Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 2

As I mentioned yesterday, I take a lot of pictures of pumpkins around the Halloween time when people have pumpkins out.  They're a very photogenic fruit.  But!  I forgot to mention yesterday the reason why I am doing this is because the Halloween show this year will be about pumpkins!  Please enjoy three pictures below I took of pumpkins when I was living in Texas from 2016-2019.

As an aside, this last one has made me a bit sentimental - it was taken at the Dallas Arboretum on a visit with my mother, who we lost last year.  It makes me a bit sad to know we'll never stroll around that place anymore together - not the least because she loved it quite a bit.

Lotsa Pictures Of Pumpkins # 1

It's true, when they're out, I take lots of pictures of pumpkins.  Here are some from when I lived in Kentucky.

Self Help Radio 101921: Radar

(Original image here.*)

It was almost certainly off your radar this week, but Self Help Radio's show about radars might've been a steady blip in some listening situations from midnight to 3am Tuesday morning.  Despite its subject matter, it didn't locate any enemy aircraft, missiles, submarines, or ships; it didn't indicate any weather systems or changes in environment; it didn't communicate successfully with extraterrestrial life; & it certainly didn't give anyone any speeding tickets.  It just played lots of songs & talked about radar, talked to a couple of guests, featured a disastrous in-studio performance of a pop song, & was generally happy to continue live in the KBOO studios in the middle of the night.

You can listen to the radar show in two places: at the KBOO website & at the Self Help Radio website.  If you use the second link, be prepared to supply a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  You won't need one on the KBOO website.  All the things that happen on the show are noted below.

The things that are on this show's radar are quite ridiculous, yes, we are aware.

Self Help Radio Radar Show

"Radar" Link Wray & The Wraymen _Link Wray & The Wraymen_

"Radar" J.B. Hutto & The New Hawks _Rock With Me Tonight_

"Radar" Gruppo Sportivo _Sombrero Times_

introduction & definitions (feat. the Definition-O-Tron 3000)

"Radar" The Legendary Stardust Cowboy _Rock-It To Stardom_

"Radar" Laurie Anderson _Home Of The Brave_

"Radar" Morphine _Yes_

"Radar" Comet Gain _Tigertown Pictures_

"Radar" Beautiful Assassins _Preamp_

interview with archaeologist Dr. Renate Phelps

"Radar" Catherine Feeny _Hurricane Glass_

"Radar" The Transmissionary Six _Radar_

"Radar" Riz MC _Microscope_

"Radar" Moving Panoramas _One_

"Radar" Teen _Good Fruit_

interview with inventor Giorgio Rasp

"Radar Love" Centerfold _Radar Love_

"Radar Blues" Big Joe Turner _The Swing Time Records Story_

"Radar Blues" Chris Connor _Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection_

"Radar Blues" The Holy Modal Rounders _Indian War Whoop_

"On My Radar" John Tirado _Slow-Motion Party_

a brief history of radar a live performance cover of Britney Spears' "Radar" by Captain McCheese

"Radar" Mr. Bear & His Bearcats _Hot Rods & Custom Classics_

"Radar Gun" The Bottle Rockets _The Brooklyn Side_

"Radar Detector" Darwin Deez _Darwin Deez_

"Funky Radar" The Weathermen _Global 851_

"Music Is My Radar" Blur _The Best Of_

a brief history of radar

"Radar In My Heart" Bill Nelson's Red Noise _Sound On Sound_

"Radar Man" Halmens _Halmens No Kindaitaiso_

"Radar Eyes" Sic Kidz _Teenage Obsessions 1978-84 Recordings_

"The London Radar" Cornershop _Handcream For A Generation_

"Elmer W. Litzinger, Spy: Yukon Radar" Bob & Ray _The Very Best Of Bob & Ray, Vol. 1_

"Radar Follows You" Versus _Two Cents Plus Tax_

idioms with radar

"Underneath The Radar" Underworld _Underneath The Radar_

"Living Under The Radar" Asian Dub Foundation _Punkara_

"Under The Radar" The Vibrators _Under The Radar_

"Under Radar" The Mendoza Line _Lost In Revelry_

"Under The Radar" Nah... _Nah..._

conclusion & goodbye

"Contrapuntal Interstellar Radars" Conrad Schnitzler _Space Box - 1970 & Beyond (Space, Krautrock & Acid Trips)_

"Radar Receiver" Solvent _Apples & Synthesizers_

"Radar" Hauschka _Salon Des Amateurs_

* "Radar" by BenFrantzDale is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Whither Radar?

