Extra! Not At All Funky!

Ooo, I forgot to tell you, I finished March's Self Help Radio Extra on the very last day of March! This is no April Fool! (Well, I am an April Fool. But I'm not lying. You can check by clicking the link above.) It includes new stuff from the Brutes, Zoey Van Goey, Acrylics, Those Dancing Days & more, plus older stuff that just popped into my head because I had been listening to it recently. It's one big mp3 mixed so you don't have to. & like the title says, it's not very funky.

But! If you want funk! I'll be on WRFL tonight from midnight to 3am Eastern Kentucky time (which is Eastern Standard Time) playing funk, which you can listen to on the fm dial at 88.1 in Lexington & the surrounding villas, or you can listen to it anywhere in the world that a computer can scream to at WRFL dot fm. It's not a funk show that I am subbing, but I will be following the hiphop show, so I asked special permission to keep the funk alive into the night.

Listen! Download! Whatever!

That Show's A Rebel!

Comrades! It is time to take action! Or at the very least listen to a radio show!

Self Help Radio celebrated rebels & rebellion this week, rising up against terrible commercial radio - & of course getting utterly crushed, as most rebellions are. Seriously. Look at the list on this Wikipedia page. There have been A LOT of rebellions in history.

The show will lick its wounds & continue. Memoirs of the struggle are saved at self help radio dot net. The playlist for the show is below, & it's in two parts. If you'd rather listen to the show direct-like, you can listen to part one by clicking here & part two by clicking here. If you'd rather plot another rebellion, let me know - I still got a lot of gunpowder left.

What I played is listed below:

(part one)
"Teenage Rebellion" Mike Curb _Teenage Rebellion OST_
"Teen-Age Rebel" Carol Honeycutt _Buffalo Bop - Candy Doll_
"Teenage Rebel" The Avengers _Died For Your Sins_
"Justa Nother Teenage Rebel" The Outcasts _Self Conscious Over You_

"He's A Rebel" Morning Benders _The Bedroom Covers_
"He's A 'Rebel'" Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now! _Fixing The Charts, Volume 1_
"Rebel" Toy Love _Cuts_
"Rebel Rocker" Alan Vega _Collision Drive_
"The Littlest Rebel" The Fall _Extricate_
"Norman (He's No Rebel)" Mo-Dettes _The Story So Far_

"The Rebel Girl" Hazel Dickens _Don't Mourn - Organize!: Songs Of Labor Songwriter Joe Hill_
"Rebel Girl" Bikini Girl _Pussy Whipped_
"She's A Rebel" The Rantouls _In The Village Of Rantoul_

(part two)

"Rebel Woman" Dean Carter _Pebbles Vol. 6: Chicago 1_
"High On Rebellion" Patti Smith _Easter_
"Rebel Rebel" David Bowie _Diamond Dogs_

"The Aging Young Rebel (feat. Ken Nordine)" DJ Food _Kaleidoscope_
"Tinsel Town Rebellion (live)" Frank Zappa _Have I Offended Someone?_
"Rebel Yell" All _Before You Were Punk Vol. 2_

"Good Ol' Rebel Soldier" Bobby Horton _Homespun Songs Of The Confederate States Of America Vol. 1_
"Soul Rebel" Bob Marley _Bustin' Out Of Trenchtown_
"Rebel Song" The Decorators _Rebel Song_

Rebellion Tonight!

Yes, citizens & reactionaries, you can take up arms (at least in your armless heads) against all manner of tyranny this fine evening at midnight in Lexington on 88.1 fm WRFL or anywhere in the world (are you listening Africa & the Middle East? Michigan, Wisconsion, Ohio?) on the interwebbing at WRFL dot FM.

Famous rebellions will be discussed, & although most of the them generally don't end well, there will be a general undercurrent of hope coupled with grim determination, which will make it all the more tragic when we're finally mowed down by forces supported by the people who have all the money.

Listen, fellow rebels! Or, if you can't, don't worry, the rebellion will be archived tomorrow at self help radio dot net.

For freedom! For better radio! For better freedom radio!

Whither Rebellion?

(Warning: The FBI have flagged this blog entry as possibly seditious.)

I invite you all to join the Great Rebellion!

(See, we told you - FBI.)

It is time to overthrow all radio that is not Self Help Radio!

(Oh, well, then, maybe not - FBI.)

