Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Black Cat Day

How maligned are our dear friends, the black cats? How they fear Halloween & the constant insults, affronts, & calumnies thrown their way! It turns out that these wonderful creatures have their own national day, & while that is a small stepping stone toward the ultimate goal of returning them to the god-like status they enjoyed in ancient Egypt, it's ain't nothing!

Tune in tomorrow to the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM for a celebration of the black cat. It'll also double as a Halloween show! 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm & online at xray dot fm.

If you feel at all like supporting the station that airs the Dickenbock Report while also showing your appreciation for hard-hitting news team, you can do so on this XRAY Pledge Drive Page!

This Week In Self Help (Oct 18 20 + 22)

It was a busy week. Let's see what happened.

Oh yeah. I subbed a show last Friday night. It's called Youth Randomonium & they let me even tho I am not a youth. Luckily I am random. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. It's also available on the Self Help Radio website. You'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

The Dickenbock Report reported on International Chef Day. You can listen to that show on the XRAY website. It's also available on the Self Help Radio website. You'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

Self Help Radio this week was about kaleidoscopes. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. It's also available on the Self Help Radio website. You'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

The last hour of the show was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming. I played lots of new releases. It's included in the KBOO link above, but if you'd like to listen to the show on it's on, you can do so on the Self Help Radio website. One last time I tell you that you'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

& that was it? & it was too much? Oh dear.

Self Help Radio 10224: Kaleidoscopes

It's true, yesterday I bought a kaleidoscope. I bought if from here. It's a D-I-Y device, it has a little plastic end that's removable so you can put things there - glitter, pebbles, beads, etc. - to make your own kaleidoscopic images. Instead I just pointed it at things - like the Self Help Radio logo. Which is where the image above comes from.

The show was kaleidoscoptic though, man! Lots of tunes with a psychedelic edge. I also got to talk to some oddballs. But I did spend most of the show playing with my new kaleidoscope.

You can play too but listen along at the KBOO web page or at the Self Help Radio web page. If you use the latter, remember the username SHR + password selfhelp. Lots of songs played & lots of stuff happening during the show. Most of it is listed below.

Most of it? Yeah! Like a kaleidoscope this show has some surprises!

Self Help Radio Kaleidoscopes show

"Kaleidoscope" Kaleidoscope _Tangerine Dream_

"Kaleidoscope" Procol Harum _Procol Harum_

"Kaleidoscope" Factree _A Lethal Dose Of Hard Psych (Authentic Way Cool Sixties Artefacts)_

"Kaleidoscope" The Litter _$100 Fine_

introduction & definitions

"Kaleidoscoptic" Shiva's Headband _Take Me To The Mountains_

"Kaleidoscope" Glenn Yarbrough _Bend Down & Touch Me_

"Carousels, Calliopes, Kaleidoscopes, & Clowns" Him He & Me _Him He & Me_

"Kaleidoscope" The Marmalade _Reflections Of The Marmalade_

"Kaleidoscope" Simple Minds _Celebration_

interview with toymaker & innovator Yvan Goode

"Kaleidoscope" Rain Parade _Emergency Third Rail Power Trip_

"Kaleidoscope World" The Chills _Kaleidoscope World_

"Sad Kaleidoscope" Razorcuts _R Is For... Razorcuts_

"Kaleidoscope" Yellow Sunshine Explosion _Yellow Sunshine Explosion_

"Kaleidoscope" Ride _Nowhere_

interview with Officer Yale Gentle

"Kaleidoskop" Fliehende Stürme _Ziellose Wege (Singles & Samplerbeiträge 1989-1998)

"Kaleidoscope" Teenage Filmstars _Star_

"Kaleidoscope" Pink Noise Test _Plasticized_

"I Was A Kaleidoscope" Death Cab For Cutie _The Photo Album_

"Kaleidoscope" Ringo Deathstarr _Colour Trip_

interview with Kaleidoscope director Yvette Grayson

"Kaleidoscope Eyes" Fireflies _Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Moon_

"Kaleidoscope" Jill Cunniff _City Beach_

"Kaleidoscopes" Teenage Joans _The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest_

"Kaleidoscope" Sam Morton _Daffodils & Dirt_

"Kaleidoscope Eyes" Burnt Ones _Black Teeth & Golden Tongues_

conclusion & goodbye

"Kaleidoscope" The Boo Radleys _Learning To Walk_

"Kaleidoscope" Jellybeat _Don't Let Us Be Misunderstood_

"Kaleidoscopic Lovers" The Avalanches _Wildflower_

Whither Kaleidoscopes?

It seems like I used to have a few kaleidoscopes. In the 1990s, there was a toy store near campus, & at least three times someone gifted me a kaleidoscope. I found a kaleidoscope once in the halls of my high school. I just took it, I never told anyone. I kept it next to my stereo in my room. I seem to remember bringing it to college in 1986. But did I?

Like everyone else, I have several drawers in several places where stuff goes - stuff you thought you were storing, but you probably will never use again. There's one right next to me in my room. I'll bet there's a kaleidoscope in there. Maybe two. But it was a kaleidoscope I saw but didn't take home (I'm a better person now) at one of my radio stations that made me remember the kaleidoscopes I used to have. & it made me think, "Have a done a show about kaleidoscopes?" & also, "If I haven't, should I do a show about kaleidoscopes?"

That show happens tonight! From midnight to 2pm on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. So many songs & some interviews involving kaleidoscopes. Like we do.

Preface To Kaleidoscopes: That Familiar Feeling

(This is a kaleidoscope? From here.)

It may seem like I keep detailed records for this show - this show that has been on for twenty-two years - & in fact I do keep a web page - this one here - where I list all the themes I've explored - on Self Help Radio & on the Dickenbock Report. I don't, but I do have some resources. Despite that, I sometimes plan & plan & plan for a theme & it turns out I've already explored it.

That brings us to kaleidoscopes. If you had asked me a year if I had done a Self Help Radio episode about kaleidoscopes, I would have said maybe? Or probably? Or I think so? With the question marks in the answers! But I can't find any record that I actually spent an entire show on kaleidoscopes. I have played the sixties bands Kaleidoscope & Kaleidoscope. I have played music from the Siouxsie & The Banshees record Kaleidoscope. & I have played (& will play on this show) the Chills' song "Kaleidoscope World." But none of my records suggest I have done a show with the theme "kaleidoscopes."

& yet I can't help feeling that I have. It's a weird thing. & no, I'm not going to compare it to a kaleidoscope, that's not what this is leading up to. Did you think I set this whole thing up to say something about "multiple reflections" or "fragments of thought being mixed up"? Shame on you! I wouldn't waste your time with such trite writing. I mean, isn't it obvious I put very little thought into these things I write?

Having said all that - I guess I have never done a show about kaleidoscopes. But I will! This Tuesday!