dimland radio 11-29-14 show notes

 

Something That Does Bug Me

I really, really like Ken Burns' Baseball. I watch it frequently because it's streaming on Netflix. So, I've been rewatching it again as a tonic for there being no baseball. We're only through one month of the off season. Will it ever end?!

Anyway, during this latest rewatching, I was reminded to complain about how joyless and dower contributor Mario Cuomo is. Most all the other contributors give a sense of enjoyment when talking about the great game, but whenever Cuomo shows up (which is thankfully seldom) he just brings everything down.

The man is so doleful, how did he ever getting elected Governor of New York?

Rudy Giuliani: A Terrible Leader?

A Facebook friend who is a skeptic except when it comes to politics, then his liberal nature clouds his skepticism when it comes to Republicans, posted a link to some piece about Rudy Giuliani being accused as being a racist because he suggested black on black crime is a problem.

Well, maybe he is a racist, I don't know. My FB friend is certain, because Giuliani is a mean Republican. He stated he was glad Rudy didn't become president.

I responded on his post thus:

Yep. He would have been a terrible leader. Remember how awful he was in the aftermath of 9/11 when New York completely collapsed in hopelessness and despair and never got themselves together again? Gosh, it was awful the way he just disappeared and stopped being a leader. Why, I remember how he said, "Eh, not my problem. Let the Feds deal with it."

Remember how David Letterman, when The Late Show returned to the air after the attack, went on a long rant about how useless Giuliani was? Remember how Dave said he was able to continue the show because of his pure disgust with the mayor? Look it up on YouTube. It's priceless.

Yep, it's a damn good thing he never became president. America can do without that kind of leadership.

In case you aren't sure, I was being sarcastic.

Ferguson And Media Perception

I'm having a hard time understanding the violence in Ferguson. It doesn't make sense to me to attack businesses in your neighborhood that had nothing to do with Michael Brown's death. Mob mentality can get people to do things they never would do own their own. I've never been part of a mob.

Another Facebook friend shared a link to the Washington Post's illustrated timeline of the horrible incident which lead to Office Darren Wilson shooting Michael Brown to death. The timeline is helpful, but I think it has a couple moments in which the image suggests the more aggressive stance of Brown. The text states that there are conflicting eyewitness accounts, but the Post shows the more aggressive versions.

Check out the timeline here. What do you think?

Rosetta Mission: Science Works, But The Shirt Doesn't

The European Space Agency has achieved something very awesome. In their Rosetta Mission, they landed a probe on a comet speeding through the solar system 300 million miles away. How awesome is that?!

The craft had to travel for ten years logging in more than four BILLION miles in its travels to reach comet 67P. Then it soft landed the probe Philae on the surface of 67P.

This was able to be done because science works!

But, some people lost their composure because Matt Taylor project \scientist of the Rosetta Mission wore a shirt that put them off. They cried sexism, because the shirt had comic bookish illustrations of scantily dressed women. Taylor later tearfully apologized for his apparent thoughtlessness.

This whole incident sparked a discussion on the rampant sexism inherent in science, but is it rampant? Not being a scientist, I don't know.

Here are a couple points of view on this version of "shirtgate": first is Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer, second is CH Sommers the Factual Feminist. You can see what they have to say and let me know what you think. Email me at drdim@dimland.com or comment below.

Movie Recommendation: All Is Lost (2013)

 

Lionsgate

I think this movie slipped by most of us last year and that's a shame, because it is so damn good. JC Chandor wrote and directed this film that features Robert Redford in one of his finest performances. Redford is the only character in the film. He plays a private sailor alone at sea when his boat is damage by a lost cargo container.

The film has virtually no dialog as it depicts "our man's" efforts to survive. Despite the lack of dialog, I was riveted to the screen. It is terrific! Five stars!

It's streaming on Netflix. Watch it now.

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Under Cover of the Night' by The Rolling Stones & 'Unfinished Business' by Au Pairs
Second ad break bumpers: 'Under Pressure' by Queen & 'Units' by Man Sized Action

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 11-22-14 show notes

 

Something That Doesn't Bug Me

The tag on my "tagful" tee has never bothered me. Never poked or scratched me. It just has never bugged me.

 

The ads for Hanes tagless tees on the other hand...

 

Got A Ticket

I normally have the backs of the police. They have to deal with the dregs of society on a daily basis, so I can sympathize with them. But, giving us a ticket for the rear tires of our van, while parked in our driveway, were a few inches onto the sidewalk? Apparently, that's illegal.

 

How about the spirit of the law instead of the letter, eh, officer? How about a warning?

 

Am I Heartless?
 

Several retailers, including Walmart and K-Mart, have decided to open on Thanksgiving and folks on Facebook are very upset about it. I'm not that concerned. Call me heartless, but what about all the other people who have had to work on Thanksgiving? Taxi drivers; airport workers; people who work at movie theaters, restaurants, and bars; police; fire fighters; hospital workers; even football players and those who work in the stadiums.

 

I suppose it does show the inherent greed on the part of those retailers for not caring about their employees. They are making Thanksgiving about commerce and not family. But, they are competing with the internet and, I hope anyway, they might have a quid pro quo situation: you worked Thanksgiving, you get the next holiday off.

 

Besides, if enough people keep Thanksgiving about family and refuse to shop on that holiday, the stores won't open on Thanksgiving.

 

Tom, Dick & Harry And The Straw Man Argument

Prager University is a series of videos making comments on various topics from a more conservative point of view. It was established by conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager. I find Prager to be a more reasoned conservative. He's not a blowhard like other talk radio right-wingers.

 

However, the video by Prager University on the unfairness of the progressive Federal income tax is an outright straw man argument. The progressive tax might be unfair, but the way they argue against it makes the assumption that if you don't earn as much income as the high income earners, you have chosen to be lazy.

