This Week In Self Help (December 6 8 + 10)

(image from here)

Kind of a busy week? This summary of the stuffs I did on air starts a week ago - since I last wrote this before I did that show. Don't judge me!

There's an excellent show on KBOO called The Songcircle which I sometimes sub & which I subbed a Friday ago. You can listen on the KBOO website or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website. If you do listen at selfhelpradio.net, please remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp.

On Sunday I paid tribute to John Lennon on the anniversary of his death by playing lots of artists covering his songs. That was for the Dickenbock Report, & you can listen on the XRAY website or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website.

This week's Self Help Radio was a show about hobos (which is why I chose the picture above). You can listen to it on the KBOO website or you can listen to it on the Self Help Radio website.

This week's Corporate Standardized Programming featured music by artists we lost in early September of this year. I am paying tribute in the manner on every episode of this show this month. It's the last hour of the KBOO link above, but you can listen to the show on its own on the Self Help Radio website.

Wait did I mention if you listen on the Self Help Radio website you may need to use the username SHR & the password selfhelp? I think I mentioned that. I hope I mentioned that.

Hobos In Movies

(image from the IMDb)

Our resident cinephile Chuck came to the show this week to talk about films tagged with "hobo" on the IMDb. You can listen to that show at selfhelpradio dot net or at kboo.fm but you should've already done that. Anyway, once you've heard Chuck's segment, check out these handy links which will enhance the experience:

YouTube playlists of films, shorts, & trailers.

Here is Chuck's Letterboxd list. Chuck sez, "I put the links to available YouTube videos in the notes for the films plus where they are available to stream for free on some."

Here are his Letterboxd reviews.

Here is the IMDb keyword search list.

Chuck has a Bluesky account where he has posted about some of the films. If you like what you see, follow him! He usually follows you back.

& be careful out there - bulls are everywhere!

121024: Hobos

(Original image here.*)

Nope, didn't see any hobos on the way to the show this morning. Nor did any come by - despite the show being like a siren song for any hobos nearby. But it was a chilly night. & foggy. & some hobo songs are sad!

But golly there are lots. & I also talked to some folks about hobos. But mainly there were lots of songs about hobos. Now there are probably more of them than there are hobos.

Hobo or nobo, you can listen now at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. For the latter you will need the username SHR & the password selfhelp. Lots of stuff happened on the show - most of what happened is noted below.

Be safe out there!

Self Help Radio Hobo Show

"Hobo Blues" Peg Leg Howell _Atlanta Blues (Big City Blues From The Heartland)_

"Georgia Hobo" The Cofer Brothers _Hard Times Come Again No More Vol. 1 (Early American Rural Songs Of Hard Times & Hardships)_

"Big Rock Candy Mountain" Harry McClintock _Folk Song America: A 20th Century Revival_

introduction & history

"Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train" Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra _1931-1932_

"Hobo's Meditation" Jimmie Rodgers _The Singing Brakeman_

"The Hobo's Dream Of Heaven" Wilf Carter _Cowboy Songs_

"Hobo Blues" Yank Rachell _When The Sun Goes Down: The Secret History Of Rock & Roll_

"Hobo Blues" John Lee Hooker _The Ultimate Collection: 1948-1990_

interview with sociologist Dr. Bert Hendrix

"King Of The Road" Roger Miller _King Of The Road: The Genius Of Roger Miller_

"My Heart Is A Hobo" Lena Horne _Songs By Burke & Van Heusen_

"Millionaire Hobo" The Fantastics _Fabulous Memories_

"Hobo" The Catalinas _Doo-Bop-Jivers Vol. II_

"Two Hoboes" The Journeymen _New Directions In Folk Music_

"Only A Hobo" Bob Dylan _The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased 1961-1991)_

interview with local business owner Henry Beard

"The Dying Hobo (American)" Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger _The Long Harvest (Record Seven)_

"Hobo Bill's Last Ride" Merle Haggard _Same Train, Different Time_

"The Hobo Song" John Prine _Bruised Orange_

"Hobo Girl" Quartette _Quartette_

"I Am A Lonesome Hobo" Thea Gilmore _John Wesley Harding_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by

"Hobo Blues" Seasick Steve _Dog House Music_

"Last Of The Hobo Kings" Mary Gauthier _Between Daylight & Dark_

"Hobos In The Roundhouse" Bill Isles _Early Risers_

"Hobo's Lullaby" Billy Bragg & Joe Henry _Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad_

"The Last Hobo" Tom Paxton _Boat In The Water_

conclusion & goodbye

"King Of The Hobos" Country Dick Montana _The Devil Lied To Me_

"Hobo's Dream" The Dead Sailor Girls _Rolling Sea_

"The Hobo Girl" Fruit Bats _The Ruminant Band_

* "Bakersfield, California. On The Freights. Helping A Newcomer Hop A Freight" is licensed under Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal.

Whither Hobos?

(image from this article)

Do hobos still exist? The National Hobo Museum in Iowa says they don't. But articles like this one - The Life Of A Modern Hobo - would beg to differ. & asking the question online leads to lots of personal anecdotes - one person even said they recently met one at a party! I've always known I don't get invited to the best parties but now there's proof.

When did I decide to make a show about hobos, tho? It might have been while listening to a stand-up comedian using the word "hobo" as a punchline. (If only I could remember the comedian or the joke.) Or it could have been seeing a hobo in a movie or a television show. (If only I could pinpoint which movie or which television show.) Or it could've been listening to Jimmie Rodgers last summer when I went down a rabbit hole full of songs featuring yodeling. It was one of those. It was all of those. Something or many things hinted to me that it might be fun doing a radio show about hobos. & so I shall.

Tonight! From midnight to 2am! On KBOO! 90.7fm + kboo.fm. I'll be leaving hobo glyphs all over the city so you can find it!

Preface To Hobos: God Rides With The Hobos

(image by Alyssa Schukar from here)

This is my confession: I've never been terribly obsessed with hobos. When I was somewhat young, I was familiar with the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Not being aware the song was something of a joke - not quite a parody, but maybe a little of a satire - it seemed very odd to me that in the perfect world of the hobo, there would be jails & railroad bulls & mean dogs, etc. Again - I wasn't a terribly perceptive kid.

Mostly though I never dreamed of running away, hitchhiking, riding the rails, etc. I found all that incredibly terrifying. & I felt that way because my mother was terrified of the world so she warned me & all my siblings about every possible danger all the time, & every disaster was a "told you so" moment. In fact, she would make things up just to terrify us. Listen:

When my little brother & I were kids, she refused to let us go to the men's room alone in places like movie theaters. She said, "There's a man in there waiting to cut your go-go off!" (My mother called penises "go-gos." I don't know why. It's something my sister & I laugh about all the time.) Despite being unable to understand not just why someone would want to do that, but also why that would be allowed, I dutifully followed my mother into the ladies' room with her. Deeply embarrassing for everyone except my mom.

The best thing about this week has been listening to lots of songs & reading about hobos. Am I more into them now? A little. Would I consider riding the rails one day? No way. My mother still lives in my head. & I suspect her voice will get even more insistent the older I get.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: John Lennon Tribute

(image from the Wikipedia)

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered in New York City. On the forty-fourth anniversary of that awful day, the Dickenbock Report will play an hour of John Lennon songs are interpreted by musicians he inspired & influenced.

Sunday, December 8, noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help (December 1 2 + 3)

Life can be a blur. Not that it goes by so fast, altho it does - it's just that the eyes of my life are failing with age. I need some kind of corrective lenses to look back through time. But I do try to keep up & here are the dumb radio shows I happened to make this week. (When you listen on the Self Help Radio website, you may need the username SHR & password selfhelp. FYI.)

The Dickenbock Report reported on Wear A Dress Day. Listen: XRAY website. Self Help Radio website.

True story: I got a nice text for a listener after that show that was good for my self-esteem.

Before Self Help Radio on Monday night, I played two hours of jazz/electronica/experimental music. It's not archived on the KBOO website, alas, but you can listen on the Self Help Radio website.

True story: that show was prerecorded, but as I came in do Self Help Radio, the phone was flashing, & I answered it, & a gruff voice said, "I am a longtime supporter & I want you to get that fake-ass deejay off the air!" Then they hung up. That was bad for my self-esteem.

Self Help Radio was "a steady show." Listen: KBOO website. Self Help Radio website.

Included with the KBOO link is this week's Corporate Standardized Programming. It was a show in which I played artists we lost this year, from August. You can listen above or at the Self Help Radio website as a stand-alone one hour show.

& that was it for the week. Yep, a blur.

Self Help Radio 120324: A Steady Show

(Original image here*)

Yeah, it's kind of a dumb theme. Someone did text me during the second hour & told me it was a "Very Steady 2nd Hour!" Which is a contrast to the first call I got, which said, "I'm a longtime supporter & I want you to get this fake-ass deejay off the air!" The person then hung up, & I took it quite personally.

Steadiness is really the best one can hope for at this point.

Listen to this show at the KBOO website. Or at the Self Help Radio website - where you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp. Lots of stuff happened on the show. Most of it is noted below.

Steady as she goes!

A Steady Self Help Radio Show

"I'm A Steady Rollin' Man" Robert Johnson _The Complete Recordings_

"I'm Steady Holding On" Rufus Thomas _Tiger Man: Earliest Recordings 1950-1957_

"A Steady Hand" Big Harp _White Hat_

introduction & definitions

"Ready Steady Go" Generation X _Generation X_

"Steady As She Goes" CJ Ramone _American Beauty_

"Steady As She Goes" Shellac _Excellent Italian Greyhound_

"A Steady Mind" Loma _How Will I Live Without A Body?_

"Steady State" Teenage Fanclub _Here_

interview with author Gloria Stubing

"Let's Go Steady" The Davis Sisters _Memories_

"Steady Johnny" Noeleen Batley _Little Treasure_

"Going Steady" Jilted John _True Love Stories_

"Go Steady" The Lambrettas _The Best Of The Lambrettas: The Singles Collection_

"Goin' Steady" The Producers _The Producers_

"Going Steady" Bearsuit _Cat Spectacular!_

interview with weapons master Stuart Glower

"My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll) (vocals Frankie Jaxon)" Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band _The Copulatin' Blues Compact Disc_

"Rock Steady" Alton Ellis & The Flames _First Class Rock Steady_

"Rock Steady Gone" Dandy _Dawning Of A New Era: The Roots Of Skinhead Reggae_

"Rock Steady" Ruby Delicious _Golden State Funk: Impossibly Rare Funk From The Bay Area_

"(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" The Rock Steady Crew _Electro Breakdance (The Real Old School Revival)_

idioms!

"Easy There, Steady Now" Richard Thompson _Mirror Blue_

"The Steady Slowing Down Of The Heart" Lloyd Cole _Cleaning Out The Ashtrays (Collected B-Sides & Rarities 1989-2006)_

"Keep Some Steady Friends Around" Smog _Rain On Lens_

"The Steady Pace" Cats On Fire _Our Temperance Movement_

"Steady" Cold Specks _I Predict A Graceful Expulsion_

conclusion & goodbye

"Let's Keep Steady Company" Billy Worth _M-G-M Hillbilly Vol. 3_

"My Steady Dream" Tommy Wood _The Complete D Singles Collection, Volume 1_

*This image, which has been manipulated by me, is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license.

Whither A Steady Show?

The image above is from the Wikipedia. Its description says, "Space-time diagram in the steady state theory. Though stars (white) expand exponentially & quickly disappear over the event horizon (green), the theory assumes that new matter would be continuously created. The observer would see infinite red-shifted ancient stars on the light cone (yellow). This view failed to explain almost homogeneous microwave background radiation."

Imagine how cool it would have been if the inspiration for this show was something cosmological! Like, whoa, Gary was ready lots of books about theories of the universe & thought yeah "steady" would be a cool theme as it relates to brilliant minds trying to figure things out!

But no, I just noticed lots of songs using the word "steady." So you know. I put a show together with lots of songs prominently featuring the word "steady." I'm a pretty unsteady fellow who steadily puts out dumb radio shows so it kinda reflects on me too. Ah well.

Tonight! On KBOO! A steady Self Help Radio show. Midnight to 2am. 90.7fm in town. kboo dot fm everywhere.

Preface To A Steady Show: Perspective

Google Images tells me that image above is from Pep Comics # 174, from 1964. (You can read it here.) I found the image probably somewhere on Tumblr many moons ago. It's been a while since I've read an Archie comic. But I read lots when I was a kid.

The word "steady" shows up in lots of songs in the phrase "going steady," which the internet tells me is "when two romantic partners agree to an exclusive relationship." So, "dating." Although maybe dating isn't necessarily exclusive.

For me, I never "went steady." I briefly had a girlfriend at the end of high school, & then met someone over two years later whom I courted for a long time & then suddenly we lived together. Maybe "going steady" only works if you're a teenager living at home & going to school.

Looking back, I feel like I wasted lots of time - & put myself in many embarrassing & humiliating situations - trying to start relationships with girls. I had no one giving me advice or information & none of those embarrassing or humiliating experiences ever really helped. It happened when it happened. I needed to be a certain kind of person for it to happen. Not that I would've believed it if someone gave me that advice - but looking back I could've had more fun if I'd known that.

Since I am a pretty regretful person I think a lot about the mistakes I've made in my life. If I could do it all over again - & I am dumb enough to waste time thinking about such things - I almost certainly would forego all the pining & swooning I did in high school & focus on things I should've been focused on - which is, making a life. Life happened to me, I had very little hand in how it turned out. I would focus on being more of an author of my own life.

But I'll never get the chance to do it over so I just look back & sigh. Oh the stories I could tell about my stupidities. They were the steady thing in my life then!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Wear A Dress Day

December 1 is not just the first day of the last month of the year. It's also (apparently) Wear A Dress Day. That's news, right? Interesting, correct? Not incredibly discouraging, disheartening, & downright depressing like most of the news, yes? We think so. Please we like to wear dresses.

Tune in tomorrow (December 1) from noon to 1pm for a Dickenbock Report special report on dresses on Wear A Dress Day. That's on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm.

If you'd like to wear a dress too, that's fine. But not required. We are not a radio show with a dress code.

This Week In Self Help (November 24 + 26)

Above is an image I found on the internet more than ten years ago. I have no idea where I found it so I can't credit it. Forgive me. I am sharing it though because this week I made a radio show for my wife's birthday. Here are the shows I did this past week in chronological order.

Reminder: any show you listen to/download from the Self Help Radio website will probably required (at least the first time) a username & password. One is SHR, the other is selfhelp.

On the Dickenbock Report on XRAY, it was the anniversary of the discovery of the fossil of Lucy, an ancestor of ours. Listen on the XRAY website. Or listen on the Self Help Radio website. It's all songs about people named Lucy. Not fossils.

On Self Help Radio on KBOO I played lots of songs about birthdays for my wife's birthday. Listen on the KBOO website. Or listen on the Self Help Radio website. I found a lot of songs about birthdays from this past year. I am little proud of that.

Included with the KBOO link above is this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, which featured lots of new releases. If you'd like to listen to that show all by itself, listen on the Self Help Radio website.

& that's all for this week!

Self Help Radio 112624: Magda's Birthday Show 2024

Hey look I got Magda to pose for a birthday picture. She told me it was fine as long as I "manipulated it." She's one of those irritatingly beautiful women who never think they look good in photographs. So I made her into a clown. That'll show her!

Damn, she still looks beautiful.

Lots of birthday tunes including many I found that were released this year. I hope it's enjoyable especially if you have a birthday any time. This show is for you! Listen at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website & everything that happens is listed below.

