Tuesday, February 03, 2026

Self Help Radio 020326: Stubborn

Stubborn beagle Stuart is dragging his power owner into a yard.

This morning I was trying to think of an image for a show with the theme "stubborn" while walking the dogs. & then my dog Stuart refused to move when he saw something in someone's yard. My wife quickly snapped the above picture. Moving a beagle when it is fixated on something is like trying to drag an anchor across a beach. I may required a physical therapist.

Here is the stubborn show. Not the stubbornness show! The stubborn show. I am adamant about that.

You can listen now or whenever by going to the Self Help Radio website or going to the KBOO website. Most everything that happened is listed below.

& for those who stubbornly refuse to listen to my dumb show, I salute you & dedicate this show to you.

Self Help Radio Stubborn Show
"My Stubborn Heart" Onie Wheeler _White Lightning Cherokee_
"Stubborn Heart" Kitty Wells _Winner Of Your Heart_
"Two Stubborn People" Floyd Tillman _Let's Make Memories_

introduction & definitions

"Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" Marvin Gaye _Anthology_
"Stubborn Heart" The Sheppards _The In Crowd (The Story Of Northern Soul)_
"Stubborn" The Charlottes _LoveHappy_
"Stubborn Or Bust" Shrag _Life! Death! Prizes!_
"Stubborn Little Mule" KateGoes _Animals Who Want To Be Other Animals_

interview with listener Jed, who claims to be stubborn

"Stubborn" Emily Easterly _Cole_
"Stubborn Mule Blues" Edgar Jones _Soothing Music For Stray Cats_
"Stubborn Beast" Jolie Holland _Springtime Can Kill You_
"Stubborn Man" The Old Ceremony _Walk On Thin Air_
"Too Stubborn To Fold" Wheels On Fire _Get Famous!_

interview with listener Betty, who had a stubborn mother

"Stubborn Walls" Nicole Bianchet _House Of Silence_
"Stubborn Taurus" Danella Hocevar _Hearts Will Be Broken Here_
"Stubborn Day" Lowly _Heba_
"Stubborn Signs" ShitKid _20/20 ShitKid_
"Ballad Of Two Stubborn Men" The Younger Lovers _Young Brothers_

interview with listener Ned, who raised five stubborn children

"Stubborn Land" Marybeth D'Amico _The Light Inside_
"Stubborn Love" Edie Brickell & New Bohemians _Hunter & The Dog Star_
"Stubborn Vassals" Ivor Cutler _A Flat Man_
"Too Stubborn" The Marshall Tucker Band _A New Life_
"Stubborn Man" The Antlers _Green To Gold_

conclusion & goodbye

"Nyamwanga Kumva! ('Stubborn Until The End!')" The Good Ones _Rwanda Is My Home_
"Stubborn Problems" Femi Kuti _Femi Kuti_

Monday, February 02, 2026

Whither Stubborn?

A billboard reads "This year thousands of men will die from stubbornness." Someone has spraypainted under it, "No we won't."
(image found here)

Although I love radio & I love encouraging people to do radio & I train people to do radio, there's very little more tedious to me than talking about my own radio show. But then I have a blog where I'm supposed to talk about my own radio show. So I now have to do the thing that I don't like doing. I'd rather you listen to the show to see what it's all about. Ah well.

There was a moment early on doing Self Help Radio when I realized all my themes were nouns. (Or gerunds or participles or proper nouns, anyway.) My contrariness was offended. I started doing shows whose themes were phrases, verbs, adjectives, whatever. I can't think of an example offhand, but let's say I had a show & the theme was "swim." Inevitably someone would say, "Why not have the theme be swimming?"

So too this week's theme. Why "stubborn"? Why not "stubbornness"? The short answer is, who cares? The long answer is, there aren't songs that are explicitly about stubbornness but lots of songs that reference being stubborn & stubborn things. Why not "being stubborn" or "stubborn things"? You must agree that's kinda awkward. An adjective being a theme may also be awkward but I've done it long enough that it's no longer awkward to me. But "being stubborn"? Yikes, I'd be more embarrassed than I usually am!

