August 3: I've renamed my show, it's now called That Sound. Also, the new site is up! It's at thatsoundradio.com. Go check it out! I'm making a new RSS feed on that site as well (http://www.thatsoundradio.com/?feed=podcast), so if you're subscribed to my podcast here, you'll need to subscribe to my new feed there. I won't keep updating this site here, but I'll leave it up indefinitely as an archive.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments or problems subscribing to the new feed! My new email address is dave (at) thatsoundradio.com (and my old one still works as well).
See you on the flip side!
July 27: So, I've been doing this show for five years exactly now, and for about four of them, I've been sick of the name. I'll go into it as to why another time soon, but basically, I'm changing the name. I'm entering a new season of my life, being a new father, and some other changes that have happened, are happening, and will happen, and it's time for a new name. There will be a new website, that's a little more interactive and fun. I'll let you know all about it.
July 20: Boy Eats Drum Machine (website | myspace) live in the studio! I even got to do guest vocals on one of the songs. Here's some photos:
July 13: Jenn, Sydney and I are going to Portland this week! My family is FINALLY going to meet their newest member, and, I'm going to have Boy Eats Drum Machine in the studio on KPSU! It will air live on Wednesday at 7:00, and then air again on Friday during my regular show. (And, of course, podcast from this site here.) Their new album is called Two Ghosts, and their CD release party is Friday night at the Doug Fir with Dat'r and Junkface.
July 6: Quite a difficult thing to think of something interesting to write about when it's this hot, quite a difficult thing. When the sweat on the backs of your knees drips down into puddles, and then you notice mosquitos breeding in those puddles; quite a difficult thing to think of something intersting to write.
When it's this hot, and you feel your remaining youth sucked out of you, possibly headed to what remains of the Arctic glaciers, and what's left is trying to avoid touching your calf against the corner of the scorching curb as you step into the street, toward a 7-11 which houses the Slurpee that just may determine that you'll die another day, but not today; quite a difficult thing to think of something interesting to write about, quite a difficult thing.
When it's this hot, and your apartment complex's pool could be used either as a hot tub, or to cook a chicken, and the kids swimming have ice cubes strapped to them instead of Water Wings, it's quite a difficult thing to think of somthing interesting to write, quite a difficult thing.
Ok, so it's not really that hot. At all. I live in freakin' Canada, how hot can it get? It is really humid and uncomfortable, though, and I couldn't think of something interesting to wrte about.
June 29: Being a father is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, but it also takes up a lot of time. That, coupled with a crippling computer virus, has kept me away from doing this show for longer than I had hoped. But I'm back, with a vengance, a brand-new computer, and not one stretchmark.
June 15: What do you really know about Brazil (besides the Terry Gilliam film or something to do with wax)? If you're like me, not a whole lot. That's why I asked a couple of online friends from there to put together an hour of music from their homeland. Gabi (website | myspace), along with Lulu of the Brazilian band Pato Fu, host this week's show, and it's a real good time.
June
1: This is the first episode of the show ever hosted by someone other
than me. Chad Thompson of the Detroit band Johnny Headband (website
| myspace) agreed
to do this week's show for me. And it's fantastic! You'll catch a glimpse
of his Michigan humor sensibilities in the show, but you should really
check out some of his band's videos for a better understanding of just
who Chad Thompson is.
April 6: A few days back home in my beloved Portland! In studio performances
& interviews on this show: The
High Violets and Michael
the Blind. More artist interviews to come in the next few weeks!
March 30: I'm heading to Portland next week! Yeee hawww! I'm going to
visit my family and friends, see the town, and do TONS of interviews with
some sweet bands! You'll hear them here in the next few weeks.
March 16: I watched An Inconvenient
Truth this week. Crazy stuff. While I agree with Al Gore that humans
are causing the current climate change, I think he's mistaken as to the
means by which this is taking place.
World population has doubled in the last 40 years. Gore's conclusion is
that increased numbers of people using increasing amounts of technology
results in increased amounts of greenhouse gasses. But he overlooks the
obvious ramifications of having so many more people on the planet: increased
pressure on the Earth, which has a molten core. This pressure decreases
the distance between Earth's crust and core, resulting in more heat radiating
out from it, thus warming our environment. And it's not just more numbers
of people, but, Americans in particular weigh more than in earlier times.
Our homes are also bigger, as are our cars. We also have more pets, more
CDs, televisions, and knick-knacks bought on eBay, all compressing our
planet into a compact heat-making machine, ready to fall in on itself.
What we all need to do is "lighten up." Lighter cars, lighter
bodies, even lighter thoughts and we can nip this thing in the bud.
If you'd like a more in-depth look at Gore's views, go to climatecrisis.net.
January 26: There's a few themes I visit regularly on this blog: Snow,
loving Portland, my cat, and loving Portland. Another theme, which I'd
like to revisit right now, is that of getting older, and the things you
get excited about as you age that you never thought you would. These include
Crock Pots, European tankless hot water heaters, and now, diapers.
That's right, we're excited about diapers. Babies pee and/or poo in them
several times a day, and starting in May, we're going to be responsible
for the removal and disposal of every single one of those coming from
our own child.
So, why are we excited anything having to do with this (other than, of
course, the baby itself)? Because, for months now, since we found out
that we're pregnant, we've been looking into cloth diapers, or some alternative
to disposable ones. Babies go through about 6 a day at first, and if you
figure how many babies there are currently, all generating that many diapers,
that's A LOT of diapers. It takes 500 years for them to break down, since
they're plastic. That's completely unsustainable, and adds up to 7 billion
pounds into American landfills per year, according to the EPA.
