Dimland Radio

dimland radio 10-5-19 show notes

Some Follow Up On My Shingles Vaccination

I had received the second dose of the shingles vaccine before I recorded last week’s show and I was experiencing the flu-like symptoms some can get as a result of getting the vaccine. I got them with the first dose, so I wasn’t surprised they showed up again.

What happened after I recorded last week’s show was pretty rough. At four in the morning, I woke having to pee. Man of a certain age, don’t you know. And, oh boy! Did I feel like I had the flu. Some Tylenol and four more hours of sleep and I felt much better.

As I often say, I’d rather go through a little bit of that sort of discomfort than deal with a shingles outbreak.

And because I know of the importance of vaccination, I got my flu vaccination Friday morning.

Vaccinate your kids! Vaccinate yourself!

Pinstripe Fever

The Minnesota Twins, since 2003, have met the Hated Yankees in the postseason five times. Five times the Evil Empire was their first opponent. Five times the Bronx Bastards bounced my favorite team right into the off season.

And it’s about to happen again. As I was recording this show, the good guys were in the process of losing the first of a five game American League Division Series (ALDS) against the most hated team in baseball, the New York Yankees. Before this show aired on Z Talk Radio on Saturday night, my poor Pinstripe Fever-ridden Twins just suffered another loss to the team that completely owns them in the postseason.

The series isn’t over. Anything can happen. But…

It’s over.

I smell sweep.

I refrained from getting into a rant on the show, after all, the Twins had only lost one game at that point. I will probably have more to say next week.

Cool Thing #1: The Minnesota Twins Are The All-Time Home Run Champs

Nelson Cruz hitting one out. Photo credit: MLB & MN Twins

Last Sunday was the last day of the regular season for the greatest game ever invented and, going into their final regular season game, the Twins trailed the Hated Yankees by one home run (305-304). I hoped for one thing: That no matter how many homers the Hated Ones hit in their final game, my Twins would hit two more.

The Damn Yankees hit one. The Twins hit three! The Minnesota Twins are the all-time home run champs with 307 dingers in one season.

2019: The Year Of The Home Run

League wide home run production was up (way up!) in 2019. Did pitching get worse? Did the hitters get better? Or did something happen to the ball?

It’s probably a combination of those factors, but the ball may be the biggest factor. I went over some of the most astounding aspects of this year of the home run using this article by Jack Baer on YahooSports.

I also talked about the Dead Ball Era (pre-1920) of baseball and how hitting was approached then. And what happened to liven up the ball at that time.

Cool Thing #1, Subset A: The Twins’ Home Run Record

The League officials have acknowledged the ball was different this season and that difference (a more centered core that causes less drag) is what led to all those home runs. There is talk that the League will address the issue in the off season. This means if the ball is toned down going forward the Twins’ home run record could stand for a very long time.

That would be cool!

A Dimland Radio Pedant Moment: “The Ball Will Find You”

It’s an old adage in baseball that means that you can’t hide on the baseball field. Players need to keep their heads in the game and if a team has a lessor quality player out there, it will eventually be found out. And that means you better field the best team you can, because sooner or later the poor quality players will cost the team big time.

I’m good with that aspect of the old adage, but lately I’ve been hearing game announcers using the adage a little differently.

When they use the phrase they are referring to a player coming off the bench to replace a starter. Sometimes when that happens an opportunity to make a play comes to that player shortly after entering the game. They either make the play or they don’t then the announcer says, “You know the old saying, the ball will find you…”

I pointed out this is fallacious thinking. The announcers pull out the adage only those times a play goes to that player, but they don’t notice all those times the play doesn’t. Say it’s a player in right field sent in in the 8th inning and then the ball never leaves the infield for the rest of the game. He never touches the ball. In that case the phrase should be: “The ball will find you. Except when it doesn’t.”

Cool Thing #2: The Who Released Another New Song

Like a bonehead I forgot the write the name of the song in my show notes. I got close going from memory, but didn’t quite nail it. The song is called All Music Must Fade.

Unlike Ball And Chain, which was a new Who song that was a cover of a Pete Townshend solo song from a few years ago, this song was actually brand new. And I like it!

It’s not quite The Who anymore with John and Keith both gone, but there are strong Who elements to the song. It’s catchy. Daltery’s voice sounds better than it has in years. And I love the end of the song.

