Preface To Weirdos: Seeing A Legend

Tonight I got to see Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens here in Portland.  This is one of five cities he's doing shows at in the United States - & tonight he told us this is the first time he's sold out a show in America.  That's super cool.

Anyway, he's playing the west coast, stopping in Chicago & in Canada, & then playing the east coast.  He would never have made it down to Texas.  I feel incredibly fortunate I got the chance to see him.

There were moments of transcendence.  It was just him & a guitar, but something about seeing the person & hearing that voice live felt - well, you know how it feels.  It's the reason to go see live music.

As we were going in, the wife & I were not carded.  The woman at the door asked, "Were you born before 1998?"  I said, "Yes, thirty years before."  & the wife lamented getting old.

For me, I'm just glad I got to see him.  The Go-Betweens broke up before I discovered them, & the reunited Go-Betweens in the early 2000s did not visit Austin.  In fact, their reunion record, The Friends Of Rachel Worth, was recorded in Portland.  Forster sang all of his songs from that record.

My mind goes back to Self Help Radio & fundraising now, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to have seen him.  He was in excellent form & seemed glad to be performing to an audience that appreciated him.

When he did "Head Full Of Steam," I almost fainted.

Fun Draising

This week I wrote an email to close friends & family asking them to help during the Freeform Portland Fall Fundraiser.  I pointed out that no one gets paid by the station - there's no accountant, no Station Manager, no one who gets a regular salary.  We're all volunteers.

Also I pointed out we have a surprisingly small budget.  It's amazing we're on the air, frankly.  I remember lean times at KVRX & KOOP in Austin, & Freeform has half the budget of those stations at the time, which was like the late 1990s & early 2000s respectively.  It's a tribute to the dedication of the station's volunteers that so much time & money has come from those involved to keep this wonderful, anarchic radio experience on the air.

Of the ten people I wrote the email to, four people donated to the station.  It was incredibly fucking kind of them.  One person called to tell me they couldn't donate, which was sweet.  I felt awful writing the email.  I've never asked anyone to give money to the stations I've been involved with.

Someone about Freeform Portland is different.  It is young, it has more possibilities, it just seems closer to my ideal of what independent radio should be.  It has issues, to be sure, & there are many challenges it needs to overcome.  But that's what this Fall Fundraiser is about - making sure we're there to confront the challenges.

Nobody reads this blog but if you're reading this & you want the crazy freedom-of-expression & crazy music lover's dream that is Freeform Portland to survive, maybe throw a few bucks our way at this place on the web.  There are many ways to throw your money away.  This is not one of them.

All The Musicians I Want To See Live Are Dead

That's not true but that's clever & compelling, isn't it?  Why are we drawn to such dumb pronouncements?  People do it all the time, saying something is better than another thing & this one this is the best of all.  Why do we feel the need to frame things in that way?  Why not just say, "I like this"?

It puzzles me.  & as we get to the (sigh) Best Of 2019 season, it'll irk me no end.

Self Help Radio 110419: In The Dark

(The lamp in the picture comes from here.)

It gets darker earlier in Portland than in Texas, where last I lived.  In fact, as the days shorten, it does I believe stay darker longer - maybe by as much as two hours! - than in Texas.  That's amazing.

When I found this out, I thought, "By November, I'll be able to do an entire show in the dark."  & while it may be true that that will happen before the solstice, I was wrong about November - sunrise was at around seven, half way through the show.  (Though there was a light fog turning the world grey, which I appreciated.)  This means that only half of the "in the dark" show was in the dark.  The rest of it was, I suppose, your host's regular condition of being in the dark about most things.

It was also the first Self Help Radio during Freeform Portland's Fall Fundraiser.  Because of the bare-bones nature of the place, I (with the help of deejay Kevrock) talked a lot on the air & begged for financial support but have no idea if anyone did donate any money.  My suspicion is they did not.  But I have no way to know.  If you love the freedom of noncommercial radio, there simply isn't a better investment than Freeform Portland - I urge you to donate what you can to this feisty radio station - & if you mention Self Help Radio sent you, I'll be pleased.

As for this week's show: it's now at Self Help Radio dot net for you to listen to should you be so inclined.  There aren't a lot of bells & whistles although friends of the show found a way to help out, you'll hear.  Remember the username you'll use is SHR & the password you'll pass on is selfhelp.  I hope you choose to help Freeform out.  I owe them a debt of gratitude for hosting Self Help Radio.

