Okay, I don't really love fevers. What I love is when a fever breaks.
When I get sick, & when I get chills, I have the sense a fever isn't far behind. & I feel strangely excited by that. Chills are weird - you're cold but you're hot & you're constantly bundling up & throwing blankets off. To have chills in the winter is a very confusing experience.
& believe me, I know fevers can be dangerous. If you get over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, you can have brain damage. Your brain is boilin' in there! But again, because of what happens when a fever breaks... I kinda look forward to fevers.
That should read up there "my strange attraction to fevers." Or is that worse?
When a fever breaks, I'm usually asleep. & I wake up. & the world is crystal clear in a way that I have never felt except maybe - maybe - on acid. It's clear even in the dark, I can make out details all around me. It's what I imagine it must feel like to reach nirvana. & it's so relaxing, after a few moments of taking it all in, I just go back to sleep.
Chills may lead to fevers & fevers have so far always lead to fevers breaking. A broken fever is a sensation unlike any other I have felt.
Now, watch as I die from a fever cooking my brain. Take that, you weirdo lover of fevers!
Saturday, December 07, 2019
Friday, December 06, 2019
Electronic Music Show
There's computer magic with this post. It's dated 10pm Friday night, but it's being written early Saturday morning. The post has been backdated - Blogger allows this - because I wanted to share the show I just did on KBOO, which was an electronica show called Plugged In.
Plugged In is usually a deejay mix show, with guest deejays doing live mixes, but tonight it was just me playing pretty electronica. You can listen to the show any time by clicking on this sentence. It'll also show you the playlist.
You may notice two things: one, the songs are all very long; & two, I don't talk much. Both are by design. I didn't feel chatty & the songs I picked took their time & I enjoy that.
When I do talk, I mention KBOO's Holiday Membership Drive. If you like the sort of station that plays a tribute to Curtis Mayfield, & then two hours of IDM, followed by a show that begins with Syd Barrett & New Order, you're going to want to support KBOO.
This post is from the future. I hope you heed its excellent suggestions.
Plugged In is usually a deejay mix show, with guest deejays doing live mixes, but tonight it was just me playing pretty electronica. You can listen to the show any time by clicking on this sentence. It'll also show you the playlist.
You may notice two things: one, the songs are all very long; & two, I don't talk much. Both are by design. I didn't feel chatty & the songs I picked took their time & I enjoy that.
When I do talk, I mention KBOO's Holiday Membership Drive. If you like the sort of station that plays a tribute to Curtis Mayfield, & then two hours of IDM, followed by a show that begins with Syd Barrett & New Order, you're going to want to support KBOO.
This post is from the future. I hope you heed its excellent suggestions.
Thursday, December 05, 2019
Uninterrupted Ambiguity
Two things happened to me today which have nothing to do with radio.
One, I met my first Jehovah's Witnesses. I enjoy talking to religious folks & would've talked longer but my oven was beeping because lunch was ready. The truth is, I think they realized I was not going to be someone they could convert, & were glad to leave. The most interesting thing (to me) was that they both carried iPads with them & I could see one of them marking my address as the equivalent of "lost cause."
Two, I just read a comic book to my wife. It's very hard to share with someone the love of & obsession with comic books, but this came up because I've been loving the show Watchmen & my wife is confused by it. I thought if maybe I could familiarize herself with the comics, I could lead her into what I like about the show & to liking it herself. She remains unconvinced after issue # 1 but was impressed with the excerpt from Hollis Mason's book in the back. She didn't know they included stuff like that in comics.
Among the things she doesn't like: busy backgrounds & lettering. She doesn't like that she has to pay attention to both the words & the pictures, & even more the lettering - like when Rorschach talks - isn't clear enough for her to figure out what it's supposed to sound like. I told her that didn't matter - it was just designed to denote difference - but she has qualms.
Tomorrow - or soon enough - we'll try another issue & if she hates it, I'll give up.
One thing that's fascinating - I haven't taken my copy of Watchmen # 1 out of its sleeve in probably two decades - maybe even three. But it is well-worn. I must've read that over & over & over. It certainly was far more familiar to me than I thought it would be. It's as familiar as some songs that I haven't heard in as long, but know the words immediately.
Other things happened today - but these two stand out somehow.
One, I met my first Jehovah's Witnesses. I enjoy talking to religious folks & would've talked longer but my oven was beeping because lunch was ready. The truth is, I think they realized I was not going to be someone they could convert, & were glad to leave. The most interesting thing (to me) was that they both carried iPads with them & I could see one of them marking my address as the equivalent of "lost cause."
Two, I just read a comic book to my wife. It's very hard to share with someone the love of & obsession with comic books, but this came up because I've been loving the show Watchmen & my wife is confused by it. I thought if maybe I could familiarize herself with the comics, I could lead her into what I like about the show & to liking it herself. She remains unconvinced after issue # 1 but was impressed with the excerpt from Hollis Mason's book in the back. She didn't know they included stuff like that in comics.
