Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Coffee Day

That photo was taken in Edinburgh, Scotland, in May 2016. Its sentiment is shared however the world over. Which is why tomorrow, September 29, we will report on National Coffee Day on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. Don't worry about the Scots! International Coffee Day is two days later.

That's noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, online everywhere at xray dot fm.

You can say, "I take my coffee like I take my radio - all the time!"

This Week In Self Help (Sep 22 24 + 26)

It was another busy week. When will these silly radio stations learn?

The Dickenbock Report had a show for Dear Diary Day. I even read from Dick Dickenbock's diary! If you would like, listen to the show on the XRAY website. If you would like, listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website. You may need a username + password - please use SHR + selfhelp.

Self Help Radio has a show about spirals, like the one pictured above. If you would like, listen to the show on the KBOO website. If you would like, listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website. You may need a username + password - please use SHR + selfhelp.

The last hour of the KBOO show above is an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played music from folks we've lost recently - including a friend of mine. If you would like to listen to that show by itself, you can do so on the Self Help Radio website. You may need a username + password - please use SHR + selfhelp.

On Thursday I subbed an XRAY show called Welcome To Your Good Day. I have not put that show up on the Self Help Radio website yet (I'll do that next Tuesday) but until I do you can listen to the show on the XRAY website. Or maybe not - I don't see that it was recorded. Hm. I'll update this when I put the show on the Self Help Radio website then.

Update! I have added the show to Self Help Radio website. You can listen here. You may need a username + password - please use SHR + selfhelp.

Oh no I'm spiraling into control! I better sign off now.

Self Help Radio 092424: Spirals

In a kind of a panic about finding pictures for this blog post, I told my wife, "Spirals are found everywhere in nature! Where can we find some to take pictures of?" She gave me this shell from a snail. I took a picture & then defaced it with the Self Help Radio logo. When I asked her what kind of snail it was, she sent me a video of a guy with snails crawling on his face. I'm a little afraid of such things so now I guess I'll never know.

We took a bunch of pictures of spirals in the natural world on a dogwalk (that's where yesterday's sunflower came from) but I liked the snail shell best of all. So it's the image for today's show.

All this done for a blog post about a radio show about spirals. Which you can listen to now or whenever either at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, make sure you know the login is SHR & the password is selfhelp. Everything that happens on the show is listed below.

& now I can't not see spirals everywhere in nature!

Self Help Radio Spirals Show

"Spiral Staircase" Antena _Camino Del Sol_

"Spiral Baby" The X-Men _Creation Soup Volume Two_

"Spiral" Elise Kermani _The Aerial # 4_

introduction & definitions

"Spiral" The Connells _Ring_

"Spiral Twist" Siouxsie & The Banshees _Downside Up_

"Spirals Of Paranoia" The Mekons _Retreat From Memphis_

"Spiral Staircase" Birdie _Spiral Staircase_

interview with artist Tom Cullen

"Spiral Transit" Crystal Stilts _Alight Of Night_

"Spiral Golden Town" Deerhoof _Green Cosmos_

"Spiral Stairs" Elf Power _In A Cave_

"The Spiral" Icky Blossoms _Mask_

interview with chemist & poet Dr. Thad Connors, author of The Beauty Of Spirals

"Triple Spiral" Bright Eyes _The People's Key_

"Spiral" Bully _Losing_

"Downward Spiral" The Helio Sequence _Negotiations_

"Spiral" Pylon Reenactment Society _Magnet Factory_

interview with Spiral Goddess creator, writer, & actor Teresa Collins

"Death Spiral" Horse Jumper Of Love _Disaster Trick_

"Spiral In Houston" Frances Chang _Psychedelic Anxiety_

"Spiral Girl" Klammer _You Have Been Processed_

"Spirals" Cold Beat _Into The Air_

interview with Teddy Caldwell of Spiraling Up

"Death Spiral" Brent Amaker Deathsquad _Hello_

"Sick Of Spiraling" Bachelor _Doomin' Sun_

"Spirals" Lebanon Hanover _Besides The Abyss_

"Spiralling Out" Softcult _Heaven_

conclusion & goodbye

"Spiral" Bombay Dub Orchestra _3 Cities_

Whither Spirals?

Sometime this summer. I was reading an article. About all the spirals in nature. Fibonacci came up a lot. & for a few days afterward I bugged my wife (who is a scientist) about showing me spirals in nature. She would for example point at sunflowers. The photo of the sunflower above I took to look at more closely later. It was only natural that at some point that all became a radio show. Because everything eventually becomes a radio show for me.

