Still Need To Write Something About My Sweet Bronte

It has been a kind of catharsis for me to say goodbye to my animals in this blog when they leave.  Last week we lost Bronte, & I have so much to say about her, but not today.

The picture up there is from March, after she had a haircut.  She cuddled constantly with her brother Bolan, so much so that my wife & I joked that they loved each other more than we did.  Bolan seems muted, he sometimes sleeps with me, but he acts as though - well, this is projecting of course, but he 

does act as though something's missing.  Which of course it is.

Please be patient, Bronte.  I think I don't yet want to say goodbye.  I still imagine you'll be sleeping somewhere, or standing near the water dishes when they need to be filled, or lying on your mother's chest, purring.  She weighed so little but has taken up so much space in my heart.  I'll take the time next week to tell your story.

Beautiful girl, you left too soon.  Beautiful girls always do.

Films For One Night Only

(image from the film's Wikipedia page)

During this week's Self Help Radio, we had another installment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner, in which our resident cinephile talked about movies in which the action took place over one night.  The theme, you see, was "one night only."  You can listen to the show on the Self Help Radio website or over on the KBOO website.  But here are some helpful links which you'll want to visit once you've heard the segment.

Here is the YouTube playlist of films which fit the aforementioned criteria.

Chuck has a Twitter account where he tweets about the films he is watching.

Chuck reviews the films he has seen over on his Letterboxd page.

Films that fit the criteria (criterium?) of "one night only" which are not available for viewing on Youtube - but which you can find for free elsewhere - are listed here.  You can click the names of the films for viewing options.

& finally, here's the IMDb search for films that happen over the course of one night.

Hopefully there's some good stuff for you to find!

Self Help Radio 090721: One Night Only

This is a fun sentence to say: for one night only songs about only one night on Self Help Radio!  & that's exactly what happened.  It could've lasted more than three hours, but for everyone's sake it did not.

In addition to lots of music - including a "one night stand" set & also a "one more night" set - we spoke with Todd Squib from the mayor's office about a possible "one night with the mayor" contest; with Geoffrey Finally, who claims to have had the most one night stands in recent American history; with my spiritual mentor the Rev Dr Howard Gently, who has his own "one night with" promotion; & with our resident cinephile Chuck, who talks about films in which the action happens in one night.  Also, lots of music.  I mentioned that, didn't I?

You can listen now & anytime - & take as many nights as you want - that might make it more bearable - at both the Self Help Radio website & at the KBOO website.  Lots happened besides music, like I noted above, so below is what I played & the things in-between.

Only one night! Night only one! One night only!

Self Help Radio One Night Only Show

"One Night Only" Otis Williams & His Charms _This Is Otis Williams & The Charms: The 1953-1962 King/Deluxe Recordings_

"One Night Only" John Wesley Harding _It Happened One Night_

"For One Night Only" King Creosote _From Scotland With Love_

introduction & definitions

"One Lonely Night" The Flaming Stars _London After Midnight (Singles, Rarities, & Bar Room Floor-Fillers 1995-2005)_

"Ur Life One Night" Unknown Mortal Orchestra _Multi-Love_

"One Night In Paris" Jimmy Pursey _Alien Orphan_

"One Night I Fell In Love" Algebra Suicide _Tongue Wrestling_

"It Happened One Night" Madeline Bell _This Is One Girl_

interview with Todd Squib of the mayor's office

"One Wonderful Night" The Honey Bees _Growin' Up Too Fast: The Girl Group Anthology_

"One Night Between Days" Constantin Veis _Presents The Glamorous Life Savers Resurrected Elsewhere_

"One Lone Night" The White Buffalo _Once Upon A Time In The West_

"One Night" Reporter _Time Incredible_

"One Night With You" Thieves Like Us _Again & Again_

interview with Geoffrey Finally, who claims to have had the most one night stands in modern history

"One Night Stand" Dub Dickerson _Boppin' The Dark_

"One Night Stand" The Grotesque Mommies _Grains Of Time_

"One Night Affair" Jerry Butler _The Spice Of Life_

"One Night Stand" The Pipettes _We Are The Pipettes_

"One Night Stand" Bryan Ferry _Avonmore_

interview with the Rev Dr Howard Gently

"One Night" Smiley Lewis _The Best Of Smiley Lewis: I Hear You Knocking_

"One Night Too Late" The Echoes _Baby Blue_

"One Night Of Love" Karen Dalton _In My Own Time_

"It Only Takes One Night" Dum Dum Girls _I Will Be_

"One Night In Bangkok" Murray Head _When You're In Love_

Chuck stops by for another segment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner

"One More Night" The Expressions _Last Of The Garage Punk Unknowns, Volumes 1 & 2 (American Teenage Garage Hoot! 1965-1967)_

"One More Night" Bob Dylan _Nashville Skyline_

"One More Night" Stars _Set Yourself On Fire_

"One More Night In A Hotel" Bad Livers _Blood & Mood_

"One More Saturday Night (Live)" Can _The Lost Tapes_

an airbreak without note

"Husband & Wife Were Angry One Night" Charlie Poole _You Ain't Talkin' To Me: Charlie Poole & The Roots Of Country Music_

"One Night As I Was Walking" Joseph Jerome & Chorus _Caribbean Voyage: Carriacou Calaloo_

"One Summer Night" The Danleers _The Doo Wop Box_

"One Summer Night" That Dog _Totally Crushed Out!_

"One Summer Night" Ariel Pink _Pom Pom_

"One-Nighter" The Dynamic Superiors _The Dynamic Superiors_

conclusion & goodbye

"One Charming Night" Les Zarjaz _Creation Soup Volume Two_

"One Endless Night" Jimmie Dale Gilmore _One Endless Night_

"One Night Baby" Peter & The Wolves _Howlin' & Prowlin'

"One Night Stand" The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir _...And The Horse You Rode In On_

"One Night Stand" The Backroom _Reagan Era Rocketship_

Whither One Night Only?

(Image from here.)

What are some things that happen for just one night?  It depends on how you define "just one night."  A certain species of mayfly lives just 24 hours, so has only one night on this planet.  Some performers - musicians or comedians or the like - might stage a show that only happens one night - which is why you can find images like the one above.  & let's not forget the infamous "one night stand" - which is supposed to happen just once.  At night.  With very little standing.

But a moon is full for one night only - every twenty-eight days.  & Self Help Radio is on one night only - per week.  We're not going to be too strict about what the phrase "one night only" means in the songs we'll play on the show - we just want to make sure it's one night we're talking about.

& maybe one night I thought about a show in which everything happened over the course of one night.  It may have been a night I was doing Self Help Radio, or the night before, the one night I am filled with the most dread & anxiety, hoping I will be able to put together an interesting show the next day.  Howsoever it happened, it's tonight that the "one night only" show will air.

Midnight to three a.m., 90.7 fm KBOO Portland, kboo.fm.  For one night only Self Help Radio will have the theme "one night only"!

Preface To One Night Only: One More Night

Above is a picture of my two boy cats, Boone & Bolan.  I know virtually nothing about how animals remember, or whether they feel loss, or whether they even notice their sister is gone.  We tried to show them her body after she died, but they weren't interested.  & I am the first to admit I am reading a great deal into their actions today, but they seemed a bit listless, & they spent a great deal of time together.  More than they usually do?  It seemed that way to me.  But all I could think about today was my cat Bronte's absence.  So I expected that that's what they feel.

The theme for this show is "one night only."  I never thought I'd be thinking about moments in my life in relation to the theme.  But though I know that all my animals will go at some point, that there will always more one last night, & though I guess I knew that Friday was my one last night with Bronte, I wish I could have one more night, with her happy & well, & me free of the sadness of knowing it was our last night.

Alas, that's not possible.  & grief, grief is such a tenacious fucker.  So forgive me if I dwell, if I look for her in my other animals, in my day, in what occupies my mind.  She was so beautiful & she was always around.  Her absence is felt like I've lost some part of me, or worse, some sense, the sense I had that complemented by sight, hearing, smell, taste, & touch.  & it's no more.

Another Loss

We said goodbye to our beloved Bronte this morning.  That picture above is from her 14th birthday, which was barely a month ago.  She was beset by all manner of ailments, as I described previous on this blog here & here, but recently her kidneys began to fail, & despite our best efforts, it progressed too fast & took her from us with very little warning.

There's so much more to write about her but I have been crying & grieving all day long, & of course spending time with her remaining siblings.  Something about loss makes one feel acutely aware there's not enough time to love the ones you love so you try to make up for it.

If I were a poet or a musician, I'd write songs about her, so sweet & magical was that unbelievably fuzzy cat.  To think when she turned up on our doorstep twelve years ago I thought we didn't need another cat!  My wife knew better, & this morning, after her death, we looked at the hundreds of photos we have of her, & remembered her in healthier, happier times.

Our beautiful fuzznika.  I hope she knew how loved she was.

Home Ec

(image from here.)

