Dimland Radio

dimand radio 10-3-20 show notes

18 In A Row

For years I was convinced the Minnesota Twins suffered from “Pinstripe Fever,” a strange deep-seated fear of playing the Hated Yankees in the postseason. After all, the Twins’ first opponent in the playoffs have been the Evil Empire so many times now I’ve lost track. The last time the Twins got a win against the Bronx Bastards was in 2004. But, after this postseason in which the boys were once again swept right out, it looks as those the Twins’ problem isn’t the Pinstripes, it’s the playoffs.

That playoff win in 2004 was the last one the frustrating Twins would enjoy to this today. Since that win, the Twins have lost 18 playoff games in a row. EIGHTEEN!

That is not only a record in Major League Baseball, it is the longest playoff losing streak in all major professional sports in North America! And they set the record playing the Houston Cheaters who made it into the postseason despite having a losing record. Ugh!

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Which Lane?

Driving home from work the other night, I spotted this Pedantic Moment. Look closely. Do you see the problem?

This Was Not The October Surprise I Expected

I had thought the pandemic might be our best chance of ridding America of the petulant man-child who has occupied the White House for nearly four years, but not this way.

Pres. Trump has been infected by what he had called a Democratic hoax, the China virus, “kung flu” (his words, not mine), or his downplayed version of the flu. He has it now. He has the COVID.

I will not gloat. But I understand the schadenfreude. And, with him recently downplaying that most of the COVID deaths are the elderly and those having preexisting health problems, I feel he should be reminded he is 74 years old and overweight.

I’m certain he will recover. He gets the world’s best medical care and he waited long enough to get it that medical science has gotten much better at treating the illness.

The Shitshow

Full disclosure: I did not watch the Presidential Debate as it happened last Tuesday night. I did watch clips and reaction pieces. I don’t think I would have enjoyed watching it in real time. My wife watched it and she was furious.

I talked about the moment many focused on in the aftermath: “Stand back and stand by.”

*“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”*

Fearless Leader was asked to condemn white supremacist groups and right wing militias and to tell them to stand down from added to the violence we’ve been seeing in this country. He asked moderator Chris Wallace to name a group. Vice President Joe Biden named the Proud Boys and the president told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” Stand by? That doesn’t mean stand down. That’s not condemning them.

To be fair, as Trump’s sycophants pointed out, he has specifically condemned racist groups and called out the KKK and David Duke by rejecting their worldview. But one wonders why it was so difficult for him Tuesday.

The sycophants also pointed out that white supremacy might not be the Proud Boys’ raison d’etre and they might only be tenuously connected to white supremacy, but how did they react by being named as a racist hate group? Were they insulted? Did they protest their innocence? “How dare Sleepy Joe call us white supremacists!”

Nope. The Proud Boys took great pride at getting a presidential shout out and they are standing by.

Quacks like a duck…

Cool Thing: Bob Mould Is Angry Again

Legendary singer/songwriter/musician Bob Mould who had been a member of the equally legendary band Husker Du has released a new album. One song, American Crisis, hearkens back to those Husker Du days. Bob is angry about the state of America today.

Really cool.

Cool Thing: This Shirt And What It Represents

This shirt (well, one very much like it) was purchased by me the first time I saw The Who in concert – 38 years ago. It was October 2, 1982. It changed my life. The concert, not the shirt.

It’s a cool thing, but, damn! I’m old.

Be patient. Wash your hands. Stay home. Stay safe. WEAR A MASK!

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: English Roundabout by XTC and Telegram Sam by Bauhaus

Second ad break bumpers: Marlene On The Wall by Suzanne Vega and Undercover Of The Night by The Rolling Stones

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 9-26-20 show notes

New Glasses

Through George Hrab’s Geologic Podcast I learned about Zenni Optical. Zenni is an online site that offers eye glasses at low, low prices. Geo talked about how the website has become something of an addiction for him. He says he owns several pairs of glasses he bought from Zenni.

Glasses can cost $300, $400, $500. That’s way expensive for most anybody, but this site offers glasses for $20, $30, $40. We can get glasses through our insurance for a similarly low price, but the selection is limited and our vision needs to change by a specified percentage. So, we checked out the site and we ordered a pair of glasses for each of us.

Amy got a pair of prescription sunglasses and Hayden and I picked an extra pair of regular glasses for ourselves. I have never owned a second pair of glasses enabling me to change my look as the mood hits me. Now I can. I can go Buddy Holly-ish or 1960s science professor.

Zenni is not a sponsor, but I recommend them. I hope this doesn’t become an addiction for me.

