Self Help Radio 041525: Bomb

This morning a caller asked about the book my first guest talked about. It always seems painfully obvious to me the calls are made up - after all, it's the same voices week after week - but occasionally I need to tell people it was just improv & we were trying to be funny. But the caller was not happy - he actually got a little angry - & said, "Well I didn't think it was funny."

Boom! A sad bomb dropped on the show with the theme "bomb."

Just a caveat - I was very sleepy & made a few mistakes. I am just glad it didn't blow up on me.

Listen now - at the KBOO web page - or at the Self Help Radio web page. Use the username SHR & password selfhelp if you need to. Everything that happened on the show is listed below.

I thought that ticking sound would go away after the show but now it's getting louder...

Self Help Radio Bomb show

"Bomb" Tom Verlaine _Flash Light_

"Car Bomb" Negativland _Escape From Noise_

"Bomb The Twist" The 5.6.7.8's _Bomb The Twist_

introduction & definitions

"Stop The Bombs" The Smittens _A Little Revolution_

"Cluster Bomb Boy" Candypants _Candypants_

"Suicide Bombers" George Carlin _When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?_

"Bombs Away" The Police _Zenyatta Mondatta

"Bombers Bay" Echo & The Bunnymen _Echo & The Bunnymen_

interview with author Taylor Laughton

"Cherry Bomb" The Runaways _The Definitive Story Of CBGB (The Home Of U.S. Punk)_

"I Was A Human Bomb For The FBI" Zombina & The Skeletones _Monsters On 45_

"Bomb Water" Hannibal Buress _Animal Furnace_

"Spanish Bombs" The Clash _London Calling_

"5 Minutes (C-C-C Club Mix)" Bonzo Goes To Washington _5 Minutes_

interview with Chuck (not his real name)

"Bomb The Bourgeosie" Free Loan Investments _Youth Will Understand_

"Ticking Time Bomb" All Girl Summer Fun Band _2_

"Defusing A Bomb" Bob Newhart _Something Like This: The Bob Newhart Anthology_

"Bomb" The Steamkings _Boom!_

"You Always Want To Bomb The Middle East" Cheekface _Too Much To Ask_

idioms

"Love's Like A Bomb" Elk City _Status_

"Pretty Time Bomb" Sam Phillips _Push Any Button_

"Little Time Bomb" Billy Bragg _Workers Playtime_

"Bombers" David Bowie _Hunky Dory_

"Bombers" Tubeway Army _The Plan_

conclusion & goodbye

"Waiting For The Bomb" Terry Malts _Lost At The Party_

"Bone Bomb (vocals, Aylie Cooke)" Brian Eno _Another Day On Earth_

"Daisy Bomb" Robyn Hitchcock _A Star For Bram_

"Ciao Ciao Bomb" Twig _Ciao Ciao Bomb 7"_

Whither Bomb?

(image by Ai Weiwei found here)

It looks like lots of bombs up there but for some reason I wrote down "bomb" as the theme & so that's the theme.

This is another one of those themes that came from haunting news. Reading about bombings recently in Gaza & Ukraine made me unhappy & then made me look for songs about bombs. There are so many that I had to exclude songs about atomic, hydrogen, neutron, & nuclear bombs. That could be a whole other show. It was still hard to sift through the rest. & tho I won't really talk about current events on the show, I hope it's known how horrible & cowardly I find bombing. I don't believe in a hell but I would approve of an arrangement where those somehow involved in bombing had to spend some time before their final rest being bombed into oblivion over & over.

Oh yeah my radio show. The show is tonight midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. I promise, it won't be as heavy as I've been right now.

Preface To Bomb: I Dunno

(found on the web in 2015 - not sure where)

Life is a bomb. Death is a bomb. Sleep is a bomb. Work is a bomb. Play is a bomb.

Merriam-Webster says a bomb is "an explosive device fused to detonate under specified conditions."

Holy shit everything is a bomb.

(Apologies it's been a long day.)

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Make Lunch Count Day

(photo by Robert Frank, 1948, found here)

April 13 is Make Lunch Count Day. The Dickenbock Report is on during lunchtime. It's the sort on synergy one never expects from a news program. But there you are. Have lunch while listening to musical reports about lunch.

It's also XRAY's Spring Fund Drive & you can support XRAY & the Dickenbock Report by going to the XRAY website & giving what you can. If you'd like to support The Dickenbock Report specifically, you can do so by clicking here. But of course the goal is to support XRAY!

The Dickenbock Report reporting on Make Lunch Count Day happens Sunday April 13 from noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, & online everywhere at xray dot fm.

We'll split the check, right?

This Week In Self Help (April 4 6 8 + 10)

(Strip Club Humor, Fort Worth TX)

It was a busy week. Let me show you.

April 4. I subbed the Songcircle on KBOO. I played songs about presidents on the flimsiest of pretexts. Show on the KBOO website here. Show on the Self Help Radio website here.

April 6. The Dickenbock Report played lots of tomato songs on Fresh Tomato Day. Show on the XRAY website here. Show on the Self Help Radio website here.

April 8. Self Help Radio had the theme "gentlemen." Show on the KBOO website here. Show on the Self Help Radio website here.

Also April 8. Corporate Standardized Programming showcased lots of artists we lost in December 2024. It's the last hour of the Self Help Radio file above, but if you'd like to hear it as a single show, it's on the Self Help Radio website here.

Finally, April 10. I subbed Welcome To Your Good Day on XRAY. Tried to raise some money because it's the station's Spring Fund Drive. Did not raise any money. But. Show on the XRAY website here. Show on the Self Help Radio website here.

As it says on the Self Help Radio page - if you need a username try SHR, & if you need a password try selfhelp.

That's it. That was my hectic week.

Self Help Radio 040825: Gentlemen

(original image here)*

People keep telling me the above picture is of penguins. All I can see are three distinguished gentlemen. Very rude to refer to gentlemen as birds!

Speaking of rude - I'm pretty sure this is a radio show about gentlemen, not for gentlemen, as I imagine the average gentleman doesn't listen to the radio. I suspect the average gentleman believes the radio listens to him. Nevertheless, enjoy a radio peek into how the gentleman is perceived over decades of music.

You can listen now at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, please remember the username is SHR & the password is selfhelp. Almost everything that happened on the show is noted below. I didn't note, for example, when I dropped something during the first few seconds of my first airbreak. Why draw attention to that sort of amateurish behavior?

Seriously, penguins? Those gentlemen up there are dapper!

