Dimland Radio

dimland radio 11-12-16 show notes

Well, Well, Well

It looks like everybody got it wrong, Well, everybody except Michael Moore, he seemed to have a handle on this election. He didn’t underestimate President-Elect Donald Trump’s outsider appeal.

Look, I ain’t nowhere smart enough to figured this one out. And I don’t want to just say the everything will be OK. I don’t know that it will. I worry about plenty of the possibilities of a Trump Presidency, most notable is how will science fair and how will this effect the world’s fight against climate change.

I advised my listener, “Let’s not just say things will be OK. Let’s do everything we can to make sure things are going to be OK.”

Here’s a couple links to give some perspective and balance and caution. Here and here.

ABBA Can Help

After I did what I could to assuage fears, I played a bit of a song by ABBA. I put to you that it is impossible to feel anything but serene when listening to this song:

Ahhhhhh. ABBA.

These Were Cool!

I chatted briefly about the old voting booths and how much I liked them, although I only got to use one once. I just thought the pulling the level to close the curtain was such an awesome thing. I’m not sure why they’re not used any more, but such is progress, I guess.

Photojournalists Don’t Just Snap Pictures: Follow-Up

My listener, Trisha, wasn’t sure about some of the information I gave about that terrible photograph depicting the horrific-ness of war from the Vietnam War. So, I looked into the photo and learned more details and that photographs can lie.

AP photo/Eddie Adams

The above photo shows a South Vietnamese officer summarily executing a prisoner. The photo won a Pulitzer and was used be the anti-war movement, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The man being shot was accused of being a Viet Cong assassin who was caught almost red-handed in the mass murder of South Vietnamese officers and their families. The general who shots the man judged the prisoner as guilty and took him out. War is all hell.

You can read more about the incident here.

Weird Choices In Censorship

It’s not exactly censorship, it’s just cutting out the swearing. But sometimes what gets censored or cleaned up and what doesn‘t has me scratching my head.

The first example was from a video by Arnold Schwarzenegger attempting to get viewers to battle climate change. Try as I might, I can’t find that video, so I can’t link to it. You’ll just have to take my word that I actually saw this and that I wasn’t hallucinating.

In the video, the former CA governor said “bullshit” more than once. Each time he did, the English subtitles showed the word as: bullsh t. There was no attempt to clear up the audio. Apparently, the hearing impaired don’t like swearing.

This next example I do have a link. Louie CK was a guest on Conan O’Brien‘s TBS late night talk show. Louie talked a bit about the upcoming election. He dropped F-bombs and S– bombs, which were all censored. Viewers knew he was swearing, but we just couldn’t hear it.

He reached the punchline and said, “If you vote for Hillary, you’re an adult. If you vote for Trump, you’re a sucker. If you don’t vote you‘re an asshole.”

“Asshole” went uncensored. Weird.

Blowing My Own Horn

Sometimes a blind squirrel find a nut. And sometimes I say something smart. At the MN Skeptics meet-up last week, a skeptic asked, “If you know something who can’t get sleep. They’ve tried doctors and all their remedies and none of them worked. The science had ruled out anything seriously, physically wrong with her. No brain tumor, etc. Then she gets acupuncture and she sleeps like a baby. Yes, we know it’s the placebo effect, but why should a skeptic feel compelled to ruin it for her? She’s tried science and there was no deeper physical problem found, but the not science is working.”

The group of us batted it around and it struck me. The problem isn’t that his friend uses the not science after trying science, which didn’t work, but the not science does. The problem is when she tells someone else who is having sleeping problems. She’ll immediately advise the acupuncture and her friend might skip consulting an actual doctor.

My fellow skeptic declared me a genius and that I was brilliant. He kept saying how I must be the smartest person of all time. It got a bit much to be honest.

Movie Recommendation: Not A Movie, But This…

I blogged about one of my favorite parts of those early years of Late Night with David Letterman. Go here to read my effusion.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘This Charming Man‘ by The Church & ‘Destination Unknown‘ by Missing Persons

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Running On The Spot‘ by The Jam & ‘After The Lights Go Out‘ by Urban Guerrillas

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

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 11-5-16 show notes

The Condescension Of “Sportsball”

I noticed the term “sportsball’ popping up on the internets. Have you seen it? It’s a term used by people who don’t know anything about sports and don’t care to, but they want to have an air of superiority about their ignorance.