There are lots of stubborn people in my life & one of them is our newest adopted dog, Stuart. He's nine years old & was not raised well. He was very large when we adopted him & now is still large but less substantial - on our first walks he would pant so hard I thought he would have a heart attack, but now he does those walks with a spring in his step. When it comes to food, he cannot be moved. Nothing distracts him. He is the essence of the stubborn creature. This show was inspired by him.

A stubborn show for a stubborn beagle (& any other stubborn being). On KBOO tonight midnight to 2am. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. KBOO stubbornly refuses to put me on anytime else.

Sunday, February 01, 2026

Preface To Stubborn: I Grew Up With A Stubborn Mother

Old color photograph of my mother & father in Garland, Texas, in 1958.

There are so very many stories I can tell you about my mother's stubbornness. She remained stubborn until finally dementia overtook her mind - although my sister thinks there was still some of it in the way she looked at her at the end. But instead of regaling you with stories that show bullheadedness leading to exasperation & frustration, I want to tell you what happened to me because I grew up with a stubborn mother.

& to be sure, I am not a psychologist nor have I spoken to one about this subject. I don't imagine I am discussing anything universal or even general - just my own experience.

Years after I had left home - when being around my mother was something that happened once a year for just a few hours - I got to see my mother being stubborn in the way that she must've been when I was a kid. In effect I could watch it a little more objectively - she had no power or authority over me, I was a visitor in her life at the time, & I felt a little like I was watching something from outside, as through a picture window.

& it made think how she must've been like that many times in my childhood. She would get obsessed about a topic & she would not let you change the subject. She wanted something & she was going to have it. She wanted you to do something & you were going to do it. She would be focused in such a way that precluded any other opinion - in fact, to offer an opinion, to suggest you might disagree, would be as offensive as if you'd yelled at her, or even struck her. I watched with fascination as my mother held on to some dumb thought or opinion or command as if for dear life. & I could see myself, as a child, buckling under that onslaught.

Because I was very attached to my mother as a child. She liked it that way.

My sister Pat - my oldest sister - became a very stubborn woman. I suspect my sister Karin - my youngest sister - has some stubbornness in her but she's a very reasonable person - she is open to discussion. I don't know about my brothers because we're not close, but I'm sure some of them have a stubborn streak. But what happened to me is that I learned to do anything - anything - to keep from having to endure such stubbornness in my life.  It made me prone to be accommodating - I've been accused of being a people pleaser. But I think now it was as a reaction to my mother's stubbornness that I learned to compromise rather than have to be overwhelmed by the power of someone else's stubbornness.

Is this a common reaction to or result of having a stubborn parent? I don't know. I'm kind of afraid to look it up. But it's something that's close to the theme this week. My mother was hella stubborn.

Seriously, I could tell you stories. Remind me to tell you stories. When my mother told stories of her stubbornness, she told them as the hero of those stories. I could only sympathize with the people who were inevitably negatively affected by her intractability. Because I had been one of them, often.

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Robinson Crusoe Day

rontispiece of 1st edition of Robinson Cruose by Daniel Defoe from 1719
(image from the Wikipedia)

February 1 is Robinson Crusoe Day. Sure, you've read Daniel Defoe's novel, & you've seen television shows & maybe even movies based on/inspired by it. But have you heard a radio show about Robinson Crusoe? We think not.

Explore Robinson Crusoe tomorrow, February 1, on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, online everywhere at xray dot fm. Maybe you'll even find out what Friday does on a Sunday afternoon!

Friday, January 30, 2026

This Week In Self Help January 23 25 + 27

Picture taken hanging upside down from a building in Portland.

Really, I was hanging upside down off one of the buildings in downtown Portland when I took that picture. It's totally not a picture I took rightside up then flipped in an image-editing program. That would be dishonest.

Friday January 23rd I subbed a show on XRAY. Played lots of random stuff. You can listen to it on the XRAY website if you want.