Listen to the Self Help Radio episode about spirals tonight! Monday night! on KBOO from midnight to 2am. It's on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo dot fm everywhere.

Let's hope I don't spiral out of control during the show.

Preface To Spirals: Not Related At All, Going To See Billy Bragg Tonight

(image from here)

This is where I'll be in a few hours. I bought my first Billy Bragg record in Austin the day before I went back to Garland after my first year of college, May 1987. It was Talking With The Taxman. I fell in love with it that summer. The next year I bought Workers Playtime the day I saw it at Sound Exchange. & later that year I saw Billy Bragg at Liberty Lunch, one of the best concerts I've ever seen in my life.

Later I got to see him at Austin City Limits, & later still in Covington, Kentucky, the first time I got to see him with my wife, who wasn't much of a fan before the show. She is now - she's going tonight!

This has nothing to do with this week's show. & I know these days it's not that weird. But while Billy Bragg celebrates the fortieth anniversary of his first American tour, I am amazed I've been a fan of his for almost that amount of time. & I marvel how music can live in you for so long.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Dear Diary Day

September 22 is Dear Diary Day. In his long career, Dick Dickenbock has kept a diary of all his fantastical news moments. We will report on that (sigh) & diary-keeping in general, including musical reports. Although we are a news magazine, not a news diary.

That's tomorrow from noon to 1pm on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online at xray dot fm.

This Week In Self Help (Sep 15 + 17)

(It's Aunt Melba. Find more here.)

Another busy week but lucky for Portland radio listeners just confined to two days.

The Dickenbock Report reported on Make A Hat Day. Listen to that nonsense on the XRAY website linked here. Or directly on the Self Help Radio website here. Note - username SHR & password selfhelp to download from the Self Help Radio website.

Self Help Radio continued to play Howard Gently bits in chronological order. My dear friend Russell improvised them on my show for year - we're listening to interviews from 2016. Listen to those funnies on the KBOO website here. Or directly on the Self Help Radio website here. Repeat note - username SHR & password selfhelp to download from the Self Help Radio website.

The last hour of the KBOO link above is this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming in which I played lots of new releases. You can listen on the KBOO website with the link above, but you can also listen to just that show directly on the Self Help Radio website here. Twice repeated note - username SHR & password selfhelp to download from the Self Help Radio website.

Finally, I returned to the 1969 Project for its second installment. It was a sub show & KBOO doesn't archive its sub shows, but you can listen to it if you want on the Self Help Radio website here. Do I have to repeat the note oh why not: username SHR & password selfhelp to download from the Self Help Radio website.

What is the 1969 Project? I guess I haven't written much about it but perhaps this old blog entry will help. The first entry is linked on the Self Help Radio website.

& that was the end of my intrusive radio appearances this week.

Self Help Radio 091724: Howard Gently Year Three, Continued

There's not a lot to add when it comes to series in multiple parts. This is another collections of improvised bits featuring my late friend Russell appearing as my spiritual mentor The Rev Dr Howard Gently that aired in Kentucky from June to September 2016. They represent the fifty-sixth through sixty-sixth appearances of Howard Gently on the show. I still grieve for my friend but feel so incredibly lucky that I have so many recordings of him being how I most remember him: creative & funny.

Listen to the show either on the KBOO website or on the Self Help Radio website. If you chose the latter, remember the username SHR & password selfhelp. I began the show with a song Russell himself wrote & performed. Since Russell improvised on the show's themes, I played a song from each show (one I knew he liked or I thought he might like) & then the Howard Gently segment. You can see how that works below.

As Howard Gently might say, "Blessed be, or whatever."

Self Help Radio Howard Gently Year Three Continued Show

"Travelogue" Russell Miles _Travelogue_

"The Morning Fog" Kate Bush _Hounds Of Love_

Howard Gently on the theme "Fog"

"Torture" The Psychedelic Furs _Midnight To Midnight_ (Columbia, 1987)

Howard Gently on the theme "Torture"

"Take It Easy Bay" The Animals _Animal Tracks_ (MGM, 1965)

Howard Gently on the theme "Take It Easy"

"Breakin' Bread" Fred & The New J.B.'s _Breakin' Bread_ (People, 1974)

Howard Gently on the theme "Bread"

"Hold On" John Lennon _Plastic Ono Band_ (Apple, 1970)

