Self Help Radio 091024: Brooms

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

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

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

& the figure of impossible grandeur will let me pass.

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

Prepare to be swept away!

Self Help Radio Broom Show

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

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

"New Broom" Minisnap _Bounce Around_

introduction & definitions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Straw Broom Boogie" Dick Spain _Rockabilly Shakedown_

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

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

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

interview with Portland band The Brooms

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

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

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

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

interview with broom innovators Todd Ellis & Antonia Glass

"Lish Young Buy-A-Broom" Clannad _Fuaim_

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

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

"Broomstick Rhythm" XTC _Jules Verne's Sketchbook_

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

"Broom People" The Mountain Goats _The Sunset Tree_

"Sweepin' Broom" Caspar Babypants _Hot Dog!_

"Broomhorse" Tele Novella _Poet's Tooth_

"Lesser Broom" Grape Room _Heart Of Gum_

conclusion & goodbye

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

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

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

Whither Brooms?

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

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

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

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

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

Preface To Brooms: Do Not Move The Broom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(from Poorly Drawn Lines)

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

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

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

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

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

Is that everything? I sure hope so!

* remember, username SHR, password selfhelp

Movie Sunglasses

(image from Letterboxd)

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

Sunglasses YouTube playlist of films and trailers:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Self Help Radio 090324: Sunglasses

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

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

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

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

Self Help Radio Sunglasses Show

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

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

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

introduction, definition, history

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

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

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

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

"Sunglasses" The Fabulaires _Apocalypso EP_

interview with fashion consultant Maria Peterson

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

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

"Behind Your Sunglasses" Les Calamités _Les Calamités_

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

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

interview with "the sunglasses guy" Mordecai Plant

"Autumn Sunglasses" Robyn Hitchcock _Robyn Hitchcock_

"Black Sunglasses" Mount Sims _Ultra Sex_

"Frost On Your Sunglasses" General Elektriks _Cliquety Kliqk_

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

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Sunglasses" Flannery Brothers _Love Songs For Silly Things_

"Sunglasses" Recess Monkey _The Final Funktier_

"Sunglasses" The Fresh & Onlys _Early Years Anthology_

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

"Dark Shades" The Splinters _Kick_

our resident anatomist Dr. Madeline Unicorn stops by!

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

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

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

"Cheap Shades" Chris Staples _Golden Age_

conclusion & goodbye

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

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

Whither Sunglasses?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Preface To Sunglasses: I Don't Wear Them

Though I might if I could get Spider-Man sunglasses.

My wife loves sunglasses. If she's without them, she panics. I have never worn them. I suspect it's because my head's a little big & unless I could get some custom-made, they don't cover my eyes well & I for some reason look for the light at the corners. Which is a long-winded way of saying "I never learned how to wear sunglasses."

This is not the first time I've done a show about something I don't use, or don't like, or don't have much experience with. But if you can wait til tomorrow, I'll tell you why I'm doing a show about sunglasses.

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

(French Olympians from 1924, found here)

It has been the custom of the Dickenbock Report to take two hours each year to look back one hundred years. We looked previously at 1922, & last year at 1923. In both cases, the Report was two hours long. Since the show is now an hour long, we'll split our reporting over two weeks.

What will we report? Of course the news of one hundred years ago. But also the music of the time. Blues, jazz, folk, classical - all produced & a great deal of it preserved. We'll explore the different trends & genres over the course of the two episodes.

The first part of The Dickenbock Report's special 1924 Report airs tomorrow (Sunday) on XRAY FM - 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Just not everywhen. No streaming services one hundred years ago.

This Week In Self Help (August 23 25 + 27)

(image from here*)

The image above is of the Unisphere in Queens, New York. It's outside the Queens Museum, which I went to in the summer of 2004 when my girlfriend was working in New York for the summer. It had taken us so long to get to Queens, & we weren't really there to visit the museum, just for something she needed, & I was tired, so I didn't really appreciate it. I have shared the image tho because it's on the cover of one of the records I played on Self Help Radio this week - this one. When I got the record I was like, hey! I've seen that in real life!

But let's go back a week.

On Friday the 23rd I subbed on The Songcircle on KBOO. I played lots of new releases. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. You can listen to it & download it even on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

On Sunday the 25th there was an episode of The Dickenbock Report on XRAY. It was Kiss & Make Up Day, & you can listen to that show on the XRAY website. You can listen to it & download it if you'd like on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

On Tuesday the 27th there was an episode of Self Help Radio on KBOO. It was the continuation of my Indiepop A To Z - the 75th installment! You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. You can listen to it & download it as well on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

The KBOO file contains this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, which was another morbid affair playing music by folks we lost recently - in this case, late May & early June of this year. Should you wish to listen to the show all by its lonesome, you can do so - & download it too - on the Self Help Radio website. Please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access the file there.

& that was the week that was.

* Image by Ajay Suresh licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Thirty Years

It was in August 1994 I had my first radio show. I don't know the exact date - I should - but it was in-between semesters at the University Of Texas at Austin so there were lots of late-night shifts to cover.

