Self Help Radio 112323: Wool

(Original image from the Wikipedia.)

Well. Wool. Here's a radio show about wool. I almost wrote "not everything you ever wanted to know about wool" but I suspect there aren't a lot of average people who have wanted to know too much about wool. I also hesitate to write "everything you never wanted to know about pool," because I'm just not certain that wool generates such antipathy. So what else can I say but "Here's a radio show about wool."

Talking to a neighbor about this show, I was asked, "Why not songs about sheep?" I replied, "That's a whole other show!" In fact, I had forgotten about this, but it's a show I did five years ago. So I didn't say that. & the neighbor said, "I guess you like specific themes for your show." I said I guessed I did. Then the neighbor said, "Maybe too specific."

Listen to a too-specific episode of Self Help Radio now or anytime at the Self Help Radio website. Please remember to use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to listen. Lots of things happened on the show. They are listed below. Please enjoy.

Self Help Radio's wool show

"Wool" Ben Chatrer _Wool_

"The Boy In The Woolly Sweater" Ann Sydney _Girls Of Jukebox Favorites, Vol. 5_

introduction & definitions

"Wooly Bully" Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs _Wooly Bully_

"Pull The Wool" The U.S. Stamps _Let's Dig 'Em Up!!! (18 Killing Garage Lashes From The Pulverizing 60s)_

"Curious & Wooly" Bridget St. John _BBC Radio 1968-1976_

"From The Lambing To The Wool" Priscilla Herdman _Darkness Into Light_

interview with Nathan Warden of the American Woolgatherers Society

"Starry Eyed & Wooly Brained" Tall Dwarfs _3 EPs_

"Wool & Water" Basque _Radiate_

"Wool In The Wash" Crying _Beyond The Fleeting Gales_

"Woolgathering" Islet _Soft Fascination_

interview with Norbert the wolf

"You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes" Helen Ward with Benny Goodman & His Orchestra _Queen Of Big Band Swing_

"Dyed In The Wool" The Young Knives _Superabundance_

"Dyed In The Wool" Widowspeak _Almanac_

"Red Wool" Slow Steve _Adventures_

interview with entrepreneur Nick Wortham

"Wind Wool" Sarah Mary Chadwick _Sugar Still Melts In The Rain_

"Wool Eyes" Knitting _Knitting_

"Wool, Cotton, Lace, & Snow" Snowpoet _Wait For Me_

"California Cloaked In Wool" Dutch _A Bright Cold Day_

our librarian friend Carole stops by!

"Cotton Wool (Fila Brazillia Mix)" Lamb _Cotton Wool_

"Man Of Wool" Dhafer Youssef _Electric Sufi_

conclusion & goodbye

"Rock & Roll Is Full Of Bad Wools" Half Man Half Biscuit _90 Bisodol (Crimond)_

Whither Wool?

(Quick! Make me a coat! Image from here.)

Hey! Happy Thanksgiving! I think I'm glad Self Help Radio is on a Thursday but know I have to always deal with this particular holiday because it's always on a Thursday. This is better than Mondays tho - there are so many more holidays that happen on Mondays. So I'm cool with being on the radio for a couple of hours when no one else will probably do their show live this week.

& of course you may have noticed that the show's theme is the not-very-Thanksgiving-ish topic "wool." My wife asked me just the other day asked me, "Why are you doing a show about wool?" To which I responded, "Because I want people to listen to the show!"

That sort of sarcasm is normal in our household & she more than anyone understands there are sometimes 

no real reasons for why a particular theme happens. Or rather, she knows that as I age, as my faculties fade, as I stare at a list of upcoming themes & wonder "when did I write that?" - she knows that sometimes I won't remember the reasons why I've chosen to play a bunch of songs about a topic. Ergo, wool.

Wool it be any fun? You bet it wool! But don't take my word for it - tune in today from noon to 2pm - either in Portland at 90.3+98.3fm or online at freeform portland dot org! After that I wool hardly talk about wool ever again. Insert fleece pun here.

Preface To Wool: Wool Puns

(Image from this page, also where the puns are.)

You know I occasionally make interstitial bits for my show, hoping to be funny or entertaining. But I've been kinda lacking creativity & motivation this week, so I thought instead of making you endure wool puns of my own devising, I'd let someone else do it. Also, I'd do it on the blog instead of on the radio, hopefully lessening the offense. Here then from punsteria.com are a few wool puns. Go to the page to see them all. Some of them I'll admit I don't quite get. But maybe they're just terrible puns.

