dimland radio 3-14-15 show notes

5 Years!

I have been doing this show for five year! It's hard to believe I've managed to think of something most every week. I say most, because there were a couple few week's a didn't do a show, but let's not get bogged down in details. 

I've done 224 shows in those five years. That doesn't include the 30 plus music only shows I did back when Z Talk Radio had the license to play music by signed artists. Boy, those music shows were fun, but without license. I don't need to go into the details, do I?

In five years I have interviewed a handful of people. Not many, but I did get to talk to George Hrab and Ben Radford.

Will the show last another five years? Will I ever have another guest? Will I ever have more than two listeners? Will I ever get it on iTunes?

Stayed tuned.  

Scooby Doo & In Search Of...

I reminded my two listeners that the first skeptical topic I address on that first show was the cartoon 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You?' It was the introduction to skepticism for a lot of kids in the late 60s and 70s. The g-g-ghost never turned out to be an actual ghost. It was always some person pulling a scheme of one sort or another.

I also mentioned In Search Of.. That was the credulous show which "investigated" the unknown and unexplained. It was the forerunner and template setter of all those mystery-mongering shows that are so plentiful on cable.

In the day, I lapped up the nonsense that host Leonard Nimoy delivered with such a straight face and no hint of irony. What a great actor he was.

When I watch In Search Of... now I'm far less impressed by the bullshit, but I still like the show so much. Oh, well. Chalk it up to the duality of man.

Vaccination In The Courts

Two stories in the news about vaccines in the courts. In Germany, a biologist, Stefan Lanka, had issued a challenge with an award of 100,000 euro to anyone who could demonstrate that measles is caused by a virus and is not psychosomatic as he believes it to be. A Germany doctor provided the evidence and claimed the prize. Lanka refused to pay. The case went to court and the court found that Lanka needed to pay up.

In America, the US Court of Federal Claims, after studying three test cases of claims that vaccination was causing autism, has found that the evidence does not support a causal connection. This is good news as science has long maintained that autism is not caused by vaccines or the mercury that has not been in most vaccines for years.

Kinda Busy

I related that I've been a bit busy lately. I'm writing blogs for Stuck In The 80s, I'm going to start blogging for the Nostalgia Zone, I have a forward to write for a friend's graphic novel, and there's a special podcast that has just been released (after I did this show) that I'll talk more about next week. Plus I have a couple art projects that I need to get done.

But you can listen to that episode of Assault of the 2-Headed Space Mules right now! And you can read my latest Never Found piece by going here.

Playlists On YouTube

I have been trying out the playlist option on my channel at YouTube. So far I've put to playlists together. One is of Pete Townshend songs that might not be as well know and the other is a list of songs that were played at First Avenue on their Club Degenerate nights.

I talked a bit about my days hanging out at First Avenue of those Club Degenerate nights. There were unusual people who would hang on there as well as the occasional appearances of the Fuckin' Shit Biscuits that could be quite fun. Noisy and messy, but fun.

A Tale Of Art School

I used to do some fairly violent or weird doodles on the tabletops of the art school I attended years ago. One day I ran afoul of the art history teacher who took issue of one of my doodles depicting a woman bending over backward. The teacher looked past the violent imagery I had drawn, because those involved men. And she didn't object to the phallic images that might have shown up doodled by other students. I wasn't the only doodler.

But that bent over woman, apparently bent her out of shape. She gave me a talking to after class in the common room as students passed by. I don't remember my initial reaction, but I did do a write up voicing my concern of the double standard.

By that I mean, my design class had just gone to see a German Expressionist exhibit at one of the local museums. Fellow students and the instructor directed my attention to one particular artist whose work my doodles resembled. The artist was Otto Dix. So, I made the point in my written protest that Dix hangs in a museum while I get shit.

Movie Recommendation: None

You are on your own this week. Sorry.

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'One Day in Your Life' by 54-40 & 'One Step Ahead' by Split Enz
Second ad break bumpers: 'One Day' By The Church & 'One At A Time' by The Who

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 4-26-14 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 4-4-10 show notes

Just when I thought I was getting to hang of this radio thing, I forgot to have my iTunes activated properly with my broadcast software. I spotted the error in the first few minutes and corrected it. But we I listened to the show afterward, I noticed that my opening did not broadcast. Whoops. Well, I'm working on it.