Sunday January 25th there was an episode of The Dickenbock Report where I played songs with "around the world" as their theme, since it was the anniversary of Nellie Bly returning on her historic journey around the world, which took her just over 72 days. You can listen to it on the XRAY website if you'd like.

Tuesday January 27th there was an episode of Self Help Radio with the theme "upside." You can listen to it on the Self Help Radio website. & you can listen to it on the KBOO website. If that's something you think you might enjoy.

Also Tuesday January 27th there was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming wherein I played music by artists we lost in July of last year. You can listen to it on the Self Help Radio website. & you can listen to it on the KBOO website (after Self Help Radio). If you have nothing better to do.

That's what I did this past week. What were you up to?

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Self Help Radio 012726: Upside

The Self Help Radio logo in a security camera television feed - but the logo is upside down!

The downside of this upside show is that there are three upside down songs to each upside song. That affects you not at all but I was hoping I could do an entirely "upside" show. & maybe later an "upside down" show. I totally bet I could do an entire "downside" show!

But let's not dwell on what might've been. Here is the show. There are lots of groovy tunes & goofy interviews & the occasional foibles of someone doing a late night radio show while being a little tired. Same old same old.

Listen to the show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website. The latter may require the username SHR & password selfhelp to access. Everything that happened on the show is below.

Listening to this show upside is neither recommended nor not recommended.  It's not like I'm an expert or anything.

Self Help Radio Upside Show
"I'm Going Upside Your Head" Jimmy Reed _Jimmy Reed At Soul City_
"Upside Mine" The Chatham Singers _Juju Claudius_
"Looking For The Upside" The Photocopies _Counterintuition_

introduction & definitions

"The Upside" Raavi _The Upside_
"The Upside" Carissa Johnson & The Cure-Alls _The Good EP_
"There Is No Upside" James Yorkston & The Second Hand Orchestra _The Wide, Wide River_
"I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up & Dance (Oops Up Side Your Head)" The Gap Band _Ultimate Collection_
"On The Upside" Xena _Electro Funk Sessions (The Finest Electronic Street Jams From Back In The Day)_

interview with What's The Upside podcast host Chris Talbot

"Upside Down" Bruce Haack _The Electronic Record For Children_
"Upside Down Blues" Curtis Jones _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Volume 4_
"My Smile Is Just A Frown (Turned Upside Down)" Carolyn Crawford _The Complete Motown Singles | Vol. 4: 1964_
"Upside Down" Norman Conquest _The Rubble Collection Volumes 1-10_
"Inside, Outside, Upside Down" Josie & The Pussycats _Stop, Look, & Listen: The Capitol Recordings_
"I Keep Her Picture Hanging Upside Down" Jerry Lewis _The Capitol Collector's Series_

interview with Jenny & Jeremy of Portland's Upside Club

"Upside Down" Magazine _The Correct Use Of Soap_
"Upside Down" The Jesus & Mary Chain _Psychocandy_
"My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)" Ramones _Animal Boy_
"Inside Out & Upside Down (With You)" The Cramps _Flamejob_
"Hanging Upside Down" David Byrne _Uh-Oh_

interview with my friend Jasper who likes to be upside down

"Upside-Down" Yo La Tengo _May I Sing With Me_
"A Planet Upside Down" Pearl & The Oysters _Planet Pearl_
"World Upside Down" Tears Run Rings _Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never_
"Upside Down On Brighton Beach" Shirley Lee _Shirley Lee_
"Love In The Upside Down" David Holmes & Raven Violet _Blind On A Galloping Horse_

conclusion & goodbye

"Turn Things Upside Down" The Happy End _Turn Things Upside Down_
"Leaving Everything Upside Down" Gretta Seabird _Cycling EP_
"Downhill (Upside Down Optimist)" Jeremy Ivey _Invisible Pictures_
"Upsidedown" The Mighty Project _Total Football_

Monday, January 26, 2026

Whither Upside?

