Best Of Art Hickman: Original Recordings_

"Tropical Blues" Joseph Samuels' Jazz Band _Jabberwocky_

"Bad Land Blues" Lillyn Brown & Her Jazz-Bo Syncopators _Esther Bigeou (1921-1923)_

"If You Don't Want Me Send Me To My Ma" Mary Stafford & Her Jazz Band _Female Blues Singers Volume 13: R/S (1921-1931)_

Self Help Radio 072021: 1986 Continued

(All images found on Discogs.)

Here it is!  The continuation of my favorite music from 1985!  Listen: I could do a two-hour radio show just called "The 1985 Show" & make it a point not to repeat artists more than once a month & it would be excellent.  I kind of wish that was my thing.  Just a radio show based on a particular year.  Because I have spent six hours playing music from 1985 & I think I have three more hours in me.  Maybe more.  Hell, I made a list of records I didn't even know about from 1985 that I need to find so I can't imagine what I've missed!

& oh yeah, this was the first show I've done in a radio station live since March 12, 2020.  That means I went 496 days - almost 500 days! - without doing radio live at a radio station.  The last time I went that long was after I left KVRX in 1999.

By the way, I used this website to calculate the days - & it told me that 496 days is also 70 weeks & 6 days, or 1 year & four months & nine days.  & it was just too long.  Let's hope the delta variant doesn't fuck stuff up so I can continue to do this.  Please.

The show is at self help radio dot net of course & also at the KBOO website.  It's mainly me being giddy & nervous & playing tunes although Chuck stops by to talk about foreign movies from 1985.  I think it's fine.  What is played is below.  I hope you enjoy.

Self Help Radio 1985 Continued Show

"Pop Life" Prince & The Revolution _Around The World In A Day_

"Would I Lie To You?" Eurythmics _Be Yourself Tonight_

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" Simple Minds _Don't You (Forget About Me)_

"A Day" Clan Of Xymox _Clan Of Xymox_

"Tremble (My Girl Doesn't)" The Wolfgang Press _Water_

"Walk Away" The Sisters Of Mercy _First & Last & Always_

"Hazey Daze" Chris & Cosey _Technø Primitiv_

"Yü-Gung (Fütter Mein Ego)" Einstürzende Neubauten _Halber Mensch_

"One Of Our Psychedelic Beakers Is Missing" The Dentists _Some People Are On The Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now_

"Soul Monday" Martin Newell _Songs For A Fallow Land_

"Stealing In The Name Of The Lord" Yeah Yeah Noh _Cutting The Heavenly Lawn Of Greatness...Last Rites For The God Of Love_

"Every Conversation" The June Brides _There Are Eight Million Stories..._

"God Bless" The Bodines _God Bless_

Chuck stops by to talk about foreign films from 1985

"Can't Get There From Here" R.E.M. _Fables Of The Reconstruction_

"Letter To A Fanzine" Great Plains _Naked At The Buy, Sell, & Trade_

"Empty Bottles" Opal _Northern Line_

"Blue Eyes" Zeitgeist _Translate Slowly_

"Splinters" The Bongos _Beat Hotel_

"Jacob's Ladder" The Monochrome Set _The Lost Weekend_

"When All's Well" Everything But The Girl _Love Not Money_

"What's The Morning For?" The Apartments _The Evening Visits... & Stays For Years_

"Hearts Are Like Flowers" Jacobites _Robespierre's Velvet Basement_

"Sail Through" The Wake _Here Comes Everybody_

"Lesson 1: The Payoff Mix" Double Dee & Steinski _Lesson 1, 2, & 3_

"The Show" Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew _The Show_

"Leader Of The Pack" UTFO _UTFO_

"I Can't Live Without My Radio" LL Cool J _Radio_

"Bite This" Roxanne Shante _Bite This_

"Shakespeare's Sister" The Smiths _Shakespeare's Sister_

"Once More" The Wedding Present _Once More_

"Aikea Guinea" Cocteau Twins _Aikea Guinea_

"The Exploding Boy" The Cure _In-Between Days_

"Move Me" The Woodentops _Move Me_

"Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" Bob Dylan _Empire Burlesque_

"My Funny Valentine" Nico & The Faction _Camera Obscura_

"Last Dance" The Mekons _Fear & Whiskey_

Whither 1985 Continued?

(Image from here.)