I’m even more excited for the new album to drop in December (the drop date has been pushed back a couple weeks).

Cool Thing #3 (And A Scary Thing): Deep Fake Of Jim Carrey In The Shining

There are four videos on YouTube that use deep fake AI technology to put Jim Carrey instead of Jack Nicholson in the role of Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining (1980). It is amazing how well the fakery is done. And the implications of deep fakes as the technology improves are very scary. Will we be able to believe any video?

WatchMojo did a top ten list of deep fakes. There are some good ones in there, but none are quite as good as The Shining fakes. However, the most troubling of WatchMojo’s fakes is the one featuring Pres. Obama. This could be very scary indeed.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘YYZ‘ by Rush & ‘This Charming Man‘ by The Smiths

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Eight Miles High‘ by Husker Du & ‘Empty Glass‘ by Pete Townshend

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 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.

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 9-28-19 show notes

Some Things About Autumn

It’s autumn now and there have been a number of things I’ve experienced lately that were bringing my back to when I was twelve or so. The smell of cut field grass, the feel of the air, the pinging of grasshoppers as the flee my approach.

Those things brought me back to something I did with my siblings and our friends in those days of it being the end of summer, but we still wanted something to do. There were cardboard boxes involved. I blogged about it a while back, click here.

Cool Thing #1: Congratulations To The MN Twins

This time of year is also great because it is leading up to the postseason of baseball, the greatest game ever invented. And my Twins have won the American League Central Division Title. As of this writing, their record stands at 101-60. There’s just one game left of the regular season to go.

We know who their opponent in the American League Division Series will be. It’s the Hated Yankees. Again. Since 2003, the Twins have made the playoffs five times. The Evil Empire has been their first opponent four of those five times. Each time the Bronx Bastards have beaten the good guys.

Will it be different this time? My pessimistic has me saying no. But I do hope I’m wrong.

If the Twins manage to beat those guys, but lose in the ALCS or the World Series, either of which would be heartbreaking, they still would be heroes of the baseball world for ousting the jerk faces from New York.

Also, with one game left to be played by each team, there is the single season team home run record at sake. The good guys, who did break the previous record, set in 2017 by the Hated Ones, by the end of August, find themselves one home run behind the greatest evil i all of sports. Yep, the Hated Yankees sit at 305, while the Twins hold 304. Is it too much to ask for the Twins to hit at least two more dingers today than the Hated Yankees?

Whatever happens, I am very pleased with how well the boys have done this season.

Cool Thing #2: Andy Gill Responds

Gang Of Four’s appearance on the very first Late Night with David Letterman.

I posted the image above on my Facebook page back in July and pointed out that post punk legends Gang Of Four had been on Late Night with David Letterman, in a manner of speaking. I got a little thrill when Andy Gill, an original member of the band responded to my post.

I did tag him in the post, so it wasn’t that out of the blue. But it was still cool.

The 500 Podcast

As I said on the show, I don’t mean to discourage people from checking this podcast out. I just think people should know the podcast is a bit of the bait and switch. It’s called The 500 and its host is comedian Josh Adam Meyers. The 500 is an album review podcast focusing on the 500 greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine. Starting at 500 and working his way to number 1, each week Josh has a guest, usually another comedian, on to discuss one of the great albums.

Well, that’s how it is sold to us. In practice the podcast is far more of an interview show of that week’s guest and much less about discussing the album. That can work if you are a fan of the guest, but if you are more interested in the album you might find the podcast disappointing.

Still, that’s just my take. Check it out. You might like it.

The Placebo Effect And Science Vs

There is a podcast I listen to that I highly recommend. It is called Science Vs. It’s a science podcast that examines claims and holds them up to what science can tell us about them. It is hosted be Wendy Zuckerman, who is great to listen to. I love her Australian accent.

Wendy Zuckerman – Photo from The Weekend Edition

It’s not a stuffy podcast. It is very much for the layperson in its approach to explaining science.

A recent episode was on the Placebo Effect and what new and interesting things are being learned about it. It’s very interesting However, they profile a woman who has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who knowingly takes a placebo in a study and gets better. Part of what was thought about the placebo effect was that the person taking the placebo is to believe the placebo is actual medicine. This one woman’s response has baffled the scientist doing that study.

