Dimland Radio

dimland radio 10-16-21 show notes

No, Virginia, The Hated Yankees Will Not Win The World Series This Year. Heh Heh Heh

After vaguely explaining why a very stressful week at work had prevented me from doing a show last week, I discussed something much, much more pleasant.

The Hated Yankees have yet again fallen short in their pursuit of their 28th World Series Championship. They did make the postseason, which is something that cannot be said for my beloved MN Twins, and played a Wild Card Playoff game against their great rival the Boston Red Sox. And the Hated Ones lost.

Sure, they made it into the postseason, but for only that one game. So, they only played one more game than the Twins this season. And now they are watching the playoffs at home.

All is right with the baseball world.

Black Midi

This past Wednesday was Amy’s and my 20th Wedding Anniversary. 20 years married to each other. 20 long years.

Well, to celebrate Amy wanted to see one of those new bands, Black Midi, in concert at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. I’d never heard of them, but Amy really likes them and I really like Amy, so we made a date night out of it.

Black Midi and their opening act L’Rain are not exactly my cup of tea musically. However, I wasn’t going to ruin Amy’s night by acting the musical snub, which was something I was really good at back in the day. I decided to just take it all in and, although neither artist will be making my Spoitify playlist, I did enjoy myself.

And Amy has rekindled the concert-going bug. In March, we’ll be seeing TOOL. Oh, boy.

Brian Dunning

*He came for the t-shirt and stayed for the beer.*

World famous skeptic and podcaster Brian Dunning is on a whistle-stop tour of North America. He’s driving his Tesla across country, making stops all over the place, to talk to his fellow skeptics. And this past Wednesday (Amy’s and my Anniversary, remember?), Mr. Dunning paid a visit to an extra special extra Minnesota Skeptics meet-up.

His getting here was a close call, due to running into an early winter storm in Montana. He was able to make it, but about three hours late. Nevertheless, he had made it and those of us who were able to stick around had a very nice visit with Brian.

If you haven’t listened to Brian’s excellent podcast Skeptoid, you are really missing out. It’s excellent. Click here to listen to his most recent show.

Rant: The Shroud Of Turin Was Not Made By Magic

As a part of my talk about Brian Dunning, I went on a little side rant about the Shroud of Turin, the supposed burial shroud of Christ that miraculously holds the image of a dead guy. The dead guy is believed to be Jesus. Sigh.

This is something that sets skeptics apart from normal people. (Yes, I indicated skeptics aren’t normal.) Skeptics understand that the explanation for any strange, odd, usual occurrence is never magic. It is never magic! It’s never a deity, space aliens, psychic powers, bigfoot, or leprechauns. Never!

If magic was part of the scientific process the process would stop and we’d still be living in caves.

Coincidentally, Brian recent did a Skeptoid episode on the Shroud of Turin.

A Cool Thing: 41 Years Later And Still A Geek

I was inspired by a couple comic book collectors on Facebook. They reproduced photographs taken of themselves as kids holding comic books, only the reproduction was done at their present age. They tried to be as accurate as they could to their old pictures.

I decided to give it a try. There is a picture of me in my 1980-81 class yearbook, in which I am posing with a selection of my comic books and some related items. I was about 16 in the photo. I painstakingly attempted to be as accurate as possible in the reproduction, however a few items are missing in the updated image: The original art page, a Slurpee cup, and my hair helmet. Where did that hair helmet get to?

It turned out pretty cool.

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

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Controversy by Prince and Cuts You Up by Peter Murphy

Second ad break bumpers: Cows by The Suburbs and Cloudbusting 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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 10-2-21 show notes

Correction Number 1

Once again recording from my room upstairs, I once (actually twice) again made an error.

During last week’s show, when commenting on the classiness of certain non-fans of the current American President and Vice-President, I mispronounced the VP’s name a couple times.

I twice said Ka-MA-la. Jeepers! Everyone knows it’s KA-mala. Doy!

