Dimland Radio

dimland radio 7-16-22 show notes

I Was Wrong!

Rare as it may be, I was wrong about something on last week’s show. I had said the Tenacious D hadn’t done a studio recorded cover of any rock artist prior to The Who Medley they released a few weeks ago.

Well, they had. At least a year ago The D dropped their video of their version of You Never Give Your Money/The End by The Beatles. The band is pretty obscure. Not many people know about them.

Sigh. 10 points taken from Slytherin….

(But add 100 points for being willing to admit I as wrong.)

Expedia’s Spokesperson

*Ewan McGregor possessor of Star Wars money!*

There is some sound psychology behind the notion that experiences make for a more full life than the acquisition of stuff. Expedia.com uses that as the basis of one of their ads featuring Ewan McGregor.

“Do you think any of us will look back on our lives and regret the things we didn’t buy… or the places we didn’t go?” he asks. Then he answers to himself, “I won’t regret either. I can afford to go to all the places AND buy all the stuff.”

A Dimland Radio Pedant Moment: How Is John Wayne Dressed?

This meme showed up on my Facebook. It compares manly man John Wayne to a young fellow who is supposed to represent how men aren’t manly men anymore. Something went terribly wrong it contends.

It’s not a fair comparison. It’s cherry-picking. And it shows John Wayne dressed as men dressed in the American Old West in about 1880. That’s not how the Duke dressed in 1959 when he wasn’t on the set.

Besides, fashions change. Put your stereotypes away.

There are others of this “what happened to men” memes out there, many feature the very dapper Cary Grant. Check out this gallery.

Oh, yes. Something went terribly wrong.

Having A Little Fun With That One Gieco Ad

It was my wife who brought this to my attention.

Gieco, the auto and homeowners insurance company, has a lot of money to use to run multiple ad campaigns with lots and lots of different commercials. In fact, it seems many insurance companies also have massive advertising budgets.

Gieco has a series of TV ads that demonstrate the multiplicity of meanings of words. And most of them are pretty good. One has an animal in the attic, another has a problems with aunts. Currently, there is an ad in which the owner concedes the old house she loves might be too Victorian.

It’s that ad of which my wife swears the young Victorian gentleman suitor, when casually rebuffed by the object of his affection, drops an F bomb…

*The FTC would certainly not allow it, but I choose to hear him swearing.*

He doesn’t (probably), but it’s fun to hear it that way.

NASA To Investigate UFO/UAPs

All those shaky, blurry photographs and videos are going to be looked at by America’s space agency. And I’m sure the question “Are we being visited by space aliens?” will have no conclusive answer when they are done. I hope they don’t spend lots of money.

As Steve Novella on the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast put it, the reason all of the photographic evidence for UFO/UAPs is blurry is because if the images were in focus we would be able to identify them. The blurry evidence IS the phenomenon.

Hmmmm. That fourth image seems out of place. Ah! It’s not blurry!

Brian Dunning in a recent Skeptoid podcast related the tale of the Chilean government’s two year investigation into a UFO incident caught on video in their country in 2014. After their investigation of two years, they were stumped. So, this might really be space aliens. They released the video evidence to the public.

It took the internet 5 days to be able to identify the unidentifiable!

It was…

Not an alien spacecraft. It was something far more mundane.

You can find out what it was here.

I Was Called A Groomer

I pushed back on a bigoted post about trans folx. The transphobic statement was share by a Facebook “friend”, who then unfriended me – shocking!

Here’s the post, which is a straw man…

Here’s my pushback and the reaction…

Groomer is what these dipshits call you when you try to point out their ignorance. Well, what are ya gonna do?

A Cool Thing: James Webb Telescope

I can’t end the show on a bummer note. So, let’s look at that image of galaxies provided by the James Webb Telescope. Awesome!

Mask up! GET VACCINATED! GET BOOSTED! GET BOOSTED AGAIN! And if you have been vaccinated, THANK YOU!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Black Coffee In Bed by Squeeze and Luka by Suzanne Vega

Second ad break bumpers: Heat Of The Moment by The Church and Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush

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

Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

Subscribe to Dimland Radio on PodBean!