I’m Living On The Air In Cincinnati

I decided to take a little nostalgic trip back to the late 70s and early 80s to talk about the classic TV sit-com WKRP In Cincinnati. The show aired for four years with 86 episodes. The series centered on a low in the ratings radio station that had just hired a new program director. He was determined to turn the station around and increase its ratings. He was going to do that by changing the format from elevator music to rock ‘n’ roll.

The characters of the station were likeable and funny and well played by the cast. The show broached many important topics: Payola, drug use, women’s rights, race relations, homophobia, transphobia, terrorism, the censorship of the religious right, the Vietnam War, and the festival seating disaster that led to 11 dead Who concert-goers in December, 1979. Some topics were admittedly handled better than others (the homophobia and transphobia were two of the topics that could have been done better), but to bring them up helped make the series better than much of the other shows television had to offer. Broaching the topics however awkwardly at least put them into the discussion. And it was consistently funny.

The music was vitally important to the show. Creator Hugh Wilson insisted that the music used not be soundalikes, but the real thing. That could be expensive, but they found ways to stretch the budget for music. It really worked to the show’s advantage, but it also killed the syndication run when the music rights ran out.

And, of course, there was the classic turkey drop episode.

“As God As my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

A Dimland Pedantic Moment: You’re Gonna Need More Records

*Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever on the “WKRP” , announcing things are gonna rock! Credit: Provided/Enquirer file*

Admittedly, this pedantic moment was a bit tortured in how I approached it, but that’s pedantry for you.

In that first episode of WKRP, program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) decided to change the format right away. DJ Johnny Caravella (Howard Hesseman) pointed out that he didn’t have any records. Andy handed him a stack, “Now you do.” And zap the format was changed. Johnny immediately became Dr. Johnny Fever and he even got to say booger on the air. (An offense that got him fired from a previous job.)

The thing is Andy only handed Johnny ten or so albums. I went through some twists and turns and came up with that being maybe ten hours of on air music. That’s if you include commercial, news, and DJ banter breaks. I even allowed for one of the albums being one of those K-Tel Records hits compilations. The playlist is going to be quite limited.

Here’s a bonus show notes edition Pedantic Moment. Johnny cues up that first rock song to be played, which, by the way, is Queen of the Forest by Ted Nugent from his debut self-titled album, it is clearly the first track on the side of the LP Johnny picked. Well, the song is actually the last track of the album.

Fearless Leader Advocating Eugenics, Not Bothered By 200,000 Dead

Continuing his COVID Infect-a-thon rallies around the country, Pres. Trump, while buttering up Minnesotans in Bemidji about their healthy genes said, “The racehorse theory. You think we’re so different?” That’s him referencing eugenics. I don’t want a president who might think eugenics is a good idea. Here’s more on eugenics.

At another rally he indicated the 200,000 dead were mostly old people and people with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma and diabetes. Oh? Oh, then that’s OK. Waitaminute. All lives matter, don’t they?

I guess not.

President Trump also believes that herd “mentality” (he meant immunity) would make the COVID disappear without a vaccine. To achieve herd immunity at least 70% of Americans would need to get it. That’s approximately 231,000,000 people. With the death rates being, let’s go with the low end, 1% that would mean more than 2 million Americans would die.

All lives matter?

In regards to recent infection rates, it is interesting how the ten worst states with regards to new COVID case rates all went for Trump in 2016, while the ten best states all went to Hillary Clinton. The numbers are complicated and were different early in the pandemic than they are now. This might be a little selective in the presenting of the numbers, but it’s still interesting.

A Cool Thing: 20 Great Guitar Riffs By The Who

I spotted this on the YouTube. It’s a young musician playing what he thinks are the twenty best guitar riffs played by Pete Townshend with his band The Who.

Really cool.

Be patient. Wash your hands. Stay home. WEAR A MASK! Stay safe.

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Electric Lash by The Church and (The) Wait by Killing Joke

Second ad break bumpers: Empty Glass by Pete Townshend and (The) Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill by Husker Du

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 9-19-20 show notes

Ruth Bader Ginsburg And Republican Hypocrisy

Shortly before I started recording the show, my wife gave me the news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died.

Almost immediately after the world learned of her death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Republicans were ready to rubber stamp any nominee Pres. Trump sends them. Right now. No waiting. Let’s get Ivanka on the highest court in the land. STAT!

Hang on. It’s an election year. Shouldn’t the American people have a voice in this process? Shouldn’t we waiting until after the election? Isn’t that the reason McConnell gave in 2016 when he refused to allow the Senate to confirm Pres. Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia? What changed in four years?

Oh, right. Democrat president then, Republican president now. Fucking hypocrite.

A New Homeowner

My younger brother Steve has become a homeowner and last Saturday I helped him move into his new abode. That was the reason there was no new show last week. Too much going on and the show had to take the backseat.

