This (my 14th) show had a pleasant surprise for me...
The The?
When I arrived in the chat room twenty minutes before my show, as I usually do, I noticed someone new to Z Talk in the chat room going by the name The The. The The is a band that I really like, so my curiosity was piqued. I private chatted with the fellow and it turned out that he was an old high school friend of mine. He purposefully used the name The The to catch my attention. It worked. We had lost touch after hanging out with each other for a while after high school, but he found me on Facebook and found out about my show and came by to check it out. We chatted for quite a while after the show to do some catching up.
Dr Dim in art school circa 1985 (on the left)
I then regaled (or is that bored) my audience with the story of how I came to be known as Dr. Dim. It all began late in the year 1983, when I entered art school... Ok, I won't bore anyone again.
Bigfoot
I dipped my toe into Lake Bigfoot on this show. (Yep, there were a couple puns just then.) I discussed the lack of any good evidence of bigfoot's existence, how the name sasquatch was invited by a white man named J. W. Burns, and the best piece of not very good evidence for bigfoot's existence... the Patterson film of 1967.
After more than 40 years, we still do not have any evidence any better than this famous film. Is it a real primate? Is it a man in a costume? The truth is that the film is too poor quality, it lacks any good detail, and, therefore, it is, at best, inconclusive. I would think that with most everyone having a video camera these days, we'd have some better video images of the creature, but we don't. But! Absence of evidence does not necessarily mean evidence of absence.
I also talked about a book called 'The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story" by Greg Long. I must be honest, I have not read the book, so I went from a review of it by Daniel Loxton of Skeptic magazine. The book covers Roger Patterson in depth. Painting the picture of a con man. Numerous people who had dealings with Patterson all seem to agree that Patterson would con anyone. He didn't even pay for the camera and the film he used to capture the striking footage. In fact, he was arrested for that crime.
So, does the possible fact (Long's witnesses could have been lying) that Patterson was a con man, the fact he was a bigfoot enthusiast prior to making the film, the claims of one fellow of making the costume (Phillip Morris) and another fellow of wearing it (Bob Heironimus) mean that the footage is fake? Nope. It could still been the genuine article, but it is such poor evidence that it really doesn't tell us anything definite.
There is a Discovery Channel piece on the bigfoot legend and it looks at the Patterson film. It tests the idea that no human could walk the way the "creature" walks in the film. The testers found that it is indeed possible to walk that way. You can watch the clip here.
I also talked about the famous bigfoot hoaxer Ray Wallace. Yes, we do know that. His family came clean about him after he died. They even presented to the world the hand-carved footprint makers that he used to pull his pranks.
My main sources for this came mostly from a two part Junior Skeptic feature all about our friend, Sasquatch. Junior Skeptic parts 20 & 21 found in Skeptic volume 11, numbers 2 & 3, 2005.
After more than 40 years, we still do not have any evidence any better than this famous film. Is it a real primate? Is it a man in a costume? The truth is that the film is too poor quality, it lacks any good detail, and, therefore, it is, at best, inconclusive. I would think that with most everyone having a video camera these days, we'd have some better video images of the creature, but we don't. But! Absence of evidence does not necessarily mean evidence of absence.
I also talked about a book called 'The Making of Bigfoot: The Inside Story" by Greg Long. I must be honest, I have not read the book, so I went from a review of it by Daniel Loxton of Skeptic magazine. The book covers Roger Patterson in depth. Painting the picture of a con man. Numerous people who had dealings with Patterson all seem to agree that Patterson would con anyone. He didn't even pay for the camera and the film he used to capture the striking footage. In fact, he was arrested for that crime.
So, does the possible fact (Long's witnesses could have been lying) that Patterson was a con man, the fact he was a bigfoot enthusiast prior to making the film, the claims of one fellow of making the costume (Phillip Morris) and another fellow of wearing it (Bob Heironimus) mean that the footage is fake? Nope. It could still been the genuine article, but it is such poor evidence that it really doesn't tell us anything definite.
There is a Discovery Channel piece on the bigfoot legend and it looks at the Patterson film. It tests the idea that no human could walk the way the "creature" walks in the film. The testers found that it is indeed possible to walk that way. You can watch the clip here.
I also talked about the famous bigfoot hoaxer Ray Wallace. Yes, we do know that. His family came clean about him after he died. They even presented to the world the hand-carved footprint makers that he used to pull his pranks.
My main sources for this came mostly from a two part Junior Skeptic feature all about our friend, Sasquatch. Junior Skeptic parts 20 & 21 found in Skeptic volume 11, numbers 2 & 3, 2005.
The world renown skeptic - Dr. Dim?
I talked about how I'm the resident skeptic of another show I mostly disagree with, 'Haunted 911', which is based in the UK. That show used to be on Z Talk, but it moved to Blog Talk Radio and I followed it there, because I like the hosts Ray Jordan and Wayne Punter. I do my skeptic thing in their chat room and they like to acknowledge me as their resident skeptic. They also like to tease me. That's ok, I can take it.
They have a weekly contributor to the show. His name is Tim Brown and he has his own paranormal investigation group over there in the UK. Well, in Tim's bit for last week's show he mentioned me. I was part of his bit!
So, can I start called myself a world renown skeptic? It may be a bit premature.
Movie recommendation
They have a weekly contributor to the show. His name is Tim Brown and he has his own paranormal investigation group over there in the UK. Well, in Tim's bit for last week's show he mentioned me. I was part of his bit!
So, can I start called myself a world renown skeptic? It may be a bit premature.
Movie recommendation
I gushed yet again about the greatness of Netflix. I can't recommend it more highly.
I also recommended the film 'The Hammer'. It stars and was co-written by Adam Carolla (you might know him from Comedy Central's 'The Man Show'). It's very good. It's a consistently funny comedy about a 40 something loser who decides to get back into amateur boxing. The film is rated R, but I defy you to tell why. At most, it's PG.
I also recommended the film 'The Hammer'. It stars and was co-written by Adam Carolla (you might know him from Comedy Central's 'The Man Show'). It's very good. It's a consistently funny comedy about a 40 something loser who decides to get back into amateur boxing. The film is rated R, but I defy you to tell why. At most, it's PG.
Music heard on the show...
Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Bull Rider' by Johnny Cash & 'I Believe In You' by Don Williams
Second ad break bumpers: 'Seven Year Ache' by Rosanne Cash & 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' by George Jones
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle
First ad break bumpers: 'Bull Rider' by Johnny Cash & 'I Believe In You' by Don Williams
Second ad break bumpers: 'Seven Year Ache' by Rosanne Cash & 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' by George Jones
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 On Demand page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
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