Bolan's Meows

Here at SHR HQ I continue to be sad about our recent loss. The complete horror of peripheral vision means I see my lovely old black cat regularly out of the corner of my eye, & the deceptive shadows make me see him in the places he frequented.

Thinking about the old man, I remembered a recording of him.  At this point, I'm not sure what I can legally tell you about a project that began back in Lexington.  But what I can say is:

The head of a business had been listening to my radio show. He asked if there were some way I could contribute to his company. We settled on this odd idea that, should someone call the company & be put on hold, they'd hear weirdo recordings that I had made.

Thinking about that noisy cat, I remembered that Bolan's very insistent meows made an appearance.  I have uploaded that spot (with the company's name edited out, since I am not sure about my legal situation here) which, it makes me happy to admit, people calling the company, & put on hold, would have heard.  I know this because after I moved to Texas, a former RFL person wrote to me & said, "I was on hold with the company for some time & had to listen to your nonsense!"

Please click here to listen to the spot which prominently features Bolan.

The original recording of my sweet old cat was probably five minutes long, but I obviously truncated it for the bit. I don't have a specific memory of how it came about but I expect he was moving around my legs, trying to get me to feed him or pay attention to him, & I held the phone recording him as he did.

He is so greatly missed.  I wish I were doing better but I am not.

Bolan

Hey beautiful black cat. I guess it's time to say goodbye to you. I hope you had a fantastic life. I know my life is all the more fantastic because you were in it.

I wasn't there to meet you that summer's day in 2006 when your mother called & told me "I found a black kitten with no whiskers!"  You were at the vet clinic & the vets knew that she had wanted a black kitten & also that she studied whiskers.  She said, "Can we adopt him?" & I never could say no to her.  She introduced us when she picked me up at work.

You joined a household with two other cats & two dogs.  You were such a bundle of energy that we honestly didn't quite know what to do with you. I decided to name you "Bolan" because it seemed like you were born to boogie.

Fortunately you did have a cat to teach you how to cat - your brother Buster.

But we always did say you were as cool as you were because you were raised by dogs.  Lazy beagle dogs.

Not that I didn't adore you, but I knew you were your mother's cat. She picked you, after all. She loved you & you reciprocated. It was cute & sickening.

You were so busy growing up that you probably didn't notice how much fun you were to have around. Certainly it was an adventure - you would spend the nights killing the giant cockroaches that wandered into our house & leaving their crunchy carcasses for me to step on - barefoot - in the mornings.  Magda wanted a small cat but you got big - at your tubbiest you weighed 23 pounds!  But you were mainly a cuddler - you even cuddled with your sister Beatrice, who didn't generally like to be cuddled.

& though you would spend the entire drive meowing non-stop, you traveled with us from Austin to West Virginia.  & there, in August of 2009, the best thing in the world that could have ever happened to you happened to you.  We adopted Bronte.  The two of you lived a love story from the moment she came into your life.

You two were inseparable. You'd groom each other & it would look like you were making out.

Even when you'd sit together, it would seem like you were holding hands.  It was cute & sickening.

Not to say you didn't also love your little brother Boone!  You made him feel very welcome in our home.

Meowing non-stop in the back of the car, you traveled to Kentucky with us, then back to Texas, then here to Portland.  I do think you liked it here.  Almost certainly you never wanted for love. You demanded it & you got it.

When Bronte took ill, you gave her the space she needed, & when she left us, you spent more time with me.  The last year & a half were quite wonderful for me - we became such good friends. You were such a loud cat, you'd meow when I came to bed, & purr next to me as I fell asleep petting you. A handsome boy, so friendly to visitors & such an unmistakably warm presence in our household.

You had a lot of health issues - I've mentioned them on this blog before (that blog entry links to other Bolan stories) - issues including a bout with triaditis that almost took you from us two years ago.  You were so strong, though, so resilient, that I foolishly imagined you could beat almost anything.

Maybe at some point I'll talk about this last month, about the arrogant vets who were dismissive about our concerns, about the emergency room visit this past week where we had to accept your fate, about how I will always feel like I didn't do enough to save you.  What is true now is that you're no longer in any pain.  Oh you would've stayed with us longer, to be sure, but we knew, because you weren't eating & holy shit did you love to eat, that you were not well.  So my sweet friend we needed to let you go.

