Dimland Radio

dimland radio 2-4-17 show notes

A Tale Of Two Schools

My wife and I have a thirteen year-old son and he’ll be starting high school next fall. We’ve gone to two open houses for schools he might attend. One is the school he would be sent to automatically, the other is one he can choose to apply to attend.

The first school’s open house, the school he is automatically set up to head to, was not perfectly executed, but they did a far better job at selling their school. They most of their staff in attendance wearing school colors. The principal was cognizant of the notion that we were taking time out of our busy lives, so he knew to move it along. They even had a parent talk about the virtues of the school. The school was also easier to navigate, but, if we needed help, it was easy to find someone because they were all wearing the school colors.

The second school’s presentation was not as well organized. They started late, but the principal didn’t seem to think it necessary to adjust the schedule or shorten her talk. A school counselor spent way too much time going over which districts were set to automatically accept students and which dfistricts would need to apply.

And the school was a maze. And old school, built of a hill, with a newer expansion built around it. One of the teachers said that, after 9 or 10 years there, he still gets confused from time to time. So, you would think there would be a map for visitors. Nope. Or staff and students in school colors abundantly available for information. Also, nope.

The worst part was when we found one of the classrooms for a session with the teacher to learn about the class, what it had to offer, what the teacher’s expectations were, etc., the door was closed and locked. This is an open house. We had the right room. What gives?

Before we had even gotten to the locked room, our son stopped us and said, “I don’t want to go here. I’d rather go to the other school.” We did convince him to try one more session, but that was the locked room.

We’ve been told it is a good school, but we don’t want to force our son to go there if he doesn’t want to. Besides the first is also a good school and we think he’ll be challenged and get a good education there.

The second school did have cookies, though.

Pedantic Moment: McDonalds McCafe Intern Ad

This moment of pedantry was prompted by the McDonalds TV ad for their McCafe coffee, mochas, and lattes. Put simply, the intern is sent on a coffee run. He returns with coffee and some change. He states that they give him “way too much money,” but the change he hands back what looks like a reasonable amount to me.

Sure, that doesn’t sound exciting. I make a bigger deal out of it on the show.

Ricky Gervais Does Well In Discussion On Atheism

Recently, comic/actor/writer Ricky Gervais appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert is a devout Catholic and Gervais is an atheist. As in the case with previous guest Bill Maher, Colbert challenged Gervais on his atheism.

When Maher was challenged there was plenty of snark on both sides. Gervais and Colbert were more respectful of each other and that seemed to me to work better when presenting the atheist view to a believer. Sure, snarkiness can have its place when played for uncomfortable laughs, but I think Gervais’ method worked better.

Gervais pointed out that the talk show host himself didn’t believe in a great number of gods, but that atheists just go one god more. He also argued, very well, that if all religious books were destroyed and rewritten a thousand years later, they wouldn’t be written the same. Science books, on the other hand, would come back the same. The theory of gravity, of evolution, of germ-caused diseases, etc. would all come back the same. Maybe with some updates and refinements as science is always refining itself, but still essentially the same.

The Catholic admitted that was a really good argument.

10 points, Ricky!

Is It A Phone Scam Scam?

It’s been in the news that there is a phone scam attempting to get people to say “yes” on the phone. Then that answer can be used to do nefarious things. What the alleged scammer does is ask, “Can you hear me?” The receiver answers “yes” which is recorded.

I shared an article warning of this scam, but a friend of mine questioned how the recorded “yes” could be used to any nefarious benefit. That got me curious to find out.

At this point, Snopes is saying the claim is unproven and they, too, question how this scam benefits the scammer.

So, is this really a scam? Perhaps. I would still advise that you hang up. You don’t want to be dealing with telemarketers, anyway.

I did relate a story from a few years ago of an attempted phone scam at where I work. The scam was to get my company to pay a cancellation fee for the services which they claimed my boss wanted to discontinue. I was unaware we were getting whatever that service was, so I told them I needed to talk to my boss. I talked to my boss and we hadn’t been getting their services. He’d never heard of them.

