Dimland Radio

dimland radio 7-28-18 show notes

Why No New Show?

A brief explanation as to why there wasn’t a new show last week. I was sick. I did put a bonus episode into the iTunes feed that was an interview with skeptic Ben Radford, originally played on 6-11-11.

A Couple Follow-Ups

In the show notes for the 7-14-18 show, I made the clarifications for the information I didn’t have in my show prep. On this show, I make them again: Pittsburgh Pirates and Keith Jackson. Listen and it will make sense.

And that fellow I saw do a dance on the freeway during a traffic stand still may have been inspired by this Shiggy/Drake Challenge thing.

Attitudes Changes Over The Decades

Pres. Trump has a way about him. It’s not a good way. The reaction to his summit with Putin was predictable on the part of his detractors, but a little surprising (and encouraging) on the part of his fellow members of the Republican party.

I also noted the change in attitude toward the Russians and intelligence gatherers over the decades.

Pres. George W Bush was vilified by some, in part, because he believed his intelligence people. Trump is vilified by some of those same types of people for not believing his. Pres. Reagan had everyone worried because he wasn’t friendly enough with the Soviets and Gorbachev, while Trump has everyone disgusted for being too friendly with the Russians and Putin.

The Mandela Effect And We Are The Champions

An example of the Mandela Effect (lots of people remembering a historical event or something similar incorrectly) is Queen’s song We Are The Champions. The studio version does not end with the words “of the world.” But, plenty of people think that’s how the song ends.

However, are they really remembering it incorrectly? I found something that suggests there is a good reason people think the song ends with the words.

The trailer to the upcoming biopic on Queen and Freddie Mercury gives a clue.

Dimland Radio Science Hero: Penn & Teller

I know I’ve talked about Penn & Teller’s brilliant intro for their Penn & Teller: Bullshit show on the anti-vax movement. I can’t remember if I official declared them science heroes for that bit, so I rectified that on this show. Their skeptical series may have gotta a thing or two wrong, for the most part they did a fine job. And the anti-vax opener is fantastic. Worthy of science hero status on its own.

Dimland Radio Science Zero: Penn Jillette

And then I taketh away.

Ever since Penn went public about how he lost over a hundred pounds, I’ve been uncomfortable with his blind spot on the skepticism surrounding the claims of vegan diets and water fasts. Well, as Penn & Teller once said, “Everybody got a gris gris.” A belief unsupported by or contradicted by scientific evidence that they just can’t let go.

This blind spot seems to be Penn’s gris gris.

Yes, he’s lost a lot of weight and he’s been keeping it off, but he’s been promoting people who have been discredited by medical science. Orac of Respectful Insolence (an actual doctor) reviewed Penn’s interview of water fast diet guru Dr. Michael Klaper. Orac disputes, with science, the claims made by Klaper and he voiced his disappointment at Penn, a skeptic, giving an unfettered platform to such an astounding claim maker.

Well, everybody got a gris gris.

Some Talk About The Maltese Falcon

It’s a given that I recommendation everyone who loves movies to watch the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. It’s a fantastic film.

I talked about the subtle and not-so-subtle hints that a character or two in the film were gay. I wrote about that in my weekly blog at Warehouse Find.

I also compared the 1941 film to the very inferior 1931 version. That one has some eyebrow raising moments related to the nature of Pre-Code Hollywood, but that’s about all that is interesting about that film.

Well, there was one other interesting thing…

Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Sam Spade’s Calendar

In the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon in the opening scene we see a wall calendar in the background showing the date to be the fifth, but as the scene continues we are told that the first of the month is only two weeks away.

What’s the date on that calendar?

So, either someone wasn’t paying attention to that calendar or Spade has a really poor grasp of time.

Three Cool Things

1) It was a good week on social media for me. My post about The Maltese Falcon and the hints at homosexuality sparked a lively conversation.

2) My latest piece of art for the comic store Nostalgia Zone turned out really well. It’s not as good as the Basil Gogos illustration I was paying homage to, but I’m very pleased with it.

3) My wonderful wife found a bin filled with art, including a page of original comic book art. It’s the only one I own. I feared it lost, but she found it.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘A Man Of Such Great Promise‘ by The Style Council & ‘Lay All Your Love On Me‘ by ABBA

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Little America‘ by REM & ‘Scarecrow People‘ by XTC

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 7-14-18 show notes

This Again?

Yeah, again. I’ll try to make this the last I ask people (I’m looking at you, Seth Meyers) to stop spreading the myth the Pres. Trump stared at the sun when observing last year’s solar eclipse. He glanced.

Photo credit: Getty Images

It was prompted this latest time when the above image made its way around social media and a Facebook friend mentioned the eclipse moment and she called the glance a stare. I couldn’t stop myself when I had a Pedantic Moment to remind my FB friends that despite his dimwittedness, he didn’t stare at the sun.

A fairly prominent skeptic challenged me to watch the video footage again. He contended that that look at the sun was longer than a glance. So, I timed it. If the time I got doesn’t qualify as a glance, then there is no such thing as a glance.

