Preface To Jobs: Out Of Work

I have to do a radio show in the morning so I have to listen to stuff I may possibly play.  This gives me not so much time to blog-write.

So here is a picture from one of the numerous Tumblr blogs I'm always stumbling onto, of a human being inappropriate with a cat.  Enjoy:

Indian Burial Mounds

I was talking to someone about indian burial mounds - of which there are lots in Kentucky - & they seemed tolerably knowledgable, going on about Native Americans fleeing Kentucky & Daniel Boone & what-not, & I said, "Well, what was in the Indian burial mounds?"

The person said, "Hunh.  I don't know.  Bones?"

Like it was some sort of mystery.  Do you know who knew what was in Indian burial mounds?  Do you?

THOMAS MOTHERFUCKING JEFFERSON, that's who.

You can read it about right here.

When people talk authoritatively about stuff, & then can't really answer questions about it, I don't really judge them - I think we learn how to talk authoritatively about stuff as a survival skill - I just go find out what I asked them myself.

One thing I learned is that there weren't just burial mounds - there were residence mounds & ceremonial mounds, too.  & especially platform mounds.  Those are neat.

So what's in Indian burial mounds?  The ones that have been excavated - & some of the extant ones haven't, in accordance with the wishes of Native American tribes - have bones & artifacts in them.  But that's in general - there were a lot of them & the mound builders had different cultures.

I think I was hoping the answer would be something surprising, like "comic books."  Or "board games."  Or "escape tunnels & hidden doors."

You know, like the mounds were built by my imagination when I was seven years old.

Seeing Blue

I have spent a tolerable amount of time on three college campuses (well, most of the time on the Marshall campus was intolerable) (oh, that's not true!) & I have come to the conclusion that "school spirit" is silly at best & infuriating at worst.

At UT, it was all about the orange, which eventually blended into the fake suntans (in a city, you know, with 400 days of sun a year) of the fake people who seemed to have the most enthusiasm for the ball games.  At Marshall, it was green.  The house we had at Marshall actually had an attic painted all green.  I guess the previous inhabitants cheered at the television way up there in that room - where, of course, their school spirit is closer to their god I guess?  I don't know.

But there weren't too many people at Marshall for the green to be overwhelming.  Also, I didn't get out much.

At UK it's blue.  & I'm up at the station all the time.  WRFL is on the UK campus.  Where one in three people have something in UK Wildcat blue at any given time.  Seriously, if you see three professors chatting, one of them will have a tee shirt that says, "Some people call it obsession, we call it UK basketball."  & this dude will be a Latin teacher.

I have a nice Dickies shirt that I've had forever which is the same color as the UK blue.  I will never wear it as long as I am in Lexington.

& the thing is, I have nothing really against college sports or sports of any kind.  It's like that thing someone said once about some popular singer or band - they're not a bother at all, it's their fans.

I almost tweeted today, "Excessive school spirt is almost - almost - as irritating as excessive patriotism."

But it wasn't a complete enough thought for me.

38 Episodes Of Indiepop A To Z

I know, it's ridiculous, I just covered Hartfield to Hem today.  On a listener's recommendation I am going to see someone about my pathological need to organize things.  What the listener doesn't know is that I'm going to see someone who works for the Oxford English Dictionary.

Show at the Self Help Radio website.  What's in the show is below.  Show in two parts: part one here | part two here.  Hey!  Old indiepop a to z episodes (almost all of them) can be found on the old shows archive page.  If you want to see what's been played before.

Thanks for listening & alphabetizing with me!

(part one)

"She Bangs" Hartfield _True Color, True Lie_
"I Gotta Lie Down" The Harvest Ministers _Little Dark Mansion_
"The Javanaise" Mick Harvey _Pink Elephants_

"Everybody Loves Me But You" Juliana Hatfield _Hey Babe_
"Words Of Hope" The Hawks _Words Of Hope_
"Our Favourite Motorway" Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern _Pram Town_
"Kill Karaoke" The Haywains _Never Mind Manchester, Here's The Haywains_
"Sand" Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra _Nancy & Lee_

"Davey Crockett" Thee Headcoatees _Sisters Of Suave_
"Cherry Tulips" Headlights _Some Racing, Some Stopping_
"Reach The Sky" The Headmen _Reach The Sky 12"_
"Camel City" Health & Beauty _Pop & Circumstance_
"Suddenly Molly" Heart-Sick Groans _EardrumsPop 100_

"The Heartbeat Of Krakow" The Heartbeat Of Krakow _The Heartbeat Of Krakow_

(part two)

"Kiss Me When I'm Starving" The Heart Throbs _Cleopatra Grip_
"(You Promised Me A) Camera" Hearts On Fire _Dreams Of Leaving_
"No Way, No Way" Heartworms _Pop American Style_
"Itchy Chin" Heavenly _The Decline & Fall Of Heavenly_

"Maplewood" The Heavy Blinkers _Intercontinental Pop Exchange No. 3_
"The Hymn For The Cigarettes" Hefner _The Fidelity Wars_
"Former Hero" Heikki _2_
"Debbie Loves Joey" Helen Love _The Bubblegum Killers E.P._
"Pat's Trick" Helium _The Dirt Of Luck_

"Blank Generation" Richard Hell & The Voidoids _Singles: The Great New York Singles Scene_
"Rachel Clean" Hellfire Sermons _Hymns, Ancient & Modern (1988-1993)_
"My Best Friend" Hello Saferide _Introducing..._
"Record Shop" Help Stamp Out Loneliness _Help Stamp Out Loneliness_
"Left The Party" Helmet Tag _Yay 4 Cuteness_
"Be Completely Full Of" Hem _Be Completely Full Of 7"_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 38?

First of all, I am entirely aware that over on the Self Help Radio website, it says this week's theme is "Indiepop A To Z # 39."  I think I know why/how that happened.

Y'see, I've been doing (for two years now) three hours of radio a week, divided equally between a freeform (that's a KVRX term; at RFL they call it "general format") show called Sugar Substitute & a specialty show (RFL term: "block show") called Self Help Radio.

& about every four months (thrice a year), I return to the Indiepop A To Z list, which of course I will never finish but which occupies my mind in a happy way.  I have in the past gotten special dispensation from the WRFL Management to allow me to use the entire three hours for the A To Z silliness.

Because of that, the numbers of the IA2Z (as no one abbreviates it) have usually been split between Sugar Substitute & Self Help Radio.  For example, Indiepop A To Z # 36 was during Sugar Substitute, while # 37 was during Self Help Radio.

I know these divisions mean absolutely nothing to anyone but me.

Anyway, as you might have noticed (probably not), Self Help Radio is now two hours long.  Something happened to me this week & I said, "I should at the very least do the freeform show.  I mean, two hours of IA2Z is enough, isn't it?"

I suffer from the same inconsistency, by the way, when I am decided what makes the Indiepop A To Z list.  Some postpunk & indie rock bands might make it if my mood is slightly different.  My mood now?  Stern.  Less inclusive.  A little exhausted with being exhaustive.

So I had planned tomorrow's Sugar Substitute to be Indiepop A To Z # 38, with SHR # 39.  I had no idea my show would be expanded to two hours.  I can't see the future.

Confidentially, I can't even see the present.

Second of all, the Indiepop A To Z list continues tomorrow from 7am to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington & online at wrfl dot fm.  Archived later at the show's website.  At that same link are thirty-something previous episodes of the Indiepop A To Z series.  You have time to catch up.  Do so!