Dimland Radio

dimland radio 12-26-15 show notes

Merry Boxing Day And I’m Sorry

I started the show remarking about the Christmas thing and Boxing Day, then went into explaining how boneheaded I was about getting the gender wrong when thanking Maddy Love, a transwoman, for the kind words about my show. I made sure Maddy knew I’d goofed up and she was very understanding and gracious about it.

I thank Maddy for being so good about my blunder. I will endeavor to get these things right in the future.

Something Weird Happened To Me As I Cataloged Comic Books

As one of my many jobs, I work part time for Nostalgia Zone, which is a store that sells old comic books and collectibles. I add inventory to our online catalog and then file that inventory in its proper place in the store. I enjoy the work because I can do most at home and when I go to the store I get to visit a friend of mine. And I get payed! And I get an employee discount! Win all around!

Well, the weird thing that happen, without getting into all the boring details, was as I entered one comic book I found that instead of a code listing the grade of the previously cataloged item, there was a person’s name. The name was the same as a good friend of mine from high school!

So weird!

His name isn’t especially common and I don’t recall if he collected comic books. It was suggested that perhaps the name was of a writer or artist, but I don’t know of any comic book producer with that name.

Blasted By A Memory

I worked at Wendy’s decades ago and I happened to walk into a Taco John’s restaurant and I was slammed by a very strong memory of my days at Wendy’s. The reason it hit me was because that Taco John’s used to be a Wendy’s restaurant.

The layout was virtually the same and it came to my mind as I walked in. It felt like it was thirty years ago and I was heading into work.

Star Wars! Nothing But More Star Wars!

We saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens! And we (my wife, our son, and I) loved it! Yes, I am aware that there have been some grumbles about the familiarity of the story line, but that didn’t bother us a bit. And that is something a whole lot of other people who saw the film have in common with us.

It was fun and a satisfying return to form. I want to see it again!

I mentioned Siskel & Ebert taking on a snob critic who would rather kids watch Tender Mercies than any of the three Star Wars films. (This was at the time of the release of Return of the Jedi.) Siskel & Ebert understood the joy of movies and how movies can be fun. That one critic (John Simon) was just a wet blanket. Just look at him being all snobby, while Siskel & Ebert demonstrate how they became the two most powerful and relevant film critics in America.

Boy! How I miss them!

Watch them in this Nightline clip.

And on last week’s show I had mentioned a YouTuber did a series of videos imagining the prequels being good. I neglected to link to them. I will correct that below.

Episode 1.

Episode 2.

Episode 3.

I’m Not Going To Get Political, Uh, Yes, I Am

I noted that there was a heavily biased article lauding the bipartisan take down of the No Child Left Behind legislation. It was just one more failed policy of the Bush administration that had to be repaired by the sainted Pres. Obama. (I’m trying to reflect the biased nature of the article. I’m not claiming NCLB was good law or that Obama is perfect or whatever.)

When you read the article please note how there is an emphasis on this being a bipartisan action to undo Bush’s disastrous law. That seems to imply that Bush and the Republicans passed the law unilaterally, doesn’t it?

Let’s take a closer look.

The NCLB legislation was written by Representatives John Boenher (R) and George Miller (D) and Senators Judd Gregg (R) and Edward Kennedy (D). No surprise there, because that’s how legislation is written: By members of both parties.

But, surely, it was all the Republicans that wanted the law passed and the Democrats who objected in those days of fierce partisanship during the Bush administration, right?

Let’s look at the numbers.

The vote in the House was as follows:

Republicans voted to pass NCLB by 186 – 34. Democrats voted to pass it by 197 – 10. That’s funny. That’s more Democrats voting in favor than Republicans and more Republicans voting against than Democrats. Interesting. Oh, and there was one Independent who voted for NCLB. His name was Bernie Sanders. Could it be the same Bernie Sanders? It could!

But how did the legislation fare in the Senate?

Republicans voted in favor 43 – 6, while Democrats voted in favor 47 – 2. Again, that’s more Democrats voting in favor than Republicans and more Republicans voting against than Democrats.

Seems pretty bipartisan to me, though.

Oh, and notable Democrat Senators who voted in favor of No Child Left Behind? Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Harry Reid, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton!

But, yes, let’s blame George W Bush.

Movie Recommendation: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Disney/LucasFilm Ltd.

It’s terrific! It’s fun! It’s practically mandatory to see it. So, see it!