When I first stepped foot inside of KXRX in the summer of 1994 - when it had just changed its name from KTSB in the hopes of getting an FM license later that year - I had no desire to deejay. I had been bored at my work that summer, I saw a KVRX flyer, & I thought, what the hell, let me see if they need any help. & I ended up reviewing a lot of CDs for them.

A very nice fellow named Sam invited me onto his show to help out. He gave me an hour to fool around one night & my gosh it was fun. The program director at the time, a fellow named David, offered me my first show - Thursday mornings 5 to 7am - for the fall semester. & I was fucking hooked.

After KVRX, I started volunteering at KOOP. When we left Austin, I did a radio show at WMUL in West Virginia. After we left Huntington, I deejayed at WRFL in Lexington, & helped out at the low-power station WLXU before we moved again. Back in the D/FW Metroplex I got to do a radio show at KNON. & here in Portland I have been so incredibly lucky to have KBOO, XRAY, & Freeform Portland. It has truly been an embarrassment of riches.

& it all began with seeing a flyer for a KVRX meeting (which I didn't attend) on a tree on a very hot July day in Austin. & me walking down to the station & meeting a fellow named Andrew who was very happy to give me CDs to review. & then that extraordinary community inviting me in. & I've found that community over & over as I've gone from radio station to radio station.

Radio people are the best. Having fun on the radio is the best. I never knew it would be the thing that I would love to do most in my life. It happened almost by accident. It happened because of a flyer & a thought about getting to listen to lots of CDs. It might not have happened.

But it did. Thirty years ago. How amazing it would be if I could be doing this for thirty more years!

Self Help Radio 082724: Indiepop A To Z # 75

(All images from Discogs.)

Seventy-five of these shows! Too many bands & tunes to count! I mean I could count. Oh god I'm going to try to count aren't I? Please Gary don't.

This morning I continued the Indiepop S series with artists from Scott & Charlene's Wedding to Sedaiós. I also asked for help during KBOO's membership drive. You can help here if you're so inclined. Or if you like to donate by phone, you can text K-B-O-O to 44321. It's nice to support a radio station that lets me play lots of indiepop on the radio!

You can listen to this show in two places: One is at the KBOO website. The other is at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, you'll be able to download the show but you'll need a username & password. Those are SHR & selfhelp.

Look at what I played in glorious alphabetical order! We'll continue in four months.

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 75

"Footscray Station" Scott & Charlene's Wedding _Para Vista Social Club_

"She's So Lovely" Scouting For Girls _Scouting For Girls_

"Pillowmint" Scrabbel _Scrabbel_

"Green Beer" Scrawl _He's Drunk_

"In Rhythm" Scream + Dance _Sharon Signs To Cherry Red_

"Her Name I Don't Remember" Screen Prints _Perfect City (Twenty Songs 1998-2000)_

"Pick The Cat's Eyes Out" The Scrotum Poles _Messthetics # 1: UK '77-81 'D.I.Y.' Bands R-to-Sh_

"As Times Change" Sea Lions _Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask_ 

"Secret World" Sea Stories _Secret World_

"Solace" The Sea Urchins _Stardust_

"Melancholly Molly" Seablite _Lemon Lights_

"Kernel" Seam _Kernel_

"Prove To Me" Seapony _Falling_

"Lost & Found" The Seashell Sea _Pop American Style_

"Beatrice" Seashells _Sunshine Eyes E.P._

"Treetop Love" The Seasick Crocodile _Hey! Where'd The Summer Go?_

"Begging Bowl" The Seaside _LemonLime Volume One... A Pop Compilation_

"Fall" Seaside Stars _The Magic Of Stereo_

"There's Nothing To Celebrate" Second-Hand Furniture _Game, Set, Match..._

"Amelia Star" The Secret Goldfish _Ave Marina: Ten Years Of Marina Records_

"God Save The Runaways" The Secret History _The World That Never Was_

"Waking Life" Secret Owl Society _We Will Glow_

"Loveblind" Secret Shine _After Years_

"Girls Don't Count" Section 25 _Always Now_

"Perdo El Cap" Sedaiós _Resolen Problemes_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 75?

Bluto is a twee kitty.

Tonight on Self Help Radio on KBOO is the seventy-fifth (!) installment of the Indiepop A To Z series. I started the series over two decades ago & it probably should've ended many years ago. After having a couple of the episodes on another show on KBOO, that show's programmer said to me, "Will this never end?" We're in the letter S. You make that call.

When I started this, 1982 was twenty years away. Many of the great indiepop bands had only recently existed. There still seemed to be lots of indiepop compilations. Since the rise of the mp3, & Bandcamp, many indiepop bands exist in smaller markets, & compete with so many other niche genres. Not to mention that the name itself - "indiepop" - is more like to be used to describe a band that sounds more like something commercial instead of a band featuring Amelia Fletcher. If ever finish this, what will that music world look like?

These are thoughts I had while listening to music for this week's show. I wonder about the future of indiepop. But I know I'll keep doing this until I'm not doing radio anymore - or until there's no such thing as radio. Luckily that's not the case!