My grey tabby cat Bluto - when he was a kitten - lying upside down on the sofa.

That is a picture of my grey tabby cat Bluto upside down. He was all of maybe five months old in that picture. But to this day he still enjoys being upside down. You can hold him & he will stretch out until he is upside down. No other creature in the house - nor any cat I have ever owned - enjoys this particular thing.

Anyway. The theme this week is "upside." It could also be "upside down" but I wanted to find songs that specifically mentioned the word "upside." Since an "upside" is a different thing than the word "upside" in the phrase "upside down." Spoiler alert! I found more upside down songs than upside songs. Perhaps I'll discuss it on the show.

& no this isn't telling you why that's the theme because the reason it's the theme is a little dumb. I was looking at the list of themes I have explored (which you can find here) & I noticed I had only explored - in 23 years! - themes that began with the letter U a mere eleven times. What could I explore to add something to that short list? "Up" would have too many choices. My upside down? But then I thought - let's see if there are any songs just using the word "upside." There couldn't be a downside to that!

The upside show airs in this upside down world tonight from midnight to 2am on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. Maybe there's an upside to all this.

Sunday, January 25, 2026

Preface To Upside: Upside Down Nation

Someone turned the monkey bars upside down.

That picture was taken in Fort Worth, Texas, a lifetime ago. Or maybe just eight years. It seems too long ago. Every day we walked with the dogs in our neighborhood, & our walk took us past an elementary school, Ridgelea Hills Elementary. Sometimes our walk took us behind the school, in the area where the children played/had recess. One day - apparently March 11, 2018 - I saw that someone had taken apart some monkey bars - that's what we used to call them - & turned the thing upside down.

A year after that, my wife would accept a job in Portland & my life would change again, but I had no idea that would happen when I took this picture. Then as now, I did my best to find joy where I could - that usually involves radio, my pets, & my wife - despite what is happening in the world. I have lived through the Reagan presidency, as well as two Bushes, & was living through Trump One at the time that picture was taken. It has been exhausting but nothing could have prepared me for the first three weeks of this year.

This morning on The Dickenbock Report, I said something like this: Please don't think because I try to have fun with this ridiculous radio show that I'm not aware of the creeping fascism that threatens our lives. I try to have fun but it's hard when goons who can't even pass an open-book test murder nurses in our streets. Please know I'm sad & angry & know this cannot stand.

What's true is I feel helpless too & don't want to be like my German grandparents were in the 1930s when Germany went full fascist. My mother used to tell me about people in her village disappearing but also that the economy was great & my grandfather could buy a car for the very first time. I don't want the fact that I allowed to make stupid radio shows to be a freedom I have at the expense of others. I am carrying within me an alarming amount of guilt.

The people in Minnesota are so strong, the proud boy gestapo so despicable. We marched in the No Kings March & the stations I am at are proudly anti-fascist. But I do wish I could do more.

If you notice any hesitancy - any embarrassment - any small lack of commitment to my programs - it's because seeing my fellow citizens stand up to a mad king's private racist army while I make dumb noises into a microphone seems like a betrayal. & yet there's really little else I can do.

My apologies. But also my gratitude if you understand. Because I'll keep making my dumb radio shows.

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Nellie Bly Around The World

Game board illustrating journalist Nellie Bly's circumnavigation of the globe (1889–1890), in the New York World, 26 January 1890.
(image from Wikipedia)

On January 25, 1890 - almost 136 years go - journalist Nellie Bly complete her journey around the world - in just over 72 days! For this anniversary, The Dickenbock Report will talk about that impressive feat & listen to music about all things "around the world."

That's tomorrow - Sunday - from noon to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. All around the world!

Friday, January 23, 2026

This Week In Self Help: January 16 18 + 20

A cover of Time Magazine with a weird two-faced image of George HW Bush with the title Men Of The Year: The Two George Bushes.
(image found here)

Yeah that Time Magazine cover is weird isn't it. I lived through George HW Bush's presidency & could not care any fucking less about him so I am not nor will ever be curious enough to find out why he was Time's "Men Of The Year" - the truth is, he was about the least "manly" President this country has ever had, although the baby currently in the White House comes very close. I only picked the image because he was the 1990 "Men Of The Year" & 1990 played a role in this week's radio stuff I did.