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’d like.

dimland radio 7-9-22 show notes

Mom Ended Her Journey

*Dad with Mom at her 85th birthday celebration last February. We didn’t know that just four months later Mom would be gone.*

She was 85 years old. She was the oldest of twelve children. She was married to the same man for 65 years. She had four children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She liked to crochet, color in coloring books, watch movies, visit the casino, go to plays, and get together with family. And she loved to laugh.

At about 8:30 in the morning Sunday June 19th, Mom died.

I recapped the story of her struggles and hospitalizations over the previous few weeks. From breathing difficulties, being unable to got out of her chair or off the toilet, to falling and breaking her leg. The broken leg took her once again to the hospital, never to return to her home of nearly 50 years.

There was a brief religious ceremony for Mom’s memorial service, in which I had to read from the Bible to the gathering of forty to fifty mourners. As an atheist, reading the Bible to a group of people isn’t something I relish, since I certainly don’t believe any of it, but I wanted to honor Mom and Dad, who are both believers. Also, reading out loud isn’t something I’m very good at, so it wasn’t a moment without some stress. But, the moment was not about me and I got through it fine.

And I didn’t sound sarcastic at all.

Mom was born on Valentine’s Day (astrologers, put your charts away) and she died on Father’s Day. It ca be said she cam into the world on one Hallmark Cards holiday and left on another.

Mom’s last days were spent at Our Lady of Peace Hospice. There is no charge for their services. They run completely on donations. If you are able and willing, a donation in my mother’s name (Norma Fitzsimons) would be tremendous. Thank you.

*Mom received great and compassionate care here.*

Speaking Of Miracles

When Mom was still with us, I was visiting her and Dad a few days after the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. A reporter was interviewing a survivor who was recovering in the hospital and his mother. The reporter asked his mother that infuriating question:

“Do you think your son’s surviving the shooting is a miracle?” (Or words to that effect. I couldn’t find the report to confirm the exact wording.)

Of course the mother said yes. And she added that God must have something he wants her son to do.

Talk about ramping up the survivor’s guilt.

There was nothing miraculous about that mass shooting! 10 people died! Where’s the fucking miracle?!

What Would Be A Miracle?

I put my mind to what might be considered a miracle.

*Joel Osteen: “Listen up, rubes! I will slowly gesture and blink as I tell you what the Lord told me.”*

I came up with God telling ~~scam artist~~ slow motion Televangelist Joel Osteen that He would perform a miracle on a specific date, so that everyone would know He exists.

You’ll have to listen to hear my idea.

Tenacious D’s Tribute To The Who

I talked about Tenacious D’s song Tribute, which is a tribute to the greatest and best song in the world. They never straight out tell us what the greatest song in the world is, but in concert they would sometimes give a hint.

*Tenacious D’s video for the medley pulls imagery from Ken Russell’s film version released in 1975.*

I brought up Tenacious D because they just released a tribute the the greatest rock band in the world, The Who. It’s a medley of three song’s from The Who’s legendary album Tommy. It’s called The Who Medley and it rocks, of course.

I was so jazzed about the D doing a tribute to The Who. I thought they hadn’t done any studio-recorded covers of other great bands.

I was wrong. Tune in next week.

Mask up! GET VACCINATED! GET BOOSTED! GET BOOSTED AGAIN! And if you have been vaccinated, THANK YOU!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Watching The Clothes by Pretenders and Destination Unknown by Missing Persons

Second ad break bumpers: Chrome Injury by The Church and He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones

Closing song: Angler’s Treble Hook by $5 Fiddle

Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

Subscribe to Dimland Radio on PodBean!

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’d like.

dimland radio 6-11-22 show notes

It’s late and I’m tired, so these show notes will brief.

Mom Will Be Ending Her Journey Soon

Last week I told about my mother being on hospice at home. Well, she’s no longer at home.

Very early Monday morning, Mom was making her way to the bathroom. Dad had helped her out of bed ad to her walker, but lingered in her room as she went down the hall. As he came out of her room, he saw her lose her balance and fall.

The paramedics were called by Dad and they whisked her to the hospital, believing she had dislocated her knee. It turned out she had actually broken her leg. Oh, boy.

On the show I give some of the details of how her week back at the hospital has been going. My sister Nancy has been staying with Mom. She’s making sure Mom doesn’t feel abandoned and that the medical staff are doing their best for her. Which they are.

As of this writing, Mom is still in the hospital. We have hopes she will moved to a hospice facility in the next day or two.

