Preface To Mom: Mother's Day

(this is from here)

A while ago I was having a conversation with my sister Pat, who died in 2015, about our father, who died in 1991.  I told her that I couldn't remember his voice.  I sometimes think I have a sense of it, but he wasn't around a lot when I was a kid, & we didn't really have a lot of conversations.  I imagine there are traces of it in my brothers who, because they have retained their southern accents, tend to be higher & more reedy than my own.  But I can't ever be sure.  I don't know if there are any recordings of it anywhere.

For the record, my sister told me that she remembered it like it was her own voice, & still heard it from time to time, even more than two decades later.

There's is no chance of the same problem with my mother's voice.  I spoke with her weekly for the last two decades of her life, & saw her many times - once a year when I lived out of state, much more frequently when I lived in Texas.  I even have recordings of her voice - she called in to my radio show more than once, & I have tapes of her leaving a message on my old answering machine, which used an actual cassette tape.  Fun fact!  I used that machine until probably 2002!

Listen, I even can remember her voice changing as she got older & got a little more senile - or perhaps more demented.  I remember ridiculous arguments I had with her while I was walking the dogs in Kentucky & I remember the last time I spoke to her, when she was in the nursing home last summer, confused & close to incoherent, not really sure she knew she was talking to me.

This is the first Mother's Day in years that I haven't called her.  I tended to call her nearer to the end of the day so she could regale me with all the visits she had, the calls she had, the gifts she received.  She really loved this day.  I guess the last Mother's Day I spent with her was in 2018 - two years ago I would've been on my way here, & last year I was here, & doubtless called her.  She was fading at that point.  It wasn't easy speaking to her.  & whereas we could easily fill an hour in conversation - she tended to talk at me, telling me about her life as well as filling me in with information about my siblings' lives - by the end we spoke for mere minutes.  Her world was closing in on her, & her words were started to fail her.

So I didn't call anyone today.  But when I grabbed that image above, I wasn't sad.  Because I suspect I'll go to my own death with my mother's voice in my head.  It seems inconceivable that I could ever forget it.

Utah

This is a photo I took on the high on the way to Moab, Utah, on this day two years ago.  The wife & I were in two cars, we were in the process of relocating to Portland from Fort Worth.  I actually wrote about the trip here on the blog, & you can read what I wrote about the drive from New Mexico to Utah right here.

That part of the world is so beautiful & I wish I could visit it more often.  In a couple of weeks I'm going back to Dallas for my mother's memorial & I am taking a plane but part of me toyed with the idea of driving - it takes four days.  I couldn't have done it without being incredibly exhausting but I am certainly glad I hadn't looked at pictures of Utah I took two days ago before I booked the flight - I might have chanced it just to see that lovely place in person again.

Blanketed By Film

(image from the IMDb)

This week's Self Help Radio was about blankets (you can listen here & here, if you are so inclined) & the show's resident cinephile stopped by in his regular segment Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner to talk about films prominently featuring blankets.

Here is the list of the movies he made.
Here is the YouTube playlist featuring movies he talked about.
Here are the Letterboxd reviews of the films he watched.
& as always, you can check in with what Chuck's watching at his Twitter account, @robotmonkeycat.

If you enjoy film, you'll enjoy Chuck's recommendations!

Self Help Radio 050421: Blankets

(original image here.*)

What a comforting show that was.  No, really!  As one listener texted, "thanks for the very cozy show."  & shouldn't radio in the middle of the night be somewhat cozy?

Self Help Radio this week explored blankets both literal & figurative.  & almost everyone involved with the show - certainly the fellow making it, possibly the guests, & maybe the listener(s)(?) - were under blankets at the time.  Sometimes more than one blanket.  Seriously, how snug & warm was everyone during this show?  It was completely pleasant.  Zzzzzzzz.

Climb under the blankets of the show at either the KBOO website or the Self Help Radio website.  Lots of things happened on the show besides all the songs about blankets.  It's mentioned below.

Now, where was I?  Oh yeah.  Zzzzzzzz.

Self Help Radio Blankets Show

"How Many Blankets Are In The World?" Saintseneca _Such Things_

"Your Love Is My Blanket" Super 8 _Turn Around Or..._

"Blanket Of My Love" The Troyes _Rainbow Chaser: Complete Recordings (1966-1968)_

introduction & definitions (featuring the Definition-O-Tron 3000)

"Black Sky Blanket" Jennifer O'Connor _Surface Noise_

"Sushi" Films On Song _False Starts EP_

"Security Blanket" Tizzy _Pop American Style_

"Let's Cuddle Up In My Security Blanket" Napoleon XIV _They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!_

"The Blanket Of Night" Elbow _The Take Off & Landing Of Everything_

Self Help Radio librarian Carole recommends books about blankets

"Blanket (feat. Imogen Heap)" Urban Species _Blanket_

"Take My Blanket & Go" Joe Purdy _Take My Blanket & Go_

"Blanket" Gurf Morlix _Diamonds To Dust_

"I Need A Blanket" Horowitz _Frosty Cat Songs_

"Pillows & Blankets" Kid Auto Races At Venice _Summer Escape_

interview with Hollywood MyBlanket Guy Denver Smithell

"Blanket On The Ground" Billie Jo Spears _Blanket On The Ground_

"Whip The Blankets" Neko Case & Her Boyfriends _Furnace Room Lullaby_

"Blanket Show" The Gourds _Haymaker!_

"Green Blanket" Peter Case _Full Service, No Waiting_

"From A Buick 6" Bob Dylan _Highway 61 Revisited_

our resident cinephile Chuck recommends films about blankets

"Beach Blanket Bingo" Donna Loren _Hey, Beach Girls! (Female Surf 'N' Drag 1961-1966)_

