Extreme Pledge Drive Madness!

I've got so much radio stuff for you this week, that, to quote The Weatherman, "It's not even funny." (Seriously: it's not.) So keep your podcasting device of choice free this week, because there's all sorts of awesome going on. Ob-soive:

First, at noon, I guest hosted What's This Called? today, which is always a treat. But in this case, it was extra-special, because we had a live guest, all the way from Barcelona, Spain: Santiago Latorre! While I wish I could take credit for booking this one, I did run sound, host the show, and conduct a short interview at the end. This was a lot of fun, and definitely not to be missed.

How's It Named? w/ Santiago Latorre, LIVE!
(Special Guest Host: Austin Rich)

Playlist and Footnotes.

Then, at 1 PM, I put on another fantastic episode of Blasphuphmus Radio, the only show guaranteed to feature 100% music that I love, each and every time:

Episode 022: "It's Alive!" Part III (Another Pledge Drive Special)
(Featuring live performances recorded at the KPSU studios by yours truly.)

Playlist and Footnotes.
(And there are a lot of them, this week.)

AND! (Can you believe it?) As if that weren't enough, we have a super-secret bonus-podcast this week (shhhhhhhh!): DJ Austin's iPod ran KPSU for almost two hours this morning, from about 10:03 AM to 11:52 AM, which you can download for your listening pleasure. If you've ever wondered what I listen to when I'm NOT DJing, now's your chance.

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

Holy crap! That's a lot of radio this week! No wonder I need a nap...

See ya in seven.

I give up.

Pledge Drive Madness

KPSU is in the middle of Pledge Drive this week, and because of that, I've got a double dose of Live Radio for you. No need to thank me; just go to your local Inter-Web-A-Tron Outlet, and down-load, download, dwnld. Ob-soive:

Episode 021: "It's Alive!" Part II (A Pledge Drive Special)
(Featuring Live Recordings made at the KPSU studios by yours truly.)

Playlist & Footnotes.
(And there's a lot of them, this week!)

And, check out What's This Called? this week, where I ran live sound for a special performance by The Easter Island Project (which is Eric Hausmann & Tiffany Lee Brown). Both Ricardo Wang and myself contribute minor performances, even. (In my case, it was mostly live mixing, and a tiny bit of concertina action.) Check it out:

The Easter Island Project on What's This Called?

Playlist & Footnotes.

Wow. What a whole lotta live music goin' on.

And now, I need a nap. See ya in seven.

Intentionally Scary Encounter?

My yoga class got canceled today, which meant I had a little more free time on campus today than I thought I would. So, I thought I'd find a place near where my next class was to sit and read, but was feeling a little antsy, and decided to explore. My next class is on the second floor of Neuberger Hall, which is the "art" floor, where the Autzen Gallery was. So, I thought I'd poke my head in to see what was showing.

First, the show that was up was for something called The M.O.S.T. I won't even try to explain it, except that you might want to check it out if you're into, uhm, office art? Well, not really. Bureaucratic art? Sort of. Art art? Maybe. Anyway, it was there, and I really liked the rubber stamp collection.

It turned out, though, that the artist in question (Katy Asher) was giving an impromptu tour to various PSU folks, which seemed somewhat official, so I tried to stay out of the way and just look around. However, Harrell Fletcher was also part of this group, and really creeped me out by calling me (by name), and asked me what I thought of it all. I've met him one other time, when I attended a talk he gave about the work he's done over the years. (He and I got into a coversation about living next to schools where the neighbors all complained about the fact there was a school there.) I figured he not only wouldn't remember me at all, but since I wasn't connected to anyone at the show (or him, for that matter), he would have no reason to talk to me. Apparently not.

I tried my best to answer his questions, but he kept looking at me in a way that made me feel like I wasn't giving the right answers. (Despite the fact that I knew there weren't any.) I suddently started to feel really self-conscious about everything, like, perhaps I wasn't supposed to be there. I started to notice that everyone's eyes were on me, now, really listening to everything I said. It was really uncomfortable, and then Katy started to grill me, too. I quickly made an excuse to leave, and went to the third floor to hide out until my class started.