I have a way to remember how to say her name correctly. There’s a song by American new wave band The Nails called 88 Lines About 44 Women and the eighth woman named in the song is Kamala. The lead vocalist (he doesn’t actually sing this song, he talks the lyrics) pronounces the name the way our VP’s name is pronounced. That will help me remember to get it right. And it’s a fun song, too.

Mazda liked the song enough to use a reworked lyrics version in an ad.

Correction Number 2

*The Brooklyn Dodgers celebrating finally beating the Hated Yankees in the World Series.*

This was a big goof. A goof I should not have made, because I certainly know better. A mistake, that if I had a remotely larger audience, I would have been blasted for making. “Dim! How could you get that wrong?! We thought you knew baseball!!”

Well, I do know the correct information, but for some reason my brain failed me.

When talking about Major League Baseball and the breaking of the “Gentleman’s Agreement” to keep black players out of the white man’s game. The black players had the Negro Leagues and the “gentlemen” wanted the black players to be content to stay there. Until owner Branch Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson to play on his team, the…

Brooklyn Dodgers!

I said Rickey owned the Boston Red Sox. That was wrong. Very wrong! Super wrong!

Here is the list of when each of the 16 teams (in those days) integrated.

How could I have been so wrong?

Satchel Paige

By all accounts, the legendary, the mythic, pitcher Satchel Paige was quite a character. He liked to drive very fast, he could turn a phrase, and on the mound he was a showman. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues until 1948 when the Cleveland Indians brought on the rookie pitcher.

He was 42. Or at least he was likely 42, it’s not altogether certain what year he was born.

Paige pitched his last MLB game in 1965. He was 59.

Paige’s Monarchs teammate Buck O’Neil tells the story of when Paige, the Negro League’s greatest pitcher, faced Josh Gibson, that league’s best hitter. For the longest time, the two had never faced each other and had debated over which was the better player. Then the time came when Gibson was playing for another team.

Buck’s storytelling is fantastic and the tale is great. He tells of Satchel’s theatricality on the mound, his confidence, and how he… I’ll let Buck tell the story.

What a character.

10-2-1982

Since this show dropped on Z Talk Radio on a special anniversary, I thought I’d break out the old story of how I first saw and fell in love with the greatest band in rock ‘n’ roll!

A Cool Thing: Ancient Footprints

Fossilized human footprints in White Sands, New Mexico have been dated to having been made 21,000 to 23,000 years ago. This puts humans in the Americas at an earlier time than previously thought. This is cool. This isn’t science flip-flopping. This isn’t science not knowing what it is doing. This is science following the evidence and adjusting its hypotheses and theories.

The prints are mostly children’s and all of them can help scientists learn about those ancient residents of North America.

What I think makes this type of fossil evidence even more compelling than fossilized bones is that footprints are a moment of life. They capture something as mundane as an animal or person just walking through some mud, but it captures a living moment. Fossilized bones are examples of death.

Both are pretty awesome.

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

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Clear View by The Screaming Blue Messiahs and Athena by The Who

Second ad break bumpers: Surfers Are Back by The Normal and Ronnie’s Song by Urban Guerrillas

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.

dimland radio 9-25-21 show notes

A Very Special Episode Of Dimland Radio

Why a special episode?

*Amy and I stylin’ in out Twins tuques!*

There a few reasons for this show being special. First, I recorded it a mere three hours before it dropped on Z Talk Radio, B) I recorded it in my art studio because it was earlier in the evening and Amy was watching her reality shows (I hate those), and 3) I sneezed during the show.

The reason I recorded on Saturday instead of my regular Friday night recording time is because Friday Amy and I took in a Twins game. The boys were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. It was a night game, which got pretty chilly. Good thing they were giving out Twins tuques! Not only were they stylish, but they kept our heads warm.

And the Twins won!

We got home after 10pm and I just didn’t have the energy to record a show.

