This might not be a question they ask in England or Australia - I've heard people with accents pronounce the "cater" in "cater-corner" like the word "cater" as in "I want to have a vegetarian restaurant cater my Thanksgiving" or "I won't cater to your whims, human" (which is something my cats say to me all the time).
But in the States, we say "cater-corner" as if we're saying "cat" in the "corner." Which is why I think some people say "kitty-corner," since "cat" & "kitty" are both names for those fickle beasts to whom we give our love, only to watch most of them treat our hearts like crippled mice, & play with them.
Sob!
The great Word Detective, who you can read at word-detective.com, & who'll get you addicted to etymology, tells the story of this weird word here, which I will reproduce below:
"Cattycorner" does not actually have anything to do with cats, although cats are notoriously fond of sitting in corners and staring at the wall (at least mine are). The proper word, in fact, is "catercorner" or "catercornered." The "cater" is an Anglicization of the French "quatre," or "four," and "catercornered" originally just meant "four-cornered." To specify that something is "catercorner across" from something else is to stress the diagonal axis of an imaginary box, as opposed to saying "directly across" or just "across."
According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, our great national repository of English as real folks speak it, "catercorner" first appeared around 1883 in the South, and originally meant "askew" or "out of line." The "diagonally across" meaning soon took over, however, as did the transition from "cater" to "catty." Linguists call this process "folk etymology" -- people replacing an unfamiliar element in a word or phrase ("cater") with a familiar one ("catty" or "kitty"). "Cattycorner" has remained purely an Americanism, so don't expect folks to understand the word if you use it on your next trip to London.
Now, I know other countries are familiar with this word, or at least the brainiacs in the Lucksmiths do, since they use it (pronouncing it with a long a) in the song Midweek Midmorning. Nyah.
I miss the Lucksmiths. That's a brilliant song. I remember when I bought the single way back when.
Why am I thinking of this? Because as I sit here working on my next show (the Halloween show, about mummies, this Friday), I can hear the sounds of children screaming. That's a daunting sentence, implying horrors, with the words "Halloween" & "scream" so close together, but actually, I live with a daycare-in-a-church catercorner from my house, & children scream when they're playing, mainly to annoy me. My dogs & cats, who doubtless have more excellent hearing than I do, seem unfazed, but it alarms me every time one of them lets out a particularly screechy shriek. I think the people hired to watch over them (who, I found out, have the inflated title "teachers") wear earplugs while the kinders play.
Anyway, I answered my own question by going to the Word Detective: it's catercorner. Not even a dash!
Forget I said anything.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
A Comedy Of Terrors
You think you're so clever, making a pun on a Shakespeare play (& referencing something your wife has taken to saying when the pets do something funny) & then you check on it. You discover (naturally) that this simple-to-make pun has been used probably since the first critic of the play.
"Master Shakespeare's new play is not so funny; indeed, one might call it a comedy of terrors!" - The Stratford-On-Avon Times
Check it out: it's a horror film with Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, & Vincent Price (using the article "the" instead of "a"), & also a Bollywood film that has a little infamy because it was sued by Warner Brothers for apparently ripping off Harry Potter (although it seems to have mostly ripped off Home Alone). Plus it's an eBook & also someone wants to make it a role playing game. Now it's the title of one of my dumb blog posts!
Shakespeare's play is about two twins separated at birth that end up in the same city & hilarity ensues. The Comedy Of Terrors is about an undertaker who kills people to get more clients. Wouldn't it have been more fun to have Karloff & Price be two killers who were separated at birth? A real opportunity was missed there.
I can't imagine there'll be much comedy in my show this week, or do I mean terror? There are quite a few songs about mummies (it's my Halloween show!) & a lot of them are novelty tunes. I suppose I'll talk about that a bit more as the week wears on.
"Master Shakespeare's new play is not so funny; indeed, one might call it a comedy of terrors!" - The Stratford-On-Avon Times
Check it out: it's a horror film with Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, & Vincent Price (using the article "the" instead of "a"), & also a Bollywood film that has a little infamy because it was sued by Warner Brothers for apparently ripping off Harry Potter (although it seems to have mostly ripped off Home Alone). Plus it's an eBook & also someone wants to make it a role playing game. Now it's the title of one of my dumb blog posts!
Shakespeare's play is about two twins separated at birth that end up in the same city & hilarity ensues. The Comedy Of Terrors is about an undertaker who kills people to get more clients. Wouldn't it have been more fun to have Karloff & Price be two killers who were separated at birth? A real opportunity was missed there.
I can't imagine there'll be much comedy in my show this week, or do I mean terror? There are quite a few songs about mummies (it's my Halloween show!) & a lot of them are novelty tunes. I suppose I'll talk about that a bit more as the week wears on.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Self Help Radio 102414: Walk Away
(Original photo here.
This morning there was a Self Help Radio with the improbable theme "walk away." I wonder how many people subconsciously stop listening to a radio show that constantly tells them to walk away? It's something I should've thought through before I went ahead & did it.
But! Did it I did, & it's available now at the Self Help Radio website for your listening ambivalence. Pay attention to the password information on the page. & you can see the songs I played below.
Thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Walking Away by C. Day Lewis" Jill Balcon _Poetry Please: The Anniversary Edition_
"Walk Away" Jess Conrad _Jess For You: The Decca Singles Compilation_
"I Walked Away" T-Bone Walker _The Complete Imperial Recordings: 1950-1954_
"Walk Away" Mitty Collier _Shades Of Mitty Collier: The Chess Singles 1961-1968_
"Walk Away Renee" The Left Banke _There's Gonna Be A Storm: The Complete Recordings 1966-69_
"Walk Away Renee" Billy Bragg _Reaching To The Converted_
"Walk Away" Suburban 9 To 5 _Quagmire, Vol. 7_
"Walkin' Away" The Fifth Order _Sixties Rebellion, Vol. 1_
"Walk Away" The Dirty Shames _Coconut Grove_
"Walk Away" Ann Peebles _This Is Ann Peebles_
"Love You Just Can't Walk Away" Dean Courtney _Big City Soul, Vol. 3_
"Walk Away" Frank Sinatra _The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings_
"As If You Walked Away" Claudine Longet _Cuddle Up With Claudine Longet: The Complete Barnaby Records Sessions 1970/74_
"Walk Away From Love" David Ruffin _Hard To Find Motown, Vol. 1_
"Walk Away" TV Smith's Explorers _The Last Words Of The Great Explorer_
"Laugh & Walk Away" Shirts _Street Light Shine_
(part two)
"Walk Away Boy" The Hit Parade _The Sound Of The Hit Parade_
"All You Ever Do Is Walk Away" The Magnetic Fields _Holiday_
"Walk Away" The Sisters Of Mercy _First & Last & Always_
"Walk Away" The English Beat _Wha'ppen?_
"Don't You Walk Away From Me" Miss Ludella Black & The Masonics _From This Witness Stand_
"Walk Away" Pink Industry _Who Told You, You Were Naked?_
"Don't Walk Away From Love" Simon Bonney _Everyman_
"Walk Away" The Sleepers _Painless Nights_
"Walked Away" Shirley Lee _Shirley Lee_
"Walk Away" Tony Molina _Dissed & Dismissed_
"I Love You When You're Walking Away" Plumtree _Moshi Moshi (Pop International Style)_
"Atmosphere" Joy Division _Closer_
"Walk Away" Shimmering Stars _Violent Hearts_
"She Tore It Up & Walked Away" Go-Kart Mozart _Instant Wigwam & Igloo Mixture_
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Whither Walk Away?
This is a story about a man named Gary, who was always walking away. For example, when he was
young, in the mornings, he often walked away from his home, &, later, walked away from the school where he spent his days.
Later, he walked away from every class he took, at least once a day. When he got older, he walked away from home nearly every weekday morning, & then in the late afternoon, sometimes later, he'd walk away from the place he worked. He did it so many times, it's a wonder he was never fired!
He does a radio show now, on Friday mornings. But after two hours, he walks away from it. Every week. & perhaps to flaunt it, this week he's doing a show with the theme "walk away." What nerve! What gall!
Don't encourage this disrespectful behavior! If you have the radio tuned to 88.1 fm WRFL (or are listening online at wrfl dot fm) tomorrow morning from 7 to 9 am, just walk away from the show. Make him understand what it feels like, all that walking away!
It's more well-mannered to run away, after all.
young, in the mornings, he often walked away from his home, &, later, walked away from the school where he spent his days.
Later, he walked away from every class he took, at least once a day. When he got older, he walked away from home nearly every weekday morning, & then in the late afternoon, sometimes later, he'd walk away from the place he worked. He did it so many times, it's a wonder he was never fired!
He does a radio show now, on Friday mornings. But after two hours, he walks away from it. Every week. & perhaps to flaunt it, this week he's doing a show with the theme "walk away." What nerve! What gall!
Don't encourage this disrespectful behavior! If you have the radio tuned to 88.1 fm WRFL (or are listening online at wrfl dot fm) tomorrow morning from 7 to 9 am, just walk away from the show. Make him understand what it feels like, all that walking away!
It's more well-mannered to run away, after all.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Preface To Walk Away: Walk Over Here
Is it that time of the time again that I plug the Self Help Radio Tumblr site? Initially I used the site for music videos because I had no other real use for it. Now I use it as a place to put all the dumb digital photos I take when I am walking the dogs or am walking around in other places, including my home. Some pictures I think are neat, some I think are dumb, & some I think are curious, but none of them I think are good compared to photographers who have a great eye.
I especially like the pictures I take that are turn out fine even though the circumstances are accidental. This one, which was taken on my dog Pauline's birthday, was me snapping the picture before she got into place - but it was better than any other picture I took of her that day:
Anyway, there are lots of pictures of stuff that I notice while I'm walking, & lots of pictures of my pets, & thankfully no pictures of me, at selfhelpradio.tumblr.com.
All right! Time to stop the bad self-promotion for awhile. I'm really uncomfortable with it.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Dreams Are Boring
A scientific fact: dreams are boring. Not individual dreams specific to the dreamer. Dreams except for ones that you have dreamt are boring. Unless. Unless you believe dreams are full of hidden imagery, a signal that your subconscious is trying to explain you to yourself, or any number of supernatural other explanations of dreams. In that case, both the dreams & the people who feel that way about dreams are boring.
It's fun to fuck with people like that. They're so self-important & faux-earnest. One fellow I knew, once upon a time, when I was telling someone else within his earshot about a recent dream (I was boring the hell out of her, though it had been a neat dream), overheard me say something in the (long-forgotten) dream about a window. "Whoa," he said, exaggeratedly wide-eyed in an exaggerated manner, "Don't you know how important it is when you dream about windows?"
Boring. But I affected a wide-eyed manner & asked him to explain what windows mean in dreams. It didn't take too long before he used the word "archetype" & of course "Jung," which he pronounced with a hard J. The other person I was talking to knew I was pretending like I gave a shit, so she did her best to stifle her laughter. It ended with the dream interpreter giving me his card & telling me he'd give me a discount on the first visit.
Having said all that, I have to tell you about a dream I recently had.
No, I don't. I don't have to. I feel compelled to tell you because sometimes dreams are the most interesting thing to happen to me. They're not only interesting to me, they're mostly consistently interesting. Things one might think are interesting that I do aren't always as interesting. For example: I enjoy doing my radio show, but talking to people about my radio show, the process of doing the radio show, things that may happen behind the scenes during my radio show, those aren't usually too terribly interesting. The show itself may be interesting (probably not) but what I do during the show - with the exception of the occasional goofy phone call - not too interesting.
My dreams, though - virtually every morning I wake up & think: wow, that was an interesting thing that happened to me!
One reason dreams are boring to anyone except the dreamer is that most dreams are experiences that are felt & don't travel in a narrative arc. Last night, I dreamt that I was in a bad part of town (what town? who knows? in the dream KVRX & WRFL were basically the same place) but when I wanted to show the bad part of town to someone, suddenly there were shops & stores there, & it didn't seem as derelict as I believed it was earlier in the dream. The whole place changed, & I was a little surprised, but the dream moved on. That was probably very boring, but it wasn't for me, & whatever the narrative was in the dream, I thought about it a lot when I was waking up.
In fact, I (& I'm probably not alone) often try to get back to dreams if I am wakened before the time I've supposed to actually get up. That's how interesting my dreams are to me!
& yet - boy, are dreams boring. It's sneaky of me to have shared a snippet of a dream in this denunciation of dreams. I didn't meant to be sneaky. I needed to make a point. A point of how tedious dreams are. Oh my god. Let's not talk about dreams anymore. Not to each other.