Self Help Radio 12-2am tonight 90.7fm in Portland kboo.fm everywhere.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 70: Can't Talk Going To See X Now

(image found here)

Blah blah more indiepop this week blah blah. Also more pledge pitching - donate at KBOO's website please!

Now I gotta run - I was very lucky to get tickets to see X on what they're saying is their last show ever in Portland. I love the new record. Am going to be glad to see them. I never have!

Chat more later bye.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: Kiss & Make Up Day

(image from here)

August 25 is Kiss & Make Up Day. After a grueling week of the Dickenbock Report staff having to watch the recent political convention (we weren't invited), we thought we would report on a day which is described as "a day to let go of resentment, grudges, anger, & indignation." & so we shall.

The Report is on tomorrow, Sunday, August 25, & runs from noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland & xray dot fm everywhere. Because of stronger workplace interaction standards, Dick Dickenbock is not allowed to kiss everyone anymore, but we have taught him how to "high five," & he seems quite pleased with that. The staff now regrets that as well.

This Week In Self Help (August 18 + 20 2024)

That is one spoiled rotten dog.

Yikes! I did a sub show on KBOO today but I haven't archived it yet so it won't figure into this post. In which I tell you the dumb things I did on the radio this past week (not counting today).

The Dickenbock Report aired on XRAY on Sunday, August 18. It was National Couples Day. So I played lots of songs about famous couples. Wanna listen to it on the XRAY website? This is the link for that! Would you like to listen to & download it on the Self Help Radio website? This is the link for that!

Note: if you click on a link to the Self Help Radio website, you'll be asked for a username & a password. It's always SHR & selfhelp. Always.

Self Help Radio aired on KBOO on Tuesday, August 18. The theme was "rotten." It was not my intention to make a radio show that was rotten, just a radio show with the theme "rotten." Would you like to listen to the show on the KBOO website? This is the link for that! Would you like to listen to & download it on the Self Help Radio website? This is the link for that!

See italicized note above for username/password information.

Corporate Standardized Programming aired on KBOO on Tuesday, August 18. It was right after Self Help Radio! It was a show full of new releases. It's included in the KBOO link above. But if you'd like to listen to it on its own & download it on the Self Help Radio website, well: This is the link for that!

But wait! There's more! I was on the radio for an extra two & a half hours with my first installment of The 1969 Project. It happened on KBOO on Tuesday morning at 3am. What is it? No time to explain now! But I do explain it at the beginning of the show. KBOO doesn't archive the sub shows on its website, but you can listen to it on the Self Help Radio site if you want. This is the link for that!

Is that it? Yes, that's it.

Self Help Radio 082024: Rotten

(Disgusting image of rotten apple by Kulmalukko*)

Sorry about that image. It's hard to find delightful pictures of rotten things. But it turns out it's not difficult to listen to songs about rotten things. I believe I have demonstrated with two hours' worth of tunes that it's the opposite of rotten. But perhaps the very idea may keep you away.

It's the end of my four-part reaction to the seeming inevitability of four more years of horror under a former president. Catastrophe, chaos, loneliness, rotten. While I'm not entirely convinced it won't happen, I think the odds are better now that it might not. I'll try not to be so negative from here on out. Or I'll try not to be as excessively negative. I'm negative by nature.

Hey! The show! Listen to it at the KBOO web site if you want! Of listen + download it at the Self Help Radio website! Use the login SHR & the password selfhelp to do that please. Lots of stuff happened on the show - it's noted below.

Seriously though. The show won't make you feel rotten. I hope.

Self Help Radio Rotten Show

"Rotten" The McTells _What Happens Next_

"Rotten" Oneida _Success_

"Rotten" Porridge Radio _Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky_

introduction + definitions

"Hot Rotten Soda Pop (Oh, My Toe)" The Cues _Why_

"Rotten Break" Cyril Davies _The Legendary Cyril Davies With Alexis Korner's Breakdown Group & The Roundhouse Four_

"Son Of A Rotten Gambler" Chip Taylor _Chip Taylor's Last Chance_

"The Rotten Prince" Anne Price _My Time_

interview with OnlyFans creator Hubert Jorgensen

"Rotten To The Core" Friends Of The Family _Rotten To The Core_

"Rotten Roll" Psychagogo _Whirl-Wheels_

"Rotten Love" Levy _Rotten Love_

"Rotten Wrock" Quasi _Breaking The Balls Of History_

interview with self-help writer Hector Jensen

"That's My Girl (Rotten To The Core)" The Great Scots _Arrive!_

"Rotten Apple" The Id _Diggin' For Gold, Vol. 7: In The U.S.A._

"My Dirty, Lowdown, Rotten, Cotton Pickin' Little Darlin'" The Geezinslaw Brothers _My Dirty, Lowdown, Rotten, Cotton Pickin' Little Darlin'_

"Rotten Little Song" Donna Fargo _All About A Feeling_

"Spoiled Rotten Baby" The Starlight Drifters _Every Note A Pearl..._

interview with nutritionist Harriet Jones

"This House Is Rotten" Adorable _Vendetta_

"Rotten Sweet Tooth" Nobunny _Secret Songs: Reflections From The Ear Mirror_

"Rotten" Gringo Star _The Sides & In Between_

"Rotten Apple" Screaming Females _Ugly_

a discussion of song requests & suggestions
Ned Dry & Captain McCheese interrupt!