Self Help Radio In The Dark Show

"In The Dark" Nina Simone _Nina Simone Sings The Blues_
"In The Dark" The James Hunter Six _Hold On!_
"In The Dark" Magazine _Magic, Murder, & The Weather_

"I Like It In The Dark" Crocodiles _Crimes Of Passion_
"Blues In The Dark" The Soft Boys _Invisible Hits_
"Keep Me In Dark" The Fiery Furnaces _I'm Going Away_

"Whistling In The Dark" Dolly Mixture _Demonstration Tapes_
"Whistling In The Dark" Easterhouse _Contenders_
"Whistling In The Dark" Grass Widow _Internal Logic_

"Romance In The Dark" Billie Holiday _All Of Me (The Columbia Singles 1940-1941)_
"Kissing In The Dark" Memphis Minnie _The Complete Post-War Recordings In Chronological Order, Vol. 3_
"Walking In The Dark" Throwing Muses _House Tornado_

"Talking In The Dark" Elvis Costello _Armed Forces_
"Drifter In The Dark" Ween _Chocolate & Cheese_
"Needle In The Dark" Passenger _Wicked Man's Rest_

"Dancing In The Dark" The Snuggle Ups _Bridging The Distance: A Portland OR Cover Compilation_
"Here In The Dark" Flesh World _The Wild Animals In My Life_
"My Radio Sounds Different In The Dark" The Would Bes _Silly Songs For Cynical People_

"Footsteps In The Dark" Jo Broadbery & The Standouts _Jo Broadbery & The Standouts_
"Faces In The Dark" Generationals _Con Law_
"Winter In The Dark" Jeanines _Jeanines_

"You Light Me Up In The Dark" The Hounds Below _You Light Me Up In The Dark_

Whither In The Dark?

(Image from here.)

Are you in the dark about why this week's Self Help Radio has the theme "in the dark"?  Hey!  Me too!  Let's go over some possibilities:

1) The ideas was conceived in the dark.
2) It had something to do with this Robin Fulton McPherson poem.
3) It was too light.  Too damn light.  & all we could think about was sitting peacefully in the dark.
4) The struggle to resist binary interpretations of the world fails.  We are forced to choose between a life in the light & a life in the dark.  You know which one we chose.
5) We wished all cats were grey.  & then we realized the time when they were.
6) We wondered where you had gone.  You were developing film in the darkroom.  But when we called to you, asking where you were, all we heard was, "In the dark!"
7) Because we used to listen to radio in the dark, under the covers, well into the night.
8) All these reasons & more.
9) None of these reasons & more.
10) & more.

The show happens tomorrow at six a.m. on 90.3 + 98.3 fm Freeform Portland.  Click the link to listen online.  & be prepared - it's our first show of the station's fall fundraising event, so there'll be some begging.  Maybe lots of begging.

In the dark on Self Help Radio on Freeform Portland Monday, November 4, 2019.  Now.  Lights off.

Preface To In The Dark: Moving, Day II

"In The Dark" is the theme of this week's Self Help Radio.  More about that tomorrow.

We woke very early, we packed, we retrieved a U-Haul (not without complications), & we paid two men to carry our things from a rental house to our new house, which was about (let me check Google Maps) one-fifth of a mile, which would be what? A little over a thousand feet?

Still, it's good I didn't have to do all that lifting.  What little I did do in packing up my shit I will pay for in the morning.

We're here!  We have some things still at the rental - we didn't clean out the fridge, for example, which wasn't my decision, it was the wife's, she plans to get all that tomorrow.  I think I have a few shirts over there too.

There wasn't any sadness leaving the place, although our eldest dog isn't terribly happy.  His old age makes his dislike change.  One of our cats as well is not happy - I'm sure putting her in a cage to bring her over made her relive some of the trauma of the four-day trip from Texas to here.  She came out briefly to eat a little, but has hidden in a back closet for most of the time she's been here.

But I do think I'll like this place.  It's cozy.  I have unpacked & shelved about half my CDs.  & hooray, the internet is on!  & there was excellent vegan pizza tonight.  So now I hope to sleep let me see about nine hours.

Oh shit!  I have to do a radio show on Monday!  Okay, make that six hours.  I'll also want to walk the dogs.

