Dimland Radio

dimland radio 12-9-17 show notes

A Couple Entertainment Notes

I start off by mentioning that the Fox network seems desperate for me to watch their live TV event of the musical version of A Christmas Story. I’m not a big fan of the musical genre and there is no way any version of one of my favorite holiday movies could ever be as good as the original. Only the original has Darren McGavin.

And I talked about the outrage I felt at a click-bait site that listed the 10 Best Singing Drummers. Whoever put it together listed Karen Carpenter lower than Peter Criss of KISS. He certainly isn’t a better singer and I don’t think he’s even a better drummer.

Jim And Andy

There’s a Netflix documentary called Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, which gives audiences a behind the scenes look at Jim Carey making the film Man On The Moon, the biopic of comic, performance artist Andy Kaufman. Carey decided to go deep into the method and “channel” Kaufman and Kaufman’s very caustic character Tony Clifton.

Carey comes off as quite the jerk to his co-workers, but his performance is pretty damn good in the film.

Pedantic Moment: Jim Carey’s Method Acting Stopped Short

Jim Carey’s method didn’t go all the way. Andy Kaufman got lung cancer and died. Jim didn’t get lung cancer and he’s still alive. Some method actor he is.

It’s Not True: The Amish Don’t Vaccinate And Don’t Get Autism

A claim by anti-vaxxers is that the “fact” that the Amish don’t vaccinate and don’t get autism, therefor vaccines cause autism. Well, vaccines don’t cause autism. And the Amish do get vaccinated and they do get autism.

Of course, if the anti-vaxxers accept that fact they would just say, “See? Vaccines cause autism.”

They get to not accept the truth about the Amish, vaccines, and autism and claim vaccines cause autism. If the do accept the truth, they still can claim vaccines cause autism. They can have it both ways.

Sigh.

Yeti DNA Samples

Last week’s Pedantic Moment (better than this week’s) had to do with a headline stating that DNA alleged to be from yetis turned out not to be bigfoot. (Well, duh.) Well, I thought I should report on the story from which that PM came.

The DNA wasn’t yeti or bigfoot. The DNA came from bears with one sample being from a dog.

Is This A Perfect Example Of Mansplaining?

A Facebook friend claimed Norman Rockwell’s 1959 illustration The Jury Room (see above). The Facebook friend claimed this illustration is a perfect example of mansplaining. I asked, “If the lone hold-out was a man, would it be mansplaining or just splaining?”

What do you think?

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week, all related to the space documentary The Farthest: Voyager In Space.

3) The amount of computing power used in the Voyager Project is equivalent to an object you might have in your pocket.

2) The planetary alignment that makes the mission possible in the shortest amount of time happens once every 176 years.

1) The gold records with lots of information about us and our little planet will last a very, very, very long time. Very long. Very, very.

Movie Recommendation:The Farthest: Voyager In Space

It’s streaming on Netflix, so watch it as soon as possible.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Rock N Roll Is King’ by ELO & ‘One I Love’ by REM

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Girls On Film‘ by Duran Duran & ‘Relax‘ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

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.

dimland radio 12-2-17 show notes

More Mad Mike

I named Mad Mike Hughes a Dimland Radio Science Zero last week and talked about his intention to jump a California ghost town in a steam-powered rocket he made himself. But! The government stepped in and told him he needs to get the proper permits to perform his stunt. Mad Mike thought he had a new way to get around the permit problem by changing his launch and landing area to private land, but the Bureau of Land Management told him he still needs the proper permits.

As of this writing, the stunt has still not been performed. Stay tuned.

Dimland Radio Science Zero: A Few UK Water Companies

I had another Dimland Radio Science Zero to bestow this week. Two weeks in a row? Yep.

This Zero was too good not to do. In the UK there are some water utility companies that have engineers using dowsing techniques to find water mains. That’s right. Dowsing.

Sigh.

Pedantic Moment: Yeti DNA Used To Find Bigfoot?

One of the Minnesota Skeptics shared an article about scientists testing material claimed to be yeti DNA. Not surprisingly the DNA does not show those creatures are real. The pedantry was raised by how the headline was written:

“Scientists DNA tested nine ‘yeti’ samples. They didn’t find Bigfoot.”

Can you guess what I got pedantic about with that headline?

