Eeek! Self Help Radio's "last night" is on "this afternoon!" In like half an hour!
Are you in Lexington? You can listen to it on the air at 88.1 fm!
Are you anywhere else? You can listen at the WRFL website!
Are you reading this any other time than now? You might find the show on the Self Help Radio website!
I gotta go do a show!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Preface To Last Night: This Morning
Well. I have emerged (I hope) from the other side of a sickness - though as I typed that, I coughed & sniffled, so maybe my body knows something I don't - & I think I am sufficiently ready to premiere Self Help Radio at 4pm on a Friday in Lexington.
Do you remember? My last gig at KOOP in Austin was Fridays from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. I don't know if it was at all successful - I had a weird issue with a person who hated my show & felt the need to vent under multiple identities on my old guestbook, so I definitely had people who did not like my show - but I got lots of calls & I had a ton of fun. Perhaps that will be the same on these Friday afternoons.
I started Self Help Radio on Wednesday afternoons in Austin & ended on Friday afternoons. I found myself doing it in the evening, afternoon & morning (not all at the same time) in West Virginia for a little under a year (the people of Huntington were distinctly underwhelmed by my show, no matter what time it was on). When I came to RFL, I did it originally from 4:30 to 6:00 am (!) & then from midnight to 1:30 am before finding myself on Monday mornings for a year.
Is it a different vibe, afternoons? I shudder to even think. One thing: the station is very quiet in the mornings - the university isn't open yet, & as the morning wears on, people come in, lights come on, chains come off the door (they really do chain the doors closed at the UK Student Center, it's odd). On Friday afternoon, the opposite will happen - offices will close, people will be leaving, chains will be put on doors (I've never actually seen that happen, though - perhaps they do that at midnight for creepier effect).
Also, I will have been awake longer than half an hour. That might not necessarily be a good thing.
It's a new era! Sort of like an era a while ago! Probably not much of a difference either way!
Do you remember? My last gig at KOOP in Austin was Fridays from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. I don't know if it was at all successful - I had a weird issue with a person who hated my show & felt the need to vent under multiple identities on my old guestbook, so I definitely had people who did not like my show - but I got lots of calls & I had a ton of fun. Perhaps that will be the same on these Friday afternoons.
I started Self Help Radio on Wednesday afternoons in Austin & ended on Friday afternoons. I found myself doing it in the evening, afternoon & morning (not all at the same time) in West Virginia for a little under a year (the people of Huntington were distinctly underwhelmed by my show, no matter what time it was on). When I came to RFL, I did it originally from 4:30 to 6:00 am (!) & then from midnight to 1:30 am before finding myself on Monday mornings for a year.
Is it a different vibe, afternoons? I shudder to even think. One thing: the station is very quiet in the mornings - the university isn't open yet, & as the morning wears on, people come in, lights come on, chains come off the door (they really do chain the doors closed at the UK Student Center, it's odd). On Friday afternoon, the opposite will happen - offices will close, people will be leaving, chains will be put on doors (I've never actually seen that happen, though - perhaps they do that at midnight for creepier effect).
Also, I will have been awake longer than half an hour. That might not necessarily be a good thing.
It's a new era! Sort of like an era a while ago! Probably not much of a difference either way!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
1977!
I continue my tradition of, on my birthday week, going back in time & playing my favorite music from a previous year. When I started the show, I started on the year of my birth, & now, mumble mumble years later, I've found myself in 1977. Which was a grand year. For music. Not so much for me.
I didn't listen to much of this music myself in 1977, but it found me soon enough. You can listen to lots of amazing stuff from that year now at the Self Help Radio website. Or, if you'd rather not have to visit that place, you can simply listen to either part one or part two by clicking those links. Below is listed all them songs I played.
Enjoy, & thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Warszawa" David Bowie _Low_
"Boredom" The Buzzcocks _Spiral Scratch_
"See No Evil" Television _Marquee Moon_
"Showroom Dummies" Kraftwerk _Trans Europe Express_
"Dandy In The Underworld" T.Rex _Dandy In The Underworld_
"Jocko Homo" Devo _Jocko Homo_
"(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" The Stranglers _Rattus Norvegicus_
"Career Opportunities" The Clash _The Clash_
"In The City" The Jam _In The City_
"God Save The Queen" The Sex Pistols _Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols_
"The Medium Was Tedium" Desperate Bicycles _The Medium Was Tedium_
(part two)
"Blame It On Cain" Elvis Costello _My Aim Is True_
"Ice Cream Man" Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers _Rock 'N' Roll With the Modern Lovers_
"6.4 Equals Make Out" Gary Wilson _You Think You Really Know Me_
"Love Comes In Spurts" Richard Hell & The Voidoids _Blank Generation_
"The Passenger" Iggy Pop _Lust For Life_
"Pulled Up" Talking Heads _Talking Heads: 77_
"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" X-Ray Spex _Oh Bondage Up Yours!_
"(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear" Blondie _Plastic Letters_
"Beauty & The Beast" David Bowie _Heroes_
"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" The Ramones _Rocket To Russia_
"King's Lead Hat" Brian Eno _Before & After Science_
"Girl" Suicide _Suicide_
"Mannequin" Wire _Pink Flag_
"Memories" Leonard Cohen _Death Of A Ladies' Man_
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Restructuring
If you pay any attention to anything I do in relation to Self Help Radio (which you don't - why would you?), you might be aware I have little rules I follow which are at best idiosyncratic or at worst a little stupid. For example, I don't play songs by bands if their only relation to the week's theme is their name, like I didn't play the Flaming Lips on my "lips" show. If the Flaming Lips had a song about lips, I would... But they didn't (or didn't have a good one, I don't recall).