(image from here.)

The normal way for me to think of a theme starts with coincidence.  I notice a particular theme recurs in the music I'm listening to.  My brain says, "That might be fun to do a radio show about."

Next I visit the list of themes I've explored on the Self Help Radio website.  Nine times out of ten I discover I've already covered that theme.  It's surprising what one forgets.  Sometimes I even forget to check if I've done the theme already.

There's another step I've recently added, which is this one: is the theme so general it would take me way too long to sort through all the songs that fit the theme?  It's why I don't do themes like "cars" or "rain" - I would have hundreds of songs to listen to, & I don't have the time for that.  A corollary to this step is the opposite: are there enough songs for the theme?  I recently rejected what would've been a fun theme because I found maybe ten songs that worked for it.  & I just didn't feel I could find many more.

Once I've decided on a theme, I start gathering songs.  When I feel I have a critical mass of songs, I schedule it (put it on the website) & I start thinking about the show.  Oftentimes, like this week, I have enough songs for a decent two-hour show & then I recall, "Oh shit! I have a three-hour show!"  In that case I do as I did yesterday, set aside some time to find other songs that fit the theme that I like.

It's a misconception that I play whatever songs I find for the theme as long as it fits the theme.  You may not like the stuff I play on the show but I only play music I like.  It's the truth!  It's easy to find enough songs to fit any theme if you just play all the songs that fit the theme.  But it's my show.  I'm gonna play the stuff I wanna listen to.

This week those songs are about radar.  & the show will happen tonight (!) from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO Portland & online at the same time at kboo.fm.  & yep, I'll be live in the KBOO studios.

You won't need radar to find me tonight, although feel free to use radar all through the show!

Preface To Radar: O'Reilly

(image from IMDb)

It's impossible to say the word "radar" in American culture without invoking two things - & I'll completely understand if this is not the case for millennials or later - one of these is the song "Radar Love" by Golden Earring, & the other is the character of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H.

As a kid, I was inordinately fond of Radar.  You might never guess why.  I didn't possess his seeming telepathic gift to anticipate what someone wanted.  I wasn't very naïve though I was quite shy.  & I really wasn't a sheltered child.  My fondness for animals wouldn't really develop till later, when I was around more of them, though I did envy his menagerie.  None of these reasons were why I liked Radar.  The reason I liked him was kinda dumb: I knew his real name was Gary.

Gary Burghoff portrayed Radar O'Reilly & I knew this because I read credits.  When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader of everything including words on a TV screen & I loved to connect the actor to the name.  & here was someone on television with the same name as me.

& listen, then as now, Gary wasn't a popular name.  I have known only a handful of other Garys in my life.  When I was in elementary school, teachers & other kids were so unfamiliar with the name that I was often called "Greg."  It just made sense that I'd glom onto any other Gary out there.  It really did help that he was such a sweet character.  If other kids had wanted to call me "Radar," I wouldn't have minded.  But I had so few friends, I never even had a nickname.

There's one weird memory I have of the show.  On one touching episode, which must've aired when I was just seven or eight years old, Radar's family in - is it Iowa? - send him a film from home.  The main characters watch it, & Gary Burghoff dons a dress to play his own mother.  A child's mind works in weird ways, & mine was somewhat freaked out by the fact that Radar's mother looked so much like him.  I remember staring at my own mother, who was watching with me, & thinking, "When I get older, will I look like her?"

Yes, there'll be Radar O'Reilly content on the show tomorrow.  As well as "Radar Love."  How could there not be?  Sorry, millennials.

Handsome Chair

This picture was taken on this day five years ago, doubtless in Fort Worth, Texas.  I titled it, "Handsome Chair."

What else do you want from me today?

A Couple Of Books About Eggs

(both images from Goodreads)

On this week's show, our favorite librarian Carole came by to talk about two books about eggs.  You can see the images above.  I will tell you what they are:

Egg: Nature's Perfect Package by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page - this book is full of facts & seems like lots of fun.

What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward & Susie Ghahremani - this book is for people much, much younger than I am but made me wish books for old people were as interactive.