"Johnny B. Rotten" The Monks _Bad Habits_

"Rotten World Blues" Eels _Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities, & Unreleased 1996-2006_

"Rotten Pumpkin" Slothrust _Everyone Else_

"Rotten Fodder" The Wolfgang Press _Standing Up Straight_

conclusion & goodbye

"Old Rotten Longing" Ygdrassil _Pieces_

"Rotten Rose" Soul Merchants _1985-1987_

"Hot Rotten Grass Smell" Wednesday _Rat Saw God_

* This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Whither Rotten?

(image found on Tumblr many years ago...)

My wife told me when she found out I was doing a show with the theme "rotten" that she thought the word old-fashioned. She meant of course the adjective when describing a person, not an organic thing gone bad. Who describes anyone as rotten these days? In her mind, calling a kid or a politician "rotten" seemed like something you'd hear in a black & white television show.

& maybe she's right - you're more like to hear Bugs Bunny says "Gee I'm rotten" than a modern-day cartoon, or to hear a kid in an old sitcom say "I feel rotten" than one today. I think she was trying to tell me that perhaps I might not find too many songs that use the word. I reassured her that that would not be the case.

But maybe you think so? If you do, tune in tonight from midnight to 2am for this week's show. It's on 90.7fm in town. It's on kboo dot fm everywhere. It's probably going to be rotten, too, but you knew that. It's just that that's the theme as well.

Preface To Rotten: The End Of The Quadrilogy

Here's Johnny!

As I have explained in my introductions to the last three shows - with themes catastrophe, chaos, & loneliness - I was severely affected by the President's terrible performance in the June debate. One of my friends who is a doctor wrote on Facebook, "He's sundowning onstage!" Other people may have had a better time - I'm sure there were many who had a worse time - but speaking for myself the years 2017 to 2020 were made extra-difficult because of the person in the Oval Office. That debate seemed to suggest that it was inevitable he would return there next year.

Now I want to point out that Self Help Radio isn't overtly political although I doubt any people who are supporters of the former president are listeners (actually I doubt anyone is a listener) but I certainly don't want my hopes & fears about politics to be a major factor of the show. Somehow my depression - my doom & gloom - my trepidation & sense of futility - they shaped into the four themes I came up with after that debate.

This week is the last: rotten. Something was rotten in the States of United. The whole world looked to be turning rotten. It seemed like, as Robinson Jeffers once wrote, America was indeed "settling into the mould of its vulgarity." I had told my wife I couldn't live for four more years in that America. So I was feeling I'd need to escape the rottenness of the situation.

These days I don't feel that way tho I recognize lots can happen in the next two & a half months. It takes me a while to prepare these shows so I couldn't really scrap them once the fortunes of democracy changed. They are a snapshot of how I was feeling - & perhaps what I may still feel.

Of course the show has nothing to do with Johnny Rotten. I don't even think he'll make an appearance!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: National Couples Day

August 18 is National Couples Day. Or maybe it's written National Couple's Day? That seems incorrect. Anyway, it appears to be a holiday scheduled halfway between Valentine's Days. For those who need more pressure to buy things for their beloved.

We will talk about & listen to musical reports about famous couples in honor of the day tomorrow on The Dickenbock Report on XRAY FM. You can listen in town from noon to 1pm at 91.1+107.1fm & online everywhere at xray dot fm. Listen to the show with someone with whom you form a couple!

On second thought, maybe that would be a terrible idea. Maybe buy flowers & chocolates instead.

This Week In Self Help (August 11 + 13 2024)

That image - which I downloaded from somewhere in 2015 - came up when I typed "chaos" into the search bar. It looks like I got it from the photos of the week in the Atlantic from 2015. It does seem chaotic! Here's the chaos on the radio this week.

On The Dickenbock Report on Sunday the 11th, I played a lot of music from folks who had birthdays on that day in history. I don't think I got to folks born after 1920. I know, I'm a weirdo. You can listen to the show at XRAY dot fm. You can also listen to the show at Self Help Radio dot net. If you choose the latter, you will need to know the login (SHR) & the password (selfhelp).

Self Help Radio this week had the theme "chaos." You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. You can also listen to that show at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, you will need to know the login (SHR) & the password (selfhelp).

That KBOO link contains this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, which was another morbid hour where I played some music by folks we lost this year. I have made it to the middle of May! Death is dreadful. If you like to listen to it separate from Self Help Radio, you can just listen to that show on the Self Help Radio website. Remember username SHR password selfhelp.

Hopefully less chaos in your life from now on!

Self Help Radio 081324: Chaos

What a chaotic show! In content & subject matter mostly. I was especially conscientious about making sure there were smooth transitions & the like. Couldn't let a chaos show get too chaotic!

One thing I am aware of - the chaos will descend soon enough whether we like it or not. We have forces in our world today who love chaos & who use it for their own duplicitous & often nefarious ends. Being aware of the chaos may be helpful in preparation. My radio show today for me at least was a reminder of that. Plus I played songs I liked & had fun talking to weirdos.