Howard Gently on the theme "Hold On"

"Fashion" David Bowie _Scary Monsters_ (RCA Victor, 1980)

Howard Gently on the theme "Fashion"

"Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" Leonard Cohen _Songs Of Leonard Cohen_ (Columbia, 1968)

Howard Gently on the theme "Goodbye"

"Lakeside View Apartments Suite" The Mountain Goats _Transcendental Youth_ (Merge, 2012)

Howard Gently on the theme "Lakes"

"Randall Knife" Guy Clark _Craftsman_ (Philo, 1995)

Howard Gently on the theme "Knives"

"Bend A Little My Way" Nat King Cole _The Beautiful Ballads_

Howard Gently on the theme "Bending"

"Nobody Knows" James Brown _The Singles, Volume 4: 1966-1967_

Howard Gently on the theme "Nobody Knows"

Whither Howard Gently Year Three, Continued?

That picture above was taken in Chicago in 2018. I probably sent it to Russell. It was always funny to see his name on signs & things like that. Nowadays I feel like I see his name more often - & can't send him the pictures I take anymore.

My friend Russell died last year. We had known each other since childhood. Or at least early adolescence. He improvised funny interviews on my show for many years. & to pay tribute to him, every few months I share some more of those interviews. I am playing them in alphabetical order. I will play bits from his third year appearing as my spiritual mentor The Rev Dr Howard Gently.

That's tonight, midnight to 2am, on 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. As he might have said in excitement knowing I was devoting another radio show entirely to him, ji-ki-bo-sho-to!

Preface To Howard Gently Year Three, Continued: Sad Song On A Broken Guitar

This week's show continues sharing bits by my friend Russell who appeared on my show as the Rev Dr Howard Gently for many years. I knew him for almost my whole life. He died last year. Today is his birthday.

A few months back I took that picture of a broken guitar which I came across on a dog walk. When Russell & I were roommates, one of my favorite times was when he would get out his guitar & play along to music we were listening to. He hadn't done that with me in years - since the late 1990s we mainly lived in different cities far apart - but it's a memory I cherish. It's lots of memories I cherish.

Certainly I would rather he were alive & continuing to portray Howard Gently on my show. But boy am I glad I have those recordings. I am glad to share them with you tomorrow night.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Make A Hat Day

September 15 is Make A Hat Day. We'll report on that tomorrow, Sunday, September 15, on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM, by talking about hats & playing musical reports about hats for inspiration. We imagine at the end of the show so many hats will have been made nearly everyone in Portland will have a hat. Now that is a news program.

Sunday, September 15 on XRAY - that's 91.1+107.1fm in town & online at xray dot fm. Your poor unexposed head will thank you.

This Week In Self Help (Sep 8 10 + 12)

Oh dear lord I was on the radio some more this week. How ever can I apologize? Here is a list of my radio crimes these last seven days.

On Sunday the 8th I was on XRAY with an episode of The Dickenbock Report. It was a continuation of my exploration of music & news a hundred years ago - so, 1924 Part II. Here is the show on the XRAY website. You can also listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website. Important info: username SHR, password selfhelp.

Self Help Radio was a show about brooms. Like the one pictured above, hanging out with its friend, shovel. Here is the show on the KBOO website. You can also listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website. Important info: username SHR, password selfhelp.

Right after Self Help Radio I played music from a bunch of artists whom we have recently lost. It was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming. It is included in the KBOO link above. But you can listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website if you just wanna listen to it alone. Important info: username SHR, password selfhelp.

Finally, yesterday, the 12th, I sat in on the XRAY show Welcome To Your Good Day & played a couple of hours of new releases. Here is the show on the XRAY website. I have not put in on the Self Help Radio website yet - I'll do that on Tuesday.

This is an actual text I got during yesterday's XRAY show: Goats eat noxious weeds.

Something to look forward to!

Self Help Radio 091024: Brooms

Many years from now (hopefully) as I find myself after death in some mysterious foggy circumstance, standing before a gate or door or maybe I don't know a giant hole, an imposing figure of impossible grandeur will appear, striking me with awe, & I will fall to my knees or, depending on my knees at that age, will sit slowly on a nearby outcropping but hopefully doing so in the most humble & respectful way possible (I really hope I am not just on the ground sitting Indian style as there's really no way to look humble & respectful like that), & I will not look at the figure & I will await my judgment or fate or whatever the hell is happening, which is a surprise to me because I frankly never believed in anything supernatural my entire life.