All other radio should fall simply because most of it is frankly quite better than Self Help Radio! & that makes me feel just awful! My self-esteem is in the toilet!

(Time to put this in the crank file - FBI.)

That will be the first step to the glorious overthrow of other media outlets!

(Maybe I spoke too soon - FBI.)

& then! & then! & only then!

(Yes? Yes? - FBI.)

Only then will my insecurity about my show be assuaged!

(I miss the Mob - FBI.)

Hey FBI!

(Yeah, what? - FBI.)

Want me to say something about declaring war against the Supreme Court or something?

(Well, sure, but you've gotta want to say it. If I make you say it, it's entrapment - FBI.)

I'm flattered you pay attention to my little radio show at all!

(Don't be. I was just demoted. College/community radio is pretty much the lowest a Special Agent can fall - FBI.)

Do you want a caramel?

(Do you have any chocolate? - FBI.)

Always!

Preface To Rebellion: Which Side Are You On?

Rebellion's in the air like never before! What a time to be anti-establishment!

Lest you think I make light of repression & dictatorial regimes, please remember, as an American, I belong to a people who relate more closely to Star Wars than to actual world events. &, as Star Wars scholars* are likely to point out, the rebellion against the Empire was not for a democracy but for a kind of Republican monarchy. & I don't mean Republican like the political party in America. You know what I mean. Even if you haven't seen the last three (ie, the first three) Star Wars movies. & you really shouldn't, they're awful.

I forget what point I was trying to make. Oh yeah. Americans, whose country was formed because of a rebellion, don't really pay too much attention to the rest of the world, & so the recent yearnings for democracy in the Middle East don't quite register as much, since there's a large chance they don't know where the Middle East is. It's East, right? Somewhere in the middle?

If the recent rebellions in Africa could have happened against the Emperor & his main thug Darth Vader, then, yeah! We'd get into it!

Self Help Radio aims to educate, but there's only so much one moderately entertaining radio show can do. At best it can perhaps join in on a zeitgeist here & there.

* If there is such a thing as a Star Wars scholar. & if not, why not?

On The Off Chance

Does anyone ever really find love at the Consumer Design Expo? Even now, in what many have called the 21st century? Our man on the street, Dodger Rails, filed this report:

Thank you, Grimace. The 47th Annual Contumely Design Expo has risen from the ashes of the 22nd Bi-Annual Snake & Knife Show here at the Metropolitan Deranged Civic Center & what a crowd has turned out then turned away today! While the doors opened at 8am, to the dulcet tunes of power-rock band Kansas & their "Dumps In The Wind," retailers' alarm clocks were not set properly for Daylight Savings Time & they arrived late en masse to find confused visitors setting fire to their empty booths. By the time the National Guard arrived, there was nothing more to burn, so the National Guard set themselves on fire. Mayor Charles Clueless spoke briefly to reporters outside his Hairless McMansion:

We express our condolences & deepest prayers to the men & women who were so bravely lost on this, the nightmarish misunderstanding of consequence, & we encourage those who were not able to commit arson today to please return to the new, improved Expo tomorrow or possibly Thursday once the police tape is removed.

But what of the recession-hit people who paid to park in this smoldering parking lot? What happens to them? Their children? Their pensions & pet insurance?

I guess I'm sad, I've always wanted to see the new designs of the new-fangled consumer, but I was stuck in traffic listening to drive-time radio, so I wouldn't have been able to attend anyway. Now can I have my dog back, kind sir?

Reporting somewhat live from outside the ruins of the city gates, this is Codger Nails for High Tone News. Back to you, Grimley.

Last Night's Trip To Outer Space

Yes! Self Help Radio's show about astronauts (astronauts!) is now available online for your cosmic listening pleasure!

Oh, were you not as excited about it as I am? Sorry about that.

Still, if you'd like to enjoy it, it's there for you to enjoy. The show is waiting for you at Mission Control which is self help radio dot net. The show is ninety minutes long, & it's in two mp3s of somewhat equivalent length, part one & part two. The playlist is below. Enjoy!