Self Help Radio Gentlemen Show

"Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love" Mary Martin _Echoes Of The 20s & 30s_

"Gentleman Friend" Sarah Vaughan _1947-1949_

"He's Such A Gentleman" Doris Day _It's Magic (1947-1950)_

introduction & definitions

"The Gentleman Is A Dope" Jo Stafford _Swingin' Down Broadway_

"Gentleman Friend" Blossom Dearie _My Gentleman Friend_

"Where Did The Gentleman Go" Julie London _Love On The Rocks_

"Le Gentleman De Cocody" Nancy Holloway _Portrait 1961-1974_

"Gentleman" Livingston Taylor _Liv_

interview with Jeff Clay, editor-in-chief of Kentucky Gentlemen magazine

"Tighten Up" Yellow Magic Orchestra _Kyoretsu Na Rhythm - Characters - The Best Of YMO_

"Gentlemen Take Polaroids" Japan _Gentlemen Take Polaroids_

"Gentlemen & Pettycoats" The Actor _Exploded View_

"Gentlemen On The Wrist" Attila The Stockbroker _Ranting At The Nation_

"The Gentleman Soldier" The Pogues _Rum Sodomy & The Lash_

interview with Miss Katerina, headmistress of the Gresham School For Young Gentlemen

"Gentleman" Eddy Current Suppression Ring _Rush To Relax_

"Gentleman" Black Lips _Sing In A World That's Falling Apart_

"Gentlemen Vs. Dudes" Aziz Ansari _Buried Alive_

"So As A Gentleman You Should Be More Polite" Cocosuma _Pointing Excitedly To The Sky_ 

"Gentlemen & Ladies" Josephine Foster _Domestic Sphere_

interview with Mr Cadbury of the Portland Gentlemen's Gentlemen School

"It Takes No Gentleman" The Servants _Reserved_

"Gentleman Caller" Hellfire Sermons _Hymns, Ancient & Modern_

"Gentlemen's Agreement" The Fall _Code: Selfish_

"Gentleman" Dorian Electra _My Agenda_

"A Genuine Gentleman (feat. Aceyalone)" RJD2 _The Fun Ones_

conclusion & goodbye

"Gentleman" Fela Kuti & Africa 70 _Gentleman_

* "Emperor Penguins" by Lin Padgham is licensed under the Attribution 2.0 Generic deed.

I have modified it by adding the Self Help Radio logo. Used by permission.

Whither Gentlemen?

(photo by Sylwia Mazurek from here)

Inspiration can be complicated & it can be simple. It can shine brilliantly like the classic lightbulb over the head or lightning strike in the comics or it can be a little dumb. Me, I take what I can get. This is a very simple story of how I came up with the idea of "gentlemen" being the theme of this week's show.

A long time ago I made a mix CD for my wife when she's driving. (We have a car so old it has a CD player in it.) It was an mp3 CD so has several hours of music on it. She requested a few songs but I mainly put stuff on it that I thought she'd like. While driving a few weeks back I wasn't finding anything on the radio I liked - this is a rarity in Portland - so I checked what was on the CD she keeps forever in the CD player in the car.

One of the songs that I had put on the CD - & which played - was the Yellow Magic Orchestra cover of "Tighten Up." I've always loved this version, especially when they say, "Japanese gentlemen, stand up please." It's repeated through the song. & somehow it stayed in my head - how many songs could there be about gentlemen? I remembered to make a note once I was home. & thus the show became a possibility in the future.

(Seriously resisting birth metaphors here.)

The gentlemen show will happen tonight on KBOO. Midnight to 3am. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. It's about gentlemen, not necessarily for gentlemen.

Preface To Gentlemen: Stooges

When I was a kid, from 7-8am on I think channel 11 in Dallas/Fort Worth, there was a show called Slam Bang Theater. It was a bona fide children's show with a real host from 1959 to 1972 (see its IMDb page for more details) but by the time I was watching it before school - probably from 1976 until maybe 1980 - it was just a show that showed old cartoons & at least two edited Three Stooges shorts a day. I can't tell you how many of those I watched but I can tell you that I am so familiar with these that when I decided to do a show with the theme gentlemen it made me think of a particular joke that happened a lot in those shorts. I'll let the guy with the Youtube collection from which I took the above screenshot explain that joke:

Somebody refers to the Stooges as gentlemen...

...& the Stooges respond by looking around...

...& asking "Who came in?"

So charmed was I by that it has stayed in my head those fifty or so years. & so charmed am I by the internet when I discovered someone collected those instances here:

Great 3 Stooges Running Gag: "Gentlemen! Who Came In?"

Might one or two of these end up on tomorrow's show? I wonder...

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Fresh Tomato Day

April 6 is Fresh Tomato Day. Also known as National Tomato Day. Separate from both Fresh Tomato Day (tomato pronounced ta-mah-to) & National Tomato Day (also in this case tomato pronounced ta-mah-to). We must also distance ourselves from British Tomato Fortnight (May 26 - June 8, most definitely pronounced ta-mah-to), but acknowledge it's happening during Fresh Florida Tomato Month (which is April) although I don't think there's any connection. Maybe we should research that.

In any event, we'll be reporting on - including musical reports - the tomato tomorrow on the Dickenbock Report. That's Sunday, April 6, from noon to 1pm, on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

As well, it's XRAY's Spring Fund Drive, so please donate if you can!

This Week In Self Help (March 30 + April 1)

(image from the Wikipedia)

A reg'lar ol' week for me, with so many songs for Self Help Radio it expanded into Corporate Standardized Programming so it might as well have been just two shows. Anyway here they are:

The Dickenbock Report on XRAY was a show for National Pencil Day.
Listen on the XRAY website. Listen at Self Help Radio dot net.

Self Help Radio was an April Fools' Day show.
Listen on the KBOO website. Listen at Self Help Radio dot net.

Corporate Standardized Programming continued the April Foolery.

It's on the KBOO file above. Or listen by itself at Self Help Radio dot net.

That's all. That's all I did this week.

Oh. Did I mention if you listen to a file at the Self Help Radio website you might need a username & password? If you do, use SHR & selfhelp.

Now that's all.

Self Help Radio 040125: April Fools' Day

Happy April Fools' Day!

If you'll note the playlist below - & if you read the previous blog posts where I complained about how many songs that feature the word "fool" just in their title there are - you may note my solution to the problem was to play an hour of songs about April Fools' Day & then an hour where all the songs (but one) have the title "Fool" or "The Fool." What a fool I surely am.

