dimland radio 4-26-14 show notes

 

Scooby Doo And The Yankee Skeptic

I recently updated a blog I had written in 2010. It was about my realization that, sometime between 1969 and 1999, Hanna-Barbara had dropped the mystery solution discovered by Scooby Doo and the gang never being actually paranormal policy. I was rather disappointed.
 

My Facebook friend Kitty Mervine runs The Yankee Skeptic and she wanted to repost my blog which is why I updated it. Well, it's been getting a few hits and positive feedback. Who knew?

We Need A Skeptical Movement

Speaking of The Yankee Skeptic, Kitty posted another guest writer's blog questioning whether the skeptical movement is necessary. It was an intriguing piece, but his reasoning was flawed. What was really impressive was that host of the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, Steven Novella, thought it important enough to respond. And he wasn't the only one.

 

It is a good thing when someone stirs the pot with a thought provoking article. You can read the original post here, Steve's response here, and AZAtheist's response here.

Is Dimland Radio Just About Bigfoot, UFOs, Ghosts, And Crop Circles?

 

Those blogs got me thinking about Dimland Radio and the topics I have covered over the four plus years that I've been doing the show. I focused on the topics of bigfoot, UFOs, ghosts, and crop circles and how often they came up on my show.

 

The following is an approximation:

 

Bigfoot - 19 times (2.61%)
UFOs - 14 times (1.92%)

Ghosts - 20 times (2.75%)

Crop Circles - 1 time (0.14%)

I may need to talk about crop circles more often.

Pigasus Awards 2014

I got to this topic a little later in the year than I would normally, but I didn't do a show the weekend after April Fool's Day when the awards are announced. Better late than never, eh? Click here for the this year's "winners."

 

It's Time For Some Tragic Irony

 

A statue erected in honor of Pope John Paul II broke, fell, and crushed a young man to death. This happened just days before the popular Pope was to be made a saint. Does this tragedy cancel out one of the miracles needed for the pope to become a saint? Apparently not. Click here for the irony.

 

Fox News Is A Fan Of Science Now?

 

Fox News host Megyn Kelly and her guest Dana Loesch agree that Jenny McCarthy's anti-vax message is ill-informed, dangerous, and not supported by science. I was pleasantly shocked. Now if only Fox News would embrace the science behind evolution, stem cell research, and global warming.

 

Movie Recommendation: The Thin Man (1934)

 

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

Prohibition in America ended in 1933, The Thin Man with its celebration of drunken mystery solving was released in 1934. Might Hollywood been overcompensating? Maybe.

The movie stars William Powell and Myrna Loy. It's pretty funny and quite entertaining.

 

Celebs Stop Making Selfies

 

I interrupted the outro to the show to go on a rant about celebrities doing the whole selfie thing and how I wish the Boston Red Sox would go back to being the lovable losers.

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Here It Is Tomorrow' by Game Theory & 'Candyman' by Siouxsie & the Banshees
Second ad break bumpers: 'Chrome Injury' by The Church & 'Takin A Ride' by The Replacements
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 4-6-13 show notes

Roger Ebert Has Died

Well, now there really will never be a Siskel & Ebert reunion.   Of course, we knew that because Gene Siskel died long ago and once you're dead you're dead.

So, now Roger Ebert has also died.  That's a bummer.  I talked about being a long time watcher of the best movie review show ever and how I stayed loyal through Gene's death, Richard Roeper replacing Gene, Roger's illness and his subsequent leaving the show, and Roeper's leaving the show.  But, when the show's producers decided to change the format that had worked so well, I stopped watching.

Pedantic Moment: "Everybody's Talking About..."

The phrase "everybody's talking about" is a bit of hyperbole that's bugged me for a long time.  Sure, we know it's a gross exaggeration, but it still gets under my skin and I finally got around to talking about it. 

Dimland Radio's Look At Sports

The sports injury the everybody is talking about!  Kevin Ware of the Louisville Cardinals college basketball team broke his leg on national television last Sunday.  It was during the "Elite Eight" game between Louisville and the Duke Blue Devils and it was horrific!

Although Hayden (my son) and I were watching the game, we didn't see the injury as it happened, but I did see the replay.  Holy crap!  That was nasty!