A week ago - Friday January 16th - I was on The Songcircle on KBOO. I played lots of new releases. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Sunday January 18th on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY I played songs about x-rays because of some anniversary involving x-rays. It was just an excuse to play songs about x-rays on a station called XRAY. You can listen to that show on the XRAY website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Monday January 20th on Self Help Radio on KBOO I played lots of my favorite music from 1990. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website.

Also Monday January 20th on Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO I played lots more new releases. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website (after Self Help Radio) or on the Self Help Radio website.

Remember! Username SHR password selfhelp! It may come in handy!

Seriously though, I hope that cover upset HW Bush. He was such a dumb douchenozzle.

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Self Help Radio 012026: 1990

A collage of album/single covers of music featured on the show: Ed's Redeeming Qualities, Pixies, The Breeders, Kyle MacLachlan, Momus, Nick Cave, Morrissey, The Cure, The Sundays, The Wedding Present, The Darling Buds, My Bloody Valentine, Heavenly, Lou Reed/John Cale, Brian Eno/John Cale, The Fall, Julian Cope, The Siddeleys, Lloyd Cole, Robert Forster, The House Of Love, Cocteau Twins, Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues, The Blue Aeroplanes, Lush, & The Jazz Butcher.
(images found at Discogs)

The time in that book when Proust ate a cookie & it made him remember his life? If that book were about me, it would be me hearing a song & its associations carrying me into the past. I have memories related to so many of the releases I played on this show. I guess the songs themselves become memories. & maybe they become over time as untrustworthy as memories.

Anyway. Here's this week's show, my birthday show, my favorite music from 1990. Some of it, anyway. There was way too much. You might know a little more about me knowing these are things I love. More than likely though if we both like them, we'll know we might have more in common.

You can listen to the show at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. At the latter, you may need a username+password to access. Try SHR + selfhelp. Everything I played on the show is listed below. Everything I said on the show, well, you have to listen for that.

Today I start year 58!

Self Help Radio 1990 Show
"Spoken Word" Ed's Redeeming Qualities _More Bad Times_
"Down To The Well" Pixies _Bossanova_
"Oh!" The Breeders _Pod_

"Diane (Excerpt)" Kyle MacLachlan _"Diane..." The Twin Peaks Tapes Of Agent Cooper_1990 cassette)
"Morality Is Vanity" Momus _Monsters Of Love: Singles 1985-90_
"The Weeping Song" Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds _The Good Son_
"November Spawned A Monster" Morrissey _November Spawned A Monster_
"Never Enough" The Cure _Never Enough_

"My Finest Hour" The Sundays _Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic_
"Crawl" The Wedding Present _3 Songs_
"Do You Have To Break My Heart" The Darling Buds _Crawdaddy_
"Don't Ask Why" My Bloody Valentine _Glider_
"I Fell In Love Last Night" Heavenly _I Fell In Love Last Night_

"Forever Changed" Lou Reed & John Cale _Songs For Drella_
"One Word" Brian Eno & John Cale _Wrong Way Up_
"Telephone Thing" The Fall _Extricate_
"Out Of My Mind On Dope & Speed" Julian Cope _Skellington_
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" The Siddeleys _Alvin Lives (In Leeds): Anti Poll Tax Trax_

"No Blue Skies" Lloyd Cole _Lloyd Cole_
"Baby Stones" Robert Forster _Danger In The Past_
"Beatles & The Stones" The House Of Love _The House Of Love_
"Fifty-Fifty Clown" Cocteau Twins _Heaven Or Las Vegas_
"Miss Otis Regrets/Just One Of Those Things" Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues _Red Hot + Blue_

"Sweet Jane" The Blue Aeroplanes _World View Blue_
"De-Luxe" Lush _Mad Love EP_
"She's On Drugs" The Jazz Butcher _Cult Of The Basement_

Monday, January 19, 2026

Whither 1990?