However, with hindsight, I wonder: was that part of the art show?

Podcast Feed Back Up

I just got a message from the KPSU Web Director, saying that the old podcast feed is back up and running. I've changed the links accordingly, on this site.

Just thought you should know.

Say What?

Kids these days, they have no taste. No style. No sense of cool, or even a sense of sanity. I saw this article dissing Jim Jarmusch yesterday, and really felt the need to say something. If I don't take it upon myself to educate the youth of America, who will?

In reading this review, I feel like the writer has a very different definition of the words, "inscrutable," "boring," "pretentious," and "film." Which is fine, but it makes me wonder if he's actually SEEN any of Jarmusch's work, as in, actually looked at what is on the screen, rather than what he expects to be there. Jarmusch is a very instinctual director, that much is true; but by following film traditions that date from before the birthday of the average PSU student does not make him boring, or inscrutable for that matter. (I might be willing to give you pretentious, provided a dictionary is used for the sake of specificity in future such usages.) Jarmusch's work has a life and vitality to it that ignore American standards of film making, and tries to incorporate the styles and forms of the long and rich history of the medium. Just because his new movie doesn't "Kick Ass" the way Ghost Dog did, doesn't mean it's meaningless or dull; more than anything, it just means the reviewer might want to check out something other than the typical Regal Cinemas fare more often than he has been.

A Very Special Blasphuphmus Radio...

This week, on Blasphuphmus Radio, we redefine the meaning of the words "family radio" with a very special broadcast, with a very special guest: my sister, Karly. Ob-soive:

Episode 020: A Family Affair w/ Karly Rich (updated 19 May 2009, 12:37 PM)

Playlist & Footnotes

This time, I let her run the show, and play all her favorite songs, inspired by the Ben Folds show we saw last night. Be prepared for the only hour of "family radio" that you might have to preview before playing for your children.

(Note: Temporarily, there is a new podcast feed for the show, while the KPSU Archive get some much needed maintenance. If you were wondering why the old one isn't working, that's why.)

See ya in seven.

Words To Live By

Woah. Weird.

The weather is actually too nice to actually find anything wrong, today.

If this keeps up, I might actually have to start smiling again.

Dammit

It happened: I got hooked on a TV show for the first time since I was a kid.

Now, not only am I totally obsessed with Lost, but after the season finale last night, I have to wait a year to find out how it ends.

See, this is why I didn't want to start watching it in the first place.

Bomb Culture

I've had this album for a while now, and I've probably listened to this song 7 or 8 times. But today, for some reason, I was really floored by the lyrics:

My dreams were all about submission
To get on top I gave up dreaming
I get hard thinking about the sixties
But I hit a wall when I reach the now

I'm acquainted with too many punk rockers
Nothing rose so nothing converged
Technology draws a very hard line
The future's pinned beneath a power surge

I'll keep moving so nobody can pin me
I'll die alone, yeah, so will you
I had a plan, it depended on outrage
When every one knows we're all pure

Portland was a soft city
But now its surfaces are hard
One day I'll stop reading
My center could be a bomb

("Bomb Culture" by Crack City Rockers. Thanks Eric. You will never cease to impress me.)

Reading

How fast does it take you to read a book? It takes me forever. I have a lot of trouble, even sitting in a silent, un-stimulating room. It could read for an hour and only get through 10 pages. It's really embarrassing, and makes reading homework a real pain.

Is this weird? Should I be worried? What are the average reading speeds?

I think this might account for why I like comics so much. Even at my slowest, I can read about 20 pages in a half hour. Really feels like I'm cookin', comparatively speaking.

The Three Things Game

Three things I wish I had the strength of will to improve about myself:

1.) Cook everything that I eat myself.

2.) Be more efficient.

3.) Manage my money effectively.