Listen to the show because it's April Fools' Day at either the KBOO website or the Self Help Radio website. You'd be a fool not to know to use the username SHR & password selfhelp to access the file at the Self Help Radio site. Lots of stuff happens on the show - most of it is listed below.

By the way I played another hour of songs just called "Fool" on the show after this one, which is part of the KBOO link above, & also on the Self Help Radio website. So there were actually three hours of April Fools' content.

Which almost feels like an April Fools' Day prank.

Self Help Radio April Fools' Day Show

"April, April Fool" The McGuire Sisters _Children's Holiday_

"April Fool" Audrey Morris _Bistro Ballads Sung By Audrey Morris_

"April Fool" Matt Monro _Love Is The Same Anywhere_

"April Fool's Day" Marty Robbins _Country 1960-1966_

"The April Fools" Dionne Warwick _The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits_

"April Fool" Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane _Rough Mix_

"April's Fool" Kurt Wagner & Cortney Tidwell Present Kort _Invariable Heartache_

"April Fool" Readeez _Songeez_

"April Fool" Brave Combo _Holidays!_

Carla tells us about April Fools' Day at a retirement village

"April Fool" Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally _House & Garden_

"April Fool" Patti Smith _Banga_

"April Fools" The Fresh & Onlys _House Of Spirits_

"April Fool" Duncan Reid & The Big Heads _Little Big Head_

"April Fools (Live)" Al Madrigal _Live From D.C._

"April Fool's Day" Moonchild Sanelly _Phases_

Mr. Kershaw tells us about April Fools' Day among third graders

"Fool" Johnny Kendall & The Heralds _On The Move_

"Fool" The Stingrays Of Newburgh _Fuzz, Flaykes, & Shakes Vol. 3: Stay Out Of My World_

"Fool" Blue Cheer _Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970_

"Fool" Trees _Anthems In Eden (An Anthology Of British & Irish Folk 1955-1978)_

"Occupation: Foole" George Carlin _Occupation: Foole_

"The Fool" Ludus _Pickpocket/Danger Came Smiling_

Cyrus tells us about an April Fools' Day prank

"Fool" All _Allroy's Revenge_

"Fool" The Bloody Marys _Sixteen Hail Marys: The Best Of The Bloody Marys 1985-2004_

"Fool" Blur _Leisure_

"The Fool" The Hit Parade _The Sound Of The Hit Parade_

"The Fool" Call & Response _Call & Response_

"Fool" Cat Power _You Are Free_

conclusion & goodbye

"The Fool" Richard Thompson _1000 Years Of Popular Music_

"The Fool" Ghost Society _The Back Of His Hands, Then The Palms_

Whither Fool?

(image from here)

Holy wow I think this is the first time in over 22 years that there's been an episode of Self Help Radio on April 1st! I've done radio shows on this day, but not Self Help Radio. What are the odds?

Also I have done a radio show with the theme "fool." It was in the show's first year. On April 2. So it didn't make a lot of sense.

It seemed the right idea to revisit the theme on this April 1 because I hadn't done a show for April Fool's Day in decades but as I mentioned yesterday I have hundreds of songs whose titles mention the word "fool." As a noun. Excluding verb & adjective uses. & there was no real way I could listen to all those songs & it would've felt weird to just pick out my favorites & ones I was very familiar with - which would've meant a lot from the 2003 show. So. I've divided the show in two. The first hour will feature songs about April Fool's Day. The second will feature songs with the title "Fool" or "The Fool." There are so many of those they'll doubtless bleed into the show Corporate Standardized Programming.

Three hours of fool-ishness. Midnight to 3am. Tonight (or tomorrow, which is April Fool's Day). On 90.7fm in Portland, & online at KBOO dot fm.

& you know this is not an April Fool because I am writing it on March 31st duh.

Preface To Fools: Uh Oh

Image of course by the excellent Poorly Drawn Lines.

Listen. I just discovered I have over one hundred songs to listen to for this show.

That's a day's worth of songs.

Seems like I'm gonna be busy.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Pencil Day

(image by Proidemtes)

March 30 is National Pencil Day. Wow, it's been a while since I used a pencil. I probably should find a pencil to use for this show. Where in the world would there be a pencil in this house? Do I need to go buy a pencil? I should go buy a pencil. I'll have a pencil for the show. I have it behind my ear the entire time. I promise.

That's tomorrow, Sunday, March 30, from noon to 1pm, on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online at xray dot fm. Yeah, I'll need to go buy a pencil, I can't find any around here.

This Week In Self Help (March 21 23 + 25)

So I typed "silhouette" into my search window & this is one of the images it came up with. A creepy dark silhouette series of - what? The answer is - people gathered for a fireworks show in my Fort Worth neighborhood in 2017. It was dark, we could barely see anything, & my camera always sucks. My wife hated it so we didn't stick around but I did try to take some pictures - like the one above.

My week in radio starts a week ago. Do I need to remind you if you go to a link on the show's webpage, selfhelpradio dot net, you might need the username SHR & the password selfhelp? No? Just in case, it's there if you need it.

The Songcircle I subbed a week ago. Here it on the KBOO website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

The Dickenbock Report reported on Near Miss Day. Here it is on the XRAY website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Self Help Radio had the theme "silhouettes." Here it is on the KBOO website. Here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Corporate Standardized Programming played lots of new releases. It is part of the Self Help Radio link on KBOO above, but if you'd like to listen to it alone, here it is on the Self Help Radio website.

Finally, I helped a fellow deejay, DJ Shoeless Joe Jackson, make a special show for Freeform Portland during their fundraiser - click here to help. You can listen to the show on the Spinitron website for at least two weeks, or you can listen on the Self Help Radio website.

Seriously, though, I really am trying to not bother you so much on the radio. Really.

Self Help Radio 032525: Silhouettes

That silhouette up there - of the cat, not the Self Help Radio logo which has rudely attached itself to the other silhouette - is named Aubrey. Somewhere in the show is a story about her. I'm not going to tell you where. Because I am a little embarrassed about the stuff I create for the show & don't want to draw attention to it.

Also the show includes technical difficulties. This has happened on my last two KBOO programs. I keep forgetting to mention it to people at the station who might be able to fix it. But oh well. I don't know if it hurts the listening enjoyment, mainly because I'm not sure if anyone actually enjoys listening to my show.

The show! Oh yeah! You can listen to it at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, you might need the username SHR & the password selfhelp. Everything that happens on the show is below. Except the story about Aubrey The Silhouette. Although I'll tell you now. It's after the Call & Response song.