(part one)
"Apollo XI" Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark _Sugar Tax_
"Chicken Astronaut" Five Du-Tones _Shakin' Fit_
"Masked Astronaut" The Jet Black Berries _Sundown On Venus_
"Why Go Up There" Tom Glazer & Dottie Evans _Space Songs_

"Space Oddity" Langley Schools Music Project _Innocence & Despair_
"Rocket Man" Fastbacks _Super Fantastic Mega Smash Hits!_
"Flash Bazbo, Space Explorer" National Lampoon _Buy This Box Or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour_
"Spaceman" Harry Nilsson _Son Of Schmilsson_
"Cosmonaut" Riff Raff _The Chiswick Story_

"Astronaut" Versus _Dead Leaves_
"Astronauts" Desk _Astronauts 7"_

(part two)
"The Astronauts" Wan Light _Labrador 100: A Complete History of Popular Music_
"I Am An Astronaut" Snow Patrol _Colours Are Brighter_
"Son Of An Astronaut" Butterflies _Butterflies_
"When I'm An Astronaut" Louis Philippe _Appointment With Venus_

"Ghosts Of American Astronauts" Mekons _So Good It Hurts_
"My Cosmonaut" Three Finger Cowboy _Kissed_
"Flash Bazbo, Space Explorer: Chapter 219" National Lampoon _Buy This Box Or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour_
"Space Race" Luke Vibert _Big Soup_
"Alan Bean" Hefner _Dead Media_

"A Day In Space" Ballboy _Club Anthems_

Next week's show is about rebels & rebellion. Is there something you want to hear? You can always write an email with requests &/or suggestions!

A Radio Show In Outer Space

Mission Control, this is Self Help Radio, prepared for take-off. Over.

That's right, Self Help Radio will be exploring astronauts tonight as it returns after a week's vacation, & we're hoping for clear skies over Cape Canaveral & a straight shot into the ether. That'll be midnight tonight, only on 88.1 fm in the town of Lexington, but you can track the flight anywhere in the world on the WRFL website in real time. Mission logs will be available for download tomorrow on self help radio dot net.

Is it easy to get drunk in zero gravity?

Whither Astronauts?

Lots of people - not enough, but a lot - make requests for themes for me to explore on the show. I might have previously complained about the more obvious themes people have suggested - songs about rain or cars or nouns - but I can't find a blog entry grumbling about it so I must have done it in private with you. Don't you remember?

For this week's show, the idea came a while back - maybe as far back as three years. My friend Leah, who works at KOOP Radio, & also does a fabulous show called Hip Hop Hooray, suggested that I do an astronaut show at some point before I left - & I left KOOP in 2008 - & I filed the idea away. It took a long time to make it from idear to radio show, but then again, look how long it took to get humans on the moon!

I also think that it's fun that I just visited with Leah in Austin this past week, & I'm about to do the show she requested. It's coincidental, I promise.

So the show is dedicated to Leah, who is, as far as I know, not an astronaut. But I wouldn't be surprised to discover otherwise!

Preface To Astronauts: First Deejay In Space!

An astronaut (from the Greek "astro," for star, & "naut," for sailor) is simply a person who has tried to sail the stars.

You may be surprised to know that over five hundred people have traveled in space. But only 24 have traveled beyond what is called "low Earth orbit," or beyond 100 - 1,240 miles above the Earth's surface. No one from Earth (that we can verify, anyway) has gone farther than the moon.

"Astronaut" & "cosmonaut" are synonyms. Some might disagree, saying that one is a capitalist & the other a communist. That seems so 1980s. Isn't everyone a capitalist now? Even the communists? I thought so.

Plans for a giant dance floor in space have so far not come to fruition, despite the advent of astronauts not trained by governments. Those astronauts are both capitalist & better-paid (probably) (who knows) (I don't really know) than government astronauts. That last sentence, I ought to really just delete it, because I made an assertion that just sort of spewed out my head onto this blog & didn't even make any sense when I wrote it. But having spent all this time - & three parenthetical expressions - talking about it, it seems weird to just give up on it. Kind of like the Space Program.

There are lots of space programs. I don't mean on the television. (There don't seem to be many of those being newly made these days.) I mean run by governments. Here's a colorful list. I hope more people get to go into space, but I'm not sure I'll be one of them.

I'd be scared of transporters, anyway.

A Little Memphis At Night

The title is horribly misleading. I am in Memphis, but I am very tired, having driven from Dallas today (the wife did not drive, unless you count driving me crazy, which she didn't do). I am not going to experience Memphis at night, as I will go to sleep shortly after I write this. I had a lovely vacation that I am sad to see end, & it did not have the major frustrations of the Australia trip, although I did wake up this morning to the wife saying to me, "Um, either someone stole our car or it has been towed."

