dimland radio 11-30-13 show notes

Two Corrections

 

During last week's show, I made a couple mistakes.  Hard to believe, I know, but I did.  When I was talking about Amanda Berry and her escape from 10 plus years of captivity, I got the name of her captor wrong.  He name was (he's dead now) Ariel Castro not Ariel Gonzalez.

And when I talked about the JFK assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald, I mistakenly referred to the computer animator who recreated the event through 3D computer animation as Gary Myer.  His name is Dale Myer.

My deepest apologies for these errors.

A Rant

 

I went on a rant that covered the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NFL, and Selena Gomez.  It was tiring, but fun.

 

Ghost Hunters Burn Down Historic Building

In another What's The Harm moment (fully acknowledging Tim Farley's WhatsTheHarm.net), I talked about a group of nimrods who trespassed into the LeBeau Plantation house in Louisiana to hunt for ghosts.  Part of their equipment list included beer and pot.  The morons allegedly attempted to provoke the ghosties into showing themselves and, in the process, they, allegedly, burnt the building to the ground.  The seven hunters have been arrested.

 

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Get Treated By Chiropractors

Continuing in the "what's the harm" mode, I discussed the Australian chiropractor who allegedly broke a baby's neck and an American chiropractor, who was ordered by a jury to compensate a patient $575,000, having been found responsible for causing that patient to have a stroke.  Although rare, the neck manipulation done by chiropractors can tear arteries in the neck which can lead to stroke.

Go here to learn more by the Australian chiropractor and here for the American one.  And go here to learn more about stroke caused by neck manipulation.

 

The Non-Tip That Wasn't A Non-Tip

I first spotted this story on Facebook.  It's the story of a gay waitress who claims a couple stiffed her out of a tip and left a homophobic message.  People were disgusted and rightly so.  BUT!  The couple in question came forward with evidence that they had indeed left a tip.  It seems the waitress may have been lying.

 

Read the sordid details here.

I also mentioned a similar story that surfaced some months ago about a Red Lobster waitress who received a racist message in lieu of a tip.  That story has also been disputed.  I must admit that with this story, when I first spotted it also on Facebook, I had my doubts.  Mainly, because I have a difficult time understanding why someone would be compelled to leave such a comment.  But some people just don't think the way I do.  Shame.

 

Movie Recommendation: Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

Paramount Pictures

 

A classic Western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Henry Fonda (two weeks in a row recommending a Henry Fonda film?), Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, and Claudia Cardinale.  An epic Western in which Fonda plays the villain.  And, boy, is he one nasty villain.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: 'Terms Of Psychic Warfare' by Husker Du & 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' by The Police
Second ad break bumpers: 'I Against I' by Bad Brains & '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 11-10-12 show notes

A Freelance Project

It's filled with debauchery, lewdness, strange behavior, and inside jokes.  It's one of the few freelance projects I do each year.  A local fraternity has an annual pub crawl and each year they have t-shirts made for the occasion.  I've been doing their design since the late 90s and each year it gets more complicated.  But I do enjoy the challenge and the fellas are so appreciative.  And they pay.

 

A Fellow ZTalker Gets On The News

Every year as Halloween approaches local TV news organizations run "fluff" stories about haunted houses, ghosts, and ghost hunters or some such related nonsense.  Well, in Arizona one such story ran and it featured fellow ZTalker Kale Kelly.  It also featured an Arizona skeptic and gave that skeptic equal time AND the last word.  I was impressed.

You can see that report here.

Snow Driving

Inspired by a loyal listener in chat, I told a couple harrowing tales of driving through snow storms.  One story happened to me, so you know that's true.  The other was a story told to me by my father about a fellow with whom he worked.  That story might not be true, but I don't think my dad made it up.  Still.

Election 2012 Round-up

You may have heard that Pres. Obama won re-election.  I mentioned that, but I also talked about anti-science Rep. Paul Broun and his re-election.  There was a write-in campaign for Charles Darwin in that otherwise uncontested race.  Darwin did get almost 4000 votes.  A far cry from being able to win, but maybe a message was sent.

I also talked about Minnesota's own national embarrassment, Michele Bachmann.  She, too, was re-elected, but by the narrowest of margins.  This despite her having out spent her Democrat opponent by 12 to 1 and that her district had been recently redrawn to be even more Republican.  Maybe a message was sent there, too.

The Evil Empire Buys Star Wars

No, not the Hated Yankees, in this case by "evil empire" I mean Disney.  Disney has purchased the Star Wars franchise for a mere four billion dollars.  There is some trepidation and some excitement at this news.  Will Disney damage the Star Wars brand even worse than George Lucas has?  Well, I'm optimistic.  So, is the writer of this list of reasons why the new trilogy won't suck.  I guess time will tell.

Movie Recommendation: Field Of Dreams (1989)

Universal Studios

The Facebook page The Movie Hobo posted the question asking followers to name a movie or scene that makes them cry.  Well, as much as I hate to admit that I'm capable of such a thing, one movie immediately popped to mind.  'Field Of Dreams' is a love letter to baseball, a ghost story, a tale of obsession, redemption and second chances.  It has a hippie undercurrent vibe to it and a somewhat unnecessary anti-censorship element, but overall it is touching and heartwarming.

And, in the end, Costner delivers a line that brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it.  I don't want to spoil it, so all I'll say is it has to do with playing catch.  I'm tearing up now.  I better go. 

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush & 'Your Phone's Off The Hook (But You're Not)' by X
Second ad break bumpers: 'Straight Lines' by Suzanne Vega & 'Bitter Fruit' by The Alley Cats
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 4-16-11 show notes

I've Been Accused Of Thinking I'm Smart

This is a book.

Well, that's what a former employee of the company I work for thought. He didn't care for me because he got the impression that because I read books I think I'm smarter than everyone else. I do read books, but there are quite a few people smarter than me am. I ain't no genius.

Skeptical News Items

No night vision here.

The first item was about Penn & Teller's upcoming series for the Discovery Channel.

In the dark in more ways than one.

The second item came from the satirical paper, The Onion, that made a good point about the Ghost Hunters program.

Comparing Apples And Oranges

Comparing these items

Starting with a brief mention about the "birther" conspiracy movement, I then took on the idiom of comparing apples and oranges. Turns out they are very similar. Perhaps it's time to retire the phrase.

Learn more here.

Logical Fallacies: Special Pleading

Inspired by the skeptical podcasts, Skeptoid and Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, I'm doing a series defining logical fallacies. This week's logical fallacy is "special pleading". I'm continuing to use those two sites so that we might learn how to recognize those mistakes made by all of us.

You can learn more from Skeptoid and the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.

Top Ten Conspiracy Theories

This one gets it right, even if I didn't draw it.

I did a quick run through of Benjamin Radford's list which appears here. Then I segued into Jesse Ventura's comment on finding the actual events of 9/11 less believable than the "truthers'" ideas of what happened that horrible day. But what the "truthers" believe needs a good going over by Occam's Razor.

You can read more here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Electric Lash' by The Church & 'Music For Boys' by The Suburbs
Second ad break bumpers: 'Walking On Your Hands' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' by U2
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