Dimland Radio

dimland radio 1-12-13 show notes

A Look At Sports

I did a little wrap-up talk about the NFL playoff games from earlier in the day. Poor Broncos fans are going to be questioning the decision to take a knee with two time-outs and 30 seconds left in regulation. The game was tied and with the great Payton Manning, why not try to get to field-goal range to avoid overtime?

Predictions

Former ZTalkers Allie Cheslick and Janet Russell, both believe themselves to be psychic (I’ll refrain from divulging my opinion.), were mentioned on last week’s Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe. It was during their psychic’s predictions of 2012 review. Allie and Janet didn’t exactly nail it.

I also gave my predictions for 2013. Admittedly, these are pretty high percentage guess, so I’ll probably be right. Here they are:

1) By year’s end, Bigfoot will still not be established to exist.

2) By year’s end, extraterrestrial visitation will still not be established to be happening or to have ever happened.

3) 9/11 Truthers will still not accept the official story despite the mountain of supporting evidence.

4) Science will continue to make discoveries and developments that will improve our lives.

Ten Minute Topic With Chris Brown

Two weeks in a row? That’s right. This time Chris and I talk about skepticamp, skepticism and curiosity, and a 10% tax hike on the middle class(?!).

Being Caught By Mom

Just give me two reasons why she’s so popular… Oh. Right.

A fellow I know told me a story of his brother and a life-size cutout of Elvira Mistress of the Dark. It was innocent, really! It was! But try to tell your mother that.

I hope his story isn’t one of those urban legend things. I checked Snopes.com and didn’t find anything, so it may be true.

I then related a similar story from my past. It involved Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the “Rude Visitors” sketch, a boob grab and the perfect timing of my mom walking in.

“What are you watching?!”

Movie Recommendation: Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (2010)

Magnolia Pictures

A funny twist on the cabin in the woods, college kids going out for beers, pot, and whatnot, and a pair of menacing hillbillies. It’s a slasher film, sort of. Tucker and Dale just wanted a relaxing weekend at Tucker’s “new” cabin and they would have were it not for those meddling kids.

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘I’ll Be You‘ by The Replacements & ‘All Shook Down‘ by The Screaming Blue Messiahs
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Treason‘ by Naked Raygun & ‘The Tide Is High‘ by Blondie
Closing song: ‘Angler’s Treble Hook’ by $5 Fiddle

That’s it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 1-5-13 show notes

Happy New Year! Here’s More About The Flu

I talked about resolutions, dying from having a 16 ton weight dropped on me, and another (hopefully) humorous bit about having the flu.

Mea Culpa

Did I drop a spoiler last week when I talked about Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’? According to my younger brother, I did. He thought my revealing the name of the character played by Ben Kingsley and who he was spoiled the moment of discovery in the film. I don’t like thinking I’ve done a spoiler, so I’m sorry.

But! Then I remembered that I knew who the character was before seeing the film. That got me thinking, “How did I know that?” I looked into it by checking the reviews. First up was Roger Ebert’s review. And right there in the fourth paragraph, “Yes, this grumpy old man, played by Ben Kingsley, is none other than the immortal French film pioneer, who was also the original inventor of the automaton.”

See? If Roger can do it, so can I.

Pedantic Moment

I also checked ten other critics’ reviews of ‘Hugo’ and eight of them made mention of Kingsley’s character. That got me remembering my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Malmstead. He taught us that when talking statistics 8 out of 10 is 4 out of 5. 80,000 out of 100,000 is 4 out of 5.

My pedantry centered around the tendency of the last few years to call those sorts of rates using the base 10. So I’ll hear, 4 in 10, 6 in 10, etc. Mr. Malmstead demanded that we call those as they really are. 2 in 5, 3 in 5, etc.

Math!

Ten Minute Topic With Chris Brown

The long-awaited return of TMT finally stopped being awaited for. Chris Brown of Meet The Skeptics! returned to talk to me about a trip to India, math, his son Ethan, Ethan’s math blog, and soccer. Soccer? Yep.

We didn’t talk much skepticism, but it was good to hear from Chris again.

Changing One’s Mind With Science

I hadn’t heard of Mark Lynas before yesterday, but I spotted a Slate.com article on my Facebook page. Apparently, Lynas was a prominent environmentalist who, for nearly two decades, had decried the dangers of genetically modified (GM) foods. Turns out he studied the science of GM and found that he had been wrong. And at the Oxford Farming Conference on January 3, 2013, he apologized for the damage he had done to the environmental movement by vilifying those greatly beneficial and safe crops.

It’s not always easy admitting you’re wrong. And so publicly. That is one of the great things about science and people who take science seriously – admitting an error and correcting it.

Here is Mark Lynas’ entire speech at the Oxford Farming Conference.

Movie Recommendation: Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy

Warner Brothers

Christopher Nolan understands the Batman. And shows us that in his nearly perfect trilogy of ‘Batman Begins,’ ‘The Dark Knight,’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ I had just seen the final installment and was very impressed. “Wow!” I think, was my first reaction.

Each film gets it right. The villains are excellent, especially Heath Ledger’s Joker. Thomas Hardy is almost as good as Bane. The gadgets are believable, along with the situations we find the Batman getting into. Extreme? Yes, but believable. And Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman? MEOW!