My sister put it best: “With everything we have been through together this week, I am ready for her to pass. Not ready for her to be gone, but ready for her to be free.”

It May Be Above My Pay Grade…

*“Honey, you know what I was athinkin’?” “You was athinkin’ of buying more guns?” “Yup.”*

Why does the 2nd Amendment mention a well-regulated militia and the right of the people? Is there really anything such thing as common sense gun regulations? Why does America seem to have such a problem with gun violence?

I attempted to come up with some kind of regulation to limit the number of guns an individual, not being a member of a well-regulated militia, can own. I considered what to do to allow gun collectors to have more than that limit I suggested.

Would my ideas do any good?

Hell if I know. Pay me more and maybe I’ll come up with better ideas.

Beau Of The Fifth Column might be onto something.

Lock Him Up!

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

I Want This

It’s been in my parents’ living room for decades. It’s not a great work of fine art, but I love it. It is one thing that my parents own that I have told my siblings that I want. As a youth, I had spent a lot of time gazing at it

There are a number of odd things about this painting. All of them are splashes of colors that don’t seem as though they should be there. I think that somewhere in the process of converting the original to mass produced prints to sell at those “starving artists” events, a few dabs of ink blotted the image.

*A beam of light coming from the ground?*

Those anomalous splashes of color add to my love of this piece of art.

I want it!

Mask up! GET VACCINATED! GET BOOSTED! GET BOOSTED AGAIN! And if you have been vaccinated, THANK YOU!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Here Comes Your Man by Pixies and Baby Have Some Faith by 54-40

Second ad break bumpers: Senses Working Overtime by XTC and Ahead by Wire

Closing song: Angler’s Treble Hook by $5 Fiddle

Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

Subscribe to Dimland Radio on PodBean!

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’d like.

dimland radio 6-4-22 show notes

A warning! There are about 30 seconds of dead air as the show returns from the second break. I overestimated the time I had and I was caught… indisposed.

I Find ASMR To Be Very Annoying

A couple podcasts that I listen to have brought ASMR to my mind. The Greatest Generation, a podcast about Star Trek, has recently had its two hosts whispering and pretending to do the ASMR thing as a joke. It’s just been within the last couple of months they’ve started doing it. I don’t know why they started doing it. It isn’t funny to me, but it is annoying.

The other podcast is Science Vs, which is a science popularizing podcast. It has a recent episode dedicated to examining what science says about ASMR. I haven’t listened to it yet. I’m worried I’ll just be annoyed.

I commented on Facebook about my annoyance with the phenomenon. A hipster got on me for being behind the times. Apparently, ASMR was a thing five to ten years ago.

True, but there’s those two podcasts who also seem to be behind the times. Squaresville, Man!

Beatrice Straight: Great In That One Scene

While I talked about ASMR and its whispered speaking annoyingness, I thought of Beatrice Straight, an actor who received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her 5 minutes or so in Sidney Lumet’s 1976 classic Network. She played the loyal wife of a television news man (William Holden), who just told her of the affair he was having with an ambitious television executive (Faye Dunaway).

*Loudly “whispering” some nonsense about dying and going into the light.*

That’s some damn good acting!

Well, she came to mind when I thinking of the whole whispering element of ASMR. I remembered the same actor played one of the paranormal investigators attempting to rescue a little girl from the “other side” in the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist. In the film there is a scene in which three characters are “whispering” so as not to disturb the others who are resting. Except…

They ain’t whispering!

We Said Goodbye To Our Kitty

*There she is, all excited about the box she’d just found.*

We had her for about eight years. She could be a pain in the ass, she could be a great cuddle buddy. She was our cat. She was our Callie.

She was having seizures and breathing problems and it was time.

Goodbye, Kitty.

And Then Mom

My mom is 85 years old and her health has been slipping for some time now. I explain on the show how she is now on hospice care at home. She was doing OK on hospice, but next week I’ll tell you the latest.

The latest isn’t very good.

Cool Thing: Her Name Is Edna

We didn’t wait long. We wanted a dog and we found Edna. She’s a Japanese Chin and she’s just adorable.

Mask up! GET VACCINATED! GET BOOSTED! GET BOOSTED AGAIN! And if you have been vaccinated, THANK YOU!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Here Is The News by ELO and After The Lights Go Out by Urban Guerrillas

Second ad break bumpers: Beatle Boots by Love Tractor and Crummy Stuff by Ramones

Closing song: Angler’s Treble Hook by $5 Fiddle

Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

Subscribe to Dimland Radio on PodBean!