Congratulations, Steve!

A Couple More Baseball Items

I did a quick follow-up on my baseball and the slippery slope talk from the last show. I talked about watching another game with the announcers talking to a player while he was playing. The game interrupted the conversation and the player had to field the ball and attempt to throw out a runner. The runner was safe by half a step. Did the intrusion slow the mic’d up player? Would he have made the play if he had been allowed to concentrate on his job?

I also talked about getting quite the ribbing when I admitted that I never learned how to catch a ball with a baseball glove. It isn’t the same as catching with a bare hand. You have to learn how to use a glove and I never did.

However, out of all that ribbing I received from my (ahem) friends, several of them have threatened… er… I mean offered to teach me how to use a glove. That’s cool.

Sometimes We Do Need Algebra After High School

It only took fifteen years, but I finally finished a model I had been working on and set aside in 2005. The model is of Marvel Comics’ not so jolly green giant the Hulk.

In 2003, the kit was released. It is a reissue of a couple earlier kits, the original from 1966 and the other from 1974. I had the 1974 kit when I was a kid. That kit came with a mini comic book that had a splash page intended to be the backdrop for the model once completed. I have since lost the model, but I still have the comic.

My intention with the 2003 kit, which didn’t come with the comic, was to get the model together and use the color copy I made of that splash page. But, the page was too small. The 2003 released was at 1/8th scale, while the two earlier models were at 1/12th scale. I would need to do algebra. I was good at it in school, but in the intervening 92 years I have forgotten it all.

So I turned to Facebook and asked for assistance. And I got it! Kind of a big deal in skepticism Mick West was the first to provide the answer I needed. That’s cool!

Life On Venus! Life On Venus! Life On… Well, Hold On There

The news broke that scientists have found phosphine, a chemical that could be produced by microbes, in the atmosphere of Venus. This does not necessarily mean there is life on Venus. It means there could be, but more work needs to be done.

To ascertain whether lifeforms are responsible for the phosphine or if it is some geologic (non-life) process, probes will need to be sent to our cloudy neighbor to take samples of the atmosphere. So, settle down. There may be life there, but more science needs to be done.

Still, it’s pretty cool.

So Cool It Brings A Tear To My Eye

Prince’s solo in a live all-star performance tribute to George Harrison of While My Guitar Gently Weeps is one of the coolest things ever.

Is There Time To Impeach Him Again?

He knew the pandemic was going to be seriously dangerous. He played it down. Now nearly 200,000 Americans are dead.

He gave his acceptance speech at the end of the Republican National Convention on the White House grounds. Doesn’t that violate campaign rules? There were other things done during the RNC the may have crossed the line of legality.

He suggested his sycophantic followers test the system and attempt to vote twice. Voting twice is illegal. (I had thought he made the suggestion at one of his Covid spreading rallies. I was wrong. He was speaking to a reporter.)

Come on! Let’s impeach him again!

The Real Cool Thing The Who’s The Real Me

Sure, The Who song The Real Me is a cool thing all on its own, but I noticed something recently that I had never noticed in the many, many times I’ve listened to the song. The Real Me has no lead guitar. It has Pete Townshend doing his crashing power chords, but he doesn’t play any lead guitar parts during the song. John Entwistle’s bass takes the lead parts.

It is so cool!

Be patient. Wash your hands. Stay home. WEAR A MASK! Stay safe.

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Eliminator Jr. by Sonic Youth and Four Engines Burning (Over The USA) by The Screaming Blue Messiahs

Second ad break bumpers: Only In America by Naked Raygun and Raspberry Beret by Prince & the Revolution

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

Please subscribe on iTunes! 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 9-5-20 show notes

Can’t Pretend That Growing Older Never Hurts Part Four

Mom is fine. More or less. I mean, she is 83 years old. How good can she be?

Tales From The Janitor’s Closet

Now, I realize that most people think of janitorial work as interesting and rewarding work that is all sweetness, light, and smells of roses. Well, Tales From The Janitor’s Closet gives me a chance to draw back the curtain and show my listener that janitorial work may be great but it does have its drawbacks.

As of this writing it has been four days since I last had to clean poop off the carpet at one of the properties I clean. Before that it had been four years or so.

I know the story is pretty gross. Especially since I told of the two times in my 31 years of janitorial work in which I had to deal with shit. Literally. First time it was human generated, this most recent time it came from a dog.

Sorry to break it to you, kids, but being a janitor isn’t always as glamorous a job as everyone thinks. But, hey! At least the pay sucks!

A Dimland Radio ARGH! Baseball And The Slippery Slope

*“Sure, I’ll talk to you. Who needs to concentrate on the game? It’s only my job. Besides I get to be on the TV.”*

Originally and for many, many years of televised coverage of baseball limited viewers’ access to managers, coaches, and players to before and after game interviews.