In middle school - in eighth grade - I took a Home Economics course.  I don't remember too much about it except a) we made pizza, which I love, & b) I sat near some guys who didn't know I existed & listened to them talk about their lives & watched them torture geeks in the class that I had much more in common with.  It was a strange crash course in being a fourteen-year-old boy in Texas in the early 1980s.  They had tips on bathing, clothing, & girls that I had otherwise no access to.  I kinda wish I took notes but also that I could've asked them follow-up questions without getting mocked or possibly beaten up.

That I was ignored was sort of par for the course for my middle & high school years, although my older brothers did their level best to terrify me & make me think I'd be picked on & abused by the mean kids or the cool kids or whatever.  It's sad that that's what I got out of Home Ec though, because it would've been nice to learn something about cooking.  Or life, really.

Previously on this blog, I've complained - or maybe I've just noted - that my upbringing, including my schooling, left me utterly unprepared for adulthood.  I have friends who share this thought.  As I get older, I realize that there's so much more that could have been taught than cooking.  It's probably impossible to tell children who believe they're immortal & invulnerable that death looms sooner than they think.  That you may have to spend considerable time & resources taking care of aging parents & other relatives.  That you yourself may become a parent.  That there's a chance you'll struggle with mental illness, with addiction, with chronic health issues - or that you'll be close to someone, either a family member or someone you're in a relationship with, who has these challenges.  & maybe someone should spend a little time talking to anyone who might want to own a pet about all that entails, the love & the heartache.

This morning a neighbor who works in the mental health field & I talked about this.  Last year my mother died but she suffered from late-stage Alzheimer's before it happened.  Before that, she had health issues & good ol' fashioned senility, & fortunately my sister took her in & cared for her the last years of her life.  My wife is good about reminding me that we have no children & therefore will not have that option - as she helps her sisters take care of her own aged mother.

Not that I would've taken any of that seriously, the whole idea of life lessons.  But I feel like someone should've tried, with the same imperceptible vigor with which they tried to teach us the passive voice or the age of the earth or the quadratic theorem.  Holy shit, maybe they did.  But no, I think I would've remembered my few friends & I making fun of the utterly square teacher trying to explain to us about aging relatives.

It's no consolation that it was a "learning on the job" moment for my mother when her parents got to that point.  I take no comfort that the previous generation was as ill-prepared for life as I was.  & I have no real way to end this dumb meditation on the problems of time & age.  It just happens to be on my mind.

Shouldn't I be talking about a radio show or something?  Sheesh.

Self Help Radio 083121: Indiepop A To Z # 66

(All images from Discogs.)

You know the drill!  Another four months, another dizzying set of delicious indiepop in a semblance of alphabetical order.  This time around - still in the letter P! - we started with the Pets & ended up with Pixies.  & don't fight me, I know Pixies aren't indiepop.  I often add bands I feel are indiepop-adjacent or influential to the genre - & Pixies influenced lots of bands, including ones much more twee than they.

The show was live in the KBOO studio, & I managed to say a few things in-between the songs.  I also decided against including a performer I wanted to include - but you'll have to listen to hear my real-time decision making.  Truly it was gripping radio.

You can listen now & whenever at both the Self Help Radio website & at the show's page at the KBOO website.  If you go to the former, make sure you remember you'll need a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  Otherwise, both recordings are exactly the same.  Every song I played is below.

Back to the normal nonsense next week!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 66

"A Lighthearted Lovesong" The Pets _Love & War_

"Timeless Words" Petset _Sound-Sphere_

"Suicide Mind" Phantom Dog _Suicide Mind_

"She Means Everything To Me" Louis Philippe _Jackie Girl_

"Young Love Be Your Monkey Tonight" The Philips _The Ammonites/The Philips split_

"The Sinking Of The S.S. Danehower" The Philistines Jr. _The Sinking Of The S.S. Danehower_

"Pink Frost" Martin Phillipps _Songs From Solo Below_

"The First Phrase At High Noon" Phoebe Quest _The Windward Sound_

"Silent Place" Phony _Good Times - Silent Place EP_

"Watermelon Crush" Photo Jenny _Pop Japanese Style!_

"La Fuite En Arrière (En-joy) (The Escape Back)" Photon _Between Two Waves: The Second Wave_

"Radio Girl" Pi Ja Ma _In The Air EP_

"Pretend To Be Here" Pia Fraus _Nature Heart Software_

"Non-Fiction" Piano Magic _Seasonally Affective (A Piano Magic Retrospective 1996-2000)_

"(A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The) Toystore" Pianosaurus _Groovy Neighborhood_