I can’t say I’m not guilty of ever being proud of being clueless about some aspect of today’s pop culture. And since I am also guilty of that attitude, I thought it might be a good idea to use the word “ball” as a suffix added to things we don’t care about.

“Oh, are you guys talking Walking Deadball? Gee, I don’t know anything about that show. I’ve never watched it.”

Something like that. Do you think it will catch on? Or aren’t you interested in giving things clever namesball?

A Story 108 Years In The Making

What a hell of a World Series! (I know, sportsball.) The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs know plenty about futility. Between them they have 176 years without a World Series Championship. Cleveland has waited since 1948 and Chicago since 1908. So with this World Series the fans knew history was going to be made, but who would make it.

Turns out it was the Chicago Cubs, America’s Sweetheart Team, who would break their long drought.

And what a Game 7! That game was a thrill ride. It was a roller coaster and I talked about how it rivaled Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. That was the Jack Morris 10 inning shutout pitching performance that gave the MN Twins their second ever World Series Championship.

1991 was a more soundly played baseball game with better defensive play and excellent pitching. That Game 7’s drama was based mainly on the steady increase of tension. As a Twins fan, I was going crazy with that whole “let’s get this over with” feeling.

This year’s Game 7 started out feeling like a Cubs victory, but the pitching faltered (for both teams) and there was some poor defensive play along with a costly wild pitch (on the Cubs’ side) allowing the Indians to get back into and then tie the game.

Then came the tenth inning, but before that could be played there was a 17 minute rain delay. (“Auggggh! Get me off this ride!”) During that rain delay, the Cubs had some players speechify and rally the team. And I’m sure the Indians were doing the same.

Play resumed and the Cubs scratched out two runs and the lead in the top half of the 10th, but Cleveland homered in the bottom half. They got within one run, but the Cubs were able to get three outs and become World Champions for the first time in more than a century.

Woof! I was spent.

The ratings for this year’s Game 7 was the highest since 1991’s Game 7. The Cubs/Indians’ Game 7 averaged 40 million viewers. Still, Game 7 of the 1991 World Series between the MN Twins and the Atlanta Braves pulled more than 50 million viewers. Both are mighty impressive numbers for baseball.

Photojournalists Don’t Just Snap Pictures

No, photojournalists capture moments, good and bad. I talked about how someone with the talent and training and experience can make an art out of documenting history. They don’t just show a moment they capture the moment. Their pictures tell us so much about an event. (However, photos can be misleading. I’ll talk about that next week.)

So, there was a story online about the glaring difference between the front page photos of the triumphant Cubs by the Chicago Tribune (which still has a staff of photojournalists) and the Chicago Sun-Times (which does not). As one person put it, it was iconic vs forgettable. It’s tougher than it looks.

My Pillow Settles Lawsuit

I don’t mean my pillow, the one I use at home. I mean the special, super-awesome pillow you can buy through the TV called My Pillow. Last March on show 267, I had talked by how I was doubtful about some of the claims being made by Mike Lindell, inventor and CEO of My Pillow, in one of his commercials that seemed to always be running on Antenna TV. I hadn’t noticed the ad had disappeared recently.

Well, a California District Attorney brought a lawsuit against My Pillow for misleading claims of improved health from numerous ailments in their advertising. That’s what had me being doubtful. I didn’t doubt the pillows were comfortable, but I did doubt it helped with fibromyalgia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, among other ailments.

The way Lindell attempted to get around the need to demonstrate the claims were true, thereby keeping the FTC off their back, was to use the weasel phrase, “I’ve had people tell me…” But, I guess that didn’t work to keep that DA in California from bringing a lawsuit for deceptive claims.

My Pillow opted to settle, instead of going to trial. They have to pay $950,000 in civil penalties and $100,000 to be given to a charity.

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: ‘Columbus‘ by The Church & ‘O Superman (For Massenet)‘ by Laurie Anderson

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Unheard Music‘ by X & ‘Nothing Turns Out Right‘ by The Mighty Mofos

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

dimland radio 10-29-16 show notes

It’s Been A Long Time Coming

Well, October is nearly over, but we still have Halloween and World Series baseball. This year is historic in baseball because two teams who haven’t won that championship in a long time are in the series. For the Cleveland Indians it’s been 68 years. Impressive until you realize the Chicago Cubs haven’t won the Fall Classic since 1908. That’s 108 years!

So, this year one of those teams is going to end their drought. The popular favorite is the Cubs, which, I admit, is the team I’m pulling for, but I won’t be disappointed if Cleveland wins. Cleveland gets an NBA Championship this past spring and now, perhaps, a World Series? Next the Browns will… Oh, right. The Browns.

I hope for a good series. Seven games would be best. I love seventh games. The Cubs trail in the series 3 – 2, so we shall see.

On to Cleveland.

Tales Of Halloween Past

My friend Michael Noble allowed me to have a week off from blogging for Warehouse Find by doing a bit of guest blogging. He told the story of one particular Halloween when he was a boy. He and two of his friends finally braved the neighbor’s “haunted house”. This was something they hadn’t be able to get the nerve to do in past years.

The results of their bravery can be read here.

Michael’s remembrances got me to thinking about how dedicated my brother and I were to canvasing as large an area as possible, hitting some areas twice and staying out for hours, to get plenty of treats. We were on a mission and each year’s mission was a resounding success.

My son, on the other hand, did like to dress up and get candy, but a half hour or an hour of trick or treating was plenty for him. I would take him out most years and ask are if he was sure he wanted to go back home after so little time. He did.

He’s 13 now and he’s gonna stay home and hand out the goodies. Don’t worry. We bought plenty of candy to have leftovers for us.

LA County Medical Examiner Finds Katie May Died From Chiropractic Treatment

Back in February of this year, I talked about Katie May’s untimely death. May was a model and the self-named Queen of Snapchat, who, while on a photo shoot, fell and injured her neck. It was painful and she sought out care for her neck from her chiropractor. After a couple treatments, Kate May was dead at age 34.

Skeptics critical of chiropractic, myself included, speculated that neck manipulation might have been the cause. There is a risk, it is small, of arterial tearing with such manipulation which can lead to stroke. Stroke can result in permanent injury or, at worst, death. It is fairly rare that that happens, but when you consider there is no benefit from neck manipulation, that risk though small isn’t worth it.

Skeptics were speculating until, months after her death, the LA County Medical Examiner’s report listed “neck manipulation by chiropractor” as the cause of death. Certainly, chiropractors will disagree and site the rarity of such results and say there are no studies confirming a causal link, but there is a strong association. And, as I said, the risk is too great.

If you insist on seeing a chiropractor, don’t allow him or her to crack your neck.

Phoenix Lights Redux And A Dimland Radio Science Zero

Back in 1997, many people in Phoenix, Arizona spotted flares floating down in the night sky. Of course, most people jumped to the conclusion those fuzzy lights were extraterrestrial spacecraft. Yep, that seems like the most reasonable explanation for flares being dropped during a military operation. People didn’t know what it was (but it weren’t no flares!) so it had to be aliens! (Argument from ignorance.)

There were actually two sightings of lights that night over Phoenix. As I stated earlier, flares were most likely responsible for the later incident. For the earlier incident that explanation was a formation of airplanes. The explanation for both sightings can be found here.

Well, just recently, the daughter of fellow Z Talker, Kale Kelly, was able to capture video of more fuzzy lights in the night sky over Phoenix. Again, they were probably flares, but she concluded aliens were involved.

Of course, the local news station credulously reported the incident. That’s how these news stations operate. On these “fluff” stories, it’s all about the mystery, never the explanation. They even talked to Dr. Sky. Dr. Sky is Steve Kates and, as far as I can tell, he’s an astronomy enthusiast, if not an actual astronomer. He’s called an astronomer in the report, but I couldn’t find anything that stated he is a trained astronomer. But an amateur astronomer is going to know a hell of a lot more than me when it comes to what we see in the night sky. Still, his statements really aggravated me. At first, I was angry with his mystery-mongering, but, on a second viewing of the report, I noticed some editing. So, despite his quick dismissal of the flares explanation, I’m going to cut him some slack, but not much.

However, the reporter Vivian Padilla and the station ABC 15 Arizona, are both Dimland Radio Science Zeros for their mystery-mongering.

I even wrote to the reporter. Here is what I said:

I have watched your report on the recent “strange lights” seen over Phoenix. I understand these sorts of reports are treated differently by news organizations. The mystery is more interesting than the solution. I get it. But you are a news reporter, you should be properly informing your viewers.

Is Dr Sky really an astronomer? I’ve looked on his website and I can’t find where he studied astronomy or if he had earned a degree. He appears to be an amateur astronomer who works in media production promoting science. Amateur astronomers are fine, but I would have hoped you would have talked to a professional astronomer. If Dr Sky is a trained astronomer then I am mistaken, but maybe even more disappointed.

UFO means UNIDENTIFIED Flying Object. Not an extraterrestrial spacecraft! Sure, Dr Sky doesn’t say that’s what it is, but he glosses over what these lights most likely were: flares. It looks to me that they are flares being dropped from a plane or helicopter at a distance, with the flares igniting as they are being dropped. That’s why they appear to blink on out of nowhere. And they blink off possibly due to going behind something, say a mountain range, as was the case in the Phoenix Lights flares sighting in 1997.

I should say I’m not an astronomer. I’m sure Dr Sky knows more about the night sky than I do, which is why his conflating the possibility of life on other planets with the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrials actually visiting this planet has me so disappointed. Sure, it’s arrogant and naive to think earth is the only planet out of billions and billions in our galaxy alone to support life, as he indicates in the report, but it’s not arrogant and naive to doubt extraterrestrials are visiting us or ever have. Any astronomer worth their salt (and not trying to mystery-monger) knows that’s not a proper argument to support extraterrestrial intelligent lifeforms visiting earth. Just because it is very possible (perhaps likely) there is life on other worlds, that doesn’t mean we are being visited. But, maybe Dr Sky knows this and it’s the way you edited the report that makes him appear to be conflating extraterrestrial visitation and extraterrestrial life.

Space is huge! How would an intelligent extraterrestrial lifeform even know we are here, let alone be able to cross the vast expanse of space to get to us? Astronomers know this. They of all people know best how big space is and how unlikely is extraterrestrial visitation. The woman who took the video images can be excused for not understanding that unlikelihood as she misuses the term UFO to mean alien spacecraft.

If Dr Sky is conflating these two related, but separate topics, he ought to know better. If you edited your report to make it appear that way, then shame on you for misleading your viewers for a bit of mystery-mongering.

I have yet to receive a response.

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: ‘Stigmata Martyr‘ by Bauhaus & ‘Intruder‘ by Peter Gabriel

Second ad break bumpers: ‘In The Flat Field‘ & ‘St. Vitus Dance‘ by Bauhaus

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

dimland radio 10-22-16 show notes

Hey! Do You Like A Good Poop Story?

I have worked for the same janitorial service for the better part of nearly 28 years and I’ve cleaned a lot of nasty messes, but there was one mess that defied belief. It involved a very security conscious business, video surveillance cameras, and an employee who couldn’t tell when he had pooped.

Yep. He was vacuuming and… Well, the next morning guess who was cleaning the mess.

Uh huh.

Seems Legit

Last week the boss received the following message in his email:

“My name is Scott Smith, Attorney of Law. Sequel to your non response to my previous email, I am re-sending this to you again thus; A deceased client of mine, that shares the same last name as yours, who died as a result of a heart-related condition on January 28th 2009. I have contacted you to assist in distributing the money left behind by my client which is lodged in the bank.”

Well, all the words are spelled correctly, but the grammar sounds a bit off. It sounds as though this Scott Smith, Attorney of Law, has as his first language something other than English. Of course, this is one of those internet scams sent out in hopes of getting a response to hook someone into sending money or giving bank account information.

However, the grammar is so bad and the idea that someone having the same last name is enough to determine a connection is so ridiculous, I find it hard to believe anyone falls for this. I’m tempted to rewrite that email so it, at least, makes sense. But that would be helping a scam.

There are all sorts of scammers out there. I mentioned seeing a video of a fellow who does his best to flummox a phone scammer. The scammer is trying to convince the man that it’s the IRS calling demanding being paid for a tax debt. The fellow strings the scammer along pretty well.

Watch:

Pedantic Moment: Hogan’s Heroes, Star Trek, The Suspension Of Disbelief, And Language

My pedantry goes way back. As a kid, I would struggle to suspend my disbelief of shows such as Hogan’s Heroes. Sure, I could accept that such a camp would exist in the world that show inhabits. Yeah, the Allies have rigged the prisoner of war camp with a system of tunnels, radio equipment, and have bugging devices in the commandant’s office. Certainly, the Germans in charge of the camp are too dim-witted to discover their prison camp is essentially a hub of espionage and sabotage.

But, Hogan and his men had better all be fluent in the German language. So much so that they can fool native Germans. They had to be, otherwise how would they know what Klink and Schultz are talking about in Klink’s office. Surely, when by themselves they must have spoken their native language.

I don’t recall the series ever mentioning the language skills of the Heroes, but they must have had them.

Then I mentioned science fiction and how various shows and books have gotten around the language issue. Isaac Asimov had a Galactic Language in his Foundation series. Douglas Adams had that fish that fit in the ear canal and translated alien languages. Doctor Who’s TARDIS had the ability to translate language. And Star Trek had the universal translator.

All interesting ways around language barriers, however if you watch Star Trek, especially the later series-es, the need for a translator seems to be forgotten on occasion. I gave a couple examples on the show.

Movie Recommendation: The Jungle Book (2016)

We just watched this one. I thought it was terrific with some of the best CGI effects to date. The story was entertaining and the voice actors including Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Christopher Walken, Scarlett Johansson, and Bill Murray were spot on. The young actor Neel Sethi did a very good job considering he was acting against green screen and motion-capture actors.

There are two musical numbers of songs lifted from the Disney animated classic version from 1967. Not being much of a musical guy, I’m not all that sure they needed to be included in this version. Director Jon Favreau did a good job working in one number (Bare Necessities), however the second (I Wan’na Be Like You) felt a little shoe-horned in. Minor complaint.

I’m seriously tempted to give this a five star rating on Netflix. I’ll probably go four stars, because I’m not much of a musical guy and the songs weren’t really necessary. Still this movie is well worth a watch or two.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Lyin’ Ass Bitch‘ by Fishbone & ‘Uncertain Smile‘ by The The

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Good Ole Boys Like Me‘ by Don Williams & ‘OK, This is the Pops‘ by Tones On Tail

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

dimland radio 10-15-16 show notes

Happy Anniversary!

My wife and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on October 13th. We dropped the kid at my parents’ house and we took in a comedy show. The headliner was Dana Gould and we had a great time. We were right in the front row, so there were a couple of somewhat awkward, yet hilarious, moments.

Gould is very funny and he is the host of my current favorite podcast: The Dana Gould Hour. It’s a monthly (more or less) podcast that is never just an hour. Very funny and thought-provoking stuff. It’s on iTunes. Check it out.

We Can Say What Now On TV?

Just when you thought the Republican candidate couldn’t get any lower, he does. Audio and video came out of him talking about his celebrity giving him ability to just do whatever he wants to women. Sure, it’s bragging bullshit, but it’s crude and base and, if he actually does what he claims, illegal.

This guy is not getting elected President.

So, in response to this revelation, First Lady Michelle Obama gave a very excellent and heartfelt speech on Trump’s use of language, his attitude toward women, and how his is a mindset this nation, and world, should not tolerate.

Hear! Hear!

But, as I heard a local talk radio host ask, how do the Obama’s square that correct stance and attitude with having rap recording artists, such as Ludacris, as guests at the White House? I hope I don’t appear that I’m not painting rap music with a broad brush, I know it has a wide range of styles and topics, but would Ludacris maybe have a song or two with lyrics that contain what could be euphemistically called “locker room talk”?

Curious.

Also curious is the breaking down of the barrier of not referring to a woman’s genitalia as a “pussy” on television. Although most news outlets were careful not to say it, some did. And Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show pulled a lot of comedy gold out of it.

What would George Carlin think?

The MN Vikings Are Undefeated, So Far

I have been a Vikings fan for many years, more than 40 in fact. And, as encouraging as this 5 – 0 start is, I know one thing that fans can always count on when it comes to the Vikings: They never fail to disappoint.

So, with that in mind, in my latest blog on Warehouse Find, the official blog of Nostalgia Zone, focus on just how this team builds up their fans’ hope and dashes them. Four lost Superbowls and five lost NFC Championships doesn’t seem to deter some people.

Well, I’m not hopping on that bandwagon until a week after they win the Superbowl.

Movie Recommendation: From Hell (2001)

I have recommended this one before, but I think it’s a worthy, stylish, if bleak, film. Perfect for October!

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Broken Face‘ by Pixies & ‘Epic‘ by Faith No More

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Lead A Normal Life‘ by Peter Gabriel & ‘Abacab‘ by Genesis

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