Please.
It's fun to fuck with people like that. They're so self-important & faux-earnest. One fellow I knew, once upon a time, when I was telling someone else within his earshot about a recent dream (I was boring the hell out of her, though it had been a neat dream), overheard me say something in the (long-forgotten) dream about a window. "Whoa," he said, exaggeratedly wide-eyed in an exaggerated manner, "Don't you know how important it is when you dream about windows?"
Boring. But I affected a wide-eyed manner & asked him to explain what windows mean in dreams. It didn't take too long before he used the word "archetype" & of course "Jung," which he pronounced with a hard J. The other person I was talking to knew I was pretending like I gave a shit, so she did her best to stifle her laughter. It ended with the dream interpreter giving me his card & telling me he'd give me a discount on the first visit.
Having said all that, I have to tell you about a dream I recently had.
No, I don't. I don't have to. I feel compelled to tell you because sometimes dreams are the most interesting thing to happen to me. They're not only interesting to me, they're mostly consistently interesting. Things one might think are interesting that I do aren't always as interesting. For example: I enjoy doing my radio show, but talking to people about my radio show, the process of doing the radio show, things that may happen behind the scenes during my radio show, those aren't usually too terribly interesting. The show itself may be interesting (probably not) but what I do during the show - with the exception of the occasional goofy phone call - not too interesting.
My dreams, though - virtually every morning I wake up & think: wow, that was an interesting thing that happened to me!
One reason dreams are boring to anyone except the dreamer is that most dreams are experiences that are felt & don't travel in a narrative arc. Last night, I dreamt that I was in a bad part of town (what town? who knows? in the dream KVRX & WRFL were basically the same place) but when I wanted to show the bad part of town to someone, suddenly there were shops & stores there, & it didn't seem as derelict as I believed it was earlier in the dream. The whole place changed, & I was a little surprised, but the dream moved on. That was probably very boring, but it wasn't for me, & whatever the narrative was in the dream, I thought about it a lot when I was waking up.
In fact, I (& I'm probably not alone) often try to get back to dreams if I am wakened before the time I've supposed to actually get up. That's how interesting my dreams are to me!
& yet - boy, are dreams boring. It's sneaky of me to have shared a snippet of a dream in this denunciation of dreams. I didn't meant to be sneaky. I needed to make a point. A point of how tedious dreams are. Oh my god. Let's not talk about dreams anymore. Not to each other.
Please.
Monday, October 20, 2014
The Weather Turns
I've probably observed/complained here before that I now live in a place where it's cold much more often than it's hot. Having grown up in Texas, & spent most of that time in Austin, I am used to the opposite. Austin has a fitful winter, which is often interrupted with warm spells, & a truncated autumn & spring. Lexington (where I now live) tends to have a spring that slowly frees itself from the icy muck of winter & then casually waits around for summer to get started.
But autumn officially began last month & the idea of it has taken hold. I write this with a window to my left, & out of the corner of my eye I can see the occasional yellow leaf fall. The trees here are still mainly green, but there are those that have embraced the autumn colors of red, orange, yellow, & a few that have already dumped their leaves for the winter.
& it's colder. This week it'll get no higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Just like the house gets warmer when it's warmer outside, it gets colder in here when the nights are below 40 degrees,
But the reason this is on my mind is not because I think you're interested in the weather, or even my banal observations about differences in geography. It's because - well, here, let me show you. This is what my left hand looks like right now:
(I couldn't take a picture of both hands because one had to hold the camera, but my right hand is equally attired.)
I am not a beggar on the cold streets of London - I am a person whose hands are freezing.
That was the most fascinating thing about living in this part of the world - it gets cold in your house during the winter, & one's extremities get cold. When we first moved here - the first season in this clime - I suffered through the entire winter with frozen hands. My arms, legs, feet, even head, I could keep covered, but as long as I was tapping on my computer, my hands were exposed & it was cold.
& generally speaking, it's hard to use a keyboard in mittens or your average winter gloves. It was probably the wife who suggested these - probably after watching me try to warm my hands by sitting on them, or, worse, putting them down my pants. To warm them, I mean. Anyway.
(My fingers are still cold.)
The summer seems short now, but there were days when the heat & humidity were pretty unbearable. All of that now is so very far away - we have at least six months now of mainly cold, cold weather, with the prospect of a crippling winter & the return of the polar vortex on the grey horizon.
My dumb point is this: when the weather turns around here, it doesn't turn back. Not for a while.
But autumn officially began last month & the idea of it has taken hold. I write this with a window to my left, & out of the corner of my eye I can see the occasional yellow leaf fall. The trees here are still mainly green, but there are those that have embraced the autumn colors of red, orange, yellow, & a few that have already dumped their leaves for the winter.
& it's colder. This week it'll get no higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Just like the house gets warmer when it's warmer outside, it gets colder in here when the nights are below 40 degrees,
But the reason this is on my mind is not because I think you're interested in the weather, or even my banal observations about differences in geography. It's because - well, here, let me show you. This is what my left hand looks like right now:
(I couldn't take a picture of both hands because one had to hold the camera, but my right hand is equally attired.)
I am not a beggar on the cold streets of London - I am a person whose hands are freezing.
That was the most fascinating thing about living in this part of the world - it gets cold in your house during the winter, & one's extremities get cold. When we first moved here - the first season in this clime - I suffered through the entire winter with frozen hands. My arms, legs, feet, even head, I could keep covered, but as long as I was tapping on my computer, my hands were exposed & it was cold.
& generally speaking, it's hard to use a keyboard in mittens or your average winter gloves. It was probably the wife who suggested these - probably after watching me try to warm my hands by sitting on them, or, worse, putting them down my pants. To warm them, I mean. Anyway.
(My fingers are still cold.)
The summer seems short now, but there were days when the heat & humidity were pretty unbearable. All of that now is so very far away - we have at least six months now of mainly cold, cold weather, with the prospect of a crippling winter & the return of the polar vortex on the grey horizon.
My dumb point is this: when the weather turns around here, it doesn't turn back. Not for a while.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Self Help Radio 101714: Soup
Lots of soupy songs today (including soups that may not exist) & some soupy talk on the show. I have nothing really to add, except the show has been sufficiently salted. You really don't need to add any more. Think of your blood pressure!
The show can be listened to now & any time really at the Self Help Radio website. Pay attention to the password info! & the songs I played are listed below.
Enjoy!
(part one)
"The Soup Song" New Singers _Songs For Political Action: Folk Music, Topical Songs & The American Left 1935-1954, Vol. 1 - The Leftist Roots Of The Folk Revival_
"No Soup" Charioteers _Swing Low, Sweet Charioteers_
"Soup" The Impacts _Now Is The Time_
"Chicken Soup With Rice" Tammy Grimes _Where The Wild Things Are & Other Stories by Maurice Sendak_
"Strange Things In My Soup" Allan Sherman _My Son The Box_
"Romany Soup" Tyrannosaurus Rex _Unicorn_
"The Same Old Soup" Joe Tex _Green Green Grass Of Home_
"The Wonderful Soup Stone" Bobby Bare _Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends, & Lies_
"Praise The Lord & Pass The Soup" Johnny Cash _The Folk Singer_
"(Take Your Elbow Out The Soup) You're Sitting On The Chicken" Ian Dury & The Blockheads _Laughter_
"Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)" The 8th Day _The 8th Day_
"Soup Pot" The Billy Nayer Show _The Billy Nayer Show_
"Soup Spiller" Bitter Springs _Five Die Filming This Lazy Lark_
"Cold Dog Soup" Guy Clark _Cold Dog Soup_
(part two)
"Soup" The Mighty Boosh _The Complete BBC Radio 4 Series The Mighty Boosh_
"Pumpkin Soup & Mashed Potatoes" The Fall _The Unutterable_
"Stone Soup" King Khan & The Shrines _Mr. Supernatural_
"Ketchup Soup" Teen Idols _Short Music For Short People_
"Nine Bowls Of Soup" They Might Be Giants _Here Come The 123s_
"Soup" MJ Hibbett _Hibbett's Superstore_
"Soup" The Wedding Present _El Rey_
"Can Of Soup" Deniz Tek _Detroit_
"Alphabet Soup" Catnaps _Why Don't You Whisper?_
"Eyeball Soup" The Uncluded _Hokey Fright_
"Quantum Soup" Laetitia Sadier _Something Shines_
"Soup" Can _Ege Bamyasi_
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Whither Soup?
Do you need a reason, ever, to do a radio show about food? I try to stay away from food, myself, on the radio, mainly because there are lots of songs about meat, & I don't want to play them. I remember reviewing a CD recently in which a person talked about going to heaven & eating barbecue up there. It completely baffled me that someone would imagine going to heaven - the place where the god they believe in lives - & they'd still slaughter animals to eat. It conjures up the image of the soul of a poor calf mistreated & murdered for veal, & its soul rising up to heaven, & once there - it gets murdered again! How awful!
There are a few meat soup songs on tomorrow's show, I confess. I suffered through them. But mostly, you know, the soup songs are silly or metaphorical. Like all that is important in life.
Is that true?
The show's on tomorrow morning from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington. It's also online at WRFL dot FM. & of course I'll keep the soup show warm & put it on the
Self Help Radio website.
But if there's no bread left when you get there, it's your own damn fault!
There are a few meat soup songs on tomorrow's show, I confess. I suffered through them. But mostly, you know, the soup songs are silly or metaphorical. Like all that is important in life.
Is that true?
The show's on tomorrow morning from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL in Lexington. It's also online at WRFL dot FM. & of course I'll keep the soup show warm & put it on the
Self Help Radio website.
But if there's no bread left when you get there, it's your own damn fault!
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Preface To Soup: I Was In Louisville All Day
I went to Louisville to see an old friend. We ate at a weird fusion sushi bar & then had whiskey across the street at a bar waiting for people who want to dance to show up. I took my friend to his hotel as soon as the people who wanted to dance started showing up.
I didn't have any soup at the sushi restaurant. I think I'll make myself some soup tomorrow. Because I should.
I didn't have any soup at the sushi restaurant. I think I'll make myself some soup tomorrow. Because I should.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Comic Book Nerd Television Show Round-Up
No one cares, but I should mention that my dumb ratings for dumb comic book television shows if not for you but for me why the hell not?
"Gotham" is not terribly interesting at this point. I wish someone like Ed Brubaker were writing it. It seems to suffer from what I call "episoditis," a disease that afflicts television shows that want to stay on the air as long as possible. The show treads water as long as it can, waiting for milestones or (more likely) ratings weeks to do interesting things. It's the reason cable is better than network television. Apparently there'll be a full season of the show, but it needs to find some kind of focus or else no one will give a shit. Despite being extremely fertile ground for storytelling.
Tonight's "Agents Of SHIELD" was fun but I am still not interested much in the show. Clark Gregg is great as Coulson but I often find his wisecracking, in the context of the show, utterly awkward & baffling. But I stick with it despite, seriously, being bored with most of what's going down because, & I can't stress this enough, I watched all ten seasons of Smallville
. So if I finally give up on this show in a couple of years, no skin off my back. I wish it were better. But I forget it, most of the time, right after I've seen it.
"The Flash" is a lot of fun, & the machinations of Professor Zoom are enough to keep me at the edge of my seat. It's only two episodes in, so I reserve the right to change my opinion later, but I've enjoyed the two episodes I've seen. I just hope they don't kill the whole "he's new at this!" to death. Barry Allen is a smart guy. He'll learn fast. Get it? "Fast"? Why aren't I writing this show?
"Arrow" was the best comic book show I've watched in a long time the last two seasons. Ask me in December how I'm feeling. I'm still a little heartbroken at the death of Caity Lotz's character. Let's hope she gets a superhero show all her own. Oh my! Caity Lotz as Wonder Woman? Did I say that out loud?
"Gotham" is not terribly interesting at this point. I wish someone like Ed Brubaker were writing it. It seems to suffer from what I call "episoditis," a disease that afflicts television shows that want to stay on the air as long as possible. The show treads water as long as it can, waiting for milestones or (more likely) ratings weeks to do interesting things. It's the reason cable is better than network television. Apparently there'll be a full season of the show, but it needs to find some kind of focus or else no one will give a shit. Despite being extremely fertile ground for storytelling.