Listen for yourself! The show is now over on the KBOO web site. It's also on the Self Help Radio web site where you can download it if you want. Just remember to use the login SHR & the password selfhelp to access. Everything that happened on the show is below.

It's like organized chaos!

Self Help Radio Chaos Show

"Chaos Waltz" Web Of Sunsets _Chaos Waltz_

"Chaotic Shampoo & Strange Rock & Roll" Peter Sellers & The Hollywood Party _50,000 Glass Fans Can't Be Wrong_

"Chaos Heart" OSees _Intercepted Message_

introduction & definitions

"Ab (Chaos Is Bliss)" Strangelily _A Strange Film, Featuring You & I_

"The Chaos" The Futureheads _The Chaos_

"Soliloquy Of Chaos" Gang Starr _Daily Operation_

"Fear & Chaos" The Black Creatures _Wild Echoes_

interview with Chaos Princess actor Diane Faulkner

"We Are The Chaos Bros." The Lurkers _Fulham Fallout_

"Chaos Bros." Die Toten Hosen _Love, Peace, & Money_

"Chaos Engine" Pinback _Pinback_

"Chaos Panic" Yellow Magic Orchestra _Kyoretsu Na Rhythm - Characters: The Best Of YMO_

interview with KAOS Fans creator Dave Ferguson

"Chaos & Disorder" Prince _Chaos & Disorder_

"Chaos" The Sylvers _The Sylvers_

"Chaos" Minuit Machine _Infrarouge_

interview with former god of chaos Doug Fisher

"Involved In Local Chaos" The 49 Americans _E Pluribus Unum_

"Elegant Chaos" Julian Cope _World Shut Your Mouth_

"Chaos" Louisahhh _The Practice Of Freedom_

"Chaos" New Young Pony Club _The Optimist_

interview with chaos magician Dean Fishburn

"Chaos" Stump _A Fierce Pancake_

"You're A Reflection Of Infinite Chaos" Outrageous Cherry _Our Love Will Change The World_

"Chaos" The Erics _Chaos Made Pretty_

conclusion & goodbye

"Chaos Arpeggiating" Of Montreal _Innocence Reaches_

Whither Chaos?

Tonight's program is another show conceived in those dark days of June after the first debate when it seemed like we might have to have another four years of a presidency that I don't think I could have survived. I was miserable with the administration that led this country from 2017 to 2021 & almost had a nervous breakdown on election night 2020 when the outcome was in doubt.

Things have changed since June & while I am not so naïve that everything will be perfect if the new contender wins, I know I won't be utterly destroyed by the return of someone I believe would cause irreparable harm to the country in which I live & in which I was born & grew up. You may disagree with me & that's fine. I am sorry if this causes you the misery I will avoid. But it's my radio show & my perception of the future became quite dark - catastrophe, loneliness, chaos. I think the theme next week continues in this bleak vein.

But the show I think will be kinda fun because I am doing better thank you. So tune in to a radio show about chaos tonight on KBOO - 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm. The chaos lasts from midnight to 2am. & if we're lucky goes no further!

Preface To Chaos: Another Failed Attempt At A Regular Feature

(all images from the IMDb)

No, this isn't a preview of our resident cinephile Chuck coming on the show this week to talk about films involving this week's theme, chaos. Chuck previews his films over on his Twitter account, but he doesn't preview them on this blog ever. Also, I'm way too literal. Chuck will watch a film for a show about, I don't know, racecars & there'll be one scene in the movie that has a racecar in a pile of kids' toys, but he won't review "Racecar Story" because it wasn't tagged with "racecar" on the IMDb even though it's obviously about racecars. Not that I'm complaining! Except about me!

What I'm pointing out is that a couple of weeks ago, I recommended a movie based on the week's theme. I thought, hey, maybe I can do that this week. So I looked for films with chaos in the title. The pictures above were the first six I found on the IMDb. It's not that I've never seen any of these movies - I haven't - it's also that I've never even heard of any of them.

So. It seems. I'm not going to be recommending a film this week. Or in this space in the future. Because. I'm bad at it. Like, really really bad at it.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: August 11 Birthdays

We're at that point in the news cycle, called "the doldrums," where nothing of excitement is happening with the news. Yes, there's an election going on. Yes, we had sports things. Yes, there were hurricanes & stuff. But it's just so hot outside.

As a salve for this, on The Dickenbock Report tomorrow, we'll celebrate some notable people born on August 11. Mainly people no longer here to celebrate birthdays. Lots of them, in fact, friends of Dick Dickenbock he misses a great deal. We'll have cake at the XRAY studios, but it's just for staff - you'll need to supply your own for the occasion.

Noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm in Portland, xray dot fm everywhere. Happy birthday to you!

This Week In Self Help (August 4, 5, + 6 2024)

That image above was downloaded by me from the Internets over eight years ago. I have no idea from where & I have no idea who created it. It's brilliant & I'm sad I can't tell you anything about its creator(s).

What I can tell you about is what I did on the radio this week. The usual stuff plus I subbed a show. Let's do it in chronological order.

