Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 2

As I mentioned yesterday, I take a lot of pictures of pumpkins around the Halloween time when people have pumpkins out.  They're a very photogenic fruit.  But!  I forgot to mention yesterday the reason why I am doing this is because the Halloween show this year will be about pumpkins!  Please enjoy three pictures below I took of pumpkins when I was living in Texas from 2016-2019.

As an aside, this last one has made me a bit sentimental - it was taken at the Dallas Arboretum on a visit with my mother, who we lost last year.  It makes me a bit sad to know we'll never stroll around that place anymore together - not the least because she loved it quite a bit.

Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 1

It's true, when they're out, I take lots of pictures of pumpkins.  Here are some from when I lived in Kentucky.

Self Help Radio 101921: Radar

(Original image here.*)

It was almost certainly off your radar this week, but Self Help Radio's show about radars might've been a steady blip in some listening situations from midnight to 3am Tuesday morning.  Despite its subject matter, it didn't locate any enemy aircraft, missiles, submarines, or ships; it didn't indicate any weather systems or changes in environment; it didn't communicate successfully with extraterrestrial life; & it certainly didn't give anyone any speeding tickets.  It just played lots of songs & talked about radar, talked to a couple of guests, featured a disastrous in-studio performance of a pop song, & was generally happy to continue live in the KBOO studios in the middle of the night.

You can listen to the radar show in two places: at the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.  If you use the second link, be prepared to supply a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  You won't need one on the KBOO website.  All the things that happen on the show are noted below.

The things that are on this show's radar are quite ridiculous, yes, we are aware.

Self Help Radio Radar Show

"Radar" Link Wray & The Wraymen _Link Wray & The Wraymen_

"Radar" J.B. Hutto & The New Hawks _Rock With Me Tonight_

"Radar" Gruppo Sportivo _Sombrero Times_

introduction & definitions (feat. the Definition-O-Tron 3000)

"Radar" The Legendary Stardust Cowboy _Rock-It To Stardom_

"Radar" Laurie Anderson _Home Of The Brave_

"Radar" Morphine _Yes_

"Radar" Comet Gain _Tigertown Pictures_

"Radar" Beautiful Assassins _Preamp_

interview with archaeologist Dr. Renate Phelps

"Radar" Catherine Feeny _Hurricane Glass_

"Radar" The Transmissionary Six _Radar_

"Radar" Riz MC _Microscope_

"Radar" Moving Panoramas _One_

"Radar" Teen _Good Fruit_

interview with inventor Giorgio Rasp

"Radar Love" Centerfold _Radar Love_

"Radar Blues" Big Joe Turner _The Swing Time Records Story_

"Radar Blues" Chris Connor _Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection_

"Radar Blues" The Holy Modal Rounders _Indian War Whoop_

"On My Radar" John Tirado _Slow-Motion Party_

a brief history of radar a live performance cover of Britney Spears' "Radar" by Captain McCheese

"Radar" Mr. Bear & His Bearcats _Hot Rods & Custom Classics_

"Radar Gun" The Bottle Rockets _The Brooklyn Side_

"Radar Detector" Darwin Deez _Darwin Deez_

"Funky Radar" The Weathermen _Global 851_

"Music Is My Radar" Blur _The Best Of_

a brief history of radar

"Radar In My Heart" Bill Nelson's Red Noise _Sound On Sound_

"Radar Man" Halmens _Halmens No Kindaitaiso_

"Radar Eyes" Sic Kidz _Teenage Obsessions 1978-84 Recordings_

"The London Radar" Cornershop _Handcream For A Generation_

"Elmer W. Litzinger, Spy: Yukon Radar" Bob & Ray _The Very Best Of Bob & Ray, Vol. 1_

"Radar Follows You" Versus _Two Cents Plus Tax_

idioms with radar

"Underneath The Radar" Underworld _Underneath The Radar_

"Living Under The Radar" Asian Dub Foundation _Punkara_

"Under The Radar" The Vibrators _Under The Radar_

"Under Radar" The Mendoza Line _Lost In Revelry_

"Under The Radar" Nah... _Nah..._

conclusion & goodbye

"Contrapuntal Interstellar Radars" Conrad Schnitzler _Space Box - 1970 & Beyond (Space, Krautrock & Acid Trips)_

"Radar Receiver" Solvent _Apples & Synthesizers_

"Radar" Hauschka _Salon Des Amateurs_

* "Radar" by BenFrantzDale is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Whither Radar?

