Feels Like a Milestone

This evening, in The Wiggle Room, on the Sheena's Jungle Room stream, the third and final installment of Hard Harry's Radio Retrofit special was shared with listeners, at wfmu.org.

I'll have the three parts strung together for this website by the weekend. Look for "WKPX."

I'm real proud with how it turned out. I had forgotten how important this movie was, to a lot of my fellow DJs. It's inspired a lot of good conversation, since starting to work on it, only recently. I think it holds up, as a good snapshot of high school, in 1990. That's when I was there and watching, it felt about how I remember it. Slightly more glossy, of course, but it "feels' right, to me.

I can't believe how much faster I've gotten at this. I hope it's a good thing. I think I worked on the Fever mix for a year, off and on, before finally calling it done. I was just having fun with that one though. Then came KBHR, and that was work. A pretty big challenge, believe it or not. The third time was finally the charm though.

These last two though, were both begun and wrapped in the first half of this year. Venus Flytrap, at WKRP in Ohio, and Hard Harry from WKPX, in Arizona. So you'd think there'd be a lot more to come, and soon, but I'm not sure...

I've got a couple I'm working on, at the moment. And about a half dozen shorter ones, probably. At this rate, maybe these will be ready before the year is out. I don't know if there's any hurry though. Got a fictional DJ in mind? Drop me a line!

I've got something slightly more pressing to focus on, for the time being...

aw phooey zine cover?

...as yes, I am also excited to announce the zine I was "dragging my heels" on back in January is finally nearing completion. It's assembled, and all the major revisions are in place. The big ones, anyway...

I'm just cleaning up tiny details, now. Adding a thing or two for increased feng shui. Does that apply to magazine layouts, too, or just apartments? Anyway, it's nearly found its flow...

Hope to have the zine out this summer., in fact. Nervous, but excited.

So, now that WKPX is done, the zine will be my focus, along with a lot of volunteering at KBOO, this summer, here in Portland. It's "concert season," I'm told, and there are tables for me to stand behind. I love it!

It's been great to be out and around everyone down there, at the station. I'm starting to remember what it's like to know people, again, in the city where I live. It's been a long time, for me, thanks to lots of moving around, for years, followed by lockdown. It's been so good to remember.

There's no reason, if there's no community. It's why we're here, as far as I'm concerned. I could never figure out any other explanation, anyway. It's community.

Oh, and! As I finished the zine layout, I realized, there was lots of leftover material, and already some good new ideas to add to it. I think issue 2 will be a lot quicker. I won't wait decades, this time. You can hold me to that. I wish you would.

That's my update. Feel free to drop me a line. Nice to know you're listening! Jon

Check out Radio Retrofit updates HERE.