The networks that carry baseball began to think, “How can we get even more coverage? How deeply can we get into the game? How can we piss off baseball fans like Jim Fitzsimons?”

Thus began the slippery slope. I know slippery slope is a logical fallacy, but sometimes I think we really be on that slick incline.

First it was before/after game interviews, then a reporter in the stands to get info from the dugouts, then they mic’d up players to eavesdrop for “sounds of the game,” then interviews with managers between innings, then interviews during the game with pitchers who weren’t playing that day, then interviews with managers during the game, then mic’ing up and giving an ear piece to a player to talk to him while he’s playing in an All-Star Game, and now doing that in a regular season game.

Where will it end?!

I don’t need that much coverage and I resent that the announcers are making themselves part of the game.

MLB! Please, put a stop to this!

A Dimland Pedantic Moment: Is White A Color?

A discussion started on my Facebook page on whether or not white is a color. It could be consider all the colors (as in light) or the absence of color (as in pigment).

I settle the question this way:

*Isn’t that a white crayon I see there? Huh!*

Is a white crayon included in Crayola’s 64 crayon set? Yes? Are there 65 crayons in the box? No? Well, then white is a color. If it’s good enough for Crayola, it’s god enough for me.

The same argument can be made to those who same black isn’t a color.

Stealing Geo’s Thunder

George Hrab is a musician who does an excellent podcast called The Geologic Podcast. On a recent episode (I’m stealing some of his thunder here) he did a comparison between musical legends Don Henley and Phil Collins. Henley jealously guards his copyrighted material. Collins is less protective.

Henley does not allow unauthorized usage of his songs on YouTube. Collins does as long as that usage isn’t monetized.

*That moment you hear the drum break on ‘In The Air Tonight’ for the first time.*

On YouTube there are lots of reaction videos. Usually this videos are of younger people discovering classic songs for the first time. George talked about one particular reaction video by two young fellows, twin brothers Fred and Tim Williams, hearing Collins’ In The Air Tonight for the first time. The kids loved the song and their reaction video received millions of views.

And the 39 year-old song became a hit again in the aftermath of the reaction video.

Take that Don Henley!

Correction: On the show I said the brothers were teenagers. I’m getting old, because 22 year-olds are looking like teenagers to me.

Be patient. Wash your hands. Stay home. WEAR A MASK! Stay safe.

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Hip Swingin’ by Naked Raygun and Entre Nous by Rush

Second ad break bumpers: Real World by Husker Du and Brilliant Blues by Pete Townshend

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

Please subscribe on iTunes! 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 8-29-20 show notes (in brief)

Normally I write pretty extensive show notes. I had done that for two hours today. I went to publish and everything I had written disappeared. I had been saving drafts all along, but I must have done something wrong when publishing. So, now you are just getting the show notes in brief.

Can’t Pretend That Growing Older Never Hurts Part Three

I gave another update to my mom’s medical challenges. She had another visit to the hospital, but she’s home now and improving.

Stay tuned.

More Unrest

I grow weary of Trump’s America.

I’m Feeling It Again

With Pres. Trump’s complete mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had hope that he would lose his reelection bid. The polls may have shown Joe Biden with a big lead, but the race is tightening and America seems to have adopted Trump’s “it is what it is” attitude.

I once again think he will be reelected.

To Be Fair: “Under God” and the DNC

Contrary to claims on social media, the words “under God” were stated when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during the Democratic National Convention.

To Be Fair: Melania Trump And The Rose Garden

First Lady Melania Trump did not chop down cherry trees and uproot hundred year old rose bushes for her renovations of the White House Rose Garden.

Uri Geller And Marvel Comics

*“Daredevil! Let me help you! Quick! Give me a spoon to bend!”*

Issue 133 of Marvel Comics’ Daredevil features ’70s “psychic” spoon-bending phenom Uri Geller who used cheap magic tricks to gain world fame by convincing the gullible that he had supernatural powers.

Stan Lee, publisher of Marvel Comics, smelled a good publicity stunt and had writer/editor Marv Wolfman put Mr. Geller in one of Marvel’s comic books.

James Randi magician, skeptic, and exposer of cheap trick artists has shown the public that Mr. Geller is just doing some magic tricks. That’s all. Check here and here.

And here is Geller’s infamous appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Be patient. Wash your hands. Stay home. WEAR A MASK! Stay safe.

Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads and Ghosts by The Jam

Second ad break bumpers: Eye In The Sky by The Alan Parsons Project and Talk Talk by The Suburbs

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

Please subscribe on iTunes! 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.