Recording in my art studio may have affected the sound a little, but it was ideal to capture the first ever on air sneeze in Dimland Radio history. Eleven years (the first few years were done live), 511 shows, and I had never sneezed while doing the show. That streak came to an end in the last segment of this show. Show number 512.

Pretty good run, eh?

More Sports Ball Talk? Yay!

After last week’s sports ball talk I thought I should acknowledge the fact the Twins did manage to win one game against the Hated Yankees this year, but that doesn’t change the fact that the good guys have been totally owned by the bad guys for the last two decades.

*Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey: The men who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947.*

I went on to talk about the breaking of the “Gentleman’s Agreement” in Major League Baseball. The agreement, that no team would have any black players, had been implemented in about 1890 and had stood in effect until Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers (I mistakenly said Boston Red Sox), decided it was time to end the race-based exclusionary policy in 1947.

I used this history to spring into my look at a meme that has been floating around the internets. It’s a comparison of the massive wage gap between men’s professional basketball players and women’s professional basketball players. The meme uses NBA superstar LeBron James to compare and contrast with WNBA superstar Sue Bird.

It’s possible I dug myself into quite a hole when I talked about how the meme doesn’t take into account the basic economic tenet of supply and demand. There just isn’t as much demand of women’s basketball as there is for men’s. There’s a lot more money in most of the men’s versions of the major team sports than in the women’s. (Some other statistics no included in the meme are here.)

That’s just how it is. Maybe the meme isn’t calling for Sue Bird to immediately be compensated the same as LeBron James. Maybe the meme is pointing out the unfairness in the lack of interest in women’s professional team sports. And maybe the meme is concerned with that aspect of the patriarchy.

I went a little further and speculated on the possible integration of women in men’s team sports, the way black players were eventually integrated into the MLB. Black players entering the majors in baseball made baseball a better game, both as a sport and as a moving forward of the greater society.

But, women in the MLB? Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about that.

A Dimland Radio Science Zero (Again) And Science Heroes: Joe Rogan (Zero) & The SGU (Heroes)

Joe Rogan is a dumbass when it comes to healthcare, the pandemic, vaccines, and Ivermectin. Normally, some dude being a dumbass about such things isn’t all that surprising or alarming, however Rogan is a dumbass with millions of listeners to his podcast. Listeners with are getting all filled up with his dumbassery.

I declared the immensely popular dumbass Joe Rogan a Dimland Radio Science Zero once before for his “Dude, you’re young and healthy, why get vaccinated?” dumbass comment. Sigh.

Well, I also get to declare people Dimland Radio Science Heroes and the members of the Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe podcast are well deserving of the honorific. In fact, they are Hall of Famers!

*The SGU taking down a very popular dumbass.*

Recently, during one of their weekly Friday night live streams, host Dr. Steve Novella and his brother Jay really laid into dumbass Joe Rogan’s dangerous dumbassness. It takes up most of the first half hour of the live stream from a couple weeks ago (see it here). I couldn’t have done the take down nearly as well as these guys.

Oh, and I also mentioned another Dimland Radio Science Zero Tucker Carlson. He’s a dumbass, too. And he’s probably vaccinated against Covid due to Fox News’ vaccine policy, meanwhile he tells his audience of millions the vaccines are dangerous and thousands of people are dying after getting them.

*Two can play the correlation/causation game, Tucker, you dumbass.*

It’s a little correlation/causation fallacy and a little misunderstanding of (or purposefully misinforming viewers about) the function of the VAERS government website. VAERS is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. It has been set up for people to report adverse reactions to vaccines, any vaccines not just the Covid vaccines. Anyone can call and make any claim.

The site has been set up to search for patterns. If a pattern is detected it is more closely investigated. If there is something going on, action is taken to address the problem. Tucker just takes the adverse events reports as real and thinks thousands of people are dying and he tells his audience. And they don’t get vaccinated.