Pedantic Moment: Alex Trebek & The 3 P’s

Colonial Penn offers people of a certain age and up affordable life insurance and for years Jeopardy‘s Alex Trebek has been their spokesperson. The latest ad has Trebek telling viewers about the three P’s of Colonial Penn life insurance: Price, Price, and Price.

However, I found reason to be pedantic…

Baseball And The Fans

With Major League Baseball’s All-Star Break upon us, I decided to talk baseball for the rest of the show. My angle was to talk about how over-exuberant fans have had an influence in the game. In one case (Merkle’s Boner), they caused a player to make a base-running mistake with postseason implications, which he never lived down. The second instance (Chris Chambliss’ ALCS winning home run in 1976) led to a rule change. The third (Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth career home run record) was how fans may have caused a legend of the game a moment of fear.

The third team in pursuit of the pennant was the Pittsburgh Pirates, not the Philadelphia Athletics. And the broadcaster who called the game in which Chris Chambliss hit the home run was Keith Jackson.

Three Cool Things

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Above It Now‘ by Figures & ‘Saved By Zero‘ by The Fixx

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Eliminator Jr.‘ by Sonic Youth & ‘Bonneville‘ 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 7-7-18 show notes

Driving A Deathtrap


This is the passenger side.

This is the driver’s side.

The pictures show just how rusted out a couple pretty important parts of our van’s suspension system are. I took in it for an oil change and brought it home to junk it.

Yikes!

Iffy Sponsors Of Podcasts

If you listen to podcasts as often (or more) than I do, you are undoubtedly familiar with the products and services that are advertised. They are pretty common across most podcasts. I first talked about a couple older ones: Work From Home, which was actually Herbalife, a multi-level marketing scam, and Lumosity, a brain training game scam.

Now there are two more iffy sponsors: Care Of, a subscription vitamin service that tailors its vitamin packs just for you. All you have to do is fill out an online survey about your diet, health, and lifestyle. Um, wouldn’t a visit to an actual doctor be the most important part of determining if you require a vitamin supplement? (Hint: The answer is YES!!!)

The other is Lunyas Restore Sleepwear. This sponsor claims that their Restore Sleepwear has some mineral mixture that re-energizes your body as you sleep. (Sleep also re-energizes your body when you sleep.) They even claim the this sleepwear increases your oxygen level. Huh? How?

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff.

Do you smell that? It smells like bullshit.

Dimland Radio will never accept a paid sponsor that peddles nonsense. (Of course, with my download numbers, my show having a paid sponsor is highly unlikely.)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Is…

…my favorite of all the Star Wars movies! I liked it from the first time I saw it and I didn’t understand why so many “fans” hated it so much. Recently I’ve gained an even deeper appreciation for just how layered and significant this film is for the franchise. The outrage fans be damned!

I gained this deeper understanding by watching Maj0r Lee’s thoughtful, if a little overlong, video reviewing the film and disputing the outraged reactions. It’s 48 minutes long (Maj0r Lee could have trimmed some of the outraged “fan” clips), but it just might get you to appreciate the way it got me to.

Watch it here. Warning! There are spoilers (duh!) and plenty of F-bombs.

And since Star Wars: The Last Jedi is streaming on Netflix (not for free), I’ll make it my movie recommendation.

Three Cool Things

Chomp!

3) The classic 1975 horror/action/adventure/thriller Jaws has become a tradition of mine to watch it on the 4th of July. The images (above) show how the Alex Kinter attack scene was originally intended to show the shark, but the mechanical shark didn’t work very well and the scene would have been a reveal too early in the film. I also mentioned a YouTube video that shows the storyboards for the title sequence and attack on Christie scene (it also has the storyboards for the Alex Kinter attack). So cool!

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: This Little Needle Through The Shark’s Skin Scene

Since, I was already talking about Jaws, I figured I might as well discuss a moment of pedantry I have with the scene that has Quint doubting the little needle of a syringe loaded with poison would penetrate the shark’s thick skin. Hooper said it wouldn’t, so he would have to get it in its mouth or eye. Here’s the scene, you should be able to spot my pedantry.

“Cor! Blimey! Blink and you’ll miss me!”

2) I returned to the Three Cool Things segment with something I had just learned about my beloved HBO series Band Of Brothers. I have watched this series at least once a year for many years and I never knew Tom Hanks, who was an executive producer and directed one episode, made two cameos in the series. One was as a British soldier (see above) in episode five Crossroads, which Hanks directed. And, in episode nine Why We Fight as a French officer who summarily executes three German soldiers (see below).

Yep. That’s Hanks.

1) Brian Dunning, of the Skeptoid podcast, also has a YouTube video series called InFact. His most recent is about how the collapse of Building 7 on 9/11 really doesn’t look and sound like a controlled demolition.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today‘ by George Jones & ‘A Pagan Place‘ by The Waterboys

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Telegram Sam‘ by Bauhaus & ‘Blue Bell Knoll‘ by Cocteau Twins

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 6-30-18 show notes

It’s Hot

Well, it’s summer and it’s hot. And humid. I hate hot and humid. I hate summer.