Carole is a children's librarian but I'm a bit immature so I'm glad she shares books with us no matter how old the audience is supposed to be.  Check them out!  You may find you like them.

Self Help Radio 101221: Eggs

The photo above, of painted easter eggs, was taken by me earlier this year.  The eggs were actual eggs, uncooked, decorated by a neighbor of ours, & his children, when they were young. They're grown up & have kids - the neighbor's children I mean - so the eggs are decades old.  What was in them - they were store bought, so unfertilized - I'm talking about the eggs now - what was in them just seemed to go away without leaving the eggs spoiled.  Perhaps the paint helped.

This week's Self Help Radio is full of some gaudily painted & hopefully well-preserved eggs - well, songs about eggs, anyway - as well as lots of interviews of an eggish nature.  & mostly free range!  Books & movies about eggs, games featuring eggs, the nutritional value of eggs, & even a theater that came from eggs - the show had guests who discussed these things.

You can listen when you'd like (we really do hope it doesn't spoil) at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website.  If you are using the latter link, make sure you know you need a username (try SHR) & a password (selfhelp).  The show is three hours long, so pace yourself.  Everything that happens is listed below.

& yes, I managed to make it through this whole post without a single egg pun.  You might think that makes me a good egg, but I think after all this egg content, I'm a bit shell-shocked.

Self Help Radio Egg Show

"Eggs" Martin Mull _Martin Mull_

"Egg" The Garden _Haha_

"Eggs & Their Shells" Cocteau Twins _Echoes In A Shallow Bay_

introduction & definitions

"Temptation Of Egg" Giant Sand _Chore Of Enchantment_

"The Little Black Egg" The Nightcrawlers _Nuggets (Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968)_

"Chicken Or Egg?" Space Ghost _Yeah, Whatever..._

"The Egg Or The Hen" Hot Lips Page _1946-1950_

"Goose Eggs" Joanna Newsom _Divers_

our librarian friend Carole stops by to talk about eggy books

"Ham & Eggs" Skip Manning _Koko-Mojo Diner Volume 3 Southern Menu_

"Ham & Eggs" A Tribe Called Quest _People's Instinctive Travels & The Paths Of Rhythm_

"Green Eggs & Ham" Marvin Miller _Fox In Socks/Green Eggs & Ham_

"Hash & Eggs" The Blackbyrds _City Life_

"Eggs & Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson)" Tom Waits _Nighthawks At The Diner_

interview with Self Help Radio nutritionist Professor Food

"Humpty Dumpty" The Beagles _Here Come The Beagles_

"Humpty Dumpty Heart" Hank Thompson _The History Of Country & Western Music_

"The Death Of Humpty Dumpty" George Carlin _When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?_

"Bad Egg" UV Race _Racism_

"Rotten Eggs" Bait Bag _Consider This A Warning_

interview with Nathaniel Marm of the Egg Theater Company

"I'm A Poached Egg (Without Toast)" Ella Fitzgerald _Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles Volume 1_

"Hard Boiled Eggs" Laurel & Hardy _Legends Of The 20th Century_

"Music To Boil An Egg" The Wibbley Brothers _Go Weird_

"Scrambled Eggs" Ed's Redeeming Qualities _At The Fish & Game Club_

"Egg Cream" Lou Reed _Set The Twilight Reeling_

interview with puzzle & game maker Leonard Burly

"I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket (with Johnny Green & His Orchestra)" Fred Astaire _The Essential Fred Astaire_

"Egg Money" Johnny Horton _The Early Years_

"Egg Eatin' Dog" Homer & Jethro _The Old Crusty Minstrels_

"The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg" The Parliaments _Testifyin: The Mid 60's Detroit Sessions_

"The Duck Egg Walk" Milford Perkins _The American Song-Poem Anthology: Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood & Brush?_

"Eggbert, The Easter Egg" Rosemary Clooney _Easter Bunny Hop_

another installment of Chuck's Happily Unsophisticated Cinema Korner featuring Chuck

"Walk Like An Egg" The Dickies _The Incredible Shrinking Dickies_

"Eggs On Plate" Iggy Pop _Party_

"Sperm Meets Egg, So What?" Heavenly _The Decline & Fall Of Heavenly_

"I Live Inside An Egg" James Pants _Seven Seals_

"Use Me For Your Eggs" The Growlers _Hung At Heart_

"Frozen Egg" Lame Drivers _Chosen Era_

conclusion & goodbye

"Walking On Eggs" The Ground Floor People _Trash Box_

"Walkin' On Eggshells" Courtney Barnett _Tell Me How You Really Feel_

"Eggshell World" RVG _A Quality Of Mercy_

"Egg Song" Loch Lomond _Little Me Will Start A Storm_

"Cook A Farm Fresh Egg" Mo Douglas _Society Women Go Slumming_

Whither Eggs?