Invoices started to show up in the mail demanding payment. I thought I had somehow messed up and got the business on the hook, but my boss said to just ignore the invoices. At some point, a phone call came through (maybe more than one, I can’t remember) demanding we pay up. I was told they had a recording of me acknowledging we owed the money.

I told them we weren’t going to pay and that we knew they were a scam. I hung up on them and we haven’t heard from them since.

Movie Recommendation (Documentary Series Edition): OJ: Made In America (2016)

ESPN Films

Even though I haven’t finished watching it yet, I recommended this ESPN 30 For 30 documentary series on OJ Simpson to my listeners. It covers OJ’s rise from poverty to football glory, both collegiate and professional. We learn about the civil rights movement that grew as Simpson’s career flourished, and we learn how he didn’t want to be thought of as the color of his skin and kept himself away from the movement.

It deals with civil unrest and the rioting in the aftermath of the four LAPD officers being acquitted for the beating of Rodney King and other civil rights abuses suffered by African Americans, while Simpson climbed the ladder of success. And, of course, there are the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and the “trial of the century.”

It is a fascinating look at the man and at the history that surrounded him.

Be warned! In part four, the documentary reveals the crime scene photos. The camera looks full on at the damage Simpson was accused of doing. Very graphic!

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘One Step Ahead‘ by Split Enz & ‘Lay All You Love On Me‘ by ABBA

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Limelight‘ by Rush & ‘One At A Time‘ by The Who

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 1-28-17 show notes

I Was A Baaaaaad Boy

This past Tuesday I was on my way to work and my impatience got the better of me. A fellow was making a left turn in front of me and I just couldn’t be bothered to wait five seconds. I passed him on the shoulder.

I was immediately pulled over by a member of law enforcement and handed a ticket. Great. Well, I only have myself to blame.

Defending The Indefensible

No, my show wasn’t taken over by some wild-eyed alt-right wing nut, but I did cut Pres. Trump a little slack. Not a lot, but I did cut some slack.

I understand why he thought there were so many people at his inauguration. I have seen photographic evidence that was taken, not exactly from his viewpoint, but quite close. From that angle it is very difficult to tell how much empty space there was. He only saw a sea of people.

I drew back a little of that slack when he and his press secretary continued to push the idea that there was a million plus in attendance. It’s hard to refute the images taken from the Washington Monument from the back and far above the crowd. That image made it clear that there were far less people there than in 2009.

2009 on the right, 2017 on the left. The 2017 picture was taken with more time before the speech, so it filled in a bit more, but it’s evident there were considerably less people there.

Gigapixel!

Source: CNN/PetaPixel

If you are like me, whenever you watch an old detective show with a technician working a miracle by enlarging a little blob in a photograph into a detailed image, you shout at the TV, “It doesn’t work that way!” Well, thanks to science, there is now camera technology that can be zoomed in on and have amazing clarity. CNN used in on Inauguration Day.

It’s this image that I saw that helped me understand why Pres. Trump thought the event was “yuge.”

Taking One Item Off The List Of Appalling Behavior

In my continuing defense of the otherwise indefensible, I moved on to one of the most appalling examples of the appalling behavior of candidate Trump. Remember when he mocked a reporter by making fun of the fellow’s disability? It was sickening. “What can’t this guy get away with?” we all were thinking. And I was thinking it, too.

But, I’ve seen some video evidence of Mr. Trump making virtually the same gesture when talking about Ted Cruz, a general, the bankers, and himself. I can accept that the gesture, voice, and facial expression he made when he talked about that reporter, Serge Kovaleski, are the same as when he is showing someone to be flustered. I don’t think he was mocking a disability, he was mocking a reporter who happened to have a disability.

Of all the objectionable ideas, attitudes, and behaviors of Pres. Trump I’m willing to cross this one off the list.

Watch this clip and see if you might agree with me.

It’s Not True: Kellyanne Conway’s Gucci Stewardess Outfit And Women’s March Litter

Yes, I know “stewardess” is not the correct title, but the outfit looked as though it was from the 70s, so I used the term from that time. I also called it a sailor suit.