"Blanket On The Beach" Bill Courtney _Teenagers Forever_

"On A Blanket On The Beach" Tommy Leonetti _The Early Side Of Tommy Leonetti_

"Blanket Of Weeds" Meat Puppets _Sewn Together_

"Blanket Over The Sky" The Verlaines _Way Out Where_

Self Help Radio has the Hard Answers to Hard Questions - featuring Ned Dry

"Blanket Roll Blues" Scott Walker _Climate Of Hunter_

"Old Woman Tossed Up In A Blanket" Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick, & Barry Dransfield _Morris On_

"Blanket" Ygdrassil _Pieces_

"Blanket For A Sail" Nilsson _Knnillssonn_

"Electric Blanket" Peter Rowan _Dust Bowl Children_

"Electric Blanket" Log Across The Washer _PDX Pop Now!_

idioms with the word "blanket"

"Wet Blanket" The Chills _Brave Words_

"Wet Blanket" Evans The Death _Evans The Death_

"Wet Blanket" Metz _Metz_

"Wet Blanket" Metric _Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?_

"Blankets" Sarah Silverman _Songs Of The Sarah Silverman Show_

"Isigqumza (My Blanket)" Xhosa: Mpondo _The Nguni Sound: South Africa & Swaziland 1955 '57 '58_

conclusion & goodbye

"Newspaper Blanket" The Cowsills _The Best Of The Cowsills_

"Found Under Blankets" Tompot Blenny _Found Under Blankets_

"Seven Blankets" A Weather _Everyday Balloons_

"Blankets" Craig Finn _I Need A New War_

"Waking Up On A Picnic Blanket" Lullatone _The Sounds Of Spring_

*"beautiful blankets" by mararie is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Whither Blankets?

(from the Sunday Peanuts strip, April 3, 1955.

taken from The Complete Peanuts Vol. 3)

This is something I reflect on a little too often: I now live in a place where it's cold most of the time.  You see, I grew up in the Dallas area, in Texas.  We have something like a winter there, it probably lasts three months or so, it gets pretty cold a few days but mostly it's just grey.  W don't have much of a spring or fall.  In March, it starts getting warm, & stays that way until maybe the end of October.  That's roughly two-thirds of the year where it's potentially very, very hot outside.  In the summers - this is true of Austin, too, of course, where I lived for over twenty years - it can be over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit for months.  No matter how much you crank your air conditioner, you don't ever really feel cold.

That changed when we moved to Appalachia.  They have a summer that lasts maybe three months, with usually only a week or two that they feel like is too hot - & even then, it's just in the 90s.  I guess I knew things were different when we were planning a benefit show for WRFL & it would happen at the end of September.  I suggested maybe doing it outside, & someone said, "Oh no, it'll be too cold by then."  The Austin City Limits festival happens in October, & it's still hot as fuck in Austin at that time!

We got to experience the misery of "hot most of the time" Texas when we returned in 2016.  During the summer we walked the dogs early in the morning because in the evening the concrete was just too hot for their poor paws & of course the day was too punishing.  Even that early, it would be 85 degrees out - yes, at 5:30am!

But here in Portland, the reverse is true.  Two mornings ago I went for a walk around 9am with the hounds & the way I dressed you would've thought it was a brisk Autumn day.  It's the middle of Spring!  It's 64 degrees as I write this, but 86 degrees in Fort Worth.  But wait!  The weather site I just glanced at assures me it "feels like 92 degrees."

Being back where it's cold most of the time has given me a renewed appreciation of blankets.  Thinking about blankets made me think about doing a show about blankets, & that's happening tonight at midnight on 90.7 KBOO Portland, simultaneously online at kboo.fm.  There's a good chance someone listening will be under their own blankets at the time!  That's a nice thing to think about.

Preface To Blankets: Blankets In My Childhood

(Here are some blankets.  I found them at this site.)

Thinking about blankets, I remember two blankets I had - not as a child, but maybe as a tween - but also into my teen years.  One of them was blue, the other was kinda orange.

My memory suggests that they were supposed to be blankets for me & my little brother.  Which is to say, one of them (I think the orange one) was supposed to be mine, & the other one (the blue one?) was supposed to be his.  My mother is no longer with us, but I wish I could ask her if she remembered the blankets.  It seems entirely like something she might remember.

For reasons too complicated to explain here, my little brother spent a great deal of his time while in high school living at my oldest sister's house.  This meant that his blanket - which might have been the blue one - was often on his bed - we shared a room - & left unattended.  I loved blankets, I loved being covered & smothered by blankets, it made perfect sense I would take his blanket & make it my own.

This is not something I am ready to talk too much about, but I did give the blankets names, & even though I was a teenager who shouldn't have invented fantasy scenarios before he fell asleep, I did involve my blankets in stories that I invented as I dozed off.  I will not share the names I gave these blankets nor their role in my imaginings.  Just please don't think they were incredible flights of fancy - at best, they were echoes of things I consumed in the comic books & sci-fi novels I was reading at the time.

What became of these blankets?  I do not know.  There is a very good chance I brought at least one of them with me to college.  But I have no proof.  What I do recall is that there were two pillows - my mother told me they "came from Germany," which might have meant they were gifts from my grandparents - which my brother & I slept on throughout our childhood.  Because my brother was never at our place, I took both of them to me to Austin in 1986 when I moved there.  I knew I was taking my little brother's pillow.  I don't know if he ever noticed.

The life trajectory of those pillows was kind of incredible.  They stayed with me for years & years.  At some point - I think this was in Kentucky, so somewhere between 2010 & 2016 - my wife told me that the pillows had degraded to the point they were a health hazard.  I had to say goodbye.  & I did.

The pillows had names, too, & no, I will not share that.

As for my blankets - I don't know when that orange & that blue blanket left me.  I'd hate to think it was an afterthought.  Almost certainly, if I brought them with me to Austin, they were rejected by the first woman with whom I shared a bed.  & that was that.