Someone is holding an opaque silver plate, I am taking a picture of myself & you can see the blurry reflection in the plate, although mostly you can see my hands & the camera.
a self-portrait from 1990

On my birthdays I play my favorite music from a year in my life. On the first episode of Self Help Radio that aired around the time of my birthday, I played music from the year I was born, 1968. That was in 2003. I have made it up to 1990.

Like last year, I have found so much music from that year that I love. I will undoubtedly fill up some other shows on KBOO's schedule late at night playing that leftover music. For tonight's show, I am playing music I loved in 1990 as it happened - mostly. There are a few artists that became important to me later whose work of that year means a great deal to me now. But the vast majority of the music I'll play tonight you would have found me listening to in 1990, when I was a mere 22 years old.

Music has always been important to me. It's how I process my feelings. It connects me to more memories than anything - except maybe trauma. It has been & remains my salvation. Since I was in a relationship in 1990 (albeit a one-sided one), that was the first time in my life that music took a back seat in my head & my heart. I didn't have ready access to my music either, for reasons I explained yesterday. & my "girlfriend" didn't like some of the music I liked, & was unhappy if I played it around her - so of course I didn't play it around her.

It's not that I'm saying I didn't need music in the same way as I had previously - I just didn't think I needed music in the same way as I had previously. It's a mistake that perhaps many people make. When that relationship came to its inevitable tragic end, music was there for me. In many ways, it was all I had. But that wouldn't happen until the end of 1991, so we'll save that for next year.

Please enjoy a selection of music that I truly, madly, deeply love which was released in 1990. That's tonight, midnight to 2am, on KBOO - 90.7 fm here in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere.

& by the way, this is only the third time I've had one of these birthday shows on my actual birthday!

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Preface To 1990: My Twenty-Second Year

what I looked like in 1990

On January 20, 1990, I turned 22 years old. I should have been right about to graduate college*, but because of various things - some of which I detailed on this blog around this time last year - I had decided to take a semester off. I had gotten a twenty-hour-a-week gig at a department at the University of Texas called originally the Language Lab, but now called Liberal Arts Media Center** & would also work, when school was on, in the actual Language Lab nineteen hours a week. It was enough to live on, & I needed a rest from the hellish last six months of 1989. Again, detailed in the post linked above.

At the time, it seemed to me I had a good relationship with a woman who, time would tell, didn't really love me & perhaps never even liked me. But we spent all of our time together so codependence helped me delude myself & - importantly for the relationship - kept her around. We spent all our time together. Her parents had not allowed her to date me - though she was in college - so we weren't allowed to live together, though we basically did. I believe in the summer of 1990 she found a new place to live, & I found a room in a duplex. Since I don't want to repeat myself I'll just say I wrote about that in this blog post here. Since we lived together anyway, I gave up the rented room, & had to live for the next year & a half in a place where I couldn't keep much of my stuff & couldn't answer the phone. The things you do for one-sided love!

Thinking about that time now I note that I didn't have many friends & the people who were in my life then are either absent or peripheral to my life now. (It's really just five or six people.) I did my best to help my "girlfriend" with her schoolwork - I really would do anything for her - & I pretended that I would one day be a writer. I wrote lots of short stories, none of which were any good - & I knew that then. I didn't take any creative writing classes & I never showed them to anyone because I knew they weren't any good. I myself didn't like them.

Hunh. I don't think I've ever admitted that to myself before. I myself didn't like the things I wrote. Maybe I kept writing because I wanted to somehow prove to myself it wasn't true. You might ask when did I stop writing, & I answer is, radio. I stopped wanting to be a writer when I could be somewhat creative on the radio. But - should I have said "spoiler alert" earlier? - but spoiler alert again, that wouldn't happen for four more years.

