The Gary Files # 24: Garry Marshall

(Picture from his Wikipedia page.)

An explanation: Since the name Gary is going extinct, I thought it incumbent upon me to celebrate more notable Garys than myself.  This is the twenty-fourth of a series!

Garry Marshall is, according to the Wikipedia, "an American actor, director, writer, & producer."  His list of credits is impressive.  Check out his Wikipedia page if you don't believe me.

So, another "Gary" that's spelled "Garry."  Is that a problem?

It just seems like, since your name is Gary, you shouldn't be celebrating people whose names are Garry.  They sound exactly the same!  Do you think people named John are different than people named Jon?

Sort of.  That's insane!

All right.  When did you first become aware of him?  Probably reading the credits of shows I watched when I was a kid, like Happy Days.

Were you excited to see his name?  Probably not.  It's not spelled the same as mine.

A-ha!  Look, the Wikipedia page for the name Gary also includes Garry.  There's no difference between the two.

If you say so.  I say so.  Ask me some more questions.

Did you also know he was an actor?  I didn't.  Did he act in things he directed?

Among other things.  Wouldn't you do that?

What?  Put yourself in movies or television shows you were producing.

I never thought about it.  I bet you would.

Maybe.  Was his name really Garry?  Garry Kent Marshall.

Born in 1934.  Not named after Gary Cooper?  Nope!  His parents must've had other reasons to name him Garry!

You wish you were as rich as he is, don't you?  My lord, doesn't everyone?

Self Help Radio 030816: The Empty Show

(Original image here.)

You've probably been asked, in a chain email or by an annoying friend, about the three English words that end in -gry.  The whole thing is kind of a dumb joke.  But it occurred to me, when I was overthinking this week's show, that you could ask a similar question about English words that end with -mpty.

There's empty, of course, & nonempty, which isn't the word's antonym at all.  There's humpty & dumpty, which shouldn't be counted because they're made-up names, but because they're part of our culture (& because humpty is also the name of a dance), they get counted. A list online (which I found here) also adds numpty (which apparently means "a stupid or ineffectual person") & umpty (which means "such & such," I've found - related, no doubt, to umpteenth).  Try that question at a party that's winding down - not the three English words that end with -gry, but the (maybe more than) six English words that end with -mpty.

This has nothing to do with my show this week, but it's what's on my mind.  My mind, which is usually empty.  Like this week's show!  Which can be listened to now at Self Help Radio's website.  It's in two parts, so it's an empty show that's quite full, & what's in each part is below.  Psst!  You'll need a username & a password.  Also psst!  They're on the front page.

Let's hope the emptiness doesn't consume us, although we know it will.

(part one)

"Empty" Eddie Spaghetti _The Value Of Nothing_
"Emptiness Inside" My Bloody Valentine _Feed Me With Your Kiss_
"The The Empty" Le Tigre _Le Tigre_

"Diary Of An Empty Day" The Nice _Nice_
"Stronger Hearts Than Mine Lie Empty" Ballboy _The Sash My Father Wore & Other Stories_
"The Empty Page" Sonic Youth _Murray Street_
"Empty Heart" The Rolling Stones _12 X 5_

"In An Empty Hotel" Northern Portrait _Napoleon Sweetheart EP_
"Empty Streets" Suspicious For The Winter _EardrumsPop 100_
"Empty Space" Holly Golightly _Slowtown Now!_
"Empty Roads" 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong _Baby Trash_

"Empty Girl" The Soft Boys _Invisible Hits_

(part two)

"Empty Boy" Lane Steinberg _Lane Steinberg Collection 1984-2000_
"The Empty World" The Cure _The Top_
"Empty Bottles" Opal _Northern Line EP_

"I Have Known The Emptiness" Dan Melchior _The Backward Path_
"My World Is Empty Without You" Diana Ross & The Supremes _Greatest Hits_
"Empty House" The Pastels _Crawl Babies 12"_
"Empty Glasses" The Amps _Pacer_
"Empty Place" Burnt Palms _The Girl You Knew_

"This Empty Place" The Searchers _The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection_
"Sad, Free, Excited, & Empty" The Hepburns _How The Fallen Are Mighty_
"My Empty Head" The Flatmates _Potpourri (Hits, Mixes, & Demos '85-'89)_
"Empty Shell" Vic Godard & Subway Sect _What's The Matter Boy?_

"A Few Empty Waves" Cats On Fire _All Blackshirts To Me_

Whither The Empty Show?

(Image from this fun article here.)

Oh I know what you're thinking: Here's miserable ol' Gary again, doing another show rife with negativity, the emptiness, the void, angst, suicide, purgatory, Donald Trump presidency.  Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Except, of course, I am mostly miserable, & I'm quite a pessimist, & the glass isn't just half-empty with me, it's half-empty with poison.  & perhaps that is reflected in the subject matter of the shows I do.  But I submit that you are coming at this with your own preconceptions of the word "empty."  What if I told you that some religious traditions value emptiness as a starting place for spiritual growth?  Or that some people use "empty" as a metaphor for openness, curiosity, adventurousness?  What would you say then, smarty-pants?  Hanh?  Hunh?  Hanh?

Man, that was an easy straw man (or should I say straw person?) to knock down!  I'm going to have more arguments with myself!  But wait - if I argue with myself, doesn't half of me lose?  Damn rhetoric!  Damn it all to hell!

Despite my own internal issues, I will still do a show today with the theme "the empty show" from 4-6 pm on 88.1 fm in Lexington, & online at the same time (science!) at wrfl dot fm.  I have lots of guests & lots of music so it will be an empty show full of songs & talk & maybe a few surprises, although, to be honest, it's mostly the same old thing.