Oakland

When I began to carry a digital camera around with me to take pictures of stuff, I didn't know I was also creating a kind of diary for myself.  I took this picture four years ago, on May 1, 2017.  It's called "Oakland" because it was taken in Oakland.  We were in town to visit my wife's mother as well as to see the Magnetic Fields perform.  It was a lovely night & a lovely show & it was only ruined by returning to our rental car & finding the windows smashed in.  I learned that's a hazard in Oakland, San Francisco, & Berkeley.  We had to drive to the rental place to report it - the cops told us they wouldn't be able to come & get a statement for four hours* - & we got a car, which we turned in the next day because that's when we were leaving.

Hm, I thought I had written about this on the blog before but I guess I had not.  Anyway, that has turned out to be one of the nice things about taking pictures.  If you'd asked me this morning when I last visited California, or when I had gone to see the Magnetic Fields there, I couldn't have told you.  Now I know!

Not that I'll remember after this.

* Still no word if they've solved the crime.

Aren't These Lovely

That image above is from this website, which tells us:

Illustrations by Kawakami Shiro ( 川上四郎 絵) for the legendary illustrated magazine Kodomo no kuni ("Children's Land"), c1920s & 30s. "Together with Takeo Takei & Shigeru Hatsuyama, Kawakami is considered one of Japan’s pioneering illustrators for children’s books."

There are more at that link, which is officially http://50watts.com/Kawakami-Shiro.

Go have a look.  They are quite lovely.  I hope I can find some of those books one day, maybe even in translation?

Self Help Radio 042721: Indiepop A To Z # 65

(almost all images found at Discogs.)

As I said several times during this week's show, the Indiepop A To Z series was started many years ago - in 2005! - & a couple thousand miles away - in Austin, Texas.  I didn't imagine I would ever really finish it - I had no idea I'd be doing a show called Self Help Radio for as long as I have been.  I haven't been rushing to finish it because I think this is more about the journey than the destination: a chance to explore (albeit with the odd touch of alphabetization) lots of bands I might otherwise not play because the songs might not fit into a theme I might be covering.  At least two of the songs I played tonight are two of my most favorite songs in the world - & one of them I did play a lot on KVRX when it was released, but otherwise I haven't played it on the radio since 2005!

This remains one of the most fun things I do on Self Help Radio - for me.  One listener told me (through text) he took the show shopping with him as it aired.  That was a first!

Listen to the show now either at the KBOO website or at Self Help Radio's website.  It was almost all music, although I did spend some time talking - it being KBOO's Spring Membership Drive - about how you can support the station.  Anyway, what happened it below.  I hope you enjoy!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 65

"Red Bus Goes Through Our Days" Pastelshot _Hush, Little Baby_

"I Believe It's Love" Pastis 51 _I Believe It's Love_

"Sydney" The Pastry Heros _Horn Rim Fury EP_

"The Message" Patric _The Message_

"Mi Vida Va Bien" Patrullero Mancuso _Bodegon Musical_

"Kyss Mig Igen" Pats _Nevadaflickan_

"Secrets" Andy Pawlak _Shoebox Full Of Secrets_

"Doo Wah Diddy" Peach Kelli Pop _Peach Kelli Pop_

"Can't Take You Anywhere" Pearl Harbor _Puro Instinct EP_

"Everybody Knows It's A Dream" The Pearlfishers _Ave Marina: Ten Years Of Marina Records_

"Fly" The Pearly Gatecrashers _New Fluffy Delicious_

"Earl Grey Tea" Peatmos _Earl Grey Tea_

"Turn Key One" Pee _I Win Me Over_

"Bathroom Floor" Pee Shy _Don't Get Too Comfortable_

"Smile" Pencil Tin _A Gentle Hand To Guide You Along_

"Zoom" Penelope Trip _Usted Morirá En Su Nave Espacial_

"Nail You Into My Heart" The Penelopes _6661: Beikoku-Ongaku # 13_

"Potboiler" Penelope's Web _Potboiler_

"Bicycle Thief" Penny Arcade _A Girl From Penny Arcade_

"Taj Mahal" Penny Candles _Taj Mahal_

"Time Flies" Peppelkade 14 _Time Flies EP_

"Whatever Happened To Pop Songs" Peppermint Parlour _Whatever Happened To Pop Songs_

"Will You Be Staying After Sunday" Peppermint Rainbow _Will You Be Staying After Sunday_

"Siempre Es Primavera" La Pequeña Suiza _Simpático_

"Desire" Perfect _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 5_

"Don't Let Me Down" The Perfect Circles _Suburban Overtones_

"Bluebell" The Perfect Disaster _Bluebell_

"Amelia" The Perfect Garden _A Place Not Far From Here_

"Blue Year" Perhapst _Perhapst_

"Sunday Matinee" Perils Of Pauline _LemonLime, Vol. 2_

"Sequin In Your Dress" Permafrost _In Harm's Way_

"Charlotte" Permer _Labrador 100: A Complete History Of Popular Music_

"It's All Good" El Perro Del Mar _El Perro Del Mar_

"Always All" Persian Rugs _Always All_

"Agony Aunt" Persil _Duotone_

"The Same Old Situation" Personal Column _The Same Old Situation_

"Her New Candy" The Persuaders _First Date 3P_

"Driving" Peru _Across Blue Skies_

"Tony Hadley" The Peruvian Hipsters _The Sound Of Leamington Spa Volume 8_

"We Surely Become Happy (Demo Version)" Pervenche _6661: Beikoku-Ongaku # 13_

"Too Skinny" Pest 5000 _(In-ter/a-bang/)_

"My Name Is Moto X" Pet Squad _Nice To Beat Home_

"Peine Perdue" Peter Parker Experience _LP, EP's & Bonus_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 65?

(The Perfect Disaster, one of the bands you'll hear tonight.
Image from here.)