Let's imagine for a moment the universe is kind & let's be glad you're with your beloved Bronte again.  Maybe say hi to Buster & Beatrice too, & the beagles - George, Ringo, & of course Winston, with whom you also liked to hang out.

It's not a kind universe or course & it's not fair that the two of you died exactly six weeks apart.  Our little house is so empty & it has taken me hours to write all this.  I have been getting lost in all the pictures I have of you - how glad I am we had so many pictures! - & it's not easy to write about you through all the tears.

But Bolan, some of those tears are tears of gratitude.  What a fine cat you were.  A gentle panther, a good & faithful friend. Your absence won't be easily filled. You were exceptional in every way. My dear old Bobo. Goodbye.

Self Help Radio 010323: The Dawn

The dawn of a new year brought a show about the dawn on Self Help Radio.  It's almost all music because I was not able to get up to KBOO to do the show.  (I talked about that yesterday.)  I'm sure that's fine with you.

The show was not streamed on the KBOO website so the only place to listen to it is at Self Help Radio dot net.  The cool thing is you can download the show if you want.  Just remember that you'll need a username & password to do so - those are SHR & selfhelp.  Hopefully we'll return to our usual shenanigans next week.

Happy new year!

Self Help Radio Dawn Show
"The Dawn" Iggy Pop _Free_
"Dawn Is Here" Dinner _Three EPs, 2012-2014_
"Dawn" George Gallagher + White Trash _The Rubble Collection 7_
"Dawn Breaks Through" The Barrier _Looking At The Pictures In The Sky (The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1968)_
"(Dawning Of A) New Era" The Specials _The Specials_

"The Pre-Dawn Light" Jordan Reyes _Sand Like Stardust_
"Lawns Of Dawns" Nico _The Marble Index_
"Dawn" Slapp Happy _Casablanca Moon/Desperate Straights_
"Morning Dawning" The Creatures _Feast_
"Circumradiant Dawn" Dead Can Dance _Spleen & Ideal_

"New Dawn Fades" Joy Division _Unknown Pleasures_
"Sketch For Dawn I" The Durutti Column _LC_
"The Beginning, The Dawn (Piccadilly Radio Session, February 1981)" The Passage _Pindrop_
"Dawn Chorus" Modern English _After The Snow_
"New Day Dawning" Felt _Me & A Monkey On The Moon_

"Another Sunset, Another Dawn" Axe Music _Crystalline_
"Sunset Dawn" Spirea X _Fireblade Skies_
"The Dawn" Pet Sun _Pet Sun_
"New Dawn" Moon Duo _Occult Architecture Vol. 2_
"New Dawn" The Lovely Eggs _I Am Moron_

"Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart" Tyrannosaurus Rex _A Beard Of Stars_
"Kiss At Dawn" Nikki Sudden & The Jacobites _Dead Men Tell No Tales_
"Fingers Of Dawn" The Bats _Free All The Monsters_
"Hour Of The Dawn" La Sera _Hour Of The Dawn_
"Gone By The Dawn" Shannon & The Clams _Gone By The Dawn_

"Dead By Dawn" Depth Charge _Nine Deadly Venoms_
"Break Of Dawn" Karsh Kale _Liberation_ (Six Degrees, 2003)
"Future Calls The Dawn" Felix Da Housecat _Virgo, Blaktro, & The Movie Disco_
"Red Dawn Rising" Birdy Nam Nam _Manual For Successful Rioting_
"Blue Dawn" Big Pauper _Beyond My Means_

"Dust At Dawn" Roger Eno _Between Tides_
"Soft Dawn" Brian Eno _Textures_
"The Golden Dawn" Soma _The Inner Cinema_
"Dawn Chorus" Boards Of Canada _Geogaddi_
"Aurore" Marsen Jules _Herbstlaub_

"Dawn" The Ornette Coleman Trio _At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm - Volume One_
"Dawn" Terje Rypdal _Odyssey In Studio & In Concert_

Whither The Dawn?

(Mt Hood at dawn. Image from here.)