The injury was almost identical to the broken leg Joe Theismann suffered in 1985 as quarterback for the Washington Redskins.  The injury made it Joe's last game.

I talked about the difference in how network TV handled showing the leg break in 1985 compared to today.  And I talked about how my dad enjoyed my squeamishness about Joe's injury and how dear old Dad liked to trick me into watching the replay. 

 

Never Found In The 80s:  Big Black

My second installment of my guest blog series of musical artists that never found a mainstream audience in the 80s.  This time I wrote about the Chicago band Big Black, a very edgy and angry band that was too edgy and angry to get near the American Billboard charts.

You can read my piece here.

JREF's 2013 Pigasus Awards

 

It has been my tradition to talk about the Pigasus Awards each year and this year was no exception.  You can find the list here.

Your Eyes Can Deceive You, Don't Trust Them

Old Ben Kenobi knew what he was talking about a long time ago in a galaxy... You know the rest.

There's a video of dancing girls wearing half white and half black and as they dance your eyes play tricks on you.  Watch the video and remember that it was taken with good lighting.  Imagine what tricks your eyes will play on you when you are in the dark, wandering around looking for ghosts.

Movie Recommendation: Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

 

20th Century Fox

A classic Western of which even my son approves.  It's funny and adventurous.  And it has a terrific chase sequence that rolls out over several minutes with the two train robbers trying to shake a group of trackers who just won't go away.  "Who are those guys?"

It stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford as Butch and Sundance and was directed by George Roy Hill.  The movie also features Katharine Ross, Strother Martin and Ted Cassidy and has the BJ Thomas hit song 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Hayden and I highly recommend this movie.

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: 'Spy World' by Wall Of Voodoo & 'Kerosene' by Big Black
Second ad break bumpers: 'Strange Thing' by Buzzcocks & 'Love Song' by The Cure
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 4-7-12 show notes

My Scam Story Update

Back on the March 24 show I told how I may have fallen for a scam. The scammers said they would send the company I work for an invoice. Well, thus far the invoice has yet to show up. It appears that what they were really doing was fishing for a credit card number.

JREF 2012 Pigasus Awards

Each year on April 1st the good folks at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) present their Pigasus Awards. The awards are given to the people or organizations that do the most to promote paranormal, psuedoscience and just plain nonsense. Go here to hear the man himself announce this year's batch of "winners."

Ten Minute Topic With Chris Brown

My skeptical friend Chris Brown

This time our TMT talk wasn't about skepticism, it was about a fundraising event that Chris' son Ethan is putting on to benefit his local library. The event is tied in with the number Tau (6.28) which is 2 x Pi (3.14). We talk about the number and Ethan's upcoming attempt to recite from memory Tau out to 2000 places. The event is to take place May 6, 2012.

You can learn more and pledge to this fine cause here.

The Misadventures Of My Son, Hayden

Hayden had a rough start to March and another rough start to April. On March 1st, Hayden managed to tear his thumbnail away, just a bit, from his thumb. It hurt like the dickens and Hayden got so worked up he passed out.

April 1st (no fooling), Hayden complained of stomach problems. We gave him an antacid and minutes later he threw up. It was only the second time he had vomited in his life. We suspect food poisoning.

Titanic Talkers

Way back in 1997 I went to see Titanic with my parents. It was a packed theater and we were lucky enough to sit in front of two elderly, loud talking gals. Perhaps if they'd have piped down we might have realized how silly the story was. Spoiler alert: The ship sinks.

Movie Recommendation: The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)

A loving parody of The Beatles from the mind of Eric Idle. Pretty funny stuff and the songs aren't half bad. Fellow Pythoners Michael Palin and Neil Innes (he wrote the songs) contribute and several members of the Not Ready For Primetime Players of Saturday Night Live also appear. Be sure to watch for George Harrison's cameo as a reporter.

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: 'Luka' by Suzanne Vega & 'Real World' by Husker Du
Second ad break bumpers: 'Generals And Majors' by XTC & 'Change' by Killing Joke
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 4-2-11 show notes

Living In Interesting Times

A little talk on the work situation and how it's been really stressful. It just seems as though the stuff is piling up sky high. But I still have a job (for now).

