dimland radio 5-9-15 show notes

I Prayed For A Stranger…Sort Of

The other day, as I sat in my parked vehicle, scarfing down some super healthy fast food, a fellow approached and asked me to do something for him. At first I couldn’t tell what he was saying, but he finally made it clear that he wanted me to pray for him.
 
Phew! I thought he was gonna ask me for money.
 
I asked why and he said he was just asking people to pray for him. Now, I’m an atheist. Do I take that moment to inform this clearly on some sort of substance fellow that he’s barking up the wrong tree? Do I try to reach him and plant a seed of doubt in his religious beliefs?
 
Nope. I told him I’d pray for him and he thanked me and staggered away. I didn’t, however, tell him who I would pray to…
 
“Dear, Flying Spaghetti Monster…”

Good For My Friend
 
Probably won’t be added to any college history curriculum any time soon.
Good for my friend, but for rational thought and an accurate understanding of history? I’m not so sure. But, what do I know?

 
My friend, Scott Roberts, wrote a book examining the possibility of the existence of the Nephilim. The Nephilim were giant angels who came down from heaven to knock up human women, because human women are so damn hot. I mean… Damn!
 
Ok, perhaps the reasons were more complicated. Anyway, their offspring were giants and they were mentioned in the Bible and in parts of the Bible that were voted to be excluded from the official Bible. That’s right. Humans at one point decided which of the words of God were to be kept in the Bible.
 
So, my friend’s book isn’t exactly looked on as science. I don’t think there are many scientific historians and archeologists who accept the notion that there were giant angel/human hybrids wandering the earth.
 
I mention all this, because just recently actress Megan Fox posted images of herself on Instagram. She can be seen walking and carrying a certain book. Can you guess which book that might be? Here’s a hint: It wasn’t Carl Sagan’s ‘The Demon-Haunted World’.
 
Could she be reading it with a critical eye? Can we hope so?
 
But, Scott is my friend and this is pretty exciting. For him, if not for science and history. But, what do I know?

How Awesome Is My Dad?

It’s Mother’s Day weekend so of course I thought I’d relate a story about my dad.
 
We’ve had a leaky refrigerator for some months now. The water was leaking into the fridge from the freezer. I didn’t know what to do so I asked Dad. He had the same thing happen to his refrigerator. He, however, is not so inept when it comes to doing repairs.
 
Without the internet. Without any “how to” guide books. Without any assistance, he came upon a solution that involved, in part, hot water and a turkey baster.
 
I couldn’t just take his word, so I consulted Google and I found a tutorial video that explained how to unclog a frozen drain in your freezer. It is a solution that involves, in part, hot water and a turkey baster!
 
How awesome is my dad?!

Penn & Teller Part 1: The Show

 
On Friday, May 1st, I went to see Penn & Teller perform at Mystic Lake Hotel & Casino. I went with a friend and his son. It was my first time seeing them perform live and I thought the show was very entertaining and fun.
 
A few of the routines I had seen them perform before on television, but they were still impressive. And there were a few that I had heard about, but hadn’t ever seen, so that was cool. One of the highlights was Teller escaping from a large garbage bag filled with helium. I don’t know how they did it. So impressive!
 
The biggest highlight involved an eight year old audience member named Tiffany and a pair of scissors. Tiffany did something with those scissors that made Penn believe that that would be the last show he and Teller would ever do.
 
Tiffany did as she was instructed, making her a rare child. None the other kids they’ve had help in the routine did as they were instructed. That’s what P&T count on.
 
As a joke, sorry to spoil it, Penn instructed Tiffany to run with the scissors. Kids in the past might take a step or two or none at all, but Tiffany followed instructions. She ran with the scissors. Oh, but she did even more! With Penn calling after her to stop (that instruction she didn’t follow) she got to the edge of the stage, hesitated for a second, and then jumped off. She was heading back to her seats, when Penn, with the assistance of the stage crew and casino people, got her back on stage.
 
She was ok. Everyone was ok. Penn & Teller’s career isn’t over.
 
Penn tells the story in more detail on his podcast ‘Penn’s Sunday School’ (cue to the last 14 minutes to hear the story). You can download the Tiffany episode (#166) here.
Penn & Teller Part 2: The Meet & Greet

Since the very early days of Penn & Teller, they have done meet and greets after every show. They meet their fans, take pictures, and sign autographs. They stay as long as it takes so everyone gets a chance.

 
I originally hoped to get a hug from Penn, which he probably would have given had I asked, but I didn’t want to push it. Half a hug was almost as good. He signed the two books I had brought: one by them both, the other was Penn’s novel ‘Sock‘.
 
When I told Penn that Teller, who we had gone to first, had signed Penn’s book, Penn responded quietly just to me, “Asshole.”
 
I’m pretty sure he was referring to Teller.
 
Photobombed by a Vikings fan. Teller took this picture, by the way.
 
