Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Thank You For Libraries Day!

That picture above, captured from Goober Malps, is a picture of my childhood library. It wasn't my first library - I'm sure that that was in my elementary school, & I loved it lots - but it was the one in my neighborhood from around the time I was ten years old, & it was within walking distance of where I lived. I have memories of carrying books to & from there. & I could walk into it now & find my favorite things.

Except it's closed. It was called the Ridgewood Branch Library of the Nicholson Memorial Library System of Garland, Texas, & it closed permanently in 2009. I hadn't visited it since I was in high school.

But libraries remain important to me & to everyone at the Dickenbock Report so it's our pleasure to note that April 21 is Thank You For Libraries Day. Which is our top report of the show tomorrow.

Yes! Tomorrow morning, Sunday April the 21st, on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm & online at xray dot fm.

Lots of gratitude for libraries tomorrow!

This Week In Self Help (April 14 + 16 2024)

One website calls this building - the Textron Tower in Providence RI - the ugliest skyscraper in the state.

But it wasn't mentioned on this week's Self Help Radio, which had the theme "providence" which included lots of references to the city & guests who purported to be from there. Here's a direct link to that show. You will need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access.

If you'd rather listen to the show on the KBOO website, here is that link.

The KBOO link also includes this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming (which follows Self Help Radio). On that show, I played an hour of new releases. If you'd prefer to listen to that show on the Self Help Radio website (please remember the username/password combination above), here is the link for that.

Chronologically first tho was The Dickenbock Report, this week a Spring Fund Drive show about Perfume Day. If you have a little to spare & want to help out you can do so here. If you just wanna listen to the frickin' show there are two options: the Self Help Radio web page or the XRAY web page.

As always - thank you for listening!

Self Help Radio 041624: Providence

(original image of Providence by David Wilson here)

This week's show - which has the theme "providence" - turned out to be more about the town of Providence, Rhode Island, rather than the "providence" that means "divine guidance & care." But of course the founders of Providence, Rhode Island, named it because they felt settling their was part of their god's "merciful providence." Could it be that both meanings apply? Is a show about providence which features mostly songs about Providence still about providence since it was named for that kind of providence?

Does it matter? Naw. It's just something to write about because I got space to fill. I was thinking of counting which songs were about the town & which were about the supernatural stuff. But I didn't. Maybe you can make a game of it?

Listen to the show when you want at the Self Help Radio website. Make sure you use the combo SHR/selfhelp to access. Or you can listen on the KBOO website. Your choice. It's a couple hours long, you can see all the songs & interviews below.

Now I need to go visit Providence again!

Self Help Radio Providence Show

"Providence" King Crimson _Red_

introduction & definitions

"Providence Help The Poor People (with Henry Townsend)" Big Joe Williams _Big Joe Williams & The Stars Of Mississippi Blues_

"Lake Providence Blues" The Harlem Hamfats _Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order, Vol. 1_

"A Letter To The People Of Providence (1648)" Wallace House _The Patriot Plan: Growth Of Human Rights In Colonial America_

"Providence" Sonic Youth _Daydream Nation_

"Providence" Morphine _Postcards From America (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_

interview with Providence mayor Rene Ingersoll

"Providence" Jack Frost _Jack Frost_

"Providence" The Rosemarys _Providence_

"Providence" The Love Language _The Love Language_

"Providence & Bourbon" Girl Haggard _Country & Eastern_

interview with president of the Providence Chamber Of Commerce Robert Insley

"Providence Girls" The RI Love Song Warriors _Rhode Island Girls_

"East Providence Girls" The RI Love Song Warriors _Rhode Island Girls_

"Providence" Buddha On The Moon _The Last Autumn Day_

"Providence" Snoozer _Winter Stops All Sound EP_

"Providence" Earth Heart _Homesick_

interview with Father Richard Icke of the Providence diocese

"Providence" Duchess _Duchess_

"Providence" The Manhattan Love Suicides _The Manhattan Love Suicides_

"Providence" Pujol _United States Of Being_

"Full Faith In Providence" Villagers _Fever Dreams_

interview with my friend Reggie Innes, who's never visited Providence

"Providence, RI" Nickel Eye _The Time Of The Assassins_

"Providence" Cheerleader _Almost Forever_

"Ghost Of Providence Pt. 1" Bike Thief _Ghost Of Providence_

"Providence Portal" Annie Hamilton _The Future Is Here But It Feels Kinda Like The Past_

conclusion & goodbye

"Providence" Harpeth Rising _Shifted_

"Providence" Purple Ivy Shadows _White Electric_

Whither Providence?

(In Providence, they like to set the water on fire. Image from here.)

One of the things I'm very happy about is that no one - seriously no one - cares enough about this show to ask me, "Say, why is that your theme this week?" Even the folks with whom I make the fake interviews, who improvise based on the theme, wonder to me, "Why is the theme this week that?"

Please don't think I'm accusing anyone of being incurious or apathetic - I'm certain outside of a listener accidentally tuning in or my funny friends being funny, & with them even barely that, there are vanishingly few people besides me who even think of Self Help Radio. 

& most certainly I am not complaining. I do my level best to make as good a show as I can every week & if the best attention or interest my best efforts can garner is virtually no one thinking or caring about the show, what else can I do? Luckily I make the show mostly for me.

But also luckily it means that when there are times when I have a theme - like providence - & don't entirely remember why I chose the theme, I know it will frustrate no one because, as I've said, no one really cares. Did I pick a theme because of a city I visited? Or because of the challenge - are there two hours worth of songs I like about providence? Or something else? I simply don't know. & am not worried about saying so because, after all, who gives a shit? Nobody!

& that's about the number of folks who'll tune in tonight from midnight to 3am on 90.7fm in Portland & at kboo dot fm everywhere, even Providence, Rhode Island, where the river is on fire!

Preface To Providence: Hey, I've Been To Providence!

(a snapshot of Providence from Gurgle Merps)

It's true! In the fall of 1997, I accompanied two folks from KVRX to Providence for the NACB conference there. I believe it was November. It was snowing in Providence. We didn't do much sightseeing. I think we walked over to Brown University - it was closed but what were we going to do, sit in on a class?

We were a little bored so I paid for the three of us to go up to Boston to meet some people I knew from a Usenet group. It was cold in Boston but no snow. I enjoyed the train ride up there, & seeing Harvard, but remember virtually nothing about the experience. Here's a picture of me in Boston:

Look at me, clean shaven (ish) with cigarette in hand!

One nice memory of Providence was, the first night there, bar-hopping near the hotel & the places being packed. & asking someone where we could get something to eat & being told there was a late-night pizza place across the highway, which we went to.

A colleague of my wife lived in Province & hated it. But I'd kinda like to go back.

Is that the reason for the show, though? A memory from 27 years ago? Nope!