Tonight's "Agents Of SHIELD" was fun but I am still not interested much in the show. Clark Gregg is great as Coulson but I often find his wisecracking, in the context of the show, utterly awkward & baffling. But I stick with it despite, seriously, being bored with most of what's going down because, & I can't stress this enough, I watched all ten seasons of Smallville
. So if I finally give up on this show in a couple of years, no skin off my back. I wish it were better. But I forget it, most of the time, right after I've seen it.
"The Flash" is a lot of fun, & the machinations of Professor Zoom are enough to keep me at the edge of my seat. It's only two episodes in, so I reserve the right to change my opinion later, but I've enjoyed the two episodes I've seen. I just hope they don't kill the whole "he's new at this!" to death. Barry Allen is a smart guy. He'll learn fast. Get it? "Fast"? Why aren't I writing this show?
"Arrow" was the best comic book show I've watched in a long time the last two seasons. Ask me in December how I'm feeling. I'm still a little heartbroken at the death of Caity Lotz's character. Let's hope she gets a superhero show all her own. Oh my! Caity Lotz as Wonder Woman? Did I say that out loud?
Monday, October 13, 2014
I Am Skeered Of Twitter
There are two (or maybe three, why in the world would I even attempt to make this sort of generalization) kinds of folks on the Twitter:
1) Funny people being clever.
2) People who think Twitter is like Facebook but they don't know everyone can see everything they write.
Now that I think about it, there are more, which includes people who promote shit on Twitter plus people who forward things on Twitter, & really, how different is Twitter really from Facebook because oh who care there's no argument here move along.
I feel like I can't be genuine on Twitter because I represent a radio show but also I feel like I can't compete with the funny people because I'm not really funny.
This is an example of a Twit I wrote today:
"Someone asked me how long I've been married & if I had 'the seven year itch.' I said I might have, but it turned out to be terrible eczema."
Not funny! Someone's done this before! It made random people laugh but they're not Twitter! What the fuck am I doing?
Ah well. I'm used to this.
1) Funny people being clever.
2) People who think Twitter is like Facebook but they don't know everyone can see everything they write.
Now that I think about it, there are more, which includes people who promote shit on Twitter plus people who forward things on Twitter, & really, how different is Twitter really from Facebook because oh who care there's no argument here move along.
I feel like I can't be genuine on Twitter because I represent a radio show but also I feel like I can't compete with the funny people because I'm not really funny.
This is an example of a Twit I wrote today:
"Someone asked me how long I've been married & if I had 'the seven year itch.' I said I might have, but it turned out to be terrible eczema."
Not funny! Someone's done this before! It made random people laugh but they're not Twitter! What the fuck am I doing?
Ah well. I'm used to this.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Self Help Radio 101014: Heaven Revisited (A 12th Anniversary Show)
I think it was a fun show. I like being able to do an entire show with every song having the same title. I've only done that once before. & I may never get a third chance.
The show features twenty-four songs called "Heaven" (not counting the songs in the airbreaks over which I talk, which are also called "Heaven") plus interviews with heaven expert Jeff Stevenson, with author Charmagne Fluffernutter, author of The Six Animals You Meet In Heaven, & with my spiritual advisor, the Rev. Dr. Howard Gently, who knows a thing or two about heaven. Again, it was a fun show, although not good enough to justify twelves years of this nonsense. Twelve years! Where did my life go?
Listen at the Self Help Radio website! Pay attention to password info. Pray there's not twelve more years of this!
Thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Heaven" Joey & The Lexingtons _Heaven_
"Heaven" The Rascals _Freedom Suite_
"Heaven" Boxcar Willie _20 Great Tracks_
"Heaven" Pere Ubu _Datapanik in the Year Zero: 1975-1977_
"Heaven" Squeeze _East Side Story_
"Heaven" Girls At Our Best! _Pleasure_
"Heaven" Psychedelic Furs _Mirror Moves_
"Heaven" Talking Heads _Stop Making Sense_
"Heaven" Robyn Hitchcock _Fegmania!_
"Heaven" Eurthymics _Savage_
"Heaven" Kristin Hersh _Strange Angels_
"Heaven" The Woodentops _Wooden Foot Cops On The Highway_
(part two)
"Heaven" The Frazier Chorus _Ray_
"Heaven" The Golden Palominos _Pure_
"Heaven" Majestic _The Majestic 12 Years 1994-1998_
"Heaven" The Rapture _Echoes_
"Heaven" Bitter:Sweet _The Mating Game_
"Heaven" Club 8 _The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming_
"Heaven" Envelopes _Here Comes The Wind_
"Heaven" Pocket (feat. Mark Burgess) _A Force Of Nature_
"Heaven" Frankie Rose _Herein Wild_
"Heaven" Popstrangers _Antipodes_
"Heaven" ChameleonsVox _m+d=1(8)_
"Heaven" Pomegranates _Heaven_
Thursday, October 09, 2014
Whither Heaven?
On December 3, 2003, I did what was somewhere between my 45th & 49th episode of Self Help Radio*. The theme was heaven. My show in those days was an hour long, & not terribly well-constructed**. I didn't, for example, have music under my voice during airbreaks. In a real sense, I was still "finding my voice" for the show.
I believe I have a tape of that show, but I didn't think about playing it till just now, & I don't have time to try to find it & digitize it. Too bad! It would be interesting to listen to it!***
In 2008, when the show was six years old, I hit upon the idea of revisiting an old theme on my anniversary. So when this, my twelfth anniversary, rolled around, & I was looking at old playlists, it hit me that I could re-explore a theme & also do something I love to do (I've only done it once before, though): have a show where all the songs on the show have the same title. It'll happen tomorrow: the show will revisit the theme "Heaven" & all the songs will be called "Heaven." Yay!
It's on Friday morning from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington or online at WRFL dot fm. If you're celebrating the anniversary early, & aren't able to wake up early enough, I understand, & I'll put the show on my website later in the day.
Twelve years! I can't imagine there'll be twelve more.
* I don't know how to count which shows are official shows. At that time, there was a show called "The Pilot Show" the hour before SHR. I was the person tasked with being there to watch over new & trainee programmers. Oftentimes, they would cancel at the last minute, so I made it a habit to have an extra themed show prepared in the case that that occurred, which it did somewhat often. But do I count those? If so, 49th is the more or less right number.
** Yeah, yeah.
*** For interesting, read: painful.
I believe I have a tape of that show, but I didn't think about playing it till just now, & I don't have time to try to find it & digitize it. Too bad! It would be interesting to listen to it!***
In 2008, when the show was six years old, I hit upon the idea of revisiting an old theme on my anniversary. So when this, my twelfth anniversary, rolled around, & I was looking at old playlists, it hit me that I could re-explore a theme & also do something I love to do (I've only done it once before, though): have a show where all the songs on the show have the same title. It'll happen tomorrow: the show will revisit the theme "Heaven" & all the songs will be called "Heaven." Yay!
It's on Friday morning from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington or online at WRFL dot fm. If you're celebrating the anniversary early, & aren't able to wake up early enough, I understand, & I'll put the show on my website later in the day.
Twelve years! I can't imagine there'll be twelve more.
* I don't know how to count which shows are official shows. At that time, there was a show called "The Pilot Show" the hour before SHR. I was the person tasked with being there to watch over new & trainee programmers. Oftentimes, they would cancel at the last minute, so I made it a habit to have an extra themed show prepared in the case that that occurred, which it did somewhat often. But do I count those? If so, 49th is the more or less right number.
** Yeah, yeah.
*** For interesting, read: painful.
Week Of Heaven: Thursday
Last day of Self Help Radio's anniversary week celebration of obvious songs. Because the show debuted in Austin on 10/9/02 - exactly twelve years ago today! - this week the show revisits an old theme - "heaven." Here's the last music video with "Heaven" as its title - & all the songs I'll play tomorrow will be titled "Heaven" - today it's the Eurythmics!
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Week Of Heaven: Wednesday
Continuing Self Help Radio's anniversary week - the show began on October 9, 2002 - I revisit an old theme on anniversary shows - I'll return to the theme "heaven" (first visited in December 2003) & every song I play on Friday will be called "Heaven." I'm posting videos of the most obvious "Heaven" songs I know. Yeah, they're all from 1978 - 1987. Today: Robyn Hitchcock!
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
Week Of Heaven: Tuesday
As I said yesterday, this week's show is Self Help Radio's 12th Anniversary. On my anniversary shows, I revisit an old theme, & so I'll be revisiting the theme "heaven" & every song I play on will be called "Heaven." I'm posting videos of the most obvious "Heaven" songs I know. No surprise: they're all from 1978 - 1987. Today: Psychedelic Furs!
Monday, October 06, 2014
Week Of Heaven: Monday
This week's show is Self Help Radio's 12th Anniversary. The show first went on the air on October 9, 2002, in Austin, on 91.7 fm KOOP. On my anniversary shows, I revisit an old theme, & so I'll be revisiting the theme "heaven." Plus, every song I play on the show will be titled, simply, "Heaven." From Monday to Thursday this week, here & on my blog, I'll post videos of the most obvious "Heaven" songs I know. No surprise: they're all from 1978 - 1987. First up, Talking Heads!
Friday, October 03, 2014
Self Help Radio 100314: Thrills
The show is now available for listening at the Self Help Radio website. In addition to lots of music, which is listed below, there are interviews with actual thrillseekers as well as an on-the-street report by Marge Most. It's as thrilling as I could make it, anyway.
Thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Thrills" The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience _The Size Of Food_
"Cheap Thrills" The Mothers Of Invention _Cruising With Ruben & The Jets_
"The Thrill Is Gone" Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees _They Called It Crooning_
"The Thrill Is Gone" Roy Hawkins _Bay Area Blues Blasters_
"The Thrill Is Gone" Clydie King _Brown Sugar_
"Thrills & Chills" Helene Smith _Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label_
"Simply Thrilled Honey" Orange Juice _Coals To Newcastle_
"My Biggest Thrill" The Mighty Lemon Drops _Happy Head_
"Life Without A Thrill" Brideshead _Some People Have All The Fun_
"The Thrill Was All Mine" The Cherry Orchard _This World Is Such A Groovy Place_
"Less Than Thrilled" Love Is All _Two Thousand & Ten Injuries_
"You're My Thrill" Billie Holiday _The Definitive Collection_
"Baby You Thrill Me" Amos Milburn _The R&B Years: 1954_
"I'll Thrill You" Shirley & Lee _Shirley & Lee Rock!_
(part two)
"Thrill Me" Camille Howard with Roy Milton & His Solid Senders _The R&B Hits: 1947_
"Thrill Of Your Love" Elvis Presley _From Nashville To Memphis: The Essential 60s Masters_
"You Thrill Me (Through & Through)" The Everly Brothers _The Price Of Fame_
"Thrill Of The New" St. Christopher _Bacharach_
"The Thrill Of It All" Bauer _Can't Stop Singing_
"Thrill" Daniel Johnston _Rejected Unknown_
"The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds" Skint & Demoralised _Love, & Other Catastrophes_
"Thriller!" Pere Ubu _Dub Housing_
"The Thrill Of It All" Hey! Hello! _Hey! Hello!_
"Thrill Me" The Undertones _Get What You Need_
"The Thrill Of It All" Roxy Music _Country Life_
"You Still Thrill Me, Babe" Webster's New Word _You Still Thrill Me, Babe_
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Whither Thrills?
A long time ago, attempting to make Self Help Radio into a better show, I started trying to imitate the Firesign Theatre - not their high concept albums, but their radio shows on community radio in the late 60s/early 70s. They were mainly improvised, & very very funny. Since I was doing the show myself, & since I'm not terribly funny, I forewent improvisation, but I attempted to copy a couple of Firesignish things. One of them was fake ads. I'd read them out in those days - I didn't always have a lot of time for editing, & wasn't that good at it, & also didn't have a decent mic at home.
I stopped doing that once I started doing shows outside of Texas. I don't know why - I had more time to try to be funny, & could have gotten better equipment. But I started doing it again this year, & every show now has at least four attempts at me being funny: two fake ad spots, two "others," sometimes skits, sometimes other stuff. Are they funny? Oh, probably not.
I also started this year something I've wanted to do for a long time: have the same people on regularly as "experts" - but pretending to be different people. I have asked my funniest friends if it's something they'd like to do, & most of them (not all of them) have said sure! One of them, my friend David, can be awfully convincing. On the RFL Facebook page, a fellow asked people who don't listen to my show about bullfighting in Kentucky - I think this person didn't know it was all grade-A David Fruchter horse-hockey. That's how good he is.
Anyway, I had a point, & it was this: I didn't want to do the same characters over & over. I said to myself, "Every skit or voice that I do on the show should be unique." It actually makes me think that the reason I stopped doing that is because it can be pretty exhausting. Listening to comedians talk on Marc Maron's podcast, one learns that some of these people spend years honing a character. & I, an untrained, mostly unfunny dumbass on a little radio show, was poo-pooing that? What a douche.
I'm thinking about this not because it has anything to do with this week's show, which is about thrills (& of course this blog post is completely unthrilling), except one thing: there's a recurring character appearing on the show. I have changed my mind, & I repeat people. He's a "poet" called Archibald Von Poesy, & his main characteristic is that his "poems" all rhyme, but each line rhymes. So the rhyme scheme would be AAAAAAA etc. He returns to the show tomorrow. I have no idea if anyone likes him or thinks he's funny. I find him easy to slip into.
Actually, there are two recurring characters: disgruntled reporter Marge Most shows up again.
Again, there's no real reason for me to mention any of this. But the show is on tomorrow from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL Lexington, online at wrfl fot fm, & of course I'll put it up as soon as I can afterwards on the SHR website. I also live tweet it, so you can follow along on my twitter thing if you're so inclined.
Oy this is so the opposite of thrilling. I hope the show is better!
I stopped doing that once I started doing shows outside of Texas. I don't know why - I had more time to try to be funny, & could have gotten better equipment. But I started doing it again this year, & every show now has at least four attempts at me being funny: two fake ad spots, two "others," sometimes skits, sometimes other stuff. Are they funny? Oh, probably not.
I also started this year something I've wanted to do for a long time: have the same people on regularly as "experts" - but pretending to be different people. I have asked my funniest friends if it's something they'd like to do, & most of them (not all of them) have said sure! One of them, my friend David, can be awfully convincing. On the RFL Facebook page, a fellow asked people who don't listen to my show about bullfighting in Kentucky - I think this person didn't know it was all grade-A David Fruchter horse-hockey. That's how good he is.
Anyway, I had a point, & it was this: I didn't want to do the same characters over & over. I said to myself, "Every skit or voice that I do on the show should be unique." It actually makes me think that the reason I stopped doing that is because it can be pretty exhausting. Listening to comedians talk on Marc Maron's podcast, one learns that some of these people spend years honing a character. & I, an untrained, mostly unfunny dumbass on a little radio show, was poo-pooing that? What a douche.
I'm thinking about this not because it has anything to do with this week's show, which is about thrills (& of course this blog post is completely unthrilling), except one thing: there's a recurring character appearing on the show. I have changed my mind, & I repeat people. He's a "poet" called Archibald Von Poesy, & his main characteristic is that his "poems" all rhyme, but each line rhymes. So the rhyme scheme would be AAAAAAA etc. He returns to the show tomorrow. I have no idea if anyone likes him or thinks he's funny. I find him easy to slip into.
Actually, there are two recurring characters: disgruntled reporter Marge Most shows up again.
Again, there's no real reason for me to mention any of this. But the show is on tomorrow from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL Lexington, online at wrfl fot fm, & of course I'll put it up as soon as I can afterwards on the SHR website. I also live tweet it, so you can follow along on my twitter thing if you're so inclined.
Oy this is so the opposite of thrilling. I hope the show is better!
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Not To Put Too Fine A Point On It
You might think that I am trying to somehow curry favor with the fine, funny comedians over at Superego because I keep talking about the time that they followed & then didn't follow me on Twitter, but really, if I talk about them, it's because they are awesome & however much I yell about them, I hope it means more people discover them.
Which is why I was ecstatic that there was a new Superego podcast released today. & it's so good & it's so funny. Holy shit, I wish I could be as funny as these people. Please, go download it & listen, & seek out their old episodes, & pay them lots of money, & turn them into superstars, & have them replace everything that's considered famous or good in our popular media, because it will be a better world, a funnier world, a smarter world.
If the superegos behind Superego would create & produce the new Fall television schedule, there would be fewer failures, & more exciting dramas. Shunt McGuppin as a crime-solving country music singer? Holy shit, I'm there for seven or more seasons! Also, I'm buying the DVDs, & then, later, spending money I don't have on Blu-Ray versions of episodes I already own!
Seriously, though - these folks are giant comedic talents & you need to listen to them. Go to their website. You'll be glad you did.
(I said that last bit in a Wilford Brimley voice. Could you tell?)
Which is why I was ecstatic that there was a new Superego podcast released today. & it's so good & it's so funny. Holy shit, I wish I could be as funny as these people. Please, go download it & listen, & seek out their old episodes, & pay them lots of money, & turn them into superstars, & have them replace everything that's considered famous or good in our popular media, because it will be a better world, a funnier world, a smarter world.
If the superegos behind Superego would create & produce the new Fall television schedule, there would be fewer failures, & more exciting dramas. Shunt McGuppin as a crime-solving country music singer? Holy shit, I'm there for seven or more seasons! Also, I'm buying the DVDs, & then, later, spending money I don't have on Blu-Ray versions of episodes I already own!
Seriously, though - these folks are giant comedic talents & you need to listen to them. Go to their website. You'll be glad you did.
(I said that last bit in a Wilford Brimley voice. Could you tell?)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Moments On Twitter, Part II
I understand that the people I like & admire are nowhere near as famous as the people most humans like & admire. For example, if I had tweeted something & some huge pop star were to favorite it or retweet it, I'd think it was nice, but not really care much about it. (I generally assume that the super famous have people who handle their social media for them anyway.) So when something happens that makes me happy on Twitter, it's bound to be musicians or comedians or writers that I wish were as famous as the nameless, faceless, usually blonde pop stars that teens look up to & music writers waste time writing about.
I mentioned last week how happy I was for the brief moment - oh so brief! - that the comedy geniuses at Superego followed Self Help Radio on Twitter. (I'm @SelfHelpRadio, by the way. If you want to follow me.) Today something equally exciting happened to me.
One of my favorite bands in the world is My Favorite, who are sort of defunct. The main songwriter, Michael Grace Jr., has an entertaining Twitter feed that I follow, & occasionally briefly interact with. (On Friday we agreed on the greatness of the Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk for example.) (By the way, Grace's follow-up band to My Favorite, the also-now-defunct Secret History, is amazing too.)
Today, as I was reading that this day in history was the day that James Dean died, at the age of 24, in a car accident, I was reminded of a lyric from the My Favorite song, "James Dean (Awaiting Ambulance)." I looked around for pictures of Dean & then tweeted something to Michael Grace, Jr. Below is the tweet & his response.
As you can imagine, it made me very, very happy.
In the way a retweet from [insert whoever has the number one single in the United States right now] never would.
I mentioned last week how happy I was for the brief moment - oh so brief! - that the comedy geniuses at Superego followed Self Help Radio on Twitter. (I'm @SelfHelpRadio, by the way. If you want to follow me.) Today something equally exciting happened to me.
One of my favorite bands in the world is My Favorite, who are sort of defunct. The main songwriter, Michael Grace Jr., has an entertaining Twitter feed that I follow, & occasionally briefly interact with. (On Friday we agreed on the greatness of the Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk for example.) (By the way, Grace's follow-up band to My Favorite, the also-now-defunct Secret History, is amazing too.)
Today, as I was reading that this day in history was the day that James Dean died, at the age of 24, in a car accident, I was reminded of a lyric from the My Favorite song, "James Dean (Awaiting Ambulance)." I looked around for pictures of Dean & then tweeted something to Michael Grace, Jr. Below is the tweet & his response.
In the way a retweet from [insert whoever has the number one single in the United States right now] never would.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Do I Have To Write In The Blog Today?
I have nothing to say today. Just a bunch of dumb questions.
Can you italicize words in Blogger blog titles?
Why would anyone - anyone - "like" a corporation on Facebook or follow one on Twitter?
Is there any point in arguing anything with anyone anymore?
I just finished reading the book Idiot America by Charles Pierce, but I can't remember buying it. Am I getting old? Did you recommend it to me? Did you give it to me?
Is there an online game that's fun to play in the same way early video games were fun to play which you also don't have to play with other (real) people? (Also free?)
What do you do when your wife finally gets bored of you?
Can you italicize words in Blogger blog titles?
Why would anyone - anyone - "like" a corporation on Facebook or follow one on Twitter?
Is there any point in arguing anything with anyone anymore?
I just finished reading the book Idiot America by Charles Pierce, but I can't remember buying it. Am I getting old? Did you recommend it to me? Did you give it to me?
Is there an online game that's fun to play in the same way early video games were fun to play which you also don't have to play with other (real) people? (Also free?)
What do you do when your wife finally gets bored of you?
Friday, September 26, 2014
Self Help Radio 092614: Scenes
& now! A behind-the-scenes look at Self Help Radio!
Hunh. It's pretty much as expected: a dude playing songs from CD & a computer, occasionally pulling a microphone down & talking to it. The programmer's booth sort of clean, but also sort of grimy. Complete lack of charisma evident in the deejay - & furthermore, he has a face for radio. Well. That was exciting.
But hey! This week's show (which was about scenes) is now available at the Self Help Radio website! You don't have to make a scene or anything. All the songs I played are listed below.
As always, thanks for listening!
(part one)
"That Is The Scene" Baskervilles _Baskervilles_
"At The Scene" The Dave Clark Five _The Best Of The Dave Clark Five_
"Street Scene" Leon Mitchison _Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities, Vol. 1: 1968-1974_
"The Breaking Up Scene" Honeybus _She Flies Like A Bird: The Anthology_
"Same Old Scene" Roxy Music _The Thrill Of It All_
"Crush The Scene" Tullycraft _The Singles_
"Making The Nature Scene" Sonic Youth _Confusion Is Sex_
"Hey Scenesters!" The Cribs _New Fellas_
"That Girl, That Scene" Frankie & The Heartstrings _The Days Run Away_
"This Scene Is Happening" Liquid Faeries _La-Di-Da... So Far..._
"Hipsters, Scenesters, Teenstars & Fakers" Amy Linton & Stewart Anderson _Knowing We Was Right From Da Start_
"Freak Scene" Dinosaur Jr _Bug_
"Shirt Scene" Marc Riley With The Creepers _Shadow Figure 12"_
"Queen Of The Scene" Go-Kart Mozart _On The Hot Dog Streets_
(part two)
"Scenes" Tania Rivas _Scenes_
"The Recognition Scene" The Mountain Goats _Sweden_
"Leave The Scene Behind" The Wave Pictures _Instant Coffee Baby_
"No. 1 Hippie On The Village Scene" The Fifth Estate _Ding! Dong! The Witch Is Back!_
"The Contemporary Scene" Mood Six _A Matter Of!_
"Scream (Till You Make The Scene)" Stephin Merritt _Obscurities_
"Fight Scene" The Kamalas _The Kamalas_
"Music Scene" The Fall _Live At The Witch Trails_
"What's That Scene" Male Bonding _Endless Now_
"On The Scene" The Friggs _Rock Candy_
"Domestic Scene" The Radio Dept. _Clinging To A Scheme_
"The Crying Scene" Aztec Camera _Stray_
"I Want A New Scene" Mitch Easter _Dynamico_
"This Scene Is Dead" We Are Scientists _With Love & Squalor_
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Whither Scenes?
I feel like I've told this story before. I've never been part of any "scene." At best, I've been involved at some radio stations but never with the well-liked group at the center. I did what work I could, but mostly I worked alone, & that's still true.
Never part of the scene, never one of the cool kids.
In actuality, I would never have been part of any of the cliques in high school because not only was I a fat nerd, but also I naturally gravitated toward loner status. So I didn't even really have any nerd friends. It's no surprise that the only people I am in communication with from my high school is a fellow who moved to Austin after ninth grade (where we reconnected in my college years) & a friend who was in the grade above me, another loner who I rarely saw at school. My best friend in high school went to a different school in a different city; we met because of (nerds) our comic book collections.
(My loner status did keep the bullies away from me. Attached to nothing & no-one, I wasn't much fun to pick on.)
Flash forward to sometime in 1994 or 1995. A pretty girl who did a show at my first radio station, & who was obviously well-liked, was chatting with me about another girl at the radio station, who was involved in management, but was unattractive & overweight. The unattractive girl had just started dating someone, a kind of clumsy, & yes, overweight, fellow, who was not well-liked. I didn't know either of them very well.
The pretty girl said to me, "Isn't it hilarious that they're dating each other?"
I didn't get the joke. Was something wrong with either or both of them?
"No," she said. "She's so awful & he's so awful. & they're dating!"
I asked for more clarification, & the pretty girl got more specific: she was referring to their weight & their general unattractiveness. & then something hit me.
"Oh no!" I said out loud. "I've become one of the cool kids!"
The pretty girl didn't know what I meant, so I explained: I used to be the sort of person that people like her talked about behind my back, & now I was talking about people like me behind their backs!
She quickly backpedaled, & tried to explain that she meant that they were not nice people, or kind people, or anything besides their physical unattractiveness, but I was lost in a kind of daze. I never thought that I'd be on the other side of that world.
& I really never would - the pretty girl & I never became friends, & in fact, while I remember her first name (& not her last name), she probably doesn't remember me at all. & she wasn't part of a scene, anyway, so this story is only peripherally related to the show this week.
Which is on tomorrow from 7am till 9am. You can hear it live in Lexington at 88.1 on the fm dial, & live anywhere at wrfl dot fm on the computer dial. I'll put the show up later that day on the Self Help Radio website like I do, in case you're not up early. Because the sleeping-in scene is the one I wish I belonged to these days.
Never part of the scene, never one of the cool kids.
In actuality, I would never have been part of any of the cliques in high school because not only was I a fat nerd, but also I naturally gravitated toward loner status. So I didn't even really have any nerd friends. It's no surprise that the only people I am in communication with from my high school is a fellow who moved to Austin after ninth grade (where we reconnected in my college years) & a friend who was in the grade above me, another loner who I rarely saw at school. My best friend in high school went to a different school in a different city; we met because of (nerds) our comic book collections.
(My loner status did keep the bullies away from me. Attached to nothing & no-one, I wasn't much fun to pick on.)
Flash forward to sometime in 1994 or 1995. A pretty girl who did a show at my first radio station, & who was obviously well-liked, was chatting with me about another girl at the radio station, who was involved in management, but was unattractive & overweight. The unattractive girl had just started dating someone, a kind of clumsy, & yes, overweight, fellow, who was not well-liked. I didn't know either of them very well.
The pretty girl said to me, "Isn't it hilarious that they're dating each other?"
I didn't get the joke. Was something wrong with either or both of them?
"No," she said. "She's so awful & he's so awful. & they're dating!"
I asked for more clarification, & the pretty girl got more specific: she was referring to their weight & their general unattractiveness. & then something hit me.
"Oh no!" I said out loud. "I've become one of the cool kids!"
The pretty girl didn't know what I meant, so I explained: I used to be the sort of person that people like her talked about behind my back, & now I was talking about people like me behind their backs!
She quickly backpedaled, & tried to explain that she meant that they were not nice people, or kind people, or anything besides their physical unattractiveness, but I was lost in a kind of daze. I never thought that I'd be on the other side of that world.
& I really never would - the pretty girl & I never became friends, & in fact, while I remember her first name (& not her last name), she probably doesn't remember me at all. & she wasn't part of a scene, anyway, so this story is only peripherally related to the show this week.
Which is on tomorrow from 7am till 9am. You can hear it live in Lexington at 88.1 on the fm dial, & live anywhere at wrfl dot fm on the computer dial. I'll put the show up later that day on the Self Help Radio website like I do, in case you're not up early. Because the sleeping-in scene is the one I wish I belonged to these days.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Spleen Venting
The spleen is an organ. It's on the left side of your body, protected by the ribs. It's about as big as your fist. I've read that it's "soft & red." Let me ask my wife, the anatomist. "What color is the spleen?" U ask here. She says it's "burgundy-pinkish." Then she adds, "It's a little purple."
The Word Detective talks about the phrase "vent one's spleen" here. He explains, "The spleen’s job is to act as a sort of filter for the blood, but in medieval times, when each bodily organ was thought to be the home of one emotion or another, the spleen was regarded as the seat of melancholy. There was apparently a brief period later on when the spleen was suspected, improbably, of supplying humor & good cheer, but by the late 16th century it was decided that the spleen was the source of rage and ill-temper. Thus 'spleen' has for several centuries been a metaphor for 'anger,' 'resentment' & general crankiness."
I wish this blog had a more personal slant to it - I suppose it could - but maybe I'm not the entirely confessional type that I used to be, both on my radio show & on the internet. (I used to write crazy confessional stuff on the usenet.) I recently had an interaction with a local business that didn't quite make my blood boil, but irked me enough to write them about.
I'll speak in generalities. I had a bad experience at the local business. I contacted the local business by email that night, explaining the situation. In the email, I didn't ask for anything. I simply told the story of the shabby treatment I received & mentioned that I shopped there a lot.
I waited a week for a response. The response from the local business, while containing something of an apology, completely belittled my experience while insisting that my email could in fact be a "teaching moment" for its employees.
I wrote back & told them that I wouldn't be patronizing the local business anymore.
It's so interesting - a franchise of a corporation would have written the most slavishly apologetic response possible. They would have detailed the employee code of conduct & let me know how the employee involved in my bad experience would be disciplined. They would have responded to my email within a business day & would have attempted some kind of recompense for my experience.
But this local business? The best they could manage was a tepid apology & a shrug of the shoulders in a response as warm as a form letter. It was astonishing.
You know, I've had issues with places before - I did go into detail on this very blog about a horrible experience with an airline a few years back. But for some reason, I don't think much would be accomplished with venting my spleen about this local business in this manner. I don't think it will change anything & I suppose I'm not as angry - I just feel that I shouldn't help support the place any more.
The biggest surprise is that my wife used to really love the place. But apparently she's had bad experiences there, too. She remarkably has agreed with my - well, it sounds like a boycott, but really it's just an ignoring - of the place.
Sorry to be vague. Not enough spleen to vent, I guess.
The Word Detective talks about the phrase "vent one's spleen" here. He explains, "The spleen’s job is to act as a sort of filter for the blood, but in medieval times, when each bodily organ was thought to be the home of one emotion or another, the spleen was regarded as the seat of melancholy. There was apparently a brief period later on when the spleen was suspected, improbably, of supplying humor & good cheer, but by the late 16th century it was decided that the spleen was the source of rage and ill-temper. Thus 'spleen' has for several centuries been a metaphor for 'anger,' 'resentment' & general crankiness."
I wish this blog had a more personal slant to it - I suppose it could - but maybe I'm not the entirely confessional type that I used to be, both on my radio show & on the internet. (I used to write crazy confessional stuff on the usenet.) I recently had an interaction with a local business that didn't quite make my blood boil, but irked me enough to write them about.
I'll speak in generalities. I had a bad experience at the local business. I contacted the local business by email that night, explaining the situation. In the email, I didn't ask for anything. I simply told the story of the shabby treatment I received & mentioned that I shopped there a lot.
I waited a week for a response. The response from the local business, while containing something of an apology, completely belittled my experience while insisting that my email could in fact be a "teaching moment" for its employees.
I wrote back & told them that I wouldn't be patronizing the local business anymore.
It's so interesting - a franchise of a corporation would have written the most slavishly apologetic response possible. They would have detailed the employee code of conduct & let me know how the employee involved in my bad experience would be disciplined. They would have responded to my email within a business day & would have attempted some kind of recompense for my experience.
But this local business? The best they could manage was a tepid apology & a shrug of the shoulders in a response as warm as a form letter. It was astonishing.
You know, I've had issues with places before - I did go into detail on this very blog about a horrible experience with an airline a few years back. But for some reason, I don't think much would be accomplished with venting my spleen about this local business in this manner. I don't think it will change anything & I suppose I'm not as angry - I just feel that I shouldn't help support the place any more.
The biggest surprise is that my wife used to really love the place. But apparently she's had bad experiences there, too. She remarkably has agreed with my - well, it sounds like a boycott, but really it's just an ignoring - of the place.
Sorry to be vague. Not enough spleen to vent, I guess.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Moments On Twitter
) & the web page, where you can listen live: Superego. They're crazy funny, & sharp as hell, as their bits are all improvised. Well, after I played it, I got a note that they were following my Twitter account! Gosh! The proof is above.
They did soon think better of it, however, & unfollowed me almost right away, & I can't blame them, I'm nothing compared to them. But it was fun to think they noticed me for a second!
Two of the Superegotists (do they call themselves that?) did favorite my tweet later. That was nice.
Go listen to their podcast! There's a new one right now, & it's great! gosuperego.com!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Dead & Dying Businesses
I am strangely moved & fascinated by businesses that no longer exist - specifically ones that were seemingly ubiquitous in my childhood. One of those was a small five-&-dime store called TG&Y. From the time I was about 9 till the time I was about 14, my family lived in an apartment complex right next to a shopping center called Ridgewood (you can see the current businesses that occupy the place here. To say that I was in a store or walking through the parking lot of the shopping center most days of that time would not be an exaggeration - a branch of the public library was there, as was a Minyard's supermarket, & a dollar movie theater. & one of the stores closest to us - & frankly, easiest to shoplift from - was the TG&Y.
I can almost walk through it in my mind. If I walked in today, I would know exactly where the toy section was. I bought - or my mother bought for me - many Star Wars figures & accessories there. & I stole a few more.
After we moved, I didn't find myself at that shopping center very often, & soon enough both the Minyard's & the TG&Y were gone. The Wikipedia has a handy list of "defunct retail companies of the United States, & the sad story of TG&Y's demise can be read at the link above. A surprise - Minyard's is not on there! Apparently there are 13 stores left in the Dallas area!
I guess nothing lasts forever. Even giant mainstays like K-Mart & Sears are disappearing, & luckily there are those chronicling their demise. I am not sad about a business dying - but it does affect me in a strange way, like I have recently watched an empty office building bulldozed in my neighborhood. There are a few photos of it somewhere on my Tumblr blog. I wish I could've gotten some of the photos on this website featuring "dead & dying K-Mart stores."
There's a K-Mart nearby - maybe I'll go have a look around. But I better hurry! It looks like they're going the way of the ol' TG&Y.
I can almost walk through it in my mind. If I walked in today, I would know exactly where the toy section was. I bought - or my mother bought for me - many Star Wars figures & accessories there. & I stole a few more.
After we moved, I didn't find myself at that shopping center very often, & soon enough both the Minyard's & the TG&Y were gone. The Wikipedia has a handy list of "defunct retail companies of the United States, & the sad story of TG&Y's demise can be read at the link above. A surprise - Minyard's is not on there! Apparently there are 13 stores left in the Dallas area!
I guess nothing lasts forever. Even giant mainstays like K-Mart & Sears are disappearing, & luckily there are those chronicling their demise. I am not sad about a business dying - but it does affect me in a strange way, like I have recently watched an empty office building bulldozed in my neighborhood. There are a few photos of it somewhere on my Tumblr blog. I wish I could've gotten some of the photos on this website featuring "dead & dying K-Mart stores."
There's a K-Mart nearby - maybe I'll go have a look around. But I better hurry! It looks like they're going the way of the ol' TG&Y.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Self Help Radio 091914: One Way
Listen to it now! Self Help Radio Dot Net! The songs I played are listed below! I think I'm going the wrong way! Oh no!
Thanks for listening!
(part one)
"One Way" Tania & Juan _One Way_
"One Way Love" Allison Weiss _Say What You Mean_
"One Way Or Another" Blondie _Eat To The Beat_
"(I'm Walking Down) A One Way Street" Guy Mitchell _The Very Best Of Guy Mitchell_
"One Way Street" Miki Smith _Trouble Doll_
"Walking Up A One Way Street" Willie Tee _Teasin' You_
"One Way Street" Sharon Tandy _You Gotta Believe It's... Sharon Tandy_
"One Way Street" The Dirty Burds _Hellbound Honeys, Vol. 1_
"One Way Ticket Home" Phil Ochs _Greatest Hits_
"One Way Ticket" Bobby Crown & The Kapers _Rockabilly Rarities, Vol. 1_
"One Way Ticket" The Nerves _One Way Ticket_
"One Way Trigger" The Strokes _Comedown Machine_
"Love Can't Be A One Way Deal" The Rev-Lons _Boy Trouble: Garpax Girls_
"One Way Love" The Innocents _One Way Love 7"_
(part two)
"One Way Love" The Damned _Don't Cry Wolf 7"_
"One Way Love" The Undertones _The Undertones_
"One Way Love" The James Hunter Six _Minute By Minute_
"One Way Out" Elmore James _The Sky Is Crying: The History Of Elmore James_
"One Way Out" Martha & The Vandellas _Watchout!_
"One Way Bus" New Birth _New Birth_
"One Way" Mighty Mighty _A Band From Birmingham_
"One Way Mind" John Cunningham _Becket House_
"One Way Or The Other" Chumbawamba _Readymades_
"One Way Track" Bill Nelson _Noise Candy, Vol. 1: Old Man Future Blows The Blues_
"One Way Spit" Debris _Soul Jazz Records Presents PUNK 45: Sick On You! One Way Spit! After The Love & Before The Revolution, Vol. 3: Proto-Punk 1969-77_
"One Way Kisses" The 4 Knights _Jivin' & Smoothin'_
"One Way Rider" Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash _Rockabilly Blues_
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Whither One Way?
Who knows? The show is happening tomorrow morning from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm WRFL, & you can listen online at werful dot fm. I'll also live tweet like I do nowadays on my the SHR Twitter account.
But I might not be able to put the show up on the Self Help Radio website because I'm going up to Cincinnati for Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. Specifically, the wife wants to see the Running Of The Wieners. Because they're hounds & they're cute.
I have to ask, though - why do they hold Oktoberfest in September? Is that just common here? I guess I never paid attention to Oktoberfest when in Texas. But just checking, it turns out that Fredericksburg has its Oktoberfest in October.
So maybe it has something to do with climate. Anyway, I apologize for not getting the show up in time. If only they had Oktoberfest in October…
But I might not be able to put the show up on the Self Help Radio website because I'm going up to Cincinnati for Oktoberfest Zinzinnati. Specifically, the wife wants to see the Running Of The Wieners. Because they're hounds & they're cute.
I have to ask, though - why do they hold Oktoberfest in September? Is that just common here? I guess I never paid attention to Oktoberfest when in Texas. But just checking, it turns out that Fredericksburg has its Oktoberfest in October.
So maybe it has something to do with climate. Anyway, I apologize for not getting the show up in time. If only they had Oktoberfest in October…
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Preface To One Way: No, I'm NOT Running Out Of Themes!
Why would you think that? Is it because of that Bob Dylan show? He would never do a show with a theme like "one way"! He picked general themes like "cars" or "homes" or "family" or "Bob Dylan"! Why can't Self Help Radio be like that? Why not do a show about something that's tangible, that's a thing, that makes some kind of sense, that there are songs that we will know about & you will have to play?
Seriously, dude. "One Way"? All I can think about is that Blondie song. That's it.
What just happened? I started out with one voice & ended up with another. I think I liked the complainer's voice better than my own explainer voice. Anyway, it doesn't matter - no one really cares what theme I pick & very rarely is anyone excited by a theme. Which is cool - I don't mind the anonymity.
One thing that does happen from time-to-time is that a person will call & say, "I hear you're looking for songs about [today's theme]." I am happy when someone makes suggestions or requests a song, but it's weird to think that they'd be listening to a radio show & think, "That deejay is doing a show about [whatever subject], but of course they wouldn't have brought enough music about [whatever subject] to fill their allotted two hours, but, luckily, hey! Me to the rescue!"
I'm never insulted or anything, but I wonder if that's happened enough to the average RFL listener that they've heard a deejay say, "I wanted to do a show about [something], but I don't have enough songs!"
It's possible. It's just not something I'd ever do!
Seriously, dude. "One Way"? All I can think about is that Blondie song. That's it.
What just happened? I started out with one voice & ended up with another. I think I liked the complainer's voice better than my own explainer voice. Anyway, it doesn't matter - no one really cares what theme I pick & very rarely is anyone excited by a theme. Which is cool - I don't mind the anonymity.
One thing that does happen from time-to-time is that a person will call & say, "I hear you're looking for songs about [today's theme]." I am happy when someone makes suggestions or requests a song, but it's weird to think that they'd be listening to a radio show & think, "That deejay is doing a show about [whatever subject], but of course they wouldn't have brought enough music about [whatever subject] to fill their allotted two hours, but, luckily, hey! Me to the rescue!"
I'm never insulted or anything, but I wonder if that's happened enough to the average RFL listener that they've heard a deejay say, "I wanted to do a show about [something], but I don't have enough songs!"
It's possible. It's just not something I'd ever do!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
I didn't get a chance to do this two posts ago...
One of my favorite boring bookkeeping events passed & I barely noted it: the 1900th post on this blog!
You're not paying attention anyway, but I like to do this:
I started this blog on September 12, 2006. Holy fuck, that's eight years ago!
I reached 100 posts on Match 7, 2007.
I reached 200 posts on August 13, 2007.
I reached 300 posts on January 11, 2008.
I reached 400 posts on May 29, 2008.
I reached 500 posts on October 19, 2008.
I reached 600 posts on April 2, 2009.
I reached 700 posts on October 4. 2009.
I reached 800 posts on May 2, 2010.
I reached 900 posts on July 30, 2010.
I reached 1000 posts on January 4, 2011.
I reached 1100 posts on May 30, 2011.
I reached 1200 posts on October 23, 2011.
I reached 1300 posts on Mach 3, 2012.
I reached 1400 posts on July 30, 2012.
I reached 1500 posts on December 23, 2012.
I reached 1600 posts on April 23, 2013.
I reached 1700 posts on November 22, 2013.
I reached 1800 posts on April 21, 2014.
I reached 1900 posts on September 12, 2014.
If you stumble through this blog - & please don't, it's embarrassing for me - you'll find that I do a celebratory "anniversary post" most of the time. But you'll notice it's usually wrong - the blog entry entitled "The Legendary 1000th Post," for example, happened on December 14, 2010 (when it was a not-very-legendary 994th post), instead of six posts later. There's a reason for that: I'm dumb.
Blogger very handily tells you the number of posts you've published. It also notes when you start a post (a "draft") & then saves it if you don't finish or if you forget about it.
I'm not a "draft" writing kind of guy. I wish I were - boy, I'd love to be able to rewrite some of my crap to make it better - but if I write something, & don't finish it, & close the window on the computer, I'll probably not return to it. I'll almost certainly open another window & write something new.
I obviously have done this several times on this blog. For a long time, I had six or so drafts in my draft folder, which Blogger counted toward my total. I deleted them. Most of them were blank pages anyway. Now I can just go look at every hundredth post from the beginning, but back then - well, I'm dumb. I trusted the number & I counted backwards.
Let me repeat that: I counted backwards.
I am fascinated about the time periods represented here. From October 2002 to May 2008, Self Help Radio was on KOOP in Austin. From May 2008 till June 2009, it existed as a podcast. From July 2009 to June 2010, it was on WMUL in Huntington. From August 2010 till present (excepting Spring of this year) it has been on WRFL in Lexington. So that total is:
KOOP: five years, eight months
WMUL: eleven months
WRFL: three years, eleven months
Podcast: one year, seven months (at different times)
Does that add up to eleven years, eleven months? Because that's hold long I've been doing Self Help Radio!
(Actually, it adds up to 12 years, one month, because I counted a couple of months, like May of 2008 & January of this year, when I have half in one place, half another.)
(I'm still celebrating my twelve anniversary next month.)
You're not paying attention anyway, but I like to do this:
I started this blog on September 12, 2006. Holy fuck, that's eight years ago!
I reached 100 posts on Match 7, 2007.
I reached 200 posts on August 13, 2007.
I reached 300 posts on January 11, 2008.
I reached 400 posts on May 29, 2008.
I reached 500 posts on October 19, 2008.
I reached 600 posts on April 2, 2009.
I reached 700 posts on October 4. 2009.
I reached 800 posts on May 2, 2010.
I reached 900 posts on July 30, 2010.
I reached 1000 posts on January 4, 2011.
I reached 1100 posts on May 30, 2011.
I reached 1200 posts on October 23, 2011.
I reached 1300 posts on Mach 3, 2012.
I reached 1400 posts on July 30, 2012.
I reached 1500 posts on December 23, 2012.
I reached 1600 posts on April 23, 2013.
I reached 1700 posts on November 22, 2013.
I reached 1800 posts on April 21, 2014.
I reached 1900 posts on September 12, 2014.
If you stumble through this blog - & please don't, it's embarrassing for me - you'll find that I do a celebratory "anniversary post" most of the time. But you'll notice it's usually wrong - the blog entry entitled "The Legendary 1000th Post," for example, happened on December 14, 2010 (when it was a not-very-legendary 994th post), instead of six posts later. There's a reason for that: I'm dumb.
Blogger very handily tells you the number of posts you've published. It also notes when you start a post (a "draft") & then saves it if you don't finish or if you forget about it.
I'm not a "draft" writing kind of guy. I wish I were - boy, I'd love to be able to rewrite some of my crap to make it better - but if I write something, & don't finish it, & close the window on the computer, I'll probably not return to it. I'll almost certainly open another window & write something new.
I obviously have done this several times on this blog. For a long time, I had six or so drafts in my draft folder, which Blogger counted toward my total. I deleted them. Most of them were blank pages anyway. Now I can just go look at every hundredth post from the beginning, but back then - well, I'm dumb. I trusted the number & I counted backwards.
Let me repeat that: I counted backwards.
I am fascinated about the time periods represented here. From October 2002 to May 2008, Self Help Radio was on KOOP in Austin. From May 2008 till June 2009, it existed as a podcast. From July 2009 to June 2010, it was on WMUL in Huntington. From August 2010 till present (excepting Spring of this year) it has been on WRFL in Lexington. So that total is:
KOOP: five years, eight months
WMUL: eleven months
WRFL: three years, eleven months
Podcast: one year, seven months (at different times)
Does that add up to eleven years, eleven months? Because that's hold long I've been doing Self Help Radio!
(Actually, it adds up to 12 years, one month, because I counted a couple of months, like May of 2008 & January of this year, when I have half in one place, half another.)
(I'm still celebrating my twelve anniversary next month.)
Monday, September 15, 2014
High School Daze
For both my birthday friend & myself, this seemed normal (as normal as anything in high school), but my friend didn't remember something specific I recalled: there was a giant mural in the cafeteria of a Southern plantation. Since he couldn't bring it to mind, I looked around for evidence online.
I found, archived at the University of North Texas, a book called "School Spirit or School Hate: The
Confederate Battle Flag, Texas High Schools, and Memory, 1953-2002" by
Perry Dirickson, which, you may notice, kind of rhymes with my name. You can see the pages I'm about to quote here.
I warn you: the book is badly written. I have copied it verbatim, but did feel the need to note when there were egregious grammar mistakes. Some of the commentary feels forced & awkward, but the historical part of it is eye-opening.
At South Garland High School, the students chose the Colonels & the Confederate flag because of the Civil War centennial. The school opened in the fall of 1964. The year before, students who would attend the school voted for the Colonels as mascot & adopted an Old South theme. South Garland was located at the southern edge of Garland's residential area at the time. There were few houses; mostly cotton fields surrounded the school. This added to the Old South feel of the school. South Garland High School released the first edition of the school newspaper on Friday, October 2, 1964, with the name "Plantation News." In the paper, the cartoon "Colonel's Plantation" ran, displaying the paternalism implied by the school's mascot. The cartoon presented three characters: the Colonel, Rastus, & Liza. Liza & Rastus were portrayed as poor whites in tattered clothing whom [sic] used broken English. The Colonel dressed in an all-white suit with a black tie & spoke impeccable English. This reinforced the romantic view of the Old South & the class superiority implied by the mascot name of Colonels.
Other traditions reinforced the Old South theme. The students named the drill team, Southern Belles. The cheering section, underclassmen drill team members, named itself the Dixie Darlings, & the fight song played to the tune of "Dixie." Another tradition that the students tried to initiate, although it did not last, was a fundraiser to earn money for student activities. The fundraiser was a slave auction. The slaves were members of the drill team who sold themselves to male students for a day for whatever the buy [sic] wanted, such as washing his car. The girls dressed in sackcloth, wore their hair in dog-ears, donned a beanie or cowboy hat, & wore no make-up with mismatched shoes. The Clothes [sic] worn by the "slaves" were eerily similar to the clothes of actual slaves. To add to the Old South theme, the school painted a plantation mural in the cafeteria with a generic white-columned mansion surrounded by fields of cotton devoid of any black slaves working the fields. The omission of workers in the mural portrayed an understanding the workers in the field were black slaves. By leaving them out, the administration was saying in a nice way that black slaves were not important & as an extension, blacks were not important as well.
South Garland students not only developed traditions based on the Old South, they also adopted the Confederate flag as their school's symbol & school flag. Before 1967, the school used a Confederate battle flag as its school flag. In the fall of 1967, the 1966 seniors presented the school a gift, the South Garland flag, which was the official Colonel flag. The flag's design included the school's crest in the flag's center as well as "S" & "G" for South Garland on the outer part of the flag. The school called its crest the "libertas," liberty in Latin, the Garland family motto, The "libertas" had the colonel's head on top of a shield with crossed sabers. On the shield, the Garland family crest appeared in the upper left quadrant. The Confederate flag was in the upper right corner. In the lower left quadrant, the golden bugle symbolized class "spirit [sic] de corps" & aggressiveness in the future. The torch of knowledge centered by live oak & olive branches borrowed from the Great Seal of the State of Texas. The "S" for South was to the left of the "lbertas" & the "G" to the right. This would remain the South Garland flag until 1991. The South Garland students viewed the flag as their flag. The design of the flag incorporated the Confederate battle flag, but the students saw the banner as their flag & claimed pointed [sic] out that this standard was not the Confederate battle flag. The flag's inclusion of the South Garland High's crest & the "S" & "G" separated it from the association with the Confederate battle flag in the minds of students.
I remember in the 1990s my family members griping about how the NAACP was going to sue the school & replace the flag. ("It's not racist, it's tradition!") It turns out the school district did it themselves (although doubtless there were some who may well have filed a lawsuit). According to Wikipedia, "the Garland Independent School Board voted 6 to 1 at its August 1, 1991, meeting, to discontinue use of the altered Confederate flag as the school flag & to also change the color of the mascot's uniform from gray to blue & red." The mural, presumably, is still there. The Wikipedia adds, "Today many students still use the Confederate flag to symbolize the school's 'southern culture' with little to no backlash from students or parents. However, South Garland High School & the GISD refuse to recognize the flag. The school still uses the song 'Dixie' as the school's fight song to this day."
My friend, who I hope doesn't mind me sharing this, texted something about those years that may explain why we weren't as horrified when we were students as I imagine you are reading this. He said, "I just recall high school as being sort of frightening & overwhelming at times & mind-numbingly tedious at other times. I had no cultural reference points or socialization to prepare me for it."
Me neither.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Self Help Radio 091214: Magazines
Actually, it's mainly the same old thing - lots of songs about magazines, me talking too much, but also interviews with a Harvard professor & a special announcement from my spiritual advisor, the Rev. Dr. Howard Gently. It's too much! You'll need a subscription!
Please listen now at the Self Help Radio website. Pay attention to username/password stuff. What I played is below.
PS This is the 1900th posting on this dumb blog. No big deal.
Thanks for listening!
(part one)
"Magazines" Teresa Brewer _The Ultimate Collection_
"Movie Magazines" The Four Cal-Quettes _Movie Magazines_
"Little Girl In A Magazine" Jerry Channing _Little Girl In A Magazine_
"Magazine Woman" Gary Walker & The Rain _Magazine Woman_
"Magazine Lady" Spider John Koerner & Willie Murphy _Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records 1963-1973_
"Letters To Magazines" Paul F. Tompkins _Impersonal_
"Girl In A Magazine" The Brains _The Brains_
"Cover Of The Rolling Stone" R. Stevie Moore _Great Test Hits_
"Dream Magazine" Svensk _Piccadilly Sunshine # 1: British Pop Psych & Other Flavours 1965-1970_
"Grit Magazine" Thee American Revolution _Buddha Electrostorm_
"People Who Read People Magazine" Kinky Friedman _Under The Double Ego_
"Centerfold" J. Geils Band _Freeze Frame_
"Skingloss Magazine" Superego _Superego, Volume 3, Episode 12_
"Magazines" Tania & Juan _Magazine_
(part two)
"Letter To A Fanzine" Great Plains _Length Of Growth 1981-1989_
"Teen Magazines" Kyle Hall _Feelin' Weird_
"Magazine Theory" Darren Hanlon _Early Days_
"Girl In A Magazine" J Church _Camels, Spilled Corona, & The Sound Of Mariachi Bands_
"Star Magazine" Gigantaur _Gigantaur E.P._
"Resolve (The Complete New Testament In The Form Of A Teen Magazine)" Eugene Mirman _En Garde, Society!_
"Surfing Magazines" The Go-Betweens _The Friends Of Rachel Worth_
"Dirty Magazines" Jonas Crenshaw _Colossal Failure_
"Magazines" The Hold Steady _Stay Positive_
"Magazine" The Proper Ornaments _Wooden Head_
"Magazine" Yeh Deadlies _Magazine 7"_
"Autograph Magazine" Todd Barry _Falling Off The Bone_
"I Dreamed You In Magazines" Fred Thomas _Kuma_
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Whither Magazines?
This was a hard show to put together - there aren't really all that many songs about magazines! I am glad at this point that I spend a little bit of time listening to new stuff that people put on their Bandcamp pages. I'm happy to preview their stuff & support them & am glad it's so easy there.
(By the way, isn't it amazing how much simpler those guys made it vs. how hard it used to be to listen to stuff on Myspace? No wonder the latter place is a ghost town.)
I should have enough music to fill the show plus I have a couple of interviews. It's always fun to be challenged for a show - two hours is sometimes a lot of time to fill for a particular theme!
The show will be on tomorrow morning from 7 to 9 am on 88.1 fm in Lexington. You can listen to the show & follow along at the WRFL web site & also I have gotten into the habit of live tweeting what I'm playing on my Twitter page.
Later that day, I'll put the show up in its entirety on the Self Help Radio web site.
I hope you listen!
(By the way, isn't it amazing how much simpler those guys made it vs. how hard it used to be to listen to stuff on Myspace? No wonder the latter place is a ghost town.)
I should have enough music to fill the show plus I have a couple of interviews. It's always fun to be challenged for a show - two hours is sometimes a lot of time to fill for a particular theme!
The show will be on tomorrow morning from 7 to 9 am on 88.1 fm in Lexington. You can listen to the show & follow along at the WRFL web site & also I have gotten into the habit of live tweeting what I'm playing on my Twitter page.
Later that day, I'll put the show up in its entirety on the Self Help Radio web site.
I hope you listen!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Preface To Magazines: Unsubscribe
I don't subscribe to many magazines anymore. Just one, actually. My wife has a subscription to a gossip-style magazine, but it was a gift from a friend, who hoped it would help her catch up on popular culture. It doesn't. She looks at the pictures & then asks me, "Who is this? Why is this person in this magazine?"
I used to subscribe to a particular music magazine - it's probably the best one out there, although I don't know anymore - it's been a few years, since I left Austin in fact - & I enjoyed reading it, but it was weird - every feature article extolled the featured artist in such a way that I felt, if I didn't like the artist, that something was wrong with me. Also, every third issue had a Beatle or the Beatles on the cover. That was like saying to me, "You're old. That's why you get this magazine."
I also used to subscribe to a left-wing/progressive news magazine. I felt very guilty unsubscribing, because I think they do good work. I just couldn't read it anymore. Every story was a story of corruption & defeat. Every truth unearthed just showed that the bad people had all the money, controlled everything, & were going to destroy the world, their comfort existing at the expense of everyone else. The people who run the magazine however maintain a crazy optimism, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that it doesn't fucking matter - the bad people are winning. Again, I admire their work, their courage, their spirit - it just got to be too much for me to read the depressing stories of defeat, with that little paragraph of hope at the end. Poor, tortured hope.
The magazine I currently subscribe to is a little more cynical, but I still don't read most of it anymore. I can't exactly say why. I like the magazine. It's just piling up on the table by the front door, though.
I always wanted to make my own magazine - or any kind of zine, really - but as I get older, I find I have less & less to say. This blog, of course, is evidence of that.
I used to subscribe to a particular music magazine - it's probably the best one out there, although I don't know anymore - it's been a few years, since I left Austin in fact - & I enjoyed reading it, but it was weird - every feature article extolled the featured artist in such a way that I felt, if I didn't like the artist, that something was wrong with me. Also, every third issue had a Beatle or the Beatles on the cover. That was like saying to me, "You're old. That's why you get this magazine."
I also used to subscribe to a left-wing/progressive news magazine. I felt very guilty unsubscribing, because I think they do good work. I just couldn't read it anymore. Every story was a story of corruption & defeat. Every truth unearthed just showed that the bad people had all the money, controlled everything, & were going to destroy the world, their comfort existing at the expense of everyone else. The people who run the magazine however maintain a crazy optimism, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that it doesn't fucking matter - the bad people are winning. Again, I admire their work, their courage, their spirit - it just got to be too much for me to read the depressing stories of defeat, with that little paragraph of hope at the end. Poor, tortured hope.
The magazine I currently subscribe to is a little more cynical, but I still don't read most of it anymore. I can't exactly say why. I like the magazine. It's just piling up on the table by the front door, though.
I always wanted to make my own magazine - or any kind of zine, really - but as I get older, I find I have less & less to say. This blog, of course, is evidence of that.
Tuesday, September 09, 2014
A Song From Under The Floorboards
One of my silly rules about my show is that the theme can't be reflected by the name of the band or the album a song is from - so that means that my show this week, about magazines, won't feature any songs by Magazine, who unwisely chose not to write a song about magazines. (Maybe their name is in reference to a different kind of magazine?) But that doesn't stop me from playing them on this blog - here's one of their best songs performed live:
Monday, September 08, 2014
Yawp
I need to make a list of important lessons one stumbles upon in life that end up making life better. The funny thing about lessons - teaching, really - is that if you're not interested in what's being taught, or you're not interested in whoever's trying to teach you, you're probably not going to learn.
I'm sure this is rudimentary pedagogy, but I am thinking also that if one comes from an environment where learning isn't valued - where the value is instead on some sense or kind of authority - that also hurts the process of learning.
& I'm not necessarily talking about facts here, although sometimes one's attitude can affect how one absorbs facts. One of my relatives, for example, once said, "Why are they always talking about the Civil War? It happened a long time ago. It doesn't have anything to do with us now." Believing that, obviously, makes one less inclined to learn about the Civil War.
What I'm talking about is this: I remember, it must've been early in my college career, this moment when I found out how powerful it was to say, "I don't know."
Admitting that I didn't know something wasn't a mark of weakness; it instead seemed a sign of confidence & self-knowledge.
& it did have something to do with the people - I was around people who were different from my family.
My family, in general, knows a lot of stuff. As much as your average family that knows stuff. But my family believes it knows more stuff than it actually knows. What's more, it has developed a kind of behavioral mechanism - related, somewhat, to stubbornness, also a family trait - which will assert with terrifying confidence that what any member of the family says, even though you know it's wrong, is in fact right.
Here's an example. Once I was at my sister's house, listening to the band Squeeze. (This was a long time ago.) She said, "I like this song, but I like the original." I told her it was the original. She said it wasn't. I showed her the album, which listed the band members, & then the LP, which listed the writing credits. She shrugged. She said, "Someone else did a version of this, & it's better."
This was pretty soon after the album had been released. But no amount of evidence could convince her that what she knew was right was incorrect.
It didn't just have to happen in arguments. It could just be a reaction. My little brother might say to me, "You didn't know that!" & I would respond, almost reflexively, "I did so!"
Yes, I developed that mechanism, too. It came in handy, many times - there are times when, with sheer force of will, you can convince someone they're wrong. Or at the very least throw what they believe into doubt. I remember a long argument about evolution where I completely misunderstood the basics & yet a smarter friend, who was studying biology, couldn't convince me. I'm not sure she left the argument as firmly convinced as she began it. (Later on, I apologized for being so stupid about the whole deal.)
But at some point, I remember the pressure being off in regard to subjects & things about which I honestly had no knowledge, just by saying, "No, I don't know that." It will let the person have the pleasure of discussing something they do in fact know many things about, or it will reveal that they didn't really know much either.
& what follows that lesson is this one: you don't have to have an opinion about everything.
Oh god! What a liberating concept!
I'm sure this is rudimentary pedagogy, but I am thinking also that if one comes from an environment where learning isn't valued - where the value is instead on some sense or kind of authority - that also hurts the process of learning.
& I'm not necessarily talking about facts here, although sometimes one's attitude can affect how one absorbs facts. One of my relatives, for example, once said, "Why are they always talking about the Civil War? It happened a long time ago. It doesn't have anything to do with us now." Believing that, obviously, makes one less inclined to learn about the Civil War.
What I'm talking about is this: I remember, it must've been early in my college career, this moment when I found out how powerful it was to say, "I don't know."
