Dimland Radio

dimland radio 6/13/15 show notes

Better Late Than Never

This was the show that was supposed to play last week. I’m not entirely certain why it didn’t play as scheduled, but I think I might have screwed something up. But, I guess better late than never, because I think this was one of my better shows.

Doubtful News Dropped My Name!

So, in late May a video of an odd looking object floating through the skies of New Zealand was captured on video through the window of a jet airliner. What was this UFO (remember the U stands for unidentified)? Some have suggested it was the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Someone had posted an image of His Holy Noodleness on the Facebook group page Group of Fort. The person was curious as to what it was and what the other members of the group thought of it.

As it so happened, just a day or two prior to that posting a FB friend of mine had posted a link to the YouTube video of the hoaxer showing how he created the image. With that bit of good info available, I linked to it in the comment thread.

Sharon Hill, the curator of the Doubtful News website, posted on Doubtful News the hoax reveal and yours truly got himself a nice thank you.

Pretty cool beans!

Bitch About The First Pitch

I wondered why there was a change in how baseball conducted the ceremonial first pitch. In the old days, the first pitch was thrown from the stands, not the mound. Maybe that was just for presidents. Anyway, I did some research and it looks like Ronald Reagan was the first sitting president to take to the mound for that first pitch.

Thanks, Obama!

Speaking Of Politics

I took a moment to suggest that politics can get otherwise fine skeptics to fall victim to their own political bias. One such skeptic who is very left in his politics tried to shrug off a recent poll that shows that George W Bush now has a better approval rating than President Obama. He suggested the sample size was small and skewed by being done mostly by landline phone calls.

I suggested that had the poll showed Obama ahead of W, that particular skeptic probably wouldn’t have had an issue with sample size or landlines. He would likely just accept it as a given. “Of course, Obama is more popular than Bush. Duh!”

Thanks, Obama!

A Selfie Brings The Hurt To ISIS

Looks Photoshopped, he isn’t looking at the camera, and image is not the selfie in question.

Now I wasn’t saying that a selfie taken by a member of ISIS didn’t help the US military in selecting a target. I was suggesting that the image in the article on the ISIS selfie probably was constructed for the article.

I thought the image looked Photoshopped, that the terrorist wasn’t looking at the camera, and my biggest problem was that the selfie image was a third person (or should that be second person?) point of view and not the selfie itself.

Sleep Paralysis And Fringe Thinking

I’m not a psychologist. I may be completely wrong, but that didn’t stop me from talking about how folks who tend to believe fringe or conspiratorial ideas will accept opposing ideas as long as those ideas also conflict with the “official” story. I also pointed out that even though the majority of experts in some field can be in complete opposition to the idea of one crank, fringe thinkers and conspiracists will hold the crank’s idea up as the real story.

And I talked about a recent guest on the internet show Paradigm Shift and his alien abduction experience. I never heard of him or his claims, but in the break before he told his story I had pretty much nailed every aspect of his claim.

However, I did this with just myself as a witness. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it and I understand if you remain skeptical.

But the reason I could be so accurate was because the fellow was describing all the classic symptoms of sleep paralysis. I also told about the experience I had with my own bout of sleep paralysis.

Movie Recommendations: None

I didn’t have 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: ‘You’ve Got Everything Now‘ by The Smiths & ‘You Know Better Than I Know‘ by Pete Shelley
Second ad break bumpers: ‘You Took‘ By The Church & ‘You’ll Have To Go Sideways‘ by The Soft Boys

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 6-6-15 show NOT so fast!

Why No Show?

I’m not sure what happened, but the server refused to play the show I had meticulously recorded for your entertainment. It may have been something I did.

So, it didn’t air. My apologies.

The show will be rescheduled to play next Saturday. Tune in then to see if you’ll be able to hear it.

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 5-30-15 show notes

Why The Backward Show?