Moving Day, Part I

Today is the day we move into our new house.  We are actually buying a house in Portland.  That might mean we're staying here a while.  At least two & a half years.  That's how long we lived in our house in Fort Worth.

It looks like this (courtesy of Zillow dot com):

It's much, much smaller than this place we're currently in.  Maybe half as small?  But the place we're renting is way too fucking big.

Anyway, that's where I am.  I hope I can write tomorrow - but internet might not be on!

All Those Halloween Shows

Once again I remind you there are many, many Halloween shows on the Self Help Radio website - specifically on the Self Help Radio Halloween page - from this year's show about Frankenstein to many other spooky scary topics, like voodoo, black cats, death, clowns, mummies, hell, nightmares, graveyards, haunted houses, werewolves, witches, zombies, monsters, & vampires!  Exactly like that, actually.

The shows span fourteen (14) years & five (5) different radio stations in four (4) states in three (3) different time zones.  That's a free Halloween fact for you right there.

So go listen!  Blast the shows on the porch to really frighten the trick or treaters!  Put a show on when your Halloween party needs to come to an end!  Marvel at how long the show has been on the air & no one is saying anything!

That's probably the most frightening thing of all.

Self Help Radio 102819: Halloween 2019 - Frankenstein!

(The tattoo I got for the show didn't quite work out - but before I added the SHR logo, this photo made its way to this page!)

The monster was created!  The creator was horrified!  The villagers attacked!  The castle was destroyed!  & that was all in the first hour of this week's Self Help Radio!

It was a horrible two hours, & hopefully satisfied the Halloween cravings of the listeners of Portland & beyond.  By horrible it can mean two things: causing horror or unpleasant.  I leave you to find which definition fits the show best.

Listen to the show now at the Self Help Radio website. It's in two parts for some reason, as shown below.  The username is SHR, the password is selfhelp.  Listen responsibly.  Halloween is not for the faint of heart.

Self Help Radio Frankenstein Halloween Show

part the first:

"At The House Of Frankenstein" Big Bee Kornegay _Horror Hop_
"Don't Meet Mr. Frankenstein" Carlos Casal, Jr. _Sin Alley! Volume Four: Filthy, Sleazey 50s Trash!_
"Frankenstein Walk" Gene "Bowlegs" Miller _Barnyard Soul_
"Frankenstein Stomp" Count Lorry & The Biters _Monster Sounds & "Boppin" Tracks, Vol. 1_

introduction

"Mary's Scary Story" Jenny Adkins _Frankenstein_
"Frankenstein" France Gall _Cinq Minutes D'Amour_
"Over At The Frankenstein Place" Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, & Richard O'Brien _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_
"Frank Was A Friend Of Mine" The Smooty Filth _Greenstuff_
"Call Me Frank" The Pink Skulls _Mega Monster Madness_

interview with deceased director James Whale

"Frankenstein Rock" Eddie Thomas _Monster Rock & Roll_
"Frankenstein Conquers The World" Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston _Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston_
"You Can't Get Him Frankenstein" The Fleshtones _Flaming Burnout: An Estrus Benefit Comp_
"Frankenstein Monster Song" One Ring Zero _As Smart As We Are_
"Frankenstein" Aimee Mann _I'm With Stupid_

a conversation with Ned Dry, movie guy

"Monster Mash" The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band _Tadpoles_
"Weird Science" Oingo Boingo _Weird Science OST_

part the second:

"Frankenstein" Gene Moss _Dracula's Greatest Hits_
"Frankenstein Cha Cha Cha" Sigue Sigue Sputnik _21st Century Boys: The Best Of Sigue Sigue Sputnik_
"Frankenstein" Editors _Black Gold_

a visit from Gary's radio dad

"Miss Frankenstein" George Jackson _Bomp In The Night_
"Bride Of Frankenstein" Toy Love _Cuts_
"Bride Of Frankenstein" Ad Frank _Ad Frank_
"Be My Bride Of Frankenstein" Charming Disaster _Spells + Rituals_
"Lady Frankenstein" Matthew Sweet _Tomorrow's Daughter_

an interview with Victor Frankenstein's descendent David Fruchter

"Frankenstein Twist" The Crystals _Twist Uptown_
"Frankenstein" The Cadillacs _The Complete Josie Sessions_
"My Baby's Got A Crush On Frankenstein" Soupy Sales _Up In The Air_
"Frankenstein" Nosotrash _Little Darla Has A Treat For You, Vol. 15_
"Frankenstein" Mouseatouille _Frankenstein_

closing & goodbye

"Dr. Funkenstein" Parliament _Clones Of Dr. Funkenstein_

Whither Frankenstein (Halloween Show 2019)?

