Whither Habits?

Let me see if I can bring to mind why I chose this week's theme, "habits." Did someone suggest the theme to me? I don't think so. Was there a particular song I was thinking about that led to this theme? I can't recall. What about me - was I think of some good or bad habit of mine & said to myself that would be a good theme? I can't say. Something made me think "habits" would be a good theme for an episode of Self Help Radio but for the life of me I can't remember what that was.

It's a bad habit of mine, forgetting why I plan the shows I do. Especially when I have this blog where I'm supposed to talk about why I chose the theme each week! I'll do my best to break this habit. (I probably will fail tho. As I get older I forget more & more why I do most everything.)

Hopefully tho it's a habit of yours to tune into KBOO on Monday nights. Because that's when this show is airing - tonight midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in town & online everywhere at kboo dot fm.

Have I been trying to habituate you to my lazy practices this whole time?

Preface To Habits: Habit & Fitness

(image from here)

Into a search engine I typed the word "habit." Not "good habit," not "bad habit." Just "habit."
Then I selected the public domain images.
The one above is the first one that popped up.
It is called "habit & fitness."
While I am not often on a treadmill or whatever exercise thing the fellow is on,
it's really not appropriate in my mind to stand next to me
eating a bowl of salad - a giant bowl of salad I might add -
& smile at me in a weird way.

Who carries a bowl of salad around like that?

Why don't they eat together?

It really does look like they've done something terrible
& they realize now they'll never get caught for the crime
& it's made them happy & emboldened them.
So they're going to do it again.
You celebrate with salad! You celebrate with exercise!

Anyway.

That's what I get for having no images of my own about habits.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Bikini Day

(image from the Wikipedia)

While America celebrates a conflicted birthday, the Dickenbock Report staff worry that their pale, flabby, unsightly bodies - because sometimes it's hard to keep oneself toned while reporting the news - will be completely unprepared for the Report on July 5, which is National Bikini Day. July 5 is the anniversary of the "invention" of the bikini, so we will report on that particular bikini, & not the atoll pictured above, which got to experience a couple of nuclear explosions.

That's Sunday, June 5, from 11am to 1pm, on XRAY - 91.1+107.1fm in town, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help June 28 & 30 + July 2

In 2017, I took advantage of a - I don't know what you'd call it - a program? - something that they had at my first station, KVRX, in Austin, wherein they allowed alumni to come during the interim periods - usually the winter break - & deejay there. I was in Fort Worth at the time, & so I schlepped down to Austin & played on the radio for like three hours. Anyway, I found this book the kids had left out to write stuff in & discovered this wondrously sweet thing someone had written in a moment of pure vulnerability - "how do I make friends?" - & it was so much the reason so many of the people I knew at college radio came to college radio. I took a picture of it.

No idea why that came into my head. Here's this week for you.

Sunday June 28. The Dickenbock Report XRAY FM. Queen Victoria stuff. Listen here.
Tuesday June 30. Self Help Radio KBOO FM. Howard Gently Forever & Ever. Listen here. Or listen here.
Tuesday June 30. Corporate Standardized Programming KBOO FM. Music by artists we lost in early 2026.  Listen here (after Self Help Radio). Or listen here.
Thursday July 2. Subbing a show on KBOO. Playing lots of new releases. Listen here.

(Still don't know how to make friends, of course.)

Self Help Radio 063026: Howard Gently Forever & Ever

Oh man, my friend Russell would have been tickled by the Howard Gently Tarot Card I made for this blog post. Despite how shabbily & slapdash it is. He's been gone now for three years & I visit with the work he did for my show every three months & it has been such a kindness. That he did this for me & my dumb radio show. I am sad he's gone but feel so fortunate I knew him.

All right, I won't get maudlin. I'll just tell you the show features bits improvised with Russell as the Rev Dr Howard Gently paired with a song from the original show. You can listen to it now & anytime at both the KBOO website & the Self Help Radio website.

List of the happenings on the show is below. Please enjoy.