"Lie Until Dawn" The Picasso Twins _Some Mardi Sandwich_

"Don't Turn Around" Picnic _Plug EP_

"Dead" Picture Center _Dead_

"Wet Dream" The Piers _Secretly In Love & Everybody Knew EP_

"Smoke" Pigeons _Liasons_

"Chemically Yours" Pilgrims _Something's Burning In Paradise_

"Monday Suit" Pillow _Learning To Labour_

"Tropic Of Capricorn" The Piltdowns _Will There Be Time For Tea?_

"Milk Bar" The Pines _It's Been A While_

"Thin End Of The Wedge" Pink Noise _Thin End Of The Wedge_

"Shelly Anne" Pinkie _Sharon Fussy_

"Burn The Citadel Down" Pinkie & His Band _Pinkie & His Band_

"Glow Vastly" Pinkshinyultrablast _Grandfeathered_

"I'm On The Inside" Pinky _I'm On The Inside_

"Mortal Soul" Pinto _Short Songs About Longing Are Better Than Long Songs About Shortcomings_

"Cruel & Unusual" Pipas _A Cat Escaped_

"Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me" The Pipettes _We Are The Pipettes_

"Even Flu Can't Kill You" Pirigwa _Butane Gas Mon Cher_

"The Knife Thrower's Daughter" Piroshka _Love Drips & Gathers_

"Bags Of Gold" Jay Jay Pistolet _Happy Birthday You_

"Jump Out From The Bed!" Pitcher56 _Her Abiding Memory_

"BST" The Pitkins _Killing Me Again_

"Shine" Pitwork _Shine_

"September" Pity Sex _White Hot Moon_

"Gigantic" Pixies _Surfer Rosa_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 66?

(image from here)

There have been - let me check - oh yes - 65 - that's sixty-five - previously episodes of the Indiepop A To Z series.  There's nothing really I can tell you about the shows that you probably haven't already heard.  But in case you haven't:

Every four months or so I return to a series I began in Austin a very long time ago in which I attempt to play bands who fall into the "indiepop" category (what is indiepop?) plus sometimes bands that I believe are influential to the genre as well as some indiepop-adjacent bands I feel are somehow important to include (sometimes just because I like them).

65 episodes seems a lot, so I must already be done, yes?  No.  I began the letter P on the 63rd episode & there are lots of performers & musicians who start with that letter.  I will begin with the band The Pets, pictured above.  I am not sure where I will end, but it won't be at the letter Q.  Not tonight.

Personally I love this genre & I believe it makes great radio.  But you be the judge.  Listen tonight from midnight to 3am on 90.7fm KBOO Portland, online at kboo.fm & decide.

Would it sweeten the pot to know I'm doing the show live?  I mean, it at the very least means I'll make dumb mistakes!

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 66: Still In The Letter P

(image from here)

Just sitting here listening to bands whose names start with the letter P.  Being kind of chill about it because I get to do the show live.  I can't tell you how great it is not to have to worry about recording.  It does feed into my deeply held belief in procrastination, it's true.  But it's also relaxing.

Not that procrastination is relaxing, but somehow I don't get worried about getting things done on time until it's nearly time.  Then I do worry.  & make no mistake, I am more wound up as midnight on Monday approaches - especially if I am still in the process of gathering.  Because I almost always feel like I never have enough.

Anyway, I am listening to songs now for tomorrow's show & I'm thinking, wow, it would be fun to simply have a bunch of people who love indiepop sit around & pick songs for the show.  What is the most representative of this artist?  That would be fun.  Right now, it's just me & a few animals sleeping behind me.  & I don't think they're really listening.

Bassets

One thing I do on dog walks - & I make sure to ask the owner permission before I do it - is give treats to the dogs who I see on those walks.  At this point, with many years of dog walks under my belt, in several cities, there are dozens of dogs I've made friends with.  It may not be surprising I don't remember their names.

This pair - I don't remember if they were brother & sister - were two bassets who lived in Lexington, Kentucky, in a home behind what initially was a place that specialized in prosthetics but which turned into, right before we moved, a foot & ankle center.  I guess it was a podiatrist's practice?  Anyway, having beagles we are partial to hounds of all kinds & these two were delightfully loud & sweet.  They of course enjoyed treats, & the owners enjoyed the attention we gave them - we had to walk behind the prosthetic/podiatrist place to visit them, as their backyard did not abut the street - & they were often in the backyard with the dogs.

Dang it, I'm frustrated I don't recall their names.  My wife probably does.  I'd ask her but I don't currently know where she is.