Are Killing Joke Conspiracy Theorists?

One of last week’s Cool Things was Killing Joke’s new song:

I Am The Virus

When I saw the lyrics to the song, I got the impression the band might be conspiracy theorists. With lyrics such as:

“False flags and Black Ops
Tavistock manufactured shocks
Something’s gone horribly wrong
Hot flushes for the Neo-con
A population
In deep denial
Contagion released
From a Phial”

A phial? Are they suggesting Covid was leaked from a lab. A lab leak is very unlikely.

“No one believes
In nine-eleven
Steel frame buildings
Don’t fall in seconds”

Seriously?! Are they 9-11 Truthers? Ugh.

This is why I separate the artist from the art. But it is difficult when the art is bullshit. It’s still a good song.

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

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: The Analog Kid by Rush and When I’m Not by The Magnolias

Second ad break bumpers: Warm Leatherette by The Normal and Smooth Operator by Sade

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.

dimland radio 9-18-21 show notes

Whoopsie!

On last week’s show I made a couple goofs.

When I was going through the George Jones song Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes I misnamed one of the legends of country music to whom George was referring. It was in the line ‘Old Jerry Lee and Charlie.” The Charlie being referred to is Charlie Rich. However, twice I said it was Charley Pride.

Both men were popular country singers, but how they spelled Charlie/Charley wasn’t the biggest difference. See if you can spot the biggest difference.

My next whoopsie came when I was talking about how American presidents now have to end every speech with “God bless America” or some variation invoking their imaginary friend. It’s tiring and it reminds atheists they don’t have a seat at the table.

I goofed when I went by my memory that previous presidents such as Carter, Ford, and Nixon didn’t do that. And I was correct for the most part. A friend of the show sent me information (an article on TheBlaze.com) that it was Richard Nixon who first put the “God bless America” into the closing of a speech in April, 1973.

That’s not to say that no president prior to Tricky Dick ever invoked the invisible watcher of everything we do (I mean everything – He/she/it watches you do those naughty, dirty things you do. How uncomfortable does that make you? Atheists do feel that discomfort.). It’s just that previous presidents didn’t end every speech with those three little words. And Nixon may have been the first to utter those words at the end of a speech, it wasn’t until Ronald Reagan that they started becoming the go to closer. After 9/11, with George W. Bush they became part of every speech.

Not a big whoopsie, I guess.

*“Hey! At least I resigned! Oh! And God bless America!”*

And, as long as I was talking about presidents, can you guess which first name is the most common among American presidents?

Hint: It’s James.

Sports Ball Talk

I hate the New York Yankees. I give the latest reason why.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Pedantic Pronunciation

When discussing the anti-Biden yard sign stating, “Joe and the Hoe gotta go” (classy!), at the most recent skeptic’s meet-up, the proper spelling of the sexist and racist insult of Vice President Harris. Is it ho or hoe?

All eyes turned to me and Craig says, “Let’s ask the pedANT.”

My answer? Is the pedantic moment.

There Are Jumping Worms?!

I didn’t know two things at the beginning of this week that I know now. One is that no earthworm is native to Minnesota and the other is that there are jumping worms. Jumping worms!

I was looking up the hours the local compost yard was open, when I spotted a warning about the invasive species called jumping worms. Jumping worms don’t actually jump. They wiggle quite a lot and appear to jump. The MN DNR advises that if you find jumping worms, you should kill them.

I also found out that worms don’t exactly lay eggs when producing baby worms. Two worms, which are hermaphroditic (that means they have all the sex parts), sidle up and get all mucusy with each other and soon they each give the other some sperm to fertilize the others eggs. Sexy! Then they place their fertilized eggs in a cocoon and the eggs hatch out later.

I didn’t know that at the beginning of the week…

That’s three! Three things I learned this week.

A Cool Thing!

Both ABBA and Killing Joke have new music out!

