Something I won't talk about today: the meaning & origin of the phrase "You pays your money, you takes your chance." Why not? Because the actual phrase - discussed by William Safire here is "choice" instead of "chance."
A ha! Self Help Radio is on the ball!
Still, there's a chance I'll get a lot of things wrong in today's show about chance. That's just the chance you have to take. If you get a chance to listen, you can from 4 to 6 pm on 88.1 fm in Lexington or online at wrfl dot fm. Chancy, I know.
(It's my last show for two weeks! More about that tomorrow.)
Friday, June 14, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Preface To Chance: Thinking Of Chance
Wikipedia, that fine fellow, has five articles related to "chance" but as chance's possible definitions & not chance itself, to wit: indeterminism, contingency, luck, probability, & randomness. The first two are related to philosophy, & therefore completely over my head, while the last three seem like the things that basically rule my life. Not just my life! Yours too.
I wonder if thinking that makes me a philosophical indeterminist or contigencist (I am not sure that's a real world). I know a philosopher so I think I should ask her.
There is a Chance, Kentucky, but it's an unincorporated community & there's not a lot of information about it. Perhaps its residents all got together by chance? That's highly unlikely in Kentucky, where, in any given place, most of the folks know each other & about a quarter of them are related.
(Coincidentally, Chance, Kentucky, is in the same county as Christine, Kentucky. What are the chances that I'd do two show back-to-back the themes of which would also be the name of two unincorporated towns in the same county in Kentucky?)
Mostly though the meaning of the word "chance" encountered in the show this week will be "an opportunity" or "a possibility." "Give me one more chance!" or "I don't stand a chance!" Stuff like that.
There are still lots of songs about chance that I have to listen to before tomorrow's show. Too many songs, dozens of them, hours of listening. What are the chances that I'll play your favorite song about chance? I fear they're quite small!
I wonder if thinking that makes me a philosophical indeterminist or contigencist (I am not sure that's a real world). I know a philosopher so I think I should ask her.
There is a Chance, Kentucky, but it's an unincorporated community & there's not a lot of information about it. Perhaps its residents all got together by chance? That's highly unlikely in Kentucky, where, in any given place, most of the folks know each other & about a quarter of them are related.
(Coincidentally, Chance, Kentucky, is in the same county as Christine, Kentucky. What are the chances that I'd do two show back-to-back the themes of which would also be the name of two unincorporated towns in the same county in Kentucky?)
Mostly though the meaning of the word "chance" encountered in the show this week will be "an opportunity" or "a possibility." "Give me one more chance!" or "I don't stand a chance!" Stuff like that.
There are still lots of songs about chance that I have to listen to before tomorrow's show. Too many songs, dozens of them, hours of listening. What are the chances that I'll play your favorite song about chance? I fear they're quite small!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Loser
Once upon a time, I ran a computer lab at the University of Texas. In a hopefully playful way to get folks to stop bringing food & drink into the lab, I would put signs up at each station, & the signs began, "Hey Loser!" Barely a day had gone by when I was called in by someone in the Dean of Liberal Arts office to discuss with me the inappropriateness of the signs. It appears that someone had tearfully complained to the Dean that "I didn't spend all this money to get an education & still be called a loser!" I was asked to take the signs down.
Still, a loser like me can certainly celebrate losers in a radio show & hope not to offend. You may listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website, or you may listen to each part directly by clicking on these direct links: part one & then part two. A list of songs for the loser is below.
Hooray for the loser!
(part one)
"Yesterday's Winner Is A Loser Today" Jimmie Skinner _Doin' My Time_
"Three Cheers For The Loser" Carl Belew _Carl Belew_
"Poor Loser" Jimmy Castor _The Hull-Mascot Story, Vol. 2_
"Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers" The Marvelettes _Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-1967_
"I'm A Loser" The Beatles _Beatles For Sale_
"Hard-Lovin' Loser" Mimi & Richard Fariña _The Vanguard Recordings_
"Here's To The Losers" Frank Sinatra _The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings_
"World's Worst Loser" George Jones _The Race Is On_
"It's So Hard Being A Loser" The Contours _The Complete Motown Singles, Vol 7: 1967_
"Born A Loser" Don Ray _The Wigan Casino Story_
"Loser Again" Jackie Moore _When A Man Cries_
"I Guess That Don't Make Me A Loser" Ruby Andrews _Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)_
"You're The Loser Now" Martha Reeves & The Vandellas _The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970_
"Loser's Cocktail" Dick Curless _The Long Lonesome Road_
"Three Time Loser" Don Covay _Funky Yo Yo_
"(I'm Not) Destined To Become A Loser" The Ellingtons _Northern Soul Fever, Vol. 4_
(part two)
"Loser" Scrawl _Plus, Also, Too_
"For The Loser (Hallelujah!)" The Rave-Ups _Chance_
"Only Losers Take The Bus" Fatima Mansions _Viva Dead Ponies_
"Even The Losers" Nectarine _You Got Lucky: A Tribute To Tom Petty_
"The Key Losers" Guided By Voices _Hardcore UFOs: Demons & Painkillers_
"Bring On The Loser" East River Pipe _Poor Fricky_
"Love A Loser" The Raincoats _Looking In The Shadows_
"Gallant Losers" Monograph _Lorelei_
"Every Loser In London" Bill Pritchard _Happiness & Other Crimes_
"Beta Losers" Darren Hanlon _Early Days_
"Charity Is For Losers" Peppermint _Keep Your Chin Up There Sailor_
"Loser" Richard Cheese _Tuxicity_
"You're A Beautiful Loser" Acid House Kings _Mondays Are Like Tuesdays & Tuesdays Are Like Wednesdays_
"Loser" The Launderettes _Shaken & Disturbed_
"The Loser Wins" Atmosphere _To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EPs_
"Losers" Broncho _Can't Get Past The Lips_