My computer's still being rescued, I'm still stuck with a tiny laptop, so I'll keep this brief:

Tonight we're continuing the Indiepop A To Z series.  We started the letter P last time, we'll continue with the letter P this time.

The series gets visited every four months, it was time.  I am fortunate I was able to put the show together with only a crappy laptop!  I hope it sounds all right.

Tonight on KBOO, 90.7fm + kboo.fm from midnight to 3am.  I'm quite partial to the genre, so I think it'll sound great!

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 65: This Is Taking Forever

There's a picture of my dog Winston, relaxing in the afternoon.  He had a lovely day.  I did not.  Holy hell in a hired hansom my day sucked.  Not in any way that matters or makes any sense outside of, you know, what most people experience.  I spent the day editing this week's Self Help Radio on a tiny little laptop.  I feel very grateful that I can actually record audio & I am grateful I have access to my external hard drives - one at a time, naturally - but my laptop has no USB port & my USB plug-in doesn't have enough power to support a CD drive.  So ripping CDs?  Forget it.

Mostly it's just the editing.  It's a slog.  It's not my favorite thing - & as I've said before, if it weren't for the pandemic, I could just go up & do a show & it wouldn't be a big deal.  But I can't.  & I don't have my wonderful desktop computer.  The one that has accompanied me from Kentucky to Texas to Oregon.  On the trip here - two years ago now - I would carry it out of the car every night & I would use it to write about the journey.  Now my fat fingers can barely pound out a sentence with few errors.  It sucks.

Wah wah.  Hopefully the show will get done.  But the future is uncertain.  If I can't get my computer back & have to buy a new one, it's weeks more of this.  & that would be horrible.

Sleep well, little Winnie.  How smart of you not to have dumb problems like mine.  For fuck's sake.

Dead Computer Blues

(image from here.)

My computer died on Tuesday morning.  It appeared to be working fine as I did Self Help Radio on Tuesday night.  But when I booted it up - I shut down my computer at night - it took a bit longer than it usually does, & it gave me an unusual screen, which asked me if I wanted to reinstall my system, erase my system, run diagnostics, or (I can't really remember) maybe panic like my world was falling apart.  I tried to run diagnostics & I tried to reinstall the system.  I tried to erase it.  Nothing worked.

It's very much in my nature to fall into deep depressions at the slightest sign of unhappiness.  This happened to me, & I was unpleasant to my lovely wife during our morning dogwalk.  But I did a little research & found a place to drop it off - I felt very nervous about doing so because my entire life is on that computer - but I did, & waited, & waited, & waited for their diagnosis.

Before I went to sleep after Self Help Radio, I recorded my airbreaks for the Dickenbock Report.  These were saved by a backup, & I was able to edit them on a very small laptop - something I am not used to working with, & something I am using right now.  Still not familiar, still not happy.  It enabled me to put the show together for Thursday.  But I stayed up late working on it & I hate hate hate having to do this on a laptop.

Because I called the place as soon as they opened on Wednesday I discovered they couldn't help.  It appeared to be my hard drive.  Is it strange that in almost thirty years of using Macs my hard drive has never failed like that?  They could order a new one.  It would arrive Monday.  I could have my computer back on Wednesday.

Could I record Self Help Radio on the shitty little laptop?  Would I have to preempt the show?

The answer is, yes.  I tried it today.  It should be fine, more or less.  I don't have access to my CD library - the CD drive doesn't run on the laptop, not enough power.  I am grateful my computer backed up before it died so I have access to the old computer & to external drives.  But it's damn slow-going.

Have I already said how much I hate that my life is wrapped up in this stupid device?  If there weren't a pandemic, I could still very easily go to a radio station & do a radio show.  But I am at home.

Some other sadnesses have happened in my life that make this seem utterly, completely inconsequential.  Those are stories for another time.  But I sit here tonight, working on Self Help Radio, lamenting the loss of the big ol' computer that's helped me put the show together for seven years.  I wish the dumb bastard had been able to say something before it died.  I hope it can be resurrected effectively with some new hard drive.

The Films Of Paris

(image from the IMDb)

This week's Self Help Radio was about Paris, & had lots of interviews with experts on Paris, & if there had been time, it would have also contained another installment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner in which the show's resident cinephile explored some films tagged both "Paris" along with "psychotronic"*.  Alas, there wasn't enough time, but Chuck watched lots of movies anyway, so it's only fair to show his work.

Here's a list of movies on the IMDb tagged with "Paris" & psychotronic.
Here's a list of movies & television shows tagged with Paris as a location.
Here is Chuck's YouTube playlist of Paris movies.
Here are his Letterboxd reviews of the Paris films.

Chuck detailed the Paris things he watched on his Twitter account.  That takes you to the start of his Parisian adventures.  To see what he's going to watch next, keep an eye on his Twitter feed.

Thankfully he's not too sore about not being on the show - he's going to watch the films anyway!

*If you need a definition of 'psychotronic,' try this link: toward a definition of psychotronic film. 

Self Help Radio 042021: Paris

 

(Me in front of the Eiffel Tower, January 2007)

Self Help Radio visited Paris earlier today but at some point in the morning my computer died, so I am posting this on a tiny MacBook that's no fun to use so I'll keep it brief.  Lots of songs about Paris! Lovely people who know Paris talked to me! I butchered the French language with what seemed like malice aforethought! All in all, I think it went pretty well.

Find the show at Self Help Radio's web site as well as on the KBOO website.  If you listen to it on the Self Help Radio website, you'll need a username & a password, which are SHR & selfhelp.  Why is that?  I explained it long ago.  In any event, it's three hours of Paris, & some nice interviews, & if you love the city, or have wanted to visit, or you love French music, I think you'll find lots to like.

As the French say, enjoy!  They say it if they speak English, I mean.

