Christmas Eve

The wife fell asleep early.  I am drinking wine & looking at Tumblr (where I found the screen cap of Super Hans).  I just finished a recorded show for KBOO.  I need to work on Self Help Radio.  Terrible weather made it difficult for me to leave the house this morning so I didn't get to do Self Help Radio on XRAY.  Two scheduled shows I missed this week!

Here's something nicer from Tumblr - Christmas thoughts from Winsor McKay:

Wow, I sure loved Christmas as a kid.  But now it seems like something some other people do.

Ah well.  Happy whatever you celebrate!

Christmas Films

(image from the IMDb)

Didya listen the very last Self Help Radio Christmas show ever? If you didn't, you can always listen at the Self Help Radio website or at the KBOO website - otherwise you'll have missed the segment where our resident cinephile Chuck talked about Christmas movies, television shows, shorts, & specials from the 1960s!  Also, if you didn't listen, the following list of links might not make much sense!

Here is the keyword list he used to find the things he watched.

Using that information, he made a YouTube playlist.  He also put together an IMDb list of films available elsewhere for streaming.

Chuck has a list of films on Letterboxd, as well as his reviews there.

You are strongly encouraged to follow Chuck on Twitter to find out what he's watching & also to find out when he's next on the show!

Enjoy your Christmas stuffs!  & have a happy holiday weekend!

Self Help Radio 122022: One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas

Here it is!  The last Self Help Radio Christmas episode! Now I can really focus on those Arbor Day shows I've been wanting to make!

Please enjoy a hopefully delightful (& delightfully odd) collection of Christmas tunes.  There are some extras, as you'll note below - our resident cinephile talks to us about Christmas movies & more from the 1960s; I interview a reindeer wrangler, a fruitcake baker, & an elf on strike; & there's a radio show from 1967 that's kind of a Christmas show by the Firesign Theatre.  It's funny.

That's all noted below.  You can listen to the show in two places: at the KBOO website, where I would strongly encourage you to help out if you can during our End Of The Year Drive; & at the Self Help Radio website, where you'll need a username & password to access the show (try SHR & selfhelp), but you can download it if you want.

Happy holidays!  Enjoy one last Christmas show from me!  Except when I redo it for XRAY on Saturday.  But after that, no more!

One Very Self Help Radio Christmas

"Christmas Alone" The Photocopies _Cheer Up, It's Christmas_

"Here Comes The Fattest Man In Town" Bob Chester & His Orchestra _The Bob Chester Orchestra_

"Christmas Eve In Fairyland" Gracie Fields _100 Hits Christmas Legends_

introduction & explanation

"Los Chrismos" Los Bitchos _Los Chrismos_

"A Johnny Ace Christmas" Squirrel Nut Zippers _Christmas Caravan_

"Cracker Jokes" Stephen Fry _Fry's English Delight_

"The Twelve Days Of Christmas" The Popguns _24_

"The Twelve Days Of Christmas" The Sweetback Sisters _Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by to talk about Christmas offerings from the 1960s (TV & film)

"Hooray For Santa Claus" Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos _Hooray For Santa Claus_

"Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown (vocals, Nina)" John Barry _On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_

"Christmas: A View From Ipswitch" Richard Ayoade _Ayoade On Top_

"Wonderful Christmas Time" Kadhja Bonet _California Holiday EP_

"Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back" Ozie Ware with Duke Ellington's Hot Five _Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1928_

interview with reindeer wrangler Arthur Jarvis

"Christmas Is The Day" The Free Design _Butterflies Are Free: The Original Recordings 1967-72_

"Merry Gentle Pops" The Barron Knights _Best Of The Barron Knights_

"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" The Beatles _The Christmas Records_

"Merry Christmas Darlings" Swansea Sound _Music Lover_

"Stay A Little Longer, Santa" Shemekia Copeland _Deluxe Edition_

interview with fruitcake maker Shelly Green

"Santa Claus Rock & Roll" Kathy & Jimmy Zee _Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree_

"Yo Ho Ho" Klark Kent _Just In Time For Christmas_

"Yulenet Parts 1 & 2 (with Daws Butler)" Stan Freberg _The Capitol Collector's Series_

"The Christmas Song" Alex Chilton _Clichés_

"Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto" Darlene Love _It's Christmas, Of Course_

interview with elf on strike Nemo

"Tile It Like It Is" The Firesign Theatre _Live At The Magic Mushroom_

conclusion, goodbye, holiday well-wishes!

"Santa Lives In My Building" Spearmint _Have Yourself A Merry Indie Christmas Volume II_

"Merry Christmas, Elizabeth" The Chickpea Darlings _Merry Christmas, Elizabeth_

"'Twas The Night Before Christmas (A Visit From St. Nicholas)" Lorne Greene _The Complete Christmas On The Ponderosa_

"Little Drummer Boy" Low _Christmas_

"Santa Claus" Thee Headcoatees _The Sisters Of Suave_

Whither One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas?

It's true! Tonight's show on KBOO is the very last entirely Christmas-oriented show that will happen on Self Help Radio on this station!  I mentioned the reasons why yesterday.

But don't fret, lovers of holiday programming!  I can promise you that you'll hear Christmas music non-stop in my commercial spaces & on most radio stations for the rest of your life, usually beginning in September!  Just not any with that slightly "off" feel you've come to expect from twenty years of Very Self Help Radio Christmases.  Alas.

So please join us for one last Christmastime on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo.fm tonight! Midnight to 3am! That's Portland time! I've sent word to Santa, maybe he'll show up! It's his birthday, after all!

Preface To One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas: Wait, One Last Christmas?

What's going on?  One last Christmas show?  Is this - can it be - have we finally reached the end of Self Help Radio?

Sorry, no.  I've just decided to stop making Christmas shows.  But why?

Had I the time, I would look back over the things I've written about Christmas over the last few years.  There was a time when I really quite liked Christmas music.  But I suspect I have mentioned in passing the three things that have been nagging at me for the past few years:

One, I wasn't celebrating Christmas as a holiday.  I haven't bought presents for friends or my wife or really anyone for over a decade now.  I stopped going home for the holidays after I moved out of Texas (the first time) & didn't start again when I moved back (making my mom a little sad).  Really, the only thing I have done in over ten years that was Christmasy was a radio show.

Two, I'm not a Christian.  I know Christmas is a mostly secular holiday at this point, but it felt weird to talk about & play songs about the religious aspect, most of which I think is hooey, & then to not really take part in the other stuff, which is fun - giving the gifts, Santa, reindeer.

Three, I don't have kids.  I don't have any biological kids nor do I have children in my life.  If I did, I might get them presents - they delight in getting things, after all.  But with these three marks against Christmas in my book, it just seemed silly to spend time listening to Christmas music for a show that I was enjoying less & less as time goes by.

You may know I come from a fairly large family - six brothers & sisters, most of whom have reproduced - & you might think, why don't you buy them gifts at least?  It's funny you ask - I recall a family Facebook group from a few years ago when the discussion was, "What do you want for Christmas?"  The instruction was to list three things.  To a person, my siblings, nieces, & nephews wrote, "1. Gift Card to X; 2. Gift Card to Y; 3. Gift Card to Z."  I mean, why not just ask for money?  I guess I'd send them money if they wanted that.

There is one last reason I will probably talk about on the show.  & some people think I will renege & return to doing Christmas shows next year.  & perhaps I will.  But for now, it feels almost over.  & for me, it does seem like tomorrow's show will be the very last Very Self Help Radio Christmas.