In case you didn't know, I do another show, on Freeform Portland, called The Dickenbock Report.  It's very much like Self Help Radio, except there are no interviews, but each show is mostly thematic.  Like last week, the show aired on Bathtub Day, so there were songs about bathtubs & bathing.  I bring this up not to plug another show, but because someone who is aware that I do both shows told me that they preferred the Dickenbock Report to Self Help Radio because "it makes more sense."

It was her way of telling me that she understood why I would play, on the radio, on October 7, which is Bathtub Day, a show about bathtubs.  What she couldn't figure out is why on October 12 I would do a show about eggs.  Is it National Egg Day?  It isn't.  So why?

When I explain that at some point I was listening to some songs & it occurred to me that a show about eggs might be fun (it helped that I knew I could find three hours of music about eggs), she said, "See?  That just doesn't make sense."  Then she added, "Why not tell everyone it's National Egg Day?  No one will ever look it up"

Okay.  I'll give it a shot.  To celebrate National Egg Day*, Self Help Radio presents tonight a show about eggs.  That's midnight to 3am on 90.7fm KBOO Portland & simulcast online at kboo.fm.  Not only will there be plenty of songs of great egg-cellence, but I'll also speak to a lot of eggs-perts about egg-related matters.  If that doesn't yolk you in, I don't know what will!

*I looked it up.  Apparently National Egg Day is actually June 3rd.  Maybe the Dickenbock Report will air on that day next year & I can reuse some of the songs!

Preface To Eggs: The Chicken & The Egg

(Image from here.)

The picture is from this article which suggest there's a controversy about that question, which came first, the chicken or the egg?  I confess being a bit puzzled by that many years ago when I was young.  Thinking I didn't have the knowledge or brain power to suss it out, & hearing dumb arguments mostly, I put it out of my mind & would only hear it in passing or in songs (like this one, which I must've heard while very, very young).

Some time later, I happened to see a documentary or an interview on television with a biologist.  I don't remember who it was, whether he was famous or not, but someone posed the question to him.  His response was dismissive.  He said, "Eggs evolved millions of years before chickens did."

But the most I looked into it, the more I discovered that people wanted me nuance & focus.  This article on science.org.au seems to have put it best for me.  It concludes, "At the end of the day, the question is something of a false dichotomy. Eggs certainly came before chickens, but chicken eggs did not - you can't have one without the other. However, if we absolutely had to pick a side, based on the evolutionary evidence, we're on Team Egg."

Me too!  Not such a silly riddle after all.

Our Fort Worth House

Here are pictures of the house we purchased about five years ago this month in Fort Worth, Texas, before we moved in but after my wife had it gutted:

If you want more information about the place, you can read what I wrote about it here.  I don't have my wife's vision but by this time I trusted her.  It was a good house with good neighbors that was unfortunately in Fort Worth, Texas.  & if it's not entirely clear, I took these pictures five years ago, on October 9, 2016.  That's why I'm sharing them now.

RIP Jazz Butcher

(image from Discogs)

It was sad to hear earlier this week of the death of Pat Fish, the jangle pop mastermind behind the Jazz Butcher records.  He was a very witty man who wrote insanely catchy tunes & I lamented on Facebook that, since he wasn't more conventionally successful, he'd probably be ignored by the sort of press who would write about musicians who at least had a hit or two.  Outside of the UK indie charts, I don't imagine the Jazz Butcher made much of a dent in the regular musical world.

