Dimland Radio

dimland radio 8-16-14 show notes

dimland radio 8-9-14 show notes

I’m All Over The Internet

I may not have done a show since July 26th, but I have still been on the internet. Not just my usual visits to Facebook, either. Since my last show there have been ten Never Founds posted, one guest appearance on a podcast, and a guest posting on another blog. I’ve been busy.

The Never Found in the 80s series is something I do for the Stuck in the 80s blog. I hadn’t had one on there in a while, but then there were ten in the last two weeks.

Here’s the list:

Lloyd Cole & the Commotions

The Stranglers

Breaking Circus

The Smiths

I was also a member of a round table discussion on the latest version of ‘Godzilla‘ on the podcast Assault of the Two-Headed Space Mules. It was recorded weeks ago, when it was more timely, but the host, Douglas Arthur, had other pressing matters that kept him from editing and posting until just recently.

Finally, I wrote a piece for the Two Different Girls blog. I wrote about a road trip with a couple of friends. We headed east and spent some time in New York City. We discovered an excellent hiding spot for our goods.

Happy Birthday, James Randi

August 7th was the Amazing Randi’s 86th birthday. He’s still going strong and I hope he continues to do so, because I’d like to meet him at TAM. However, it might be a while before I’m able to afford a trip to The Amazing Meeting.

Brian Dunning Was Sentenced To Federal Prison

Host of the excellent weekly podcast Skeptoid, Brian Dunning, having pled guilty to wire fraud some months ago and was sentenced to 15 months in Federal prison this past week. (Here is his announcement.) There is a faction of the skeptic/atheist community that is acting gleefully at this news. Just because, in my opinion, they decided Mr. Dunning is a jerk.

I was asked for my thoughts on this on Facebook. This was my response…

“[H]e broke the law, he pled guilty, and he’ll serve time. Has he gotten off easy? I don’t know. I intend to continue listening and linking to Skeptoid, because, in my opinion, it is still an excellent source of skeptically examined phenomena. I do my best to separate the artist from the art. After all, I still listen to the SGU (Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe). It’s still an excellent podcast and everyone on it is very good, whether or not I agree with their conduct away from the show.”

I won’t say which rogue I’m referring to, but I don’t think it’s not hard to guess for those who have been following the skeptic/atheist fracturing.

Could Bigfoot Be A Bear?

It seems very possible that, at least, some of the bigfoot sitings that have been claimed over the years could have been bears walking on their hide legs. Bears do that. And when they do they look strikingly and eerily similar to humans. Doubtful News recently posted a video of a bear walking bipedally. Kinda creepy.

Pedantic Moment: How Much Groceries Could 20 Bucks Buy In 1998?

This is what bullshit looks like.

A lot of nonsense gets posted on Facebook, I’m sure you knew that. Well, here’s another one. The above meme is implying that 20 dollars was enough to purchase that full cart of groceries in 1998, while, in 2013, that same 20 dollars bought only three or four items. Quite simply, this is bullshit. I was buying groceries in 1998 and no way would that small amount of money buy all those items.

There’s a bottle of champagne or wine in that cart! That alone could be 20 bucks! Also, there are well over 20 items in that cart, which would mean the average cost of each of those items would be less than a dollar. 1898, maybe. 1998, no way!

I also believe the statement about us all needing to stop pretending people can live on minimum wage is a straw man. I could be wrong, but I don’t think anyone is claiming that minimum wage is a livable wage.

Sir Paul Plays Target Field

Finally, I told of our evening of Saturday August 2nd. Amy, Hayden, and I went to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert. This was a birthday present for Hayden who turned 11 years-old the day before. (Astrologers put your charts away.)

The show was great. Paul was amazing. His voice may not have quite the range it used to have, but it was still good and his energy was terrific. He played for 2 and 3/4 hours! That 72 year-old really knows how to please (and work) his audience. Yes, it was a night of nostalgia, but what’s wrong with that?

I also talked about my need to learn patience, our seating neighbors, my breaking out my loud whistle, and how ‘Hey, Jude’ brought a tear to my eye.

Worth every penny.

Here’s the setlist.

Movie Recommendation: None

Sorry, I didn’t have time to recommend a movie. 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: ‘Another Day‘ by Paul McCartney & ‘Listen to What the Man Said‘ by Wings
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Live And Let Die‘ by Wings & ‘Hey Jude‘ by The Beatles

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 7-26-14 show notes

Do Not Attempt?

This was a special show as it featured the triumphant return of Chris Brown, host of the Meet The Skeptics podcast. It had been more than a year since I had Chris on for a Ten Minute Topic, so this time we went way over ten minutes. I had Chris on to talk about The Amazing Meeting 2014, which he attended earlier this month.