Another City Decide Tooth Decay And Mouth Pain Is Great

A couple weeks ago I talked about two neighboring towns in Australia. One fluoridates its water, one does not. The town that does not fluoridate its water has a far higher occurrence of tooth decay, fillings, and extractions.

Another city, this one in Canada, has chosen to give into fear of fluoride and their children are suffering for it. This one is Calgary.

Shame on you, Calgary.

Hit Parade Is A Great Podcast

I listen to several podcasts and Slate’s Hit Parade hosted by Chris Molanphy is one of my favorites. Its a music history podcast that is really engaging and fascinating. It is excellent and the latest episode is right in my musical wheelhouse.

My Son’s Baby Teeth

My wife and I did what we thought was a good job brushing and flossing our son’s teeth when he was a toddler, but some brown stains on his front teeth. We asked his doctor about those stains and found out we were doing something wrong.

Lots of caps and fillings fixed him up, but we felt as though we’d let him down.

A Dimland Radio Argh!

It’s a minor Argh, but it still gets under my skin. Or should I say it’s a pain in the neck?

Younger folks seem to not realize that when a person has been killed by hanging we say they have been hanged, not hung. I hear it said incorrectly on virtually every episode of The Dollop podcast.

Astrology IS Just Damn Silly

This could also be an Argh, but it’s just so ridiculous. It’s nearly as silly as believing the earth is flat to believe the orbit of the planets in our solar system could have any affect on us. And not just the orbit, but they way the orbit appears to move has an affect.

At times, six of the other planets in our solar system and Pluto appear to move in the opposite direction of their respective orbits. It’s called retrograde. But it only looks that way from earth, because the earth is also orbiting the sun.

I read an article warning us of a bumpy summer becomes of planets in retrograde. It’s just plain silly.

Three Cool Things

3) This YouTube video showing some of the best crowd reactions at baseball games. Most moments are shown twice. Once from the TV coverage, once from amateur video. Most are very cool, except the last moment when the crowd was cheering the death of Osama bin Laden.

2) A Facebook friend brought the Bible Word Locator site to my attention. It’s loads of fun.

1) And there’s Hot Dog Water! It claims to be a health product with fantastic benefits. But that’s not what’s cool about it. It’s actually a product meant to demonstrate the too good to be true claims of typical “snake oil” products.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Talk Talk‘ by Talk Talk & ‘Can’t Get There From Here‘ by REM

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Head Over Heels‘ by The Go Go’s & ‘Telephone Operator‘ by Pete Shelley

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 6-23-18 show notes

Eeeeewwww!

Not my elbow, but it did look like this.

My right elbow had been bothering me for a while over the past fall and winter, but it had gotta better for a while. Then the elbow swelled up in the last few weeks. It didn’t hurt quite as bad as it did before. It ached a little and felt tight, because the skin was being stretched, but it was really annoying. And, with it being short sleeve season, it was very unsightly.

I finally went to my doctor and he drained it. Phew.

Koko The Gorilla Has Died

The internet was saddened this past week when it found out Koko the gorilla who had learned a few words in American Sign Language had died. There were headlines stating the kitten-loving primate had “mastered” sign language.

Sigh.

Never underestimate the laziness of some journalists. Koko could make some signs, but there are plenty of folks in the science and psychology fields that have doubts that she really understood language, let alone mastered it.

John Rael, of SkepticallyPwnd, has blogged about her dying and the reaction and he included a video he produced, in which he acts out Koko communicating with her keepers.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Odd Censoring Of Gilbert Gottfried

There’s a video on YouTube of Richard Belzer interviewing Gilbert Gottfried. Gottfried tells a shortened, but still just as vulgar, version of the infamous The Aristocrats joke. There’s an odd bit of censoring in it.

Speaking Of Bias

I noticed something about an article in the March/April 2016 issue of Skeptical Inquirer. (My apologies, but I cannot link to it.) The article, written by two Cornell University psychology professors, explained how people can easily spot bias in others, but not so easily spot in in themselves.

I noticed what I thought was some bias in the article, in part based on the 2000 Bush vs Gore US Supreme Court decision, that the authors didn’t spot.

Movie Recommendation: The Aristocrats (2005)

This may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy a good, nasty, dirty, disgusting, taboo-laden joke then this documentary is for you.

Three Cool Things

3) It may have been disgusting, but the draining of my elbow was also pretty cool.

2) The Belzer/Gottfried interview covers more than that disgusting joke and it’s very interesting and cool.

1) I’ve completed two more illustrations for Nostalgia Zone, the comic book and collectibles store I do some work for. These two (see above) turned out pretty good.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘New Year’s Day‘ by U2 & ‘Second Guessing‘ by U2

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Walking On Your Hands‘ by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & ‘All Gone Away‘ by Cheap Trick

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.