This blog also follows some dumb rules. Here are a couple of them, but they're not exclusively the rules of this blog - I probably have more than I can conjure up right now.
One: I write in this blog five times a week.
Why? Who knows? When I check the one thing that I use to monitor tracking, Google Analytics, it tells me that no more than five people a day ever visit this blog, & usually one of them is me, since I re-read my posts after I've "published" them to double-check for spelling or whatever.
On several days in the last month, not a single person visited my blog, or just one person did - & that would be me!
I just do it because I decided to do it, & I scheduled the blog entries around my show.
Two: this is sort of how a week's worth of posts would go (my rules tell me), assuming that my show happens on day five.
First post: whatever I want to write about
Second post: whatever I want to write about
Third post: "Preface to" the theme - but still whatever I want to write about
Fourth post: "Whither" the theme? Mostly to let folks know when the show's airing.
Fifth post: Links to website & show plus playlist.
Because my show's been on Mondays, I would write Thursday through Monday, taking Tuesday & Wednesday off.
I have to change that now.
Except. I am doing a show this Monday - not Self Help Radio - but the season finale of Sugar Substitute. What to do?
It looks like, with my show moving to Monday, my days will shift to accommodate that - I'll write Tuesdays through Saturdays. But I can't this week. Since I will briefly be on the air one last time on Monday.
I don't get two days off this week. I have to write every damn day.
This is all mostly stuff for my head to think about while I ignore important things, but it is somewhat pressing. & if I think of moving the days I write down to four - or even three - I imagine that I will have let myself down very much. I certainly don't want to do that!
Why not? Who knows!
This blog also follows some dumb rules. Here are a couple of them, but they're not exclusively the rules of this blog - I probably have more than I can conjure up right now.
One: I write in this blog five times a week.
Why? Who knows? When I check the one thing that I use to monitor tracking, Google Analytics, it tells me that no more than five people a day ever visit this blog, & usually one of them is me, since I re-read my posts after I've "published" them to double-check for spelling or whatever.
On several days in the last month, not a single person visited my blog, or just one person did - & that would be me!
I just do it because I decided to do it, & I scheduled the blog entries around my show.
Two: this is sort of how a week's worth of posts would go (my rules tell me), assuming that my show happens on day five.
First post: whatever I want to write about
Second post: whatever I want to write about
Third post: "Preface to" the theme - but still whatever I want to write about
Fourth post: "Whither" the theme? Mostly to let folks know when the show's airing.
Fifth post: Links to website & show plus playlist.
Because my show's been on Mondays, I would write Thursday through Monday, taking Tuesday & Wednesday off.
I have to change that now.
Except. I am doing a show this Monday - not Self Help Radio - but the season finale of Sugar Substitute. What to do?
It looks like, with my show moving to Monday, my days will shift to accommodate that - I'll write Tuesdays through Saturdays. But I can't this week. Since I will briefly be on the air one last time on Monday.
I don't get two days off this week. I have to write every damn day.
This is all mostly stuff for my head to think about while I ignore important things, but it is somewhat pressing. & if I think of moving the days I write down to four - or even three - I imagine that I will have let myself down very much. I certainly don't want to do that!
Why not? Who knows!
Friday, January 18, 2013
A Day Without Stains
I had my teeth cleaned yesterday. I don't want to say where, except that it was in fact at a dentist. I can't say who cleaned my teeth - I don't remember my hygienist's name - I barely know what she looks like, since she has to wear a mask or she'll catch horrible diseases from me (&/or vice versa). She tsk tsked a lot. She didn't believe that I flossed regularly. Why should she? My teeth are a mess.
I don't want to tell you where I go because what if - as that gripping documentary Marathon Man suggested - dentists are spiteful & psychotic? (Also, Nazis!) It seems to be a profession to which folks with a mild case of sadism might flock. "I spend my day with my hands in strangers' mouths & I make a ton of money!" Lots of people go to dental school. Perhaps there are interesting psychological profiles online.
My mother, who has none of her original teeth, & hasn't for decades, doesn't trust dentists. She thinks they're a racket - that they deliberately put in bad fillings so you'll have to replace them in a few years. I'm sure she also believes they plant bacteria in one's mouth so it'll grow & cause problems the next time you visit. Every six months! Genius! Neither of these, by the way, would qualify as "weird" beliefs of hers. These seem downright sensible compared to some of the way-out nonsense she thinks happens in the world.
It took two hours for my teeth to be cleaned, although somewhere between thirty-five & fifty minutes was the duration of the actual cleaning. The place just doesn't really appear to give a shit - unless it's for surgical or orthodontic procedures. They suggested some for me. Gave me pamphlets. I got the distinct impression my dentist wanted to call her colleagues & tell them she'd hooked another one!
As I was waiting to find out if something in my x-rays raised any alarms, I sat across from a woman who appeared to be as frustrated with the wait as I was. She was fidgeting & looking around (as if her dentist or hygienist might be wandering the halls purposefully) & clucking at the clock on the wall (which read 9:45 am). When a masked, gowned woman emerged to call her in, she said, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. [Whatever Her Name Was], we're just running a little behind."
The woman said, very matter-of-factly, "A little early to be running behind, isn't it?"
That almost made the morning worth it.
I don't want to tell you where I go because what if - as that gripping documentary Marathon Man suggested - dentists are spiteful & psychotic? (Also, Nazis!) It seems to be a profession to which folks with a mild case of sadism might flock. "I spend my day with my hands in strangers' mouths & I make a ton of money!" Lots of people go to dental school. Perhaps there are interesting psychological profiles online.
My mother, who has none of her original teeth, & hasn't for decades, doesn't trust dentists. She thinks they're a racket - that they deliberately put in bad fillings so you'll have to replace them in a few years. I'm sure she also believes they plant bacteria in one's mouth so it'll grow & cause problems the next time you visit. Every six months! Genius! Neither of these, by the way, would qualify as "weird" beliefs of hers. These seem downright sensible compared to some of the way-out nonsense she thinks happens in the world.
It took two hours for my teeth to be cleaned, although somewhere between thirty-five & fifty minutes was the duration of the actual cleaning. The place just doesn't really appear to give a shit - unless it's for surgical or orthodontic procedures. They suggested some for me. Gave me pamphlets. I got the distinct impression my dentist wanted to call her colleagues & tell them she'd hooked another one!
As I was waiting to find out if something in my x-rays raised any alarms, I sat across from a woman who appeared to be as frustrated with the wait as I was. She was fidgeting & looking around (as if her dentist or hygienist might be wandering the halls purposefully) & clucking at the clock on the wall (which read 9:45 am). When a masked, gowned woman emerged to call her in, she said, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. [Whatever Her Name Was], we're just running a little behind."
The woman said, very matter-of-factly, "A little early to be running behind, isn't it?"
That almost made the morning worth it.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Change Comes
It's true, if change were a body part, change is afoot with Self Help Radio. Obviously, one thing that won't change are my dreadful attempts at puns. So bad, it's punishing. But I digress.
This Monday there won't be a Self Help Radio. That's a change, since there's been a Self Help Radio every Monday since early October, & many of the Mondays of the year before then. Not only won't there be a Self Help Radio this Monday, there won't be any Self Help Radios on Mondays for the foreseeable future.
This Monday, from 8am on, is Democracy Now's coverage of the Inauguration.
I don't know who'll be on Mondays from 6 to 9 am after Self Help Radio goes, but certainly you should take some solace that after Democracy Now on Mondays on WRFL will still be Allen & the Number One Super Hour. I do!
Self Help Radio is planning to relocate to Fridays from 4 to 6 pm. I know what you're thinking - wasn't that your last timeslot back in Austin?
What? You weren't thinking that? Oh.
But here's the saddest thing, even sadder than the people who might accidentally stumble onto my show during the drive home on Friday afternoon, the saddest thing is, since I'm going down to two hours, I have to let go of the freeform indiepop show I started over two years ago: Sugar Substitute.
Named after a song by my favorite Austin band (& using that song in its intro), the radio show called Sugar Substitute was my attempt to play new releases & older things I'd forgotten, & had escaped its indiepop focus in recent years.
I will miss it - I am toying with the idea of keeping it alive perhaps in podcast form - but the last version to be aired on WRFL will be a two-hour season finale - not a series finale! - on Monday morning.
So: no Self Help Radio this Monday. Two hour Sugar Substitute, the last of it for a while. Then, inauguration report on Democracy Now on WRFL from 8am till I think 1pm.
Self Help Radio on Fridays, again? Really? Jeez.
This Monday there won't be a Self Help Radio. That's a change, since there's been a Self Help Radio every Monday since early October, & many of the Mondays of the year before then. Not only won't there be a Self Help Radio this Monday, there won't be any Self Help Radios on Mondays for the foreseeable future.
This Monday, from 8am on, is Democracy Now's coverage of the Inauguration.
I don't know who'll be on Mondays from 6 to 9 am after Self Help Radio goes, but certainly you should take some solace that after Democracy Now on Mondays on WRFL will still be Allen & the Number One Super Hour. I do!
Self Help Radio is planning to relocate to Fridays from 4 to 6 pm. I know what you're thinking - wasn't that your last timeslot back in Austin?
What? You weren't thinking that? Oh.
But here's the saddest thing, even sadder than the people who might accidentally stumble onto my show during the drive home on Friday afternoon, the saddest thing is, since I'm going down to two hours, I have to let go of the freeform indiepop show I started over two years ago: Sugar Substitute.
Named after a song by my favorite Austin band (& using that song in its intro), the radio show called Sugar Substitute was my attempt to play new releases & older things I'd forgotten, & had escaped its indiepop focus in recent years.
I will miss it - I am toying with the idea of keeping it alive perhaps in podcast form - but the last version to be aired on WRFL will be a two-hour season finale - not a series finale! - on Monday morning.
So: no Self Help Radio this Monday. Two hour Sugar Substitute, the last of it for a while. Then, inauguration report on Democracy Now on WRFL from 8am till I think 1pm.
Self Help Radio on Fridays, again? Really? Jeez.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
George's Show
This was a hard show to do, & it's been harder putting it up on the Self Help Radio website. I wanted to pay tribute in my own stupid way to a friend whose absence, more than a month after his death, still feels giant & empty inside me. I maybe thought - & feared - that putting the show up, finishing it, would me I was trying to close a door, to "get past" his death. Just looking at the picture above proves me to me that it isn't the case. I am as broken-hearted now as I was the night he left us.
Anyway, here's the show. It's in two parts, which are listed below. Part one is here & part two is here. I mentioned during the show that George would have been terribly bored by sitting & listening to songs about Georges other than himself. He would've preferred to go on a walk, or have lots of food to eat, or (best of all) sleep on the sofa next to his mother - in-between walks & meals.
He was a remarkable person, was George the beagle, & I can't believe in the end how much I loved him. I certainly wish I could have made a better tribute to him, & maybe one day I will.
(part one)
"George" Yo La Tengo _They Shoot, We Score_
"Silent George" Lucky Millinder & Myra Johnson _Risque Rhythms_
"Georgie" Pussycat _Mississippi_
"Gorgeous George" Edwyn Collins _Gorgeous George_
"Macho Beagle" Bunnygrunt _Standing Hampton 7"_
"Ole Lonesome George The Bassett" Tom T Hall _Songs Of Fox Hollow_
"George (& The North Woods)" Dave Dudley _George & The North Woods_
"George Says He Has Lost His Way in This World" The Clientele _That Night, A Forest Grew_
"Collie George" Frankie Jones _Jammys From The Roots (1977-1985)_
"Georgy Girl" The Seekers _Come The Day_
"Georgette Plays A Goth" Tullycraft _Every Scene Needs a Center_
"Madame George" Van Morrison _T. B. Sheets_
"George" The Wet Spots _Hello Kinky_
"John, Paul, George, & Ringo" The Bulldogs _Beatlemaniacs!!! The World Of Beatles Novelty Records_
"Janus, Jeanie, & George Harrision" Redd Kross _Neurotica_
(part two)
"George Of The Jungle" Weird Al Yankovic _Dare To Be Stupid_
"George Hamilton's Dead" Golden Dawn _Temple Cloud_
"George Orwell" Georgia _Ten;Ten_
"A Talk With George" Jonathan Coulton _JoCo Looks Back_
"Georgie Porgie" Jo-Ann Jackson & The Dreams _Groovin' At The Go-Go_
"Dance With Me Georgie" The Bobbettes _The Ultimate Collection_
"Shorty George" Lead Belly _Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1_
"Cadillac George" The Travel Agency _The Travel Agency_
"My Friend George" Lou Reed _New Sensations_
"George" Antietam _Burgoo_
"George Had A Hat" Pere Ubu _The Tenement Year_
"Cowboy George" The Fall _Your Future Our Clutter_
"At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas With A Shovel" Patton Oswalt _Werewolves & Lollipops_
"George Romero" Sprites _Modern Gameplay_
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Whither 1977?
It has been a long day. Possibly longer than all of 1977.
I will cover all the music I love from 1977 in two hours tomorrow from 7 to 9am. I may also talk about what a horrible nine-year-old I was. You know how horrible I am now? I was 1/5 as horrible then - which is pretty godawful.
It's happening from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at the WRFL page. Maybe later at the Self Help Radio page maybe? I'll believe it when I see it.
I don't think I was terribly self-aware in 1977, because if I were, damn! the music was great.
I will cover all the music I love from 1977 in two hours tomorrow from 7 to 9am. I may also talk about what a horrible nine-year-old I was. You know how horrible I am now? I was 1/5 as horrible then - which is pretty godawful.
It's happening from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at the WRFL page. Maybe later at the Self Help Radio page maybe? I'll believe it when I see it.
I don't think I was terribly self-aware in 1977, because if I were, damn! the music was great.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Preface To 1977: I Really Thought I'd Have Last Week's Show Up By Now
When I started this blog, I was a mere stripling. I am not sure what "stripling" mean, but I read that phrase somewhere. I was actually in my late thirties when I started this blog, & I imagine that doesn't really fit with the definition of "stripling." But what can I do? I was home-schooled.
Actually, I was public-educationed, but I was public-educationed in the 70s & 80s, when it was so much better than today, so much so that being a dick about it is kinda mean. Like, Newt Gingrich mean. What I'm trying to say is, it's no excuse. I shouldn't use phrases incorrectly. I'm not a nineteen-year-old girl who has just discovered there's something called "the dictionary."
Or am I?
I spend too much time making excuses, & although I am famously lazy, I was mostly out of town today (in Louisville, if you must know) (also in the rain) (although it hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit today) (it's not at all wintry here) & when I got home I entertained some friends with vegan burgers & fries & episode of "The Wire." I barely had time to work on my radio show (which is about the year 1977); I couldn't have gotten around to editing my previous radio show.
Oh, there is guilt felt aplenty. Never doubt that. The guilt of thirty-six years ago is as fresh as smelling salts under my nostrils. It's not related to this blog which, it must be noted, was not even something I could have imagined thirty-six years ago (I hadn't even begun to think about light sabers yet things called "blogs"). But guilt feels like guilt & if anyone knows a great psychologist who works relatively cheap in the Lexington area, I'd love to talk to him/her/it. Seriously.
In the meantime - comic book movies. You know what I mean?
Actually, I was public-educationed, but I was public-educationed in the 70s & 80s, when it was so much better than today, so much so that being a dick about it is kinda mean. Like, Newt Gingrich mean. What I'm trying to say is, it's no excuse. I shouldn't use phrases incorrectly. I'm not a nineteen-year-old girl who has just discovered there's something called "the dictionary."
Or am I?
I spend too much time making excuses, & although I am famously lazy, I was mostly out of town today (in Louisville, if you must know) (also in the rain) (although it hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit today) (it's not at all wintry here) & when I got home I entertained some friends with vegan burgers & fries & episode of "The Wire." I barely had time to work on my radio show (which is about the year 1977); I couldn't have gotten around to editing my previous radio show.
Oh, there is guilt felt aplenty. Never doubt that. The guilt of thirty-six years ago is as fresh as smelling salts under my nostrils. It's not related to this blog which, it must be noted, was not even something I could have imagined thirty-six years ago (I hadn't even begun to think about light sabers yet things called "blogs"). But guilt feels like guilt & if anyone knows a great psychologist who works relatively cheap in the Lexington area, I'd love to talk to him/her/it. Seriously.
In the meantime - comic book movies. You know what I mean?
Friday, January 11, 2013
1977
My show this week is my birthday show (although my show this week happens six days before my birthday but what the hell am I supposed to do celebrate my birthday after my birthday that's just crazy) & every year since the start of my show on my birthday I've celebrated music from the year of my birth onward & now I've reached 1977.
I turned nine in 1977. I was in third grade when I did, in Mrs. Carnes' class at Caldwell Elementary in Garland, Texas. I wasn't much of a person. I was noisy, obstreperous, prone to flights of fancy, & deeply selfish. My mother raised her boys to be selfish. Selfish but tied tight to her apron strings.
At some point in 1977, we moved away from the part of the world where I had lived for as long as I can remember. In Garland, there's a road called Kingsley Avenue that "starts" in the east at the intersection of Centerville & Broadway. It travels west until, for no apparent reason, it becomes Walnut Hill road somewhere in the first few blocks of Dallas.
Two roads that intersect Kingsley Avenue - Saturn Road & Garland Road - form the barrier of where I had lived up to that time. My mother, recently separated & then, in 1974, divorced, lived in shabby apartments along Kingsley Avenue after her marriage fell apart. In 1977, we lived on a road a block parallel from Kingsley, called Cranford Road, in apartments called Little Brook. There were actually six of us - my mother, my little brother, my sister Karin, & two older brothers. Oh, & me. Possibly the least of them all.
After the school year, we moved "across town" - it was at best five miles, probably less - to an apartment complex on Fifth Street called Villa Cordoba. (Interestingly, it still stands, some thirty-five years later, & it's called Garland Oaks now, which is slightly ironic, because at this point the people who live there are overwhelmingly Hispanic. Not in 1977! There were possibly fewer than six black families at the time - the rest were white.) My mother's fear of the world kept us from riding our bikes to school every day - instead, she made our older brothers - who had either moved to the same complex or were already there - take us to school. My fourth grade year, I remember, was full of absences, as my brothers were incredibly unreliable. It didn't affect me much, as I was a good student & could catch up, but it was bad for my little brother, who was never terribly good at school.
One day I should talk about fourth grade. Mrs. Harris was a horrible teacher. It wasn't a good year. But not here. I wasn't in fourth grade then.
I wish I knew about my mother's financial situation & the really desperate straits we lived in, but of course at nine I had no real idea about anything. I loved swimming in the apartment's pool, although I needed someone there for me & my siblings would hardly ever do something that nice for their annoying little brothers - my sister (& de facto babysitter) Karin was all of 15 & boy crazy, & my two older brothers were deep into drug culture.
One of the first friends I made at Villa Cordoba was a girl named Christi, with whom I played "dolls," that is, I used my GI Joes & she her Barbies to "play house." It was quite thrilling for me & I imagine she was the first girl for whom I ever "felt anything," whatever that might mean. The boys who lived in the apartment complex, my little brother included, were generally very crude to her, though I didn't really understand what any of it meant. She was a pretty blonde girl - I can't for the life of me remember what she looked like, although I can remember exactly what the front of her apartment looked like - & her mother, who seemed more a grandmother - was very protective.
As anyone who's lived in apartments knows, tenancy there is transient. She was gone within the year. We, on the other hand, stayed at the Villa Cordoba until I finished the eighth grade.
None of the music I will play on my show this week is anything I was listening to at age nine. I liked listening to the radio, to what would later be called "classic rock." Sometimes I taped it on a random cassette, but it wasn't important to me. I hadn't discovered the Beatles yet. I hadn't yet been so alienated from the world that I needed to find far-away voices who sounded like me to speak to me.
But holy shit if I were self-aware there was some awesome music in 1977. The fact that none of my older siblings noticed or brought it home is a fundamental reason why we were never friends, & don't really communicate with each other in our adult lives.
I turned nine in 1977. I was in third grade when I did, in Mrs. Carnes' class at Caldwell Elementary in Garland, Texas. I wasn't much of a person. I was noisy, obstreperous, prone to flights of fancy, & deeply selfish. My mother raised her boys to be selfish. Selfish but tied tight to her apron strings.
At some point in 1977, we moved away from the part of the world where I had lived for as long as I can remember. In Garland, there's a road called Kingsley Avenue that "starts" in the east at the intersection of Centerville & Broadway. It travels west until, for no apparent reason, it becomes Walnut Hill road somewhere in the first few blocks of Dallas.
Two roads that intersect Kingsley Avenue - Saturn Road & Garland Road - form the barrier of where I had lived up to that time. My mother, recently separated & then, in 1974, divorced, lived in shabby apartments along Kingsley Avenue after her marriage fell apart. In 1977, we lived on a road a block parallel from Kingsley, called Cranford Road, in apartments called Little Brook. There were actually six of us - my mother, my little brother, my sister Karin, & two older brothers. Oh, & me. Possibly the least of them all.
After the school year, we moved "across town" - it was at best five miles, probably less - to an apartment complex on Fifth Street called Villa Cordoba. (Interestingly, it still stands, some thirty-five years later, & it's called Garland Oaks now, which is slightly ironic, because at this point the people who live there are overwhelmingly Hispanic. Not in 1977! There were possibly fewer than six black families at the time - the rest were white.) My mother's fear of the world kept us from riding our bikes to school every day - instead, she made our older brothers - who had either moved to the same complex or were already there - take us to school. My fourth grade year, I remember, was full of absences, as my brothers were incredibly unreliable. It didn't affect me much, as I was a good student & could catch up, but it was bad for my little brother, who was never terribly good at school.
One day I should talk about fourth grade. Mrs. Harris was a horrible teacher. It wasn't a good year. But not here. I wasn't in fourth grade then.
I wish I knew about my mother's financial situation & the really desperate straits we lived in, but of course at nine I had no real idea about anything. I loved swimming in the apartment's pool, although I needed someone there for me & my siblings would hardly ever do something that nice for their annoying little brothers - my sister (& de facto babysitter) Karin was all of 15 & boy crazy, & my two older brothers were deep into drug culture.
One of the first friends I made at Villa Cordoba was a girl named Christi, with whom I played "dolls," that is, I used my GI Joes & she her Barbies to "play house." It was quite thrilling for me & I imagine she was the first girl for whom I ever "felt anything," whatever that might mean. The boys who lived in the apartment complex, my little brother included, were generally very crude to her, though I didn't really understand what any of it meant. She was a pretty blonde girl - I can't for the life of me remember what she looked like, although I can remember exactly what the front of her apartment looked like - & her mother, who seemed more a grandmother - was very protective.
As anyone who's lived in apartments knows, tenancy there is transient. She was gone within the year. We, on the other hand, stayed at the Villa Cordoba until I finished the eighth grade.
None of the music I will play on my show this week is anything I was listening to at age nine. I liked listening to the radio, to what would later be called "classic rock." Sometimes I taped it on a random cassette, but it wasn't important to me. I hadn't discovered the Beatles yet. I hadn't yet been so alienated from the world that I needed to find far-away voices who sounded like me to speak to me.
But holy shit if I were self-aware there was some awesome music in 1977. The fact that none of my older siblings noticed or brought it home is a fundamental reason why we were never friends, & don't really communicate with each other in our adult lives.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
This Overwhelming Lickspittle Rag
I know, I haven't posted this week's show, my tribute to my lovely dog, George, yet. There are perhaps many reasons.
1) I'm lazy.
Well, hell, just come right out & say it why don't you jeez.
2) I'm still a little sad from the loss.
Which is true, but it shouldn't keep me from posting a radio show.
3) Aliens drank all my beer!!!!
I'm sorry, I have no idea who I am any more.
4) I have been vaguely busy & haven't found the time.
Yeah, maybe you'll buy that one.
5) I'm waiting for another show because otherwise the website will be lonesome with two shows on it for 2013.
Is that really true or is it...
6) I have to move the front page to a 2012.html file & change all the other pages to reflect that & it's not a lot of work but wah wah wah see # 1 above.
Good grief.
1) I'm lazy.
Well, hell, just come right out & say it why don't you jeez.
2) I'm still a little sad from the loss.
Which is true, but it shouldn't keep me from posting a radio show.
3) Aliens drank all my beer!!!!
I'm sorry, I have no idea who I am any more.
4) I have been vaguely busy & haven't found the time.
Yeah, maybe you'll buy that one.
5) I'm waiting for another show because otherwise the website will be lonesome with two shows on it for 2013.
Is that really true or is it...
6) I have to move the front page to a 2012.html file & change all the other pages to reflect that & it's not a lot of work but wah wah wah see # 1 above.
Good grief.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Whither George's Show?
As I mentioned yesterday, I lost a great friend in my dog George nearly a month ago. This show is a tribute to him in the usual dumbass Self Help Radio way. He would have been very bored by it because it didn't involve treats.
George, we like to tell everyone, invented what was called the "pre-treat." Normally, we'd give the boys a treat after they do something good, like going outside to urinate or defecate instead of goofing around. But George later in his life had to be cajoled into actually going outside with a treat. So in effect, he got a treat before he did the thing that got him a treat. A pre-treat.
His name will go down in Beagle history.
It airs tomorrow from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL Lexington, & online at wrfl dot fm. Later, it will appear at self help radio dot net. How much later I cannot rightly say.
I will probably cry on the air tomorrow. My apologies for being such a baby. But I really loved that dog.
George, we like to tell everyone, invented what was called the "pre-treat." Normally, we'd give the boys a treat after they do something good, like going outside to urinate or defecate instead of goofing around. But George later in his life had to be cajoled into actually going outside with a treat. So in effect, he got a treat before he did the thing that got him a treat. A pre-treat.
His name will go down in Beagle history.
It airs tomorrow from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL Lexington, & online at wrfl dot fm. Later, it will appear at self help radio dot net. How much later I cannot rightly say.
I will probably cry on the air tomorrow. My apologies for being such a baby. But I really loved that dog.
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Preface To George's Show: Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend
We lost George, our eldest beagle, to cancer on December 10, 2012. The sadness & grief have not left me. I had never lost a dog before, & as much as I love cats, one's relationship to a dog is intrinsically more emotional. They have co-evolved with human for thousands of years, & they learn to read your emotions, they learn to be a comfort & they learn to protect you. I don't know if any animal "loves" the way humans do, but whatever it is that is "love" in a dog is often more profoundly real & deep than what any other human could ever offer.
I don't know if I can write as much about George as I did about Buster because I am still deep in my grief. He was my wife's dog first, he saved her life when she was broken & he was first & foremost her best friend. She adopted him from a hound rescue place in Austin, who rescued him from some rich twats in Austin who kept him chained to a tree outside for the first two years of him life. There's a bumper sticker we often see: "Who rescued whom?" George & Magda rescued each other, & his love for her - well, I don't know if I can ever love her as much as he loved her.
It was hard for me, as a cat person, to get used to George. George would climb between me & Magda in bed when she & I first met, so he saw me as much as a rival as I saw him. He had had some issues with men as well - perhaps his old twatty rich Austin owners had kicked him around - & I remember the first time I leaned over to pet George, he peed on me. I tried not to take it personally.
Of the two of us, Magda spent the most time with George. They would go on long walks, he'd go to school with her, he'd be next to her at night. He was a very loud dog, & he would cry & bark when we left & howled his happiness when we returned. He was a charmer, very handsome, & I admit with sadness I was always a little jealous of him in those early days. He was crafty, too - at the first Christmas I spent with Magda at my family's place, with no one watching him, he ate an entire cheese log in one triumphant gulp. It wasn't the first time he managed to steal food - as Magda has put it, "Gary never had a birthday cake that didn't have dog bites in it."
In 2004, we adopted another beagle, Ringo - I thought it was for Magda, & so did she - but it turns out, Ringo was a present for George. They became fast friends & partners in crime. (I wish Ringo could talk - it's hard to ascribe feelings to an animal - but I don't know how he's dealing with George's loss.) I didn't go on walks with Magda & the boys in those days - not much, anyway - but she'd take them off leash & the two of them would go wandering, having adventures we'll never know about. & always, always coming home.
It goes without saying that everyone adored George. He was prone to love others, too. When the band Bearsuit stayed at our place during SXSW in - gosh, I guess it was 2008 - I often found George sleeping on the futon with Iain. He had a twinkle in his eye & a spring in his step - he really did - I loved to watch him prance. He was a little big for a beagle - perhaps he was a mixed breed - so he had a deer-like quality to him.
I started feeding the dogs around the time Winston came along - that was in 2007. He was our third beagle & our problem child. He's a dwarf, & taking care of him because of his health issues became our focus (although to her credit, Magda would carry him on her daily walks, because he, too, wanted to be with George - & Ringo, naturally). Beagles, it might not surprise you to know, don't share well, no matter how good friends they are, & Magda was never able to discipline them. Dinnertime was a raucous mess. I took over just so there wouldn't be as much shouting. At that point, & when I began regularly giving them treats for going outside, it seems to have dawned on the dogs that I was the "alpha" in the household, & not just some guy who was around, & George started to pay more attention to me.
It wasn't until we moved to West Virginia, though, that he & I really became friends. I was home more, I went on walks with them, & we had the time to get to know one another. George was a senior citizen then, 11 or so, therefore less of a spazz, & I had the leisure to play with them. I finally understood what Magda had seen in him, & you can say we fell in love, because we did.
This is so hard to write. George hurt himself jumping off a porch sometime in the summer of 2010. He slowly recovered but even so he couldn't go on the super-long walks we do daily. We bought him a carriage to carry him around in, & surprisingly, he didn't much complain. He just loved to go on walks. He loved to be with us & with his brothers. He also loved that I gave him treats as we walked.
This past summer, it seemed as though the injury he received in Huntington had returned, & we took him to a specialist in Louisville - these guys, who come highly recommended by me - thinking he might need back surgery. They discovered a cancerous growth in his right front leg & it was amputated. The doctor thought he had "gotten it all." We hoped so too.
Three-legged George was still very Georgie. I told someone, "He's the bravest person I ever met." He didn't let his "disability" deter him - one night I dropped a tortilla (accidentally) on the floor, & he beat his two younger, healthier brothers to it. But though he made it through a rough couple of weeks of recuperation, it was only a few months until the cancer came back, like cancer does, because cancer is sick & deceitful & evil.
The saddest thing, to me, as the cancer spread, is that it took his sight. George had steadily grown more & more deaf, & I hated that he couldn't see for the last week of his life. He never stopped relying on his magical nose, & he never stopped loving to eat.
He died Monday night on December 10. He would have been fifteen in April. He was a remarkable dog, he was a remarkable person, he was more loving & caring & friendly & loyal & kind than most of anyone I've ever met or will meet. I understand why people want to believe in an afterlife - it's very hard to believe that I'll never see him again. It seems crueller than any torture imaginable.
I dream about him, I miss his touch & smell, I even miss his extraordinary lungs. He is another absence in my heart that I will never fill. I can only hope I grow used to the absence, & find a way to live with is, as I did with the space left by Blue Boy & Buster. But right now, that seems too difficult for the poor, poor likes of me.
I will try not to cry on the radio as I celebrate his life on Monday.
Friday, January 04, 2013
Puppy Play Time!
Thursday, January 03, 2013
A Preview Of Self Help Radio In 2013
A new year is the perfect time to revitalize one's radio show - it's an excuse to make much-needed changes & improvements! Self Help Radio, however, is never one to squander an opportunity, & can promise pretty much the same thing it's always done for the new year!
Among these things:
1) Same old website! Well, there will be one change: a new front page will have to be made, as each of the pages represents a year of playlists. Also, the current front page with become the "2012" page. It should take all of thirty minutes, & the webmaster (who's also me) will complain about it the entire time.
2) Different themes! Yes, the one constant in Self Help Radio is that themes will be explored in the exact same way, which means that (except for anniversary shows) no theme will ever be repeated, no matter how many glaringly obvious songs I miss!
3) Twitter! Facebook! Again this year I will continue to underuse social media tools. Mostly out of embarrassment. I mean, have you heard the radio show?
4) Still on Monday morning! Yes, Self Help Radio remains on Monday mornings (at least for the spring), making it another terrible thing that happens at the beginning of the work-week.
5) This blog is really dull! I can't do much about it, it's kind of a reflection of me & the show. I was toying with the idea of hiring a ghostwriter, but then I don't believe in ghosts. I mean, seriously - if there really were such things as ghosts, wouldn't you see them all the time?
6) Cheating on my taxes! Wait. I don't think you needed to know that. My backspace isn't working! Crap!
7) I'll do more "Indiepop A To Z" episodes but won't be anywhere near finished! But you expected that.
8) If you've heard it before, you'll hear it again! Oh, it's true, there's not a cornball joke or routine that I won't run straight for, time after time, during my interminable airbreaks. I wonder if there's a clinical name for this malady, & if so, is it Henny Youngman's disease?
I can't apologize more for the rut that I'm stuck in that's called Self Help Radio, mainly because I can't think of a synonym for "apologize." However, you should take a small amount of comfort in the fact that, as the world gets more horrible due to stupid politicians & climate change, one thing stays the same: the predictability of Self Help Radio!
Hoorah?
Monday, December 31, 2012
It's Indiepop A To Z # 39!
Self Help Radio 121231: Indiepop A To Z # 39
Yes yes yes. The alphabetizing continues! Hen to Hit today! The end is nowhere in sight.
I can't go on, I must go on. See? This is an existential radio show.
The show is now at the Self Help Radio website &/or you can access the files in an individual manner: here's part one & here's part two. What's in both parts is listed below.