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Everyone A Puzzle Lover‘ by 10,000 Maniacs & ‘The Every Day Story of Smalltown‘ by XTC

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic‘ by The Police & ‘Every Word Means No‘ by Let’s Active

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 12-19-15 show notes

A Shout Out That Went Wrong…

Blame it on my cis gender dumbassedness. I gave a thank you to Matthew Love of Minnesota Trans-Atheist Podcast for kindly recommending people listen to my show. Well, Matthew or Maddy is a transwoman and I celled her a fellow and he and so on. Just a little bit of research would have helped me not make assumptions and be so dumb.

I was trying to thank her, not insult her. I’ve sent her a message of apology and will make the correction at the top of next week’s show.

I’m sorry, Maddy.

Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!

Perhaps you’ve there’s a new Star Wars movie in theaters now. Well, if you haven’t heard, there is. It’s kind of a big deal. So, lots of people are talking about Star Wars. Talking about the new film, about their memories of the originals, and about how much the prequels sucked. And they did suck.

There was a lot of hope that JJ Abrams, a filmmaker and a fan of Star Wars, would restore balance to the series. You see, if you haven’t heard, Abrams directed and co-wrote the new film. Was the hope realized? I’ll get to that later.

So, I talked about seeing Star Wars for the first time and how it impressed the hell out of an 11 year-old me. I also mentioned when I first heard of Star Wars. It was during the coming attractions prior to the showing of the 1977 animated film Wizards.

Wizards was a post-apocalyptic story of fairies and wizards; and good and evil. I remember enjoying it at the time, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Coincidentally, Wizards features the voice talent of Mark Hamill as Sean King of the Mountain Fairies.

So, the trailer for Star Wars played and what I remembered of it was R2D2 getting blasted by the Jawas and his falling over afterward. That got a laugh for the Wizard audience, but I don’t recall being excited about seeing this Star Wars movie.

I mentioned a couple longtime friends of mine who held opposite views of Star Wars. One thought it was brilliant and life-changing. The other thought it was stupid.

Stupid?! What do you mean stupid?!

He didn’t like the robots. He thought they were hokey and dumb. I told that friend it was obvious he was never a child.

I did get him to admit the opening sequence was awesome though. That opening is one of the most awe-inspiring sequences in all of cinema. Wouldn’t you agree?

Of course, I talked about how awful the prequels are and how disappointing it was that George Lucas felt it necessary to mess with the original films in his special edition series. Come on, George! Han shot first!

I mentioned other podcasts doing their Star Wars shows. The Film Vault did their Top Five Star Wars Memories. And the fellows who host the Comedy Film Nerds podcast went all the way form Los Angeles to Australia to be among the very first people in the world to see Episode 7. After seeing the film, they immediately did a live spoiler episode of their podcast.

The Film Vault show is here and the Comedy Film Nerds show is here. Remember: The Comedy Film Nerds show is a spoiler show, so don’t listen to it if you haven’t seen the new movie. Unless you’re into having movies spoiled.

As I mentioned, the prequels sucked. We can just forget they happened. Or you could watch Harry Plinkett’s YouTube take down of each film. He has some bizarre humor interspersed throughout the critiques and there is some NSFW stuff, but his insights on the films are excellent.

Here’s part one of his take down of Phantom Menace.

Here’s part one of his take down of Attack of the Clones.

Here’s his take down of Revenge of the Sith all in one video.

The Things You Could Buy From Ads In Comic Books

I revived and revised an old blog I did for Dimland and posted it on Warehouse Find, the official blog of the Nostalgia Zone. I marveled at the fact that in 1965 you could buy a squirrel monkey through the mail. Here is what I wrote.

A Facebook friend asked if there was any information online about people actually taking the ad up on its offer. I did find one. The fellow got pretty chewed up at first, but the animal became a beloved pet. Who knew?

Movie Recommendation: Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films (2014)

Umbrella Entertainment

Do you love movies? Do you take your love for movies seriously? If you do, you probably hate most of the movies produced by Cannon Films. Run by cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Cannon put out lots and lots of crappy movies in the 1980s. Occasionally, a decent film would slip through, such as Runaway Train, but most was absolute dreck.

However, this documentary is very interesting and gives us an insight into how to make bad movies.