Anyway, it looked awful. We have now learned that Guicci and Armani (see Hillary Clinton’s grossly over-priced jacket) are capable of designing crappy looking clothes. What’s not true is that Gucci stole the design from an old dress pattern from the tackiest of all decades: the 1970s.

The image above is just some clever and well executed hoaxing. Someone found an old dress pattern package and altered the illustration on the front to make it look as though Gucci stole the design. Snopes quickly laid this one to rest.

Lest you think I’ve gone all right wing on you, I did mention the image (above) of the Women’s March picket signs all left on a sidewalk was not an example of littering. Much like the flowers that nearly buried the fence around Buckingham Palace after the death of Princess Diana, the signs were left as a message. Not a message of love is in the case of the dead Princess, but a message of protest toward America’s new President. Those signs were left, on purpose, outside of Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. It wasn’t the Women’s Marchers not caring about the environment.

The Sucker Punch Cheered ‘Round The World

I was rather disappointed by the reaction of some of my friends on the Left when video of white supremacist Richard Spencer getting sucker punched surfaced. Many were delighted. I understand the visceral enjoyment of such a moment, but this kind of action does not make things better.

Penn Jillette has said that the answer to bad speech is more speech. Sucker punching someone with whom you disagree does not help. It’s behavior akin to terrorism – scare the shit out of someone spewing bad speech by making them fear physical harm and they might shut up.

Yay! Big victory for you. But what hearts and minds have you changed?

When people start punching they stop listening.

I compared that sucker punch to the punch doled out by Buzz Aldrin some years ago. Aldrin’s punch was different. He was defending himself from a belligerent moon hoax conspiracy theorist. The nut was told to leave the second man to walk on the moon alone by both Aldrin and several other people in the vicinity. But the nut persisted and had Aldrin cornered.

The nut, who was taller, younger, and bigger than the former astronaut, was looming over Aldrin when he called Aldrin a liar and a coward. Buzz had had enough. He punched the nut in the face.

This was self-defense. The nut was repeatedly asked and told to leave Buzz Aldrin alone. Aldrin had tried to get away from the man. Finally, the tough old bird acted. There were no charges.

Aldrin was acting in self-defense. The cowardly anti-Trump protestor was attempting to shut up someone whose speech may be disagreeable, but is protected by the 1st Amendment. And I mean coward. The low level terroristic protestor’s face was hidden and once he took Spencer off guard with that punch he ran away.

I was further disappointed by some of my Facebook friends, who enjoyed the punch, when they tried to justify it because they think it’s OK to sucker punch Nazis. Well, kids, where does it stop? Who else is it OK to sucker punch? Who decides where to draw the line?

The 1st Amendment isn’t there to just protect the speech we like. It’s there to protect speech we don’t like. It’s there to protect the free exchange of ideas. If we start stopping ideas we don’t like from being voiced, how long before you’re the one with an idea that might be disliked?

A sucker punch wouldn’t be so funny then, would it?

Movie Recommendation: None

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

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Say Goodbye‘ by Hunters & Collectors & ‘Only You‘ by Yaz

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Remote Control‘ by Red Guitars & ‘Falling‘ by Angelo Badalamenti

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 1-21-17 show notes

Who Named Led Zeppelin?

It is difficult to say. There are a few differing versions of the story. I went over the version I was familiar with and the variations of it. It seems clear that this history is difficult to know for certain and that, as far as naming the band, Keith Moon and John Entwistle of The Who were at least involved.

Behind The Name has this version. And starting at the 15 minute mark of a Led Zeppelin documentary we get another version. I also mentioned Beck’s Bolero with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, featuring Keith Moon on drums. Moon blasts and screams his way on at about 1:38. I believe I said John Entwistle also plays on this song. He does not. John Paul Jones is on bass.

Planetary Retrograde Just Looks That Way From Earth

Astrology is still popular. Hard to believe, but it is. And I have friends who still buy into that silliness. In the early days of my hanging out in the Z Talk chat room, I kept hearing show hosts and guests attributing various odd occurrences to some planet in our solar system being in retrograde. I didn’t quite understood what they were talking about, but I have since learned that a planet in retrograde means that its orbit appears to have gone weird.

Before smart people of the past figured out (and accepted the fact) that the earth isn’t the center of the universe, and that our sun is the center of the system of planets and other bodies, including earth; people believed the planets changed direction in their orbits around our planet. In reality, all those bodies, including earth, orbit the sun. When that was figured out the apparent retrograde movement of the planets made sense.

Retrograde is just the way the planets appear to move when viewed from earth. Besides, the planets have no effect on us anyway. Astrology is just silly.

A Complaint About The Inauguration

Being a staunch supporter of science and scientific skepticism, I was not a supporter of Donald Trump. I was not happy when he was elected. Still, because it is a moment in history and I support the American tradition of the (mostly) peaceful transfer of power, I watched the Inauguration Day coverage.

I didn’t complain about the coverage. I didn’t complain about our new President’s speech. Nope. I complained about the fact that Pres. Trump doesn’t button his suit coat when standing.

Last winter, I became a suit owner for the first time in my life. In preparation, I studied suit etiquette or whatever you call it. I learned that when standing while wearing a suit, it is to be buttoned. Below are the rules of how men are to button their suits.

Now, I don’t know who makes the rules, but there they are. And Pres. Trump doesn’t seem to be aware of the rules. Perhaps he’s trying to set a new trend. To my eye, though, a suit looks better buttoned.

Now why the second or third button is even included on a two or three button suit coat is a mystery to me. According to the rules, it is to never be buttoned. I speculated as to why the button is even there.

That led me to an old rant about how men’s suit have become too small. At least, the hip, young fellows are wearing them that way. I don’t like the look of the coat appearing to strain at the button and I don’t care for the skinny pants and low waist lines.

Go ahead, call me a curmudgeon.

A Family Of Blobsqatches At Yellowstone

Oh, yeah. A family of bigfoots. Can’t get any clearly than that.

So, yet another fuzzy video of a bigfoot has surfaced. A whole family of them, in fact. One of the cameras placed in Yellowstone National Park has captured half a dozen or so dark blobs milling about in the snow. I just can’t see how anyone would get excited about this one. It’s pretty clear to me upon watching the video that it’s just a group of people, human beings, hanging out in Yellowstone. Simple as that.

But, I do have a shame on me to point out related to this story. The preview image on Facebook included in the link to the story (see photo above) looked as though the dark blobs might be American bison. They are known to hang out in Yellowstone. I suggested just that in the comment thread. However, I made that suggestion before watching the video. The video clearly negates my bison hypothesis.

“When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras.” ~ Dr. Theodore Woodward

“When you see dark blobs in a video that look like people moving about, think people not bigfoots.” ~ Jim ‘Dr Dim’ Fitzsimons

Movie Recommendation: None

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

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me‘ by Hunters & Collectors & ‘Under Cover Of The Night‘ by The Rolling Stones

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Never Follow‘ by Naked Raygun & ‘Entre Nous‘ by Rush

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 1-14-17 show notes

Someone Else Likes Bunts?!

At the most recent meet-up of the Minnesota Skeptics, I discovered there is someone other than the late NY Governor Mario Cuomo who likes the bunt in baseball. Yeesh. There’s always someone.

I explained that it’s not the bunt itself he likes. It’s when the bunt is part of a more exciting play, such as a batter trying to get a hit with a bunt or when the bunt is part of a squeeze (safety or suicide) play. Just a run of the mill bunt to move a runner into scoring position isn’t anything to get all excited about.

And, because it’s the middle of winter and I need some baseball, here’s why it’s the greatest game ever!

Why I Hate The New York Yankees

In honor of that MN Skeptic and for all those listeners who are new to Dimland Radio now that it is on iTunes (please, subscribe), I broke out my rant about a revelation I had on why I hate the Yankees.

I blogged about it a few years ago. Click here for the written rant.

Brock And Bowdy Shoff And Conspiracy Theorists

Social and news media got rather excited over a video of a two year-old toddler named Bowdy rescuing his twin brother. People Magazine characterized it by saying “Bowdy sprang into action” to save Brock. Well, if you think allowing your brother to struggle under the corner of a fallen dresser while you, at first, half-heartedly give the dresser a push; examine an electronic device that had fallen and come unplugged; crawl over the fallen dresser; then, after a minute and half has passed, try to lift the dresser; and, finally, give it a better push moving the dresser enough for your brother to roll out is springing into action, then I guess that’s what Bowdy did. Still, it’s impressive what that toddler was able to do.

He had a little help. Their father indicated that God helped, but, actually, a rubber ball was also under the fallen dresser. The ball, about 10″ in diameter, held some of the weight of the dresser and helped Bowdy to be able to get it to move. That is when he finally got around to it. And, if God was so determined to help keep Brock alive and unharmed, why did he allow the dresser to fall in the first place? I know – mysterious ways.

Brock didn’t seem any worse for wear after being freed and it appears he goes back to playing as the video clip comes to an end.

On the show, I linked all this to how conspiracy theorists examine events so very closely that they spot what the think are anomalies. They then use those perceived anomalies as proof that a conspiracy is afoot. There have been calls of fake and hoax as negative reactions to this story.

The conspiracy theorists (not skeptics as they are referred to in the link) question the positioning of the nanny cam, the fact the dresser was empty, and that the father works for a company that sells nanny cams. They think this whole video is an attempt to get people to buy nanny cams.

Well, I countered those points with a little reason. The camera was positioned to get the widest view of the room, the dresser could have been empty because it was new, and the nanny cam wasn’t really useful. It merely documented the event.

I don’t believe this to be anything more than an accident. I don’t believe the Shoff twins’ parents could be that cold and uncaring, risking their sons’ lives in order to sell more nanny cams. Call me naive.

Now if the father worked for a company that makes devises meant to anchor furniture to the wall to prevent such accidents, then I’d…probably still think it was an accident.

You Just Can’t Please Some People

YouTubers Red Letter Media just can’t ever be pleased. Well, other than with themselves.

I have referred to these guys before on the show. They produced a series of videos explaining why the Star Wars prequels (Episodes 1 – 3), especially The Phantom Menace, didn’t work on virtually every level. I thought they made valid points in their observations. They also had some weird, dark character stuff meant as comedy for some reason.

When it came to Rogue One, which they thought was half OK, these fellows were upset that there was Star Wars stuff in a Star Wars movie. No shit, boys!

Oh, well. Art is subjective and people will like what they like and hate what they hate and eh what they eh, I guess.

What do these guys want?!

I imagined them going back in time while still at their present age and attitude, having never seen any Star Wars film, to watch the very first episode. They might have had problems with it.

To be fair, they did like The Force Awakens.

So, what did I think of Rogue One?

Movie Recommendation: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

I really liked it! It’s a little slow at first, but it does get moving with excellent action. It’s tone is darker and some of the characters are pretty complicated and moody. You’ll understand that when you see what one of them has to do to help the rebellion. And it makes sense to have that darker tone. This is, after all, the story of how the rebels were able to get the plans for the Death Star.

I know of three people who are saying this might be their favorite Star Wars movie. And those three aren’t the Red Letter Media dudes.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘One Day‘ by The Church & ‘Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time‘ by Gang of Four

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Nocturnal Me‘ by Echo & the Bunnymen & ‘Independence Day‘ by Urban Guerrillas

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 1-7-17 show notes

Ram By The Yoleus

The Yoleus is a friend’s band. They play rockin’ instrumental tunes. My friend is the guitarist and he’s pretty damn good.

Well, a while back I thought I had better use a theme song for Dimland Radio for which I had permission. I had been using the song Ahead by UK postpunk band Wire, but I didn’t have their permission. I decided to ask Dave if I could use a song by The Yoleus and he said OK.

I chose Ram. At first it felt odd as my opening tune, but then it quickly felt just right. I talked about the song, because I had found a video clip of The Yoleus playing it live at St. Paul’s Turf Club bar. You can find a link to that video at the bottom of these show notes along with the links to the songs I play leading in and out of my breaks and a link to the show’s closing song.

Correction

I talked a bit more about this whole trophy hunting thing and the ire it raises on social media. But, first, I had to correct something I mentioned on the previous show. I talked about the comeback of the White Rhino. The comeback took place in South Africa over the past 100 years. I had the numbers wrong. I had said the population numbers went from about 500 to 50,000. That’s not right. The numbers given in the Adam Ruins Everything video had the White Rhino population go from approximately 100 to 18,000 in the past 100 years.

Whoops. My mistake.

A Response!

I’ve been posting on Facebook that Adam Ruins Everything clip on how trophy hunting can help endangered species for a while now. I talked about this on the previous show and I mentioned then that no one has responded with as much as an, “Oh, yeah?!”

Well, what do you know? Someone finally did. Their first comment was to link to an article reporting on the lowering numbers of cheetahs in Africa and Asia. The reasons given are loss of habitat, poaching, and loss of prey. There’s also a desire for cheetah cubs as pets. There was no mention of trophy hunting, poorly managed or otherwise. It also reports the lowering numbers have led to a push to have the cheetah classified as endangered.

The commenter then shared two images of the Trump sons posing proudly with their trophy kill: a leopard. I pointed out that it was a leopard and not a cheetah. The commenter then posted an article on how leopards’ numbers are dwindling and that there is a push to list them as endangered, as well.

The reasons given in the article for the loss of leopards was due to poaching and poorly managed trophy hunting. Well, finally a link to trophy hunting, but note it’s poorly managed trophy hunting. The Adam piece does acknowledge some trophy hunting programs are not well run, but is that a reason to end the trophy hunting that is well managed and having positive results?

And! When you follow the link in that article, as I did, to the source for the reasons of the loss of leopards, a few more reasons are given than just poaching and poorly managed trophy hunting. Also listed are: Increased human populations, habitat fragmentation, excessive harvesting for ceremonial skins, and loss of prey. Poorly managed trophy was mentioned last.

I find it curious the article the commenter linked only mentions poaching and trophy hunting.

I assured the commenter that I endorse animal species whose numbers are getting dangerously low be listed as endangered and protected. I also let him know I’m not a fan of the Trumps.

Is It Me?

Well, it couldn’t be me, could it?

I talked about an exchange I had with a FB “friend” after he posted a message from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The former governor of California has made it his mission to get America off of fossil fuels. He believes we can do it.

I applauded his message, but I commented that Arnold should have included sources for his claims of 7 million deaths a year being attributed to air pollution and 19,000 deaths a day connected directly to fossil fuel pollution. The humorless fellow who had shared the governor’s messages provided several links.

He then got into an argument with me because I said it would have been better had Arnold supplied to sources in his note. I was happy to get the sources and I let the fellow know that. I also let him know I didn’t dispute the former bodybuilding champ‘s claims. Just Arnold should cite his sources.

Well, this guy wasn’t getting the point and he accused me of moving the goalposts and just wanting to argue.

Is it me?

Celebrity Deaths 2016

It sure does seem as those a lot of celebrities died in 2016. Certainly the number of A listers was pretty surprising. From David Bowie to Prince to Gene Wilder to Carrie Fisher, it seemed like a bloodbath. From what I’ve heard the actual numbers aren’t that much higher than average.

But what constitutes a celebrity? Without the internet and a little homemade sex video, I doubt the world would have any idea who the Kardashians are and they wouldn’t be nearly as wealthy. So, I discussed that the ways of becoming a celebrity have increased since the early days of the 20th century.

I also leveled with listeners. Our celebrity heroes of our youth are getting old. We ought to expect more and more of them to die.

2016 Wasn’t All Bad

Putting aside the celebrity deaths and the disappointment for a little more than half the American electorate in November, 2016 had some positive news as well.

A fellow named Matt Strange compiled a list of some of the good things that happened over the course of last year. It’s a long list, but it does have some inaccuracies. The Toronto Star hunted down the veracity of each of Mr Strange‘s claims. Click here for The Star’s verified list of the good stuff from 2016.

I mentioned a few other positive things as well.

Movie Recommendation: None

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

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram‘ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Rapture‘ by Blondie & ‘Ahead‘ by Wire

Second ad break bumpers: ‘De Do Do Do De Da Da Da‘ by The Police & ‘It All Depends‘ by Figures

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.