1. I was going to tell a great sheep pun, but I didn’t want to pull the wool over your eyes.

2. Ewe won’t believe how soft this wool blanket is!

3. The sheep told me his favorite hobby is wool gathering, but I think he’s just pulling the wool over my eyes.

4. I went to a store that sells wool only on Sunday. It’s the weekend’s newest trend: Sundae Wool!

5. Why did the sheep go on a diet? She felt a little too wool-rounded.

6. What did the lamb say to the shepherd? “I’ve always wanted a wool mate like you!”

7. You know you’re getting old when you start finding comfort in wool socks.

8. The sheep told me he was on a tight schedule because it was wooly urgent.

9. Why do sheep never have stress? They’re always feeling so wool-relaxed.

10. I tried to teach my dog to knit, but all he did was unravel the ball of wool.

11. Some people say sheep are foolish, but obviously, they’ve never seen a wool-class education.

12. The sheep traveled to Egypt, not for wool, but because he heard that Cairo is full of shear delights.

13. Why do sheep make terrible detectives? They always get caught up in wool-gathered theories.

14. I told my friend I’m learning how to spin wool, and she said I must be quite the wool-winder.

15. I took my dog for a walk in his wool sweater. He looked a little sheepish, but boy, was he warm!

16. Ewe will always find me with wool on my mind!

There are many, many more at that link. I don't think they're all that good ("wool-relaxed"?). But at least on that page they have Tom Swifties.

1. “This wool sweater feels so soft,” Tom said sheepishly.
2. “I’ve run out of yarn,” Tom said in a threadbare voice.
3. “Don’t pull on that wool, it’s delicate!” Tom said warily.
4. “The sheep’s wool is so fluffy,” Tom said baaah-shfully.
5. “This wool coat fits perfectly,” Tom said snugly.
6. “This wool blanket is the perfect companion for a chilly night,” Tom said warmly.
7. “The wool in this sweater is itchy,” Tom said scratchily.
8. “I’m making a woolen hat for winter,” Tom said captivatingly.
9. “I prefer real wool over synthetic fibers,” Tom said naturally.
10. “This wool scarf is too long,” Tom said lengthily.

These are mostly awkward but we need more Tom Swifties in our lives so I'll allow them.

Anyway, none of this tomorrow. You're welcome.

Movies For Chameleons

(Chuck didn't talk about this movie even though it was about a chameleon.
Image from the IMDb.)

Our resident cinephile Chuck stopped by the show last week to talk about films involving chameleons, which was the show's theme. No, wait. He didn't. I mean, he did stop by. He just talked instead about films involving disguises. Which wasn't quite the show's theme. Anyway, do yourself a favor & go to the Self Help Radio website & listen. Then use these links, provided by Chuck, to further enhance your viewing experience:

He has eight (!) YouTube playlists of films & trailers:

Part 1 (1913-1949)

Part 2 (1950-1967)

Part 3 (1968-1978)

Part 4 (1979-1988)

Part 5 (1989-1998)

Part 6 (1999-2007)

Part 7 (2008-2014)
Part 8 (2015-2023) (Chuck's still working on this list)

Here is his Letterboxd list. Here are his Letterboxd reviews.
(He writes, I put the links to available videos in the notes for the films plus where they are available to stream for free.)

Here is the IMDb list of films available to stream for free.

(He is still working on this list, & he adds, There is duplication with of some on YouTube but quality is sometimes better, & their availability may be for limited time.)

Here is Chuck's IMDb keyword list.

Chuck says:

I posted about some of the films on Bluesky (right now it's just all the links seen here, but go ahead & give me a follow. I usually follow back).

He adds:

I tweeted about some of the films on Twitter (right now it's just all the links seen here, but go ahead & give me a follow. I usually follow back).

Here are the direct links for Chuck: Twitter,  Bluesky, & Substack. He adds, "I may write an article about them on Substack, someday, but in the meantime you can subscribe for free."

Thanks, Chuck!

A Brief Word About Dying Twitter

(image from here)

A year ago, I tweeted something about the state of Twitter, & the paraphrase is something like, "The saddest thing to me about the death of Twitter  is that it was an easy way to tell musicians I played them on the radio." I think I made a point that I am lucky that I get to choose all the music I play, & that I would hate not having that venue to tell the artists I play I'm playing them.

Sunday morning I looked at Twitter for the first time in forever. Many of the political folks I followed are long gone. I found myself reading openly racist, openly antisemitic, openly hateful stuff - tweets from accounts I don't follow - & not really seeing stuff from people I care about.

Since mine is a music show, I've followed a lot of musicians, & I guess at some point I thought that that might be insulate me from some of the ugliness. After all, what do the Nazis & the bots care about me playing some indie band?

But the other day I noticed (Twitter didn't inform me) that there had been on several of my tweets about songs I was playing new responses. There was a note that they might be offensive. Maybe they were. They were all in Russian. This is not something that had ever happened before.

In my heart I knew there would come a time when I'd be leaving what had once been a fun & vibrant place. This is not the time, but I am no longer going to live-tweet my shows. I'll keep announcing when I'm doing shows & when I know what I am going to play, I'll tag the available bands - I did that for the Dickenbock Report yesterday & I'll do it for Corporate Standardized Programming tonight. But it's just a prelude to the end. It seems to be getting worse daily. It's no place to hang out.

One of the things I do want to avoid is anything Facebook-related. I do have a Facebook account but not an Instagram account & I don't want to join Threads. I have a Bluesky Social account but it's far more of a social site even though it apparently was created by people involved with Twitter.

It's weird when something that is so routine - I have been live tweeting my shows for almost a decade - just disappears. But so be it. It's not going to get better. It's not worse the time & effort.

How I wish there were a better way to tell the musicians/artists I'm playing that I'm doing it! It was always such a thing way to show appreciation.