A Dimland Radio ARGH!

Of the non-skeptical, non-scientific ideas in the world few get my goat more than the anti-vax notion. Anti-vaxxers believe vaccines cause autism. They don’t. Just try to convince an anti-vaxxer though.

Well, I spotted an image on Facebook indicating that as the number of vaccinations increased over the years, the number of autism diagnoses increased. They are making the correlation the vaccines are causing autism. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

I decided to add a little something to that image and get that out on the internets. Please feel free to share it.

OK, It May Not Be All Men, But Lately It Sure Seems Like It

I dove into this whole rash of sexual harassment and assault claims against famous men of power. I hope I didn’t get in over my head, but I did voice my concerns over the lack of due process. I’m troubled by the way an accusation seems to be all that’s needed to prove guilt. People’s careers and lives are being turned upside down on the basis of accusations.

I brought up Pres. Bill Clinton and Justice Clarence Thomas, comparing the public’s reactions to those accusations to today’s accused fellows. I noted that at least one defender of Bill Clinton twenty years ago is today thinking that President maybe shouldn’t have been defended and should have been forced to resign.

It’s a mess, but I remain hopeful that we as a society will come out of this being a better society.

The Artist Versus The Art

I talked about the difficulty of appreciating art by very flawed artists. I’m not certain I could give up the art of some of these artists. I even talk about the likelihood of not giving up the art of my favorite artist, Pete Townshend.

It’s difficult.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

3) A YouTuber named Swede Mason has made a quite disturbing, but nonetheless cool, video mash-up of Talking Heads and Pres. Trump.

2) Dimland Radio’s Facebook page was up to 189, now 190 as I write this.

1) Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast is spearheading a crowd funding project to finance a documentary to expose how the media abuses and misrepresents science in the pursuit of ratings. If you have the means, I suggest you give this project your financial support.

Movie Recommendation: None

I ran out of time, so you are on your own this week.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Tape Your Wife To The Ceiling‘ by The Suburbs & ‘Heat Of The Moment‘ by Asia

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Epic‘ by Faith No More & ‘Public Highway‘ by Luxuria

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.

dimland radio 11-25-17 show notes

Revisiting A Goof

My appearance on Atheist Radio last Sunday had me thinking of turning the clock back a few years and talk about a mistake I made on the show. It was back in the days when Dimland Radio was live. I got all excited about a story about lost episodes of Doctor Who having been found in TV signals that had somehow bounced back to earth.

I did not vet the story well enough beforehand and while I was telling the tale I noticed that the story was a couple years old. Hold on? Can this be right was my reaction.

When I went of the air I looked into the story. It turned out the story was an April Fools joke played by the BBC.

I learned that I need to be much more careful with stories I talk about on my program.

A Little More Fake News

I once again went down that path of looking as though I’m defending the President of the United States. I’m not defending him as much as I am defending the truth. When the big solar eclipse made its way across the States, the President glanced at the sun. But so many headlines on the internet said he stared at the sun. A glance is not a stare.

Well, Seth Meyers just this past Monday in one of his A Closer Look segments made the stare at the eclipse joke. Twice. Meyers decries Trump for dismissing news he doesn’t like as fake news and then lies about the glance at the sun, which is what? It’s fake news.

Dimland Radio Science Zero: “Mad” Mike Hughes

Limo driver and daredevil “Mad” Mike Hughes announced that he would jump a California ghost town, Amboy, in a steam-powered rocket he made himself. He was supposed to make the jump earlier today, but Big Government stepped in and said he couldn’t. Go figure.

But, I’m not naming him a Science Zero because he may have a death wish. Nope. He is getting this honor due to him being a flat earther and science denier.

It’s Just Water. Very, Very Expensive Water

During the late night TV ad breaks, I often see products advertised that make very dubious claims. The latest is a product called Nerve Pain Away which is being marketed to people who suffer from nerve pain due to diabetes. The ad says the spray is “all natural” and homeopathic.

The “all natural” feature is just an advertising buzz word. It really doesn’t mean anything. It’s meant to suggest that if it’s natural it’s good and it’s safe. Well, bird shit is all natural as well.