(I wish I could remember where I found this.)

When I first conceived of this blog, I thought it might be a nice place to discuss the whys & wherefores of the show, specifically how I came up with the dumb themes that I explore every week.  It turns out that most of the time, I don't really have a big reason for exploring this or that topic.  Usually it's as mundane as "I noticed I was listening to a lot of songs with the same theme."  But this week, there's a reason!  In fact, there are several reasons!

First - it's a Halloween show.  I try to explore a different Halloween-related theme each Halloween, & this year, it's Frankenstein.

Second - I hadn't covered Frankenstein in particular before.  I did play a couple of Frankenstein songs on my Monsters Halloween show a  while back but that obviously wasn't all about Frankenstein.  I have complained I am running out of Halloween themes - I have done shows about ghosts, vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves, haunted houses, graveyards, nightmares, hell, mummies, clowns, death, black cats, & voodoo, & Frankenstein is noticeably absent from that list.

& third - a few weeks ago the theme was people named Frank - & I found several Frankenstein songs looking for music for that show.  It seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something.  & this time, it wasn't "Just die already!"

So tomorrow morning - 6am sharp! - it's Self Help Radio's show about Frankenstein for Halloween 2019.  Listen at 90.3 + 98.3 fm in Portland, & everywhere at Freeform Portland dot org!  It'll be scary!

Preface To Halloween 2019: Woefully Unprepared For This Week's Show

Seriously.  I haven't done much work on this week's show.  Today I spent the day shopping for our new house.  Then I waited at the new house while my wife got our locks re-keyed.  I had to stay in the empty house (we're moving in next weekend) because, you see, there were no locks on our doors.

What to do?  I'll spend all day tomorrow working on the show, of course.  & I'll tell you how it came about that I'm doing a Halloween show about Frankenstein.

Frankenstein means the monster, of course.  It would be weird to have a bunch of songs about Dr. Frankenstein.  Which reminds me - I never got the chance to watch Young Frankenstein as I planned to do before the show.  Drat.

Are you a Frankenstein fan?  I was trying to remember my first memories of the character.  Probably from the comics - although I never quite enjoyed the 1970s horror comics as much as the super-hero ones.  I do remember seeing the James Whale Frankenstein movie at some point & feeling the urge to read Mary Shelley's book - & being a little surprised that the movie took great liberties with the novel.

These are things I'll perhaps talk about on this week's show.  Once I gather materials to put it together.  Which I haven't really spent much time doing this week.  Ah but!  There's always tomorrow!

Portland Drivers, or, Driving In Portland

Initially I was charmed by the slow pace of Portland.  I think I even wrote about the whole "20 is Plenty" campaign here to make the speed limit 20 miles per hour in residential areas.  People in Portland drive slowly.  Very, very slowly.  There are people on the highway doing forty in the left lane.

My wife, who was traumatized by Dallas traffic, rides her bike most of the time, but when she drives, she's very appreciative of the slow pace on Portland's roads.  & again, I found it kinda cool when I first got here.

Then suddenly I had places to be.  & the charm quickly faded.  Did I mention that there are people on  the highway doing forty in the left lane?

It's maddening.  Part of it is, frankly, most people in Portland are terrible drivers.  They really are.  I guess the whole "driving slowly" thing masks that.  In the Dallas area, where I spent an inordinate amount of time the last three years driving a lot, terrible drivers hit speeds of 70 & don't last long.  Here?  They just putter along.

Slowly - though not as slowly as Portlanders drive - I came to dislike the slow drivers of Portland.  My radio shows, for example, are at the other end of the city, & Portland has three highways that service it.  Which means that most of your travel will be on streets.  Streets where the top speed may, if you're lucky, be 35 miles per hour.  Streets that are mostly two-lane - one lane for each direction of traffic.  & if you're stuck behind Mr. or Ms. Twenty-Is-Plenty?  Oh you're not getting where you need to go on time.

