Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Sandwich Day

Never before has it felt more fortuitous for a program to be on during the noontime hour!

November 3 is National Sandwich Day & that's what we'll do doing - not just eating lots of sandwiches - which we always do during our show - it's lunchtime! - we'll also be reporting on & playing musical reports about sandwiches.

That's tomorrow - Sunday - from 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Bring the chips, will ya?

This Week In Self Help (Oct 25 27 29 + 31)

On Friday last week I caught a cold. It happens. It wasn't covid thankfully! But I was laid out for most of Saturday having sudafed lunches with nyquil chasers.

However I got the cold, I was not sick when I subbed KBOO's The Songcircle last Friday. It was a lot of new releases. For some reason the show did not end up on the KBOO website. Luckily I recorded it & put it on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

Sunday morning I was convinced the worst was behind me. It wasn't true but I foolishly made my way up to XRAY for this week's The Dickenbock Report. That show was sort of a Halloween show because it was National Black Cat Day. You can listen to that show on the XRAY website. Or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

My wife made me promise to rest & get better & not go up to KBOO on Monday night & infect everyone there. So I made the Halloween show - about scarecrows - from home. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. Or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

The KBOO show contains an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming but it's a repeat of last week's episode. I just wasn't well enough to make another show. My apologies.

& Halloween is over, but I did manage to make a one-hour Halloween special - it's about zombies - for KBOO on Halloween night. You can listen to all five hours - 7pm to midnight - on the KBOO website. My hour aired from 9-10pm, & tho I haven't added the playlist to my website yet, you can can still download the show from there if you'd like. Remember: you might need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access.

That was fun to make. & I'm feeling a lot better now!

Scarecrow Movies

(image from Letterboxd)

Our resident cinephile Chuck came to the show this week to talk all about films tagged with "scarecrow" on the IMDb. You can listen to that show at selfhelpradio dot net if you haven't already & once you've heard Chuck's segment, check out these handy links which will enhance the experience:

YouTube playlists of films and trailers.

Here is Chuck's Letterboxd list. Here are his Letterboxd reviews.

(Chuck puts the links to available videos in the notes for the films plus where they are available to stream for free.)

Here is the IMDb keyword search list.

Chuck has a Twitter account & a Bluesky account where he has posted about some of the films. If you like what you see, follow him! He usually follows you back.

Keep an eye on those scarecrows in the field or decorating people's lawns on Halloween night - I wouldn't trust them.

Self Help Radio 102924: Halloween 2024 - Scarecrows!

As far as I know, no scarecrows sneaked out of the fields last night to murder unsuspecting families on their isolated farms. Could it be they were enchanted by an entire radio show about them? You're welcome!

Some believe the average scarecrow is mostly good & helpful, & that's what we explored in music & in interviews on this show early this morning. Perhaps it might be good to listen to the show on Halloween night when the kids have finished trick or treating & it's time for some shut-eye - after all, don't you have a little scarecrow decoration in your front yard? Maybe in the house? & it sometimes makes you feel uncomfortable? Hm?

You can listen to this show now or any time at either the KBOO web page or the Self Help Radio web page. If you choose the latter, you may need the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access. In any event - be careful!

Everything that happened on the show is below. Happy Halloween!

Self Help Radio 241029 Halloween 2024 - Scarecrows!

"Scarecrow" Paul Robeson _The Complete EMI Sessions (1928-1939)_

"Scarecrow" Lazy Smoke _Corridor Of Faces_

"Scarecrow" Pink Floyd _The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn_

introduction & definitions

"Scarecrow's Love Affair" Blues Magoos _Basic Blues Magoos_

"Scarecrow" Blakewood Castle _The Best Of Franklin Records_

"The Scarecrow" June Tabor _Abyssinians_

"Scarecrow" James _Stutter_

interview with Scarecrow Killer survivor Leona Quinn

"Scarecrow" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Peepshow_

"Scarecrow" Eddi Reader _Eddi Reader_

"Rather Be A Scarecrow" Marbles _Pyramid Landing & Other Favorites_

"Scarecrow" Jumprope _From The Bullpen (...A Hey Buddy Compilation)_

"Scarecrow People" XTC _Oranges & Lemons_

interview with human scarecrow Liam Quarterman

"Scarecrow Man" Misfits _Famous Monsters_

"The Scarecrow" Circulus _The Lick On The Tip Of An Envelope Yet To Be Sent_

"Scarecrow" Hello, Blue Roses _The Portrait Is Finished & I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty_

