Self Help Radio 032917: Tails

(Original image - & you can play the game! - here.)

So many apologies for this week.  I am glad I was able to get the show done in time, but Tuesday night a storm ripped through the Metroplex & we woke up without power, a situation that lasted till Thursday afternoon.  Luckily it hasn't got unbearably hot here in Fort Worth.  But I wasn't able to listen to & live tweet the show like I do, as I am terrible doing such things on a tiny phone.  I hope you at least got to listen.

But if you didn't, here the show is.  My guests are very funny, I think the music is great, &, as always, there's a little of me but you can totally fast-forward - or whatever it's called when you do it to an mp3.

One thing I meant to do is share with you a picture of all the tails in my house, four doggy & four kitty tails, but you know, time, trauma, exhaustion, foreclosure, impudence, diffidence, apathy, ennui, dinnertime - things come up.  Ideas go missing.  A nap seems like a really, really good idea, only you're driving.

With all that in mind, the show is on the website, I hope you dig.  The songs I played are below.  I now have to go unlive-tweet it on Twitter, that's a real weird thing, but I like to tell folks there what I play, even if they look at it & say, "Who's this guy?"

(part one)

"Strange Tales, Strange Tails" XTC _Respectable Street_
"Who'll Tie The Bell (On The Old Cat's Tail)" Rosemary Clooney _Memories Of You_
"Gator Tail" Lee Dorsey _Yes We Can_

"Snakes, Snails, Puppy Dog Tails" Alma Cogan _Scratch My Back (New Rubble Vol. 5)_
"I've Got A Tiger By The Tail" The Derailers _Under The Influence Of Buck_
"In A Mermaid Tail" Po! _Horse Blanket Weather_
"Heads Or Tails" Shannon & The Clams _Dreams In The Rat House_

"Blue Tail, The Red Fox" Tex Ritter _High Noon_
"Monkey With Your Tail" The Cramps _Big Beat From Badsville_
"Salt On A Devil's Tail" Jack Teagarden _Has Anybody Here Seen Jackson?_
"Turn Tail" The Young Knives _Superabundance_

"Shake A Tail Feathers" The Five Du-Tones _Beg, Scream, & Shout! The Big Ol' Box Of '60s Soul_
"Pin The Tail On The Donkey" The Newcomers _The Complete Stax-Volt Soul Singles: 1968-1971_

(part two)

"Pigtails & Freckles" Nat King Cole Trio _The Complete Capitol Nat King Cole Trio Recordings_
"Pony Tail" T-Bone Walker _The Complete Imperial Recordings, 1950-1954_
"Duck Tail" Joe Clay _Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly_
"Pigtails" The Impacts _Pigtails_

"Tails In The Woods" Bonnie Leigh _Bridge Of Flowers_
"Blue Tail Fly" Bob Atcher _The Golden Age Of Bob Atcher_
"The Tail's Been Waggin' The Dog" Charlie Walker _Don't Squeeze My Sharmon_
"Poor Dog (Who Can't Wag His Own Tail)" Little Richard _Get Down With It! The Okeh Sessions_

"Whales Tails" Cocteau Twins _Victorialand_
"Polka Dot Tail" Ween _The Mollusk_
"I'll Cut Your Tail Off" John Leyton _John Leyton_
"Born With A Tail" Supersuckers _The Best Of Hootenanny_

"Swaller Tail Coat" Frank Luther Trio _Serenade In The Mountains: Early Old-Time Music On Record_
"Your Shirt Tail's Out" Hot Lips Page _1946-1950_
"Turn My Coat Tails Loose" Hasil Adkins _Out To Hunch

Whither Tails?

How I wish I could write about why this week's theme is "tails." Alas, a big storm knocked out our power last night & I am stuck writing this on my little phone. So - the show is on in a little over an hour - I just wanted to say it'll air on 93.9 fm WLXU in Lexington & online at Lexington community radio online & maybe you'll listen. I might not be able to!

Preface To Tails: Who Has The Best Tail?

We all have our favorite tails.  I may be partial to dogs' tails & cats' tails, since they're the tails I encounter most often, but I can't say I don't admire a squirrel's tail or, if I am abandoning mammals entirely, a mockingbird's sleek little tail.  But which is best?

Might it be these incredible tail feathers of birds?

What about all of these tails of different cats?

Or what about puppy dog tails?

Here are a bunch of pictures of monkey tails.

If length is your thing, why not look at this collection of animals with the longest tails?

So many tails!  Too difficult a decision!

It was unfair of me to ask.  But feel free to express a preference!

Found This Online

Apropos this week's show.

A Stray Observation About Alphabetation

For no real reason, I've always felt it made more sense for X to come before W.

Not necessarily right before W, but certainly after S or T.

Of course this would mess up the whole "X, Y, Z" ending of the standard alphabetic recital.  But I don't care.  X, Y, Z sounds fine.  W, X does not.

Perhaps the W could come before the X, but not immediately preceding it.

Maybe the W could come after the M.  M, W, N.  It looks like the M was upturned &, in the process of righting itself, shed one of its outer lines & became an N.

This works for lower-case too: m, w, n.

Not sure whom to ask about this, but perhaps some forward-thinking, rebellion-minded grammarians can take the lead & get this worked out.  It will be much appreciated.

This is the sort of thing I think about when I should be working on this week's show.