All of my Dallas driving skills come rushing back to me & I turn into a major asshole.  & I'm not the only one, of course - when someone seem mad at me, I sort of sympathize with them.  I would rather be treated poorly on the road by someone as irritated & impatient as I am than someone who simply does not understand how shitty it is to drive five miles under the speed limit with no thought to the growing line of cars behind you.

Yeah, yeah, I should leave earlier.  & perhaps smoke what they're smoking.

Sugar Substitute (Episode 169)

You'll recall I do another radio show, not just Self Help Radio, but one called Sugar Substitute, it's on Tuesday Mornings from 2-4am, no one is up to listen, I'm barely awake myself.

The reason I mention this is twofold.  Onefold, you can listen to the show any time you like clicking the link above for "Sugar Substitute," but also last Tuesday's show directly by clicking here.

The other fold is that you might not want to listen to that show, as it was the first of two Fall Fund Drive shows I have to do for XRAY.  It's fundraising season, & I am going to be asking for money on the air for two different stations in a one month period.  You can help out XRAY by donating at their web site & if you do, & do it because I sent you, maybe mention Sugar Substitute?  That would be nice.

Pledge Drives aren't fun but they tend to be the major way non-profit radio stations raise money, so it's a necessary evil.  I wonder why there aren't free-media-loving billionaires out there who could help - dropping a hundred grand on a radio station wouldn't be a burden to any of them - but I understand they have politicians to purchase who will allow them to keep more of their billions.  It's the one thing people who are raised poor or middle-class - & who give a far greater portion of their income to charity - simply don't understand.

In any event - Sugar Substitute.  It's on weekly, even if I tend to be quite exhausted when I do it.

Self Help Radio 112119: Illusions

(Original illusion here.)

According to this website (which does not cite its source), the Buddha said, "We live in illusion & the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, & being nothing, you are everything. That is all."

I hope the Buddha meant, "That is all," as in, "That is what everything is," instead of like what a boss says at the end of a meeting which means "Now get the hell out of here, I have some heavy day-drinking to do."

Most of us understand illusion to mean something that's not real, either generated by our minds or perpetrated by someone else to fool us.  But if the universe is an illusion, who is doing the perpetrating?  Oh wow man that's some heavy shit.  This is going to be a heavy-ass radio show, isn't it?

Not really.  Is it ever?  You can lose all your illusions, or make some more, by listening whenever you feel the illusion needs it to this week's Self Help Radio, now available at the Self Help Radio website.  Music, interviews, maybe a magic trick or two - though you obviously can't see those on the radio, sorry.  Username SHR, password selfhelp, what's on the two-hour program is listed below.

It might be better to remember the words of the great Pete Shelley: "Life's the illusion, love is the dream."

Self Help Radio Illusions Show
"Illusion" Nat "King" Cole _The Touch Of Your Lips_
"Illusions" The Human Instinct _Singles _1966–1971_
"Illusions" One Way Street _Pass The Caviar_

introduction & definitions

"Illusions" Isolation Ward _Point Final_
"Illusions" Stagnant Pools _Temporary Room_
"Illusions" Shout Out Louds _Optica_
"Illusions" Dinner _New Work_
"The Illusion" Dream Machine _The Illusion_

interview with illusionist David Fruchter

"Want To Buy Some Illusions" Marianne Faithfull _20th Century Blues_
"My Illusions" Sugar Pie DeSanto _Moaning, Groaning, Crying: A Galaxy Of Soul_
"Lost Illusions" Rosie & The Originals _Angel Baby Revisited_
"Optical Illusion" Al Stewart _24 Carrots_
"A Life of Illusion" Spent _Umbrella Wars EP_

interview with lawyer Bobcat Sloan

"I'm Set Free" The Velvet Underground _The Velvet Underground_
"The Desert" Smog _Burning Kingdom_
"Everybody's Happy Nowadays" Buzzcocks _Complete Singles Anthology_
"Monkeyland" The Chameleons _Script Of The Bridge_

interview with body artist Bogogob Smith

"Is This An Illusion" The Mighty Diamonds _Jam Session_
"La Grande Illusion" Television Personalities _...And Don't The Kids Just Love It_
"Season Of Illusions" Ladytron _Velocifero_
"Web Of Illusion" Soul Merchants _1985-1987_
"Velvet Illusions" Velvet Illusions _Pebbles, Vol. 9: Southern California 2_

conclusion & goodbye

"Illusion" Chris & Cosey _Trust_
"World Of Illusion" The Forum _The River Is Wide_

Whither Illusions?