& now I'm back to feeling a little empty.  But I hope you'll listen!

Preface To The Empty Show: Ever Been Empty?

As I sit here, late on Monday, forgetting to write in this blog, editing the interviews that I pretend are happening live during my show, I think back to a time when I actually felt empty.

It was, I think, a while back.  I felt as though I couldn't generate real emotion from inside myself.  So I would consume things of any emotional nature: music, movies, television, books.  Nothing in my life seemed to make my heart race, but I would furiously read a fantastic novel till its end in the middle of the night.  Or I would turn an album up & dance stupidly around the room until it or I were done.  Or I'd drink a bit too much whiskey - my favorite vice - & watch a particularly meaningful episode of Star Trek & feel all weepy for my fictional friends in the future.

That emptiness, which pretty much defined the 1990s for me, was borne out of heartbreak.  It wasn't a happy time, & I myself ended up hurting people thanks to my inability to connect.  You can only return a fraction of the affection that one gives to you if you can't actually bring yourself to love.  I remember the shock of revelation when I first heard the Divine Comedy song "The Frog Princess" (the video for it is here) & came to the lines:

You don't really love me

& baby, that is all right

'Cause I don't love anybody

I come & go through people's love lives

There's a reason I got through that time - not worth going into here - though I haven't lost the habit of filling myself with the magnificent creations of other people.  One reason surely has to do with time itself.  No matter what you do, your past fills up behind you.  It was much simpler for me to be empty when I was younger because I had barely lived.

& maybe I've barely lived yet, but I've wasted a lot of time trying to live, & perhaps that counts for something.

However, I feel I'm as qualified as anyone to helm a show about emptiness.  Now - back to the fake interviews!

Cradle To Grave, Episode Fourteen

Oh my, fourteen episodes already?  That means I only have three hundred & fifty-one to go!

Here's something I want to complain about: even though I have a pretty good record collection, I don't have as many comedy albums as I wish I had.  Case in point: this week was the anniversary of John Belushi's death, & while I could have played something by the Blues Brothers (which wouldn't have represented his comic genius), I ended up playing something from his time in the National Lampoon group.  But there is actually a Saturday Night Live album which I don't own.  He's much more famous as an SNL cast member than anything else.  It would've been nice to have been able to have a recording from that time to represent him.

In other news - it was Mark E. Smith's birthday!  I don't know if he'll ever die - but I'm glad I got to celebrate his birthday.  I think he's a genius.

Lots of geniuses on this week's show!  You can listen now at the Self Help Radio birthday shop & mortuary.  Pay attention to username/password info if you wanna listen - but they're on the front page.  The songs I played in each hour (first hour, birthdays; second hour, death anniversaries) are listed below.

There should be a word that has two opposite meanings, like "aloha," that I can use at the end of these posts that means both "enjoy because it's happy" & "enjoy even though it's sad."  Is there one?  & is it in fact in German?

(birthdays)

"Makin' Faces At The Man In The Moon (Milt Coleman, vocals)" Ben Selvin & His Orchestra _The Very Best Of Ben Selvin & His Orchestra_
"A Boy From Texas, A Girl From Tennessee" Randy Brooks & His Orchestra _1945-1947_
"Peg Leg Stomp" Peg Leg Howell _Atlanta Blues: Big City Blues From The Heartland_
"G. R. Boogie" Gene Rodgers _The Boogie Box_
"Wild Card" Tex Williams _Vintage Collections_

"Eisenhower Blues" J.B. Lenoir _1951-1954_
"Seven Little Girls (Sitting In The Back Seat)" Paul Evans _Happy-Go-Lucky Me_
"Police On My Back" The Equals _Greatest Hits_
"Trust Me" Janis Joplin _Pearl_
"Lady Love Bug" Clodagh Rodgers _You Are My Music...  The Best Of Clodagh Rodgers_

"East Of Woodstock, West Of Viet Nam" Tom Russell _Blood & Candle Smoke_
"Over & Done With" The Proclaimers _This Is The Story_
"An End Has A Start" Editors _An End Has A Start_
"Wise Ol' Man" The Fall _Wise Ol' Man EP_
"Patripassian (feat. Nick Cave)" Current 93 _All The Pretty Little Horses_

(death anniversaries)

"Walkin' After Midnight " Patsy Cline _The Patsy Cline Collection (Honky Tonk Merry Go Round)_
"Hangman's Boogie" Cowboy Copas _Hillbilly Boogie: Crazy Bout The Boogie_
"Dog House Boogie" Hawkshaw Hawkins _The History Of Country & Western Music, Vol. 14 (1947-1948)_
"Hey Bartender Give That Man A Drink" Jumpin' Joe Williams with Red Saunders & His Orchestra _The OKeh Rhythm & Blues Story 1949-1957_
"Over The Rainbow" Judy Garland _Judy Garland In Hollywood: Her Greatest Movie Hits_

"The Immigrants" National Lampoon _Gold Turkey_
"Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe" Bob & Lucille _Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly_
"Chim Chim Cher-ee" Dick Van Dyke _Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (Original Cast Soundtrack)_
"Are You Having Any Fun?" Vivian Stanshall _Keynsham_
"The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" Richard Kiley _Man Of La Mancha Original Cast Recording_

"We Are Climbing" Chuck Wagon Gang _Flowers In The Wildwood: Women In Early Country Music_
"Love At Last" Leighton Noble with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra _Radio & Recording Rarities_
"What Am I To Do" The Paris Sisters _The Complete Phil Spector Sessions_
"Sweet Dreams" Dave Sampson & The Hunters _British Beat: Before The Beatles 1955-1962_

"Tanguillo: Zambrilla" Carlos Montoya _Flamenco!