& now to the playlist.

Self Help Radio Silhouettes Show

"Silhouetted In The Moonlight (vocal, Martha Tilton)" Benny Goodman Trio _The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings_

"A Cigarette & A Silhouette (with Red Norvo & His Orchestra)" Mildred Bailey _The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Mildred Bailey_

"Miss Silhouette" The Volumes _The Golden Era Of Doowops: The Groups Of Chex Records_

introduction & definitions

"Dancing Silhouettes" Thurston Harris _Little Bitty Pretty One: Complete Early Recordings_

"Silhouette Of My Dream" Ricky Morvan & The Fens _The Story Of Ricky Morvan & The Fens_

"Silhouettes" Andy Griffith _The Wit & Wisdom Of Andy Griffith_

"Heartbreak In Silhouette" Jim Reeves _Chronological Classics 1962-1963_

"Silhouette" Marlo & Lutia Lauzon _Marlo & Lutia Lauzon_

interview with author Roderick Nelson

"Silhouette" Razorcuts _Storyteller_

"Silhouette Town" East River Pipe _Goodbye California_

"Silhouette" Call & Response _Winds Take No Shape_

"Silhouette" Nasmak _Silhouette_

"We Will Become Silhouettes" Postal Service _Give Up_

interview with director Matt Sherman

"The Moon Turns Branches To Silhouettes" Trembling Blue Stars _Little Darla Has A Treat For You Volume 25: Endless Summer 2007-08_

"Just A Silhouette" Exlovers _You Forget So Easily_

"Silhouette" Julia Holter _Have You In My Wilderness_

"Silhouette" Le Couleur _Concorde_

"Silhouette City (ft. Andreas Gregor)" Datafreq _Fun For The Whole Family_

silhouette making workshop Ned Dry & McCheese interrupt

"Moonlit Silhouette" Henry & The Bleeders _This Is Psychobilly (25 Years Of Rockin' & Wreckin')_

"Silhouette" Ceremony _Rocket Fire_

"Silhouettes" Viet Cong _Viet Cong_

"The Sea In Silhouette" Roselit Bone _Ofrenda_

"Silhouettes (feat. Veronique Vincent)" Aksak Maboul _Figures_

conclusion & goodbye

"Pseudo Silhouette" Placebo _England's Trance_

Whither Silhouettes?

(image from here)

Tonight's Self Help Radio has the theme "silhouettes." You probably know what a silhouette is. It's an image. What comes from the radio is sound. Sometimes that sound includes voices which talk about images. In that case you have to use your brain to create the images in your mind.

Nothing I am saying right now is new, of course. But I saw a series of silhouettes in someone's backyard a month or two ago & my brain started thinking about songs about silhouettes. It seemed like such an interesting thing to use words & music about a subject matter that was so specifically visual. In a sense, letting you hear a silhouette.

That led to tonight's show. Which is on midnight to 2am on 90.7fm here in Portland & online everywhere at kboo dot fm. If you're around. & wanna listen.

Preface To Silhouettes: Silhouette Spring

That picture above was taken with a pretty cheap & terrible digital camera on April 9, 2015. Nearly ten years ago. How different my life was then! I mean, I was doing Self Help Radio, & I was married to the love of my life, & I was surrounded by wonderful animals I loved too much. But.

Ten years later, I've lost half of those animals. I have three left, & they're oldies now. I'm doing Self Help Radio but twenty-five hundred miles to the west. The only constant is the love of my life, & she's the reason I have all the animals - she helps me care for them - & why I no longer live where that picture was taken.

Sometimes I think the dumb pictures I take are a little like diary entries but that picture above brings back no memories - I have no idea where in Lexington, Kentucky, where I was living at the time, it was taken. Just that it was taken at a lovely time of year - spring. My favorite time in Lexington!

The tree is in silhouette, it's true, not the blossoming leaves tho. But the picture is not called "Silhouette Tree." It's called "Silhouette Spring." It's poetical. Or pretentious, anyway.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Near Miss Day

(image from here)

March 23 is Near Miss Day - according to National Today dot com, "People around the world celebrate this day to be grateful that [an] asteroid didn't wipe us out!"

Perhaps that was written before the current political situation, but even if that's the case, we at the Dickenbock Report still feel we can report dispassionately about asteroids & meteors coming at us, threatening our destruction.

So we shall, tomorrow, noon to 1pm, on 91.1+ 107.1fm in Portland, online at xray dot fm.

Although if I were an asteroid, landing on Earth on Near Miss Day would be pretty cool.

This Week In Self Help (March 16 18 + 20)

A dumb announcement. I was on the radio a bit more than regularly this week. What happened? I'll tell you. But remember: if you click on any link for the Self Help Radio website, you may be asked for a username & password - try SHR & selfhelp.

The Dickenbock Report reported on Lips Appreciation Day. Listen on XRAY. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Self Help Radio was my eighth episode of the chronological appearances of Howard Gently on the show. Listen on KBOO. Listen at Self Help Radio.

Corporate Standardized Programming featured more artists we lost. It's on the KBOO file above. Listen to the show by itself at Self Help Radio.

Finally yesterday I helped my pal DJ Pete Rose (Not That Pete Rose) do a show on Freeform. Eclectic like they do. Listen over at Spinitron (for a couple weeks). Listen at Self Help Radio.

& I'll be hosting the Songcircle today but I'll post that next week.

Current radio fundraisers:
KBOO's All Thrills No Frills 4   +   Freeform Portland's Spring Fundraiser

Please help if you can.

Self Help Radio 031825: Howard Gently Year Four

Here it is, the eighth collection of improvised radio interviews performed by my friend Russell as "the Rev Dr Howard Gently" & me as "the mark." It's a very strange experience listening to these because I haven't since pretty much we recorded them - eight years ago! - & because of course I am hearing the voice of a friend I miss very much. Over & over I am impressed with how quick Russ is on his feet - when I bring up a collections agency calling me, he does not miss a beat - he confirms he's hired someone to collect my delinquent "donations." He was magnificent.

We had a lot of fun with what a weasel Howard Gently was. When he talks up a "Fates Ahoy!" cruise, I keep bringing it up in subsequent weeks, & his story changes every time. Poor me! I am trying to book a room on the cruise & the dates change even within the same conversation. I actually sound disappointed when he tells me I missed the cruise!

