Preface To In The Dark: Moving, Day II

"In The Dark" is the theme of this week's Self Help Radio.  More about that tomorrow.

We woke very early, we packed, we retrieved a U-Haul (not without complications), & we paid two men to carry our things from a rental house to our new house, which was about (let me check Google Maps) one-fifth of a mile, which would be what? A little over a thousand feet?

Still, it's good I didn't have to do all that lifting.  What little I did do in packing up my shit I will pay for in the morning.

We're here!  We have some things still at the rental - we didn't clean out the fridge, for example, which wasn't my decision, it was the wife's, she plans to get all that tomorrow.  I think I have a few shirts over there too.

There wasn't any sadness leaving the place, although our eldest dog isn't terribly happy.  His old age makes his dislike change.  One of our cats as well is not happy - I'm sure putting her in a cage to bring her over made her relive some of the trauma of the four-day trip from Texas to here.  She came out briefly to eat a little, but has hidden in a back closet for most of the time she's been here.

But I do think I'll like this place.  It's cozy.  I have unpacked & shelved about half my CDs.  & hooray, the internet is on!  & there was excellent vegan pizza tonight.  So now I hope to sleep let me see about nine hours.

Oh shit!  I have to do a radio show on Monday!  Okay, make that six hours.  I'll also want to walk the dogs.

Moving Day, Part I

Today is the day we move into our new house.  We are actually buying a house in Portland.  That might mean we're staying here a while.  At least two & a half years.  That's how long we lived in our house in Fort Worth.

It looks like this (courtesy of Zillow dot com):

It's much, much smaller than this place we're currently in.  Maybe half as small?  But the place we're renting is way too fucking big.

Anyway, that's where I am.  I hope I can write tomorrow - but internet might not be on!

All Those Halloween Shows

Once again I remind you there are many, many Halloween shows on the Self Help Radio website - specifically on the Self Help Radio Halloween page - from this year's show about Frankenstein to many other spooky scary topics, like voodoo, black cats, death, clowns, mummies, hell, nightmares, graveyards, haunted houses, werewolves, witches, zombies, monsters, & vampires!  Exactly like that, actually.

The shows span fourteen (14) years & five (5) different radio stations in four (4) states in three (3) different time zones.  That's a free Halloween fact for you right there.

So go listen!  Blast the shows on the porch to really frighten the trick or treaters!  Put a show on when your Halloween party needs to come to an end!  Marvel at how long the show has been on the air & no one is saying anything!

That's probably the most frightening thing of all.

Self Help Radio 102819: Halloween 2019 - Frankenstein!

(The tattoo I got for the show didn't quite work out - but before I added the SHR logo, this photo made its way to this page!)

The monster was created!  The creator was horrified!  The villagers attacked!  The castle was destroyed!  & that was all in the first hour of this week's Self Help Radio!

It was a horrible two hours, & hopefully satisfied the Halloween cravings of the listeners of Portland & beyond.  By horrible it can mean two things: causing horror or unpleasant.  I leave you to find which definition fits the show best.

Listen to the show now at the Self Help Radio website. It's in two parts for some reason, as shown below.  The username is SHR, the password is selfhelp.  Listen responsibly.  Halloween is not for the faint of heart.

Self Help Radio Frankenstein Halloween Show

part the first:

"At The House Of Frankenstein" Big Bee Kornegay _Horror Hop_
"Don't Meet Mr. Frankenstein" Carlos Casal, Jr. _Sin Alley! Volume Four: Filthy, Sleazey 50s Trash!_
"Frankenstein Walk" Gene "Bowlegs" Miller _Barnyard Soul_
"Frankenstein Stomp" Count Lorry & The Biters _Monster Sounds & "Boppin" Tracks, Vol. 1_

introduction

"Mary's Scary Story" Jenny Adkins _Frankenstein_
"Frankenstein" France Gall _Cinq Minutes D'Amour_
"Over At The Frankenstein Place" Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, & Richard O'Brien _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_
"Frank Was A Friend Of Mine" The Smooty Filth _Greenstuff_
"Call Me Frank" The Pink Skulls _Mega Monster Madness_

interview with deceased director James Whale

"Frankenstein Rock" Eddie Thomas _Monster Rock & Roll_
"Frankenstein Conquers The World" Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston _Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston_
"You Can't Get Him Frankenstein" The Fleshtones _Flaming Burnout: An Estrus Benefit Comp_
"Frankenstein Monster Song" One Ring Zero _As Smart As We Are_
"Frankenstein" Aimee Mann _I'm With Stupid_

a conversation with Ned Dry, movie guy

"Monster Mash" The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band _Tadpoles_
"Weird Science" Oingo Boingo _Weird Science OST_

part the second:

"Frankenstein" Gene Moss _Dracula's Greatest Hits_
"Frankenstein Cha Cha Cha" Sigue Sigue Sputnik _21st Century Boys: The Best Of Sigue Sigue Sputnik_
"Frankenstein" Editors _Black Gold_

a visit from Gary's radio dad

"Miss Frankenstein" George Jackson _Bomp In The Night_
"Bride Of Frankenstein" Toy Love _Cuts_
"Bride Of Frankenstein" Ad Frank _Ad Frank_
"Be My Bride Of Frankenstein" Charming Disaster _Spells + Rituals_
"Lady Frankenstein" Matthew Sweet _Tomorrow's Daughter_

an interview with Victor Frankenstein's descendent David Fruchter

"Frankenstein Twist" The Crystals _Twist Uptown_
"Frankenstein" The Cadillacs _The Complete Josie Sessions_
"My Baby's Got A Crush On Frankenstein" Soupy Sales _Up In The Air_
"Frankenstein" Nosotrash _Little Darla Has A Treat For You, Vol. 15_
"Frankenstein" Mouseatouille _Frankenstein_

closing & goodbye

"Dr. Funkenstein" Parliament _Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein_

Whither Frankenstein (Halloween Show 2019)?

(I wish I could remember where I found this.)

When I first conceived of this blog, I thought it might be a nice place to discuss the whys & wherefores of the show, specifically how I came up with the dumb themes that I explore every week.  It turns out that most of the time, I don't really have a big reason for exploring this or that topic.  Usually it's as mundane as "I noticed I was listening to a lot of songs with the same theme."  But this week, there's a reason!  In fact, there are several reasons!

First - it's a Halloween show.  I try to explore a different Halloween-related theme each Halloween, & this year, it's Frankenstein.

Second - I hadn't covered Frankenstein in particular before.  I did play a couple of Frankenstein songs on my Monsters Halloween show a  while back but that obviously wasn't all about Frankenstein.  I have complained I am running out of Halloween themes - I have done shows about ghosts, vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves, haunted houses, graveyards, nightmares, hell, mummies, clowns, death, black cats, & voodoo, & Frankenstein is noticeably absent from that list.

& third - a few weeks ago the theme was people named Frank - & I found several Frankenstein songs looking for music for that show.  It seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something.  & this time, it wasn't "Just die already!"

So tomorrow morning - 6am sharp! - it's Self Help Radio's show about Frankenstein for Halloween 2019.  Listen at 90.3 + 98.3 fm in Portland, & everywhere at Freeform Portland dot org!  It'll be scary!