Last week I did an usual show. I did it backward. Why? It was my tribute to David Letterman. A backward show was the kind of thing Letterman would do in the Late Night days. I then talked about Dave retiring from late night TV after 33 years and how, in the early days, I was a big fan.

I don’t want to sound all hipster here, because I still enjoyed Dave after the Late Night days when he went to CBS, I just didn’t watch him as much. Before leaving NBC, Dave had begun to lose that edge, but he was still funny.

Anyway, I did the backward show. It worked somewhat OK.

Comic Convention With My Son

There are perks to be had at certain jobs. If you work at a comic book store you can get in free at the big comic convention at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. All I had to do was tell them I worked for Nostalgia Zone and in my son and I went. No waiting with the rabble.

Skeptical Cleeses

I’ve been slapping together some graphics with messages for posting on Facebook lately. I found an excellent image of John Cleese in a sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He looks pretty skeptical, so I grabbed it and started adding text to the image.

It’s part of my “That face I make when…” series. They all have something we need to be skeptical of and I’ve done eight so far. I could make these all days. But I will limit production. I hope they go viral.

A Harsh Graphic

I also created the above graphic. It is rather harsh, but my mean atheist self just had to do it. I hope this makes some people think.

A Tale Of Two Who Who Dillies

Flipping through the channels the other night, I stumbled upon the gangster film ‘Capone’ (1975). What I saw was jaw-dropping.

In 1992, Sharon Stone and her who who dilly made a big splash in the film ‘Basic Instinct’. She became a household name and the film became a hit. Flashing one’s naughty bit can boost one’s career and make a hit film, right?

The star-making shot.

Ever hear of that film ‘Capone’, maybe you have, but I hadn’t. Susan Blakely gave audiences a full “how do you do!” look at her goods. Did that translate into a big hit film and mega-stardom? Nope.

The not star-making shot. Yes, it’s small, but you get the idea.

Oh, and I watched ‘Capone’. Not very good.

Movie Recommendations: Interstellar (2014)

Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I watched it once by myself, then a second time with Amy and Hayden. It’s a touching film about a father trying to save his family and humanity. In the not too distant future, the earth is dying and NASA has a plan. A wormhole had been discovered by the planet Saturn that leads to another galaxy with three planets with the potential of being populated by the human species.

But they need to find out which, if any, will be the new earth?

It stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, John Lithgow, Jessica Chastain, and Casey Affleck and was directed by Christopher Nolan. It’s terrific and, from what I understand, it gets the science right. Yay, science!

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘I Bought Myself A Liarbird‘ by XTC & ‘I Wanna Be A Flintstone‘ by The Screaming Blue Messiahs
Second ad break bumpers: ‘I Ran (So Far Away)‘ By A Flock Of Seagulls & ‘I Against I‘ by Bad Brains

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

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 5-23-15 the backward show show notes

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.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘Brilliant Blues‘ & ‘Communication‘ by Pete Townshend
Second ad break bumpers: ‘And I Moved‘ & ‘Let My Love Open the Door‘ by Pete Townshend

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

Movie Recommendations: The Magic Christian (1969)

Commonwealth United Corporation

I recommended another 60s satire, but this one isn’t nearly as sexually charged as last week’s recommendation. However, there is Raquel Welch in that one scene. Anyway, the movie stars Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. Sellers is an eccentric billionaire who adopts Starr and shows him that people have their price.

There are plenty of interesting cameos throughout, including John Cleese of Monty Python in a very funny scene at an art auction. It’s very funny and off beat. Maybe a touch mean-spirited, but that gives it its edge.

It’s on YouTube!

A Look At Sports And Facebook

Last week on my Facebook page, I made note of the fact that, though it’s still early in the season, my MN Twins have a better record than the Hated Yankees. A Yankees fan thought I was displaying some sour grapes. I told him that he was right. I don’t have to fight with FB friends, especially if they are right.

Misleading Meme

With the derailment of the train in Philadelphia, there was plenty of talk on the social media about the state of the infrastructure in America. I took exception to a graphic that is misleading. I put together a new graphic explaining how one shouldn’t lie to get people to support your cause.