(An illusion from here.)

The first people to dream of radio waves thought they were a kind of magical illusion.  & they were not wrong!  Every new scientific thing is a form of magic - until of course it isn't.  Which is not why Self Help Radio this week is about illusions.

Is it because, as Buddhists believe, this world is an illusion?  In many ways, I'm much more Buddhist than any other religion out there, but even so, no.  No, the show is not about illusion because I am trying to secretly make you listen to Buddhist teachings.  As if anyone could ever associate me with the word "teachings"!

The reason the show is about illusion will be revealed at some point during the show - which happens tomorrow morning (that's Monday the 21st) from 6 to 8am Portland time on Freeform Portland (online at freeform portland dot org) - it will be revealed that all seventeen years of Self Help Radio have all been an illusion!

The greatest illusion ever perpetrated on radio!

Or maybe it won't.  I kinda like this illusion.  We'll see.  Or hear.  Whatever.

Preface To Illusion: My Friend Who Hates Magic

The truth is, I don't have an opinion either way about magic or magicians - I've been entertained by them but I don't know if I'd pay to see one.  On the whole, it takes quite a bit for me to actively dislike something.  But some people hate magicians.

There's that David Cross bit where he describes the magician mural at some airport - is it the Seattle airport? - & his other joke with the punchline, "Yeah, that's my card.  Can I go now?"  That seems more my style - not anger or anything, just kind of weariness, especially with run-of-the-mill types.

Maybe it's because I never learned magic as a kid.  No one ever bought me one of those kits, or one of those books.  I never even learned how to shuffle cards properly.

But I have a friend who despises magicians.  His blood pressure gets up to stroke-worthy levels when he's just near one.  He will cross the street rather than have to walk by a street magician & possibly get roped into one of their tricks.

& there was one time, at a trendy Austin brunch place, we were enjoying our meal & there was a magician there (for some reason)* & he was making the rounds, doing card tricks from table-to-table.  I couldn't see him - my back was to most of the cafe - but my friend obviously could see him & he was unable to carry on a conversation because he was steeling himself for the moment when this itinerant conjurer found his way to our corner table.

But he eventually did, & when he stopped & got our attention & started to ask, "Would anyone like to see...?" my friend exploded like the pressure cooker he was & said, loud enough to be heard back in the kitchen, "NO!!!!!!"

The magician, possibly used to such hate, smiled & went on his way, but I couldn't help bursting out in laughter.  Even if my friend had been molested by some perverted prestidigitator in his youth**, the reaction was so overblown as to be comical.

You know, I keep meaning to get him a magician for his birthday one year.  Well.  There's always next year!

* My friend also hates the musicians that play soothing guitar or whatever at restaurants.  He hates feeling obligated to tip them.
** He wasn't.

Something New To Learn Every Day

A couple weeks back, I revisited an old theme, my favorite music from the year 1969.  On that show, I played a song from Joni Mitchell's album Clouds, which was released that year.  Today, I was browsing a web site which mentioned Joni Mitchell & noticed that one of the songs on that record - it wasn't the song I played - "Both Sides Now" - is apparently so beloved it's been covered by dozens if not hundreds of people.

The song has its own Wikipedia page in which Mitchell herself is quoted as saying, "I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did."  Is it weird that until today, just by a random look at a web site, I had no idea the song was as popular as it is?

That page - the Wikipedia page - I'm linking to it again - lists ninety-some-odd covers of the song.

Where have I been?  Do I just not listen to the folky/soft rock-y types of music where I would find those covers?  I mean, I know Judy Collins' famous version, but that's about it.

What I wish was on the Wikipedia page was a guesstimate of how much money Joni Mitchell has made from that one song.  Surely it's in the millions now.  Right?  A song that popular can make one a millionaire, can't it?  It's as old as I am, & there are dozens - if not hundreds - of covers of it!

That's something I didn't know that I learned today.  It has nothing to do with anything, but it sure was jarring.

Something I already knew but was reiterated to me today: the vegan pizza game in Portland is strong.

Radio Radio

So, I've done a lot of radio recently - perhaps it's true I'm a boy who can't say no - but this week I just wanted to do Self Help Radio & Sugar Substitute & otherwise take it easy.  But.  I'm a boy who can't say no, so I was asked to sub a show Tuesday, & I did.