You can stream it not for free on Netflix.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch‘ by Thurl Ravenscroft & ‘Have A Holly Jolly Christmas‘ by Burl Ives

Second ad break bumpers: ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year‘ by Andy Williams & ‘Christmastime Is Here‘ by Vince Guaraldi Trio

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

dimland radio 12-12-15 show notes

So Much Work Done…

I was pretty tired out after a week of lots of work, but I pulled it together and did the show. I did have the absolute pleasure that, after a week of working every night, when I was finally heading home on Friday night, the classic rock station gave me this treat.

Whoops!

Last week, I talked about being on the Stuck in the 80s podcast talking with Steve Spears and Brad Williams about the Rocky movie franchise, but I neglected to link to it in the show notes for the show.

I will fix that here.

A Tale Of Passive-Aggressive Futility

I talked about my boss and his seemingly compulsive need to empty the trashes in our office and to put my trash can back in the wrong place. I don’t know how many times I’ve told him where the trash can should go, but he just puts it where it’s convenient for him.

The most recent time he did this, I decided I’d try to give him a visual cue to help him understand why I want my trash can in a particular spot. I left the can where he placed it and put my trash in the spot where I want the can.

There was a pile of trash there to be seen when he came into the office. He said nothing.

Damn it! Now I’ll just make certain the trash is empty before he gets to the office.

Bill Nye Thinks Star Trek Is Better Than Star Wars

Bill Nye the Science Guy thinks that way because Star Trek has a more optimistic view of the future with science, while Star Wars has magic and religion. He says that Star Trek doesn’t have those things. I pointed out that Star Trek has a fair amount of religion in it.

The original series had Captain Kirk happy to know Christianity had made it out to some distant planet. Deep Space 9 had the whole Emissary and the Prophets religion stuff. Sure, the Federation thought the Prophets were just a species living in a worm hole, but Captain Sisko (the Emissary) wasn’t too sure. Voyager has Commander Chakotay and his Native American religious beliefs involving animal and/or spirit guides. And Next Generation did have all that Klingon religion silliness.

But Next Generation does have this high water mark moment of Captain Picard non-religious wonderfulness.

Also, Bill said the Star Wars had noise in space and indicated that Star Trek didn’t. Well… here’s just a taste from Deep Space 9.

But, Bill’s cool. I’ll cut him some slack.

Lying About The Opposition Is Still Wrong

There’s a Facebook page called StopTheWorldTheTeabaggersWantOff that posts all manner of things anti-Republican and anti-conservative. And they lie when they appear to quote well-known conservatives. The page attempts to hide behind the claims of satire, but The Onion they ain’t. The danger of what those liars are doing comes from others believing the lies.

I spoke specifically about three graphics share by those folks lying about something various conservatives have said. I put together a graphic warning others to not share anything from StopTheWorldTheTeabaggersWantOff (see below).

In the comments thread on my Facebook page I summed it up this way…

“For the record, I put this graphic together. I had been seeing these images by STWTTWO being shared by FB friends who are skeptics and should know better. Shittily done “satire” such as this needs to be called out, because the likelihood of people believing it is too high. If you doubt that, just read the comments whenever you see graphics such as these shared on social media.

I asked in the comment threads for sources and checked out the ones given to me. I looked up the quotes. With the exception of one sentence attributed to Gene Simmons, none of these statements were uttered by the people in the images. And I checked my own logical thinking. Meaning – if these people actually said these things, why is it I’m only seeing them being called out by some FB anti-Tea Party site?

I’m not some conservative apologist, at least I don’t think I am. I am for fair and honest debate and sharing of ideas. If you are liberal and you want to see people in government who share your ideals, lying about the opposition isn’t the right way to make that happen. The ends don’t justify the means, do they?

And I say this to both sides of the political aisle. It just happens that the majority, but not all, of my FB friends tend to be liberal Democrats, so I see a butt load more of this kind of bullshit coming from that end of the spectrum.

I also made this because, as I mentioned, I see skeptics sharing these items. One in particular (I won’t name the person) has such a strong political bias against Republicans their skepticism completely fails and they post away. Skeptics are supposed to help the internet to be a rational place. (A Sisyphean task, I know.) They’re not supposed to add to the bullshit. And when some have a strong reputation of being a skeptic, others are more likely to accept their statements and sharing of political graphics as being true.

With great skepticism comes great responsibility.

Believe me, politicians and political pundits talk enough they are bound to say something stupid. And if you think they are on the wrong side of an issue that can be demonstrated by their actual words. So, give ’em what for when you think they are wrong, but be prepared to back it up and don’t lie.