One train is a high speed passenger train, the other is a freight train. The idea is to get us to think America has crappy trains, but they aren’t being honest in their comparison. Below is the graphic as adjusted by me…

I Sense A Touch Of Bias…

So, President Obama has gotten himself on Twitter and his first message was greeted by a few assholes. Most folks were excited about the President twittering, but a handful couldn’t help by display their racist and homophobic nature. Welcome to the internet, Mr. President.

Well, the folks over at the New Civil Rights Movement brought out their broad brush and suggested the mean messages were from conservatives and the right. Possibly some of them were, but the suggestion is that all of them were. That’s a tad bit biased, don’t you think?

My Boy Is Just Like Me

I talked about how my son has taken after me in that he has now passed out three times. When I was much younger, I, too, would pass out on occasion. Usually when I was panicked, sometimes when I was ill.

So, my boy has passed out three times now. Each time I was there to catch him. That’s something my dad didn’t do for me.

Minnesota Atheist Talk Radio

I was part of a panel on MN Atheist Talk radio. The panel was made up of other podcasters from MN and we talked about why we podcast and how our shows covered atheism. It was very enjoyable and I was the only member of the panel who dented the no cursing rule, this was real radio after all. I dropped a “God damn”, but it wasn’t so bad.

Back On The Blog At SIT80s

I had a couple pieces on the Stuck in the 80s blog this past week. After a long absence, I might add.

First, was a Never Found about the band That Petrol Emotion. The other was in honor of Pete Townshend turning 70. Townshend is my favorite musical artist, so I figured he should be honored by a write up by me. Now, if he only knew I exist.

dimland radio 5-16-15 show notes

Penn & Teller: A Brief Follow-Up

I did mention this in the show notes last week, but not on the show. So, for those who just listen to the show, I let them know that the fellow who wasn’t a “big fan” of P&T had seen them perform THREE times!

Is it just me or does that pretty much negate much of what he said?

It’s Hard To Make A Joke On Facebook

My friend Scott Roberts got mentioned again on the show as I described my attempt to make a joke based on one of his Facebook comments. It was based on his use of the word “scandals” and my misunderstanding it by thinking he wrote “sandals.” It didn’t quite work.

Never mind.

A Tale Of Two PSAs

One Public Service Announcement (PSA) on television has a group of first or second graders being introduced to several tobacco products that are candy flavored and packaged with bright eye-catching colors. The kids never heard of these products and didn’t know what they were, until the producers on the PSA, who were attempting to let us know that Big Tobacco is marketing to kids, introduced the kids to them. So, who’s marketing to the kids?

Watch it here. What do you think?

Ants in their pants. I love it. ‘Nuff said.

Oh, and the 10 minute challenge!

Our Long National Nightmare Is Nearly Over

American Idol will do just one more season and then it will be over! No more being forced to hear about it on the local Fox affiliate morning news. I look forward to the silence.

A Couple Of Other Things

I just had a couple of other things to mention. One was that my son and I would be attending the big Spring comic book convention that takes place in the Grandstand building on the MN State Fairgrounds.

The other was that I would be a guest on MN Atheist Talk on Sunday morning (how fitting). That’s an actual radio show! On actual radio!

I will talk about both next week.

Movie Recommendations: Candy (1968)

ABC Pictures

This 60s sex romp parody is not for kids. It follows a young woman (Ewa Aulin) on an adventure in which no man can resist her innocent and naive charms. She’s pursued by such actors as Walter Matthau, James Coburn, Richard Burton, Marlin Brando, Ringo Starr, John Huston, and the underrated John Astin.

It’s bizarre. It may not be for everyone (especially children). It’s on YouTube!.

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: ‘Emotional Rescue‘ by The Rolling Stones & ‘All That Jazz‘ by Echo & the Bunnymen
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Quite Unsual‘ By Front 242 & ‘Crummy Stuff‘ by The Ramones

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

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