dimland radio 10-30-10 show notes

Wrap up of Halloween Awareness Month

Weapon not included.

I told the story of getting Hayden's costume for this Halloween. He's going as an Ice Wolf Ninja. He spotted the costume in one of those catalogs we get in the mail at this time of year. I talked about having to go back to the store to get the mask.

Halloween storytime

I read three stories from my favorite book from my days as a child, 'Strangely Enough'. I started with 'The Man Who Fell Forever', then 'Haunted Schoolhouse', and, lastly, 'The Gauntlet in the Castle'. All very creepy tales, all undoubtedly nonsense.

Selling out with Gang of Four

The band in the days when they would never allow their songs to be used in ads.

I discussed the notion of musical artists "selling out". Neil Young was one artist who really hated to see other musical artists using their songs to sell products other than their own albums and singles. Another artist (or group of artists) I was sure I would never see used to sell some shameless product is Gang of Four. But the other night, there was an ad for some Xbox thing, I think, and my ears were greeted with the sounds of 'Natural's Not In It'.

I was stunned! Gang of Four was (is?) one of the most anti-consumerism bands I've ever known. And now they're selling some video game system? I've seen it all!

You can check out the song here.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

I love this show! I talked about why it is so great and, as usual, I was spot on. If you haven't seen it... How can you not have seen it? Everybody has seen it! Are in al Qaeda or something?!


Movie Recommendation: Halloween (1978)

Very effective! This lower budget horror films delivers some good scares. I don't know about the other Halloween movies (I do remember seeing Halloween 2, but I don't remember much about it.) The original hits all the notes just right.

Put it in your Netflix queue now!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Dreams Reoccurring' by Husker Du & 'Natural's Not In It' by Gang of Four
Second ad break bumpers: 'Dark Entries' by Bauhaus & 'She Never Said' by The Church
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 10-23-10 show notes

Cold Open: Two late discoveries about our house

I told two stories about things my wife and I learned about our house after having living in it for eight years! (1)The programmable thermostat requires batteries and (2)that mysterious light switch on the wall just outside the kitchen works the outside light on the garage. Duh!

Haunted 911 appearance
I was the first member of the chat room to identify the "impression" Ray Jorden, co-host of Haunted 911, was doing on the October 13th edition of Haunted 911, so I won the chance to take part in their popular 20 questions segment. It was good fun. I enjoy being their resident skeptic and I really enjoyed their 20 questions grilling.

I recommend Ray and Wayne Punter's show, despite the fact that 90% of the show is pure paranormal nonsense. They are otherwise very entertaining and funny.

Find out more here.

It's Not True: Lunar effect

I had planned to talk about the Moon Illusion, in which the moon looks larger on the horizon than when higher in the night sky. However, even though it's not true that the reason the moon looks larger on the horizon is due to the objects on the horizon in relation to the moon, the actual reason for the illusion is not clear. At least, not clear to me. I'll have to look into this more.

So, I went with the idea that the full moon causes all sorts of extra activity. More suicides, crimes, visits to emergency rooms, werewolves, etc. have been attributed to the moon being full. Well, studies indicate that there is no connection. People just tend to notice the full moon and make the errant correlation.

Science Museum of Minnesota

I then took some time to talk about a recent visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota. It's an excellent museum. Science is cool. Science is real. Go to your local science museum. If you don't have a science museum nearby... move!

Here's a link to the museum.

Movie Recommendation: The Wolf Man (1941)

Another Universal classic horror film is on tap for this week's recommendation. Although far from a perfect film, it is visually striking and Jack Pierce's wolf man makeup is terrific. It's a fun film, check it out.

Put it in your Netflix queue now!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Double Dare' by Bauhaus & 'Highwayman' by The Highwaymen
Second ad break bumpers: 'My Wife & My Dead Wife' by Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians & 'Terms of Psychic Warfare' by Husker Du
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 10-16-10 show notes

This was the first of the monthly all music version of...

Dimland Radio Music Show Hour Radio Show Music Thing

Song list:

Baba O'Riley - The Who
Eighties - Killing Joke
Spinning Round - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
I Will Dare - The Replacements
Is It A Crime? - Sade
I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me - Rosanne Cash
Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters & Collectors
Celebrated Summer - Husker Du
New World Man - Rush
Letter From An Occupant - The New Pornographers
My Love Explodes - The Dukes Of Stratosphear

Now, because of the limitations of Z Talk Radio's music license, I cannot archive this show. So, if you weren't there to listen, well, then you missed it. If you want to hear what songs I'll play next time, you'll just have to tune in, won't you?