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’d like.

dimland radio 4-30-22 show notes

Bill Finger Created Batman (With A Tiny Contribution From Bob Kane)

A couple shows ago, I mentioned one of the hosts of a podcast I listen to said his Batman was Adam West. He also said how sick he was of the dark and brooding Batman characterizations. And that is his preference, but it’s my opinion that the fellow just doesn’t like Batman. Batman was created to be dark and brooding.

On this show, I talked about how Bill Finger created Batman and Gotham, the Batcave, the Batmobile, the murders of Bruce Wayne’s parents, even the Batsignal, just about everything really. Finger also improved upon the costume that Bob Kane created.

Yes, Bob Kane did design a costume and he did come up with the name Batman.

In recent years, fans of comic books have been learning of Bill Finger’s unsung genius in the creation of one of the medium’s greatest heroes. One thing Bob Kane was brilliant at was making certain he got credit for creating the Dark Knight, but his original version with the red tights and blonde hair just doesn’t quite work, does it?

*Bob Kane (left) had a nugget* *of an idea, which Bill Finger (right) used to create Batman.*

This video gives more detail on Batman’s origins.

Neal Adams 1941-2022

*Neal Adams, one of comic books’ greatest artists.*

Speaking of great comic book creators, one of the best artists just died a few days ago. He was Neal Adams. Adams was one of the giants in comic book art. His work for DC, on Green Lantern and Batman, is legendary. He, along with writer Denny O’Neil revitalized Batman. They moved him away from tamed down (because of the US Government’s crack down on comics turning kids into criminals) and the campy stories (due to the influence of TV’s Batman series with Adam West), and brought the character back to what his creators (Bill Finger and Bob Kane, but really Bill Finger) had initially intended. Dark and brooding!

That’s some damn good art!

I talked about how great an illustrator Adams was, but he wasn’t quite as good at science. He believe pretty much all science was wrong and that some crank whose book he read knew better than all the scientists.

“This whole gravity thing is nuts! The earth is expanding!” Not an exact quote, but he believed the earth expanding was why there was gravity. Nutty.

Oscar’s Best Moment

Yes, I know it’s even less timely than it was last week to talk about the Oscars, but it’s my show and wanted to give some love to Lady Gaga’s awesomeness and class when presenting the Best Movie award with legend Liza Minnelli. Minnelli was not in the best health and she was showing her age, but Gaga just said, “I got you.”

And she did.

I, and many others, found the moment touching and endearing. Lady Gaga is a class act.

However, a friend of Liza’s, singer Michael Feinstein, claimed that the legendary actor/singer’s appearance on the Oscar’s was sabotaged. According to Feinstein, the producers forced Liza to appear in the wheelchair, when she requested a director’s chair, and that got her flustered. He claimed The Slap shook up the producers so they insisted she use the wheelchair.

Hmm. I don’t know. I’m skeptical.

Cool Thing: That Kid Looks Familiar

*That sideways glance and smirk is unmistakable!*

Recently, the Minneapolis Teacher’s Union went on strike. In their coverage of the strike, local CBS affiliate WCCO went back into their vast film and video archives to find footage of their coverage of a Minneapolis teachers’ strike in 1970. In their search, they stumbled upon an 11 year student giving his thoughts on the strike. He sure looked familiar.

WCCO did some digging and confirmed that young fellow was Minnesota’s own – Prince. Yes, that Prince.

Very cool!

(So cool, in fact, I put my pedantry aside and refrained from pointing out the anchor got the phrase wrong. He said the footage was discovered “on accident”. Sigh. The phrase is by accident, not on accident. It’s by accident when unintended or unexpected. It’s on purpose when it is intentional.)

Mask up! GET VACCINATED! GET BOOSTED! GET BOOSTED AGAIN! And if you have been vaccinated, THANK YOU!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: The One Thing by INXS and Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King by ELO

Second ad break bumpers: Seen & Not Seen by The Talking Heads and Tom Sawyer by Rush

Closing song: Angler’s Treble Hook by $5 Fiddle

Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

Subscribe to Dimland Radio on PodBean!

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’d like.

Images used under Fair Use.