Gosh, I thought I was being smart - the first show of the year will have the theme "the dawn"! As in, the dawn of a new year! I actually hardly ever think that way - except for shows that are planned around holidays (& episodes of the Dickenbock Report), my themes are usually random. One person at KOOP who peer-reviewed my show wrote, "I don't understand why he's doing a show about this!" But I hope you can see how liberating it is to do it the way I do.

However. The best laid plans. Last week, KBOO (along with my other radio stations) had a power failure due to high winds. Unlike the other stations, KBOO's resulted in some catastrophe at the station about which I know very little. We were off the air for a couple of days, & are still not streaming. The web site tells us, "We’re back on air through a temporary broadcasting system. We still have a major power issue at the station. Thank you so much for your patience & support."

Which means I'm not going up to the station tonight for Self Help Radio but had to hastily cobble together & record a show from home. So - if I turned it in on time! - there will be a recorded Self Help Radio tonight from midnight to 3am on 90.7fm. Alas, not on the stream. I'll be home & listening & live tweeting. It's the dawn of the year - I hope it doesn't stay as dark out!

Preface To Dawn: Happy New Year!

(Not that Dawn - image from here)

Wow, I thought I was being kinda sneaky funny posting a picture of a famous Dawn for a show that's going to be about a time of day.  Then I read that she died because of the coronavirus, & that's something I don't think I knew - she died almost two years ago, at the end of 2020.  So now I'm depressed.

& is that how 2023 is going to be?  Trying to do something vaguely clever or whimsical, only to have it remind you of the true horrors of existence?  Oh I hope not.

Anyway, the show tomorrow night will be recorded for reasons I can explain later.  & it's not going to be quite like a regular Self Help Radio episode either.  I will talk about it tomorrow.  I just wanted to say Happy New Year!  It was a nice day in Portland.  I hope that's a good omen.

& I hope you had a good day!

Year End Reckoning

It's time for me to tell you, at the end of 2022, how many radio shows I did this year.

It's not important that you know this.  It's not important at all.

Nonetheless, here's the total - & you know what, let me just say that it's approximate because my record-keeping skills are poor.  It could be plus minus one or two.  But I'll just say that, to the best of my knowledge, here's the total:

In 2022, I put together 134 radio shows.

How did that break down?  Like this:

52 episodes of Self Help Radio (that's right - I did not miss a week!)
(This does not include the seven extra episodes of Self Help Radio that aired on XRAY - though those episodes do add to the total.)

50 episodes of the Dickenbock Report.  I missed only two weeks of that show.

In addition, I managed to make:
Twelve KBOO Sub Shows - usually two & a half hours long, sometimes after my show.
Nine episodes of "KBOO Funnies" - me playing sixty minutes of comedy & stand-up & stuff Monday nights before my show.

In addition, I subbed on XRAY twice, & made two Freeform Portland shows as subs.

One last thing: early in the year, in an attempt to play more new music on XRAY (way before I had a show), I made six weekly mixes of two hours each.  It became a bit too much work for me, so I stopped doing it - but since I didn't talk on the shows, I don't consider them radio shows per se.  They were not added to the total.

Last year I tabulated the number of shows I did & that number was 111.  I am astonished I did more this year.

Since I did this last year, I feel obligated to do it again this year, re: Self Help Radio.
Of the 52 shows:
Forty (40) of them explored unique themes - that is, for the first time,
Six (6) of them explored themes I regularly explore - three for my indiepop nonsense, one for my wife's birthday show, one for my favorite music of the year, & one for a Christmas show.
Unusually, I repeated six themes this year.  One for my anniversary show.  One for my birthday show - I liked so much music from 1986, I needed two shows to play it.  For my Halloween show, I revisited a theme - spiders - which I hadn't previously used as a Halloween theme.  The other three - bees, buzz, & flowers - I repeated for the sake of KBOO's Spring Membership Drive.  & the amount of dollars I raised for KBOO for that effort - zero.  No one donated to my show this year.  Sorry, KBOO.

My estimate is that I was on the radio for more than three hundred hours this past year - the equivalent of almost two weeks of radio featuring me! - & I cannot apologize more.  I wish I could promise that I'll do less.

As always, feel lucky I'm mostly on late at night or early in the morning, when no one is listening.  That's the silver lining in this unpleasant data dump!