(image from here.)

The normal way for me to think of a theme starts with coincidence.  I notice a particular theme recurs in the music I'm listening to.  My brain says, "That might be fun to do a radio show about."

Next I visit the list of themes I've explored on the Self Help Radio website.  Nine times out of ten I discover I've already covered that theme.  It's surprising what one forgets.  Sometimes I even forget to check if I've done the theme already.

There's another step I've recently added, which is this one: is the theme so general it would take me way too long to sort through all the songs that fit the theme?  It's why I don't do themes like "cars" or "rain" - I would have hundreds of songs to listen to, & I don't have the time for that.  A corollary to this step is the opposite: are there enough songs for the theme?  I recently rejected what would've been a fun theme because I found maybe ten songs that worked for it.  & I just didn't feel I could find many more.

Once I've decided on a theme, I start gathering songs.  When I feel I have a critical mass of songs, I schedule it (put it on the website) & I start thinking about the show.  Oftentimes, like this week, I have enough songs for a decent two-hour show & then I recall, "Oh shit! I have a three-hour show!"  In that case I do as I did yesterday, set aside some time to find other songs that fit the theme that I like.

It's a misconception that I play whatever songs I find for the theme as long as it fits the theme.  You may not like the stuff I play on the show but I only play music I like.  It's the truth!  It's easy to find enough songs to fit any theme if you just play all the songs that fit the theme.  But it's my show.  I'm gonna play the stuff I wanna listen to.

This week those songs are about radar.  & the show will happen tonight (!) from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO Portland & online at the same time at kboo.fm.  & yep, I'll be live in the KBOO studios.

You won't need radar to find me tonight, although feel free to use radar all through the show!

Preface To Radar: O'Reilly

(image from IMDb)

It's impossible to say the word "radar" in American culture without invoking two things - & I'll completely understand if this is not the case for millennials or later - one of these is the song "Radar Love" by Golden Earring, & the other is the character of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H.

As a kid, I was inordinately fond of Radar.  You might never guess why.  I didn't possess his seeming telepathic gift to anticipate what someone wanted.  I wasn't very naïve though I was quite shy.  & I really wasn't a sheltered child.  My fondness for animals wouldn't really develop till later, when I was around more of them, though I did envy his menagerie.  None of these reasons were why I liked Radar.  The reason I liked him was kinda dumb: I knew his real name was Gary.

Gary Burghoff portrayed Radar O'Reilly & I knew this because I read credits.  When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader of everything including words on a TV screen & I loved to connect the actor to the name.  & here was someone on television with the same name as me.

& listen, then as now, Gary wasn't a popular name.  I have known only a handful of other Garys in my life.  When I was in elementary school, teachers & other kids were so unfamiliar with the name that I was often called "Greg."  It just made sense that I'd glom onto any other Gary out there.  It really did help that he was such a sweet character.  If other kids had wanted to call me "Radar," I wouldn't have minded.  But I had so few friends, I never even had a nickname.

There's one weird memory I have of the show.  On one touching episode, which must've aired when I was just seven or eight years old, Radar's family in - is it Iowa? - send him a film from home.  The main characters watch it, & Gary Burghoff dons a dress to play his own mother.  A child's mind works in weird ways, & mine was somewhat freaked out by the fact that Radar's mother looked so much like him.  I remember staring at my own mother, who was watching with me, & thinking, "When I get older, will I look like her?"

Yes, there'll be Radar O'Reilly content on the show tomorrow.  As well as "Radar Love."  How could there not be?  Sorry, millennials.