As for my memories of other parts of my life - I'm sure I talked to my mother from time-to-time. I definitely visited my hometown of Garland once or twice a year - probably on holidays. My mother had worked at a convenience store owned by a man who I guess was her boyfriend but when they sold the store, they sort of broke up - it's a long story & if I haven't told it here, I may one day. She moved into a little one-bedroom apartment - where she would live for tweny-five years - & got a job doing food prep at a Jack In The Box. When I came home, she gave me frozen jalapeño poppers she'd stolen from the fast food place. I saw my siblings around this time but we weren't close. I often didn't have money so didn't get them presents for Christmas & usually didn't want the presents they gave me. That I have no memories of Garland or my family from that year suggests that I didn't think much of them.

Sometime a while back I was looking at some lists of bands who visited Austin in the early 90s & I was amazed how much I had missed. Much of this had to do with money & some of it had to do with my "girlfriend," who could be very unpleasant about seeing shows with bands/musicians she didn't like. I was very excited to see Lloyd Cole, for example, at this lovely venue called Liberty Lunch which doesn't exist today, but when we got there, she decided she didn't like the music. "Why would you bring me to this place?" she asked me, & made us leave***. In any event, I don't think I saw a lot of bands that year.

As to my relationship with music in 1990, it was still deeply important to me, but somewhat sidelined by my relationship, which took up a lot of my energy & attention. I'll have some thoughts about that tomorrow. I did return to school for the fall semester 1990, but have very little memory of my schooling then.

What I can say is, that if you had met me that year, it would have seemed like I was in a good & stable  relationship & was somewhat happy. I'm not good at happy, but I was in love & I was willing to do anything for the one I loved. I was the same with friends. I was helpful because I loved to help. But holy shit looking back now I can't believe I was ever so young. I was so young & I had read so much & learned so much & heard so much music & yet was so very fucking dumb.

Seriously, I am amazed I didn't just fall down a hole & somehow die of a stubbed toe or something.

* You know what I missed by not graduating with my 1990 class? George HW Bush gave the commencement speech. Maybe that's when my life started to go wrong.

** When joking about this name with my co-workers, I admitted I was sad they hadn't decided on the Center for Liberal Arts Media, so we could call the place The CLAM. As it was, they pronounced the acronym "lam-see."

*** I can't find the date for this show on any website but I did discover he returned in 1995 & for some strange reason I didn't see him then. I wonder what stopped me that time?

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: X-Rays


(x-ray of a radio found here)

On January 18, 1896, a professor in North Carolina, HL Smith, displayed the x-ray machine for the first time. He didn't invent it. He didn't discover x-rays. He didn't have much to do at all with the science. But he showed it to the world for the first time.

We will therefore use this opportunity to talk about & play musical reports about x-rays on The Dickenbock Report. Which is on a station called XRAY FM. Is the news allowed to be this meta?

Listen tomorrow, Sunday, January 18, from noon to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

Fun fact: Dick Dickenbock continually proposes that XRAY change its slogan to "We can see right through you." He is continually told to sit down & shut up.

Friday, January 16, 2026

This Week In Self Help January 11 + 13

A food vendor at a music event advertising hand-dipped jumbo corn dogs, hot & zesty nachos, & lemonade with giant colorful even gaudy signs.

Though lemonade is technically a juice, I didn't play songs about lemonade on my juice show. So I couldn't use this awesome pic I took at some KNON Blues Fest thing a decade or so ago. Until now!

This week I did this radio here:

Sunday January 11. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. It was Step In A Puddle & Splash Your Friends Day. So I played songs about puddles. Of course. Listen at XRAY FM. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Tuesday January 13. Self Help Radio on KBOO. The theme was juice. Listen at KBOO. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Tuesday January 13. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. An hour of songs by artists we lost in late July/early August of last year. Listen at KBOO (after Self Help Radio). Listen at Self Help Radio.

In case you need: username SHR, password selfhelp.

Damn it, now I'm craving juice again. & maybe some hot & zesty nachos as well.