Penultimate

(from Merriam-Webster)

It would shock me if, after all this time - after over four thousand posts on this silly blog thing - I haven't entitled a post "Penultimate," as it's one of my favorite words.  We should have words for the next to the last, just as we should have words for the things before & after.  But as far as I know we only have penultimate.

& it turns out I did use the word in a post, from over fourteen years ago, when I was about to do my next-to-the-last Self Help Radio on KOOP in Austin.  My how time flies.  It goes like this:

Preface To My Penultimate Show On KOOP: Yes! I Got To Use The Word Penultimate!

I mean, how often do you get to use the word "penultimate"? Most people prefer "next to last," but not only does "penultimate" sound way cooler than "next to last," but it reminds everyone that the meaning of the word "ultimate" is "the very last." So the next time you see "Billy Joel - The Ultimate Collection," hold the record companies to their promise! No more Billy Joel collections ever!

Oh, tis a sadness to be approaching the end of my KOOP times. I feel blue. But I look forward - to other radio stations in the universe,* to those pesky podcasts which, at last count, almost a few folks have downloaded. & then I look back - & it seems like KOOP is giving me the finger - wait! It's apparently just scratching its face. Whew!

There are so many wonderful stories & experiences that I had at KOOP, I am sure. I have obliterated most of them, of course, with heavy drinking & short-term memory loss incurred by a desperate need I have to impress the women by breaking beer bottles on my head. But my record number of concussions in one four-hour period surely reflects the joy given to me not only by being a part of what is truly a crazy-ass experiment in community radio, but also by the crazy-ass listeners who for whatever reason kept coming back to my show, listening, calling, calling again, still listening, calling, calling into the night, calling even when I am at home & not on the air any longer, continuing to call into the wee hours, calling, calling, hey!, I got caller ID buddy, be aware of that, you freak!

It's the penultimate time you'll get to hear me on that radio station! Pass it on! Use that word all the time until people get annoyed with you. You know you wanna. Come on!

* This turned out to be prescient! I got to be a part of so many other radio stations in the universe!

Anyway, today is the penultimate day of 2022.  You knew that.  That's why I thought of it!

Self Help Radio 122722: Indiepop A To Z # 70

(all images from Discogs)

Last Self Help Radio on KBOO of 2022! As usual, every four months I return to my interminable Indiepop A To Z series.  We're in the letter R - we travel from Raintree County to the Reflections.  In between I show off how exhausted I am & I ask for help during KBOO's End Of The Year Drive.  Click if you appreciate these obsessive/compulsive shows I do!

If you would like to listen to three hours of songs that fall into the indiepop genre, that have influenced indiepop, or are indiepop-adjacent, you can do so now or anytime at either the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website - where you'll be able to download the show but where you'll need a username & password, which are SHR & selfhelp.

Have a happy new year!  As always, thanks for listening!

Self Help Radio Indiepop A To Z # 70

"Take" Raintree County _C90_

"I'll Keep It With Mine" Rainy Day _Rainy Day_

"1,000 Days" The Rainyard _A Thousand Days_

"Whoops! What A Palaver!" The Raj Quartet _Whoops! What A Palaver!_

"Adriano Celentano" Ralley _Ave Marina: Ten Years Of Marina Records_

"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" Ramones _Leave Home_

"Fragments Of Youth" Rapid Dance _Fragments Of Youth_

"Hope" Johnny Rasheed _Inspiration_

"Saying Goodbye" Ratcat _Rarities_

"Positively Lost Me" The Rave-Ups _Town + Country_

"Don't Bury Me Yet" The Raw Herbs _Don't Bury Me Yet_

"Dead Sinister" Raw Nerves _Sound As Ever (Australian Indie 90-99) - Volume 2: Stuck On The 90s_

"Louise" Rawhide Chomp _Louise_

"Puddles & Rain" Ray Rumours & The No-Eyed Dears _Indietracks 2009: An Indiepop Compilation_

"I've Been So Right" Ray Wonder _Moshi Moshi: Pop International Style_

"No One Notices Your Brand New T-Shirt" Raymond & Maria _Jobs Where They Don't Know Our Names_

