dimland radio 5-29-10 show notes

Talking Twins

My friend, Dave, and I went to see our first MN Twins game Saturday at their new ballpark. Very cool. Dave's friends have season tickets and they gave him their tickets and he asked me to go with him. Awwww. And the Twins won!

Behind Blue Eyes Part 2

On the May 22nd edition of Dimland Radio I spoke extensively on my thoughts about The Who and Pete Townshend, paying particular attention to Pete's 2003 arrest on charges of child porn. After that show, the aforementioned Dave said that I missed an opportunity to cast my skeptical gaze on the media, how they report a story and how the people remember those stories. The news media covers a story big at first with sensationalism, but then don't give it the same emphasis when the story turns out to be more mundane.

Townshend's arrest story was all sensations at first, juicy and lurid, but when the investigation had been completed and Townshend had been essentially cleared of all charges, the media reported it almost as an afterthought. That kind of reporting leads the public in general to mainly remembering the opening salvo and forgetting the wrap up. This phenomenon leaves the public thinking ill of Pete and he doesn't deserve it.

To be fair, Pete Townshend has been fairly rehabilitated in the public eye. If he hadn't the 15 different versions of the TV show CSI wouldn't be using Who songs for their themes and The Who wouldn't have been booked to play the last Superbowl's halftime.

RIP Martin Gardner

I talked about the loss of Martin Gardner at the age of 95. He was a founding member of CSICOP (now CSI) and a leading light in the skeptical movement. His contributions were many, most notable was his 1952 book 'Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science'.

Read more about him here, here and here.

I also took this opportunity to talk about the mistaken notion that celebrities die in threes. What makes someone a celebrity? How close together do the deaths need to be to be clustered? And so on.

My new friend in skepticism

Through my listening to the excellent podcast, Skepticality, I became aware of Chris Brown. Chris is a skeptic whose website is www.skepticsinthepub.net. At his site, he promotes other podcasts, blogs and events of a skeptical nature. I wrote to him about Dimland Radio. He wrote back and we've been FaceBook instant messaging back and forth for quite some time now. Chris will be a guest on my show once we can work out a schedule.

Chris's 10 year-old son, Ethan, has quite an impressive ability with math. Here's the YouTube video that Chris would love to see go viral. Let's help me out, shall we?

Awareness Tests

Chris Brown had me check out a couple YouTube videos that really demonstrate what poor observers we human beings can be. We just aren't that good. We stink! We're awful! Lousy! Crappy!! Almost worthless!!

Take the test here and here.


Jonny Quest

I finished up the show talking about how much I like the original Jonny Quest animated TV series. It was great. I liked the art, the characters (Ok, Bandit got a little annoying), the creatures and villains, the music and, most of all, I liked the fact that people died on the show. Pretty blood thirsty, eh?

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Town Called Malice' by The Jam & 'Come Again' by Au Pairs
Second ad break bumpers: 'Age Of Consent' by New Order & 'The Mayor Of Simpleton' by XTC
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

dimland radio 5-22-10 show notes

A very special episode of Dimland Radio. Why? Heck if I know.

Ouchie

My mom fell flat on her back in a nearby, Indian-run casino this past Thursday. She had merely walked off the carpeted area onto a tiled section of floor and her feet went right out from under her. She didn't do any serious damage to herself, but she did suffer a mild concussion and received a sizable goose egg on the back of her head. She's also suffered a fair amount of pain. My folks aren't the suing types, still, they are making sure the casino doesn't try to sweep this under the carpet. I guess we shall see.

Ghost crying video

On the YouTube I found a video that has garnered over seven million views. It claims to depict the ghost of a crying girl. Well, I'm not so sure about that. I talked about the red flags I noticed that, I think, indicate the video is very likely a hoax.

Have a look for yourself here.

Captain Disillusion

Speaking of YouTube videos that are far more deserving of seven million views than "Ghost Crying," have you heard of Captain Disillusion? Captain Disillusion is a skeptic who examines viral videos of questionable integrity and offers real world explanations for the outlandish claims. I mentioned three of his videos of which I am very fond.

Pantry Ghost part 1 (featuring James Randi)

Pantry Ghost part 2

Gas Station Ghost Recut

Behind blue eyes

Pete Townshend's 65th birthday was Wednesday, 5/19. I took the opportunity (it's my show, I can talk about Pete if I want) to tell my audience just why The Who and Pete Townshend are so important to me. Of course, I had to talk about Pete's 2003 arrest and subsequent clearing of possession, distribution and creation of child pornography. He did receive a caution from British law enforcement authorities, because he was guilty of accessing a site that offered that filth. His motives were innocent and naive, but not lurid. He thought he could end child porn on his own.

The Who as angry young Mods

My favorite album by The Who - Quadrophenia

The Who now

I talked about how I reacted when I heard the news. It's exceedingly unfortunate that Pete Townshend's reputation will be forever stained by his act of stupidity.