How is it she gets better knowing she essentially taking no medicine?

I ask a different question… Did she really have IBS?

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘She’s On It‘ by Beastie Boys & ‘Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time‘ by Gang Of Four

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Nocturnal Me‘ by Echo & The Bunnymen & ‘Lonely Is (As Lonely Does)‘ by The dB’s

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.

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 9-21-19 show notes

Shingles Vaccine Just As Rough The Second Time Around

I don’t merely talk the talk. I walk the walk. Well, when it comes to vaccination, that is. I often talk about the importance of getting vaccinated on the show and I make certain I get my vaccinations. I also make certain my wife and son get theirs.

Vaccination may be the greatest achievement in medical science. They are safe and effective. When an anti-vaxxer is being your ear about them causing autism (they don’t) just ask them, “Got polio?”

I will say this though. It’s not an unusual reaction to get flu-like symptoms after receiving the shingles vaccine, which is given in two doses. A sore arm is also likely. However, not everyone reacts the same way. I did get flu-ish after both doses. In fact, at 4am the morning after I recorded this show, I woke up feeling as though I had full on flu. It was pretty bad.

I took some Tylenol and went back to bed. I was much better, but not 100%, when I got up later. I pushed through, because I’d rather have the flu-like symptoms for a couple days than shingles.

Here is more info on shingles and the vaccine.

A Mysterious Power Outage Got Me Thinking

Last Sunday night, we had the power go out for just under an hour. It was usual in that there was no storm, no high winds, and the temperature was fairly moderate for a mid-September evening. So, it’s a mystery about why the power would have gone out.

It was also usual in that in was pretty extensive. My parents, who live a mile away, also had no power and from what my dad could see the power was out as far as he could see. My son was online chatting with a friend in Tennessee, when we lost the lights. That friend said their power had just gone out, too!

That got my paranoid mind turning. What if it’s another Carrington Event? Could it be a terrorist attack? What will we do without power?

No Monster In Loch Ness

A study of the environmental DNA present in Loch Ness showed what kinds of wildlife lives there. The evidence showed there are plenty of eels in the fabled loch, but they found no monster or prehistoric reptilian DNA. We can probably concluded there is no Nessie.

The news media jumped to the conclusion that Nessie is likely an eel. But Nessie could also be a misidentified boat wake or waves or a log or otters. Or it could be someone perpetrating a hoax as is the famous Surgeon’s Photograph. It could be lots of things, but a monster? It doesn’t look likely.

Uncropped and less impressive.

But there are tourist dollars to be earned, so the legend will undoubtedly continue.

Some Showed Up, None Stormed

The Storm Area 51 event came and went Friday. The turn out was just a bit less than the two million who said they were going on the event’s Facebook page. The page was a joke, but it did seem as though many were serious and that was worrisome. If people really attempted to storm a military base that could result in some very unfortunate circumstances.

Well, attendance was underwhelming with maybe 3,000 people showing up.

Yes, but why bring the North Korean flag?

Hey! There’s always next year.

The world reacts.

In The Meme Time…

Not the official Pedantic Moment for this show, it’s coming, I had to correct a couple things about this meme. First, the actual estimate of the number of people who attended Woodstock is closer to 400,000. It’s the Joni Mitchell song popularized by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young that had the line “by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong” that probably got people thinking there were 500,000 hippies in attendance. Eh, what’s a 100,000 among friends?

Next, Jimi Hendrix played his legendary rendition of America’s Nation Anthem at the crack of dawn on Monday. By the time he hit the stage, most all of the hippies had left. It’s estimated that a mere 40,000 were present when he performed. Not a number to sneeze at, but certainly not half a million strong. It was the film that came out the next year that people learned by Hendrix’s musical statement.

And brings me to my last point, which my wife clued me into. Sure, none of the hippies there protested the guitar god playing the anthem, but that’s probably because Hendrix playing it, in the context of the event, was itself a protest.

Silly meme makers.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: The Name Of The Band Is The Who!