"No-One Can Hold A Candle To You" Raymonde _Babelogue_

"Youth" Razika _Program 91_

"P Street Beach" Razor 18 _A Gift From Sing-Sing_

"It Kills Me Inside" Razorblade Smile _Razorblade Smile_

"Storyteller" Razorcuts _Storyteller_

"Wasting Time" Reading Rainbow _Prism Eyes_

"Noticia Increible" Real Carioca _Años Dourados_

"Soren Loved Regina" The Receptionists _The Last Letter_

"See My Face" Recruits _See My Face_

"All-Right!" Recycledpop _Ten; Ten_

"Myra" Red Chair Fadeaway _Curiouser & Curiouser_

"Redo" Red Dye No. 5 _Pop American Style_

"Heartstrings" Red Go-Cart _Skip & Make It Flower_

"Feeling Young" Red Harvest _Strange_

"Spin Out" Red Hour _Spin Out_

"Hibernation" Red Letter Day _The Marsh Marigold Review Gold 01-10_

"My Erstwhile Companion" Red Money _A Kind Of Retrospective 1990-1995_

"Ordinary" Red Riders _Drown In Colour_

"Wet Blanket" Red Roll-On _Sharon Signs To Cherry Red_

"It Happens" Red Sleeping Beauty _Soundtrack_

"Funny How" Reddy Kilowatt _Just For A Day_

"Let's Pretend Were Not in Love" The Reds, Pinks, & Purples _Summer At Land's End_

"Satellite Of Love" Lou Reed _Transformer_

"Only In My Dreams" The Reflection A.O.B. _Only In My Dreams_

"Searching (A Mix)" The Reflections _Searching_

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 70?

(I don't have a picture for you so here's my exceptionally twee cat Boone.)

At the end of every four months, I return to a series I started long ago & far away called "Indiepop A To Z."  At this point in time, I don't really feel there's a larger indiepop community, & I am certainly not a part of it, so my continuing this is entirely a symptom of my obsessive-compulsive nature.  I am currently on the letter R, & probably will not finish it tonight.  The best thing to be said is that, if you like jangle pop or twee pop or some new wave or some shoegaze or some mixture of these & other indie sounds, you'll probably like what I will play.  If you'd rather listen to punk or garage or indie rock, this might not be for you.

It'll be on from midnight to 3am Portland time on 90.7 fm in town & online everywhere at kboo.fm.  It's at that point where fans of indie music intersect with fans of alphabetization.  With probably odd results.

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 70: Christmas Day

Here's a couple of things I found on Tumblr apropos Christmas:

Lou & Reed vibin'.

The Brian Eno Christmas record we need but don't have.

Seriously, I'd do another Christmas show if that were a real Eno record.

Happy day all!

Christmas Eve

The wife fell asleep early.  I am drinking wine & looking at Tumblr (where I found the screen cap of Super Hans).  I just finished a recorded show for KBOO.  I need to work on Self Help Radio.  Terrible weather made it difficult for me to leave the house this morning so I didn't get to do Self Help Radio on XRAY.  Two scheduled shows I missed this week!

Here's something nicer from Tumblr - Christmas thoughts from Winsor McKay:

Wow, I sure loved Christmas as a kid.  But now it seems like something some other people do.

Ah well.  Happy whatever you celebrate!

Christmas Films

(image from the IMDb)

Didya listen the very last Self Help Radio Christmas show ever? If you didn't, you can always listen at the Self Help Radio website or at the KBOO website - otherwise you'll have missed the segment where our resident cinephile Chuck talked about Christmas movies, television shows, shorts, & specials from the 1960s!  Also, if you didn't listen, the following list of links might not make much sense!

Here is the keyword list he used to find the things he watched.

Using that information, he made a YouTube playlist.  He also put together an IMDb list of films available elsewhere for streaming.

Chuck has a list of films on Letterboxd, as well as his reviews there.

You are strongly encouraged to follow Chuck on Twitter to find out what he's watching & also to find out when he's next on the show!

Enjoy your Christmas stuffs!  & have a happy holiday weekend!

Self Help Radio 122022: One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas

Here it is!  The last Self Help Radio Christmas episode! Now I can really focus on those Arbor Day shows I've been wanting to make!

Please enjoy a hopefully delightful (& delightfully odd) collection of Christmas tunes.  There are some extras, as you'll note below - our resident cinephile talks to us about Christmas movies & more from the 1960s; I interview a reindeer wrangler, a fruitcake baker, & an elf on strike; & there's a radio show from 1967 that's kind of a Christmas show by the Firesign Theatre.  It's funny.