My first memory, weirdly enough, of the Jazz Butcher, involved three people younger than I was who were also more in the know about (what wasn't then called) indie music.  They were named Carla, Stephanie, & Clark.  Stephanie was in my grade in high school, a tall, thin brunette of unquestionable beauty who was kind to me despite me being a dumb, fat, know-it-all dork.  Carla was maybe her best friend, not as pretty as Stephanie, but certainly striking; she could easily have been the lead in a John Hughes film.  Clark was cute I guess - I never know these things about boys - he seemed even dorkier than I was but with obviously more confidence.  Clark was younger than Stephanie but they were dating.  Oh yeah & Clark was a musician.

Stephanie was in Austin when I was in college, but a friend of mine had a crush on her, & reacted very badly whenever I talked about spending time with her, so I kind of backed off.  This friend was of course an asshole & I regret being considerate of his feelings, but anyway, I never really became friends with Stephanie but I'm sure Stephanie is fine.  I lost track of Carla & Clark but I remember a conversation when one of the two - Stephanie or Clark - was making fun of Carla & one of them said, "She likes the Jazz Butcher."

Indeed I sussed it out that it was a musician/band but didn't discover much until I found, used, a couple years later, the Creation Records Doin' It For The Kids compilation.  It was one of those rare compilations in which I loved every damn song on it, & the Jazz Butcher song in particular made me search out the band's work.  I found the album above, & play it till it skipped.

As is usually the case, as I sat to write this, I found that someone else has said what I meant to say better than I could.  On the Jazz Butcher web site, the Memoriam page, I found this article from a fan which contains much of what I wanted to say here.  He does mention a live show him in New York, & I am sad I never got a chance to see him.  But maybe I just didn't try hard enough.

Pat Fish was just 64 & that's too young to die.  It just is.  I wish I had played him more on the radio, I wish I had had a chance to see him, I wish I had spent more money on his records.  But I am so glad I heard his music & I am so glad he made it.  & I hope at some point you get to hear it too.

Self Help Radio 100521: Sunlight (The 19th Anniversary Show)

On Self Help Radio's anniversaries, we revisit an old theme.  Nearly nineteen years ago, on October 9, 2002, Self Help Radio premiered on KBOO.  It was two in the afternoon.  Maybe it was a sunny day.  The theme we revisited this week however happened in 2005, on June 25 of that year, on an exceptionally sunny day in Austin.  It was "sunlight," & to me it never felt like I put enough time into it.  Maybe because I stupidly forgot the Lloyd Cole song "So You'd Like To Save The World."  I mean, c'mon!  He sings "sunlight" like a dozen times!

That mistake has been corrected while doubtless other have cropped up.  Many guests appear (you can see who & when below) & I even share with you some audio from that 2005 show.  I share quite a bit of it, actually.  It was a strange thing to listen to.  I have probably not heard it before - & I certainly have no memory of the actual show.  Though it did make me a bit nostalgic for that filthy old studio on the third floor of the tenement at 5th & San Jacinto in Austin.  I am lucky I never got tetanus there, but I miss it all the same.

Listen to the show at the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website.  If you use the latter, pay attention to password information on the site.  Unlike actual sunlight, this show will neither make you tan nor light your way.  It's just audio & stuff.

Self Help Radio Sunlight/19th Anniversary Show
"Sunlight" The Youngbloods _Elephant Mountain_
"Sunlight" Partly Cloudy _Excess Verbiage_
"Sunlight" Eric's Trip _Love Tara_

introduction & definitions

"Sunlight" Maggie Reilly _Midnight Sun_
"Sunlight" Butch Helemano _Still In The Hood_
"Sunlight" The Arthurs _Walking In The Sunlight_
"Sunlight" Me 3 _The Thin King_
"Sunlight" Harlem Shakes _Technicolor Health_

interview with sunlight composer Wolfgang Schroeder

"Sunlight" The One AM Radio _Heaven Is Attached By A Slender Thread_
"Sunlight" Seapony _Falling_
"Sunlight" The Brand New Heavies _Forward_
"Sunlight" Herbie Hancock _Sunlight_

interview with sunlight therapist Dr. Simon French

"Sunlight" Labryyynth _Labryyynth_
"Sunlight" John Doe _The Westerner_
"Sunlight" My Favourite Things _Fly I Will, Because I Can_
"Sunlight" Candace _New Ruins_
"Sunlight Satin" The Proctors _Summer Lane 1993-1997_