Condolences to Tanya Douglas and her family

Z Talk's own, Tanya Douglas and her family recently suffered the loss of her father-in-law. I took the first few minutes of the show to express my deepest sympathies.

Scooby Doo, How Could You?!

I talked about being disappointed by the animated feature 'Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost'. My main objection was that there was an actual ghost in it. You read more in the previous blog entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo_and_the_Witch's_Ghost

Movie talk

I talked about an AARP movie quiz, continuity errors and lens flare. My favorite film continuity error comes from 'A Christmas Carol' from 1951 - a face in the mirror! It was likely a crew member and not a ghost.

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/powerof50/articles/top_50_movie_zingers.html

I talked about 'Wall-E' with the lens flare usage. There is no camera used in the creation of Pixar films such as 'Wall-E'.

There was no camera used in 'Wall-E' yet we still accept the lens flare.

Penn & Teller: Bulls Hit

I transitioned from 'Wall-E' into talking about Penn & Teller's skeptical program that airs on Showtime. I used 'Wall-E's first 20 minute depiction of a trash ridden world to talk about Penn & Teller's take on recycling. The world will not be buried in trash.

Warning! Penn & Teller: Bulls Hit contains bad language and nudity. They also use sarcasm and insults toward those with whom they disagree. View at your own discretion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvz-z7CvsYA

Ouija Boards and Haunted 911

While sticking with Penn & Teller: Bulls Hit, I'm mentioned trying to describe a Ouija board test they had done to the hosts (Ray & Wayne) of Haunted 911. I difficulty getting the point across through the Z Talk chat room, so I decided to talk about it on my show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG4wTZuT3wM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA5uYhXpa-E&feature=related

Minnesota Twins baseball!

I closed out the show with a little Twins talk. They have a new ballpark, just for them. There will be no more sharing a stadium with our football team, the Minnesota Vikings.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Your Silent Face' by New Order & 'Beat Surrender' by The Jam
Second ad break bumpers: 'Abacab' by Genesis & 'Whatever' by Husker Du
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.

scooby doo, how could you?!

Some of my readers may be aware that I have recently started doing an internet radio show. It’s called Dimland Radio and you can find it at www.ztalkradio.com Saturday nights at 11:00 central. In fact, you can read my show notes each week right here at my blog. There, that gets the plug out of the way.

The first topic of my first show was ‘Scooby Doo, Where Are You?’, because it was the first kids’ program that encouraged a skeptical viewpoint. It debuted in September 1969, focusing on four kids and their dog roaming the countryside in their Mystery Machine van, looking for mysteries to solve. These intrepid trust-funders (there was never a hint of any of them having a job) would stumble upon a mystery of some apparent supernatural event and search for clues. Chased by ghosts, witches, werewolves and other assorted creeps, our heroes would always manage to reveal the truth and catch the bad guys.

The bad guys, as I’m sure you are aware, never turned out to be anything near being supernatural. It was never an actual ghost or witch or werewolf. It was nearly always a person in a costume (there was the one episode where the creep was a robot run amok). It’s a wonder that the kids, especially Shaggy and Scooby, would continue to be scared of “g-g-g-ghosts!” After all the times the mystery turned out not to be supernatural, you’d think they would no longer believe in ghosts or the like.

Just the other day, when I got home from work, I joined my son in watching a Scooby Doo animated movie online via Netflix. (Oh, Netflix! How truly wonderful thou art!) The show was called ‘Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost’. It was produced in 1999, 30 years after the world was introduced to Scoob and the gang.

Oh, boy! Was I disappointed!

First, it was 1999 and the world was beginning to be bombarded with the whole global warming, the earth is in danger message. So, of course, a kids’ cartoon had to deliver some save the earth message whether it pertained to the plot or not. In this case, it didn’t.