As you can see below, the segments are from 2017. I paired a song from the original show with the interview so it wouldn't be too talky. & I tried myself to talk as little as possible in-between. I am sad that one day I'll run out of these interviews. But I am glad we have a few more years to cover before that happens.

Listen to the show at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. For the latter, username SHR & password selfhelp may be helpful. The list of songs + bits is below. I truly hope you find this as funny & brilliant as I do.

Self Help Radio Howard Gently Year Four

"Human Race" Russell Miles _Human Race_ (Self-Released, 1986)

"Apple Scruffs" George Harrison _All Things Must Pass_ (Apple, 1970)

Howard Gently on the theme "Apples"

"Sweetheart Darling" Rose Batiste _Ladies Of Detroit Sound Vol. 1_ (Bar, 1997)

Howard Gently on the theme "Valentine's Day 2017"

"The Killing Moon" Echo & The Bunnymen _Ocean Rain_ (Sire, 1984)

Howard Gently on the theme "Fate"

"Spirit In The Sky" Norman Greenbaum _Super Hits Of The '70s - Have A Nice Day, Vol. 2_ (Rhino, 1990)

Howard Gently on the theme "In The Sky"

"Maybe You're Right" Cat Stevens _Mona Bone Jakon_ (A&M, 1970)

Howard Gently on the theme "Maybe"

"Ferris Wheel" Barbara Keith _Barbara Keith_ (Verve Forecast, 1969)

Howard Gently on the theme "Ferris Wheels"

"We Had A Really Smashing Time" The Hangovers _Slow Dirty Tears_ (Kill Rock Stars, 1998)

Howard Gently on the theme "Smash"

"Whales Tails" Cocteau Twins _Victorialand_ (4AD, 1986)

Howard Gently on the theme "Tails"

"Future Legend/Diamond Dogs" David Bowie _Diamond Dogs_ (RCA Victor, 1974)

Howard Gently on the theme "Diamonds"

"Bus Stop" The Hollies _Bus Stop_ (Imperial, 1966)

Howard Gently on the theme "Umbrellas"

"Johnny" Suicide _Suicide_ (Red Star, 1977)

Howard Gently on the theme "Johnny"

Howard Gently on the theme "Firsts"

"One Of These Things First" Nick Drake _Bryter Layter_ (Island, 1971)

Whither Howard Gently Year Four?

Tonight on the program I continue a tribute to a dear friend whom we lost almost two years ago. His name was Russell & he was very funny & for years he appeared on Self Help Radio on my "spiritual mentor" the Rev Dr Howard Gently. These bits were improvised around the show's theme, of course, & since Russell's death I've been playing them about every three months in chronological order.

This time around we'll begin with his 79th appearance on the show, which aired February 1, 2017. & I'll play a song from that show as well - one I hope Russell would approve of. & I'll talk a bit & hopefully not start crying & hope instead you'll focus on how funny he was, & how utterly committed he was to the bit.

That's tonight from midnight to 2am on KBOO. Which is on 90.7fm in Portland, & at kboo dot fm everywhere.

Here's a reminder that we're in our fundraising campaign & there are lots of specials so click here to listen to what's already happened & see what's coming up - & to donate of course. Thank you!

Preface To Howard Gently Year Four: Big Country

(image from Discogs)

This week on the show I am continuing my remembrance/celebration of my dear friend Russell whom we lost nearly two years ago. He appeared for years on Self Help Radio in improvised bits as my "spiritual mentor" The Rev Dr Howard Gently. I have almost finished his first three years as the character - he always felt we would run out of funnies with him but we never did.

& it's funny when you think about a person & their obsessions & what delighted them. Russ was utterly blown away by the debut album by Big Country. When it came out he was in his sophomore year in high school & I in my freshman year. & he all but made me go out & buy it. He talked about it endlessly, saw the band when they made it through Dallas, & followed them up until lead singer/songwriter Stuart Adamson's death.

What made me think about them is the song I'll play at the beginning of the show, a Russell original which has a Big Country-like guitar sound. I have so many memories of Russell talking about the album & its songs - there's one song where Adamson sings something like "aay yee yi yo" & Russell would joke about how educational the song was, seeing as it taught you all the vowels, & he would jokingly sing "aay yee yi yo yu sometimes y."

But perhaps the most poignant memory is what he wrote in my high school yearbook that year. I don't have the yearbook in front of me but I can remember it pretty clearly. He probably referred to me as "Dicker-bud," which was a kind of nickname he gave me, but almost certainly he wrote something like, "Remember, in the words of Big Country, 'stay alive.'"

Gosh I miss him so much.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Lips Appreciation Day

(Image by Alastair Philip Wiper from here)

March 16 is Lips Appreciation Day. Many, if not all, XRAY listeners have lips. This seems to be true for a large portion of the United States population as well. We do not have reliable data about the rest of the world.

Since even Dick Dickenbock has lips - at least one functioning lip anyway - we thought it a good idea to report on Lips Appreciation Day on this week's Report.

That's tomorrow, Sunday, March 16, on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. As always, kisses will be optional.

This Week In Self Help (March 9 + 11)

That head read my mind!

It was a quiet week for this deejay, only on the radio in my prescribed times, for which that small portion of Portland that listens to the radio was very grateful. Here's what I did:

The Dickenbock Report on XRAY celebrated Check Your Batteries Day with a show about checks. I mean batteries. Yes, it was batteries. Of course. Listen: on the XRAY website. Listen: on the Self Help Radio website.

Self Help Radio on KBOO had a show with the theme telepathy. Listen: on the KBOO website. Listen: on the Self Help Radio website.

Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO played lots of new releases. It's included in the KBOO file linked above, but if you'd like to hear it on its own, listen: on the Self Help Radio website.

Oh shit! I forgot to mention! If you click on any link to the Self Help Radio website, you may be asked for a username & password - please use SHR & selfhelp respectively. Thank you!

Self Help Radio 031125: Telepathy

No, Self Help Radio wasn't reading your mind this morning. It's a radio show! Which has been described as "mindless"! & I couldn't read your mind because I am not a telepath because - spoiler alert - telepaths aren't real.

Nevertheless the show today was all about telepathy & telepaths & telepathic things. One song was even called "Telepathetic" & it's embarrassing how much I relate to that term. Nonetheless - lots of songs, some silly interviews, even - if you listen long enough - a story about a telepath named Henri.

You can listen to this show - if you have to use ears like non-telepaths - at either the KBOO website or the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access. Most of what happened on the show is listed below.

Psi shields up!