And it’s homeopathic. If it really is homeopathic, prepared in proper homeopathic fashion, then it’s just water. Homeopathic “medicines” are so dilute that the chance of even a molecule of the active ingredient is zero.

It’s expensive water, too. I guessed that the bottle is maybe two ounces worth of the miracle water. They are selling a bottle for $20. If it is only two ounces and they were to sell a 20 ounce bottle of it (you know, the size of a bottled water you’d get at a convenience store), it would cost $200!

That’s pretty spendy and it’s just water!

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

3) As I watched “A Face In The Crowd” (see this week’s movie recommendation) my name was in the movie twice. First in the opening credits, James Fitzsimons (spelled with one “M” in Fitzsimons) was the assistant cameraman. And later in the movie as part of the closing credits of a TV show being shown as part of the story. The name was spelled James Fitzsimmons and as it is seen the TV announcer says the name.

2) Thanksgiving is always a good time and this year it was good. It was a bit sad because Amy’s side of the family is getting smaller. But it was cool to have those remaining to get together to be together and remember those we’ve lost.

1) It was my wife’s birthday this week (astrologers, put your charts away).

Movie Recommendation: A Face In The Crowd (1957)

Warner Brothers

I gotta admit I’m not sure I really like this movie. Well, I guess I liked it, but I didn’t care for the main character. I found him to be way too obnoxious to buy his rocketing to superstardom. Still I found it a fascinating study of a drifter who’s a simple “country boy” with a plain-speaking attitude who gets corrupted by fame, money, and power.

Directed by Elia Kazan, it stars Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Walter Matthau.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘This Charming Man‘ by The Smiths & ‘Here In My House‘ by 54-40

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Erica’s Word‘ by Game Theory & ‘Start!‘ 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.

dimland radio 11-18-17 show notes

I Turned 53 This Week (Astrologers, Put Your Charts Away)

I call it a milestone age: 53. I explain why after talking about the TV comedy Barney Miller. The show was pretty damn good and still is.

The connection of the show and my age has to do with the actor Abe Vigoda.

Pedantic Moment: Geico Casual Friday At Buckingham Palace

Geico has about three or four dozen ads on radio and TV, some of them are pretty clever. But there’s one that shows one of those Buckingham Palace guards (you know the sort: Big furry hat, stand absolutely still, shows no emotion, etc) being relieved by a rather sloppily dressed fellow. You see, it’s Casual Friday.

Funny, right? Well, not to this pedant.

There Is That Funny Ad By Progressive

Much like Geico, Progressive Insurance has many, many ads. Geico and Progressive must have massive advertising budgets. They might be able to charge lower premiums if they weren’t spending so much to advertise.

There is one ad in particular that is very funny. It’s the one that plays like a soap opera featuring Susan Lucci.

I’m Done With Sargon Of Akkad

There’s a whole lot of difficult people on the internets. Trolls and others who just can’t play nice with others. I try to stay out of the fray between YouTube atheists and skeptics over social justice and feminism and anti-feminism that has been boiling away for quite some time now.

I’ve watched videos, read opinion pieces, and listened to both sides SJW/Alt-Right/Nazi/Feminist arguments. I find reason and unreason on both sides. I try to side with the facts and treating people with respect and kindness.

Sargon of Akkad has been one of the more visible and controversial voices tending to call the SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) on what he thinks is their bullshit. I haven’t done a deep dive on his stuff, but I’ve watched a few of his videos.

I might agree with him on this, disagree on that, but I haven’t heard anything that I’ve thought crossed the line. He gets close, but nothing I’d heard him say made say, “That’s it, pal. We’re done.”

Then came Mythcon a convention held earlier this year. I’m not exactly certain what Mythcon is, but it’s a convention and it raised a few eyebrows by inviting Sargon and others in his camp to appear. Speakers decided not to attend due to how controversial these fellows (they are mostly middle-class, white males) are.

Sargon was interviewed before an audience that contained more than a few of his fans. The interviewer was Thomas Smith and he asked Sargon to confirm his statement made to a politician who is a woman who had been sexually assaulted. The statement to her was, “I wouldn’t even rape you.”

That’s when I said, “That’s it, pal! We’re done!”

I go into a little more about my reaction to Sargon’s assholery.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

3) Sure, I turned 53. Yep. Same age as Abe Vigoda at the premiere of Barney Miller. That’s right. I’m old. But it’s a birthday. A trip around the sun completed, another begun. That’s cool.