(From the Three Things Game by kungfuramone.)

Happy Mother's Day

To all the brothers, lovers, & folks with their druthers on the level, remember the immortal words of Mr. T:

"Treat her right. Treat your mother right."

Go!

Looking for some new local music? Then look no further, because today's special two-hour broadcast features two artists from the local Battlesnakes Collective! Here's how it all breaks down:

Episode 019: Battlesnakes Now! (Part I)
(Featuring live performances by Alpha Protist & Nil Admirari, and a slew of music from the Battlesnakes catalog.)

Episode 019: Battlesnakes Now! (Part II)
(Featuring an hour long DJ set by Alpha Protist, Nil Admirari, and myself.)

Playlist & Footnotes

I'd be careful if I were you. These snakes are dangerous.

(For the time being, each of the above links are only 20 minutes long. But our web director is on it, and the full versions should be available shortly. Patience.)

Monday, 5/11/09: Archive fixed. See ya next week.

The Smallest Thing That's Known To Man

We live in an old, weird, drafty, noisy, and otherwise poorly constructed house, completed in 1900 (according to the city records). While most of the modern conveniences of the 20th Century have been crufted onto it's weak and aged frame, every time I take a shower I am instantly reminded of the first few lines of a song by Lorne Elliott (which I originally heard as a youth on a Dr. Demento tape a friend of mine forwarded to me in school one day):

"The smallest thing that's known to man's a subatomic particle measured scientifically under lab conditions to be ten centimeters taken to the minus thirteenth power / But though that's very small, it's really not that small at all compared to the line that is ever so fine, that separates the hot from the cold on the handle of my shower."

I can't vouch for the rest of the song being accurate, but dammit, he nailed that bit.

Coffee Threats

Today I remembered one of my dreams from last night, which is remarkable only because I haven't remembered a dream for years and years and years. (And years, probably.)

I was in a Mall (most probably Gateway Mall, where I used to work at B. Dalton when I lived in Eugene, which also might have been one of the last times I remembered a dream). I was dressed in a suit, with a fedora & an overcoat. I wanted some coffee, so I went to some counter and ordered one. It looked like some sort of airline flight check-in counter. There were two guys working there. One guy gave me a receipt, which I put in my wallet (even though I hate taking receipts for stuff like this), and the other guy gave me a coffee.

I began to leave the Mall when two security guys came over and began to harass me about the coffee. One asked to see my receipt. I pulled out my wallet only to find it full of money, but no receipt. They began to threaten me quite a bit, and I got the feeling that they were going to kick me out of the Mall. Then my friend Justin shows up, who also happens to work as security for the Mall, too. I explain to him that we can go and talk to the guys at the coffee shop and sort this all out, and I head back for the coffee counter. The security staff, however, don't follow me.

When I get to the coffee counter, there's only one of the employees there. I slowly go up to him, and calmly explain to him that if he doesn't cover for me, I will make his life miserable. I start saying really horrible things about harassing him every day, talking to his boss, and somehow, I would make sure he gets fired. He was terrified. Then I went back to where the security staff stopped me.

When I get there, however, they were all gone. I looked around, and saw Justin. One of the security staff members was near him, wearing his normal clothes, looked completely horrified, and was leaving the Mall; the other was nowhere to be seen. He looked back, and smiled, and said it had been taken care of.

When I woke up, I felt terrible for the security staff and the employee I harassed. It had been so long since I had a dream, I thought it had really happened for a few moments, and was filled with this overwhelming sense of guilt and shame. Now that I'm showered and have had time to think about it, I find it particularly strange that there is a sort of class struggle present in the dream, too. Even my subconscious is a Marxist text to be read closely.

I need a vacation from reality.