Self Help Radio Telepathy Show

"Telepathy" Lene Lovich _Stateless_

"Telepathy" Sonic Tonix _Don't Go Away_

"Telepathy" A-Heads _Discography 1982-2009_

introduction & definitions

"Telepathy" Dave Davies _Glamour_

"Telepathy" Snips _La Rocca!_

"Telepathy" Eddy Grant _Going For Broke_

"Telepathy" The Drowning Room _Telepathy_

"Telepathy" New Bethel _Homemade Hits Vol. 1_

interview with telepath Zed Miller - the amazing Zed

"Mental Telepathy" B.T. Express _Give Up The Funk (The B.T. Express Anthology: 1974-1982)_

"Telepathy" Miles Kane _Colour Of The Trap_

"Telepathy" Whisper Hiss _Everything Must Go_

"Broken Telepathy" Soft Gang _Soft Gang_

"Telepathy" Swans _The Great Annihilator_

interview with telepathic defense trainer Julius Clark

"Telepathic Love" The Wipers _Alien Boy_

"Telepathic Traffic" Archers Of Loaf _Vee Vee_

"Telepathic World" Shalini _We Want Jelly Donuts_

"Telepathic" White Mystery _Telepathic_

"Telepathic Lover" Crocodiles _Dreamless_

interview with victim of telepaths Rosalie Jean

"Telepathetic" Sløtface _Sorry For The Late Reply_

"Telepathic Girls" Tochigi _A Crow So Large It Blocked Out The Sun_

"Telepathic Love" The Diableros _Aren't Ready For The Country_

"Telepathy Burns" Terminal Girls _Weird Lights_

"I Talk With Telepathy Baby" Outer Spacist _The Mind Is As Outer Space_

conclusion & goodbye

"Telepathic" The Bloodthirsty Lovers _The Bloodthirsty Lovers_

"Telepath" Boards Of Canada _Tomorrow's Harvest_

"Sexual Telepathy" Disappear Fear _Deep Soul Diver_

Whither Telepathy?

(image from Wikipedia)

One thing is true is that I wish I read more. I try to read more. I know people who read way more than I do. One of the things I do read a lot is science-fiction. Some fantasy, but a decent amount of sci-fi. I like the hard stuff but I'm okay with anything really if the story is engaging. & when taking inventory about the most recent books I read, I noticed something - they all seemed to feature either characters or entire group who had psychic abilities. Mostly telepathy - people taking with their minds. I thought that would be a nice theme for a show.

There's no guarantee of course but that's what tonight's Self Help Radio is about: all the recent sci-fi books I've read. No, I'm sorry. I misunderstood where I was going. I got a little confused. Is someone fucking with my thoughts? Tonight's show is about telepathy. If you already knew that, maybe you already know how the show is going to go. Or it that precognition?

Midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm, Also, I know what number you're thinking of. It's 7.435.

Preface To Telepathy: A Warning About Pedanticism

Just a note - I found that picture above on Tumblr a million years ago & don't know where it's actually from, I apologize don't sue me.

The theme of this week's show is "telepathy" & the definition of telepathy is "the ability to know what is in someone else's mind, or to communicate with someone mentally, without using words or other physical signals." In other words, reading someone's mind.

When I mentioned to my wife that that was the theme she said, "Wow! There's got to be a lot of songs where people talk about reading other people's minds."

She's probably right. But I can get so weird about my show & its themes, I had to say, "Maybe, but if I can find two hours worth of songs that specifically mention telepathy or being a telepath or hell even things that are telepathic, I'll play those songs before songs that mention mind-reading."

She said, "What is wrong with you?"

But it's true! I've been spending time looking for songs about telepathy, not just mind-reading. The way I look at it, mind-reading might be a whole other theme.

Yeah, I guess something is wrong with me.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Check Your Batteries Day

March 9 is Check Your Batteries Day. We think it has something to do with ending daylight savings time but to be honest we haven't done a lot of research yet. Don't tell Dick Dickenbock! He thinks we've been working on this all week.

Lots of musical reports about batteries plus news & commentary. That's tomorrow from noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm here in Portland & online at xray dot fm.

This Week In Self Help Radio (February 28 + March 2 3 4 + 6)

For some reason - maybe because they're more ubiquitous? - I have taken more pictures of slugs than snails. But I had a show this week about snails! Too bad. Here's a picture of a slug.

It was a busy week. There's a lot to cover. Remember: if you are listening to a show on the Self Help Radio website, you may need a username & password. Use SHR & selfhelp for those.

A week ago, on the last day of February, I subbed the Songcircle on KBOO. I played lots of new releases. How to listen? On the KBOO web page. On the Self Help Radio web page.

Sunday on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY, I celebrated Lou Reed's birthday with lots of his songs. How to listen? On the XRAY web page. On the Self Help Radio web page.

The last two hours of Monday - right before Self Help Radio on KBOO - I played a couple more hours of my favorite music from 1989. Sadly, KBOO doesn't archive sub shows but you can listen! How? On the Self Help Radio web page.

Like I said, this week's Self Help Radio was about snails. How to listen? On the KBOO web page. On the Self Help Radio web page.

Right after Self Help Radio, I had an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played music from artists we lost in November of 2024. How to listen? At the end of the Self Help Radio episode on the KBOO web page linked above. All by itself on the Self Help Radio web page.

Finally. I helped out a deejay - DJ Lance Armstrong (Not That Armstrong) - with his show Pardon This Interruption. How to listen? On the Spinitron web page (for a couple of weeks). On the Self Help Radio web page.

Sincerely I hope this was enough for you you insatiable radio monster!

Self Help Radio 030435: Snails

Behold! A radio show for the humble snail! Not that any snail will have time to listen to it. When I snapped the picture above, the snail took seven hours to cross the sidewalk. It was mesmerizing.

Will a show about snails be as hypnotic? That's not for me to say. It is for snails to say, & once they get here, I assume they will have a lot to say. But we may have to wait a bit. They have decided to detour to get some froyo.

Listen to the show for yourself. You can do so on the KBOO website click here! Or you can do so on the Self Help Radio website click here! (You may need to use the username SHR & password selfhelp to access.) Almost everything that happened on the show is listed below.

Behold! A radio show for the humble snail!