Self Help Radio Howard Gently Forever & Ever Show

"Six Seconds In Dallas" Russell Miles _Six Seconds In Dallas_

"I Advance Masked" Andy Summers & Robert Fripp _I Advance Masked_

Howard Gently on the theme "Masks"

"Basement Kiss (Live)" Elvis Costello & The Attractions _The Other End Of The Telescope_

Howard Gently on the theme "Basements"

"Dragonhead" Throwing Muses _Hunkpapa_

Howard Gently on the theme "Dragons"

"How I (Learned My Lesson)" X _Under The Big Black Sun_

Howard Gently on the theme "Lessons"

"1000 Stars" Big Country _The Crossing_

Howard Gently on the theme "1000"

"Working Class Hero" John Lennon _Plastic Ono Band_

Howard Gently on the theme "Heroes"

"This Flight Tonight" Joni Mitchell _Blue_

Howard Gently on the theme "Flight"

"Zebra" Ken Nordine _Wink: Ken Nordine Does Robert Shure_

Howard Gently on the theme "Zebras"

"Fiction" The Lucksmiths _Warmer Corners_

Howard Gently on the theme "Fiction"

"Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" Leonard Cohen _Songs From A Room_

Howard Gently on the theme "Nancys"

"Joe The Lion" David Bowie _"Heroes"_

Howard Gently on the theme "Lions/Anniversary Show"

"The Attack Of The Giant Ants" Blondie _Blondie_

Howard Gently on the theme "Halloween 2020"

Whither Howard Gently Forever & Ever?

That photo up there is the original photo we had of Howard Gently, the character my friend Russell portrayed for about eight years on Self Help Radio. I have no idea where it came from. Whether I found it or he did. A reverse-image-search yields only the result "a man in a bow tie from the early 20th century." The original original picture did not have Gently's mustache or his pince-nez glasses - I remember adding those. The picture is dated June 13, 2014, about two months after Russell started appearing on Self Help Radio. I think he wanted a visual of the good doctor.

It is that time again where I honor my old friend by playing his appearances on the show. We have arrived to six years ago - June on 2020, with the pandemic raging. The show at the time was airing on Freeform Portland, so KBOO listeners haven't heard these bits yet - I'm sure they weren't listening to FFP then! As always, I'm in awe of Russell's cleverness & immersion in the role. Gently is a bit of a self-important shitheel & that's what makes him funny.

It's all happening tonight, midnight to 2am, on 90.7fm in Portland, online everywhere at kboo dot fm.

Preface To Howard Gently Forever & Ever: Last Chance To Evolve Beyond Human

This is me wondering if I have told this story here before. It is a story about my friend Russell, a person I knew for decades, & a person with whom I lived for maybe two years. He didn't like living with me, & moved out after a time. I decided to stay in the duplex we had shared, having a few more roommates until I lived there alone for my last year. During that entire time, inspired by the shenanigans of Joe Orton in the film Prick Up Your Ears, I starting pasting stuff all over one wall & had it mostly filled (I left the bottom three feet clear because my cat had a habit of tearing things I put there off) before I left the place after five years.

When I wrote a few years back on this blog about this place, I mentioned that wall. In this post you can see a composite of what the finished product looked like.

The memory I'm going to relate - about me & my friend Russell - might not be related to that wall but I could swear it is. I loved to find stuff on the street & stick it on that wall. One day I found a flyer that read "Last Chance To Evolve Beyond Human." (Yes, this was the inspiration for the bit on last week's show.) Russell & I loved weird stuff like that & we decided to attend the lecture or whatever that was coming up.

It was at the Hilton across the river, across Congress from the Austin American-Statesman building. I seem to remember it being a warm evening in autumn. Russell had a car, so he drove us. We found a place to park & we wandered into the hotel, the flyer in hand, looking for the room where the lecture was.

We found the room among the suite of rooms that had been separated by baffles/fake walls, only there was some professional meeting going on in there. We were a little confused, but as we turned, two young men dressed quite preppily approached us & asked if we were interested in the thing we came to see. We said yes, & they explained that they had lost their reservation, but would be meeting again in another place in a couple of days. This other place was not in Austin, but rather in Pflugerville (which at the time was a smaller suburb which seemed a bit of a ways away), & it was a private residence. We took the information & went home, agreeing we were probably not going to drive forty-five minutes to someone else's house at night to be amused by what might have been a cult.

Spoiler alert! It was a cult. Here, from a very old website, is the text of the flyer.

Yes, the folks were from Heaven's Gate. Just two or three years later those preppy boys we met in a hotel in Austin would be dead. Or in a comet. Or both?

What the hell does that have to do with my vandalizing a rental property thirty years ago? I could swear I pasted that Last Chance To Evolve Beyond Human flyer on my wall. I can see it in my mind's eye when I look at the wall. But! I can't find it now. Can you?