Two things about that image up there.  One, I have zero memories of storms & floods at the beginning of 1985.  None whatsoever.  I do have a memory of driving my old 1976 Ford Granada home from a friend's house & my windshield wipers refusing to work so I drove with my head hanging out of the car being battered by rain.  But I'm sure that was in the spring because it was a school night & it wasn't freezing out.  Second, my family never read the Morning News.  That was the conservative paper.  We read the Times Herald which also had the best comics, especially Doonesbury.  But a search for 1985 Dallas Times Herald on the googla image search found nothing.  You write your blog posts with the images you got.

You may know that around the time of my birthday, on Self Help Radio, I play songs from the a year in my life.  I started when the started with 1968, the year I started, & I have done it yearly, adding a year to my regular life & to the show's theme.  I covered 1985 earlier this year, & you can listen to that show over on the Self Help Radio website & also on the KBOO website.  But for me 1985 was such an amazing year in music I couldn't just stop at three hours.  I needed another show.  & that show is tonight.

Not only is it tonight it's my first show live in the KBOO studios since March of 2020.  So I am pretty excited.  & almost certainly going to screw things up in hilarious fashion.

Tonight!  On 90.7 fm KBOO!  & online at kboo.fm!  From midnight to 3am!  I know you won't be awake to listen but spare me a passing thought - "Oh yeah, that dumb show's live tonight, cool" - before you pass out, will you?

Preface To 1985 Continued: There's A Film Called 1985?

(Image from here.)

Yep.  There's a film called "1985."  According to the Wikipedia (link below the image above), "Set in Texas in 1985, the film stars Cory Michael Smith as Adrian Lester, a closeted gay man returning home to Dallas after several years living in New York City to tell his family goodbye, but not disclosing that he is dying of AIDS."  It was made in 2018, it's very well-received, having good scores on Rotten Tomatoes & the IMDb.  But.

My objection is, won't people seeing the title think it's somehow related to George Orwell's 1984?  I sure did.  I mean, I didn't think it was trying to be a sequel, but I did imagine that it might have some sort of thematic relation.  That feels a bit like a bait & switch.

Like maybe if it were called Nineteen Eighty-Five it wouldn't feel weird to me.  Or perhaps The Year 1985.

Anyway, I haven't seen it, though I guess I'd watch it if the situation presented itself.  I might be a little peevish in the first few minutes, but ultimately I'd be engrossed.  It's one of the images that popped up with the goggled "1985" on the Googla.  That's literally the only reason I know I exists!

Smoggy Fort Worth Sunrise

This photo was taken on this day in 2017.  In the morning.  When it was smoggy.  So it's called "Smoggy Fort Worth Sunrise."  It's the view from a park we walked to every morning.  & since it was July, & a summer in Texas, we often started walking well before the sun rose - so we got to the park in time for sunrise.

Three of the four dogs we moved back to Texas with in 2016 are here with us in Oregon, & they have gone soft.  They act utterly miserable when it hits the high 70s Fahrenheit.  Those mornings in Texas in July & August, it was often the mid-80s at 5:30am.

Just four years ago.  & so much has changed.  It's almost never smoggy in Portland.  When the skies look like they do in this picture, it's because of wildfires (!).

Exciting News!

Can I confess something?  I wanted to tell you news that's exciting to me so I went to googla image search & looked for "exciting news" & I was all like, "Hey! I could make that myself" but really I don't have the motivation or interest so you get that graphic up there.  Which I did make myself.  It's very exciting isn't it.  It exudes excitement.  I think it's the two exclamation marks.  But maybe the boring font ruins it?

Anyway, here's the news: I'll be back in the KBOO studios Monday night/Tuesday morning & I'll be doing Self Help Radio live again at KBOO!  That's pretty exciting, right?  I honestly can't believe it.  So maybe it won't happen.  I think it will, but maybe it won't.

No one noticed, but I slept through the Dickenbock Report yesterday.  I didn't announce it or live tweet it & I woke up about a third of the way through but no one cared.  It was recorded, so it aired, but I missed some of it.  So I suspect me doing SHR live won't be that big of a deal either.

But I'm excited!

Self Help Radio 071321: Volcanoes

(Original image here*.)

