dimland radio 1-2-16 show notes

Happy New Year And My Annual Resolution And A Little This And A Little That

Happy New Year, everyone!

 

As is my tradition for the last couple decades, I think, I made my annual resolution to live to see the next year. So far, I have kept the resolution. However, one of these years...

 

I also mentioned four people who didn't make it to 2016. Wayne Rogers, Natalie Cole, Meadowlark Lemon, and Lemmy Kilmister all died within just days before the new year. That brought up a quick addressing of the whole celebrities die in threes myth and I talked about how Lemon was a member of that Harlem Globetrotters team that the public knew best. We knew two of the team by name, Meadowlark and Curly, and that team even had a Saturday morning cartoon.

 

A small amount of politics worked its way in when I mentioned there's a university in our country that has a 100% accuracy rate at predicting who will be President. Western Illinois University has correctly predicted the winning candidates since 1975. Not bad.

 

So, who are they saying will be our next Commander-in-Chief? Bernie Sanders.

 

We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

 

I also mentioned that Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. It would be a great honor, but Steve Miller got in, too. Cheap Trick is very underrated and they've always been great live, at least, the half a dozen times or so that I've seen them.

Science! Yeah!

This was a slightly uncomfortable topic for me. There's a science series on UK TV called A Girls' Guide to 21st Century Sex and there is a couple minute clip demonstrating what happens during heterosexual intercourse in the missionary position. They put cameras everywhere! Inside and out.

 

It's all in the name of science, of course. This was the hottest science I've ever seen!

 

However, I did take issue to the mentioning of the G Spot as though science has established that it is real. From what I can find, the evidence for the G Spot is mostly anecdotal and very weak. Science has yet to determine it exists and they've been looking it for decades. It may just be that some women may have a sensitive area within their naughtiest of naughty bits, but it seems more likely to be a myth.

 

Now, I need to watch that video a few more times. For science!

 

Pedantic Moment: Licorice Is Black

 

This is an old pet peeve of mine. I'm sure I've talked about on the show before, but here I go again.

 

Folks, licorice is not a texture. It's not a shape. It's not a color. It's a flavor! The red stuff is either strawberry or cherry, but it's not licorice.

 

Well, in recent years, I've been seeing packaging calling the red stuff licorice. That didn't used to be the case. There used to be (and still are) strawberry Twizzlers or cherry Nibs and licorice Twizzlers and Nibs, but now some candy makers are calling all of it licorice with a separate listing of strawberry, cherry, or the many other flavors available.

 

Walgreen's DeLish store brand offers red and black, calling both licorice. It's red is strawberry, while its black is listed as classic black flavor.

 

 

 

Classic black flavor? Setting aside the ethnically insensitive sex jokes, just what does black taste like? Pepper? Burnt toast? Asphalt? Ink?!

 

Could it taste like LICORICE?!

 

This is a battle I just have to accept I've lost.

 

Star Wars! Nothing But Still More Star Wars!

 

As you know, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is doing phenomenally well and, in the opinion of many including me, it is excellent. Sure, it ain't perfect, but it just feels right and has me excited for the next installment.

 

But, there have been a few nitpickers and complainers who just can't be satisfied. They claim it's nothing but a remake of the original Star Wars. They don't know enough about what happened since Return of the Jedi. Carrie Fisher got old and can't fit in the slave girl bikini anymore. Whine, whine, whine.

 

Some people are never happy. The point made by one reviewer over the complaints of it being too similar to the originals, while the same people complained the prequels weren't enough like the originals, "What do you want?!"

 

I mentioned a couple spoiler reviews. I will link to them, but don't forget they do contain spoilers. I'll even include a few spoiler reviews I didn't mention on the show. SPOILERS! There. You have been warned.

Kevin Smith's review.

Chris Stuckman's review.

Adam Savage's review.

Geeks Without God's review.

 

Movie Recommendation: None

 

I ran out of time, so you are on your own this week.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Ace of Spades' by Motorhead & 'New Year's Day' by U2

Second ad break bumpers: 'New Day Rising' by Husker Du &  'New Dreams' by Naked Raygun

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 12-26-15 show notes

Merry Boxing Day And I'm Sorry

I started the show remarking about the Christmas thing and Boxing Day, then went into explaining how boneheaded I was about getting the gender wrong when thanking Maddy Love, a transwoman, for the kind words about my show. I made sure Maddy knew I'd goofed up and she was very understanding and gracious about it.