Anyway, I took this picture on a summer dog walk seven years ago today, August 28, 2014.  I know there's a chance they are no longer with us, but I am grateful I don't know for sure.  They were very well taken care of, & that's something I don't always see on dog walks.

Everything's Quiet At The Ol' Five & Dime

(Here's a picture of an actual five & dime store.  From here.)

This week's show - next week's show - whatever - is another of my indiepop a to z shows, so I will have no interviews or other stuff, just songs with me talking in-between.  & since it'll be me in the studio, I don't have to record my airbreaks, which means a little less work for me.  I can't tell you how much work it is to record one's airbreaks.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again: yes, I could just record it live as if I were live in the studio but as I listen back I am compelled to edit out mistakes & dumb things I say & all that.  I am incapable of letting it go when I have the ability to change it.  On my first show back on KBOO, me being a little nervous & somewhat unused to being live on the air, I got a call from a listener who laughed & said, "It's great hearing you making all the rookie mistakes! Your recorded shows were too perfect!"

So this week feels like it'll be quiet for me, but since I was raised in a convenience store, thinking about a five & dime store has made me think a little about my past.  I wish I had taken more photos or somehow saved more data because I can't be sure, for example, how much things cost back then.  Let's say forty years ago, in 1981, a time before I was allowed to work in the store (I was 13) but certainly a time when I was behind the counter observing my mother working.  What did things cost?

Here's what I found looking around the webs:

The price of a pack of cigarettes?  Around 65¢.  I do remember them being that cheap.

A candy bar?  Around 25¢.

A can of soda?  Maybe 35¢.
A comic book? I believe 60¢.  They got expensive very quickly; five years before they were half that.

You might be thinking, hey Gary!  What about things like milk, bread, fruit?  Well, it was a convenience store, & those things were usually priced more expensively than at a grocery store.

One site says gas was $1.25 a gallon in 1981, but surely that's a national average.  In Texas, gas didn't seem to rise above a buck a gallon until the late 80s or early 90s.

It's hard to find that information without looking too deeply which is why I wish I had kept some kind of record.  I honestly expected - as I guess we all do about our lives when we're young - that I'd be around the same things for - if not always, at least for most of my life.

Have I mentioned how many independent convenience stores there are in Portland?  That's a discussion for another day, though.

Self Help Radio 082421: Holograms/Catenary Wires Interview

Okay, technically, the Catenary Wires interview isn't an episode of Self Help Radio.  I had the pleasure of talking to Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey - two people who have made some of my most favorite music in the entire world - & the conversation was so enjoyable to me that I interspersed it with their music & it came out to be around 90 minutes long.  If you listen to the show on the KBOO website, that's what happens first.  & the first set of songs below are songs I played during the interview from the couple's various bands.

Then in a truncated version of Self Help Radio, possibly the first ninety-minute-long episode I've done in almost ten years, I play lots of songs just called "Hologram" & a few others about holograms, plus talk to my spiritual mentor & to an artist who has an art collective called "The Holograms."  It goes by way too fast - if you blink, you'll miss it.

Side question: can ears blink?

The show is now at the Self Help Radio website.  For your convenience, here's a direct link to the Holograms show.  & here's a direct link to the Catenary Wires interview.  If you'd prefer to listen to the show at the KBOO website, why, I've already shared that link with you.

I hope you enjoy.  Here's a pic of Amelia & Rob from the Catenary Wires website:

& here are the playlists:

Self Help Radio Catenary Wires Interview

"Talulah Gosh" Talulah Gosh _Backwash_

"I Fell In Love Last Night" Heavenly _I Fell In Love Last Night_

"C Is The Heavenly Option" Heavenly _Le Jardin De Heavenly_

"P.U.N.K Girl" Heavenly _P.U.N.K Girl_

"Itchy Chin" Heavenly _The Decline & Fall Of Heavenly_

"Ben Sherman" Heavenly _Operation Heavenly_

"Hopefulness To Hopelessness" Marine Research _Sounds From The Gulf Stream_

"Oh Katrina" Tender Trap _Film Molecules_

"6 Billion People" Tender Trap _6 Billion People_

"Do You Want A Boyfriend?" Tender Trap _Dansette Dansette_

"Intravenous" The Catenary Wires _Red Red Skies_

"Sixteen Again" The Catenary Wires _Til The Morning_

"Face On The Rail Line" The Catenary Wires _Birling Gap_

"I Sold My Soul On EBay" Swansea Sound _I Sold My Soul On EBay_

"Swansea Sound" Swansea Sound _Swansea Sound_

Self Help Radio Holograms Show

"Hologram" Urinals _Negative Capability...Check It Out!_

"Hologram" Iko _I Am Zero_

"Hologram" Purrbot _Civil Unrest_

introduction & definitions

"Hologram" Katie Herzig _Apple Tree_

"Hologram" These New Puritans _Hidden_

"Hologram" TV Set _Farewell_

"Hologram" The Lennings _Inside_

"Hologram" Lydia Ainsworth _Right From Real_

interview with the Rev Dr Howard Gently

"Hologram" Dirty Ghosts _Let It Pretend_

"Hologram" Yacht _I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler_

"Hologram" Axel Tosca _Axel Tosca_

"Hologram" The Horrors _V_

"Hologram" Tacocat _This Mess Is A Place_

interview with Theophile Jones of the Holograms

"TVC15" David Bowie _Station To Station_

"Gerry & The Holograms" Gerry & The Holograms _7" Up!_

"Dating The Hologram" Ad Frank _The World's Best Ex-Boyfriend_

"Her Hands Were Holograms" Fred Thomas _Kuma_

conclusion & goodbye

"(Un)Happy Hologram" Nits _Knot_

Whither Holograms?

(This is your holographic brain on Self Help Radio.  Image from here.)

Tonight's Self Help Radio will be a trick of the light.  It was also be shorter than usual, & start later.  But why?  Is this because holograms are kind of annoying?  Well, no.  It's because...

Earlier this month I had a chance to talk with Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey of Catenary Wires, & it was a wonderful conversation which spanned their career, which includes Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research, Tender Trap, & concurrently with the Catenary Wires, Swansea Sound.  I will take the opportunity to play songs from the over thirty years (!) they've been making music as well as chat.  That will be the first part of the show.

The second part will be holograms.  Will it be real?  No.  Will it include holographic Tupac?  Sure.

Tonight! Midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO & online at kboo.fm.  Oh no.  I just heard hologram Tupac is double booked.  I guess we'll get the EMH from Star Trek Voyager instead.

Preface To Holograms & The Other Thing: The Other Thing

(image from here)

Okay, yeah, this week's Self Help Radio is going to be about holograms but before the show I am going to spend a little time - probably an hour - talking to & playing music from those two up there.  That's Amelia Fletcher & Rob Pursey & they've been making the kind of music I love for well over thirty years.  I had a chance to talk to them a couple weeks ago & I'll play most of that conversation for the first hour of the three I am given on Tuesday mornings.  They have nothing to do with holograms.  Unless - did I talk to holograms of them?  That can't possibly be!

Me, I have no idea if I am a good interviewer but I one time read or heard someone say you didn't have to be when you're talking to interesting people, & luckily Amelia & Rob had great insights, great stories, & I'll play many of their great songs in-between.  I was a bit amazed I got to talk to them, actually.  But I will keep myself mostly out of it, & play what they said.

& then, you know, my dumb Self Help Radio show, this week apparently about holograms.

Nashville Denial/Eclipse

Today I have two pictures from my past.

This is one of those pictures - it was taken six years ago in Lexington, Kentucky - that might be a hit on the internet if anyone ever saw this blog.  Or maybe not - what does "Nashville Denial" mean anyway?

Obviously, it's the back door of a place called Nashville Dental.  It's apparently a chain of dental offices.  Anyway, I thought it was funny.

& then, on this day four years ago:

There was a partial eclipse of the sun in Fort Worth.  I attempted, with my cheap camera, to capture it, & failed miserably.  Except!  If you look in the top left corner of the photo, you'll see a reflection of the partially eclipsed star.  My camera simply couldn't take all that light - but it did manage to capture a bit of the eclipse after all.  I think that's pretty cool.

Lunch On Film

(A screencap from Welcome To The Dollhouse that I found here.)

This week's show was about lunch, & although he admitted he's not a fan of lunch, our resident cinephile Chuck stopped by to talk about films with feature lunch.  What films?  You can listen to the show (like, I don't know, at the show's website) but also you can visit the following helpful links.

Here's Chuck's Twitter thread about lunch films.

Here's the YouTube playlist of films & other sundries related to lunch in film.

Chuck writes Letterboxd reviews of the films he watched - read them here.

Here's the IMDb list of films available to stream for free elsewhere.

& finally, the keyword searches:

Feature films tagged with "lunch."

Shorts tagged with "lunch."

Though it's way past dinnertime, I'm hungry for some lunch.  Maybe there are some lunch films I can watch while I eat a late post-dinner lunch?