That's all noted below.  You can listen to the show in two places: at the KBOO website, where I would strongly encourage you to help out if you can during our End Of The Year Drive; & at the Self Help Radio website, where you'll need a username & password to access the show (try SHR & selfhelp), but you can download it if you want.

Happy holidays!  Enjoy one last Christmas show from me!  Except when I redo it for XRAY on Saturday.  But after that, no more!

One Very Self Help Radio Christmas

"Christmas Alone" The Photocopies _Cheer Up, It's Christmas_

"Here Comes The Fattest Man In Town" Bob Chester & His Orchestra _The Bob Chester Orchestra_

"Christmas Eve In Fairyland" Gracie Fields _100 Hits Christmas Legends_

introduction & explanation

"Los Chrismos" Los Bitchos _Los Chrismos_

"A Johnny Ace Christmas" Squirrel Nut Zippers _Christmas Caravan_

"Cracker Jokes" Stephen Fry _Fry's English Delight_

"The Twelve Days Of Christmas" The Popguns _24_

"The Twelve Days Of Christmas" The Sweetback Sisters _Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular_

our resident cinephile Chuck stops by to talk about Christmas offerings from the 1960s (TV & film)

"Hooray For Santa Claus" Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos _Hooray For Santa Claus_

"Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown (vocals, Nina)" John Barry _On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)_

"Christmas: A View From Ipswitch" Richard Ayoade _Ayoade On Top_

"Wonderful Christmas Time" Kadhja Bonet _California Holiday EP_

"Santa Claus, Bring My Man Back" Ozie Ware with Duke Ellington's Hot Five _Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1928_

interview with reindeer wrangler Arthur Jarvis

"Christmas Is The Day" The Free Design _Butterflies Are Free: The Original Recordings 1967-72_

"Merry Gentle Pops" The Barron Knights _Best Of The Barron Knights_

"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" The Beatles _The Christmas Records_

"Merry Christmas Darlings" Swansea Sound _Music Lover_

"Stay A Little Longer, Santa" Shemekia Copeland _Deluxe Edition_

interview with fruitcake maker Shelly Green

"Santa Claus Rock & Roll" Kathy & Jimmy Zee _Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree_

"Yo Ho Ho" Klark Kent _Just In Time For Christmas_

"Yulenet Parts 1 & 2 (with Daws Butler)" Stan Freberg _The Capitol Collector's Series_

"The Christmas Song" Alex Chilton _Clichés_

"Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto" Darlene Love _It's Christmas, Of Course_

interview with elf on strike Nemo

"Tile It Like It Is" The Firesign Theatre _Live At The Magic Mushroom_

conclusion, goodbye, holiday well-wishes!

"Santa Lives In My Building" Spearmint _Have Yourself A Merry Indie Christmas Volume II_

"Merry Christmas, Elizabeth" The Chickpea Darlings _Merry Christmas, Elizabeth_

"'Twas The Night Before Christmas (A Visit From St. Nicholas)" Lorne Greene _The Complete Christmas On The Ponderosa_

"Little Drummer Boy" Low _Christmas_

"Santa Claus" Thee Headcoatees _The Sisters Of Suave_

Whither One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas?

It's true! Tonight's show on KBOO is the very last entirely Christmas-oriented show that will happen on Self Help Radio on this station!  I mentioned the reasons why yesterday.

But don't fret, lovers of holiday programming!  I can promise you that you'll hear Christmas music non-stop in my commercial spaces & on most radio stations for the rest of your life, usually beginning in September!  Just not any with that slightly "off" feel you've come to expect from twenty years of Very Self Help Radio Christmases.  Alas.

So please join us for one last Christmastime on 90.7fm in Portland & online at kboo.fm tonight! Midnight to 3am! That's Portland time! I've sent word to Santa, maybe he'll show up! It's his birthday, after all!

Preface To One Last Very Self Help Radio Christmas: Wait, One Last Christmas?

What's going on?  One last Christmas show?  Is this - can it be - have we finally reached the end of Self Help Radio?

Sorry, no.  I've just decided to stop making Christmas shows.  But why?