& if you can, support KBOO during our end-of-the-year drive!

Magda's Birthday Show 2024

"Happy Birthday Polka" The Sons Of The Pioneers _Wagons West_

"Mama's Birthday" Red Sovine _Greatest Grand Ole Opry_

"Honky Tonk Birthday" Reverend Horton Heat, Dale Watson, & Jason D. Williams _The Stars Align_

introduction & FAQ

"Happy Birthday" Me First & The Gimme Gimmes _¡Blow It…At Madison's Quinceañera!_

"Birthday" Wavers _Wavers_

"My Mum's Birthday" Blush Always _An Ode To ?_

"(A Bit Of A) Birthday" Heavy Lungs _Live At The BBC_

"Birthday Girl" Sun Kil Moon _Birthday Girl_

interview with birthday song songwriter Kevin Bishop

"23rd Birthday" The Softies _The Bed I Made_

"Birthday" Sinai Vessel _I Sing_

"The Emperor, The Dealer, & The Birthday Boy" Pete Astor _Tall Stories & New Religions_

"Birthday" Castlebeat _Stereo_

"Birthday" Sleave _How To Get Over_

interview with scientist birthday party organizer Clyde King

"Happy Birthday" The Heck _Happy Birthday_

"Happy Birthday, Baby!" Micah Schnabel _The Clown Watches The Clock_

"Birthday Party" Metro Verlaine _Pop Sauvage_ 

"Happy Birthday" Kula Shaker _Natural Magick_

"Happy Birthday Songs" James Ellis _The Party Might Be Over_

interview with birthday gift rater Archie Lerner

"I Want My Birthday Back" Jee Jee Band _Glass Fish_

"I'm Having A Party" Jonathan Coulton _Smoking Monkey_

"Birthday Song" Moes Anthill _A Birthday Cage_

"Birthday Slice" Bodega _Build Yourself Up_

"Birthday Song" Kendra Morris _I Am What I'm Waiting For_

conclusion & goodbye

"Happy Birthday" The Washington Independent Players & Orchestra _A Trip To Washington, D.C. & Other Musical Stories_

"Happy Birthday Wanda June" Strange Boutique _Charm_

"Birthday Boy" Versus You _Birthday Boy_

"Birthday" Late Bloomer _Another One Again_

Whither Magda's Birthday Show 2024?

(image found here)

Every year around the time of her birthday, my wife gets a radio show featuring - not songs she likes, not songs she's picked out, not songs that make me think of her - but a show featuring songs about birthdays. I have made her a birthday show for twenty of the twenty-two years the show has been in existence. Please don't ask me what I was thinking in 2003 & 2005.

The thing is, I could play the Beatles song & the Altered Images song & the Sugarcubes song & all the birthday songs you're familiar with every year. But I don't. I don't repeat songs - or should I say, I don't repeat recordings - I have played covers of the Beatles song & the Altered Images song & the Sugarcubes song previously. What this means is I have to find mostly new birthday songs each year.

But that's fine! People write lots of birthday songs. But there's a problem! I don't like most of them. The coolest thing about having a radio show on a community radio station is that I get to play music I like. So I have to spend some time every year sifting through lots of birthday songs to find the ones I like.

How did that turn out? You can listen to find out tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm here in Portland or online everywhere at kboo dot fm. Yes there'll be guests. Yes there'll be cake. But only for me. The cake is for me tonight.

Preface To Magda's Birthday Show 2024: Fourteen Years Ago

That youngster was my girlfriend on her birthday in 2007. I don't have a memory of that night but I'm in the pictures so I must've been there. In a little over a year, she would get her PhD & get married to me. & then in less than two years, we'd leave Austin, where we met, where we married, where we began our life together.

She had a birthday show that year, too. The day before on KOOP. The playlist is here. It's funny, I remember the phone calls I got on that show more vividly than her birthday party. My memory is screwy.

But perhaps that means this birthday show will be just as memorable... on the radio.