Admitting that I didn't know something wasn't a mark of weakness; it instead seemed a sign of confidence & self-knowledge.
& it did have something to do with the people - I was around people who were different from my family.
My family, in general, knows a lot of stuff. As much as your average family that knows stuff. But my family believes it knows more stuff than it actually knows. What's more, it has developed a kind of behavioral mechanism - related, somewhat, to stubbornness, also a family trait - which will assert with terrifying confidence that what any member of the family says, even though you know it's wrong, is in fact right.
Here's an example. Once I was at my sister's house, listening to the band Squeeze. (This was a long time ago.) She said, "I like this song, but I like the original." I told her it was the original. She said it wasn't. I showed her the album, which listed the band members, & then the LP, which listed the writing credits. She shrugged. She said, "Someone else did a version of this, & it's better."
This was pretty soon after the album had been released. But no amount of evidence could convince her that what she knew was right was incorrect.
It didn't just have to happen in arguments. It could just be a reaction. My little brother might say to me, "You didn't know that!" & I would respond, almost reflexively, "I did so!"
Yes, I developed that mechanism, too. It came in handy, many times - there are times when, with sheer force of will, you can convince someone they're wrong. Or at the very least throw what they believe into doubt. I remember a long argument about evolution where I completely misunderstood the basics & yet a smarter friend, who was studying biology, couldn't convince me. I'm not sure she left the argument as firmly convinced as she began it. (Later on, I apologized for being so stupid about the whole deal.)
But at some point, I remember the pressure being off in regard to subjects & things about which I honestly had no knowledge, just by saying, "No, I don't know that." It will let the person have the pleasure of discussing something they do in fact know many things about, or it will reveal that they didn't really know much either.
& what follows that lesson is this one: you don't have to have an opinion about everything.
Oh god! What a liberating concept!
Friday, September 05, 2014
Self Help Radio 090514: Disco
In addition to the great music played (listed below), the show had lots of human talking guests. I interviewed David Fruchter, who used to bartend at Studio 54; I interviewed Nick Ramirez, who has protested disco for decades; & I interviewed Nancy Gold & Mary Storm, co-discoverers of the element disconium. & of course Mark Miller reported about Hollywood, & Tania wrote us another lovely song.
It's all available for your lighted dance floor & mirror ball at the Self Help Radio website. Please pay attention to password/username info while you're there.
Thanks for listening! I have to take off these boogie shoes now. They're killing me.
(The show is in two parts at the website; below is what's in the two parts.)
(part one)
"Discotheque" Bad Dream Fancy Dress _Choirboys Gas_
"Freestyle Disco" S.I. Futures _The Mission Statement_
"Disco's Dead" The Bags _All Bagged Up '77-'80_
"Smash The Discos" The Business _Punk & Nasty_
"Disco Pope" The Prats _Rough Trade Shops Post Punk 01_
"Disco Romance" UK Decay _The Black Cat EP_
"Disco Hotline" National Lampoon _That's Not Funny, That's Sick!_
"Disco Man" The Damned _Eternally Damned_
"Changwah Disco" Chantana _Thai Beat A Go-Go, Vol. 3_
"Disco Clone" Cristina _Mutant Disco_
"How Long Are You Staying?" Bill Joy _The American Song-Poem Anthology: Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood & Brush?_
"Red Neck Disco" Glenn Sutton _Redneck Country_
"Rock & Roll People In A Disco World" Sparks _Terminal Jive_
(part two)
"Cambia El Disco" Tania Rivas _Cambia El Disco_
"Disco Biscuit" Lung Leg _Maid To Minx_
"Disco" Backfish _It's Emily's_
"The World Is A Disco Ball" Future Bible Heroes _Eternal Youth_
"Shifty Disco Girl" Helen Love _Love & Glitter, Hot Days & Muzik_
"Indie Disco" The Lancashire Hotpots _Pot Sounds_
"At The Indie Disco" The Divine Comedy _Bang Goes The Knighthood_
"Born Disco/Died Heavy Metal" Cornershop _Hold On It Hurts_
"Discoking" The Leslies _Totally Brilliant_
"Panic" The Guild League _Romantic & Square Is Hip & Aware_
"Death Of A Disco Dancer" The Smiths _Strangeways, Here We Come_
"Disco Pop Stars" Altered Images _Pinky Blue_
Thursday, September 04, 2014
Whither Disco?
Blah blah blah, it's a show about disco with very little disco, blah blah blah.
One of the things I started doing this spring - in case you haven't noticed - is regularly feature people I know who are far more funny & talented than I am. So you've regularly heard my friends Russell, David, Mark, & Nick pretend to be "experts" weekly on the show, as well as Tania singing her songs & an occasional appearance from my wife as the monster that lives under the station. I asked a couple of current RFL deejays - Macy & Maria, who do a show on Sundays from 2 to 4pm - if they'd also like to be experts. They said yes! So their "expertise" will be featured on tomorrow's show. & - spoiler alert - they're great.
It seems pretty obvious to me that my "experts" aren't really. But I've had a couple of calls that suggest some people who stumble onto the show don't listen carefully enough. I keep wondering if I should have some sort of disclaimer. What do you think?
Tomorrow's show is jam-packed with fake experts - plus lots of fun music - so I hope you'll listen. It's on from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at wrfl dot fm. I'll archive it later on Self Help Radio web. Oh boy!
One of the things I started doing this spring - in case you haven't noticed - is regularly feature people I know who are far more funny & talented than I am. So you've regularly heard my friends Russell, David, Mark, & Nick pretend to be "experts" weekly on the show, as well as Tania singing her songs & an occasional appearance from my wife as the monster that lives under the station. I asked a couple of current RFL deejays - Macy & Maria, who do a show on Sundays from 2 to 4pm - if they'd also like to be experts. They said yes! So their "expertise" will be featured on tomorrow's show. & - spoiler alert - they're great.
It seems pretty obvious to me that my "experts" aren't really. But I've had a couple of calls that suggest some people who stumble onto the show don't listen carefully enough. I keep wondering if I should have some sort of disclaimer. What do you think?
Tomorrow's show is jam-packed with fake experts - plus lots of fun music - so I hope you'll listen. It's on from 7 to 9am on 88.1 fm in Lexington & online at wrfl dot fm. I'll archive it later on Self Help Radio web. Oh boy!
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Preface To Disco: Neglectfulness
As I approach - what is it? - nineteen hundred blog posts on this blog of mine - that's a lot - I feel like I am neglecting it a bit. Part of it is the general feeling, which co-exists with my lack of self-esteem & all-around self-loating, that I have nothing of value to say. Part of it is that I spent the day (what free time I had) working on the radio show that this blogs exists to support (or whatever).
I am envious of people like Marc Maron, whose podcast I admire, because he does have something to talk about, twice a week, before his interviews. He returns to themes - he is his most popular subject - & I'm not comfortable being as frank about myself in that manner, although I tried it for a time on some of the shows this spring. But he still manages, between awkwardly pitching products for his sponsors, to have lively, interesting discussions about ideas & events that I can't really manage.
I wonder if this blog would benefit from small events & ideas that happen throughout my brain at any given moment. I would probably resist biographical entries that didn't have something like a point or a clumsy punchline - for example, the wife & I just watched (& enjoyed) the first episode of the television show Please Like Me - but instead just have random train-of-thought observations. Like:
Tonight, someone made the comment that Enya never performed live. She couldn't. Too many voices. But she has performed live, says the Wikipedia. Just never had an actual concert.
That's not that interesting, but it was interesting to me at the time. & funny! It reminds of the time Leah at KOOP told me that Bob Marley died of toe cancer. I thought it was such a dumb idea I bet her five bucks it wasn't true. It was! I paid up.
The other night we were walking the dogs & I thought I saw a shape in the sidewalk in front of us. It was a sweet black lab whose name I later found out was Mandy. I recognized her because she barks at us from her backyard & I've always wanted to walk up to meet her. We banged on her owner's door for several minutes (we guessed he was in the bathroom) & finally he opened the door & we asked if she was his. She was, but she wanted to come with us - three beagles & two sweet humans are better than a cigarette-smoke-filled home!
The next day or so he explained that the dog was not his but his ex-wife's. He said he didn't really want her but liked having her around. I got the impression that he would have loved for us to adopt her.
Tonight I thought, "What if he had let her out that night & hoped she went away? & we ruined his plans?"
She's a sweet dog, & twelve years old. I hope the situation isn't what I fear.
Would this blog be better with entries like that instead of - well, what does this blog contain, anyway? What have I written for almost nineteen hundred entries? I have no idea. I have no idea.
I am envious of people like Marc Maron, whose podcast I admire, because he does have something to talk about, twice a week, before his interviews. He returns to themes - he is his most popular subject - & I'm not comfortable being as frank about myself in that manner, although I tried it for a time on some of the shows this spring. But he still manages, between awkwardly pitching products for his sponsors, to have lively, interesting discussions about ideas & events that I can't really manage.
I wonder if this blog would benefit from small events & ideas that happen throughout my brain at any given moment. I would probably resist biographical entries that didn't have something like a point or a clumsy punchline - for example, the wife & I just watched (& enjoyed) the first episode of the television show Please Like Me - but instead just have random train-of-thought observations. Like:
Tonight, someone made the comment that Enya never performed live. She couldn't. Too many voices. But she has performed live, says the Wikipedia. Just never had an actual concert.
That's not that interesting, but it was interesting to me at the time. & funny! It reminds of the time Leah at KOOP told me that Bob Marley died of toe cancer. I thought it was such a dumb idea I bet her five bucks it wasn't true. It was! I paid up.
The other night we were walking the dogs & I thought I saw a shape in the sidewalk in front of us. It was a sweet black lab whose name I later found out was Mandy. I recognized her because she barks at us from her backyard & I've always wanted to walk up to meet her. We banged on her owner's door for several minutes (we guessed he was in the bathroom) & finally he opened the door & we asked if she was his. She was, but she wanted to come with us - three beagles & two sweet humans are better than a cigarette-smoke-filled home!
The next day or so he explained that the dog was not his but his ex-wife's. He said he didn't really want her but liked having her around. I got the impression that he would have loved for us to adopt her.
Tonight I thought, "What if he had let her out that night & hoped she went away? & we ruined his plans?"
She's a sweet dog, & twelve years old. I hope the situation isn't what I fear.
Would this blog be better with entries like that instead of - well, what does this blog contain, anyway? What have I written for almost nineteen hundred entries? I have no idea. I have no idea.
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Twits Tumble
See this?
That's a picture of my dog Ringo. I take a lot of dumb pictures, a lot of them of my pets, a lot of them when I'm out & about with my pets. I "archive" them (if you want to use that fancy word) on the Self Help Radio Tumblr site. Why not on this blog? Who the hell knows?
See this?
That's something I tweeted. From my Tweety Account. I mean, my Twitter account. I don't spend a lot of time there, since I don't feel all that clever, but I do "live tweet" my shows (I hope I am using that phrase correctly) & let one know when my shows are available on the site. Usually by linking to this blog. Oy.
Anyway. A friend was telling me today how well an old fogey like me uses Social Media. (I didn't even mention the Facebook page!) But I'm not really using Social Media all that well. Mainly I'm clumsy & awkward about it. Like most things in my life.
But I thought I should mention these other things (all linked of course on the web site). So it might seem I am using Social Media well.
& not, as it feels, a little antisocially.
See this?
Anyway. A friend was telling me today how well an old fogey like me uses Social Media. (I didn't even mention the Facebook page!) But I'm not really using Social Media all that well. Mainly I'm clumsy & awkward about it. Like most things in my life.
But I thought I should mention these other things (all linked of course on the web site). So it might seem I am using Social Media well.
& not, as it feels, a little antisocially.
Monday, September 01, 2014
Short Sad Monday Poem
I have a cold.
Sore throat & sniffles.
Still I did three hours
on the radio this morning.
It's been raining all day.
I wish I could have slept all day.
My wife says,
"90% of my laundry
is Jazzercise clothes."
My teeth hurt
because I've been sucking cough drops
all the time.
Going to sleep again
after I feed all the animals.
I hope I am well enough
to do Self Help Radio
this week.
Sore throat & sniffles.
Still I did three hours
on the radio this morning.
It's been raining all day.
I wish I could have slept all day.
My wife says,
"90% of my laundry
is Jazzercise clothes."
My teeth hurt
because I've been sucking cough drops
all the time.
Going to sleep again
after I feed all the animals.
I hope I am well enough
to do Self Help Radio
this week.