I was happy to visit with Josh & Scott & Karin & Pat & Mom in Dallas, & with Stacy & Kirk & Mike & Melinda & Joe & Suloni & Marcia & Anthony & Leah in Austin, as well as seeing my dear friends in Bearsuit again after two long years & also meeting Ryan & Ashleyanne in the same city. I am sorry I missed seeing Russell & Chris in Dallas. I am sad that I didn't see Edwyn Collins but I also didn't go looking for him so that might explain that. Though SXSW was happening, & you could tell by the even-worse-than-usual traffic, I deliberately did not look at who was playing where because I honestly didn't have the time to even see all the people I wanted to see.

Tomorrow we'll be in Lexington & life returns to normal which of course means a new Self Help Radio. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed with my own cats once again.

Hi Hiatus!

A hiatus is defined as "a gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break." Normally the phrase is used (at least in my world) as a break between two seasons of a television show, as in "The Bob Denver Show is on hiatus." I am using it as a fancy word that means Self Help Radio will be taking a week off - by definition, it is a "hiatus," although the show really isn't "on hiatus" - for Spring Break. It'll be back on Tuesday the 22nd with a show about astronauts.

You can fill the sadness in your heart as you miss the show by listening to a year's worth of old shows at self help radio dot net. WARNING: do not listen to a year's worth of old shows of Self Help Radio. People will question your sense & your taste.

See you in ten days or so!

A Bagful Of Radio

Self Help Radio had this week many bags on it. So many, in fact, that people felt compelled to come by & either put things in them or look inside them to see if they contained anything. What kinds of bags? There was a comely antistatic bag; some unshaven & surly garbage & trash bags; polite & studious & sporty book bags & tote bags & duffel bags; official-looking burn bags & diplomatic bags & messenger bags; lonesome paper bags & plastic bags, envious of one another, wishing they were back in the supermarket, while some reusable shopping bags put on airs; & there were thermal bags, & money bags who insisted on calling themselves "purses" (the same thing was happening with some small bags who refused to join in the bag frenzy, claiming they were "pouches") & of course some travel bags who boldly declared they either be called baggage or their proper name, "suitcases," though there was no suit inside; sling bags; some air bags looking naked without an automobile or an accident; & a few sleeping bags which I thought were coming on to me.

It was tons of fun & you can listen to the show of course at self help radio dot net. As usual, the show is divided into two parts, & below is the playlist of the show, & which songs are on which part. The individual parts can be downloaded as such: part one & then part two.

Here's the playlist:

(part one)
"Bags" Public Image Limited _Compact Disc_
"Plastic Bag" X-Ray Spex _Germ-Free Adolescents_

"Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag" Minnutes _Pretty Baby_
"Little Green Bag" George Baker Selection _Colossus Gold_
"Bags Of Gold" Jay Jay Pistolet _Happy Birthday You_
"The Bag Hutch" Mr. Show _What To Think_
"Big Black Bag" Ed's Redeeming Qualities _At The Fish & Game Club_
"Fish Is In The Bag" Telephone Company _The King's Surprise?_

"Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (Parts 1, 2, & 3)" James Brown _Star Time_
"Mama's Got A Bag Of Her Own" Anna King _Soulin' Vol. 4_

(part two)
"That's The Bag I'm In" Fred Neil _The Many Sides Of Fred Neil_
"My Bag" Lloyd Cole _Mainstream_

"Carry Bag Man" The Fall _The Frenz Experiment_
"Bag Ladies & Bagmen" George Carlin _When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?_
"Head In My Bag" Birds With Ears _Youth In Asia_
"I'm Not Gonna Recycle My Paper Bags Anymore" The Symbolick Jews _Confession Time_
"Trick Bag" Artesians _Stomp! Northwest Killers 1960-1964_

"Scumbag" John Lennon & Frank Zappa _Sometime In New York City_
"Scumbag" Jobraith _Creatures Of The Street_
"Mr. Windbag" Derrick Harriot & The Revolutionaries _Reggae Chart Busters Seventies Style_

I am taking a week off to visit Austin for South By Cough Cough but will return in a fortnight with a show about astronauts. I hope you miss me, if only a little.