Self Help Radio Snail Show

"The Snail Song" The Town Criers _The Snail Song_

"(Get Off My Tail You) Sneaky Snail" The Gimicks _Buzzsaw Joint - Cuts 1 & 2_

"Snakes, Snails, & Puppydogs' Tails" Alma Cogan _Alma Cogan_

introduction & definitions

"Lament Of The Gastropod" Chris Knox _Songs Of You & Me_

"Snail Trail" Heavenly _Operation Heavenly_

"My Snails Have Not Yet Arrived" Les Barker _Up The Creek Without A Poodle_

"Mister Snail" Margo, Margo, Medress, & Siegel _Mister Snail_

"Snail" Grapple _The Psychedelic Experience Vol 4 (Ultra Rare Acid Punk Fuzz Monsters From The 60s!)_

interview with musician Charles Spangle

"Snail Head" Throwing Muses _Chains Changed_

"Snail Shell" They Might Be Giants _John Henry_

"Silver Snail" Pixies _Indie Cindy_

"Save The Snail" Camille West _Mother Tongue: Maternal Madness Month By Month_

"Migration Of The Snails" Melodic Energy Commission _Migration Of The Snails_

interview with snail ceramics artist Camille Morris

"Snails" Shantih Shantih _Winter In September_

"Slick As Snails" Robert Pollard & Doug Gillard _Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department_

"I Collect Snails" The Lovely Eggs _Have You Ever Heard The Lovely Eggs?_

"Snails" Weird Al Yankovic & Wendy Carlos _Peter & The Wolf/Carnival Of The Animals Part II_

"The Snail Trek, Parts 1 & 2" The Esplanade Orchestra _The Snail Trek_

interview with snail specialist Dr. Todd Hester

"Samba Snails" Sexton Ming _Marshan Love Secrets_

"Snail" Mink Lungs _The Better Button_

"Scared Of A Snail" Wolf Colonel _Vikings Of Mint_

"The Prince & The Enchanted Snail" Joan Gerber _The Story Lady_

"Snail Shells" Dana Falconberry & Medicine Bow _From The Forest Came The Fire_

conclusion & goodbye

"Snail" Benjamin B. _An Excelsior Recordings Compilation_

"Snails" Babybird _Outtakes_

"Snails" The Format _Dog Problems_

"Snails In The Creek" Alfredo Rodríguez _The Invasion Parade_

Whither Snails?

That picture up there - which I called "snails" - was taken in October 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas. It seems we came across some snails. Some of the shells appeared to be empty - or maybe the snails were hiding inside. I cannot remember if I ever asked or knew why a small group of snails were on some concrete in an area that I think was a neighborhood park.

(According to this site, "Groups of snails are called escargatoire, walk of snails, the rout of snails, or route of snails. Some other collective nouns used for snail gatherings are the trail, the hood, or the nursery of snails." If they asked me, I'd calling it a sliming of snails.)

Why though is tonight's show about snails? you ask.

It has been months since my last show about animals - I did a show about pandas last October - & I'm not counting the show about parasites I did in November - so I thought it was time for another show about animals. In my modest brainstorming (my brain works so modestly these days) I came up with snails. I wondered if there were lots of songs about snails. & I planned it for this week.

Tonight! Midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland, kboo dot fm everywhere. Prepare for a sliming of snail songs!

Preface To Snails: A Personal Connection

(image from here)

Most of the things I write here are somewhat personal & kinda dumb but this may be too much of both.

When the time came - in 1994 - for me to pick an email address, I chose this one: slug@mail.utexas.edu

That address doesn't exist anymore - I haven't worked at UT in a decade & a half & they retired that mail server. Why that address? I wasn't thinking, & I remembered at the time I had a D&D character in the 1980s I called Slug. That was it. Nothing personally about me. I regretted it - I wish I had been more clever - but that email was mine until I left UT in 2009.

In the 1990s tho I spent time on Usenet. If you don't know what that is, it's not important. It actually still exists, mainly for porn. Like everything else. But I was on what were called newsgroups & I wrote dumb stuff & made some friends, a few of whom I still talk to, mainly on Facebook. Because of my email, I identified myself with names related to slugs. For a while, my username was "Agriolimax reticulatus," the Linnean name for a common slug. It did not satisfy me tho so I looked for another one.

When I discovered the German name for a slug, I was charmed: nacktschnecke. It literally means "naked snail." So for the rest of my time on the Usenet, I was "Die Nacktschnecke." Some folks mistook the "nackt" for "nacht" but otherwise it was uncontroversial.

So you see - for a time I was a slug - a naked snail - which is why I feel a kind of personal connection to this week's theme. Not that I would be comfortable among slugs or snails - I am horrified by them. But in some let's say spiritual way oh yeah. We're a lot alike.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Lou Reed's Birthday

(image from here)

Lou Reed was born March 2, 1942. On what would have been his 83rd birthday, The Dickenbock Report on XRAY celebrates his life with artists who admired him & were influenced by him playing his songs. Also we'll have a couple of songs kinda about him. We recognize that so much of the music we love might not have existed if he did not.

Tomorrow, March 2, from 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm.

This Week In Self Help (February 23 + 25)

Okay, okay, I was on the radio today, but I'll cover that next week. I haven' had a chance to put it on my website yet jeez!

Sunday the 23rd was National Play Tennis Day. We explored that topic on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. You can listen to that show:
on the XRAY website
on the Self Help Radio website (you may need username SHR password selfhelp)

Tuesday the 25th Self Help Radio on KBOO had the theme "get better." You can listen that show:
on the KBOO website

on the Self Help Radio website (you may need username SHR password selfhelp)

Also Tuesday the 25th Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO played lots of new releases. It's the last hour of the file on the KBOO website above or you can listen to that show:

on the Self Help Radio website (you may need username SHR password selfhelp)

That's all. If you need me, I'll be preparing more radio shows while looking at grey clouds through the silhouettes of douglas firs. Oh who am I kidding it was a lovely day today!

Self Help Radio 022525: Get Better

Just a quick glance at the online news after doing a show with the hope that maybe just maybe it might help the world get a little better... Let's see... Okay. Yes. Hm. Well. Now, it seems actually a lot worse. Well great fucking job Gary.

Look, I knew nothing I could do would help make anything better in this utterly awful time in which we live but I nevertheless hold out hope. It's one of my most disappointing qualities, & I am someone who has mostly disappointing qualities. Nonetheless, if you need people singing the phrase "get better" a lot, if that might work as a kind of meditation for you, then perhaps this show will help your day get better.

Listen to it now either at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. At the latter use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access. Most of the stuff that happened on the show is listed below.

Let's hope it does get better soon.