Self Help Radio Paris Show
"I Love Paris" Wild Billy Childish & The Blackhands _Play: Capt'n Calypso's Hoodoo Party_
"Oh Paris!" Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele _The Good Feeling Music Of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele_
"Give Paris One More Chance" Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers _Jonathan Sings!_

introduction

"Les Prenoms De Paris" Jacques Brel _N° 5_
"Sous La Ciel De Paris" Edith Piaf _Éternelle_
"Rive Gauche" Alain Souchon _Au Ras Des Pâquerettes_
"Paris Au Mois D'Août" Charles Aznavour _Collected_
"Moi Mon Paris" Renée Lebas _Best Of Boris Vian_

interview with Parisian Lydie Francart (part one)

"Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'Éveille" Jacques Dutronc _En Vogue_
"J'ai Deux Amours (Mon Pays Et Paris)" Josephine Baker _J'ai Deux Amours_
"La Seine (avec -M-)" Vanessa Paradis _Best Of_
"J'Veux Un Mec" Adrienne Pauly _Adrienne Pauly_
"La Belle Vie" Sacha Distel _Best Of Sacha Distel_

interview with Parisian Lydie Francart (part two)

"April In Paris" Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong _Ella & Louis_
"Under The Bridges Of Paris" Eartha Kitt _That Bad Eartha_
"En Flânant Dans Paris" Les Double Six _Les Double Six_
"Made In Paris" Trini Lopez _The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection_
"Paris Blues" Tony Middleton _The Wigan Casino Story Volume Three (The Final Chapter)_

interview with American in Paris Rachel Rhodes (part one)

"Mission À Paris" Gruppo Sportivo _10 Mistakes_
"Paris Tokyo" Mathématiques Modernes _Les Visiteurs Du Soir_
"Let's Tango In Paris" The Stranglers _Feline_
"Paris, France" Tom Lucy _D-I-Y Do It Yourself_
"Chez Moi A Paris" Marie France _39° De Fièvre_

interview with American in Paris Rachel Rhodes (part two)

"Deux" Rachel Rhodes _Bisou_
"I've Seen That Face Before" Grace Jones _Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions_
"Je Vous Emmerde" Philippe Katerine _Les Creatures_
"Le Petit Voisin" Jeanne Cherhal _Douze Fois Par An_
"The Seed (Edit)" Tony Allen & Jeff Mills _Tomorrow Comes The Harvest_

interview with Belgian Paris expert Annelies De Waele (part one)

"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris" Morrissey _Years Of Refusal_
"Paris" The Bloody Marys _Sixteen Hail Marys: The Best Of The Bloody Marys 1985-2004_
"Paris" Acid House Kings _Advantage Acid House Kings_
"Paris C'est Toi" The Shebrews _Off With Their Hearts_
"The New Parisienne Pop & Soul" Baxendale _The Revenge Has Just Begun: The Story So Far_

interview with Belgian Paris expert Annelies De Waele (part two)
plus conclusion & goodbye

"Paris 1919" John Cale _Paris 1919_
"Crimes Of Paris" Elvis Costello _Blood & Chocolate_
"Paris" Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside _Untamed Beast_
"Paris To Sleep" Violent Femmes _Hotel Last Resort_

Whither Paris?

Yes, that is a picture of me kissing Oscar Wilde's grave in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.  No, I didn't have lipstick on at the time.  & no, I didn't get hepatitis from pressing my lips where so many had before.

It was in January of 2007 that I visited Paris for the first (& so far only) time in my life.  But tonight on Self Help Radio, we'll not only visit Paris for three hours, we'll talk to a real Parisian, to a friend (I guess you'd call her an expatriate) who lives in Paris, & to a friend in Belgium who loves Paris.  In addition to my usual clumsy musical choices, my guests picked songs which made them think of Paris.  It should be a lovely experience.

Oh I almost forgot!  The idea for the show came from a listener.  The show has a text line (it's 971-319-4847) & I was chatting with someone a month or so ago, & he said I should do a show about Paris.  & so I shall.

It's on tonight from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO in Portland, kboo.fm everywhere.  (That's around 9am to noon Paris time.)

Preface To Paris: The Name Of The City

(Paris was a jerk.  From here.)

There wasn't a lot of research done for this week's show because it's mainly interviews - good interviews but long interviews, two with people in Paris (one of whom is French), & one with a friend in Belgium - but I did discover that the city was not named after the dumbfuck up there whose coveting started the Trojan War.

Oh yeah I sided with the Greeks.  I mean, I guess Homer hated him too - he portrays him as a coward & a rapist & a kidnapper.  & he lets him kill Achilles, who was like a superhero.  Except for his knee or something?*

No, Paris is named after the Gallic tribe that settled there.  That maybe Julius Caesar wiped out?  Maybe he just mentioned them.  Mentioned wiping them out?  But isn't it a little weird that the city Paris & the mythological character Paris have basically the same name.  & that Greek mythology was basically the religion of the part of the world where Paris was founded?  Has anyone made the case that the name stuck because people were like, "Okay, the Parasites lived here" (or whatever they were called) "but it's so much like that really terrible person who caused that ten-year war & he also murdered Achilles.  It's be easy to remember."

Maybe not.  But all my life I thought the city was named after the mythological dingleberry.  You learn something new every day!  Although you forget three old things every day as well.  So the chance you might be re-learning something is quite high.  But you'll never really know.

*I stole that joke in a sense from a very fun tweet from a while back that said something like "My lack of knowledge of Greek mythology is my real Achilles' horse."

Pictures Of Paris, 2007

It's absolutely true, we walked under the city through the catacombs.  It wasn't pleasant - I felt very strange being in such a confined place but I'm glad I did it.

Here's me & my then-girlfriend, now wife Magda, at the Eiffel Tower.

Here I am in the Père Lachaise being all sad about the fate of the Paris Commune.

If you ask me why Magda is laughing in a cemetery, I'll tell you, but it's embarrassing.

This one's called "jazz hands by the Seine."

We spent a great deal of time traveling that trip - London to Ghent to Basil to Paris & back to London.  From London we went to Cambridge & Oxford.  I think we had only two weeks, possibly less.  So if we look tired in these pictures, that is why.

 

Lost In Paris

Here's a young(er), short-haired Gary looking at a guidebook waiting for a train in Paris. My beard is almost free of grey, which places it a decade or more ago.  In fact, it was January 2007.  The woman who would become my wife was doing research for her dissertation & had the opportunity to go to London & Paris, & since I had never been, I tagged along.

Actually, I did get lost on the Metro once, but luckily for me, I had been in subways before, so I knew I could get off at the next stop & go the other direction.  I had very little to do but wander around & although Magda (my girlfriend) obviously took the picture (which was doubtless posed) I spent most of my time there during the day alone.  I kinda wish I had done some research beforehand.  It was an amazing experience.

Now I didn't want to talk about Paris too much but I suppose it's on my mind since that's what the show is about.  Tomorrow I'll post some pictures from that trip.  It's hard to believe it was so long ago - & that it happened so recently.

Self Help Radio 041321: A Calm Show

(Original image here.*)

Did Self Help Radio calm down this week?  Had you listened, would you have found the show calm, cool, & collected?  Or would you have thought, "This is the calm before the storm!"

Maybe "a calm show" isn't such a calm thing after all?  Maybe instead the show was exploring aspects of calm - like in idiomatic phrases.  Maybe you shouldn't expect so much from a show that's way too literal for its own good.  Maybe just don't get so excited?  What do you mean, calm down?  You calm down!  I was talking about a radio show about calm!

Breathe.  Just breathe.  Okay.  You can listen to the show in two places.  It's on the KBOO web site.  It's also on the show's web site.  If you listen to it on the latter site, you'll need a password & username.  The password is selfhelp, the username is SHR.  There were so many songs about calm but also there were interviews & other nonsense.  That is detailed below.

Is this the calm after the storm?  Is that a thing?  Who knows.

Self Help Radio Calm Show

"Calm" Haruka Nakamura _Afterglow_

"Calm" Maxïmo Park _Quicken The Heart_

"Calm" Air Waves _Parting Glances_

introduction & definitions

"The Calming Seas" Beachwood Sparks _Beachwood Sparks_

"Cool, Calm, & Collected" The Druids _Fuzz, Flaykes, & Shakes, Vol. 2: The Day Breaks At Dawn_

"Cool Calm & Collected" The Rolling Stones _Between The Buttons_

"Be Cool, Be Calm (& Keep Yourself Together)" Stevie Wonder _Down To Earth_

"The Sea Is Calm" CocoRosie _Noah's Ark_

interview with Hollywood Meditation Coach Denver Smith

"Cool & Calm" Israel Vibration _Strength Of My Life_

"I Remain Calm" The Roots _Do You Want More?!!!??!_

"I Am Calm" Scannerfunk _Wave Of Light By Wave Of Light_

"Keep Calm & Carry On" Luke Vibert _Rhythm_

"Lazy Calm" Cocteau Twins _Victorialand_

interview with inadvertent celebrity Rocky Kirkpatrick

"Calm Down Dad" Helen Love _Calm Down Dad_

"City Calm Down" Architecture In Helsinki _Fingers Crossed_

"Calm Down" Loney Dear _Hall Music_

"Calm Down AKA I Should Not Be Alone" Ezra Furman _Twelve Nudes_

"Calm Down" The Love Language _Ruby Red_

interview with Clarence Clearwater of Calming Clams Aquatic Farm

"Calm" Sleepy Vikings _They Will Find You Here_

"Calmer Song" Unisex _Stratosfear_

"Calm & Collected" Routine _And Other Things_

"Calming Water" Ceremony _In The Spirit World Now_

"Through The Calm" Pooma _Persuader_

idioms with calm

"The Calm Before The Storm" Judy Lynn _The Best Of Judy Lynn_

"Calm Before The Storm" Scott Free _Come On Down To Earth_

"Calm Before The Storm" The Bats _Daddy's Highway_

"The Calm Before The Storm" Sparks _Balls_

"Calm Before The Storm" Imaginary Cities _Temporary Resident_

"Calm Before The Storm" The Abigails _Tundra_

two things I wanted to tell you

"Calm Me Down" The Human Expression _Love At Psychedelic Velocity_

"Calm You Down" The Dentists _Beer Bottle & Bannister Symphonies: A Collection Of Some Of The Finer Moments Of Dentistry_

"Calm Down, Come Down" Throwing Muses _University_

"Calm Down" Matt Suggs _Amigo Row_

"She Calms Me Down" Purling Hiss _Water On Mars_

"Calm Down" Ari Roar _Calm Down_

conclusion & goodbye

"Becalmed" Brian Eno _Another Green World_

"A Calm But Steady Flow" Quaeschning & Schnauss _Synthwaves_

"Night On A Calm Sea" Raymond Scott _Three Willow Park: Electronic Music From Inner Space 1961-1971_

*"Calm water" by palestrina55 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Whither A Calm Show?

(image from here)

While not exactly known for being lively, Self Help Radio has been accused at times of being "fidgety" & "excitable."  We thought it might be worth it to search the show's reserves of calm for an exploration of calm on tonight's program.  Does the show have reserves of calm, you wonder aloud?  We'll find out, won't we!

Included in tonight's show along with the dizzying variety of musics will be interviews & other spoken-word diversions.  Nothing to rile, or agitate, or vex.  Just calm.  Or, really, just songs about different kinds of calm, & also discussions thereof.  So perhaps one might exhibit something more than calm.  Let the listener be admonished.

Tonight!  (Or more properly, tomorrow morning.)  On 90.7 fm KBOO Portland.  Online at kboo.fm.  An unusually calm show.  It ought not bother you at all.

Preface To A Calm Show: The Shit I Find

Here's something I found online: "Oddly Satisfying Video That Calms You Down"

This is the pitch: "Have you ever seen something that makes your skin tingle & for some unknown reason provides you with a sense of unbridled peace & happiness? Gears working in perfect synchronization, a cake frosted with absolute precision, mouth-watering chocolate, balls of fish & marbles rolling so smoothly it hurts. Something that is just...satisfying? Well here's exactly ten solid minutes of that feeling."

Balls of fish?

Have a look, tell me what you think:

(For some reason, I can't embed the video.  You can find it by clicking this sentence.)

Was it in fact oddly satisfying?  Not really.  Was it kind of weird?  Oh yes.

& that's why I'm sharing it.  The "calm down" content wasn't there, but I do appreciate weirdness.  I appreciate taking aim & missing by a mile.  & I appreciate when someone says "balls of fish" like it's not only a thing but that they roll "so smoothly it hurts."

Please enjoy.

Bojingles' Story

Technically, this is isn't the story of the little dog up there; it's the story of how we met.  I know very little about him.  He was in my life for maybe twenty-four hours.

We - my wife, my dogs, & myself - met him on a walk.  He approached us, he was a bit yappy but unafraid, & he didn't have a human anywhere near him.  Nor did he have a tag.  He was impossibly small - he couldn't have weighed five pounds.  & he was pretty filthy.

He walked with us for a while, but when it seemed like he was going another direction, I scooped him up & I carried him home.  He was immediately docile.  He seemed like a dog who was used to being carried.  I got him home & we had to find a way to seal the space under the gates to our backyard - our dogs are too big to escape under them, but this little fellow had no such problem.  My wife nicknamed him "Harry" - after Houdini - when I had to go out to find him once he left.  The name didn't take - he didn't respond to it - because it wasn't his name.

He wasn't hungry, but he was a little thirsty, mainly because he marked everything as he went along.  If I had to guess his age, I'd say maybe a year - I'm no expert - but he was unneutered, which may have accounted for the relentless lifting of the leg.  I immediately took a picture of him - that was the one from the previous post - & I posted it to Next Door & to Facebook via Paw Boost.  Paw Boost was extremely popular - my post was shared over three hundred times.

But we heard from no one who knew him that night.  My wife gave him a bath, & we left him in the garage.  I almost slept out there with him.  I fell in love with him on our walk home.  He ate a little, but when I would sit next to him, he would immediately come into my lap like in the picture above.  It's what, I'm sure, he was bred to do.  I felt awful making him sleep alone that night.

The next morning we found a leash for him & walked him to a nearby vet to check for a microchip.  He had none.  My wife wanted to take him immediately to the Humane Society because she knew the longer he was with us, the harder it would be for us to let him go.  He wasn't terrible on a leash, & my dogs didn't seem to mind him, & he did enjoy the walk.  He ate so little, he was so little.

A neighborhood person who volunteers with a rescue group contacted me & told me she'd keep him the next night if no one came forward.  I thought that was a good idea.  We decided to take him for one more walk in the afternoon to near where we found him so we could see if someone had put flyers up.  But just as we were leaving, I got an email.  It was entitled, "Party yorkie - the little black and white dog found on Raymond."  The body read:

Hi,

I'm a friend of the dogs mom. The puppies name is Bo Jingles. What does she need to do to get him back? Who does she need to get a hold of?

James

Immediately he got my phone number & we soon were texting.  I spoke with his mother, who didn't have a phone herself.  She did not live far - although Bojingles - I spell it that way, I am not certain of the proper spelling - had made it about six blocks to the east of that home - it was quite a distance for such a little fellow.

The story gets a little sad here.  His mother is living in what appears to be a halfway house in our neighborhood.  It might just be a rooming house, but other people have confidently told us it's a halfway house.  We've walked by it many times, & there are often people in front smoking, some with dogs, to whom we say hi as we pass.  The dog's mom is named Red.  Her friend James looked half her age.

There are some who, seeing the difficult situation in which the woman lived, might have felt uncomfortable surrendering the dog.  But there were three things that made it a no-brainer for me.  One, it's not my dog.  I would hate for someone to find one of my dogs & then tell me I couldn't have him back because they somehow didn't like my lifestyle or the circumstances in which I lived.  Two, the dog was so very excited to see her again.  He almost flew into her arms - & she confirmed that she carried him everywhere.  & three, Red herself explained her unpleasant living situation - which may have been the reason he escaped in the first place - & it seemed to me that Bojingles was one of the few joys in her current predicament.

My wife & I were masked, but no one else at that place was, so, after briefly trying to impress upon Red & James that Bojingles should be neuters & microchipped - Red said she was told he was! - we said goodbye to that little darling & left the uncomfortable situation.  I missed him immediately & miss him still.  When we walk near where we found him - or where he found us - I look around for him.

The neighbor who was willing to adopt him has gone the extra mile & has spoken with Red.  She told me that tomorrow they are taking him to be microchipped, although I am not certain her current address is going to be any kind of permanent address.  I can't complain, though - she's doing more than I have offered to do.

When I lived in Fort Worth, we saw stray dogs regularly.  We saw dogs who lived nearly alone in backyards, always there, even in the Texas heat.  Here in Portland dogs are treated like the family members they surely are.  Bojingles was literally the first stray I've seen in almost two years of living here.

& I truly hope he'll be okay.  What little I have read about party terriers is that they love to be with their owners in the exact same way Red carries Bojingles with her.  I am sorry this story doesn't end on a happier note - like me adopting Bojingles!  But I take a small amount of consolation from the fact that I did get him home.  Which is a success of a sort.

There's A Story About This Little Guy

That I want to tell but I've run out of time today!  But here's a teaser: a week ago today, he approached us, with no owner in sight.  He followed us for a bit, but when he seemed to be going in a different direction, I snatched him up & brought him to our house.  The search began for his family!  But that story has to wait till tomorrow.

Self Help Radio 040621: Sunflower

One last sunflower picture from me.  The original was called "sunflower shrine," it's from some private garden I walked past one day in southeast Portland.  I kinda liked the weird structures the flowers were growing around.  It's not a very good picture, but look at all the sunflowers!

Vera Nazarian said, "Never look directly at the sun, instead look at the sunflower."  But Edna Ferber said, "Big doesn't necessarily mean better. Sunflowers aren't better than violets."  Wait, didn't Edna Ferber write a book called So Big?  Hypocrite.  Anyway.  Let's not concentrate on what's bigger or better, let's just look at sunflowers.  Which is what we did on this week's Self Help Radio.

There are no sunflowers out as I speak, they're all in seeds waiting to grow when the days get longer & warmer.  I don't believe in magic spells but this show could be seen as a magic spell to hasten the days when the sunflowers dominate the gardens & tower over everything.  I'll think of this show when that happens.  Until then, I'll probably forget all about it.

Did you hear?  If not, you can listen in two different places: at the KBOO website; & at Self Help Radio dot net.  If you choose the latter, remember these two things: the username is SHR, the password is selfhelp.  There are so many songs & so many things that happened on the show, you'll have to look below to see the details.  But remember: don't lose the florist for the flowers!

Self Help Radio Sunflower Show

"Sunflower" Frank Sinatra _The Columbia Years 1943-1952: The Complete Recordings_

"Sunflower" The Springfields _Singles 1986-1991_

"Sunflower" Smack Dab _Queen Crab_

introduction & definitions

"Sunflower" Glen Campbell _The Glen Campbell Collection (1962-1989): Gentle On My Mind_

"Sunflower" Paul Weller _Wild Wood_

"Sunflower" Lovesick _It's The Cheap Damaged Goods Sampler CD_

"Sunflower" Toni Price _Talk Memphis_

"Sunflower" Alice Peacock _Who I Am_

interview with artist Henry O'Rourke

"Sunflower" Eric Elder _Mixed Up Minds Part Seven (Obscure Rock & Pop From The British Isles 1969-1974)_

"Sunflower (Version Anglaise De Ah Tournesol)" Kate & Anna McGarrigle _La Vache Qui Pleure_

"Sunflower" Low _Things We Lost In The Fire_

"Sunflower" The Courteeners _Concrete Love (Extra Love)_

"Sunflower" Mercury Rev _The Light In You_

Marge Most interviews television host Dame Drear Hannah Frothington-Jones

"Sunflower In The Snow" Bubblegum Lemonade _Laz Christmas_

"Sunflower Seeds" The Orielles _Silver Dollar Moment_

"The Sunflower Sutra" Allen Ginsberg _Howls, Raps, & Roars: Recordings From The San Francisco Poetry Renaissance_

"Sunflower Suit" Buffalo Tom _Buffalo Tom_

"Morning Sunflower" The Dirty Filthy Mud _The Forest Of Black_

'Dramatic Readings Of Classic Rock Songs' featuring Sir Archibald Von Poesy

"I'd Like That" XTC _Apple Venus Volume 1_

"Sunflower Sutra" The Babe Rainbow _The Babe Rainbow_

"Sunfish, Sunflower" The Mommyheads _Coming Into Beauty_

"Sunflower" Vampire Weekend _Father Of The Bride_

"Day Of The Sunflowers (We March On)" Basement Jaxx _Scars_

Let's take some calls (part one)

"Pyzate Stoneczniki (Chubby Sunflowers)" Novi Singers _Bossa Nova_

"Sunflower, Sunflower" P.F. Sloan _Here's Where I Belong_

"You Missed The Sunflowers At Their Height" Linda Thompson _Give Me A Sad Song_

"Sunflower Man" The Waifs _The Waifs_

"In Every Sunflower" Bell X1 _Music In Mouth_

"Sunflower" Le Futur Pompiste _Your Stories & Your Thoughts_

Let's take some calls (part two)

"Tournesol" Yves Montand _Yves Montand_

"Le Tournesol" Nana Mouskouri _Le Tournesol_

"Il Girasole" Simone Lo Porto _Italia_

"Girasole" Farabrutto _Estremoriente Mediocre Occidente_

"Girasol Rojo" ...Al Cruzar La Calle _Ashell II_

"Girasol" Lightships _Electric Cables_

Conclusion & goodbye

"Little Sunflower" Freddie Hubbard _The Love Connection_

"Sunflower (feat. Leah Zeger)" Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox _Sepia Is The New Orange_

Whither Sunflower?

This week's Self Help Radio celebrates the sunflower.  Perhaps only second to the rose as the most recognizable of flowers.  & in my native Texas, there would be a time - perhaps after mid-summer but certainly before what passes for fall - when sunflowers would spring up everywhere.  But even in Portland, where sun is not nearly as common in poor, desertifying Texas, sunflowers crowd into gardens as the summer turns to autumn.  They are striking.

& when you find out that young sunflowers turn to follow the sun?  That's some true nature magic right there.  It makes sense that it's a flower that has found its way into song - & of course you'll hear lots of sunflower songs tonight, should you listen.

But why a show about sunflowers?  I noticed I took a lot of pictures of sunflowers - like the one above - last fall.  & I thought, since it was fresh on my mind, I should do a show about sunflowers.  & so I shall!

Self Help Radio's Sunflower show happens tonight (or Tuesday morning) from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO Portland, online at kboo.fm.  It'll be the regular amount of good tunes & ridiculousness.  But there will also be pretty flowers & delicious seeds!

Preface To Sunflower: My Favorite Sunflower Pic

Of the ones I've taken, I mean.  I call this "Sunflower & Moon."

This weekend was chaotic for me & I have a story to tell about a stray but it'll have to wait until after the sunflower show!