Don’t Shut Me Down by ABBA

I Am The Virus by Killing Joke

Yes, the Killing Joke song seems to be stepping into conspiracy theory territory. but are they criticizing conspiracy thinking or indulging in it? I don’t know. The song still kicks ass.

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

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Super Trouper by ABBA and The Wait by Killing Joke

Second ad break bumpers: Lay All Your Love On Me by ABBA and Love Like Blood by Killing Joke

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.

dimland radio 9-11-21 show notes

Amy’s Back At Work And Hayden Spotted Something

My wife Amy finished her second work back to work at Cold Side Silkscreening. It is going well, although she is a little anxious about working solo. Dropping off and picking up is going fine, but it is a little tricky. It’s still much better than paying for parking.

Last Sunday, we got to see our son Hayden in person for the first time in more than two weeks. He has changed so much. OK, not really. But it was so good to be able to give him a hug again.

On Labor Day, Hayden was back at college in Mankato, enjoying a day with no classes, hanging out with a couple friends and shopping at a Goodwill thrift store. He spotted a t shirt with a design that seemed familiar.

He texted me. He said he might be crazy but the design looked like one of mine.

It is.

On Thursday, Amy brought home several pieces of original art of some of the designs I had done for a regular customer of Cold Side’s. Among them was the design Hayden spotted.

COINCIDENCE?!

Yes.

Atheist Talk

*Probably a Photoshopped image. No clouds and the day/night line is pretty sharp.*

Inspired by an image shared on Facebook by a Pennsylvania congressperson, Stephanie Borowicz, I started a bit of a conversation, if you will, about religious tolerance. More specifically, I was concerned with non-religious tolerance. There isn’t much of that in America. Sure, an atheist can just keep their mouth shut and the majority wouldn’t even notice, but it is clear to us atheists that we don’t have a seat at the table.

Admittedly, I was a bit snarky in my initial response to the politician. I had stated: Prayed that satellite right up there, did we?

That got some people riled up. Mockery! Making fun of belief! Religious intolerance! Persecution!

How dare I remind a political representative of the people of Pennsylvania that not everyone they represent shares their faith?! I guess those who no longer believe in their imaginary friends can just sit their butts down and keep their mouths shut. How dare atheists make believers uncomfortable with their questioning snarkery?!

And why is being a person of faith considered virtuous?

I explore my thoughts on that question.

I also ask the question: Suppose MN Rep. Ilhan Omar posted that same image and asked Allah to continue to bless America, would those so upset by my religious intolerance react the same way as the did to Rep. Borowicz?

I would.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Amazon’s Rapunzel Ad

Just a quick Pedantic Moment dealing with an ad for Amazon. The ad shows Rapunzel in a tower waiting for her prince (or princess, no assumptions) to arrive. Well, they ain’t showing up, so Rappy takes matters into her own hands and goes on Amazon to order a ladder. It arrives and she goes free.

*Ain’t no way Rapunzel was getting out of the tower with that hair.*

The pedantry? Her hair is not nearly long enough!

Some Interesting Things About A Minor Country Hit

A friend shared the video for country music legend George Jones’ 1985 song Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes. The song is a tribute to the legends of country music. However, all of the legends listed are men. No Loretta Lynn? No Patsy Cline? No Tammy Wynette?!

George! Tammy was your wife and singing partner!

I rewrote the lyrics to include some female legends of country music.

The video for the song uses the old (even by 1985) movie and TV trope of small towns and businesses suffering due to the Interstate Highway System. I talk about that a bit and about another moment of interest in the video…

I immediately recognized that toy horse in the window (see the photos above). It’s Thunder. Thunder was horse belonging to the cowboy action figure Johnny West by Marx Toys. Marx had some of the coolest toys back in the day.

I knew it was Thunder, because I have one! (See the photos below.)

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

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Highwayman by The Highwaymen and Bull Rider by Johnny Cash

Second ad break bumpers: Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good by Don Williams 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.

Images used under Fair Use.