However, cloth diapers aren't that great an alternative either. I mean,
think about it. Washing all that pee and poo. Ew. I know it's common in
other parts of the world, and my parents reared us before disposables
were available, but still. I just don't think I'm up for it. Environmentally
speaking, there's also the water and detertent usage to think about.
Now, enter gDiapers. A cloth diaper
shell with a nylon liner and replaceable inside, which you can either
flush or, if "wet only," compost! How cool is that? They're
about the same cost as disposables, and we won't even need a diaper bin
taking up space and being stinky. They're breathable, and so prevent diaper
rash. The couple who owns the company that makes them are from Australia,
and split their time between Sydney and Portland. They chose Portland
for their North American home base because of our city's reputation for
environmental care, breastfeeding support groups and parental leave from
employers.
January 12(ish): One of my favorite things about snow is how superstitious
people are about it. When people start hearing snow forecasts and the
skies cloud up while the temerature drops, just saying that you hope for
snow or that you hate it is a political statement. "I just love the
way everything looks covered in white" can, to those dreading the
loss of tire traction, sound like "Dukakis? Oh, well I'm voting for
Reagan." People believe that the attitudes that they and others hold
towards the prospect of snow holds some sway as to whether it will happen
or not, like each person's heart gets a vote.
And I'll admit it: I'm a snow lover. It takes me back to a simpler time,
when snow meant that we didn't have to go to school, and instead got to
spend the day sledding and drinking hot chocolate. When we were young,
my sister, our neighbor Fran and I used to walk circles around the perimeter
of the yard, linked arm-in-arm, singing "We Three Kings" because
we believed that our snowdance would somehow usher in the winter wonderland.
So I take it personally when someone says they're hoping that it doesn't
snow.
January 5: My year-end, best-of show was supposed to be 3 hours, but I
somehow ended up with a fourth. Enjoy hours 3 & 4!
December 30: Hour 2 is now up, and it's all Portland bands!
December 29: Just posted Hour 1 of my Best of 2006. Hours 2 and 3 are
coming before the weekend is over!
December 22: WHEW! I just finished putting together the BEST CHRISTMAS
SPECIAL EVER! It even includes an original song by myself, The Cat Who
Controls Christmas!
Click here to download the song:
This week's show is an hour and 40 minutes long, and features Christmas
music from Laura Gibson, Sufjan Stevens, Aimee Mann, Wesley Willis and,
of course, me.
December 15: A busy last couple of months for me. I'll explain why another
time. I've been missing a few shows, and I apologize. I really love doing
this show, and I know a lot of you wait each week for the new one. Here's
what's going to happen: Next show is all Christmas music, and then I'm
going to do my year-end "best-of 2006," which will be 3 hours,
separate downloads for each hour. It'll be good, I promise, and I'm going
to get back on track with all this business in the new year when all the
holidays are over. Booyakacha!
November 24: Well, actually, I'm posting this on the 30th, because of
lots of busyness between last Friday and now. Sorry about that. Also,
I wasn't able to record a show on the 17th, due to some computer problems
I was having.
November 3: I often don't post serious entries here, because I don't have
much serious to say, and I'd rather talk about road rage or kids knocking
over my snowmen here, and talk about serious things with friends or with
Jenn. However, a friend of ours is in need of all the prayers and good
vibes she can get. Julie (not of "and Oliver" fame from further
down the page) has just been diagnosed with 4th stage ovarian cancer.
It is presently inoperable, and she's beginning chemotherapy soon. Please
pray that the chemo works REALLY well, and that she recovers fully. That
would be great.
October 27: This is a plea to all Oregonians. If you somehow have any
kind of videotape from the 80's of either the Kite
Man PSA ("What about Frogs?" "I like frogs...")
or the Hepatitis Children's Choir PSA ("Wash your hands after going
to the bathroom/ Wash your hands after changing baby too/ 'Cause we don't
want to get hepatitis/ And we don't want hepatitis to get you Who? YOU!"),
please post them somewhere online. The world needs to know.
October 13: Sorry this has taken so long to get this one up here. I've
been sapped of energy. There is no show from October 6, because the one
from September 29 didn't air on KPSU, so I aired it a week late. I'll
try and be better. OK?
September 22: This week's show features music from bands that played Saturday
the 9th at MusicFest NW, including Small
Sails, Caves,
Climber
and Ohmega
Watts.
September 15: So, I went to Portland last week for MusicFest
NW. It was the best thing ever. Except for REAL maple syrup in every
square of the waffle. Or kittens.
I wasn't able to do my show in the studio last week, because when I got
to the station, there was a band set up, and their gear was blocking all
the CD cabinets. My plan was to do music all by bands playing at MusicFest.
Since I couldn't then, I'm doing it now! This week is all bands that played
on the Friday night (schedule
PDF), next week will be bands that played on Saturday. Good stuff!
September 1: Thank God for family.
This week's show features music from bands that played at the Halleluwah
festival on the 1st, as well as bands who will be playing on Thursday
night at MusicFest NW.
August 25: I'm so excited! My family is coming to visit me next weekend!
And then I'm going Portland the Wednesday after that! I'm about to lose
control and I think I like it!
August 18: Shortly after I recorded this week's show, I saw Little
Miss Sunshine, which I had been anticipating for a few months. Jenn
and I absolutely loved it. Though a few aspects of the film evoke other
indie films, it's a very original film; funny, moments of tempered sadness,
and each cast member brings humanity to their characters. The star of
the show is Abigail Breslin,
who plays seven-year-old Olive, whose dream it is to win the Little Miss
Sunshine pageant. Pretty much anything she says makes you want to give
her a hug and/or go make a daughter of your own as soon as possible. (No
announcements yet!) I would highly recommend seeing the film.