Had I the time, I would look back over the things I've written about Christmas over the last few years.  There was a time when I really quite liked Christmas music.  But I suspect I have mentioned in passing the three things that have been nagging at me for the past few years:

One, I wasn't celebrating Christmas as a holiday.  I haven't bought presents for friends or my wife or really anyone for over a decade now.  I stopped going home for the holidays after I moved out of Texas (the first time) & didn't start again when I moved back (making my mom a little sad).  Really, the only thing I have done in over ten years that was Christmasy was a radio show.

Two, I'm not a Christian.  I know Christmas is a mostly secular holiday at this point, but it felt weird to talk about & play songs about the religious aspect, most of which I think is hooey, & then to not really take part in the other stuff, which is fun - giving the gifts, Santa, reindeer.

Three, I don't have kids.  I don't have any biological kids nor do I have children in my life.  If I did, I might get them presents - they delight in getting things, after all.  But with these three marks against Christmas in my book, it just seemed silly to spend time listening to Christmas music for a show that I was enjoying less & less as time goes by.

You may know I come from a fairly large family - six brothers & sisters, most of whom have reproduced - & you might think, why don't you buy them gifts at least?  It's funny you ask - I recall a family Facebook group from a few years ago when the discussion was, "What do you want for Christmas?"  The instruction was to list three things.  To a person, my siblings, nieces, & nephews wrote, "1. Gift Card to X; 2. Gift Card to Y; 3. Gift Card to Z."  I mean, why not just ask for money?  I guess I'd send them money if they wanted that.

There is one last reason I will probably talk about on the show.  & some people think I will renege & return to doing Christmas shows next year.  & perhaps I will.  But for now, it feels almost over.  & for me, it does seem like tomorrow's show will be the very last Very Self Help Radio Christmas.

Swirlie

This picture was taken (by me) six years ago.  In Dallas, Texas.  I called it "Swirlie."  I think it was taken right outside the KNON studios during their annual toy drive.  I probably took about ten shots on the crappy old digital camera I was using before I got this one, where you can see the ribbons & the center clearly.  That day the temperature dropped about thirty degrees in the afternoon, & I caught a cold.

That's all.

"The Selfies"!

(original image here)

A thought occurred to me: along with my list of favorite records, I should give out imaginary awards for other favorite things that happened during the year.  It could be about anything - things in Portland, movies or television shows, whatever.

But then another thought occurred to me - what would I call them?  They'd have to have a good name, like the Oscars or Emmys or Cable Ace Awards.  But what would I call these imaginary awards that are only important to me?

Then it hit me!  Self Help Radio would have as its award the Selfie!

In excitement, I told my wife, who said, "A selfie is a picture that someone takes of themselves to post on social media."

"Oh yeah," I said.  "I totally forgot."

& that was that for Self Help Radio awards.

Self Help Radio 121322: Gary's Favorite Music 2022

(images from Discogs & Bandcamp)

Here is my official "not best of" for the year 2022. Lots & lots of music I enjoyed in 2022.

But you know what?  Not all the music I enjoyed in 2022!  I left out a lot!  & now I am second-guessing everything!  Why o why is my radio show only three hours long?!?  Maybe I should do a "favorites" show twice a year!  Three times a year!  How will I ever keep up?!?

Ah well.  Gotta move on.  Listen to this show if you'd like at either the KBOO website or at the Self Help Radio website.  At the latter, you know, you'll need a username & password.  Try "SHR" & "selfhelp."  That should work.  All the songs I played are below.  & it was all music - except when I asked in vain for help during the station's End Of The Year Membership Drive.

It was a good year for music - for music I liked!  I hope you like too.