You know you can hear this week's Self Help Radio at the website.  Cool.

& you can listen to this week's Sugar Substitute (for the next two weeks) over at its space on the XRAY website.

But did you know you could hear me flail around on the radio on a Wednesday afternoon subbing for the show Borrowed Time on the XRAY website - oh.  Apparently I did something wrong.  So you can't listen to that show online.

Well.  I'm not sure what happened.  So.  Never mind.

Self Help Radio 101419: Comfort

(Original image here.)

The big question is, is Self Help Radio a comfort zone?  Or a discomfort zone?  Or is it, as my wife might say, a place full comfortableness, or uncomfortableness?  Or all three?  Wait, what's the third one?  This conversation is getting...  well, it doesn't make any sense.

& that's probably the nicest thing you can say about this week's show, which purports to be about comfort.  You know, consolation, solace, sympathy.  Can a radio show be comforting?  Or can it simply be about comfort?  Would I have gotten a corporate sponsorship if I had done the show remotely from a Comfort Inn?  The closest one has this recent review: "This hotel is not in the nicest area of Portland, however it is close to Interstate access."  It was a miss opportunity to be sure.

You can listen, comfort be damned, when you want at the Self Help Radio web site.  Username SHR, password selfhelp.  Lots of songs & interviews, all noted below.  Just make yourself comfortable.  Then listen.  It might be the same thing.

Self Help Radio Comfort Show
"Welcome To The Meditation (Please Get Comfortable)" Eugene Mirman _I'm Sorry (You're Welcome)_
"Comfort" The June Brides _Every Conversation: The Story Of The June Brides & Phil Wilson_
"Comfort" Makthaverskan _III_

introduction & definitions

"Comfort Me" Carla Thomas _The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968_
"Comfort You" Van Morrison _Veedon Fleece_
"Make Yourself Comfortable" Andy Griffith _American Originals_
"Built For Comfort" Willie Dixon _Willie's Blues_
"Angels Come To Comfort You" Black Francis _Bluefinger_

interview with Brad Benoit of Comfort Conformity

"Comfort Zone" The Murlocs _Manic Candid Episode_
"Discomfort" The Mess Makers _Antipodean Screams, Vol. 2_
"Rest Comfortably" Quiet World _Electric Asylum, Vol. 4: Rock Hard British Freakrock_
"Creature Comfort" Woods _City Sun Eater In The River Of Light_
"Creatures Of Comfort" Deep Sea Diver _Secrets_

lawyer Bobcat Sloan interrupts!

"Comfortably Numb" Graham Parker _A Fair Forgery Of Pink Floyd_
"Comfortably Tucked Up Inside" The Minders _Hooray For Tuesday_
"Comfort & Crazy" Guy Clark _Craftsman_
"Southern Comfortable" Ruthann Friedman _Hurried Life: Lost Recordings 1965-1971_
"Southern Comfort" Johnny Cash _The Ragged Old Flag_

interview with my friend David, who makes me very uncomfortable

"Comfortable Again" Partnerships _Double Love Suicide_
"Too Close For Comfort" Poison Girls _Statement: The Complete Recordings_
"Too Close For Comfort" Peggy Lee _Pretty Eyes_
"Mother Stands For Comfort" Kate Bush _Hounds Of Love_
"Comfort In Light" The High Violets _Heroes & Halos_

closing & goodbye

"My Comfort Remains" Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook _Night Song_
"Cold Comfort (Deepsky Remix)" Curve _The New Adventures Of Curve_

Whither Comfort?

(Apparently you can buy comfort in a plastic bottle, ultra-concentrated.  Image from here.)

This week Self Help radio gets comfortable.  Not really.  At core it's an uncomfortable show.  But it makes an attempt at comfort.  Will it get too close for comfort?  Yes, it will.  Will it travel very far outside its comfort zone?  No, it will not.  It will attempt to surround itself with creature comforts, but you can take comfort in the fact that it will stay mostly the same, which is cold comfort indeed.

That's tomorrow, Monday, October 14, 6-8am PST, on 90.3/89.3 fm Freeform Portland, freeformportland.org.  Come in, make yourself comfortable, it'll be two hours of comfort.  Until, probably, it becomes a tad bit uncomfortable.  Like it generally does.