interview with sunlight opponent Dr. Edgar Sweet

"Walking In The Sunlight" Dixie Sacred Singers _Uncle Dave Macon: Classic Sides 1924-1938_
"Silent Sunlight" Cat Stevens _Catch Bull At Four_
"Sweet Sunlight" Shelagh McDonald _Stargazer_
"Sunlight In A Jar" The Lucksmiths _Warmer Corners_
"So You'd Like To Save The World" Lloyd Cole _Bad Vibes_

interview with LA comedian Denver Smith

"Tell Me In The Sunlight" Margie Day _Girls Go Zonk_
"Livin' In The Sunlight, Lovin' In The Moonlight" Tiny Tim _God Bless Tiny Tim_
"Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow" Felt _The Strange Idols Pattern & Other Short Stories_
"Working Girls (Sunlight Shines)" Pernice Brothers _The World Won't End_
"Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight" Rilo Kiley _The Execution Of All Things_
"No Sunlight" Death Cab For Cutie _Narrow Stairs_

Gary shares a voicemail from his grandparents

"A Little Bit Of Sunlight" The Majority _The Decca Years 1965-68_
"Under The Sunlight" The Hard Times _Blew Mind_
"Have You Seen The Sunlight?" Ronnie Davis _The Incredible Ronnie Davis Sings For You & I_
"Sunlight Bathes Our Home" Clinic _Walking With Thee_
"Sunlight Yellow" Clams _Sakura River_

conclusion & goodbye

"Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid" Elefant _Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid_
"Mrs. Sunlight" Nits _Doing The Dishes_

Whither Sunlight?

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

Tonight's Self Help Radio has kind of two themes - one of them, sunlight, is a theme I first explored over sixteen years ago, in 2005.  (You can look at the playlist here.)  But since this is the show's anniversary week (the first Self Help Radio aired in Austin on October 9, 2002), I am revisiting an old theme, & that's the one I've chosen for this anniversary.  But!  I have discovered an old, moldy recording of that show & so I'll be playing some choice, embarrassing airbreaks from sixteen years ago as well.

Plus!  I'll talk to a composer who performs sunlight symphonies!  & a doctor who has developed sunlight therapy!  & another doctor who warns of the perils of sunlight!  & my friend Denver, who may or may not have been there at the beginning, will stop by to chat.  It's quite the show, befitting the nineteenth anniversary status!

Listen from midnight to 3am on 90.7 fm KBOO Portland or online at kboo.fm.  The first time I did a show about sunlight, the sun was shining.  Might it also happen tonight?!?!

Preface To Sunlight: Nineteen Years

(Image from here.)

October 9, 2002, was a Wednesday.  This is a story I've told before, on this blog, too, but I'll tell it again.  I finally got a show on KOOP, after two years of volunteering.  It had been a long wait, & although I got to sub several shows, I missed doing a regular show.  I hadn't had a regular radio show since 1999.

The first slot was Fridays at 9am.  I loved it - I could come do the show, I could go to work, & I stayed late at work some days anyway.  I cleared it with my boss.  I was excited, I did a couple of shows at that slot (sadly, during a Pledge Drive, & I got zero bucks), but I felt like it was a warm-up - I hadn't even thought of a name yet!

But then I got a phone call from a KOOP programmer named Danny.  He had been given a slot, on a Wednesday afternoon, but to do the show, he was taking vacation time from work.  Apparently he too could go in late on Fridays, but he couldn't get off Wednesday afternoons.  I wasn't sure I could, but I thought I'd check - the boss didn't mind me leaving in the middle of the day to do the show if I came back & stayed late.  It was nice I could do that.

There was a Programming Committee meeting when this arrangement was decided & I attended & it turned out there was a stray hour before or after my show.  I guess it was my suggestion - I'm not sure - it was decided the hour before my show would be what we called a "pilot show" for people who had just been trained to have an hour to show us what sort of show they would do.  Ever the helpful person, I agreed to oversee it, although I was to coordinate with another programmer for Spanish-language shows.  This caused some KOOP people to refer to the hour that I helped oversee as the "Anglo" Pilot Show, which I'm sure made programmers who weren't white - we had Asian- & African-Americans come to do shows as well - feel a bit weird.  But that was KOOP.