"Life Of The Fields" Momus _Otto Spooky_

interview with phobias specialist Dr. Louis Quayles

"Scarecrow" Emi Sunshine & The Rain _Family Wars_

"Scarecrow" The Scarecrows _The Scarecrows_

"I'm Building A Scarecrow" Hollow Horse _Leave Without Saying Goodbye_

"Scared Scare Crow" Caspar Babypants _Hot Dog!_

interview with activist Larry Queen, who seeks to ban scarecrows

"Scarecrow" Firehorse _Pills From Strangers_

"The Scarecrow" The Residents _Intruders_

"Scarecrow Hair & Saucer-Eyed" Martin Newell _Martin Newell's Jumble Sale_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by +
conclusion & goodbye

"Scarecrow Man" David Olney _When The Deal Goes Down_

Whither Scarecrows (Halloween 2024)?

That image above - is it a scarecrow? - from a display in the window of a neighborhood salon, Dye Dye My Darling. My wife insisted I take a picture to share with you for this show. I guess it's a scarecrow. It seems a mixture of alien & scarecrow. Which is a movie I'd like to see!

Yes, tonight is Self Help Radio's annual Halloween show & this year it's about scarecrows. I've tried to pick the spookier songs about scarecrows I can find but the subject matter lends itself often more toward the sad - a scarecrow is a pathetic figure, wearing cast-off clothes, standing forever alone in a field. Its one job to keep living things away from itself. Until it climbs down & murder everyone! & who can blame it?

That's tonight, midnight to 2am, on 90.7fm in Portland, online everywhere at kboo dot fm. That's right, it starts at the witching hour! I hope you're safe in your homes....

Preface To Scarecrows: Halloween Theme Dilemma

Self Help Radio has been on the air for over 22 years now. Every Halloween (except one) there's been a Halloween show. It's not that I love Halloween - I'm not really the "dressing up" kind - but I know you love Halloween. & there are lots of songs that fit into the Halloween framework. But because this is Self Help Radio & I'm me, I can't just do a general Halloween show every year. It has to be about something specific. & after two decades, I am probably running out of ideas. Yes, I've complained about this before.

To recap:
The first Self Help Radio in 2002 was a general Halloween show. I wasn't sure how long I'd be doing the show at that point & it hadn't quite come together anyway.

The next six shows (2003-2009, excluding 2004) were pretty straightforward Halloween subjects: ghosts, vampires, monsters, zombies, witches, & werewolves.
What happened in 2004? I think there was a band in town & I wanted to play them instead of doing a Halloween show.

I had to get a little creative from then on out.

2010-2013 was haunted houses, graveyards, nightmares, & hell.

2014 was mummies. I kinda saved that theme until I had run out of ideas. But had I?

No!

2015-2018 was clowns, death, black cats, & voodoo.

2019 was an entire show about Frankenstein's monster there was some related content in the monsters show from 2006.

2020 was called "attack of the self help radio" & featured lots of creatures as from science fiction movies using the phrase "attack of the..."
2021 I had a show about pumpkins. Not very scary, but Halloween-ish.

2022 I revisited a theme that should've been a Halloween show but now was: spiders.

& last year I came up with ghost towns but also not very scary.

This year it's scarecrows. I think it's a good idea. But I thought that about ghost towns. So. We'll see.

The lesson is, it always feels like I'm running out of ideas, until such time as I actually will.