Pete Townshend

The Guardian ran an interview with Pete Townshend conducted about one year after his arrest. You can read it here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Stop Hurting People' & 'A Friend Is A Friend' by Pete Townshend
Second ad break bumpers: 'Crashing By Design' & 'Keep On Working' by Pete Townshend
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next week 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

dimland radio 5-15-10 show notes

The chat room wasn't very full, but I did a show anyway.

This old house

I started off boring my listeners with the tale of our replacing two windows in our kitchen. They needed replacing. They were quite nasty. I also talked about my peculiar habit of putting a plastic toy soldier inside a construction area, so that it's hidden away. I like the idea of the hidden toy soldiers. Peculiar, I know.

Man in coma still ain't talking

Rom Houben, a Belgian man, has been in a coma for 23 years. Some news was made recently when it was said that he woke and started talking. Well, not exactly. He told his tale through a communications facilitator. Right there you should have your skeptical red flag waving. It turns out that it's far more likely that the facilitator was doing all the talking and poor Rom is still comatose.

Read Michael Shermer's take on this here.

I also talked a bit about the 2007 film, 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly'. It's somewhat related and it's available at Netflix. Sign up!

Pringles ad explains crop circle

I haven't seen the ad yet, but 'Skeptical Inquirer's' Ben Radford wrote a piece about it. The ad depicts a group of young people having a great time eating Pringles and making crop circles. Apparently, the way they are shown making the circles is exactly the way that phenomenon is produced. Believers will scoff, but what seems more likely? Super intelligent extraterrestrials travel the vast expanse of space or some beings from another dimension to make patterns in crop fields, OR some people take boards and ropes out to a wheat field and make nifty crop circles? Sharpen up your Occam's razor everyone.

Arrrrrr Mythbusters be doin' it again

Then I talked about the Mythbusters looking into the myth of why pirates would wear eye patches. Not because of a missing or damaged eye, but, as the myth went, it was meant to keep that one eye accustomed to the dark. They tested it and it's true! The covered eye was much bettered suited for seeing in the dark.

Here's part of that show on the YouTube.

Hodgepodge

I finish up talking about The X-Files, Jaws, Legend of Hell House, The Blair Witch Project and how not seeing the shark, ghost or whatever makes it even scarier.

I also talked a bit about the new series of Dr. Who. I really like the Doctor as played by Christopher Eccleston and I'm just getting to see the episodes with the next actor, David Tennant. Not sure about him yet.

I touched on the old Columbo show too.

Correction

I misspoke when talking about the old Columbo episodes and how the same actors would keep coming back to play murderers. I meant to say Jack Cassidy, but instead I said Jack Kennedy. Cassidy was an actor, Kennedy was a President. Whoop, whoop.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'I Got You' by Split Enz & 'Life's What You Make It' by Talk Talk
Second ad break bumpers: 'O.K. This Is The Pops' by Tones On Tail & 'Fall On Me' by REM
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next week 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

a moment of silence...please!

Just this past Saturday, May 8, I was watching Fox's baseball game of the week as I do each week. Baseball is my favorite game, so I try to catch as many games on TV as I can. Not having cable means there aren't that many games for me to watch.

Fox's Joe Buck & Tim McCarver

Fox's A team for covering the games is Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I think Joe is ok, but a little McCarver goes a long way. I'm not sure what it is about him, but McCarver tends to get on my nerves. Is it the accent? I don't think so. It's probably the inanity.

As it happens, during that week leading up to Saturday's game, baseball lost two of its greats. Ernie Harwell and Robin Roberts. I won't pretend to be an expert on these two fellows, all I know is what I heard said about them when the news of their deaths was being reported.

Ernie Harwell

Robin Roberts

In a show of respect, Fox Sports did something wonderful. They had Joe and Tim observe a moment of silence. A long moment of silence. Not the usual 20 seconds or so. No, this moment of silence lasted a good two minutes or more.

Joe and Tim simply shut up. The game continued. I could hear the crowd. I could hear the umpire calling balls and strikes. I could hear the ball hit the catcher's mitt, the bat make contact, the breeze. And was that a plane in the distance?

It was glorious.

I understand the need for announcers. They help to clarify a play or a call. They can let you know what kind of pitch had just been thrown. They can keep you informed as to injuries and what's going on around the league.

But, can't they just, for a minute or two each inning, shut their damn traps?! Give us a little peace. Let's us take in the game as though we were actually there.

What do you say, Fox Sports? Give us a moment of silence each inning. That's not too much to ask, is it?

And while your at it, drop the stupid sounds of the game and interviews with the managers during the game. I don't need to know.

Update

I just reread this post. I noticed something that could be considered ironic in my last statement, or at least a contradiction. I just finish saying how great it was to hear the sounds of the game, because the announcers had shut their yappers, then I ask Fox to dump the sounds of the game.