My first show - on that Wednesday, October 9, 2002 - I didn't have time schedule someone for the 2-3pm hour, the Pilot Show.  So I did it.  I played songs of greeting, I called it "the hello show."  It was technically Self Help Radio's first theme - although of course, it wasn't Self Help Radio.  Yeah, I had come up with that name by now.

Self Help Radio aired at 3pm & the first official theme was "war."  A year after 9/11/2001, the Republicans in power were looking for ways to invade Iraq, & had already begun to invent reasons to do so.  War was on my mind like everyone else.  I think I have a recording of the show, on cassette, but it hasn't been digitized, so I haven't listened to it - probably ever.

One thing I did do was save a CD of all the songs I played & I bought a little CD booklet in which to save my shows.  I really didn't expect I'd be doing the show for long.  I don't know why I thought that, but I felt I'd do something else at some point.  Maybe I wish I'd saved records of my shows at KVRX.  I don't know.  I certainly didn't think I'd be doing Self Help Radio nineteen years later!  & two thousand miles away!

Sunlight On Wall

Sunlight is not an easy thing to photograph.  As this week's show is about sunlight, I looked into my own photos to see if I had tried to take a picture of it.  I did this primarily by looking at what I titled the photos.  This is one of two I found.  I called it "Sunlight On Wall" & I took it December 31, 2016.  This means I was in Texas, but I have no idea where exactly the picture was taken.

The other picture I intend to use for the image associated with the show, but it's equally bad at capturing sunlight.  Maybe I should try to take some sunlight pictures in the next couple of days for the purposes of the show?  I think it may be sunny today...

The Door To Movies

(image from IMDb)

This week's Self Help Radio was about doors, & our resident cinephile Chuck stopped by to talk to us about some doorsy movies.  Or as he put it, "Films on the list are tagged on IMDb with 'door,' films with songs by The Doors (not necessarily performed by), & films tagged with 'trapdoor.'"

Here are the relevant links:

Chuck's Twitter Feed
The YouTube playlist
Reviews By Chuck Of The Films He Watched*
IMDb List Of Films Available To Stream For Free Elsewhere
& finally, the IMDb searches: for door, for The Doors**, & for trapdoor.

As always, here's hoping there's something you find here that you enjoy.  Who knows?  A door to whole other kind of movie might be opening for you!

* Chuck notes that "there are separate tags for trapdoor and The Doors but all have this tag."

** This is just Jim Morrison's IMDb page.

Self Help Radio 092821: Doors

One of the perils of a radio show about a subject like "doors" is that someone might think it's a show about The Doors.  It's not, although there is some The Doors content, but way more doors content.  I suppose I'd have the same trouble if I did a show about the police or perhaps even about cars.  Cars?  Or The Cars?  Oh for pete's sake!

Self Help Radio this week knocked on doors, it went through doors, it closed doors, it went around to the back door, it opened doors, it went next door, it even watched closing doors.  In the process (as you'll see below) we also spoke with a doorman, with a next-door neighbor, & with a former fan of the Doors (see! The Doors content!).  As well, our friend Chuck stopped by to talk about films with doors prominently featured.  All this & lots of music & a lot of pleas for helping KBOO in our Fall Membership Drive.  You can do so by click that link!

You can listen to the show about both the KBOO Self Help Radio page & at the Self Help Radio website (where you'll need the username SHR & the password selfhelp).  What happens on the show is below.  Don't close the door!  But do knock first.

Self Help Radio Doors Show
"There He Is (At My Door)" The Vells _The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 2: 1962_
"Open The Door, Richard" Jack McVea & His All-Stars _Rarely Was Honkin' Sax So Much Fun_
"Knock On Any Door" Beat Happening _Music To Climb The Apple Tree By_

introduction & definitions

"Doors Of Your Heart " The English Beat _Wha'ppen_
"Banging The Door" Public Image Ltd. _The Flowers Of Romance_
"Door Deal" Mitch Hedberg _Do You Believe In Gosh?_
"Behind Closed Doors" Jackie Moore _You Better Believe It! Vol. 2 (Rare & Modern Soul Gems From The Vaults Of Atco, Atlantic, Cotillion, & Warner Bros. 1967-1979)_
"The Door" Tammy Allen _Glad I'm A Girl_