$280.00!

That new (new to us, it's a 2001) car just cost us about $280 dollars. Headlights needed adjusting, some light bulbs needed replacing, the rear window wiper needed attention. And an extra key that cost us $60 but it shouldn't have. Oh, well, you can't take it with you. Especially if you don't have it to begin with.

JREF's 2011 Pigasus Awards

When pigs fly!

Each year the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) awards people and organizations that promote pseudoscience, superstition, you know, woo. Click here to see this year's "winners".

It's Not True: Celebrities Die In 3s

Elizabeth Taylor, she was a hottie back in the day.

What constitutes a celebrity? How much time has to pass between deaths before you stop counting to three? So in March, we lost Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro. That's two, who's number three? I give a few suggestions.

Check out this site dealing with celebrity deaths.

iRenew Bracelets, Power Balance Bands, Placebo Bands: One Isn't BS

An honest product at a modest price.

The one that isn't BS is the Placebo Band. The other two claim to improve your balance, health, energy, etc. At best, what they provide is the placebo effect. The hucksters of these bands (excluding the honestly named and marketed Placebo Band) use tricks to convince you that the items work.

To see the tricks click here and here. To get your Placebo Band, which is much more affordable then the Power Balance bands ($60.00 Australian) or the iRenew bracelets (2 for $19.99 US) it will run you $2.00 (Australian).

Craig Ferguson Passes Off An Urban Legend As A True Story

Craig, how could you?

I wrote about this here and finally talked about it on the show.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Surfers Are Back' by The Barracudas & 'Love Is For Lovers' by The dB's
Second ad break bumpers: 'Lay All Your Love On Me' by Abba & 'Say Goodbye' by Hunters & Collectors
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

dimland radio show notes 4-17-10

No guest on this show. I may have tweaked a nose or two by covering this year's JREF Pigasus Awards. Trisha, a regular listener and chat room member gave me the "interesting show" response. I know that doesn't necessarily mean something negative and Trisha is a friend of the show. I understand the audience doesn't always agree with me. That's cool. I press on.

Theater of the mind

Z Talk Radio is doing something way cool. They are playing old time radio shows after Paradigm Shift (Fridays 10 - midnight central) and Dimland Radio. When my show ends you can listen to the theater of the mind shows of the horror and mystery genre. After Paradigm Shift, you'll hear old westerns such as the Lone Ranger. This to me is far out, I was very interested in those old shows when I was a kid. I'm especially thrilled that Z Talk has procured a few episodes of my favorite radio show, The Shadow.

The JREF annual Pigasus awards for 2009

Each year on April 1st (yes, April Fool's Day), the James Randi Educational Foundation announces the "winners" of their annual Pigasus awards. These awards are given to the individuals and organizations who have done the most (regrettably) to advance or promote superstition and psuedoscience in the previous year.

This year's recipients can be found here.

Dimland Radio promos

I knew it was out there, but I finally heard the promo for my show that was produced by Z Talk Radio. It's a good promo that even mentions my website, www.dimland.com. I didn't think to mention my website in the promo I wrote for my show. I'm glad somebody did. The Z Talk edition has a line that I wasn't thrilled with. It states that "science is religion on Dimland Radio." Well, it's not. I could tell that a skeptic did not write that copy. No skeptic would ever equate science as religion.

Skeptical news items

Ripped from a recent issue of the Skeptical Inquirer were these two stories:

Study Reveals Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective for Memory

African Albinos Murdered for Witchcraft

A (hopefully) humorous story about my son, Hayden

My son, Hayden, is so cute and smart and wonderful and awesome, even when he's making his dad stop peeing in midstream to run to find out why he's crying. It turned out Hayden was fine. He was just playing. That little stinker.

Correction

For some reason (I'm not as smart as I think, perhaps?), I didn't remember that "mg" stands for milligram, not microgram. How stupid is that?

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'This Ain't No Picnic' by The Minutemen & 'Bliss' by Urban Guerrillas
Second ad break bumpers: 'Warm Leatherette' by The Normal & 'And I Moved' 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