Half a hug from one of my man crushes.
Penn & Teller Part 3: The Troll


So, when I got home I immediately posted the two pictures of me with P&T on my Facebook page. I wrote, “Ahem. Look who just bumped into a couple of his heroes…”

 
Most of those who commented on the photos were happy for me and pleasant and had kind things to say, until the troll entered. It is the internet and some people feel compelled to shit on things.
 
A Facebook friend (I friend anyone who sends a request) doesn’t care for Penn & Teller’s politics. He doesn’t like Libertarians. He hates the Koch brothers. And everyone needs to know that through my thread. He started by stating, “I’m not a big fan of these Libertarian idiots.”
 
As the troll had hoped, another of my FB friends responded and it was on. There was quite the back and forth going on before I even noticed. I had posted the images and gone to bed before the troll arrived. So, when I opened my FB the next morning the discussion was on.
 
I want to thank the friends of mine who engaged with him. I tried for a time, but realized it was futile.
 
Oh! I didn’t mention this on the show because I ran short of time. During the comments flame war, the troll let it be known he had seen Penn & Teller perform THREE times!
 
It took him three times seeing them to decide he wasn’t a big fan.

 

Movie Recommendations: None
Sorry, 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: ‘Straight To Hell‘ by The Clash & ‘If Hollywood Don’t Need You‘ by Don Williams
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Life’s What You Make It‘ By Talk Talk & ‘Heat Of The Moment‘ by Asia

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 5-2-15 show notes

It’s Back!

The new laptop has arrived and the show has resumed! Pretty excited, ain’t ya?
 
I gave a brief run down on what happened to the old laptop and such and then I got the show started with…

Pedantic Moment: News Crawl Weirdness

I would have had one of these on the show I had planned on doing before the forced technology hiatus, but in the more than a month away I collected three more.

Have you ever paid close attention to the news crawl that rolls across the bottom of your TV screen while you watch the news? It’s quite distracting. Especially when the news folks run a sentence across that just doesn’t tell you anything. It just leaves you hanging, waiting for additional information, but it never comes.
 
I gave the following four examples, which I will link to the actual story which will give you more of the story. I discovered that the problem was whoever puts the items into the crawl would often just put in the first sentence of a story from some news organization, but wouldn’t include anything else, so the line wouldn’t make any sense.

These news folks need to pay closer attention.
 
Complaints About My Sears Trip

I know I’ve complained about this before, but, as I went to buy shoes, I faced the situation again and just needed to give it another go on the show.
 
If you shop at Sears, not online, I mean at the store; you will have run into the litany of questions they hit you with at checkout. An older fellow in front of me in line got sucked in and he even apologized to me for the time it was taking.
 
Another sales clerk came to help the next in line – me. The dance began. I gave my phone number, but then a couple quick and firm “No’s” and she got the message and rung me up. I made my purchase and went on my way, leaving behind that older fellow and his having to fill out all those unnecessary forms.
 
Sears, I just want to make my purchase, why must we go through the dance?

Movies!


Don’t ask me why, but I set myself the task of watching all of the Rocky movies. All six of them. The first was very good. Two and three were good. Four was ok, but pretty silly. Five was awful! But the last one, ‘Rocky Balboa’, was surprisingly very good. I thought it was a good ending for the series, but I hear Stallone is planning on making another one.
 
Or was that another Rambo. No, I won’t be watching all the installments of that series.
Quite A Scene

I still haven’t seen the entire film, so maybe I shouldn’t say much about it, but I did catch a very intriguing scene from the 1962 film noir ‘Experiment In Terror’. The film stars Lee Remick and Glenn Ford. Remick plays a young bank teller who is accosted one night by a wheezing, threatening strange man, who wants her to steal $100,000 from her bank for him.

 
The scene has a very stationary camera, but does cut in for close-ups. We never quite see the man, but we can see the terror on Remick’s face.
 
Very effective scene.
 
At first, I thought the scene ran long and that it has said what it meant to say, but as I thought more about it I realized the director Blake Edwards (‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’, ‘The Pink Panther’) wanted the viewer to become uncomfortable. The closeness of the unmoving camera, the wheezing stranger, the closeness of her to her assailant, and the amount of time that had gone by had me wanting to get out of that scene. Please! Let me go!

I haven’t seen the rest of the film, but that scene was very effective.

Here‘s just a part of it.
Movie Recommendations: Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (2010) & Lite Itself (2014)
There hasn’t been a movie recommendation in quite a while so this week I gave two. They are both documentaries. One examines the oldest known art, the other examines the life of someone who loves one of the newest forms of art.
 
In ‘Cave Of Forgotten Dreams’, director Werner Herzog was allowed to bring a minimal film crew into Chauvet Cave in southern France to show the to the audience the oldest cave paintings known to exist. It’s a fascinating documentary that was originally released in 3D. (That would have been fun to see.) The artwork is beautiful and the film is a fine showcase for those paintings.
 