interview with doorman Ray Chopper

"The Doorman" Mandolin Orange _This Side Of Jordan_
"Open The Door, Homer" Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians _The Kershaw Sessions_
"Front Door/Backside" Brak _Space Ghost's Surf & Turf_
"Open The Door To Your Heart" Betty Wright _Explosion_
"Watch The Closing Doors" I.R.T. (Interboro Rhythm Team) _Watch The Closing Doors_

interview with my neighbor Stephen

"Next Door Neighbour" Leon & Owen Silveras _Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set_
"The Boy Next Door" Bettye Swann _The Complete Atlantic Recordings_
"The Music Next Door" The Lucksmiths _Warmer Corners_
"Bob & Ray's Overstocked Warehouse: Door Chimes" Bob & Ray _Classic Bob & Ray: Volume 1_
"Collapsing At Your Doorstep" Air France _No Way Down_

interview with Morrison Watson, former head of the Danville Doors Fan Club

"Doors" Bruce McCulloch _Shame-Based Man_
"Back Door Man" The Doors _The Doors_
"Open Up The Back Door" The Midnighters _Sexy Ways: The Best Of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters_
"Open The Door" Betty Carter _Inside Betty Carter_
"I Come & Stand At Every Door" This Mortal Coil _Blood_

Chuck stops by to talk about films featuring doors, songs by the Doors, & trap doors

"Trap Door" Stars _No One Is Lost_
"Let My Love Open The Door" Rogue Wave _Cover Me_
"The Enchanted Door" Joan Gerber _The Story Lady_
"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" Booker T. Jones _How Many Roads (Black America Sings Bob Dylan)_
"River, Stay Away From My Door" Paul Robeson _Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? (Great American Songs Of The Depression)_
"White Stone Door" The Mekons _Natural_

idioms with 'door'!

"Green Door" The Cramps _Psychedelic Jungle_
"The Red Door" The Aislers Set _The Last Match_
"Doorframe" The Mantles _All Odds End_
"Walk Out The Door If You Wanna" Yvonne Fair _The Bitch Is Black_
"I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself) (Part I)" James Brown _Star Time_

conclusion & goodbye

"My Door Is Never" The Fall _Reformation Post TLC_
"Ghosts In Doorways" Cleaners From Venus _In The Golden Autumn_
"Painting The Foors" Lisa Germano _Magic Neighbor_
"Don't Die On My Doorstep" Felt _The Pictorial Jackson Review_

Whither Doors?

This is something I just did: I counted the doors in my house.  I counted ten doors, including one garage, one sliding glass, & one pocket.  I did not count any cabinet, appliance, or closet doors.  That would run into the many dozens.  & just realizing how many doors one has in one's life is kind of mind-blowing.

The thing is, there are hardly any songs about cabinet doors or closet doors.  The major doors - the ones that let us in from outside & vice-versa - are the ones musicians sing about - or at least using those doors as metaphors.  & as such those are the doors about which you'll hear in song on tonight's show.

Plus!  I'll talk to a doorman, a next-door neighbor, & a fan of the Doors.  & we'll talk about movies featuring doors as well.  Can I tell you I listened to literally hundreds of songs for this show?  I'm a little doored out, actually.  But.  I'll gather my strength for tonight's show.

Midnight to 3am on 90.7fm KBOO Portland, kboo.fm online.  Don't worry about knocking, just come right in!

Preface To Doors: A Reiteration Of Policy

(I don't know where I found this but it's brilliant.)

No one really calls & makes requests in Portland, so I haven't had to deal with this, but when I first started Self Help Radio, it was very common for someone to request something by a band that was named after a theme rather than a song.  For example, I once did a Halloween show about zombies, & someone would call & recommend the Zombies.  I would say, "Do they have any songs about zombies?"

There's no real reason for this - I dunno, would you call it a policy?  It just always felt a little like cheating to me.  So if a band matched the theme, I wouldn't play them unless they had a song that fit the theme, like every other band or musician on the show.

That's a somewhat long-winded way of saying, you probably won't hear any songs by the band The Doors unless they have a song that somehow involves doors.  Most bands don't really do that - it seems somewhat precious.  But don't put that sort of thing past Mr. Jim Morrison.

Actually, I was going to take a moment to sort of express how I feel about the Doors, but I know you don't care, so I'll just say my favorite Doors song is probably "Love Her Madly."  I just love the part when he sings "All your love is gone."  Gets me every time.