But the figure of impossible grandeur will say, in a booming voice best represented in a bold font but not worth all caps which is an annoying way to write, it will say, You are at the end of your sad mortal life. What did you do to better your world? What did you contribute? You come from a place of misery & woe - from omnipresent death & suffering - from sadness & hunger & pain & want. The next step in your journey depends upon your answer to this question: What is it you gave to your world that proves your life had meaning?

There will be no pause. There will be no hesitation. I will say proudly, "I made a radio show about brooms."

& the figure of impossible grandeur will let me pass.

You can listen to my singular contribution to the world (& my salvation too it may turn out) now or any time at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp. The show was two hours of broom fun. Everything that happened on it is listed below.

Prepare to be swept away!

Self Help Radio Broom Show

"The Broom" The Af-Tabs _Jerk! Shake! & Vibrate!_

"Old Broom" Keith Hudson _The Hudson Affair: Keith Hudson & Friends_

"New Broom" Minisnap _Bounce Around_

introduction & definitions

"The Admiral's Broom" Peter Dawson _Songs Of The Sea_

"Get Yourself A New Broom (& Sweep The Blues Away) (vocals, Ivie Anderson)" Duke Ellington & His Orchestra _The Complete 1932-1940 Brunswick, Columbia, & Master Recordings Of Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra_

"I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" Robert Johnson _The Complete Recordings_

"Broomstick Buckaroo" Gene Autry _Always Your Pal, Gene Autry_

"New Broom Boogie" Al Dexter & His Troopers _Hillbilly Boogie_

interview with Constance & Xavier Broom, heirs to the Broom fortune

"The Bald Headed End Of The Broom" June Carter _The Essential Early Years 1949-1954_

"Straw Broom Boogie" Dick Spain _Rockabilly Shakedown_

"Let's Jump The Broomstick" Brenda Lee _Brenda Lee Rocks_

"Jump On Your Broomstick" Kenny Lynch _Don't Knock Upon My Door: Six Dozen Great British B-Sides_

"Broomstick Cowboy" Claudine Longet _We've Only Just Begun_

interview with Portland band The Brooms

"Gotta Get My Broom Out" The O'Jays _Super Bad_

"Broomstraw Philosophers & Scuppernong Wine" Larry Jon Wilson _New Beginnings_

"Jimmy The Broom" Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson _Seashores Of Old Mexico_

"I Am Not Your Broom" They Might Be Giants _No!_

interview with broom innovators Todd Ellis & Antonia Glass

"Lish Young Buy-A-Broom" Clannad _Fuaim_

"The Grocer's Broom" Richard Shindell _Somewhere Near Paterson_

"A Rake, A Broom, A Mop, A Shovel" The Terrible Twos _If You Ever See An Owl..._

"Broomstick Rhythm" XTC _Jules Verne's Sketchbook_

interview with my neighbor Dave who is always sweeping his porch with his broom

"Broom People" The Mountain Goats _The Sunset Tree_

"Sweepin' Broom" Caspar Babypants _Hot Dog!_

"Broomhorse" Tele Novella _Poet's Tooth_

"Lesser Broom" Grape Room _Heart Of Gum_

conclusion & goodbye

"Straw-Broom Two-Step" The Texettes _Country RnR_

"Magic Broom" Len Hansen _Hi - It's Bin A Long Time_

"Fat Brooms Brush The Number Bush" The Late Bronze Age _Col. Bruce Hampton: Strange Voices_

Whither Brooms?

There was a broom, I was told, in the little closet - it was the broom's closet, though there were other things in there, including the dustpan. Did I sweep up regularly? I did not. Did I count on the broom to be there when I inevitably broke a glass, or spilled some dried food, or otherwise made a mess? Yes, I did.

Where did the broom come from? I know I've never purchased a broom in my life. A broom just followed me around. The bristles always unhappily bent. Always discolored at their ends, never cleaned by me. Brought out when the mess became too much, then sent away, again.

It wasn't until later, when I married someone for whom cleaning is a passion, that I saw how powerful the broom could be. But by then my relationship with the broom was forever damaged. Even if I could see that it was more than just a simple tool, I wouldn't really change how I acted around it. & the broom would never trust me. It would have heard stories about me from previous brooms.

Perhaps it would appreciate a radio show about brooms? Might that begin to mend the rift caused by ignorance & neglect? Only time will tell. I will need to remember to put the radio in the broom closet.