The Dickenbock Report aired on Sunday on XRAY. It was International Owl Awareness Day so I played songs & talked about owls. Who? Owls! If you give a hoot, you can listen to the show on its XRAY web page. You can also listen + download the show at the Self Help Radio website. Please remember that you'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access that file from the SHR website.

On Monday I spent a couple of hours on the radio playing sounds by new releases that are outside my usual indie world. Sadly, because it was a sub show, it's not archived at the KBOO website, but you can see the playlist here & you can listen + download the show here. Please remember that you'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access that file from the SHR website.

Self Help Radio this week, as you probably know because of the image at the top of this page, had the theme "loneliness." You can listen to that on its KBOO web page. Or you can listen + download the show at the Self Help Radio website. Please remember that you'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access that file from the SHR website.

The show on the KBOO website contains this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming, in which I played lots of cool new indie releases. If you'd like to listen to that show all by itself, you can do so at the Self Help Radio website. Please remember that you'll need a username (SHR) & password (selfhelp) to access that file from the SHR website.

& that was the week that was on the radio.

Loneliness In The Movies

(image from the IMDb)

Our resident cinephile Chuck stopped by the show this week, which had the theme loneliness, & chatted with us about films tagged with loneliness on the IMDb. You can listen to that show at selfhelpradio dot net if you haven't already & once you've heard Chuck talk, please make use of these handy links (as he says, there are lots of them this week) to supplement his visit:

Here are the YouTube playlists of films & trailers:

Part 1 (1914-1969) | Part 2 (1970-1985) | Part 3 (1986-1999)

Part 4 (2000-2006) | Part 5 (2007-2012) | Part 6 (2013-2017) | Part 7 (2018-2024)

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

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

Here is the IMDb keyword search list. Here is his IMDb list of films free to stream (many are also on YouTube).

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

So farewell loneliness! You have lots of movies to watch now!

Self Help Radio 080624: Loneliness

Loneliness is part & parcel of radio. While you might have many people listening, you are in general alone in a room with lots of humming equipment & very rarely with other humans. Okay, that's kind of the old-style deejay way. Some people do radio with friends. Some have talk shows. Some take callers. But the sort of the radio I do has always been tinged with a kind of loneliness. I remember a volunteer at Freeform Portland telling me she didn't think being on the radio would be so lonely.

It seems natural therefore to have a radio show about loneliness, yes? & that's what happened this morning on Self Help Radio. Songs about loneliness - not necessarily songs about being lonely - plus a discussion of movies featuring loneliness & three callers who shared with us their situation with loneliness.

Listen to the show now either at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, please remember the username & password to access/download the files. Those are SHR & selfhelp respectively.

Did the show make anyone feel less lonely? Oh dear me no.

Self Help Radio Loneliness Show

"All Is Loneliness" Moondog _More Moondog_

"Loneliness Is A Well" Anita O'Day _The Complete Anita O'Day Verve/Clef Sessions_

"Loneliness Hurts" Bobby Bland _Ain't Nothing You Can Do_

introduction & definitions

"Miss Loneliness" Mitty Collier _Shades Of Mitty Collier: The Chess Singles 1961-1968_

"What's With This Loneliness" Chuck Jackson _Good Things_

"Pit Of Loneliness" Gene Chandler _The Brunswick Years 1966-1969_

"Loneliness Is Eating Me Alive" Merle Haggard _Untamed Hawk: The Early Recordings Of Merle Haggard_

"Bad Fog Of Loneliness" Neil Young _Live At The Cellar Door_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by!

"Loneliness" Tuxedomoon _Half-Mute_

"The Well Of Loneliness" McCarthy _The Well Of Loneliness EP_

"Loneliness Is A Gun" The House Of Love _The House Of Love 1986-88: The Creation Recordings_

"Please Help The Cause Against Loneliness" Sandie Shaw _Hello Angel_

"Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness" John Prine _Great Days: The John Prine Anthology_

first caller to talk about loneliness: Chris

"Loneliness Finds Her Own Way" Clem Snide _Your Favorite Music_

"Loneliness" Robert Forster _Warm Nights_

"If Loneliness Was Art" Allo Darlin' _Allo Darlin'_

"Loneliness Is Better When You're Not Alone" Hello Saferide _Introducing..._

"Loneliness Kills" Boat _Tread Lightly_

second caller to talk about loneliness: Benny

"Love Or Loneliness" Math & Physics Club _I Shouldn't Look As Good As I Do_

"Loneliness" Nouvelle Vague _I Could Be Happy_

"Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets" Morrissey _California Son_

"Loneliness Is Power" Sallie Ford _Soul Sick_

third caller to talk about loneliness: Ariel

"Loneliness Is Cruel" Willernie _Betty_

"Loneliness Has No Home" Parkington Sisters _Collide_

"Loneliness & Sweet Romance" The Frank & Walters _Greenwich Mean Time_

"The Loneliness Of A Middle-Distance Runner" Belle & Sebastian _Sing... Jonathan David_

conclusion & goodbye

"Loneliness" Motorama _Dialogues_

"Loneliness On The Run" Metronomy _Small World_

Whither Loneliness?