It’s a variation of the famous “Who’s On First” baseball comedy routine made famous by comedy duo Abbott & Costello. It’s from the the FoxKids animated series Animaniacs (1993-1998). The characters are Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skippy. Somehow they find themselves at Woodstock in 1969 and go into the routine. Slappy wants to know the name of the band onstage. Skippy answers, “Who.” And we’re off on a nearly two minute ride of pure, white-hot, pedantic aggravation.

Skippy. The name of the band is The Who! Not Who.

Yes, I know that precision would ruin the routine, but I can’t help it. I’m a pedantic Who fan!

Yes, I know I didn’t say The Who fan, but in that context it is understood. Just as when saying you are a Beatles fan or Rolling Stones fan. But when asked the name of my favorite band, I answer, “The Who.” Because that is their name.

I also talked about the routine as done by Abbott & Costello. Abbott the straight man of the duo has the information about the unusual names of his baseball team. He doles out he names quickly and Costello is too slow to catch on. Abbott is either oblivious to his friend’s slow uptake or he’s just an asshole who likes to make the little fellow suffer.

Also, Animaniacs wasn’t the first to use the greatest rock band in the world in a variation of the classic comedy routine. In the 1970s the comedy troupe The Credibility Gap did an expanded version of it. This version not only featured The Who, but also the rock groups The Guess Who and Yes. And The Credibility Gap acknowledge in the routine on their album that they are ripping off a classic.

And here’s a video version of The Credibility Gap doing their routine.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Your Phone Is Off The Hook, But You’re Not‘ by X & ‘Eighties‘ by Killing Joke

Second ad break bumpers: ‘I Don’t Remember‘ by Peter Gabriel & ‘That’s Entertainment‘ by The Jam

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.

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 9-14-19 show notes

Cool Thing #1: New(ish) Who Song!

I must apologize for attempting to sing in this segment, but I didn’t have clips of songs to play. Sorry.

Imagine my excitement when Friday morning I saw that my favorite band had released a “new” song. It is a new Who song, but it’s a cover of a solo Pete Townshend song which he had released in 2015. I explained this was not the first time for there to be a Who version of a solo Townshend song, demos notwithstanding.

I like the Who version a little more than Townshend’s. That where my attempt to sing comes in to demonstrate the growliness of Townshend’s older voice. I don’t know if he puts the growl on or if his aged vocal cords give him no choice but to sing that way.

I give a brief history of other Who songs released after 2000:

Real Good Looking Boy (2004)

Old Red Wine (2004)

Be Lucky (2014)

Ball And Chain (2019)

Solo Townshend songs since 2000:

Guantanamo (2015)The original version of The Who’s Ball And Chain

How Can I Help You (2015)

If you think there was a lot of talk about The Who for this song, wait until the new album drops in November! Heh heh heh.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: University Avenue And The Twin Cities

My wife Amy suggested I listen to the true crime podcast produced in Australia called Casefile. It sounded intriguing as she described it, so I did. It’s pretty good, but my pedantry kicked in when they profiled the Weepy Voiced Killer. I realize this pedantry might be a bit on the eye-rolling side, but that’s pedantry for you.

The show can be forgiven since it is produced in Australia that the host, who is anonymous by the way, doesn’t know how University Avenue is situated in relation to to Twin Cities. He describes it as splitting the two cities with St. Paul on one side and Minneapolis on the other. That’s not how it runs. University Avenue runs through then Twin Cities, not between them.

Paper Straws

I had my first experience (at least an adult, but I can’t remember back that far) with drinking a soda through a paper straw. Paper straws are becoming more common as a measure to protect the environment and turtles. The paper kind are biodegradable and less likely to end up choking out turtles.

That’s good I guess, but…

Cool Thing #2: Network Television Brightened Harry Potter

The other evening NBC was playing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and I noticed something: I could see what was going on!

On the DVD version the Battle of Hogwarts scene, in which Lord Voldemort and his Death-Eaters and other magical beings attack the fabled school, is damned dark. I adjust the brightness level, but that doesn’t help much. The darkness makes it difficult to see details. You can still tell what’s going on, but it is a little frustrating.

NBC must have felt that same frustration and brighten the movie. Doing such did bring out missing details, but it also tended to flatten the look of the movie and expose some of the flaws in the CGI effects that had been hidden by darkness.