The last show of 2012 is a list show.
As always, thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Get Yourself Together" Henry's Dress _Bust 'Em Green_
"Nobody Loves Me" The Hepburns _How The Fallen Are Mighty_
"Ultra-Crush" Her Tears _A Gift From Sing-Sing_
"Idlewild" Here's Johnny _Idlewild_
"No Milk Today" Herman's Hermits _There's A Kind Of Hush (All Over The World)_
"Surfin' Vietnam" The Hermit Crabs _Let's Try Another Ideal Guest House_
"So Blue" The Hermit Crabs _Time Relentless EP_
"Slumber" Herostratos _EardrumsPop 100_
"Me & My Charms" Kristin Hersh _Hips & Makers_
"Two Mothers" Herzfeld _Two Mothers_
"Enclosed" Hewas _Invited To Dinner_
"Haystack" Kevin Hewick & New Order _From Brussels With Love_
"Belle & Julian" Hey Hey My My _Too Much Space EP_
"I Really Do Love Penelope" Hey Paulette _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 1_
(part two)
"Blue Hat For A Blue Day" Nick Heyward _North Of A Miracle_
"It Only Works Because You’re Here" MJ Hibbett _Indietracks 2009 - An Indiepop Compilation_
"Fee Fie" The Hidden Cameras _Awoo_
"Box Set Go" The High _Somewhere Soon_
"Addicted To A TV" The High Fidelity _Demonstration_
"Flowers Bloom" High Highs _High Highs_
"Giddy & Gay" The High Llamas _Gideon Gaye_
"Finding Clovers" The High Water Marks _Polar_
"There Is A Town" The Higher Elevations _Always The Same_
"Conspiracy" The Higsons _Conspiracy_
"Nowhere Train" Hill Bandits _Nowhere Train_
"Long Brown Eyes" Hip Young Things _The Noise & The Melodies - The Pearl-Compilation_
"Psycho" Hipslingers _Young Blood_
"Baby Fish Mouth" His Name Is Alive _Mouth By Mouth_
"You Didn't Love Me Then" The Hit Parade _CD86: 48 Tracks From The Birth Of Indie Pop_
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Whither Indiepop A To Z # 39?
We'll start with HEN or so. We may get as far as HOL. Interestingly, I was once called a Hen's Hole in high school. I shook the fellow who was insulting me's hand.
It's tomorrow morning on the very last day of 2012, from 7am to 9am. I don't know about you, but this was not an easy year for me. You can listen on the 88.1 fm frequency in Lexington, or and you can listen online at wrfl.fm. I am hoping that 2013 goes a little easier. I will try to get the show online at the Self Help Radio website but it probably won't happen until the new year. But perhaps I will be better about such things then.
Happy new year! I hope yours is fun & you'll be safe & stuff!
It's tomorrow morning on the very last day of 2012, from 7am to 9am. I don't know about you, but this was not an easy year for me. You can listen on the 88.1 fm frequency in Lexington, or and you can listen online at wrfl.fm. I am hoping that 2013 goes a little easier. I will try to get the show online at the Self Help Radio website but it probably won't happen until the new year. But perhaps I will be better about such things then.
Happy new year! I hope yours is fun & you'll be safe & stuff!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Grammar Fascist
I like the AllMusic web site, I think it's a nice resource, but I have always felt - I have friends who think this, too - that it would benefit from having the sort of user comments that the Internet Movie Database has. I don't necessarily need to read what everyone thinks about my favorite records, but when you have only a small group of people review stuff, you're bound to have some reviews that slip by with little or no editing.
Case in point: this review of the George Harrison song "Think For Yourself":
I have screen-captured it, & circled the two things that annoy me, &, in my opinion, invalidate the review. One, the dude doesn't know the difference between "its" & "it's." Can you imagine someone with a real writing gig making that mistake? It's Grammar 101!
The second thing is that he misquotes the lyrics. Never once does George Harrison sing "you gotta think for yourself" in the song.
I guess you can think that the song is "dated" but I'm not going to pay attention to your opinions when you can't even properly quote the song. It's not like there aren't hundreds of lyrics sites out there.
If you were allowed to comment on this, you could call this dumbass out & perhaps encourage him to correct his errors.
Interestingly, the AllMusic Guide doesn't let you search for writers, so I can't see what other nonsense the reviewer - "Thomas Ward" - has written.
Some might think that I am making a big deal about nothing, but this little review is a microcosm of the biggest problem with the site. It has an insularity that makes it far from the important resource it could be. That's too bad.
Also, that's a pretty great George Harrison song.
Case in point: this review of the George Harrison song "Think For Yourself":
The second thing is that he misquotes the lyrics. Never once does George Harrison sing "you gotta think for yourself" in the song.
I guess you can think that the song is "dated" but I'm not going to pay attention to your opinions when you can't even properly quote the song. It's not like there aren't hundreds of lyrics sites out there.
If you were allowed to comment on this, you could call this dumbass out & perhaps encourage him to correct his errors.
Interestingly, the AllMusic Guide doesn't let you search for writers, so I can't see what other nonsense the reviewer - "Thomas Ward" - has written.
Some might think that I am making a big deal about nothing, but this little review is a microcosm of the biggest problem with the site. It has an insularity that makes it far from the important resource it could be. That's too bad.
Also, that's a pretty great George Harrison song.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Green Wing
Have you seen this? Dude, it's on Netflix! You know, the streaming part. Where you can watch it on your computer.
Not that I'm a paid employee of anyone, because I am'nt. I'm just watching every episode of Green Wing in order until my brain starts to swoon.
Should I be doing something else?
Not that I'm a paid employee of anyone, because I am'nt. I'm just watching every episode of Green Wing in order until my brain starts to swoon.
Should I be doing something else?