Self Help Radio's Favorites Of 2022
"Dean's 7th Dream" My Favorite _Tender Is The Nightshift: Part 1_

"RVW" Wombo _Fairy Rust_
"Safeword" Shriekback _Bowlahoola_
"I Feel Fine" Reptaliens _Multiverse_
"Bartleby" Momus _Smudger_
"Wet Dream" Wet Leg _Wet Leg_

"Bad Summer" Spector _Now Or Whenever_
"Strood McD F.C." Jetstream Pony _Under The Bridge_
"My Most Beautiful Mistake" Elvis Costello & The Impostors _The Boy Named If_
"Mirrors" Just Mustard _Heart Under_
"Never Seen You Dance" Monogamy _Never Seen You Dance_

"I'm Waiting For The Man (May 1965 Demo)" Lou Reed _Words & Music May 1965_
"Andy Warhol (In Concert: John Peel)" David Bowie _Divine Symmetry_
"Trocadero" Sophisticated Boom Boom _Sophisticated Boom Boom_
"Bad Dreams" Marine Research _Peel Session_
"Sea Madness" The Jazz Butcher _The Highest In The Land_

"Option 8" Horsegirl _Versions Of Modern Performance_
"Loaded" Courting _Guitar Music_
"The Rip" Porridge Radio _Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky_
"First Blood" The Mountain Goats _Bleed Out_
"Driver's Story" Dry Cleaning _Stumpwork_

"Garden Of Stars" Brian Eno _Foreverandevernomore_
"Golden Air" Sun's Signature _Sun's Signature EP_
"I Don't Mean To Stare" The Orchids _Dreaming Kind_
"The Fawn" Sound Of Ceres _Emerald Sea_
"Indiferencia" Combo Chimbita _Iré_

"The House On The Borderland" MJ Hibbett _The Unearthly Beauty Of MJ Hibbett_
"Teenager (feat. Chai & Pi Ja Ma)" Superorganism _World Wide Pop_
"Vegan Water" Cheekface _Too Much To Ask_
"Strange Mornings In The Garden" The Loyal Seas _Strange Mornings In The Garden_
"Pool Cue Vigilante" Northern Portrait _The Swiss Army_

"Over & Over" No Suits In Miami _Nothing Ever Happens_
"Boho In Soho" Cleaners From Venus _That London_
"Pomeranian Spinster" Alvvays _Blue Rev_
"Go Go Go" The Wedding Present _Go Go Go_
"Best Left" The Beths _Expert In A Dying Field_
"Really In The Wrong Town" The Monochrome Set _Allhallowtide_

Whither Gary's Favorite Music 2022?

(image from some random Tumblr site)

It's that time of year again!  Not a "best of" list - I don't believe there's a such thing as a "best" & anyway I didn't listen to every release in 2022, so how could I (or anyone) claim to say what is "best" then? - but simply some of my favorite musical releases from the year.

You probably can guess I listen to music all the time & so I will almost certainly have more than three hours worth of songs I could call my "favorites" of the year.  So I follow these rules:

1) The music had to be something I listened to quite a lot.  More than just once or twice.
2) The music to be released this year - yes, I'll have some reissues on the list.
3) The song I play tonight isn't necessarily my favorite from the record - maybe I already played my favorite before & I wanted to showcase another song.
4) This is not a comprehensive list - I will doubtless have forgotten something or not gotten around to listening to something yet - there are almost three more weeks left in 2022!

Perhaps you'll have fun listening to me playing lots of my favorite music of the year.  It'll happen from midnight to 3am Portland time on 90.7fm in town & online at kboo.fm.

You should totally make a list of your favorites too!  But if you call it a "best of" I'm probably just going to feel a little sorry for you & probably not going to pay much attention to it.

Preface To Gary's Favorite Music 2022: Repeating Myself

(image from here)

Every year around this time, I take a second to gripe about "best of" lists.  They sprout like weeds at the end of the year, & I am usually irked by the presumptuousness & the arrogance of anyone proclaiming what the 'best' is, even if it's done by committee.  Of all the major music places I know anything about (I don't really read music criticism these days, so I don't pay a lot of attention), only Allmusic says "favorites of 2022" in places, although they do have a "best of 2022" page too.

But you know what?  I'm not going to complain.  I feel like if you're the sort of person who desperately needs to believe that what you listen to is "the best" - even if there are people who don't like what you like, thereby invalidating the whole idea of "best" - then please by all means demonstrate that to us.  I'll know I can't really talk to you about music anyway.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to take some time this week to play stuff I listened to a lot this year.  I might not have played them on the radio much - my shows don't necessarily allow that as much as I wish - but I'm not always listening to music that I play on the radio.  Maybe there'll be something there you like.

It's not "the best of 2022" - & it's also not all my favorite stuff, since I only have three hours - but I hope to cover as much ground as possible!