(Image by Beth Scupham from here.)

First off, I want to say that I'm amazed it's taken me this long to do a show about loneliness. I did a cursory search of my list of explored themes on the website but not a thorough one so I might have done this before.

Second off, I thought initially this would be an easy show. I thought I'd just play songs in which people talked about how lonely they were. But I discovered there were lots of songs in which people mentioned loneliness. The word, separate of "lonely." So I decided to focus on that. Which still means lots of people singing about being lonely, but also making poetic pronouncements about loneliness.

Third off, this was a show I had been thinking about a long time. It was finally decided that I do it - & then I completely changed the whole thing! It actually became about loneliness not just being lonely. What a goof I am.

The Self Help Radio show about loneliness happens tonight from midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo dot fm everywhere. Yes, I'll be doing it alone. Radio had a great deal of loneliness all around.

Preface To Loneliness: Let's Hear From An Expert

That Peanuts comic is from May 19. 1959. I scanned it myself from the Complete Peanuts. It's almost like an introduction to this week's show. I have really nothing else to add.

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: International Owl Awareness Day

August 4 is International Owl Awareness Day. If there's one thing Dick Dickenbock is aware of, it's owls. They seem to follow him around. He is happy to support owl propagation & rehabilitation initiatives. To that end, tomorrow on the Dickenbock Report on XRAY fm, we'll report on owls, including of course musical reports. We have heard from various sources that the owls are not what they seem.

That's noon to 1pm on 91.1+107.1fm here in Portland & at xray dot fm everywhere. The owls themselves would have appreciated an evening or late-night broadcast, but we are an afternoon newsmagazine!

This Week In Self Help (July 26 28 + 30 2024)

That's my cat Bluto sitting in my chair. He's mad that this week's Self Help Radio - which had the theme "catastrophe" - didn't feature a single cat. He reminded me that you can't have a catastrophe without a cat. So I'll feature him right now.

We have to go back an entire week to encapsulate my week in radio. I subbed the Songcircle on KBOO last Friday & I played a bunch of songs that all mentioned each day of the week at least once. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website. Or you can listen to it/download it from the Self Help Radio website directly by clicking right here. As always, you'll need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp) to access any file from the Self Help Radio website.

On Sunday, there was an episode of The Dickenbock Report which had songs about Miami since it was the anniversary of that city's incorporation. You can listen to that show on the XRAY website. Or you can listen to it/download it from the Self Help Radio website by clicking right here. Remember! Username SHR + password selfhelp!

Speaking of Self Help Radio - the show about catastrophe aired Tuesday morning. You can listen to that show on KBOO website. Or you can listen to it/download it from the Self Help Radio website by clicking right here. I'm not repeating the username/password. Nope. I'll only do it twice.

Speaking of repetition - the KBOO show is three hours long because the hour after Self Help Radio is a show called Corporate Standardized Programming. This week I played music by artists who died in early May of this year. If you'd like to listen to that show separate from Self Help Radio, you can do so by clicking right here.

Okay, that's all. I need to go now, Bluto is being pretty cat-a-strophic to my chair! Bluto! Bad kitty!

Self Help Radio 073024: Catastrophe

A caller tonight: isn't a Self Help Radio episode about catastrophe redundant ha ha ha? No, sir, that would be a show with the theme what a mess.

Truly your average episode of Self Help Radio doesn't rise to the level of catastrophe. But we managed some songs about catastrophe as well as some nice interviews. See those details below.

You can listen to the show in two different places: on the KBOO website & on the Self Help Radio website. If you choose the latter, make sure you use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to listen/download. Otherwise it might be - well, not a catastrophe. Maybe just a relief.

Self Help Radio Catastrophe Show

"Major Catastrophe" Katch 22 _Major Catastrophe (The Katch 22 Story 1966-1969)_

"Catastrophe Kids" The Brooklyn What _Hot Wine_

"Romanticized Catastrophe" Sallie Ford _Soul Sick_

introduction & definitions

"Catastrophe" Maow _The Unforgiving Sounds Of... Maow_

"Catastrophe" The Rondelles _Fiction, Romance, Fast Machines_

"Catastrophe" Moviola _The Year You Were Born_

"Catastrophe" Rainer Maria _Catastrophe Keeps Us Together_

interview with journalist Thomas Veller

"Dear Catastrophe Waitress" Belle & Sebastian _Dear Catastrophe Waitress_

"All Out Of Catastrophes" Marissa Nadler _For My Crimes_

"Catastrofuk" John Cale _EP: Extra Playful_

"Catastrophe" Swingin' Utters _Drowning In The Sea, Rising With The Sun_

interview with philosophy professor Dr Tim Vought

"My Last Catastrophe" The Smoking Trees _The Archer & The Bull_

"Catástrofe No. 17" Le Mans _Modapop: Fantasías Veraniegas - Colección Elefant (2003-2004)_

"Catastrophe" Helado Negro _Invisible Life_

"The Full Catastrophe" Anthony Quinn/Mikis Theodorakis _Zorba The Greek (Original Soundtrack)_