Self Help Radio Get Better Show

"You Might Get Better, But You'll Never Get Well" Henry Allen & His New York Orchestra _Henry 'Red' Allen & His Orchestra 1929-1933_

"My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time" Doris Day _Daydreaming: The Very Best Of Doris Day_

"I'm Getting Better All The Time" Barbara Pittman _The Legendary Sun Records Story_

introduction & explanation

"Things Are Getting Better" The Kinks _Kinks_

"Things Are Going To Get Better" Small Faces _Small Faces_

"You're Getting Better" Ken Nordine _Word Jazz Vol. II_

"Love (It's Getting Better)" The Groove _The Magic Touch_

"Things Get Better" Sharon Tandy _You Gotta Believe It's... Sharon Tandy_

"It's Getting Better" Mama Cass Elliot _Make Your Own Kind Of Music - It's Getting Better_

interview with entrepreneur Dean Dearborn

"Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)" Marva Whitney _It's My Thing_

"I'm Getting Better" Rufus Thomas _The Funkiest Man (The Stax Funk Sessions 1967-1975)_

"The Deeper I Go (The Better It Gets)" Denise LaSalle _Trapped By A Thing Called Love_

"Things Are Going To Get Better" Crown Heights Affair _Dream World_

"Get Better" Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip _The Logic Of Chance_

interview with writer Drake Slade

"Getting Better" The Wedding Present _Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father_

"Getting Better" The Popinjays _Flying Down To Mono Valley_

"Things Will Get Better" Brighter _Disney & Other Singles_

"Get Better" New Fast Automatic Daffodills _Pigeonhole_

"World Is Getting Better" Patrik Fitzgerald _Gifts & Telegrams_

interview with writer Dolores Marx

"It Will Only Get Better" Thee Ahs _Sonic Theories: Live Sessions From CJSW 90.9 FM // 2012_

"Get Better" Mates Of State _Re-Arrange Us_

"Do You Really Want To Not Get Better" Joyce Manor _Cody_

"I'm Going To Get Better Lately" David Kilgour _The Far Now_

"I'm Getting Better At Falling In Love" Alex Lilly _Repetiton Is A Sin_

"Getting Better" Sports Team _Gulp!_

conclusion & goodbye

"Getting Better" Circus Devils _Squeeze The Needle_

"Life Gets Better" Bleach Lab _Lost In A Rush Of Emptiness_

Whither Get Better?

Before I tell you how this theme came about, I should tell you - or remind you, if I've told you before - that I don't have any supernatural beliefs. I certainly don't believe that there are acts, like magic spells, that one can do to help bring about favorable changes one might want. But I should also tell you - or remind you, if I've told you before -  that I grew up with comics & books & movies & television shows that were full of all kinds of supernatural sci-fi fantasy things that I longed to believe in. Occasionally I get the desire to hope for those things. The abject condition of my country has led me back to my childhood wishing.

The idea is, if I do a shown with a theme like "get better," might it throw something into the ether to help things get better? Political action & other kinds of resistance are doubtless more important & more helpful, but what can a dumb person who spends a lot of dumb time on a dumb radio show do but something kinda dumb? & that's how this week's theme came about. & hey I'm told that one's attitude can be helpful - hoping to make things better might encourage me to actually act to help make things better. One hopes.

One thing's for sure - Self Help Radio ain't getting any better!

Listen tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online everywhere at kboo dot fm. Everywhere like the United States where things are getting much, much worse.

Preface To Get Better: It'll Get Worse

A pessimist is: a person who habitually sees or anticipates the worst or is disposed to be gloomy (1).
A cynic is: a person whose outlook is scornfully & habitually negative (2).

A defeatist is: someone who is resigned to defeat without offering positive suggestions (3).

Is that me? Would I describe myself by any of those terms?

In the last twenty years of her life, from around age 70 to age 90, my mother received a call from me about once a week. She had great ambivalence in her. She felt life had not treated her fairly. But she recognized that she had had mostly good health, had a large family that loved her, & despite everything had lived a mostly good life.

When asked about her religious beliefs, she spoke a lot about "God" but never really about Jesus or about Christianity. One conversation I had with her - a random Sunday in which she related to me all her recent goings-on & lots of gossip about my siblings - we got to talking about religion. She knew I didn't believe in anything supernatural, & it bothered her, & somehow she felt a desire to tell me why I was wrong.

"I know God is there protecting me," she said, "because otherwise how could I have made it this far in my life without him looking out for me?"

She didn't like it when I said that she was perhaps downplaying her own strength & fortitude, & the conversation shifted like conversations do.

We got onto a topic which involved some terrible news for her - I'm not sure if it was about her health or her finances or some squabble she was having with someone. Needless to say, it caused her a great deal of worry. She said, just minutes after she said the statement above, "I'm not sure what I've done wrong to make God punish me in this way."

When I think about the sort of person I am - not discounting my own experiences, especially the fact that I spent a great deal of time alone as a child - I think of this conversation, & it makes me think, "I have 50% of her genes in me."

& that's how I answer those questions above.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Play Tennis Day

It comes as no surprise to the avid tennis player & fan that, in the last month of winter, when everyone decides to play tennis, we celebrate National Play Tennis Day. So of course Dick Dickenbock, who regularly gets kicked out of tennis clubs, wants us to explore tennis in our hourlong newsmagazine.

The first serve happens at noon tomorrow. The Dickenbock Report 12-1pm on 91.1+107.1fm at tennis courts all over Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

This Week In Self Help (February 14 16 + 21)

It was a mostly quiet week for me, I just did the shows I was supposed to do, except for one I did for Valentine's Day a week ago. I decided not to overachieve this week. I wanted to spend some time listening to music instead of making radio shows. But here's what I did do.

Reminder: all the links to shows on the Self Help Radio website may need a username & a password. Those are SHR & selfhelp respectively.

That Valentine's Day show I mentioned - in which every song was named "Love" - is available at the Self Help Radio website - click here. It's not available at the KBOO website because it was a sub show, but you can see the playlist on Spinitron - click here. Or at the Self Help Radio website - click here.

For the Dickenbock Report I played lots of Otis Blackwell's songs because it was his birthday. To listen on the XRAY website - click here. To listen on the Self Help Radio website - click here.

On Self Help Radio, the theme was "vacancy" - like the vacant motel pictured above. To listen on the KBOO website - click here. To listen on the Self Help Radio website - click here.

Finally, for this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, I played songs by artists who died in November of 2024. It's part of the KBOO file linked above, but you can also listen on the Self Help Radio website as a stand-alone show - click here.

That was the week that was that week.