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘Dodo/Lurker‘ by Genesis & ‘O Superman (For Massenet)‘ by Laurie Anderson
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire‘ by Urban Guerrillas & ‘Infected‘ by TheThe
Closing song: ‘Angler’s Treble Hook’ by $5 Fiddle

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 12-29-12 show notes

The Lost Episode: Why And What You Missed

The show kicked off with a prerecorded 20 minute explanation of the tech issues I had and what I talked about in show 150, the now infamous “Lost Episode.” I covered the following topics (links will be provided where possible): the non-event of the Mayan “Doomsday,” a little talk about a Makita Tool Girl poster from my art school days, a lying meme generated from the Right attacking Pres. Obama, actress and mediocre artist, Jane Seymour, and her ‘Open Hearts’ design (which I think looks like a stylized snake), and about my son’s first viewing of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’.

A lie from the Right!

So, you didn’t miss much.

We Got The Flu

I then went on and on about how Amy, Hayden, and I all got the flu. Amy and Hayden had it coming out the top, I had it coming out the bottom. It was no fun.

We did get our vaccines, but obviously the vaccine we received didn’t cover the bug that hit us. Still, I advocated for vaccination. It is effective and safe. And will keep people from dying! Don’t believe the lies of the anti-vax crowd. They are causing more harm than good. Much more.

Before You Write Off The Human Race…

As I’ve been saying the last couple of shows (the Lost Episode doesn’t count because it was lost), human beings are still worth it. Mass shootings, suicide bombings, war, the fiscal cliff notwithstanding, we humans get along surprisingly well. Hundreds of acts of kindness and compassion happen all the time. And we humans have a grand capacity of silliness.

This is why I recommend checking out Where The Hell Is Matt. Matt Harding is a young fellow who travels the world and gets people to get a little silly and have a lot of fun. Here’s one example. Just try to watch it and not be moved.

Movie Recommendation: Hugo (2011)

Paramount Pictures

Unless you count ‘Goodfellas’ (and why would you?), this is Martin Scorese’s first family film. And it’s a pretty darn good one. It’s about a lot of things: a boy’s love for his father, friendship, grief, art, loss, and the magic of movies. Ben Kingsley plays Georges Méliès, a magician turned filmmaker in the early 20th century. He was one of the first people to realize that movies could depict our dreams. And the production is stunning. This is one movie I would have liked to see in 3D.

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)‘ by Ramones & ‘Gonna Get Ya‘ by Pete Townshend
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Telephone Operator‘ by Pete Shelley & ‘Achin’ To Be‘ by The Replacements
Closing song: ‘Angler’s Treble Hook’ by $5 Fiddle

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 12-22-12 no show notes

The Fabled Lost Episode

Unless you were in the chat room, you won’t be hearing this show. Tech problems plagued the entire affair. One microphone went wacky, then I forget to hit the button for listeners to hear my ad breaks, and then the other microphone went insane! Oh, brother. This is sure to go down as the lost episode and will surely begin to take on myth proportions.

My apologies.

dimland radio 12-15-12 show notes

Monsters Do Exist

The monstrous act of the mass killing of innocents in Newtown, CT has had everyone confused, angry, and heart-broken. I did my best to express my thoughts on the events, but I can’t say I have any answers. I wish I did, but I don’t think anyone does.

We’ll be hearing about this on the news for the next several days, I’m sure; so, here is something that will remind us that humanity isn’t lost. Not yet.

Pedantic Moment

I called myself on this one. Last week I went on about a Chevrolet ad on the TV. The ad has a fellow telling the Santa-like salesman the he hunts deer…fish. That’s funny, but the ad has been changed the include the hunter saying he meant fish and that he didn’t know why he said deer. I found that to be clunky and it ruined the joke.

But I didn’t get the line quite right so I intended to get all pedantic on my butt.

However! I searched for the ad online to get the lines right and I found this. It’s an extended version. Really extended. And it’s very funny watching the “fish hunter” trying to dig himself out of the hole he put himself into. The explanation that felt tacked on in the ad that I thought had been ruined works well in the extended ad.

The “Best” Bigfoot Trackers At It Again

Remember August, 2008? Well, there’s one event from that year that I remember. A couple of bigfoot trackers (the best! sure they are) claimed to have a body of a dead bigfoot. Unsurprisingly, the bigfoot body turned out to be a sasquatch costume. According to one of the trackers (Rick Dyer), it was all a joke to lighten the mood of the country.

I wrote about this embarrassing event back then.

Well, those self-proclaimed best bigfoot trackers are claiming the possession of another dead bigfoot. Really? Excuse my yawn.

Bigfoottracker.com is a joke. Their website is an amateurish mess. And Rick Dyer and his new partner, DJ, are pathetic. Watch their video on their home page, if you can stomach it. It’s mostly Rick and DJ talking smack about other bigfoot hunters and what great trackers they are in comparison. There is a clip of an alleged bigfoot in their bragging/paranoid promotional video. It’s intriguing, but still not very good evidence.

They claim that in 2013 they will reveal explosive evidence about bigfoot. I predicted that by 12/31/13 bigfoot will be just as unverified as he is today.

Let’s see which of us is the better prognosticator.

Movie Recommendation: Quick Change (1990)

Warner Brothers

This understated comedy is not the first one the comes to mind when someone mentions Bill Murray. But it should. I think it is as good as or better than his more broad comedies such as ‘Stripes’ and ‘What About Bob?’ It starts out a caper film, but continues as the story of three bank robbers trying to deal with their greatest obstacle: New York City. Costarring Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards, it is well worth a look.

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘Freewill‘ by Rush & ‘Apeman Hop‘ by Ramones
Second ad break bumpers: ‘The Mercy Beat‘ by The The & ‘Running Free‘ by Buzzcocks
Closing song: ‘Angler’s Treble Hook’ by $5 Fiddle

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.