An Old Addage

At 9 AM today, over breakfast, I ran into a large, very young, co-ed group of nursing students. They were hammered. Their conversation went along these lines:

1.) Whom Had Slept With How Many, And Which, Of Their Classmates
2.) Rage Over The Behavior Of Certain Classmates (Probably Related To #1)
3.) Rage Over The Behavior Of Their Teachers
4.) Inarticulate Yelling At Each Other, Followed By Sudden Extreme Silence
5.) "Dude, Fuck! Fuck, Dude!"
6.) The Women Calling The Men Assholes, The Men Calling The Women Bitches.
7.) "I Am So Wasted."
8.) Discussions About What Homework They Hadn't Done, And How To Overcome That.
9.) Sudden Realizations Regarding Who Had To Go To Work Later That Day.
10.) Etc., Etc., Etc.

When I finally got up to leave, they proceeded to point and laugh at me, then called me over so they could take a look at me. (I was wearing a bow tie, a dress shirt, and a suit jacket with a few buttons attached.) They then looked to each other for a consensus regarding the next bar they would go to.

When I used to drink a lot, occasionally I would run into an older gent who would make the observation, "I hate drinking holidays, because it brings out all the amateurs." I feel like I never fully understood that statement until this morning.

Keep Watching The Skies!

Just because they didn't this time, doesn't mean they won't! Ob-soive:

Episode 018: When The Flying Saucers Attack!

Playlist & Footnotes.

The perfect soundtrack to an alien invasion, UFO sighting, romantic evening for two, or merely something to put on when you're bumming around the house.

Also on tap this week: I ran sound today for Abusive Delay during What's This Called? It's always fun to do sound for Ricardo's bands, as they are generally off the beaten path, and not your typical musician anyway. If you want some weird, electronic, sometimes ambient, somethings aggressive noise, music, then this is the show for you.

Abusive Delay on What's This Called?

Playlist & Footnotes

It appears that we are still experiencing archive issues at KPSU, so the above links only contain the first 50 minutes of said podcasts. Our Web Director is hard at work trying to iron out the kinks, and will probably have a full version posted soon enough. But, if you were wondering why the playlist and the recording don't match up completely, that's why.

10:45 AM Cinco de Mayo: Problem solved. Thanks for your patience.

See ya in seven.

"Incontinence" & Me

From the, "Well, ain't that some shit?" Dept.:

During my "Live Friday" days at KPSU, I brought in a large number of bands of various kinds, shapes, and sizes, and was lucky enough to be contacted one of the people in The Grannies, who happened to be coming through town and also happened to want to play. While very much in the Supersuckers / Turbonegro vein when it comes to what they do, I was surprised to find that, in many ways, they were one of the more professional (and punctual!) bands I worked with, and aside from my sound man that week treating the band like crap, I thought we had a pretty great show. Afterward, I sent them a copy, then started preparing for next week's band. I hadn't really thought about them much since, except when an occasional song by them came up when I was shuffling through music.

Then, the other day, the music director at KPSU asked me if I wanted to review their new CD, "Incontinence: Outtakes & Demos 1999 - 2008." I have to say, I was hesitant; outtakes & demos are often such for a reason, and unless I'm an obsessive fan of the group, I rarely go for these kinds of albums. (Same for live records; unless it's as good as "Live And Cuddly," which is the album against which all live albums are measured, there's just no reason to go there.) However, this one had a curiously titled track: "KPSU Interview." Sure enough, the liner notes say it all: "Nov. 4, 2005 by Mr. Austin Rich. Portland, OR." Holy shit. That's me! This changes everything!

So, despite my usual policy in such matters, I now unapologeticly urge you to pick up a copy of this CD. It includes a lot of cool cover songs (Vibrators, New York Dolls, Supersuckers, T. Rex, ZZ Top, Misfits, & Mono Men), original compositions that didn't make the albums, and a live interview by yours truly. The CD is available via Wondertaker Records (home of Jack Endino's latest endeavors, among other things), and can also be found for download at all the usual locations online. I promise, they are not paying me to plug this; I do it of my own free will, provided that getting a free copy of the album does not count as payment, and provided the horrible vile things these guys are threatening to do to me if I don't still counts as "free will."