At least it gave me this memory of my dear friend Russell, now three years gone. We were goofs but not goofy enough to fall for the Heaven's Gate stuff!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: The Anniversary Of Queen Victoria's Coronation

(image from here)

On June 28, 1838 - 188 years ago - Queen Victoria's coronation was held in London. On this anniversary on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY, we'll report on Queen Victoria herself, on the era named after her, & also about other Victorias who aren't necessarily queens.

That tomorrow on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

Do we have to dress fancy for this or something? I don't have anything to wear to a frickin' coronation.

This Week In Self Help: June 19 21 + 23

Sometimes I have no images for the shows I've done. So I share with you a picture of a sticker on a fence post. Which I took many years ago.

A week ago, on June 19, I was on The Songcircle on KBOO, playing late sixties soul music in honor of Juneteenth. You can listen to that show here.

On June 21, which was National Arizona Day, I played songs & talked about the state of Arizona on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. You can listen to that show here.

On June 23, on Self Help Radio on KBOO, I explored the theme "beyond." You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

On June 23, on Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO, I played lots of instrumental tunes (most of them electronical) with "beyond" in the title. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

There were no other radio shows beyond these!

Self Help Radio 062326: Beyond

Self Help Radio went beyond this week! Not really. Just played a lot of songs with "beyond" in the title. You can't say Self Help Radio is a creative show but you can agree we're literal!

There's also interview with a couple who say they're evolved beyond human & a dodgy dude who runs a place called Above & Beyond, plus our favorite cinephile returns to the show after being away for a year! So you'll have fun. I hope. I think. Maybe?

Listen to the show on the KBOO web page or on the Self Help Radio web page. Most everything I did on the show is noted below.

See you when you're back from beyond!

Self Help Radio Beyond Show

"Beyond Belief" Elvis Costello & The Attractions _Imperial Bedroom_

"One Step Beyond..." Madness _One Step Beyond..._

"Beyond & Back" X _Wild Gift_

introduction & definitions

"The World Beyond" Swamp Dogg _Total Destruction To Your Mind_

"Beyond The Rising Sun" Tyrannosaurus Rex _Strange Orchestra_

"Beyond The Autumn" De Tian _Messthetics # 8: UK '77-82 D.I.Y. Bands: 'D'_

"The Point Beyond Which Something Will Happen" Single Gun Theory _Flow, River Of My Soul_

"She Is Beyond Good & Evil" The Pop Group _Y_

interview with Marty & Tina

"On Beyond Zagnut" Silly Pillows _New Affection_

"Beyond The Sea" Glo-Worm _Glimmer_

"Beyond Their Law" Robert Forster _Calling From A Country Phone_

"Beyond The Door" Dump _I Can Hear Music_

"Beyond Comprehension" Gang Starr _Step In The Arena_

our favorite cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Beyond The Reef" The Autocollants _Why Couldn't Things Just Stay The Same?_

"1914 & Beyond" Cats On Fire _All Blackshirts To Me_

"Beyond The River" The Cansecos _Little Darla Has A Treat For You (Indian Summer 2004 Vol. 22)_

"Bored Beyond Oblivion" Monster Movie _Everyone Is A Ghost_

"Music Is The Voice From Beyond" Electronic Corporation _Construction Deconstruction_

interview with George Daly

"The Walls Beyond Abandon" The Chills _Scatterbrain_

"The Land Beyond" British Sea Power _Open Season_

"Beyond Good & Evil" Crime & The City Solution _American Twilight_

"Beyond Metropolis" Shriekback _Without Real String Or Fish_

conclusion & goodbye

"Beyond Control" The Dream Syndicate _Ultraviolet Battle Hymns & True Confessions_

Whither Beyond?

Yes, I know that's another terrible picture of the moon I've taken. I don't really have lots of pictures of whatever "beyond" means. Beyond is mainly a preposition. Although I guess people do talk about The Great Beyond. But I don't have any pictures of that, either. You can't take cameras there. I'm assuming.

This show was a request. Someone texted me not too long ago & said they liked songs with the word beyond in them. Beyond Belief & One Step Beyond were two they mentioned. I said okay, I'll make a show with beyond as a theme. See how easy that is? & I only get like one or two requests for a theme a year! You people I swear.

Midnight to 2am. KBOO 90.7fm in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere. Except in the Great Beyond. If they don't let you have cameras there, they're not going to let you have radios.

Preface To Beyond: Death & Beyond

(image from Reddit)

The student asked, "Is this all there is?"
The teacher said, "What?"
"This life," said the student, "is this all there is?"