‘Life Itself’ is a documentary based on Roger Ebert’s autobiography of the same name. The filmmaker, Steve James, was to follow Roger through his daily life dealing with loss of his lower jaw to cancer. James reveals Roger’s life as a Pulitzer-winning film critic, his friendship/rivalry with Gene Siskel, his troubles with alcohol, his life with his wife and family, and, then, life happened and Roger got terribly sick.
 
It is an honest and loving portrayal of a man who, along with Gene Siskel, produced a show I wouldn’t dare miss for the better part of three decades. 

 

Music heard on the show…

Dimland Radio opening theme song: ‘Ram’ by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: ‘Back In Flesh‘ by Wall of Voodoo & ‘Here In My House‘ by 54-40
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Back On The Chain Gang‘ By The Pretenders & ‘Here It Is Tomorrow‘ by Game Theory

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 4-18-15 no show show notes

The Show Is On Hiatus

The show is still on hiatus; however, the new laptop has arrived and I was hopeful that I would be able to return to  Z Talk on Saturday, April 24th. However, the new laptop has new software and I’ll need to get a handle on everything before I return. I’ll shoot for May 2nd.

I can still cover a topic I would have talked about on the show, does it? So, here are this week’s no show show notes…


Dimland Radio Science Zero: Dr. Oz


This week, pseudoscience promoter, Dr. Oz, has answered his many critics stating his not backed up by science health recommendations are more a case of free speech than dubious medical advice. He complains that his many, many critics are trying to silence him.
 
Here is Ben Radford’s take on Dr. Oz’s answers to his many, many, many critics.

I shared Ben’s article and Ben left a comment in which he spoke as reality challenged doctor. He said:

“As I have said in my many interviews on NBC News, CNN, Time, ABC News, BBC, in the New York Times and dozens of other newspapers, on my web site and blog, on NPR, on my high-rated TV show, and in thousands of other news media, I am being silenced.”
Ben does irony well.

dimland radio 4-11-15 no show show notes

The Show Is On Hiatus

The show is still on hiatus; however, the new laptop is on the way. If all goes well, there’s a good chance the show will return on Saturday, April 25th.

But, that doesn’t mean I can’t cover a topic I would have talked about on the show, does it? Of course, not. So, here are this week’s no show show notes…


Pedantic Moment Teaser

The notes will be very short this week. I will just tease you about an upcoming Pedantic Moment I’ll be having when the show returns…

“Broad rivers fed by the Sierra Nevada snow melt brought plentiful waters to California’s agricultural heartland and a certain sense of entitlement.”

That’s all I’m giving you. For the meaning of this Pedantic Moment, you’ll have to tune in when Dimland Radio returns.

I will let you know when the show is back. Stayed tuned.

dimland radio 4-4-15 no show show notes

The Show Is On Hiatus

The laptop still needs to be replaced, so the show is still on hiatus.

But, that doesn’t mean I can’t cover a topic I would have talked about on the show, does it? Of course, not. So, here are this week’s no show show notes…


Unfair Water Restrictions in California
 
Somebody didn’t do their math.


The above graphic popped up on Facebook this week in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s strong measures put into action to deal with the lengthy drought California has been facing. I’m not sure why almond farmers were included, we like farmers, don’t we? But everybody hates fracking so that inclusion makes perfect sense. Get that evil fracking in there! It’s evil! (Ok, I know there are some legitimate concerns with fracking, but still.)
Nestle is one of those evil for profit corporations and we hate corporations in America, right? Besides, bottle water is over priced and, in most cases, municipal tap water is the better option, but what is done with bottled water? People drink it and then they pee it out. The pee goes in the sewage system and then gets cleaned, filtered, treated, and goes back into the drinking water supply. Kinda gross when you think about it, but that’s how it goes.

All right. When I saw this image the first thing I thought was: How many people live in California and how often do they flush a toilet each day?
Time to research!

I am proceeding on the assumption that the numbers given in the graphic are accurate. That said, I was able to confirm the 1.6 gallon per flush number.

According to Google the population of CA is 38.8 million. The number of times a person, on average, flushes a toilet a day is five times. So, taking the 1.6 gallons per flush number, which is on the low end as older toilets can flush as much as eight gallons in a single use (the flushes per person per day and the gallons per flush numbers came from here), and multiplying that by five we get an average of eight gallons flushed per person per day. 
Eight times 38.8 million comes to 310,400,000 gallons flushed in California per day. That’s vastly more water used in one day than fracking in an entire year and more than three quarters as much as Nestle will bottle in a year. 
By my math, the amount flushed in a year comes to, and this is likely to be lower than actually use, 113,296,000,000 gallons. Way, way more than fracking and Nestle’s bottled water. So, it makes sense to restrict toilet flushing, doesn’t it? 
Now, if you want to give up farming almonds, I amenable to that.