The Show Is In The Bag

That's a strange expression. Do you know where it comes from? Here's what they say on phrase dot org dot uk:

"An old superstition was revived at the Polo grounds, New York, recently when Eddie Sicking was dispatched to the clubhouse with the ball bag at the start of the ninth possession of one run lead. This superstition originated during the run of twenty-six consecutive victories made by the Giants in 1916, the significance of it resting in a belief that if the bag is carried off the field at that stage of the game with the Giants in the lead the game is in the bag and cannot be lost."

I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but Self Help Radio's show about bags will air tonight at midnight. Hmm, that's a weird expression, too. I'll bet the Word Detective has a story about it. Yes, he does. What a strange story.

Still, this only scratches the surface of the bags that Self Help Radio will examine tonight at midnight. You can listen on the fm dial at the 88.1 frequency in Lexington, or you can listen online at wrfl dot fm. There will be bagfuls of fun, music, & perhaps even fun. I hope you'll listen!

Whither Bags?

Of all the bags one might hear on Self Help Radio this week, one will not hear about, nor actually hear the sound of, bagpipes.

Here is a picture of one bagpipe with its parts labelled, found on agezine dot blogspot dot com:



As one can plainly see, most of the bagpipe is taken up with the bag. That is all meet & proper.

One cannot plainly see, however, why a radio show about bags is neglecting the most obvious (arguably) musical instrument involving bags.

One bagpipe enthusiast, upon discovering this fact, attempted to organize a boycott of the show, even going so far as threatening an online petition against Self Help Radio (which frankly would have thrilled the owners of Self Help Radio) but his voice could not be heard above the cacophonous bleating of his fellow bagpipers.

Hail the bagpipe! Made your own sad noise, for Self Help Radio has neglected you.

Preface To Bags: Are You Using Your Own Bags?

Here in the - er - I guess it would be "north-east" of Kentucky - Wikipedia just says it's "located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region" - it looks kind of like it's center-north - I dunno - anyway in this region, the one main supermarket chain is Kroger, though everyone calls the place "Kroger's" as if it's somehow still owned by a friendly dude named Bernard in Cincinnati - which it was - but is now owned by the heir of a company that Kroger acquired in the 80s - anyway, Kroger has that self-check-out section that I kind of like where I don't have to interact with either check-out clerks or, worse, baggage boys. Patton Oswalt explains:



Again, I don't mind. But I do use my own bags. So when I put my bags where the godawful wasteful plastic bags are - seriously, it should be illegal to shop without your own bags - people just can't wait for this planet to die choking on the garbage we're filling it up with - anyway, when I put my bags down, the robot asks me, in a pleasant woman's voice, "Are you using your own bags?" I'll poke "√ yes" on the touchscreen, & then, because I usually have more than one bag, & there's space for four beside the computer, I'll add the rest, but every bag gets the same question: "Are you using your own bags?" After two "√ yes" pokes, a picture of a terrifyingly cheerful blonde Kroger worker appears & the soothing voice tells me, "Attendant has been notified to assist you." (It's also written on the screen in case I am a sociopath who can't hear "soothing" in voices.)

I'll note, it's never a terrifyingly cheerful blonde who helps me. At the Kroger near my house, it's usually an older Indian dude who seems pretty unhappy with his lot in life. It could be that he's an Indian dude in the sort-of center-north part of Kentucky (though it could be worse - it could be West Virginia) or it could be that he's just unfriendly. Either way, he usually walks over to me, gives me a dirty look, & punches a button on what looks like a tricoder. Then I can add other bags, or start checking out.

There's so much plastic out there. I am fascinated by what people call "the garbage island" in the Pacific Ocean, apparently now twice the size of Texas. They say in some places it's ninety feet deep. Here's a picture where it isn't:



Seeing stuff like that should make you take your own bags to grocery stores. Damn it!

One Hit Wanderer

This week's Self Help Radio will be the last one for a couple of weeks - a fortnight - as I take a brief weeklong break to travel to Dallas to see my mom & family, & then to Austin to see a few friends & maybe see a couple of bands, as we'll be there for the first couple of days of South By South West.

The comedian Jeff Sawyer wrote: "Middle Age defined: at a deli yesterday, I found myself trying to see around two gorgeous women to get a look at the food they were blocking." When I think about Austin - while I do want to see certain friends - I do think a lot about the food there. There are some places I'd like to see, but it's really more about the places I want to eat.