A radio show about brooms. Tonight on Self Help Radio on KBOO Portland. 90.7fm in town, kboo dot fm everywhere. If you've never been kind to your broom, you may want to share this show with it.

Preface To Brooms: Do Not Move The Broom

Many years ago - too long ago, it seems - but really a little more than five years - I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. It was the second time I lived there for a long period of time - the first time being when I was a kid, from ages zero to eighteen. When I left for college I did not imagine that I would live there ever again. But when my wife got a job in Fort Worth in 2016, we moved back to Texas.

Since I like to be on the radio, & since Dallas has but one community radio station, KNON, I found my way there. I remember thinking the competition for shows would be fierce. But the day I showed up & talked to one of the staff, I found out that I was the first person to show up & offer to volunteer for ages.

Eventually I got a show - it wasn't Self Help Radio - just a morning show. & I would drive from my home in Fort Worth on Tuesday mornings in increasingly dangerous rush hour traffic & park & go inside. & one of the days I showed up - March 5, 2019, to be exact - one of the last times I would do that show, since I would be moving to Portland in two months - I saw a broom holding a side door shut with the note held up by the broom. That's the picture you see there. I never found out what was in there. I just didn't remember to ask.

The playlist for that show, by the way, is <a href="https://www.selfhelpradio.net/2019.html#blend190305">here</a>.

It's funny that I am talking about it like it was in the deep, dark past. Though I wasn't doing it on the air in Dallas, I still made episodes of Self Help Radio regularly. Here is the blog entry for that day. I'm not sure why I didn't mention my KNON show on the blog. But you'll notice (if you read the post) I mention visiting Portland. I didn't tell anyone the real reasons why in case our plans fell through, but my wife had gotten a job here & we were visiting to find a place to rent. Which we did. Which is why I'm here now.

It's a long post for a dumb story about an amusing note on a door I probably never noticed before. Here's one last weird fact. That door doesn't exist anymore. Nor the building it was attached to. A tornado destroyed the station later that year. The building was torn down soon after.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: 1924 (Part II)

(This is how they listened to the radio in 1924. Photo from the Atlantic.)

Tomorrow on the Dickenbock Report we continue our special two-part look back at 100 years ago. A simpler time, perhaps, almost certainly more obviously racist, but worthy of one more look back. In addition to discussions about what was going on a century ago, we'll continue to listen to the music of the time.

That's noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & online everywhere at xray dot fm. & maybe check out that link of above of photos from 1924. It'll prepare you for the show.

This Week In Self Help (September 1 2 + 3)

(from Poorly Drawn Lines)

It was a pretty busy week for me. How was it for you? Did you do anything on the radio? Here's what I was doing:

The Dickenbock Report aired September 1. I played music from & talked about the year 1924. You can listen to that show at the XRAY website. Also you can listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website*.

Monday night I spent two hours on KBOO playing interesting sounds in-between the shows A Different Nature & Self Help Radio. KBOO doesn't archive its sub shows, so if you'd like to listen, you'll have to do so at the Self Help Radio website*. The playlist for that show is right here.

Self Help Radio had a show about sunglasses. Despite some technical difficulties I think it went well. But what the hell do I know. You can listen to that show at the KBOO website. You can also listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website*.

After Self Help Radio, there was an episode of Corporate Standardized Programming wherein I played lots of new releases. It is appended to the KBOO link above as the third hour of the show. If you'd like to listen to it on its own, you can do so at the Self Help Radio website*.

Is that everything? I sure hope so!

* remember, username SHR, password selfhelp

Movie Sunglasses

(image from Letterboxd)

Our resident cinephile Chuck was on the show this week, which had the theme sunglasses, & talked at length about films tagged with loneliness on the IMDb. You can listen to that show at selfhelpradio dot net if you haven't already & once you've heard Chuck talk, please make use of these handy links (of which they are a lot!) to supplement his visit:

Sunglasses YouTube playlist of films and trailers:

Part 1 (1927-1977) | Part 2 (1978-1988) | Part 3 (1986-1996)

Part 4 (1997-2003) | Part 5 (2004-2011) | Part 6 (2012-2016) | Part 7 (2017-2024)

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

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

Here is the IMDb keyword search list. Here is his IMDb list of films free to stream elsewhere.

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

But no matter how cool it looks, maybe don't watch the films involving sunglasses while wearing sunglasses.

