Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Visit A Cemetery Day

October 25 is Visit A Cemetery Day! Just in time for Halloween! The Dickenbock Report reports on cemeteries, graveyards, & the like.

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Listen to our eerie Halloween cemetery/graveyard show tomorrow from 11am to 1pm - probably the safest time to be in one of those places - on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere.

& stay tuned for an important announcement at the end of the show.

This Week In Self Help: October 16 18 + 20

Some time ago I took a picture of a newly slaughtered tree. I think I thought I'd count the rings & see how old it was when it was murdered. But I never did. Maybe you can do it & tell me. Hey something else depressing is all the radio I did this past week.

A week ago October 16 on The Songcircle on KBOO I played a lot of my favorite Halloween music. You can listen to that show here.

Then on Sunday October 18 on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY I played lots of Sunday songs on National Sunday Day. You can listen to that show here.

Then on Tuesday October 20 on Self Help Radio on KBOO I had a radio show about violins. You can listen to that show here. & you can download that show here.

Finally (thank god) on Tuesday October 20 on Corporate Standardized Programming on KBOO I played a buncha new releases. You can listen to that show here (after Self Help Radio). & you can download that show here.

On second thought don't tell me how old the tree was when some asshole killed it. It was too young in any case.

Self Help Radio 102026: Violins

Thousands of tiny violins played as I ended my violin show because I really wasn't all that sad. Isn't that what the idiom is? The Wiktionary tells us "world's smallest violin" means "a notional violin that plays tragic music for the afflicted; used in dismissive responses to oversensitive complaining." Fun fact: Oversensitive Complaining was one of the names I had to choose from before I picked Self Help Radio!

In any event there were a fair number of violins on the show about violins so anyone who is pro-violin can't complain too much altho pro-violin people would probably not listen to this show. If you want to listen, you can at at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. The stuff that happened is below. You know the drill.

Seriously tho I should've called this show Oversensitive Complaining!

Self Help Radio Violins Show

"The Ragtime Violin" American Quartet _1912: 'Waitin' On The Levee'_

"Violin Blues" Johnson Boys _Violin, Sing The Blues For Me (African-American Fiddlers 1926-1949)_

"An Old Violin (Olive Grooves, vocals)" Alfredo Campoli _Salon Music Of The Thirties_

introduction & definitions

"A Thousand Violins" Patti Page _The Singles 1946-1952_

"I Love A Violin" Petula Clark _Petula Clark In Hollywood_

"The Violin Lesson - Part 1" Jack Benny _The Jack Benny Album_

"Violin Shop" The Alan Bown! _Outward Bown... Plus_

"You're The Violin" Rosey Grier _Munich City Nights - Vol. 20_

"The Older The Violin, The Sweeter The Music" Hank Thompson _Kindly Keep It Country_

interview with Tina Smith & Carlyle Goblockser part I

"Violin" Kate Bush _Never For Ever_

"Violins" Marc Riley with The Creepers _Cull (The Singles Mid '83 - Mid '84)_

"The Violin Lesson - Part 2" Jack Benny _The Jack Benny Album_

"Like 1000 Violins" 1000 Violins _Like One Thousand Violins_

"Trains & Violins" Black Cillas _Step Outside Love_

"Violin" East Village _Hotrod Hotel_

interview with Tina Smith & Carlyle Goblockser part I

"Violin Sherbet" Blurt _Pagan Strings_

"Sax & Violins" Talking Heads _Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand In The Vaseline_

"The Violin & The Princess" Joan Gerber _The Story Lady_

"One-String Violin" Heidi Berry _Heidi Berry_

"The Violin In Winter" Jon Rose _Art Bears - The Art Box_

"Violin" They Might Be Giants _No!_

Joseph Cooper & The Sinfonia Of London explain The Violin from A Child's Introduction To The Instruments Of The Orchestra

"Senseless Violins" Sparks _Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins_

"When You Play The Violin" The Gothic Archies _The Tragic Treasury: Songs From 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events'_

"Trumpets & Violins" Suburban Kids With Biblical Names _# 3_

"The Loudest Violin" The Bug Club _Rare Birds: Hour Of Song_

"The Piano & The Violin" Polo & Pan _22:22_

"Love Without Violins" The Gift _Altar_

conclusion & goodbye

"Violins" I'm From Barcelona _Growing Up Is For Trees_

"Gazillions Of Minature Violins" The Crimea _Tragedy Rocks_

Whither Violins?

There's one thing you need to know about Self Help Radio shows about musical instruments: they don't necessarily feature in every song that particular musical instrument. Because the songs are about the instrument, you might not hear that instrument in the song. That was probably true in the show I did about drums. & in the show I did about guitars. & in other shows about musical instruments which I may have done but have now forgotten about.

As for why the show is about violins, well. It shouldn't surprise you that I am a fan of the violin. I wish I had had a parent who forced me to learn how to play the violin. I was happy once to kiss a girl who could play the violin. But this show is because of a pun. Someone was using the old pun "sax & violins" in a call to me at KBOO. Then they said, "Have you ever done a show about sax & violins?" I said, "I can do a show about violins if you want." & that's how it all started.

Sorry I didn't get the name of the person who suggested the show. But glad I could do it!

Self Help Radio's show about violins is on tonight from midnight to 2am on KBOO - 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere.

& don't fret! Some of the songs about violins will have a violin in them.

Preface To Violins: Peanuts April 8, 1963

This is a very famous Peanuts strip from 1963 - April 8 to be precise. The first panel is used all over the place, in particular for Record Store Day. I also feel like there are some panels where a different record - like perhaps a Smiths record - is placed in Schroeder's hand in the first panel.

My computer image search found this because the word "violin" is in the second panel, but obviously the strip isn't about violins. This week's Self Help Radio will in fact be about violins. But like this strip might not have actually have many violins in it.

By the way I scanned this strip myself from the Fantagraphics Complete Peanuts collection. Obviously the rights do not belong to me.