We were introduced to a grrl rock band named the Hex Girls. They called themselves “eco-Goths”, which seemed to mean that they were girls that liked to look like the undead and sing about how much they love the earth. And, as if to add some authenticity to the group, one member was Wiccan. I found it interesting that they treated Wicca as though it was an ethnicity, as in being Jewish, and not a religion, as in being Catholic. I may be wrong, but I don’t think Wicca can be considered an ethnicity.

But this was a minor annoyance.

What really bothered me was the fact that, at some point in the intervening 30 years, Hanna-Barbera thought it would be a good idea to drop the no supernatural policy as applied to Scooby Doo. And that’s what I was so disturbed by when watching ‘Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost.’ There was an actual ghost. My skeptic’s heart was broken.

Sure the first two thirds of the show held to the guys in costumes and other trickery angle, but act three went supernatural. A character who turned out to be a double-crossing villain found a book of spells and released the witch’s ghost from whatever limbo in which she had been imprisoned. It wasn’t smoke bombs and mirrors or any other tricks, nope, it was magic. Black magic!

It was also very anime. Lots of energy blasts, lightning bolts, explosions, yelling and screaming in that anime fashion. Trees became animated, as did pumpkins. People were lifted into the air and held in some sort of energy field. Finally, it took the pure of heart Wiccan girl to read the spell that would rid the world of the evil ghost and her helper. Mystery solved.

When the show ended I felt that I had been insulted by Hanna-Barbera. I explained to my son how it was wrong for Scooby to have been promoting supernatural, after having shown that such mysteries always have a real world explanation. Scooby had taught kids that the supernatural, the paranormal and the unexplained are merely mysteries that can be solved.

I don’t have a problem with other shows and movies, for kids or adults, indulging in the supernatural fantasy. I am a fan of The X-Files, Jonny Quest, Harry Potter, Dracula, Frankenstein, haunted house movies, etc. Those shows never held that the supernatural was just unexplained natural phenomena (well, Scully tried). But when Scooby went supernatural, I felt so damned insulted.

Scooby Doo, how could you?!

dimland radio 3-13-10 show notes

Hey, kids! Well, the first show of Dimland Radio is in the can. It was a long time coming and I'm relieved that I got the show started and I didn't screw up. Not too much anyway. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to listen, I really appreciate it.

I think I've finally recovered from the cotton mouth I was suffering through the show.

Here are some links to find more information on the topics I touched on...

Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

http://www.skeptic.com/junior_skeptic/issue34/

Strangely Enough!
Here's a link to another blogger giving his thoughts on this entertaining book...

http://secretmountainlaboratory.blogspot.com/2008/01/strangely-enoughmetaweirdness.html

This link is to Brian Dunning's skeptical take on the 'Footprints in the Snow' story I read on the show...

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4031

(For my take you can scroll down to the previous post, just below this one.)

These next links are to Amazon.com, just in case you might want to buy your own copy. Highly recommended...

http://www.amazon.com/Strangely-Enough-C-b-Colby/dp/B0000CKFM0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268591497&sr=8-6

http://www.amazon.com/Strangely-Enough-abridged-C-Colby/dp/B000NQ0EUC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268591497&sr=8-2

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'We're So Cool' by Au Pairs & 'Driving The Dynamite Truck' By Breaking Circus
Second ad break bumpers: 'Generation' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & 'You Better You Bet' by The Who
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

With the exception of that last song, all music is available on iTunes. Regular listeners to my show can, if they really want to, although why I don't know, get the $5 Fiddle track by contacting me through the chatroom.

I have a couple corrections to make...

1) When I talked about the original Jonny Quest series, I said that Dr. Benton Quest had a Van Dyke or a goatee. Actually, Dr. Quest had a full beard and mustache.

2) When I was going on about how great my musical taste is, I referred to Z Talk Rocks as Z Talk Radio. Whoops. I also didn't complete my thought on Z Talk Rocks. I was going to say that I would have liked to been able to go over to Z Talk Rocks and play the full versions of my bumper music. Unfortunately, Z Talk Rocks is gone and I won't have that opportunity. I meant to say that, but I didn't. Sorry.

That's it for this week's show notes. Be sure to join me next Saturday night 11 central, midnight eastern for Dimland Radio on the Z Talk Radio Network. www.ztalkradio.com

Thank you and have a happy pi day!