Allow me to clarify. When I refer to "sounds of the game" there, I'm referring to Fox's gimmick of putting a microphone on a select player, so we can hear what he says during the game. It's never anything very insightful. It's completely unnecessary. I wish Fox would knock it off and let me enjoy the other sounds of the game.

dimland radio 5-8-10 show notes

Here's what I managed to get to this week.

Correction

For the third week in a row, I went on about the whole Immaculate Conception and Jesus being born without sin thing. During the past week I talked to Father Mark Hubberty. He confirmed the sinless nature of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. He also told me the Jesus was baptized to make the ritual holy. I promise not to mention this again on the next show.

In the line of duty part two

I talked some more about Office Joe Bergeron's being killed in the line of duty. This time I talked about the funeral procession that headed right past my office. It was quite the stirring site.

Read more about it here.

I35 bridge collapse

On August 1, 2007, the I35W bridge spanning the Mississippi collapsed. It just so happened to be on the same day as my son's fourth birthday. (Astrologers, put your charts away! I don't buy astrology.) The reason I talked about was because of how, if you don't have cable, it is difficult to tell how national a local story is. A friend who was living in New Orleans at that time called. I wasn't sure if he knew about the incident. He was asking if everyone was ok, which everyone was, I asked why he was calling. He said. "A f@#&ing bridge just fell down in your city!"

Speaking of astrology

This was fun!

The night before my show, during Paradigm Shift (airing Friday nights at 10 central on Z Talk Radio), an intriguing thing occurred. Chatters attempted to guess my sign. Three guessed Taurus right away. I'm not Taurus. Then they proceeded to guess. And guess and guess and guess. They went through eleven signs (for those who don't know, there are twelve) never guessing my sign, which is Scorpio.

I thought the whole process was very telling of the accuracy of astrology. I'm sure believers will disagree anyway. I thought it was fun.

Twins win! Twins win!

And I saw it. I get a very limited amount of MN Twins games that I can watch on the TV and, prior to the Sunday before this show, they lost every game I watched. Well, they finally won a Sunday afternoon game and I watched it happen.

Happy Mother's Day

I reminded my listeners that the next day was Mother's Day and that, if they still had them, they should call their mothers. Thanks, Moms, for everything you do!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Waiting For The Weekend' by The Vapors & 'Cruel To Be Kind' by Nick Lowe
Second ad break bumpers: 'Emotional Rescue' by The Rolling Stones & 'Baby Ran' by 54-50
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next week 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

dimland radio 5-1-10 show notes

Hey! Dave Servo, my friend and fellow skeptic, actually tuned in this week!

Correction

Last week I had talked about the Immaculate Conception and how the term refers to the Virgin Mary, not Jesus. It's a Catholic concept that many people get wrong. I then said that Jesus wasn't born without sin. Apparently, he was. I made a call to a local church to talk this over with a priest, but one wasn't available. I left a message and will try to talk to him during the week. I'll let you know on my next show.

In the line of duty

I talked about a Maplewood (suburb of St. Paul, MN where I live) police officer had been ambushed and shot to death. This doesn't happen very often here in Minnesota, thankfully.

When you see a police officer in your part of the world, remember what those men and women in blue are willing to do for us every time they suit up.

Read more about it here.

No Santas in our house

My nearly seven year-old son, Hayden, and I were talking Saturday morning, when the subject of Santa came up. You know me, I'm a skeptic, so I asked him how Santa does all that work in one night. Hayden thought about it and realize that there was no Santa. Partly because of the logistics, but also because reindeer can't fly and don't have red noses.

That's my boy.

Curious story of man from India

There's a fellow in India who claims he hasn't had anything to eat or drink for 70 years. Sure he hasn't.

You can read more about it here.

Noah's Ark found

Wait a minute! There really was a Noah's Ark? Really? I mean, really? No, probably not.

You can read about it here and here.

Jenny McCarthy's hero found guilty

Andrew Wakefield, the "scientist" who headed a study that suggested a link between vaccines and autism, thereby starting all the hysteria about the dangers of vaccinations and launching Jenny McCarthy's career as a medical expert, has been found guilty of acting unethically while conducting his research. Research that has been completely discredited by good science.

My source was May/June 2010 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer. On newsstands now.

$9.20 a gallon of gas in Alaska?!

Well, yes, sort of. On Morning Coffee the other morning, I heard about Alaskans paying that extremely inflated price for gas. It didn't seem right. I did a quick Google and found that the $9.20 price effected one small town in Alaska, McGrath, not the entire state. I thought it would be a good idea to clarify to prevent misinformation being spread.

You can read about it here.

Michael Shermer's talk on skepticism

I made a quick mention of a video by Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine. The video is an intro to the concept of skepticism. It's excellent!

Watch the video here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Here Is The News' by ELO & 'Earn Enough For Us' by XTC
Second ad break bumpers: 'Columbus' by The Church & 'Another Tricky Day' by The Who
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next week 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