No matter how noble you cause, bullshitting people is still wrong.”

Movie Recommendation: Her (2013)

Warner Bros.

Well written. Great performances. An intriguing look at the possible interaction between humans and Artificial Intelligence.

And some very, very, very bad pants.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Jesus Chrysler Drives A Dodge‘ by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & ‘God Damn Job‘ by The Replacements

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Dear God‘ by XTC & ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town‘ by Fred Astaire

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

dimland radio 12-5-15 show notes

Dimland Radio War On Christmas

Each holiday season the Salvation Army bell-ringers take up residence at the entrances of various retailers throughout town. And each holiday season I feel that twinge of guilt because I don’t drop any money in the bucket. Sure, the Salvation Army might be helping feed, clothe, and house the poor, but it’s all done with a heaping helping of Jesus.

As an atheist, I just can’t throw in a buck. I’ll give to a different charity that doesn’t proselytize as part of the bargain.

But, recently having successfully dodged the bell-ringers, I found I had another obstacle that I really couldn’t avoid. The cashier at the grocery store asked if I wanted to round up the total to give the extra money to… the Salvation Army!

I just serpentined my way past the bucket brigade outside! Now I have to declare to the cashier that I do not want to give money to the Salvation Army. What’s a poor atheist to do?

I said, “No.”

Internet Awesomeness

Back in the mid-80s I became a regular at the legendary Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue & the 7th Street Entry. Every Tuesday night my friend John and I could be found there enjoying DJ Kevin Cole’s Club Degenerate. Cole played the coolest alternative tunes of the day and the past, along with whatever else hit his fancy. Those nights were almost always great fun and we rarely missed a Tuesday night at First Avenue.

Occasionally, there would be a live performance on those nights. A local band would play a few songs and then the night would move on. One such band was the Fuckin’ Shit Biscuits. The Biscuits could best be described as a noise band whose members barely knew how to play their instruments.

But, it didn’t matter. They were just plain fun. They would give out free tap beer at the start of their set which led to audience members dousing the band in the free beer. So much fun.

Well, the other day, I posted a link on the Dimland Radio Facebook page to a Skeptoid episode on black mold. A comment appeared telling me that link was fair payment for all that beer given away at Club Degenerate.

What? Could it be? Yes, it could.

The poster was a member of the band! How cool is the internet?!

Internet Not-So-Awesomeness

Well, hold on there, pardner! Before we get too excited about internet awesomeness. There’s this guy.

Joshua Feuerstein is a YouTube evangelist. Not only does he think evolution is a lie and that atheists are fools; the dumbass insists on doing virtually all of his videos in the portrait format. And you know how much I hate that.

Well, last July, Josh took a break from displaying his scientific ignorance to talk about Cecil the lion. He couldn’t help but compare the death of that lion to the millions of babies killed through abortion. He remarked on how the dentist who killed Cecil had to going into hiding, fearing for his life.

Josh upped the ante and told his fairly sizable audience that it was time that abortion doctors should have to fear for their lives.

Cut to just a couple weeks ago when a domestic terrorist, anti-abortion nut went into a Planned Parenthood clinic and began pulling the trigger.

Josh removed his post, but through the awesomeness of the internet there were people out there who thwarted Mr. Feuerstein’s efforts. Thanks to Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist.

I don’t know that the gunman was a follower of Feuerstein’s, but it’s obvious Josh doesn’t want the association to be made.

Josh also posted a video (This time in landscape! All hail to His Noodly Appendages!) in which he gave his theory as to why all these mass shooting events have been happening in America. It’s because we kicked God out of our country. This kind of thing didn’t happen back in the days when there was prayer in school.

I gave a list of things that did happen in our country back in the good old days of prayer in school: Turning a blind eye to wife and child abuse, institutionalized racism, closeted LGBT folks, and let’s not forget lynchings and, in the really good old days, slavery. Mr. Mehta also pointed some of those items out. I added that Sweden, a country that could be said to have also “kicked God out,” doesn’t seem to have the mass shooting incident rate that we have in the States.

And Speaking Of Mass Shootings

Two more have occurred since I last did a show. It’s really frustrating the apparent frequency at which these shootings are happening. They are still very rare, but that doesn’t make them less impactful.

There are always the demands for more gun laws, but would that work? If there were 14 gun laws broken by the shooters in Colorado and California, would a 15th law have stopped them? Maybe. I don’t know.