Self Help Radio 081721: Lunch

That photo at the top of this blog was taken from inside my room at my house in Fort Worth, Texas.  We had a lovely oak tree in front, & one day some workers at a nearby house took their lunch under the tree.  I snapped the show, because I completely understood - it was a tree which invited you to have lunch under it.  Had I not lived in the house, I might have done so myself - though now that I no longer live there, I wish I had done it at least once.  It was truly a remarkable old tree.

We had lunch early in the morning (or in the middle of the night, depending on your perspective) this week on Self Help Radio.  Many songs about lunch were played, many aspects of lunch were discussed, & guests talked about power lunches, whether lunch was the most important meal of the day, & lunch in the movies.  As well, the premiere of Vance Chamberlain's three-act radio play happened in the last hour.  One listener suggested that the show was appropriate because I was usually out to lunch.  But as far as I know, no one lost their lunch during the show.

You can listen to the show now & any time at both its own web page at selfhelpradio.net & its own web page at kboo.fm.  As mentioned above, many things happen & many songs are played.  Those are detailed below.  They say there's no such thing as a free lunch - but there is a such thing as a free lunch show - which is this week's Self Help Radio!

Self Help Radio 210817: Lunch

"Happity-Yappity Appetite (The Lunch Time Friend)" Sylvia & Murray Winant _It's Fun To Eat_

"Who's For Lunch Today?" Albert Hammond _The Free Electric Band_

"Lunch" Stella Donnelly _Beware Of The Dogs_

introduction + history of lunch

"I'll Buy You Lunch" Linaire _Linaire_

"Lonely's Lunch" You Say Party! _XXXX_

"The Luncheon" Arlene Golonka & Betty Walker _Bob Booker & George Foster Present: You Don't Have To Be Jewish_

"Merchants Lunch" Red Clay Ramblers _Merchants Lunch_

"Miss Otis Regrets (with the Pogues)" Kirsty MacColl _Galore (The Best Of)_

interview with Hollywood Power Lunch Enthusiast Denver Smith

"Yesterday's Lunch" Lemuria _Get Better_

"Lunchtime Love Affair" The Cartoons _Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town: A Pub Rock Anthology_

"Lunch Lady Land" Adam Sandler _They're All Gonna Laugh At You!_

"Wot's For Lunch Mum? (Not Beans Again!)" The Shapes _Songs For Sensible People_

"Lunch Hour" June Valli _Let's Have A Party (Girls Gone Rockin' Vol. 2)_ 

interview with nutritionist Bart Dinner

"Lunch Time" Gabby Omollo & Omondi Jassor _Lunch Time_

"Lunch Menu" David Price _Lunch Menu Call-In Service_

"Give Your Lunch To A Lemming" Pig Rider _The Robinson Scratch Theory_

"Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner" Kermit Ruffins _Big Easy_

"The Animal Lunch" Caspar Babypants _Hot Dog!_

Chuck stops by to talk about films featuring lunches

"Candy Lunch" Lilly Hiatt _Walking Proof_

"Take An Indian To Lunch (Pilgrim's Progress)" Stan Freberg _Presents The United States Of America, Vol. 1: The Early Years_

"Lunch Box" The Spectors _Beat Is Murder: Cockfights & Cakefights 1992-1996_

"Lunchbox" Mo Phillips _Occasional Yogurt_

"You Only Love Me For My Lunchbox" Asylum Street Spankers _Mommy Says No!_

Vance Chamberlain's "Lunch": Act I

"Lunch In A Bucket" Jimmy Bell _The Songs Of John D. Loudermillk: Sittin' In The Balcony_

"Phil Ochs & Elvis Eating Lunch In Morrison's Cafe" Reg Meuross _Faraway People_

"I Took A Memory To Lunch" Tom T. Hall _100 Children_

"Uni Lunch" Typical Sisters _Love Beam_

"The 3 Martini Lunch" Graham Parker _Live! Alone In America_

"Liquid Lunch" Caro Emerald _The Shocking Miss Emerald_

Vance Chamberlain's "Lunch": Act II

"Don't Let The Record Label Take You Out To Lunch" Jeffrey Lewis _It's The Ones Who've Cracked That The Light Shines Through_

"Lunch Hour" Skip & Flip _It Was I: The Very Best Of Skip & Flip_

"I Need Lunch" Dead Boys _Young Loud & Snotty_

"Lunch" Muckafurgason _Tossing A Friend_

"Lunchline" Yoni & Geti _Testarossa_

Vance Chamberlain's "Lunch": Act III

"Girls Just Want To Have Lunch" Weird Al Yankovic _Dare To Be Stupid_

"Lunchtime (Tin Foil Robots)" The Board Of Education _Central Services Presents The Board Of Education_

"Them Lunch Toters" Mason Williams _Them Poems & Things_

"The Little Lunch Box" George Hamilton IV _Abilene_

"Snappy Lunch" The VW Boys _Snappy Lunch_

conclusion & goodbye

"Summer In My Lunchtime" Bog-Shed _Step On It_

"Cut Lunch" Models _Cut Lunch EP_

"A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch" Dead Kennedys _Frankenchrist_

Whither Lunch?

