Self Help Radio 090126: Vessel

A radio show with the theme "vessel." Because I wanted to make a show with a theme that started with the letter V. Uh oh. I only have one show with a theme that starts with the letter X!

Nothing more to add - tho I did want to mention all the different vessels I've been in or on. I never got around to that. I mean, is a train a vessel? Apparently not. Vessels - I should've mentioned this - apparently run only on water. I thought at least you could refer to a car as a vessel. I have a troll I need to apologize to now.

Listen to the show either on the KBOO web page or on the Self Help Radio web page. Most everything that happened on the show is below. I mean, if a submarine can be an undersea vessel, why can't a car be an overground vessel? Please don't make me do another vessel show!

Self Help Radio Vessel Show

"Vessels" Philip Glass _Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out Of Balance) (Original Soundtrack Album From The Motion Picture)_

introduction & definitions - featuring the Definition-O-Tron 3000

"Empty Vessels" Blurt _Blurt_

"Vessels" The Moonlandingz _Interplanetary Class Classics_

"The Unworthy Vessel" William S Burroughs _The Best Of William Burroughs From Giorno Poetry Systems_

"Vessel" Spice Boys _Glade_

"The Vessel" Salem 66 _A Ripping Spin_

interview with writer Edwin Kent

"Empty Vessels" Po! _Not Marked On The Ordnance Map_

"Vessel" Frankie Cosmos _Vessel_

"Vessel In Vain" Smog _Supper_

"Vessel Of Light" Rickie Lee Jones _Ghostyhead_

"Vessel Of Love" Hollie Cook _Vessel Of Love_

interview with trolls Bartholomew & Itchy

"Empty Vessel" Dirty Projectors _5 EPs_

"Vessel" Finger _Finger_

"Vessels" Aperture _Threads_

"Tiny Vessels" Death Cab For Cutie _Transatlanticism_

"Vessels" White Hinterland _Phylactery Factory_

"can I be a vessel?"

"Vessel" Skullcrusher _And Your Song Is Like A Circle_

"Whaling Vessel" Bombadil _Metrics Of Affection_

"Sun 2 (Vessel)" Speculum Bunny _Seven Suns_

"Faulty Vessels" Gouwzee _Gouwzee_

"Vessel" Autobahn _The Moral Crossing_

conclusion & goodbye

"If Truth Were A Vessel" The Moms _Doing Asbestos We Can_

"Empty Vessels (ft. Roots Manuva)" The Maccabees _Wall Of Arms_

"Into The Vessel" Molly Sullivan _Winter '13_

Whither Vessel?

Don't make me swear but I think I took that picture in Australia riding the ferry across the harbor from the zoo back to the main city area. I found the picture last night & now have no idea where I found it. & my computer is not being helpful. Oh yeah! It was! But I think this was on a long ride around the harbor instead. Excuse me, harbour.

Anyway, the show today. Not counting Valentine's Day shows, I was just looking & saw I have only done fourteen shows whose themes started with the letter V. So I thought I should do another one. & I thought of the word vessel. & that's all.

The vessel show. Tonight on KBOO. Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm. kboo dot fm.

Sorry if that wasn't more exciting.

Preface To Vessel: Beached Vessel

(image found here)

Do you wanna know what I just discovered? The website for the National Gallery Of Art - at nga dot gov - is searchable! I guess I haven't really looked around government websites since you-know-who has made everything worse, but I like the idea of looking for images there instead of the wild west of search engine searches - altho I'm not entirely sure about the legality of posting these images here. Maybe it's cool because the art belongs to America? I'll try to find out.

The painting above is entitled Beached Vessel, it's by George Loring Brown, the date is "c.1880." The website tells us it's "watercolor on wove paper." (Good thing it's not woke paper, amirite? Ugh this is the worst time to be alive.)

Wikipedia tells us that "George Loring Brown (February 2, 1814 – June 25, 1889) was an American landscape painter. He was born in Boston & first studied wood engraving under Alonzo Hartwell & worked as an illustrator. He studied painting with Washington Allston, but soon went to Europe, residing principally in Italy for years. Brown spent much of his life abroad, & the motives of his pictures are usually Italian, & there is nothing specifically American about them either in treatment or sentiment."

Ouch! Take that, person who lived in the 19th century & didn't want to hang out in America!

Does this mean there might be more art from the National Gallery on this blog? If I remember, sure! Is this the reason this week's show's theme is "vessel"? No, I'll tell you that tomorrow.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: International Bat Night

The last weekend in August is when International Bat Night happens. Sunday August 30 on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY is where the Dickenbock Report talks about & plays musical reports about bats in honor of International Bat Night. It's in the late morning/early afternoon so we'll try not to wake the bats.

Tomorrow! 11am to 1pm! On 91.1+107.1fm in town, xray dot fm everywhere. For bat enthusiasts & lay bat fans alike.

This Week In Self Help: August 21 23 + 25

It's true for some reason no one's kicked me off the radio yet. Here's a list of reasons why they might tho:

Friday August 21. The Songcircle on KBOO. I played a bunch of my favorite songs from 1986 because it's forty years ago. You can listen to that show here.

Sunday August 23. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. It was National Ride The Wind Day so I played songs & talked about flight. You can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 25. Self Help Radio on KBOO. The 81st installment of the Indiepop A To Z series. You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Tuesday August 25. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Music by artists we lost in late March of this year. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

Can't you see? Something must be done!

Self Help Radio 082526: Indiepop A To Z # 81

A day late, here is this week's Self Help Radio, a continuation of the Indiepop A To Z series, still in the letter S where I'll be for some time to come, managing to get from Sno - Sol.

You can marvel at the alphabetization in the list below. It was just me & the music but also because it's a KBOO Membership Drive, some pledge pitching as well. Hopefully not a bother. Maybe it might encourage you to help out?

You can listen to the show at the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.

Please enjoy. I'll return to the series in four months!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 81

"Parris Song" Sno*Boy _Something Cool_

"Misery" Snog 6 _Start All Over Again_

"Hopping Puddles" The Snogs _Can't Be Bothered_ 

"Providence" Snoozer _Winter Stops All Sound EP_

"When I Say Go" The Snorkels _When I Say Go_

"April Showers" The Snow Fairies _Feel You Up_

"Old Tin Roof" Snow Machine _Snow Machine_

"Water Boatman" Snowball _Winter's Mist_

"The North Wind Doth Blow" Snowbird _Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies_

"Impossible Dream" Snowbirds _Les Poissons Solubles / Snowbirds Split Single_

"Easy Girl" Snowblind _The Falls_

"Summerness" Snowdrops _Matinée 50_

"Summer Song" Snuggletooth _Slot Machine EP_

"Disappointed" Soap _Still Muddling Along?_

"Head In The Hay" Socialist Leisure Party _Tactical Pop! For Coffee Cadets_

"I Sit & Wait For What?" Soda Fountain Rag _Extra Life_

"Grains Of Sand" Soda Stream _Grapefruit EP_

"Deadstopper" Sodajerk _My Sweet Dream - A Compilation_

"Autumn Sung" Sodastream _Practical Footwear_

"Kingdom Of Love" The Soft Boys _Underwater Moonlight_

"Falling Star" The Soft City _The Soft City_

"Never Again" Soft Lads _Between Two Waves - The Second Wave_

"Just Like The Sky" Soft Pillow Kisses _Summer Escape_

"Understand" Soft Science _Sand_

"Sleep Away Your Troubles" The Softies _Holiday In Rhode Island_

"Stuck On The Shell" The Sohfas _Mind The Gap (The Compilation-Tape)_

"I'll Kill Her" Soko _Not Sokute_

"My Brightest Star" Solace _My Brightest Star_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 81?

Every four months I return to this series, called Indiepop A To Z, that I started over twenty years ago. I'm in the letter S, which (I just checked) I started in December 2023. It means I've been exploring indiepop bands in the letter S for almost three years! No wonder I doubt I'll ever finish this series!

Tonight I'll get to the end of the Sn bands & start the So bands. It's always a joy for me to do this series because the I just love this kind of music. I wish I didn't feel like I was excluding too much because it makes the gathering a little stressful. But once the show is done it feels worth it.

Is it worth it? You decide. Self Help Radio is on tonight midnight to 2am on 90.7fm here in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere.

(We'll also in a membership drive. If you can help, click here & thank you!)

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 81: Off-Topic Observation

No idea where that screen capture is from. It has nothing to do with what I am about to say. I just saved it because it says "Gary chuckling."

Also nothing I have to say has anything to do with this week's show. Or maybe a little. It's just something I have been noticing, not just recently, but all the work I had to do this weekend reminded me more forcefully than simple reminiscing.

Here's the observation: the older I get, the longer it takes me to do things.

& yes, I know, even if someone has told me forty years ago that would happen, I probably would not have paid much attention. When I was eighteen, people my age looked & acted much older. I can't say if I look my age, but I certainly don't feel my age. My mother, though, who was almost exactly forty years older than me, told me when I was a senior in high school that had never felt worse than how she felt at that time.

Maybe she was trying to warn me? I didn't matter, I wasn't paying much attention.

But it's true. Things that used to take me, say, ten minutes to do, it's now fifteen to twenty minutes. Maybe not driving places - I'm pretty speedy - but let's say, oh, I don't know, what can I think, how about writing in a dumb blog? I bet I've been working on this - yes - twenty minutes now.

TWENTY MINUTES? Was I dozing between sentences? Nope. It just takes me that long. One day I won't be able to finish a radio show in the time I have set aside for me, & maybe I've already set aside more time & didn't even notice it.

Also maybe there's something to do about it but at this point I don't think so. I consume as much caffeine as I can handle, & Uhink meth & cocaine would just make me tired. With lots of things involving age, it's best to accept that it's just something you have to get used to.

Speaking of getting tired, why should writing this have tired me out. Oh jeez I'm so old.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Ride The Wind Day

Actually, that's not a good photo for this blog entry, which is about National Ride The Wind Day, which is about human-powered flight, not birds, who fly with ease. We're stuck with the photo? All right.

August 23 is National Ride The Wind Day. "Ride the wind" is a kind of euphemism for "flight." So the Dickenbock Report will report on flight - including some kinds of flight that veer a little outside the definition for the day. But not as far as birds!

The show airs Sunday from 11am to 1pm on XRAY - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. We'll see you in the air & on the air.

This Week In Self Help August 16 18 + 20

Once again, not a picture of the bayou, but of the lake at Reed College, which is called Reed Lake. My computer thinks it's a bayou when I search for a bayou but it's not a bayou. Not at all.

Anyway this is the nonsense I got up to this week (not counting today, which I'll talk about next week).

Sunday August 16. The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. National Roller Coaster Day. Have a listen.

Tuesday August 18. Self Help Radio on KBOO. A show with the theme "bayou." Have a listen here. Or have a listen here.

Tuesday August 18. Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO. Lotsa new releases. Have a listen here (after Self Help Radio). Or have a listen here.

Thursday August 20. Welcome To Your Good Day on XRAY. I sub a show trying to raise money for XRAY's move by playing lots of songs about moving. Have a listen.

One day I'll go to the bayou & take lots of pictures! But way too late for my bayou show.

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.