Self Help Radio 081826: The Bayou

Once again, not a picture from a bayou. I don't think I've ever been to a bayou. But I have pictures that my computer thinks are of a bio, & who am I to convince it otherwise? AI is so dumb.

Anyway, hopefully there's some good knowledge mixed with the regular silliness of the average Self Help Radio episode. Being to Portland, where there aren't many insects or snakes or I'll bet any alligators, I am kinda glad not to be in the bayou. But I'm sure it has its charms & maybe that shows through in this episode.

Which you can listen to at the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. Most everything that happens is below. Hopefully the mosquitos won't be too much of a bother. But keep an eye for the cottonmouths!

Self Help Radio The Bayou Show

"Mound Bayou" Pete Brown & His Band _Helen Humes 1927-1945_

"Song Of The Bayou" Wynonie Harris _Lovin' Machine_

"Love Song Of The Bayou" Little Jimmy Dickens _Four Classic Albums Plus Singles 1954-1962_

introduction & definitions

"Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" Hank Williams _The Complete Hank Williams_

"Blue Bayou" Roy Orbison _The Very Best Of Roy Orbison_

"Bayou Talk" Jimmy 'C' Newman _The Cajun Country Music Of A Louisiana Man_

"Voice Of The Bayou" Anita Carter _Appalachian Angel - Her Recordings 1950-1972 & 1996_

"Billy Bayou" Roger Miller _Words & Music By Roger Miller_

interview with travel agents Walter & Wendy Talbot

"Born On The Bayou" Betty Davis _The Columbia Years 1968-1969_

"Bayou Song" Tina Turner _Tina Turns The Country On_

"Fire On The Bayou" The Meters _Fire On The Bayou_

"Crossing The Bayou" J. B. Kling Jr. _Laugh Cajun Laugh_

"Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" Dr. John _Gris-Gris_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Bayou Pom Pom" Angelas Le Jeunne _The Best Of Cajun & Zydeco_

"On The Bayou Song" Robert Klein _New Teeth_

"Black Bayou" Al Rapone _Zydeco To Go_

"Voodoo On The Bayou" Tab Benoit _Nice & Warm_

"Bayou Girl" Buckwheat Zydeco _Five Card Stud_

interview with memoirist Stuart Wright

"Bayou" Chad Everett _All Strung Out_

"King Of The Bayou" Joe Strummer _Earthquake Weather_

"Are You The Bayour?" William Shatner, National Symphony Orchestra _So Fragile, So Blue_

"Bayou Tortous" James McMurtry _Just Us Kids_

"Fever On The Bayou" Rodney Crowell _Tarpaper Sky_

conclusion & goodbye

"They Put A Body In The Bayou" The Orwells _Terrible Human Beings_

"Bye Bye Bayou" Alan Vega _Alan Vega_

Whither The Bayou?

Just to be clear, that is not a picture of the bayou. The search on my computer thought it might be an image of the bayou because I guess it's water & trees & birds. But the picture was taken in Fort Worth, Texas, & it's of a small, privately-owned body of water called Bal Lake. We lived across the street from that small, privately-owned body of water for around three years. I probably sneaked between some neighbor's houses to take the picture.

Sitting here, my head stuck in memories of the last three years I lived in Texas, I can't remember what inspired a radio show about "the bayou." I suspect it might have been a few months ago when I re-read a few issues of the Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing. I had seen something about the comic & had also been drinking late at night & perused a few issues. Some description of the bayou must have stuck with me because I jotted down the idea. Which will be explored tonight.

Just to add - I assumed "the bayou" would mainly have been in Louisiana but there do appear to be bayous in Texas so perhaps I was closer to one than I realized while I was there.

Self Help Radio's show about the bayou airs tonight on KBOO. Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. Oh dear & there might be insects & snakes.

Preface To The Bayou: Crows

There are lots of crows in Portland. All over the place. I sometimes share crumbled dog treats with them. My wife doesn't like this. She thinks the few crumbled treats I give them will somehow cause the crow population to increase to untenable levels which will cause I guess a great crow die-off. I think that's unlikely but she does have a PhD, so I try to pay attention.

One of our neighborhood friends also feeds the crows & some of them (or maybe just one of them) will ride on her head while she walks her dog. I am not that committed to the crows. Sometimes they swoop very close to me to remind me to crumble a dog treat so they can fight over it & increase their population to untenable levels. I don't enjoy the swooping. I don't encourage it. If I thought it would help to tell them I won't crumble a dog treat for them if they swoop close to me, as a kind of threat I guess, I would do it, but of course they don't understand English.