Other music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening & closing theme song: 'Twist' by Tones On Tale

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

dimland radio 10-9-10 show notes

Halloween Awareness Month at Dimland Radio continues despite my having a heavy heart due to...

Yankees win. Again!


I don't believe in curses. Not at all. Still witnessing the total postseason ownership of the MN Twins that the NY Yankees enjoy is just depressing. Yep, the Bronx bombers swept my Twins out of the playoffs again.

A walk with my son

Last Sunday, my son, Hayden, and I went for a walk. It was a pleasant walk, but it would have been more pleasant had it not been for the discovery of some graffiti and a little something else. You can read my blog giving more details on this page. Just scroll down to 'Innocence dented (or a nice walk spoiled)'.

Chris Brown's Meet the Skeptics podcast featuring ME!

For the third week running I mentioned Chris Brown's podcast 'Meet the Skeptics'. Why? Well, because I am Chris's latest guest!

You can subscribe to 'Meet the Skeptics' through iTunes or listen to it here.

Ten Minute Topic with Chris Brown

Popoff pretending to heal the gullible back in the day.

Popoff today offering to heal the gullible of their much-needed money.

Speaking of Chris Brown, he and I have another skeptical conversation in our ongoing series of Ten Minute Topic. This week we talked about faithhealers. Centering mostly on the shennanigans of one Pastor Peter Popoff. We talked about how this could be one case in which people of faith and skeptics should be able to get together and voice our displeasure with likely frauds such as Popoff.

Vlad the Impaler

This is Halloween Awareness Month after all, so I thought I'd talk a little bit about 15th century Eastern European leader, Prince Vlad Draculya. Certainly the inspiration of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', Vlad has quite the reputation as being especially cruel what with all that impaling and such.

"Such a lovely morning for breakfast outdoors."

However, it is likely that the stories of his barbarity are exaggerated. Much of the tales of his impaling adventures originate from the German people he ruled who didn't like him.

You can learn more about Vlad here and watch a two versions of 'In Search of Dracula' on YouTube - here and here.

Nosferatu

Max Shreck as Count Orlok - How creepy!

In doing my research on Vlad the Impaler, I watched an episode of 'In Search of...' focusing on his legend. The show made use of several clips of the silent horror film classic 'Nosferatu'. So I took the opportunity to talk a bit about the film and the extremely creepy Max Shreck, who played the title role. Oh, man, he looked so cool as the vampire, Count Orlok.

I also mentioned the much more recent film 'Shadow of the Vampire' from 2000. It's an interesting take on the making of 'Nosferatu'. The twist was that Max Shreck really was a vampire.

You can get the original 'Nosferatu' and the 1979 version titled 'Nosferatu the Vampyre' on the Netflix. Both are well worth watching. And 'Shadow of the Vampire' is pretty good, too.

Dimland Radio Music Show Hour Radio Thing

I announced that I will being doing a monthly all music version of Dimland Radio! The first edition will be Saturday 10-16 at 11pm Central, midnight Eastern on ztalkradio.com. The catch is I can't archive the show, so if you ain't there as it happens, you won't ever hear it. Z Talk's license doesn't allow us to podcast a music show. I will be listing the songs played in the show notes, so you can see what you missed and maybe decide to catch it the next month.

Movie recommendation

I suggested that listeners watch the 1932 Universal horror classic, 'The Mummy' starring Boris Karloff. Karloff looks so crispy in the film you'd swear he could turn to dust at any moment. It is much different (and I think better) than the special effects ridden adventure versions of more recent years.

Put in your Netflix queue now.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Rattle My Bones' The Suburbs & 'Scarecrow People' by XTC
Second ad break bumpers: 'Back In Flesh' Wall of Voodoo & 'Honeymoon Croon' by Bauhaus
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

innocence dented (or a nice walk spoiled)

This past Sunday afternoon was one of those glorious fall afternoons which I wish I could save to enjoy on a mid-winter day. Clear blue sky, cool air and crisp leaves underfoot. Mere minutes after his friend had left from their play date, my boy asked if I wanted to take a walk to the bridge. It’s a pedestrian bridge that takes walkers, joggers and bikers over the nearby railroad tracks. The bridge is just a few blocks away, not far to walk. Considering the pleasantness of the day, I thought it would be an excellent time for the impromptu walk with my son.

And it was a pleasant walk. He ran ahead, just a little, as he likes to do, asserting a smidgeon of independence at the age of seven. Boy! He’s growing up fast. He was mindful, however, not to get too far ahead of old Dad. Bad knees.

We arrived at the bridge (we have yet to actually get there as a train passes under, but perhaps someday). It was apparent someone had been there before us. They had left their mark. Graffiti. Vulgar, crude, sexual. It became time for an unscheduled lesson in life for my boy.