But first, I talked about a couple car commercials that have me somewhat annoyed or, at least, curious. One is for Chevy and it is a montage of people doing summer-y things. One such thing is jumping into water and as that shot is being shown there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen warning viewers, “Do not attempt.” What? Then why show it?

The other ad has two coworkers hopping into their sporty cars and racing each other home. It turns out they live across the street from each other. Which got me thinking, “Uh, guys? Carpool!”

TAM Talk With Chris Brown

Then Chris Brown joined me to give his report on this year’s The Amazing Meeting (TAM). TAM is an annual gathering of skeptics held in Las Vegas, at which skeptics come together to hear talks, participate in workshops, and socialize. The event is put on by the James Randi Educational Foundation and is a highly anticipated event by skeptics all over the world.

Since I could not attend, Chris Brown gave us the lowdown on this year’s conference. He reported on Penn Jillette’s Bacon and Doughnuts Party, George Hrab‘s MCing and his annual video glitch, Carol Tavris‘ kerfuffle causing (to those who weren’t there to hear it) talk, Bill Nye the Science Guy’s talk, and ‘An Honest Liar,’ the documentary focusing on the Amazing Randi.

Movie Recommendation: None

Chris and I just talked too long for me to have time to recommend a movie, so you are on your own for the next two weeks. That’s right, there will be no show next Saturday. That’s the day of the big Paul McCartney concert.

Music heard on the show…

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

First ad break bumpers: ‘Jason and the Argonauts‘ by XTC & ‘Jools and Jim‘ by Pete Townshend
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Jesus Chrysler Drives A Dodge‘ by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & ‘(Just Like) Starting Over‘ by John Lennon

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 7-19-14 show notes

Stop Posting Fake Videos!

I got out of the gate talking about three videos I’ve been seeing on the internets. Two of these videos I could confirm as fake, with the third being rather iffy.

The first was the ballgirl who makes an amazing catch in foul territory. Not only is it not real, if it were the ballgirl would be in trouble for interfering in the play. The video was part of a Gatorade ad that ran during the 2008 MLB All Star Game.

The second was of a man being struck by lightning. Twice. Caught on a security camera we see the poor sap get struck, fall down, get back up, start to move on, and get struck again. What we don’t see is the video being blotted out by the flash, as it would be, and we don’t see the lightning reflecting of the surrounding trees and such.

The third shows a woman cleaning up a bar after hours. The security camera catches her tripping over two bar stools and falling through a plate glass window. I could not find out for sure that this video was faked, but the are some red flags that lead me to believe it is.

She seems to begin tripping before she walks into the first stool, the window breaks way too easily and not the way plate glass windows would break, and there is audio for the video. Although not impossible, I think it’s highly unlikely a security camera in a bar would have a microphone.

Look

In 2007, the movie ‘Look‘ was released. It’s a low budget film using the “found footage” technique. However, there’s a twist to director Adam Rifkin’s use of found footage. He uses the images all captured on security cameras. It’s done really well and I enjoyed the movie, but (you knew there would a but) all the security cameras are equipped with microphones, so all the dialog is audible. It was a difficult hurdle for me to get over.

Chewing Gum Company’s Experiment Shows Gum Chewers To Be More Pleasant

A chewing gum company (Beldent) finds gum chewers to be more approachable and friendly? Well, no shit.

I talked about this very unscientific experiment that was done to see if gum chewers faced an unfair stigma. I wasn’t aware there was a stigma against gum chewers, but oh well. The experiment was conducted in such a way that the gum chewers would be viewed positively. So bogus!

The Long International Nightmare Is Over

Of course, I mean the World Cup. I’m not a soccer fan, but my son is, so I saw more than my share of possibly the most boring sport in the world. But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Guys running around kicking a ball, and running and kicking, and running and kicking, and running and kicking…

Tommy Ramone Dies

Tommy Ramone (Tommy Erdelyi) died on July 11th putting all of the original members of the seminal punk rock band Ramones into the “they are all gone” category. It’s hard to believe they are all gone and, yet, Keith Richards lives on. Must have been the glue sniffing.

Kendall Jones: Cheerleader, Big Game Hunter, Social Media Pariah

I’ve been seeing a lot of my Facebook friends expressing disgust at Kendall Jones for posting pictures of her smiling self and her big game kills on social media. My position is that although this may be distasteful to the sensibilities of some, Ms Jones is hunting these animals legally. She is not a poacher and she pays handsomely for the permits allowing her to hunt lions and leopards and other endangered species.

I made the argument that, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, legal, permitted hunting of endangered species has been shown to help preserve and increase their numbers. The white rhinoceros may just be such a case.

Movie Recommendation: Catching Hell (2011)

ESPN Films

Steve Bartman became a scapegoat after attempting to catch a foul ball during game six of the NLCS in 2003. His team the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from heading back to the World Series for the first time since 1945, but he may have prevented outfielder Moises Alou from catching the ball and recording an out. After that play the wheels came off and the Cubs lost the game and then lost game seven. No World Series again.

The film examines the idea of the scapegoat and also focuses on Bill Buckner and his boot in the 1986 World Series. Why do we focus on those two plays? What about the other booted plays and poor pitching that lead to the Cubs’ collapse in 2003 and the Red Sox’s collapse in 1986?

It’s an excellent look at those plays, the players, the fans, the games, and the scapegoats.

Music heard on the show…

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

First ad break bumpers: ‘Is It A Crime‘ by Sade & ‘Institutionalized‘ by Suicidal Tendencies
Second ad break bumpers: ‘In Between Days‘ by The Cure & ‘Invaders of the Heart‘ by Cheap Trick

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 7-12-14 show notes

Pedantic Moment: Cuteeee

When I read the posts on my Facebook, I see people not understanding how to elongate words for emphasis. For instance, if you wanted to elongate the word “cute” how would you do it?

Hint: The “E” is silent.

Congratulations Cosmos!

Congratulations to the producers of ‘Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey’! The Fox science series received 12 Emmy nominations:

– Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
– Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Progamming
– Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality, or Reality/Competition Programming
– Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming
– Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming
– Outstanding Main Title Design
– Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
– Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
– Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming
– Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming
– Outstanding Special and Visual Effects.

I Did A Study

Admittedly, it was not a very scientific study, but I was prompted to do it by the meme you see above. I thought that I’d check out 50 notorious murderers and find out what their astrological signs were and see how they fared compared with the claim that is made by the meme.

My results showed that 56% of the 50 murderers I compiled did not fall under any of the five signs in the meme. I wrote about it here.

I will add this, which I hadn’t thought to check for the original blog or to mention on the show. It is interesting that 7 of 12 (that’s the ratio of signs not included in the meme) is about 58.33%. That’s not far of from 56%, is it?

Dimland Radio Science Hero: Ozzy Osbourne

You read that right. Ozzy Osbourne. Some years ago, I’m not sure how many, Ozzy and Sharon were guests on the Graham Norton Show along with Olivia Newton John. ONJ was hawking some fruity, herbal drink her husband was marketing. She claimed the potion “clears your mind, brightens your day.”

Ozzy drank a good amount of it and had a little fun. Then he wrapped it up nicely when he let everyone know what he really thought of it. Sure, this isn’t an example of good science or skepticism being done. It was pretty knee-jerk. But I thought it was an excellent response to some fairly dubious claims.

Tommy Cooper Dies On Stage

There’s a parody of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ song that changes all of the pop culture and historical references. One change was the line, “Tommy Cooper died on stage…”

That line intrigued me as I hadn’t heard of Tommy Cooper or the fact that he died on stage. I looked it up and I found video of his having a heart attack while performing on live television. I won’t link to it out of respect for his family.

I hoped that my talking about it wouldn’t be disrespectful, but I described what happened. How he was preparing to perform a trick, while his assistant helped him into an over-sized cloak, when he seemed to lose his balance. His assistant leaves the stage as Cooper collapses. The audience laughs, thinking this was part of the routine. He then falls onto his back. Audience laughter again. Cooper is just lying there. It begins to dawn on everyone, “This is not part of the act.” Cut to commercial.

And that was it. He died.

I talked about how suddenly death can come for us. And that the moment wasn’t very dramatic. It was almost gentle. Cooper didn’t grab his chest or cry out in pain. He just slumped to the floor and then onto his back.

When our time comes, sometimes it just sneaks up on us.

Movie Recommendation: A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

MGM

I really didn’t have time to go into a movie recommendation this week, but at the top of the show, during my Pedantic Moment, I did talk a little bit about this movie. So, I figured it was as good a recommendation as any.

It’s a very funny caper film starring two Pythons: John Cleese, who also wrote the film, and Michael Palin, along with Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline. Everyone is very good and very funny in this movie. Nicely done.

Music heard on the show…

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

First ad break bumpers: ‘Highwayman‘ by The Highwaymen & ‘Heat of the Moment‘ by Asia
Second ad break bumpers: ‘Here Comes Your Man‘ by Pixies & ‘Houses In Motion‘ by Talking Heads
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.