Cool Thing #3: Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter is a terrific actor. I don’t think she gets enough notice for how good she is and in Deathly Hallows Part 2 she really shows why she’s so good. In the scene in which Harry, Ron, Griphook, and Hermione as Bellatrix LeStrange (if you don’t know Harry Potter, I’m not going to explain it to you – sorry) make their way into Gringott’s bank, Helena really shines.

She is playing Hermione as Bellatrix and you absolutely see the mannerisms of actor Emma Watson in Bonham Carter’s performance. In the scene of the group gathering on the beach to apparate to Diagon Alley (again, I’m not going to explain) as Bellatrix (really Hermione) approaches the group you swear it’s Watson, but it’s Bonham Carter. Incredible!

Links below:

This video has several Bellatrix moments including the Hermione as Bellatrix moments. Note the excellence. Spoilers! And in this you can see how dark the films are.

Behind the scenes with Helena Bonham Carter.

Seinfeld, Corbert, And Cosby And Separating The Artist From The Art

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld recently appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Cobert promoting his new Netflix comedy special – Jerry Before Seinfeld. The conversation turned toward Jerry’s influences and Bill Cosby was discussed. Cosby contribution to comdey cannot be denied, but can his work still be viewed in light of what the world learned about the man.

Seinfeld had no problem separating the work from the man, the art from the artist. Cobert can’t. There was a brief and interesting discussion. After the commercial bring, Jerry had changed his position…

Interview part one here and part two here.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘OK Wait‘ by Naked Raygun & ‘Uncertain Smile‘ by The The

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Rusholme Ruffians‘ by The Smiths & ‘English Roundabout‘ by XTC

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.

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 9-7-19 show notes

And For Those Who Don’t Like Sports, We Have Sports

I decided to kick off the show with an update on the Minnesota Twins. They still lead the American League Central Division and are as of this writing in a three game series with the second place Cleveland Indians. A sweep would put he Twins ahead by 9.5 games, however the Indians won the first game and the Twins won the second so the lead remains 6.5. A win for the Twins today will put them up by 7.5 games and make the magic number 12.

We’ll see.

I also voiced my concern over the Twins losing out on having the record for the most team home runs in a single season. They broke the previous record, set by the Hated Yankees last season, by hitting 268. They accomplished that by the end of August and have another month to rack up more. But the Evil Empire went crazy in August, hitting more than 60 dingers that month, and they reduced the gap by a considerable amount. The Bronx Bastards now sit just nine homers behind.

Come on, Twins! Hit 12 today! Is that too much to ask?

Angry George Carlin Was Angry

In his 1992 HBO Special Jammin’ In New York, comedy legend George Carlin laid down an eight minute rant about saving the planet. “The planet is fine! The people are f—ed!” (Incidentally, the remark “the planet is fine” was met by a heckle of “bullshit”, but Carlin ranted right along.)

I was curious what the members of the Minnesota Skeptics might think of Carlin’s statements. I posted the video to their Facebook page and got some very thoughtful responses. And one jerk couldn’t help but be a jerk when stating his position that we were taking a comedy routine too seriously. Fine. That’s what you think, but do you have to be a jerk about it?

Here’s some excerpts:

“…there is something he is missing with regards to causing the misery and deaths of billions of plants and animals.” ~ Reed

“He says, ‘the air and water will recover; the earth will be renewed.’ I’m not sure it will ever be the same since it wasn’t like this before. He says, ‘I think were part of a greater wisdom than we will never understand, a higher order. Call it what you want. You know what I call it? the big electron.’ Personally I think he is just making up shit to fit his view of reality. He thinks this blue and green planet is in some happy state that it’s inherently supposed to be in. It won’t be like this after we’re done with it and it won’t go back to this anytime soon if ever again.” ~ Beth
“One of the things about comedy is that it needs to be funny. In his later years, Carlin was getting less funny. This clip is an example. And his comedy was always about revealing deeper truths, so when he tries to get laughs about people trying to save the planet, he is making his opinion clear. He’s just not funny about it. He doesn’t get that, yes, there is an extinction trend in nature, however it’s accelerated by our actions. And saving our environment is important because we are breaking it, and we need to start unbreaking it. By demanding action on global warming, demanding clean energy and all that, we aren’t going against nature. And that’s what he is implying. Yes, it’s comedy. No, it’s not funny. I’m old enough to remember when Carlin was funny.” ~ Mike