“What’s a n—ga, Daddy?”

“Va joy joy?”

My son reads really well. Fortunately, some of the writing was so bad and much of it misspelled that he didn’t quite get it right. I didn’t correct him. (It was “va jay jay”. I let that one pass.) I did, however, do my best to explain that ‘n—ga’ is an offensive word (I know the arguments against there even being offensive words, but he’s only seven). I told him it’s a word used to describe people who happen to have a different skin color than us. And that I didn’t like the word and never use it. I advised him to never use it either.

Walking away from the tags, hoping to get past lesson time, I heard my boy ask, “What’s this?”

There in his hand was a used condom.

“Drop that, right now!” I said.

I then kicked it through a crack in the bridge pathway. I say it was “used”, but I can’t be certain of that. It was out of its package, but it didn’t appear to be…full.

“What was that, Dad?”

Ah geez! Thanks a lot, asshole!

I told him it was sort an adult balloon. Something adults use. Something he didn’t need to be concerned about for now. He told me he thought he might know what it was for. He said, “Is it for your privates?”

Well, then I answered yes. I told him that sometimes men wear that on their privates. Worn to prevent pregnancy on certain occasions when men and women are “together”. I again told him that it was something he didn’t need to be concerned about yet. That I would talk to him all about it when he gets a little older. He was happy with that.

Phew!

We walked back home, my boy grown up just a little bit more than before that walk. A little less innocent.

We arrived home and I sent him straight to the bathroom to wash his hands. As he was washing up, I told his mother of the incident. She immediately had him wash his hands again.

I think I’m going to bring some paint and a brush down to that bridge. Got some graffiti that needs cleaning up.

dimland radio 10-2-10 show notes

It is the kick off of Halloween Awareness Month at Dimland Radio...

Cold open: sock talk

I opened the show with the scintillating tale of my struggle with purchasing some new socks.

October 2, 1982

The world's greatest rock band: The Who

This show happened on the same date as my first time seeing The Who in concert. 28 years later, of course. I talked about my memories of that day and of the concert and band that changed my life.

You can read my blog giving more details here (scroll down).

Ken Burns' Baseball the 10th Inning

I gave some of my impressions on the recently aired documentary about the greatest game ever devised by man. Ken Burns knows how to make himself a good documentary. If you missed it, I'm sure PBS will run it again soon. Probably next pledge time, which should be happening any day now.

Learn more here.

It's Not True

On the left! In the back! Behind the curtain! A g-g-g-ghost!

No, not a ghost. It's a cardboard cutout of Ted Danson.

The untrue item this time? I'll tell you what's not true! It's the "ghost" of a little boy that can be seen in one scene in the movie '3 Men and a Baby'. It's not a ghost. It's a cardboard cutout image of Ted Danson wearing a tux and a top hat.

You can read more about it at Snopes.com and watch Captain Disillusion explain it here.

Chris Brown's Meet the Skeptics podcast

I mentioned it last week, but I wanted to get into it a little more this week, so I did. My skeptical friend, Chris Brown, has a podcast that he just started in which he interviews skeptics. It's called 'Meet the Skeptics'. His first interview was with James Randi! (Chris! You stinker!) And, even more importantly, in my mind anyway, soon he will be interviewing ME for his podcast! I'll keep you posted as to when I'll be on, because, if you are anything like I am, you can't get enough of me.

You can find Chris' blog here and 'Meet the Skeptics' can be found on iTunes or here.

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula ('Dracula' 1931)

Boris Karloff as the Monster ('Frankenstein' 1931)

I really like those old Universal horror movies. I talked a bit about 'Dracula' (1931) and 'Frankenstein' (1931) and about the stars of those movies, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. I compared the two actors and how their careers went. I also told the story of how Lugosi got the part of Dracula in the horror parody 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein', a part you would think was a shoe-in for him but Universal didn't want him.

You couldn't go wrong by putting 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein' in your DVD collection.

Movie recommendation

This has been a long time favorite of mine. It's the haunted house film from 1973 called 'Legend of Hell House'. Hell House is the Mount Everest of haunted houses according to Dr. Barrett, the somewhat skeptical scientist sent to investigate the house and determine if there is life after death.

This movie is an excellent example of the less is more principle. The special effects are spare, but the atmosphere heavy with fear and more than a bit of eroticism. It's perfect for the season!

Put in your Netflix queue now.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'It's Hard' & 'Did You Steal My Money' by The Who
Second ad break bumpers: 'Athena' & 'The Quiet One' 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