The teacher looked perturbed. "Well," she said, "what else would there be?"
The student, trying not to be a bother said, "I guess I think there might something beyond life?"
"Beyond life?" the teacher responded, in a kind of loud & offended tone.

"Sorry," said the student sheepishly.
"No, no," the teacher said sarcastically, "tell me, what could possibly be beyond this life?"
The student had fear in her eyes. She said, "Um, heaven?"

"Heaven!" the teacher said. "Heaven!" she said again as if to make some kind of point.

"Okay, I get it," the student said.
"What do you get?" the teacher retorted brusquely.
"I get," said the student, "that this is not the sort of school where open-ended philosophical questions are welcomed as a sign of free inquiry, that the teachers here are more likely to hew to close-minded ways of thinking which perhaps they might find threatening or offensive."

The teacher rolled her eyes. "You know," she said, "this is a massage school, right?"

The student looked a bit sheepish. "I have lots of questions," she said.

"Jesus fucking Christ," the teacher said. "Can we talk about muscles or something instead?"
The student got weirdly wide-eyed. "What if," she said, "there is something beyond muscles?"
The teacher put her head in her hands & wept silently.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Arizona Day

(image found here)

June 21st is National Arizona Day! So let's go to Arizona on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. But let's not really go to Arizona. It's already unbearably hot there. We'll stay in comfortable Portland & talk about Arizona & play musical reports about Arizona but we don't really need to go there.

That's tomorrow, Sunday, June 21st, from 11am to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in town & xray dot fm everywhere - even in Arizona, where it's so hot radios actually melt.

This Week In Self Help: June 14 + 16

Did I take that picture of cacti in the desert? Let's pretend I did. This is what I did this week.

June 14th was Flag Day. I played flag songs & talked about Flag Day on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. You can listen to that show here.

On June 16th, there was an episode of Self Help Radio on KBOO with the theme "The Desert." You can listen to that show here. Or you can listen to that show here.

Also on June 16th, there was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO in which I continued Self Help Radio's theme by playing instrumental songs about the desert. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). Or you can listen to that show here.

That's that!

Self Help Radio 061626: The Desert

These was a heat advisory in Portland this weekend - it got hotter than usual - & it was totally a coincidence that Self Help Radio had the theme "the desert." In case anyone thought I was summoning that hot weather. Nope! I did my time in Texas. I want to live where it's mostly chilly most of the time from now on!

It was fine to spend two hours in the desert tho. You can too! You can listen to the show over at the KBOO website & also at the Self Help Radio website. Most everything that happened on the show is listed below. Just be safe out there. It's the desert after all!

Self Help Radio Desert Show

"Sleepy Desert" Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles _Gastonia Gallop: Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues_

"California Desert Blues" Lane Hardin _The Rough Guide To Unsung Heroes Of Country Blues_

"The Desert Song" Kitty Carlisle & Wilbur Evans _The Desert Song_

introduction & definitions

"Lonesome Desert (with The Flairs)" Young Jessie _Don't Happen No More_

"Desert Pete" The Kingston Trio _Sunny Side_

"Night Time On The Desert" Marty Robbins _The Chronogical Classics 1965-1966_

"Desert Rain" Jim Pipkin _Time Is Talking_

"Queen Of The Desert" Jenny Don't & The Spurs _Fire On The Ridge_

interview with survivalist Sam Withers

"Uncle Willie's Desert Museum" Russell Miles _Uncle Willie's Desert Museum_

"The Desert" Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers _It's Time For_

"Time In The Desert" The Go-Betweens _Tallulah_

"Desert Blues" Barrence Whitfield with Tom Russell _Cowboy Mambo_

"Desert Kisses" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Kaleidoscope_

interview with celebrity chef Curt Alderman

"Soul Desert" Can _The Singles_

"Burning In The Desert Burning" The Mekons _Natural_

"Soul Desert" Julian Cope _Jehovahkill_

"Desert Shore" Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time _Runout Groove_

"Desert Bundles" The Bundles _The Bundles_

our favorite librarian Carole stops by

"Desert" Novella _Change Of State_

"Desert Wildflowers" Squirrel Flower _Planet (I)_

"Fire In Desert" Anna Westin _Lev_

"Desert Nights" Sofia Talvik _Center Of The Universe_

conclusion & goodbye

"My Desert" The Jazz Butcher _A Scandal In Bohemia_

"Desert Fun" The Mayfair Set _The Mayfair Set_