 

I thank Maddy for being so good about my blunder. I will endeavor to get these things right in the future.

 

Something Weird Happened To Me As I Cataloged Comic Books

As one of my many jobs, I work part time for Nostalgia Zone, which is a store that sells old comic books and collectibles. I add inventory to our online catalog and then file that inventory in its proper place in the store. I enjoy the work because I can do most at home and when I go to the store I get to visit a friend of mine. And I get payed! And I get an employee discount! Win all around!

 

Well, the weird thing that happen, without getting into all the boring details, was as I entered one comic book I found that instead of a code listing the grade of the previously cataloged item, there was a person's name. The name was the same as a good friend of mine from high school!

So weird!

 

His name isn't especially common and I don't recall if he collected comic books. It was suggested that perhaps the name was of a writer or artist, but I don't know of any comic book producer with that name.

 

Blasted By A Memory

 

I worked at Wendy's decades ago and I happened to walk into a Taco John's restaurant and I was slammed by a very strong memory of my days at Wendy's. The reason it hit me was because that Taco John's used to be a Wendy's restaurant.

 

The layout was virtually the same and it came to my mind as I walked in. It felt like it was thirty years ago and I was heading into work.

 

Star Wars! Nothing But More Star Wars!

 

We saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens! And we (my wife, our son, and I) loved it! Yes, I am aware that there have been some grumbles about the familiarity of the story line, but that didn't bother us a bit. And that is something a whole lot of other people who saw the film have in common with us.

 

It was fun and a satisfying return to form. I want to see it again!

 

I mentioned Siskel & Ebert taking on a snob critic who would rather kids watch Tender Mercies than any of the three Star Wars films. (This was at the time of the release of Return of the Jedi.) Siskel & Ebert understood the joy of movies and how movies can be fun. That one critic (John Simon) was just a wet blanket. Just look at him being all snobby, while Siskel & Ebert demonstrate how they became the two most powerful and relevant film critics in America.

 

Boy! How I miss them!

 

Watch them in this Nightline clip.

 

And on last week's show I had mentioned a YouTuber did a series of videos imagining the prequels being good. I neglected to link to them. I will correct that below.

Episode 1.

 

Episode 2.

 

Episode 3.

 

I'm Not Going To Get Political, Uh, Yes, I Am

 

I noted that there was a heavily biased article lauding the bipartisan take down of the No Child Left Behind legislation. It was just one more failed policy of the Bush administration that had to be repaired by the sainted Pres. Obama. (I'm trying to reflect the biased nature of the article. I'm not claiming NCLB was good law or that Obama is perfect or whatever.)

 

When you read the article please note how there is an emphasis on this being a bipartisan action to undo Bush's disastrous law. That seems to imply that Bush and the Republicans passed the law unilaterally, doesn't it?

 

Let's take a closer look.

 

The NCLB legislation was written by Representatives John Boenher (R) and George Miller (D) and Senators Judd Gregg (R) and Edward Kennedy (D). No surprise there, because that's how legislation is written: By members of both parties.

But, surely, it was all the Republicans that wanted the law passed and the Democrats who objected in those days of fierce partisanship during the Bush administration, right?

Let's look at the numbers.

The vote in the House was as follows:

Republicans voted to pass NCLB by 186 - 34. Democrats voted to pass it by 197 - 10. That's funny. That's more Democrats voting in favor than Republicans and more Republicans voting against than Democrats. Interesting. Oh, and there was one Independent who voted for NCLB. His name was Bernie Sanders. Could it be the same Bernie Sanders? It could!

But how did the legislation fare in the Senate?

Republicans voted in favor 43 - 6, while Democrats voted in favor 47 - 2. Again, that's more Democrats voting in favor than Republicans and more Republicans voting against than Democrats.

Seems pretty bipartisan to me, though.

Oh, and notable Democrat Senators who voted in favor of No Child Left Behind? Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Harry Reid, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton!

But, yes, let's blame George W Bush.

 

Movie Recommendation: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

 

Disney/LucasFilm Ltd.

It's terrific! It's fun! It's practically mandatory to see it. So, see it!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Everyone A Puzzle Lover' by 10,000 Maniacs & 'The Every Day Story of Smalltown' by XTC

Second ad break bumpers: 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' by The Police &  'Every Word Means No' by Let's Active

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.