 

The video is insulting to every person who works their butt off 50, 60, or more hours a week, but they just don't happen to do the kind of work that pays very well. They might even be educated and well trained for their work, but the pay just isn't great. This video seems to suggest they are lazy.

 

A Facebook friend suggested that, according to the logic of the video's assumptions, Tom and Dick should have chosen to be pro basketball players. That's how the real world works, isn't it?

 

Here's the video.

 

Rockin' The Skeptical Core!

Well known skeptic, Michael Shermer, recently had an experience that was so coincidental that it rocked him to his skeptical core. A transistor radio, that had belonged to his wife's dear departed grandfather, wasn't working. Shermer attempted to repair it, but it still wouldn't work. Later, while his wife was feeling very low and missing her grandfather, the radio began to play music! Was it a message from her grandfather or was it a coincidence?

 

Shermer wrote about this experience and those of a less skeptical nature hoped this meant he was on the path of giving up scientific skepticism.

 

My friend of a less skeptical nature asked me to weigh in on a Facebook posting of an article reviewing Shermer's story. The following was my response:

 

First, I would say let's not get all excited. Shermer hasn't converted from a skeptic to a believer of phenomena poorly supported by scientific evidence.

Second, I suggest people read Shermer's article and not a review of Shermer's article written by someone who has a bit of a bias toward believing in phenomena poorly supported by scientific evidence.

Third, if you read Shermer's article he explains why his experience is not evidence of life after death or communication with the dead. He states:

"...with billions of people having billions of experiences every day, there’s bound to be a handful of extremely unlikely events that stand out in their timing and meaning. In any case, such anecdotes do not constitute scientific evidence that the dead survive or that they can communicate with us via electronic equipment."

Fourth, he understands this is personal experience. And he enjoyed it. He also reminds us to be open to such possibilities, which skeptics (big S or small) are, but to accept the claim the evidence has to be a hell of a lot better than personal experience, no matter who is having the experience. And Shermer knows that.

Fifth, even if Shermer was so rocked to his skeptical core that he gave up scientific skepticism and started touring the world with Deepak Chopra to spread the news of the reality of paranormal and the supernatural, it wouldn't mean he was right.

Of course, it wouldn't necessarily mean he would be wrong.

 

Movie Recommendation: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Buena Vista Pictures

Gene Hackman is terrific in this quirky, dry comedy by director Wes Anderson. It is one of my favorite films.

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'This Ain't No Picnic' by The Minutemen & 'Tantalized' by The Church
Second ad break bumpers: 'Twilight Zone' by Golden Earring & 'Two Story House' by George Jones & Tammy Wynette

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 11-15-14 show notes

Shit Week Explained

My Facebook friends have been seeing me post vague comments about last week being shit week. On this show, I explained it was about the load of work needed to be done to get my in-laws' house ready for close. That's what made it shit week. There was a shit ton of work to do.

We got it done. We had help from my younger brother, Steve, that went a long way in getting finished. I'm not sure we would have, if not for his help. Thanks, Steve! 100 points!

And Amy worked herself to exhaustion. Physically and emotionally. 100 points!

 

Never Found In The 80s: Rockpile

My most recent Never Found artist for my guest blog column on the Stuck in the 80s blog is Rockpile. Rockpile featured two fairly well known musicians: Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, however they never had a song crack the Top 40. Their history is a bit complicated.

 

I Am 50!

Remember how it was a big deal when Mick Jagger turned 40 in 1983? Pete Townshend even wrote an article for Rollling Stone magazine about it.

Remember how old Wilford Brimley looked in the movie 'Cocoon'?

Well, Jagger being 40 and Brimley looking old is nothing. I just turned 50!

I didn't mention the Jagger thing, but I did talk about Brimley looking so old in that movie. Why he must have been ancient when it was made. Nope! He was, you guessed it, 50.

 

This is 50...and so is this.

I speculated as to why, in my mind, I don't "feel" 50. In that same mind, I "feel" as though I'm in my 20s, but a look in the mirror and my aching knees, feet, back, and other parts remind me that I ain't in my 20s.

 

Double Blinding Police Detectives

I saw a news story the other day about a woman who had wrongfully accused a man of raping her in 1984. Jennifer Thompson thought she had remembered her attacker's face and she thought she had been a good witness when she identified Ronald Cotton as that attacker. However, people are very bad eyewitnesses. They can be influenced, intentionally or not, by investigators, prosecutors, the news media, and others.

 

Thompson was shown a photo array and a live line-up of suspects and she picked out Cotton both times. But the line-ups were not blinded to the detectives and they may have influenced her identification.

 

After years in prison, DNA evidence found that Ronald Cotton was innocent. He was set free and he and Thompson have become good friends. They are taking their story to the public to, in part, inform people of the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and that it is important to double-blind police suspect line-ups.

 

20 Dick Moves At The Grocery Store

I spotted this list on the internets and I thought it would be interesting to talk about. The list doesn't include my biggest complaint about grocery shopping: people pushing their carts down the wrong side of the aisle. I hate that!

 

Brushing Teeth BEFORE Breakfast

I was flipping channels the other day, when I stumbled upon this bit of the show Cougar Town. It's a song about the morning routine of the character played by the Botoxed Courteney Cox. The song states that she gets up and brushes her teeth. She does a couple other things and then she eats breakfast. She brushes her teeth BEFORE eating breakfast? Really? How's that orange juice tasting, Courteney?

Movie Recommendation: None This Week

I didn't have time to recommend a movie, 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: 'Show Me' by The Pretenders & 'Seen and Not Seen' by Talking Heads
Second ad break bumpers: 'Sleepless' by King Crimson & 'She's Tight' by Cheap Trick

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.