Among the things she doesn't like: busy backgrounds & lettering. She doesn't like that she has to pay attention to both the words & the pictures, & even more the lettering - like when Rorschach talks - isn't clear enough for her to figure out what it's supposed to sound like. I told her that didn't matter - it was just designed to denote difference - but she has qualms.
Tomorrow - or soon enough - we'll try another issue & if she hates it, I'll give up.
One thing that's fascinating - I haven't taken my copy of Watchmen # 1 out of its sleeve in probably two decades - maybe even three. But it is well-worn. I must've read that over & over & over. It certainly was far more familiar to me than I thought it would be. It's as familiar as some songs that I haven't heard in as long, but know the words immediately.
Other things happened today - but these two stand out somehow.
Monday, December 02, 2019
Self Help Radio 120219: Pulse
(Self Help Radio is a star! Well, a neutron star. Spinning very fast. Original image here.)
You already knew what a pulse was. Maybe not the "lentil" meaning, but you understood it was a beat or a throb. Perhaps you've checked your pulse before, or enjoyed dancing to pulsing electronical music. This week's Self Help Radio didn't just want to tell you what a pulse was, but to show you all the different dimensions of pulse. Did we succeed? Isn't it weird when questions are asked in writing? You know the writer is going to answer in the affirmative. It's a lame rhetorical device utilized by the lazy scribbler trying to hammer a point home without demonstrating his or her absolute lack of skill? It's infuriating. That being said, did we succeed? Oh yes.
The show today featured a poet, a scientist (or sorts), a motivational speaker, & the founder of the alternative health craze called Pulsology. There were lots of pulsing songs &/or songs about pulse. At one point during the show, I myself took my pulse & had to check WebMD. That's not on the air, though. Thankfully. That was not gripping radio. Just me gripping my wrist & thinking I might pass out.
The show can be listened to as readily as a pulse at the Self Help Radio website. Remember, you'll need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp) to listen. Anyone with a pulse is welcome! Please no ghosts. You haven't quite figured out computers & for some reason every time you touch the website, it fills with viruses. The show is two hours long, & what happened on the show - songs & talk - is listed below.
Enjoy pulsing!
Self Help Radio Pulse Show
"Pulse" Ten Wheel Drive _Brief Replies_
"Pulse" The Psychedelic Furs _The Psychedelic Furs_
"Pulse" Todd Rundgren _Healing_
introduction & definitions
"Pulse" Loop _Fade Out_
"Pulse" David Ramos _This Up Here_
"Pulse" Lou Barlow _Brace The Wave_
"Pulse" Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark _History Of Modern_
interview with poet Phineas Johnston
"Let Me Feel Your Pulse" Furniture _The Wrong People_
"Picking Up The Pulse" The Hitmen _Torn Together_
"The Pulse Below The Ear" Chris Knox _Beat_
"My Pulse Pumps Passions" Hal Hubble _My Pulse Pumps Passions_
interview with motivational speaker Dirk Robbins
"Pulse Lovers" The Future _The Golden Hour Of The Future_
"Pulsating Dream" Kaleidoscope _Side Trips_
"Pulsing Pulsing" XTC _Rag & Bone Buffet_
"Slow Pulse Boy" And Also The Trees _Virus Meadow_
interview with sciencingtist Wally Grobe
"Pulse Of My Heart" The Soft Boys _Nextdoorland_
"Cosmic Pulse" Elephant Revival _Break In The Clouds_
"Find Me The Pulse Of The Universe" Laetitia Sadier _Silencio_
"Pulsing" The Body Electric _The Body Electric_
interview with inventor of Pulsology David Fruchter
"Pulsar (Fragment)" Astronaut Ape _Unknown Sector_
"Pulsar" Flaming Youth _Ark 2_
"Sibling Pulsars" Micromars _International Pop Modulations_
"Pulsar" Ride _Tomorrow's Shore_
conclusion & goodbye
"Pulsewidth" Aphex Twin _Selected Ambient Works 85-92_
"Pulse" Digitalism _Idealism_
"White Pulse" John Carpenter _Lost Themes II_
Sunday, December 01, 2019
Whither Pulse?
(Image from here.)
Why, anyone who's got a pulse will want to listen to this week's episode of Self Help Radio, which is about PULSE. That means, no dead people! No vampires, no zombies, no one without blood flowing through their veins! What, you're cryogenically frozen? Sorry, you will not want to listen to this week's show. You say you can slow your bodily functions through meditation to the point where you seem like you have no pulse? Nope! This show is not for you. Check your pulse! Do you have a vibrant, beating heart? Then you'll want to listen to this week's show.
Is it because you can tell your alive when you check your pulse that made me think of this week's theme? Sure! Why not? It's nice to have a pulse you can check to see if you're alive! Maybe it's time to check Self Help Radio's pulse! D'you think the show's still alive? It must be! This week's show has the theme PULSE!
It's on tomorrow morning from 6-8am on Freeform Portland - online everywhere, terrestrially in Portland at both 90.3 + 98.3 fm.
Will it make your pulse quicken? How could it not?