2) At the Stuck in the 80s blog it was XTC week. I got to promote one of my favorite bands for a whole week. Somehow the first and last installments didn’t get posted, I wrote six in all, but still. Four is pretty cool.

I wrote about the following songs:

Love On A Farmboy’s Wages

Grass

Towers Of London

Senses Working Overtime

1) I will be the guest on Minnesota Atheist Talk Radio. My friend Maddy will being interviewing me. It should be pretty cool. And fun.

Movie Recommendation: The Iceman (2012)

Millennium Entertainment

Based on a true story, The Iceman introduces us to Richard Kuklinski (played by Michael Shannon), a quiet but menacing man who has no qualms about killing. He becomes a hitman for a local mob boss (Ray Liotta), a job he keeps from his wife (Winona Ryder) and their daughters.

It’s a fascinating looks at a man’s violent life. The film gets a bit violent, of course, and there is a scene showing part of the process of dealing with dead bodies that fairly disturbing. It may be on the brutal side, but if you enjoy true crime movies, I recommend this one.

It is streaming on Netflix.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Earn Enough For Us‘ & ‘Dear God‘ by XTC

Second ad break bumpers: ‘I Bought Myself A Liar Bird‘ & ‘No Language In Our Lungs‘ 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.

dimland radio 11-11-17 show notes

I Was Wrong About Something

During my talk about the World Series last week I made a couple mistakes. Hard to believe, I know.

I was wrong about how home field advantage is determined in the World Series. I was correct last year, but Major League Baseball changed to the team with the best regular season record gets it. It is no longer determined by the winner of the All-Star Game.

And I was wrong about which team won the 2017 All-Star Game.

I Now Know People Who Actually Eat Bone Marrow

The Minnesota Skeptics’ monthly meet-up was just held. It was its usual good time. However, some of the devoured one of the most unappetizing appetizer I’ve ever seen. Bone marrow. I’d heard that there are people who eat it. Now I know a few personally.

I’m not one of them.

Pedantic Moment: The Back Of A Cylinder

A young MN Skeptic mentioned some writing on the back of an over-sized can of water. I remarked on the interesting idea of there being a back of a cylinder.

Yes, I know what he meant.

He’s Bad Enough, You Don’t Have To Lie About Him

So those still pictures of Pres. Trump feeding koi in Japan? You know, the ones that are making Trump out to be an idiot, because he dumped “too much” at once? Well, guess what the video shows…

Click here.

The UK Has A Problem With Big Cats Roaming The Countryside

The problem is they don’t have any big cats roaming the countryside, but they have plenty of people who think they’ve seen and photographed pumas/cougars/mountain lions/panthers in the British wild. A woman believes she’s photographed a puma eating a domestic cat in her neighbor’s back garden. It looks more like a tabby cat eating a grey bird.

In this segment, I go on a rant about people letting their cats roam outside. It’s a familiar rant to regular listeners, but I did add a new reason for my dislike of my neighbors letting their cats out.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

3) Admittedly, I was a bit coy on this one. There may be something pretty cool happening in a few months for Dimland Radio. I didn’t want to give details. I’ll do that when the something is a certainty.

2) This past Thursday was the second Thursday of the month, so that means I attended the MN Skeptics Meet-Up. Always a real cool time.

1) My wife, son, and I saw Penn & Teller perform this past week and we got autographs and pictures. It was a great show.

Movie Recommendation: Downfall (2004)

Not a feel-good movie experience in anyway, Downfall is a fascinating telling of the last days of the Third Reich. Bruno Ganz gives a brilliant performance of the crumbling dictator as he faces (and doesn’t face) the defeat of his empire. Much of the story is based of the information given by Traudl Junge, who was Hitler’s secretary in those last days.

The film was criticized for making Hitler seem to human, but he was human. I think showing him as such takes away the mythic aspect of der fuhrer who came very close to realizing his ambition to rule the world.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Vanishing Girl‘ by The Dukes of Stratosphear & ‘Only In America‘ by Naked Raygun

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Lonely Is (As Lonely Does)‘ by The dB’s & ‘Voices Carry‘ by Til Tuesday

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.