Austin keeps growing & changing & when I was there last May (I was also there last September, but only for a short stay) I was amazed at how much was different in one year - two years will probably have obliterated all of my memories. One of the great things about Huntington was that nothing much changed, & the main sort of change you could see was things simply rotting away from neglect & age.

(Of course, things change in a more dramatic way in this part of the world, mainly because of actually having seasons. Though it's still cold in Lexington, the trees have started to bud & soon spring will explode. I look forward to that. Although they do say there's a chance of snow tonight. That's just the way it goes.)

I don't think anyone will miss Self Help Radio if it takes a week off, but it is unusual for me to miss so many shows - I missed two or three weeks in December thanks to the Australia trip, & now this. It just seems rude. Though I could use a good road trip & of course some authentic Tex-Mex. Mmmmm.

All The Answers In Ninety Minutes

You are of course familiar with "the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, & Everything," from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, yes? If not, that answer was 42. The trouble was, (& this is why that answers is so funny) they hadn't really asked the question. They just wanted the answer. (If you haven't read the great Douglas Adams, you can read a discussion about this over on the Wikipedia.)

That's a long-winded way of saying that that's sort of what Self Help Radio was like this week. A lot of answers, not so many questions. In fact, the questions were often assumed in the songs. So, if the song said (as four of the songs I played did) "Love is the answer," you're left to wonder if the question is "What is the meaning of life?" or "What is an intense feeling of affection & care towards another person?" The Four Tops weren't about to tell us!

You can find as many answers as I could find over at self help radio dot net. There's also a new episode of Sugar Substitute which, at the very end, guest stars the young lady whose show follows mine. She brought a ukulele to a bar fight - & won!

Please enjoy this week's show full of answers. Next week, we'll have a show about bags, & you can use them to carry the answers away.

Plenty Of Answers - Tonight!

Plenty of answers! Or at least one! What answer? The answer to this question: "How many songs about answers can you fit into a ninety-minute radio show?" People of the world have been guessing that answer for a while, sort of like trying to figure out the number of jelly beans in a jar - but after tonight they will have to guess no more! The answer is forthcoming. & it may well be definitive.

As for other answers, well, it depends on the questions, right?

That's tonight, at midnight, on the radio dial at 88.1 fm in Lexington & the surrounding villas, & available most everywhere on the internets at http colon slash slash www dot wrfl dot fm. I would be happiest if you listened!

Whither Answers?

Q: Whom are you imitating now?
A: Why do you always assume I am imitating someone?
Q: Because you don't really have a style of your own.
A: Is that so.
Q: Yes, & usually you're paying some kind of "homage" or otherwise emulating, if not outright ripping off, some writer or comedian or something like that you've seen.
A: That's not fair!
Q: Didn't you once want to be a writer?
A: I did.
Q: & didn't you find it hard, after every book or short story you read, not to write exactly like the author?
A: ...
Q: Didn't you?
A: ...all right, sometimes.
Q: Didn't you once say that you could never be a musician because all of your songs would sound like your favorite band of the moment?
A: I never said that!
Q: Really?
A: I never did!
Q: I feel certain you're the one I heard say that.
A: It wasn't me!
Q: Sorry about that. It certainly seems like something you'd say.
A: Not at all. I am nowhere near being a musician, so I'd never idly speculate on what kind of music I'd make if I were a musician.
Q: Hmm.
A: Unless it was the catchall "crappy music."
Q: Now you're just being self-deprecating.
A: Does deprecating mean "honest"?
Q: I'm still not convinced this blog entry is entirely original.
A: Of course it's not original! Everything's been done before!
Q: Right, but this particular style, a dialog framed as a "question/answer" session, which really isn't one, but which is rather just a conversation between two people, therefore subverting the format of the "question/answer" kind. I really think someone else has done it before.
A: I'm just surprised you don't know who.
Q: Ah, so you admit it?
A: As long as you don't know who it is, I'm admitting nothing. It's like if I were on a desert island or in some isolated place that had never heard of, say, the Beatles, I would totally sing their songs & pretend they were mine if they got me some prestige.
Q: This is prestigious, mocking me?
A: It has its charms.
Q: You're a fool. I knew all along.
A: You did?
Q: Of course. Donald Barthelme.
A: Damn.