"Eco-Catastrophe Blues" Brewer & Shipley _ST11261_

interview with writer Todd Vale

"Pop Catastrophe" Boss Hog _Cold Hands_

"Triple Catastrophe" Beezus _Lives Of The Saints_

"Candy Colored Catastrophe" Redd Kross _Redd Kross_

"Gong Of Catastrophe" Osees _Protean Threat_

interview with self-help writer Tanya Vicks

"The Catastrophists" Parlour Steps _The Hidden Names_

"Carol's Catastrophe" Ed Hale & The Transcendence _The Great Mistake_

"The Pop Catastrophe (feat. Brede Rorstad)" Worm Is Green _Push Play_ 

"Catastrophe" Nous Non Plus _Menagerie_

conclusion & goodbye

"O.D. Catastrophe" Spaceman 3 _Sound Of Confusion_

Whither Catastrophe?

(image by Paul Davis from here)

Most of the time I'm not entirely sure where the ideas for my radio shows come from. Usually it's something I notice in songs I've been listening to - a strange, unexpected repetition of an idea, a word, a phrase. Lots of times it's something more direct - I wanna do a show about this. Rarely - too rarely - it's something someone suggested. I wish I got more suggestions. But lots of times I just can't remember. I write down (or create a folder on my computer) the word or phrase that's the idea for the theme & can't recall why I did that.

But I suspect I know when I thought I should do a show about catastrophe. The show isn't political, though I obviously have my political leanings. I think I thought "catastrophe" might be a good theme when I finally saw clips of Joe Biden in the June debate with the other guy. The four years that other guy was President were not happy years for me. I saw Biden's performance as the prelude to an electoral catastrophe. One the country might not survive. & most probably my brain said, "Wallow in this, you fool. Make a show about it."

It does not matter that the likelihood of such a catastrophe has been reduced. I don't mind when my negative predictions don't come true. But I am stuck with a show about catastrophe. & don't worry! says my sadistic brain. Something sufficiently catastrophic will happen soon enough!

It could be tonight's show! Midnight to 2am on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo dot fm. Be safe. Sleep through it.

Preface To Catastrophe: A Movie Recommendation

(image from the IMDb)

No, this is not a recommendation from Self Help Radio's resident cinephile Chuck. Yes, this might be the first time I've explicitly recommended a movie on this blog. Maybe I should do that for every one of these prefaces. I'll think about it. Meanwhile.

Here's a sweet Australian rom-com from the mid-90s. It had a couple of firsts for me - it was the first time I saw actors Radha Mitchell & Frances O'Connor. & it may have been the first rom-com I saw in which there were gay characters who were part of the romantic element (I think it's about two couples but I'm not entirely sure at this point) of the film & not relegated to supporting characters (or part of a gay movie). I found it charming & ridiculous & probably put it on my recommended movie shelf when I worked at a video store in the late 90s.

It's funny, I actually found the movie in its entirety online a few months ago but it seems to have since disappeared. Rats. Chuck is better at this than I am! But if you see it around & you like movies like this, maybe think of my recommendation. As far as data goes, it has a 6.4 on the IMDb & a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes (though 51% for critics yikes). But this review of the film from the Guardian has a nice take: "Two decades on it’s a wonderfully spritzy dialogue-driven work to revisit, full of oomph & chutzpah."

It's almost thirty years old now however. But I watched some of it online a few months ago & remember it fondly. & it features some small catastrophes!

Coming Up Tomorrow On The Dickenbock Report: A Show About Miami

(vintage postcard of Miami, found here)

On July 28, 1896, the city of Miami, Florida, was incorporated. To mark that day, the Dickenbock Report (128 years later) will report on the city of Miami.

Sadly, I was not sent there on assignment. Or gladly? It's probably a little warm there at the moment. Instead, I'll be in the also unusually warm XRAY studios from 12-1pm tomorrow playing songs & talking about Miami. That's on the air in town at 91.1 & 107.1fm & online everywhere (presumably even in Miami) at xray dot fm.

Dick Dickenbock may not show up - he thinks we're trying to get him to retire there!

This Week In Self Help (July 21 + 23 2024)

(found here)

That's an image of Austin's newsweekly the Austin Chronicle from 1988 which I almost certainly picked up at a record store & read at that time but I have no memory of it whatsoever. I kinda want to read (reread?) the article about Austin's "alternative radio" - there was no community or college station in Austin at that time. I don't think their archives go back that far tho.

Meanwhile! I returned to Portland after a week in California to make these radio shows this week:

On the Dickenbock Report on Sunday, I celebrated Belgian artists on National Belgian Day. You can listen to that musical survey either on the XRAY web site or downloading the show from the Self Help Radio website. If you do the latter, please use the username SHR & the password selfhelp to access.

On Self Help Radio on Tuesday, I played more of my favorite music from 1988. You can listen to that show on the KBOO website here, or download the show directly from the Self Help Radio website & please remember SHR + selfhelp to access.

The KBOO show includes this week's episode of Corporate Standardized Programming which featured an hour of my favorite hip hop from 1988 but if you'd prefer to listen to that as a separate file, you can download it directly from the Self Help Radio website. See username/password info above.

& that was the week that was.