“I agree with what’s been said. Yes, the planet will exist for billions more years until it’s swallowed up by the sun, but that’s not the point. The point is about not ruining the environments and ecosystems of huge amounts of living things, which we are absolutely doing, 100%. From mass extinctions to climate change, we are either the originator or the extreme exacerbaters of these problems.” ~ Rachel

“Earth will survive whatever we do to it, but it might take millions of years for evolution to recover from a mass extinction. From a human standpoint that’s essentially forever, even if we survive. Carlin seems to think that humans aren’t effecting the rate of extinction and that’s ridiculous. He’s also being hypocritical – he accuses other people of being arrogant while being arrogant himself. We won’t destroy the planet, but we’re sure making a mess of it.” ~ Joel

MN Skeptic Rachel even practiced the Principle of Charity by pointing out that less was known about climate change and mass extinction as far as the general public was concerned in the early ’90s. Carlin’s attitude might be a reflection of that general ignorance.

Lastly, this is the same George Carlin who twenty years earlier sang this:
‘O, Beautiful,
For smoggy skies
Insecticided grain
For strip-mined mountains, majesty
Above the asphalt plains.
America, America,
Man sheds his waste on thee
And hides the pines
With billboard signs
From sea to oily sea!’

“…self-righteous environmentalists,… white, bourgeois liberals.”

Indeed.

Tooled Out

The prog/metal band Tool released a new album on Friday August 30. It was their first new album in 13 years. Tool fans have waited a long time. I have friends who are fans and they were plenty excited. My wife is also a Tool fan and she took me on a bit of a Toll kick.

I’m not the biggest fan of prog or metal. I don’t know much about either. There’s some I like, a lot I don’t. I think Tool is interesting, but they aren’t my thing. And after hearing lots of their stuff old and new this past week – I’m Tooled out.

What Is Shirley Temple Smoking?

The internet birthed this gif of a happy and getting happier Shirley Temple smoking from a ceremonial or peace pipe. I think the idea is to get people to think she’s smoking marijuana. I thought that she was. But then I wondered if Native Americans actually did smoke pot from those pipes. I couldn’t find anything definitive. It seems more likely that is a myth.

I did find that it was mostly tobacco that was smoked. Tobacco was a highly desired item to many of the Native American peoples. I also learned some would smoke something known as kinnikinnick.

As for the gif, it comes from the 1939 film Susannah Of The Mounties starring Shirley Temple and Randolph Scott. The clip below shows a little bit more of one of the Depression Era’s biggest box office draw’s full reaction. The clip also shows the stereotyping of Native Americans so prevalent in Hollywood and America in those days.

This gif reminded me of the very first time I took a drag from a cigarette. I was just about the same age as Temple in the gif, when I pretended to smoke what I though was an unlit cigarette butt. I was wrong. It felt as though my lung were filled with death.

Skeptic Magazine Was Duped

In the latest email I receive each month from Skeptic Magazine was a link to a story of how a fellow who had written four articles (two published in the magazine, two published online) had misrepresented himself as a PhD psychologist. He is not. Some red flags went up and Skeptic researchers dug in and discovered he was a fraud.

This caused deep embarrassment to the magazine and they promised readers they would tighten the vetting process of contributors. This shows that even the major, well-trained, and experienced skeptics can be duped.

Eternal vigilance!

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Geico Sports Rival Ad Royals/Cardinals Edition

Short and to the point, the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals are not rivals. They are not in the same division. They’re not even in the same league. Royals are an American League team, Cardinals are National League.

To be rivals teams have to be competing against each other to win a division. Having a long history of that competition helps. The longer the history, the deeper the rivalry. For instance, the Hated Yankees and Boston Red Sox have a long and storied rivalry. In football, the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers have a longstanding rivalry.

The Royals and the Cardinals do not. The Cardinals’ main rival is the Chicago Cubs. The Royals’ main rival is the Minnesota Twins, but this rivalry isn’t very intense.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘I Will Dare‘ by The Replacements & ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side‘ by The Smiths

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Wild Blue Yonder‘ by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & ‘Kerosene‘ by Big Black

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.

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.

Images used under Fair Use.