They are pretty smart, though. They recognize me for the treat crumbler I am. & they will take the harder pieces to puddles to dip them in so they can soften them. Heck, my dogs aren't that smart!

Recently a radio acquaintance told me he had visited Texas & hated the grackles there. It occurred to me that I hadn't thought about grackles for a very long time though I encountered them daily when I worked at the University Of Texas. In my mind, they weren't all that different from crows & I thought they might be related. But nope! They're not. I will admit that I have been shat up by both grackles & crows, & the experience was unpleasant no matter the bird.

You may be asking what this has to do with a radio show about the bayou. Well, uh. I guess there are crows in the bayou? Or at least grackles?

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Roller Coaster Day

August 16 is National Roller Coaster Day. Though listening to a radio show is not quite the same as riding a thrilling roller coaster, we'll do our best to evoke roller coasting with musical reports, a book report, a discussion of roller coasters in film, & a report about Oregon's lesser-known roller coasters. You still might feel a little queasy afterwards, but that happens after most shows.

Listen to the Report from 11am to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Just don't listen on a roller coaster. Your phone may go flying & you'll never see it again.

This Week In Self Help: August 9 + 11

A regular ol' week for me.

Sunday August 9 was National Book Lovers Day so I made a show about books & reading on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. You can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 11 on Self Help Radio on KBOO, I explored the theme "tumbling." You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Also on Tuesday August 11 I had an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played music from artists who died in March of this year. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

Is this the part where I think of something clever to close? I don't think I have anything clever at the moment. If that wasn't already completely obvious.

Self Help Radio 081126: Tumbling

Gosh I remember taking that picture! My cats Bolan & Boone stared at each other for like six hours until Boone - the orange one - made his move. It was quite a tumble! Which was also a tussle. & maybe even a scuffle.

There are many different kinds of tumbling in this week's show. I talk to a gymnast who tumbles, a guy who tumbles rocks tunes in, & a police consultant warns us about something called "tumbling" the kids are doing these days. Those darn kids. & there's more tumbling in all the music you hear. Spoiler alert: many are tumbling down.

You can listen to the show at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. Most everything that happens on the show is noted below.

Just be careful out there!

Self Help Radio Tumbling Show

"Tumble Bee" Karl Blau _Shell Collection_

"Tumbling Down" Langston & French _Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels_

"Tumblin Down" Bonny Light Horseman _Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free_

introduction & definitions

"Tumbledown Weekend" They Go Boom!! _Atlantic_

"Tumbling" Majestic _Wake Up, Come Out, & Play!_

"Tumblin'" Jigsaw _The Rubble Collection Volumes 1-10_

"Tumble With Me" The Boys _The Boys_

"Tumbled" Mich _Mich_

interview with tumbler Rose Carpenter
& Olympic advistor Bonny Gibson

"Tumbling Dice" The Rolling Stones _Exile On Main St._

"Roll, Tumble, & Slip" Sunnyland Slim _The Chronological Sunnyland Slim 1947-1948_

"Rolled & Tumbled" Rose Hemphill _Southern Journey Volume 3: 61 Highway Mississippi_

"Tumbledown" The Jesus & Mary Chain _Honey’s Dead_

"Tumble" Letting Up Despite Great Faults _IV_

interview with police consultant Bill Boyd

rock tumbler Jim calls in

"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" Clint Eastwood _Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites_

"Tumbleweed" Neil Young + Promise Of The Real _Paradox_

"(Tumble) In The Wind (Version 1)" Jackson C. Frank _Blues Run The Game_

"Walls Come Tumbling Down!" The Style Council _Our Favourite Shop_

"Love Came Tumblin' Down" The Monks _Black Monk Time_

interview with police consultant Bill Boyd

"Tumbling Down" The Chords _So Far Away_

"Tumbling Away" The Crabs _Sand & Sea_

"Tumble & Fall" Allen Clapp _Available Light_

"Tumble Down" Terry Malts _Killing Time_

"Tumbling Down" Wan Light _Carmaline_

conclusion & goodbye

"Tumbling Down" Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel _Face To Face_

"Everybody Takes A Tumble" The Waterboys _Book Of Lightning_

Whither Tumbling?

(image found here)

This week's show is only peripherally about the gymnastics activity we call "tumbling" but it's the easiest image to find to represent tumbling online.

This week's show came about when I was listening to neighbors talk about another neighbor which is what neighbors often do. My wife & I & our two dogs stopped to talk to our neighbors while we were on a dog walk which is something we often do. Another neighbor (a neighbor we didn't know) had recently had a fall which resulted in her being moved to a facility where they could take better care of her. It had not been her first fall, & because of her age & living situation (she was in her eighties, & lived alone), her children thought it was best she be more professionally & regularly taken care of. One of the neighbors said, "Oh she took quite a tumble that last time!" which made us all laugh uncomfortably.

This week's show suggested itself to me in that weird uncomfortable moment where three of the four people (with two bored dog's nearby) were all thinking the horrible thought of a woman in her eighties falling & it being described as "quite a tumble." The word tumble itself seemed so inappropriate that I, being me, started thinking about songs using the word "tumble." Luckily I remembered this conversation when I got home & made a note to make a show about tumbling.

This week's show is about tumbling you see & it's happening tonight, midnight to 2am, on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. It should go without saying I hope we all make it through without ourselves having quite an actual, physical tumble.

Preface To Tumbling: Oh Shit I Have A Tumblr Blog!

It's true, there's a Self Help Radio Tumblr blog. You haven't visited it & you're not alone - no one visits it! Not even me!

It's not dead per se - I still look at Tumblr regularly - I just haven't posted anything there since - let me look at the picture of my dog Pauline there - February! Holy shit!

When I started the blog I mainly shared music videos - I didn't really know what Tumblr was for & I already had this blog. So you know. What was I supposed to use it for?

At some point in the mid-2010s I started taking pictures around town & sharing them on my Facebook page so I thought, what the hell, I'll share the same pictures on my Tumblr blog.

But these days who has the time? I always say I'll do better but as I get older I am slower & slower at everything. Sorting through pictures I've already posted to post on a site nobody looks at? I am exhausted just thinking about it.

But maybe I will do better!

At least writing about it made me realize I still had a link to my old Twitter account, which I guess is still there, but which I haven't used in almost two years. So I changed it to a Bluesky link. Maybe people go there, how the hell should I know.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Book Lovers Day

August 9 is National Book Lovers Day, so you ought to celebrate by listening to a radio show - & why not a radio show about National Book Lovers Day? That's what we'll report on on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. Commentary, drama, a book report, & many musical reports about books & reading.

That's Sunday August 9 from 11am to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Tune in - maybe someday someone will write a book about it!

This Week In Self Help: August 2 4 + 6

A normal-ish week with a bonus sub show thrown in!

Sunday August 2. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. A show about subways on some subway anniversary. You can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 2. Self Help Radio on KBOO. The theme was petals. You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 2. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Lotsa new releases. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

Thursday August 4. I subbed Musica Tropical on KBOO. Mainly played lots of Brazilian music from the early 1980s. You can listen to that show here.

It is at this point that I realize I am done listening the radio shows I did this week & have nothing more to say.

Self Help Radio 080426: Petals

This is a radio show about petals. It features lots of songs about petals, plus a conversation with two "flower freaks" & with a sculptor. Hidden within is a joke about petals, a limerick about petals, & an old poem about petals. Unfortunately I also talk a lot. But that's just how these radio shows - even the ones about petals - go.

You can listen to this show now or whenever you want to hear a radio show about petals (which must be a very specific thing) at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. Almost everything that happened on the show is noted below.

Did I also mention the flower with the world's largest petals is discussed? Yeah, I kept that one in my back pocket. Thought it would get you if nothing else did.

Self Help Radio Petals Show

"You've Got Me Pickin' Petals Off Of Daisies" The High Hatters _I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All?_

"White Petals From A Rose" Lee Smith & His Rangers _Zodiac Archive Series, Vol. 6: Cosy By The Fire 1945-1956_

"Pickin' Petals" The Avons feat. Tony Brent _Pickin' Petals_

introduction & definitions

"Daisy Petal Pickin'" Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs _Sugar Shack_

"Pick The Petals" Maureen Evans _Like I Do: The Sixties Recordings_

"It's For Love The Petals Fall" Georgie Fame & The Harry South Big Band _The Whole World’s Shaking (Complete Recordings 1963-1966)_

"Yellow Petals" Roger Earl Okin _Piccadilly Sunshine Part Seventeen (British Pop Psych & Other Flavours 1966-1969)_

"Petals" The Soul Benders _Storm In The Garage_

"Petals Fall" Wheatstone Bridge Band _Cloudy_

interview with Portland Flower Freaks Violet & Rich

"Rose Petal Knot" Eyeless In Gaza _Caught In Flux_

"Sprinkling Petals Into Hell" Section 25 _Love & Hate_

"Petals & Razorblades" Bandit Queen _Hormone Hotel_

"Heavy Petal" Madison Electric _Indie Aid Abroad: A Little Help For East Timor_

"Rose Petals, Incense, & A Kitten" Loveletter _Beethoven Chopin Kitchen Fraud_

"Petals" The Primitives _Spin-O-Rama_

interview with sculptor Mark Damon

a telephone call interrupts!

"15 Petals" Elvis Costello _When I Was Cruel_

"Petal" 50 Foot Wave _Golden Ocean_

"Peonies & Dahlia Petals" Stamen & Pistils _End Of The Sweet Parade_

"Rose Petal Ear" Califone _Roots & Crowns_

"Petal Alphabet" Broadcast _Spell Blanket (Collected Demos 2006-2009)_

"Petals" Tops _Sugar At The Gate_

interview with sculptor Mark Damon

"The Petal House" Alondra Bentley _Ashfield Avenue_

"Heavy Petals" Laura Veirs _The Lookout_

"Petals" Yowler _Black Dog In My Path_

"Petals Of The Flower" Diane Marie Kloba _Red Sun_

"Rose Petal Sunset" Scenic Route To Alaska _Time For Yourself_

"She Pulls The Petal From The Flower" Yeah Yeah Noh _21 Songs For John_

conclusion & goodbye

"Petals" Froth _Outside (Briefly)_

Whither Petals?

Spring lasts longer in Portland than anywhere else I've lived. Or maybe Winter lasts longer & Spring takes its time getting started. In my neighborhood there are so many people with gardens & so many flowers & so many trees that blossom & get their blossom petals everywhere. They will literally litter the sidewalk. Cars will be covered in them. Frankly they make a mess.

Luckily I guess they're organic.

Someone I know asked me to take some pictures of the flowers this spring to send to her, so I did, & she made a comment about the petals of a particular bloom. The word "petal" got stuck in my head. I know I've done a show about flowers before (where each song was the name of a different flower). (Turns out I've actually done that twice.) I've done shows about roses. About daffodils & sunflowers. & maybe some I can't recall. But have I ever done a show about petals? I have not!

Hopefully there are still some petals around to enjoy it.

It's happening tonight! Midnight to 2am. On KBOO - 90.7fm in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere.

Preface To Petals: Petaluma

(found on Wikipedia)

So yeah, the show this week is about petals. Looking for songs about petals, I sometimes find songs about Petaluma. Which Wikipedia tells me is "a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area." (I don't think I've ever visited.)

Does the name of the town have anything to do with petals? No, sir. The Wikipedia tells us, "Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village named Péta Lúuma that was located on the banks of the Petaluma River."

But surely there's someone in that town who may want to make a pun on the "petal" in Petaluma - like maybe having a "Petaluma Petal Festival" or something like that? Nope.

What I did find in my very limited search was a business called Petal Town Flowers. That would be cool, calling Petaluma "Petal Town." I also found an Instagram user called Petaluma Petals whose page announces "I am learning to photograph plants (& other things) in Petaluma, CA & anywhere else life takes me." I don't have an Instagram account so I can't access this page but I applaud this obvious pun. I will almost certainly use it in the show.

But sadly no songs about Petaluma. The town's name has nothing to do with petals, & that's what this week's show is about.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Subways

(image from here)

On August 2, 1870, the Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opened in London. It wasn't the first underground railway - that was the London Underground, opened in 1863. & it wasn't successful, either - it had closed by the end of the year. But we at the Dickenbock Report are using this anniversary to explore subways for a couple of hours. Because we can.

Tomorrow, August 2, from 11am to 1pm. On XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Maybe even in subways. In the fancy ones, with wi-fi. Possibly.

This Week In Self Help: July 24 26 + 28

Strangely that was a busy week, mainly because I had some free moments to make a couple "sub shows," which I generally don't have the time for these days for whatever reason.

Early in the morning July 24 on KBOO I played three hours of new releases. You can listen to that show here.

Later that afternoon July 24 on XRAY I played two hours of new releases (so there was some overlap between the two shows tho of course on two different stations so I don't feel bad or anything). You can listen to that show here.

At my regular time July 26 on XRAY (11am to 1pm) the Dickenbock Report was a show about National Aunts & Uncles Day. You can listen to that show here.

At my regular time July 26 on KBOO (midnight to 2am) Self Help Radio was a show with the theme alibis. You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

& right after Self Help Radio at its regular time July 26 on KBOO (2 to 3am) Corporate Standardized Programming played lots of music from artists we lost in late February of this year. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

That's what I did this week in my little corner of the radio.