I don’t know the answer to all this.

And it’s damned frustrating.

Movie Recommendation: None

Ran out of time, so you’re on your own this week.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Cows‘ by The Suburbs & ‘Brass Monkey‘ by Beastie Boys

Second ad break bumpers: ‘Bull Rider‘ by Johnny Cash & ‘Crocodiles‘ by Echo & the Bunnymen

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

dimland radio 11-21-15 show notes – show 250!

Two Hundred And Fifty?!

Yes, I’ve done 250 Dimland Radio shows since March 2010. And some thought I wouldn’t last two months and I don’t just mean my wife. There were other doubters. (Actually, the wife comment is just a joke. She fully supports my doing the show.)

I didn’t do anything particularly special for show 250, but I did mention the milestone.

I Can’t Leave My Boss Alone In The Office

Not every time, but often enough my boss will just have to do something when left alone in the office. He just can’t help himself.

Most recently he threw out an important post-it note left under my mouse pad. Written on it were a couple important passwords. I was able to retrieve that info. So, no harm done.

But, still.

Pedantic Moment: FDR

Elected to 4 terms, you mean.

Pedantry, properly done, is not easy. Even a pedant such as myself doesn’t always get it right. The other day someone posted the image above and I pedantically pointed out that Pres. Franklin Roosevelt did not serve four terms. He was elected to a fourth term, of which he only served less than three months, because he died in office.

A far more amateur pedant than myself tried to convince me that three months is a term, just not a full one. Nope. Not even close.

ISIS And Penn Jillette

Now I don’t mean to be equating Penn with ISIS. So, bear with me.

I talked about Penn’s follow up on his show with the scientifically questionable Dr. Joel Fuhrman and his ideas about food. Penn got a lot of push back from his skeptic listeners. He addressed some of the concerns. Not perfectly, but well enough, I suppose.

He also talked about the attacks in Paris and the downed Russian airliner by the Islamic terrorist group ISIS. I agreed with his assessment that people so obsessed with death that they are willing to blow themselves up need to be giving a reason to love life more.

I also complained about people on social media sharing graphics with the sentiment that Christianity has been responsible for violent and ugly acts, too. OK, but how does that help us now?

Hunting Sucks. So Does Deer Starvation.

A young Facebook friend posted images of herself wearing a t-shirt with the slogan: “Shoot selfies, not animals. Hunting sucks.” Along with the words was the silhouette of a deer. I got involved. Why? Why did I do that?!

I took the line that culling the herd prevents the population of deer from outgrowing their food sources, which would lead to starvation and more deer/car collisions.

There was an attempt the suggest it would be better to allow the populations of predator animals (bear, wolves, cougars, etc.) to grow to deal with the deer population. This would mean no hunters necessary.

The problem is that you can’t make sure predators only prey on deer. Livestock, pets, and even people would be endangered then. And I suggested they might not like to have a wolf walk onto their deck when they are checking of an eclipse of the moon, say.

As terrifying as that racoon that visited me a few weeks ago was, I’m glad it wasn’t a wolf.

Too Much Information About Me

Damn! This is so hot!

My wife swears she didn’t tell anyone, but somehow my very personal kink was turned into a meme. I’m mortified!

Dr. Oz “Tests” A Claim

A couple of young entrepreneurs have come up with a brain power booster chewing gum. Hmmm. Brain power boost, eh? That claim ought to be put to the scientific test. Enter Dr. Oz. Exit science.

A reporter for the Dr. Oz Show looked into the claim. She was the test subject. So, that’s a sample size of one. There was no control group, no placebo group. The test was not even single blinded, let only double blinded.

Any results, whether negative or positive, are worthless.

Movie Recommendations: The Dark Valley (2014)

I said it was German, but it appears to be Austrian. Whichever it is, it is a very good Western set in Germany. It’s a revenge film about a small village tucked away in a valley, surrounded by mountains, which is run by Old Brenner and his six sons. It’s a hard life filled with hard men and women, who live in fear of the Brenner boys.

One late autumn day, a stranger rides in...

It’s streaming (not for free) on Netflix.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Ghosts‘ by The Jam & ‘Drinking With An Angel‘ by The Suburbs

Second ad break bumpers: ‘The Jezebel Spirit‘ by Brian Eno & David Byrne & ‘My Wife & My Dead Wife‘ By Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians

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