Let's see.  Should I write "this show was a blast!"  No.  No.  How about "this week's Self Help Radio was an explosion of music & fun!"  Still not getting the correct feel for the show.  Hm.  I've already rejected "you're gonna lava it" as well as "it's erupt to the highest standards for the show" & especially "be careful walking around this solid show - you might krak-a-toa."  That one would get me arrested.  I guess I'll just go with the safest bet:

This week's Self Help Radio, a show about volcanoes, probably didn't suck.

Nailed it!

Listen to the show, which flowed I think quite well, at both the KBOO website & also at the Self Help Radio website.  It's the same show either way.  It's three hours long & lots of songs get played & other stuff happens & all that is detailed below.

Even though this is supposed to be some kind of self-help for me at least, I am still very afraid of volcanoes.  & I live close to lots of them.

Self Help Radio Volcanoes Show

"Volcano" The Jets _Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me)_

"Volcano" Billy Preston _R'n'B Meets Northern Soul Volume 1_

"Volcano" The Band _Cahoots_

introduction & definitions

"Volcano" Paper Moon _Hey! Where'd The Summer Go?_

"Volcano" Turbo Fruits _Turbo Fruits_

"Volcano!" Grand Duchy _Petits Fours_

"Volcano" JoJo Effect _Ordinary Madness_

"Volcano" Antipop Consortium _Fluorescent Black_

our friendly librarian Carole stops by to talk about volcano books!

"Volcano" U2 _Songs Of Innocence_

"Volcano" The Wave Pictures _Brushes With Happiness_

"Volcano" Guided By Voices _Surrender Your Poppy Field_

"Volcano" Eartheater _Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin_

"Volcanoes" Islands _Return To The Sea_

interview with volcano fan Travis O'Rourke

"The Volcano Song" Logan Whitehurst & The Junior Science Club _Goodbye, My 4-Track_

"Born To Love Volcanos" The Dead Milkmen _Beelzebubba_

"King Volcano" Bauhaus _Burning From The Inside_

"Lava Man" Gee Mr. Tracy _Harmony! Rhapsody! Destiny!_

"Lava" The B-52's _The B-52's_

interview with volcanologist Dr. Magda Petrovich

"Mt. St. Helens" Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops _Rivers Roll On By_

"Krakatoa" Colourbook _Colourbook_

"Etna" Misstress Barbara _I'm No Human_

"Under The Volcano" Nickodemus _Moon People_

"Under The Volcano" Momus _Athenian_

a discussion of volcano movies

"Human Volcano" The Hummingbirds _Va Va Voom_

"Volcano Girls" Veruca Salt _Eight Arms To Hold You_

"Good Lava" Esperanza Spalding _Emily's D+Evolution_

"Volcana!" The 6ths _Hyacinths & Thistles_

"Volcano Lagoon" Eerie Wanda _Hum_

"Tell It To The Volcano" Miniature Tigers _Tell It To The Volcano_

a sensitive question answered: did human sacrifice humans (especially virgins) to volcanoes?

"Cities In Dust" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Tinderbox_

"Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung" The Flaming Lips _At War With The Mystics_

"Vesuvius" Saloon _If We Meet In The Future_

"Vesuvius" Vic Chesnutt _Ghetto Bells_

"Vesuvius" Sufjan Stevens _The Age Of Adz_

conclusion & goodbye

"Red Lava" Tristen _Dream Within A Dream_

"Eve's Volcano" Julian Cope _Saint Julian_

"Volcanoes Erupt" Say Hi _Bleeders Digest_

* "Mount St. Helens Eruption — 1980" by U.S. Geological Survey is marked with CC0 1.0

Whither Volcanoes?

(Image from here.)

Hot on the heels of last week's show about disaster, Self Help Radio quickly gets more specific & present a program about volcanoes.  But why so soon after disaster?  Why not have a couple of volcano songs along with the earthquake & flood & famine songs from last week?  Because Self Help Radio enjoys getting annoyingly specific.  A disaster show is simply about disaster - you see, there can be more shows, one about floods, one about earthquakes, one about famine, & - tonight! - one about volcanoes.

Fair enough.  But why volcanoes?  Were you even paying attention to your schedule?  Look, I've been grooving to Momus' new record Athenian.  When I got to the track, "Under The Volcano," I thought, Could there be many songs about volcanoes?  & I began to gather them.  & when I felt I had enough, I scheduled the show.  I didn't pay any attention to what preceded it.  Because who has the time for that?  Certainly not a radio show that gets annoyingly specific!

Lots of fun songs & fun guests & (because I was craving them) funyuns on tonight's Self Help Radio.  It's on midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm in Portland (& its environs) & online everywhere at kboo.fm.  Portlandites: we do have active volcanoes near, & I worry the show will seem provocative.  If you're near any active volcano, let them know I am doing this out of love.  Thanks.

Preface To Volcanoes: Pictures Of Lava

Okay, maybe it's better I say "pictures tagged lava."  I've never actually seen lava in real life.  I think I'd poop myself.  But here are some pictures I've taken that I somehow thought they featured lava.  I haven't looked at these, I will see them for the first time when I post them here.

This is from May 27, 2014, I just titled it "Lava Door."  I guess I thought the door looked like it was formed by lava?

This is from June 18, 2014.  This was a painting of a lava lamp on an old head shop which was in our neighborhood which I never visited.  Well, I went in one time to put up a WRFL flyer.  It seemed like it had been there for a long, long time.  & yet I never saw any customers in there.  It was called "New Age Gifts" & according to Google Maps, by 2015 it was out of business, its sign gone & only the Grateful Dead bears left on the white facade.  For a time it was a skate shop, & a place to see bands (I never saw a band there though.)  Now it looks like it's just offices?  I'll ask my friend Jon - he still lives nearby.

Finally:

This is from January 19, 2017.  It's called "Lava Lamps" because duh.  I believe I took that picture on a night walk during the winter of some neighbor who had lava lamps in their window.  That's all.  I don't remember the neighbor though.  Or where it might have been taken - you know, except I was in Fort Worth at the time.  But maybe I was coming back from a show or something.  Who knows?

One day I may actually take photos of real lava!  But also I'll need a change of pants.

Disaster At The Movies

(image from the IMDb)

This week's Self Help Radio was a disaster & also was about disaster & you know you can listen at the Self Help Radio website & also on the KBOO web page & when you do listen well into the second hour so you can hear another installment of the series Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner.  This one focused on disaster flicks naturally.  Here are important links:

Chuck's Twitter feed - keep up with what he's watching here.
Here's his Youtube playlist of disaster films.
Chuck also wrote reviews of the movies he watched on Letterboxd.
Finally, here's the IMDb search list for disaster.

Check out what Chuck's watching!  You're bound to find something that you'll dig.

The Most Insidious Song

Might I make a confession?  In the year 1986, I began college, & although I confess I checked in with MTV from time-to-time, I watched very little television - especially dramas & sitcoms.  To this day, I've never seen a single episode of Matlock, which began that year.  Honestly, I've never seen an episode of Hill Street Blues, which ended a year after that.  I didn't watch much television drama, is what I'm trying to say.

But what's more, I didn't watch much television comedy.  I completely missed the television show Head Of The Class, despite starring Howard Hesseman, who was an early inspiration as Dr Johnny Fever on WKRP In Cincinnati.  Well, thanks to the magic of streaming services, the wife & I have been watching the show, which I find occasionally rises above its tired sitcom tropes, & shows some real heart.  Not always, but sometimes.

However, I find the theme song quite problematic.  I don't enjoy it, I use the "skip intro" function at every point, & yet - it has found its way into my headspace.  It begins with a pleasant flute/harpsichord type interaction - probably done entirely on synthesizers - & then vomits itself into the worst 1980s sounding theme possible.  I find it tiresome & toxically catchy & I hate the fact that the opening sequence has star Hesseman, as teacher Charlie Moore, trying to get to school in busy NYC, & buying a hot dog for breakfast.  Maybe it was different in the 1980s, but those guys aren't open for breakfast.  I once approached a hot dog guy at 10:55am & was not spoken to until the clock struck 11.  Sure, the show was shot in Los Angeles like every other TV sitcom but holy smokes they should've known.  No hot dog vendors peddling their wares at 7:30 am!

Which has nothing to do with the theme, which I can't get out of my head.  Still, I enjoy the show.  I plan to watch it even after Hesseman leaves.  I sometimes daydream about remaking the show in a modern way but keeping the 1980s setting & having the kids be more complex & problematic.  Like the 1980s.  Complex & problematic.

& I hope to finish the series soon because I hear its incidental music when I walk into a room.  Why does it affect me so?  It's troubling.  It's quite troubling.