(Cartoon by Zach whom you can support here.)

Something I wonder - did you know there's been a Self Help Radio show about dinner (that was in 2005!) & also one about breakfast (back in 2010)?  You might ask, why did it take so long to get lunch?  Have you been to lunch in this town?  I mean, pre-pandemic.  You might wait an hour to get your lunch!  Be glad it only took Self Help Radio eleven years to get to lunch!

Sorry if your lunch is cold.  I confess, I can't remember why I wanted to do a show about lunch.  Maybe it was just time?  Maybe it was one of those weird moments where I was struggling to find a new theme & also I was having lunch & I said to myself, "Say! How about a show about lunch?"  That wouldn't surprise me.  If that's how it happened.  I mean, I eat lunch every day.  So it's on my mind a lot.

This is true: I live with a woman who will often talk about what she'll have for lunch the next day while she's eating lunch.  She plans for future meals during present meals.  It's a little unsettling.  When I'm in the middle of lunch, though, I am all about that lunch.  Too bad food isn't allowed at the KBOO studios currently, as I would otherwise totally pack a lunch.

But you can!  Break out the lunch box for tonight's Self Help Radio, all about lunch, on 90.7 fm KBOO, online at kboo.fm!  It's on midnight to 3am which is lunchtime today.  I have so decreed!  Now let's dig in.

Preface To Lunch: A Complicated History Of Lunching

(searching for "terrifying lunchroom," I found this? from here)

Nowadays I find myself a bit amazed by folks who can eat three meals a day - who have something for breakfast, have a nice lunch, & a decent sit-down dinner.  In my adult life, I've left breakfast behind.  I'm either up way too late to have anything resembling a breakfast, or if I do, I'm hungry about an hour afterward & up until lunch.

It wasn't always this way.  I'm sure I had three meals a day (plus snacks) when I was a kid.  I'm not sure they were quality meals - my mother worked at a convenience store near my elementary school & I have memories of her giving us packaged donuts & cinnamon rolls for breakfast - but I did have a breakfast, I'd eat lunch at school, & we'd have some kind of dinner - my mom wasn't much of a cook - but she'd put something in front of us as we watched television around 6:30pm.

Something changed in high school.  I didn't really enjoy the vibe of the lunchroom.  I didn't like waiting in line for mediocre food, I didn't like trying to find some place to eat, I didn't enjoy whatever I might bring.  At this point, I believe I was left to fend for myself, lunch-wise - either my mother gave me money, or instructed me to make my own - & I knew I'd rather spend the money on other things (usually comic books).  So I spent my lunch hours, from tenth grade on, in the library.  Much of this had to do with having fewer friends in tenth grade, & sadly almost none of it had to do with the racist mural in our lunchroom.

When did I eat?  I think I might have had something for breakfast, & something when I got home, right after school.  It became second nature, I almost never expected to have lunch when I was in high school.  Once I started working, I would eat after school whenever I was hungry, & usually fast food.  I am pretty sure that I got my own meals at some point most of the time after eleventh grade.  The transition to college was pretty easy because I had fended for myself for so long.  Fent for myself?  It seems like the past tense of fend should be fent.  Anyway.

In my adulthood, I gave up breakfast, mostly, altogether.  Occasionally I'd have breakfast with someone, but left to my own devices, I simply waited for lunch.  When I was a smoker, I'd usually have a cigarette or two to start the day - I understood the charm of a cup of coffee & a cigarette even if I never had coffee.  I was always running too late for work or whatever to get something & - this is crucial - the woman I've lived with for almost twenty years now doesn't eat breakfast either.

Mostly though breakfast is either too heavy & makes me want to sleep right afterwards, or it's too light & I'm hungry all the way through to lunch.  My body must be dumb - if I don't eat breakfast, I don't feel hungry until right before lunch.  Not if I have breakfast!

So we celebrate lunch this week.  But why?  Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow.