Self Help Radio 031026: Small Talk

Seeing as how I don't think I am any good at small talk, here is a show all about small talk & featuring me practicing small talk with guests. How did I do? I guess to tell me we'd have to have a conversation featuring more than small talk - & frankly that's not in the spirit of the show!

Luckily for me there were many excellent songs about small talk so I didn't have to stumble from awkward interaction to awkward interaction. There was respite! But I suspect I am no better at small talk then I was before the show. Maybe I should listen to it again.

You can listen to it again or for the first time whenever at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. Most everything that happened is listed below.

But it looks like it'll be raining most of the week you know but hey! we live in Portland what do we expect ha ha ha.

Self Help Radio Small Talk Show

"Don't Make Small Talk Baby" Danny Winchell _Teen Scene! Rock & Roll Stars & Vocal Groups From Long Island's Golden Crest & Shelley Records_

"Small Talk (Doesn't Bother Me)" The Dolletts _Free From The Chains Of Love_

"Small Talk" Claudine Longet _The Very Best Of Claudine Longet_

"Small Talk" The Dave Clark Five _The History Of The Dave Clark Five_

introduction & definitions

"Small Talk" Sly & The Family Stone _Small Talk_

"Small Talk At 125th & Lenox" Gil Scott-Heron _Small Talk At 125th & Lenox_

"Small Talk" The Commuters _Restaurant Buffet & Bar E.P._

"Small Talk Stinks" Bauhaus _In The Flat Field_

"Small Talk Death" Peace Corpse _Quincy's Lament_

"Small Talk" Feedtime _Go & Do It: The Aberrant Compilations_

small talk with my neighbors Amy & Jeff

"Small Talk" The Shirts _Inner Sleeve_

"Small Talk" Tall Dwarfs _Fork Songs_

"Short Exchanges" George Carlin _When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?_

"Small Talk" A House _I Want Too Much_

"Small Talk" The Pansies _Solace_

"Small Talk" Immaculate Machine _Fables_

small talk with KBOO volunteer Jarvis

"Small Talk Relations" Tift Merritt _Traveling Alone_

"Small Talk" Jenny O. _New Truth_

"Small Talk" Lily & Madeleine _Keep It Together_

"Small Talk" Joe Zimmerman _Smiling At Wolves_

"Small Talk" Hanging Up The Moon _It's All Here Somewhere_

"Small Talk" Eric Bachmann _Eric Bachmann_

small talk with my former co-worker Eric

"Small Talk" Go Fever _Go Fever_

"Small Talk" Feels _Feels_

"Small Talk" Tom Segura _Mostly Stories_

"Small Talk" Faded Paper Figures _New Medium_

"Enough Of The Small Talk, Where's My Money" Spray _Ambiguous Poems About Death_

conclusion & goodbye

"Small Talk" Courtney Barnett _Small Talk_

"Small Talk" Maria Bamford _The Burning Bridges Tour_

"Small Talk" Julia Jacklin _Don't Let The Kids Win_

Whither Small Talk?

comic by David Sipress, found here

Hm, a radio show about small talk. Why did I think of a radio show about small talk? Was there some function I had to go to where I had to be social & pleasant & just stood there occasionally smiling & saying hello to people I will probably never see again & sometimes even engaging with them on the most mundane of subjects? Did my mind wander, as it sometimes does, to my radio show where I thought hey are there lots of songs about people talking small talk? & if there are, would that make a good radio show?

Could that have been where the idea for the show came from? I wonder.

Self Help Radio's small talk show is on tonight, Monday March 9th (technically the 10th) at midnight, from midnight to 2am, on 90.7fm in town, on kboo dot fm everywhere. Maybe if you're bad at small talk it may help you get better? If that's something you want?

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.