Self Help Radio 070621: Disaster

(Original image here.*)

Yeah, yeah, Self Help Radio usually is a disaster.  I already made that joke! You can't hurt me more than I already hurt myself!  That's the power of low self-esteem!

However, I do want to say that I thought the show did a decent job of discussing the idea of "disaster" without spending too much time bogged down in specific disasters.  Because specific disasters could be entire other Self Help Radio shows!  My logic is a bit desperate I know.  But since next week's show is about volcanoes I think I've made my point.

You can listen to the show both at the KBOO web site & also at the show's web site.  The show had lots of guests & they're listed below.  & if you must have disaster in your life, let it be a dumb radio show & not actual disaster.

Self Help Radio Disaster Show

"Disaster" Blind Ravage _Blind Ravage_

"Disaster" Leroy Brown & His Defence Force _Prayer Of Peace_

"Disaster" The Mynabirds _Generals_

introduction & definitions

"Natural Disaster" Andrew Bird _Noble Beast_

"Natural Disaster" Sarah Bethe Nelson _Weird Glow_

"Latest Disaster" George Carlin _More Napalm & Silly Putty_

"Disaster" MC Frontalot _Zero Day_

"Disatrous" Del The Funky Homosapien _Both Sides Of The Brain_

interview with Hollywood disaster movie producer Denver Smith

"Another Day Another Disaster" Zoey Van Goey _Propeller Versus Wings_

"World Is A Disaster" Mikey Melody _World Is A Disaster_

"Wally Ballou: Disaster Prone" Bob & Ray _Classic Bob & Ray: Volume 2_

"Walking Disasters" The Wombats _This Modern Glitch_

"Disaster Strikes Again" Ferns _On Botany_

interview with my spiritual advisor the Rev Dr Howard Gently

"The Train To Disaster" The Voice _Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire & Beyond 1964-1969)_

"Disaster Area" Milt Matthews Inc. _Good To The Last Drop (Rare Sixties & Seventies Soul From The Ember Tape Vaults)_

"Disaster At Sea" Les Barker _The War On Terrier_

"Disco Disaster" Human League _The Golden Hour Of The Future_

"Natural Disaster" Fischerspooner _Fischerspooner_

our librarian friend Carole stops by to recommend books about disasters

"The Brink Of Disaster" Shirley & Lee _The Sweethearts Of The Blues_

"Brink Of Disaster" Lesley Gore _Sunshine, Lollipops, & Rainbows (The Best Of Lesley Gore)_

"How Much Time Do We Have (Disaster On A Big Scale)" Civil Defense Spot _Atomic Platters: Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security_

"Disaster" Died Pretty _Doughboy Hollow_

"Disaster In Motion" Robert Forster _Songs To Play_

interview with writer Tom Shade, author of My Life Is A Disaster

"Little Miss Disaster" The Damned _So, Who's Paranoid?_

"Living Disaster" Gary Myrick & The Figures _Gary Myrick & The Figures_

"Airline Disaster" Shapes _Songs For Sensible People_

"Nuclear Disaster" The Hippies _Nuclear Disaster 7"_

"Total Disaster" John Holt _Reggae Sound War, Volume One_

another installment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner - about disaster movies!

"Disaster Movie" The Exile _Short Sharp Shock_

"Ann Disaster" Ben Kweller _On My Way_

"Mind Disaster" The Initial Shock _Mind Disaster_

"Disaster" Julian Cope _The Followers Of Saint Julian_

"Natural Disasters" Enon _High Society_

"Walking Disaster" Boy Wonder _Wonder Wear_

this airbreak is a disaster!

"Courting Disaster" How Many Beans Make Five _One Last Look_

"Small Disaster" Wilson's Prom _Welcome To The Prom_

"Tonight Was A Disaster" Casiotone For The Painfully Alone _Pocket Symphonies For Lonesome Subway Cars_

"Human Disaster" The Juan Maclean _The Future Will Come_

"Morning Disaster" L'Altra _Different Days_

"After Disaster" Safety Scissors _Tainted Lunch_

conclusion & goodbye

"Dear Disaster" This Microwave World _Love Your Zine, Let's Go To Bed_

"Headquake Disaster" Flow _Headquake_

* "Panorama of the Molasses Disaster site" by Boston Public Library is licensed under CC BY 2.0