Self Help Radio 090324: Sunglasses

On this cloudy day in Portland I give you a radio show about sunglasses. What's worse is - the show happened at night. Ah well. It's always sunny somewhere on this planet!

Despite some technical difficulties, I think we covered the subject well - with some cool guests too. I did not wear sunglasses while doing the show - I make enough mess with what's left of my regular eyesight. But the show wore sunglasses.

Listen to that show at either or both the KBOO website & the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, remember the username SHR & the password selfhelp. Everything that happens on the show is below.

Two of the three most famous sunglasses songs are represented in some way on the show - the third I just find so awful I couldn't even consider adding even a small amount of it.

Self Help Radio Sunglasses Show

"Sun Glasses" The Shades _The Songs Of Pomus & Shuman_

"Dark Dark Sunglasses" The Kittens _Soda Pop Babies, Vol. 4_

"Sunglasses After Dark" Dwight Pullen _Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk & Rockabilly_

introduction, definition, history

"Sunglasses" The Cloudwalkers _Wyld Sydes Volume 1 (American 60s Garage Bands)_

"Looking At The World Through Dark Shades" The Times _Pop Goes Art_

"Bury Me In My Shades" Shel Silverstein _Inside Folk Songs_

"Shades" Nancy Sinatra _Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos, & Rarities 1965-1978_

"Sunglasses" The Fabulaires _Apocalypso EP_

interview with fashion consultant Maria Peterson

"Sunglasses" Tracey Ullman _Move Over Darling (The Complete Stiff Recordings)_

"Through His Sunglasses" The Claim _Armstrong's Revenge & Eleven Other Short Stories_

"Behind Your Sunglasses" Les Calamités _Les Calamités_

"Sunglasses" Space Ghost _Yeah, Whatever..._

"Sunglasses At Night" Jaymz Bee & The Royal Jelly Orchestra _Cocktail: Shakin' & Stirred_

interview with "the sunglasses guy" Mordecai Plant

"Autumn Sunglasses" Robyn Hitchcock _Robyn Hitchcock_

"Black Sunglasses" Mount Sims _Ultra Sex_

"Frost On Your Sunglasses" General Elektriks _Cliquety Kliqk_

"Golden Town With Sunglasses" Takagi Masakatsu _Wanna Buy A Craprak?_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Sunglasses" Flannery Brothers _Love Songs For Silly Things_

"Sunglasses" Recess Monkey _The Final Funktier_

"Sunglasses" The Fresh & Onlys _Early Years Anthology_

"Sunglasses, A Gun, & Distance" The Bran Flakes _Hey Won't Somebody Come & Play?_

"Dark Shades" The Splinters _Kick_

our resident anatomist Dr. Madeline Unicorn stops by!

"Sunglasses" Saturday Looks Good To Me _One Kiss Ends It All_

"Take Off Your Sunglasses" Ezra Furman & The Harpoons _Inside The Human Body_

"Catholic School Sunglasses" Mike Birbiglia _My Secret Public Journal Live_

"Cheap Shades" Chris Staples _Golden Age_

conclusion & goodbye

"Sunglasses" Black Country, New Road _For The First Time_

"Sunglasses At The Wedding" Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever _Sideways To New Italy_

Whither Sunglasses?

Yesterday in this space I confessed that I didn't wear sunglasses. I used to live in Texas! It may be why my eyesight is failing me now. In any event, you may ask, why is there going to be a radio show about sunglasses? This may be a longish answer:

On my computer I keep a folder where I place ideas for radio shows. I have many more ideas than I do radio shows, & sometimes the ideas are too specific or narrow & there just aren't enough songs. Sometimes the ideas are passing fancies. Most of the time they just linger there - I'll probably never get to most of them.

My friend Chuck - the show's resident cinephile - likes to appear on the show every three or four shows. After we talk, he asks me about shows coming up. He wants to watch more movies, damn it! Recently none the upcoming themes were inspiring him. So I looked into my computer folder of lingering show theme ideas & one that stood out for me was sunglasses. He liked it too. He'll be on the show tonight. That's how the theme came about.

Why did I think about a show about sunglasses in the first place? Absolutely no idea.

There was a person at KOOP in Austin who seemed angry at the arbitrariness of the show's themes. It would probably irk her that I'm doing a show about sunglasses at the end of summer! Luckily she's almost certainly forgotten the show existed.

Hopefully it will exist tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm - from midnight to 2am. Probably not the best time to wear sunglasses. But a pretty good time for a show about sunglasses maybe?