dimland radio 7-29-11 show notes

Tempting Fate

Don't make me scry!

Well, not really, but I did grab a hand held mirror and repeated "Bloody Mary," "Candyman," and even "Beetlejuice" (each repeated three times) to see if anything would happen. Nothing did.

A Dying Tooth

I know the feeling!

Then I described the pain one of my teeth is causing me. I went to the dentist and she told me then what is likely happening is that a nerve in my tooth is dying. I need to wait it out, I guess. I'll gulp down the ibuprofen and wait for it to kick the bucket.

A Trip To Brainerd For My Son's Birthday

The legendary Paul Bunyan in the flesh, or fiberglass.

Next I related the story of what my wife and I are doing for Hayden for his eighth birthday. We're taking him to Brainerd, MN to see Paul Bunyan. There's a large talking Paul Bunyan up there that my folks used to take me and my siblings to see a few times back in the day.

He's pretty cool. I describe the visits back in the day and the most recent visit in which I brought Amy to meet Paul in the summer of 2003. She had never been there before and she was pregnant with Hayden at the time.

You can learn more about Paul Bunyan Land near Brainerd, MN here.

Memory Is Not Video Tape

Despite the claims of some hypnotherapists, memory is not video tape. Memories are very malleable. People are very capable how remembering themselves being involved in an event that they had no part of and I talked about a former coworker's misremembering something he that happened to him, but it happened to me.

"I Can't Exercise My Free Speech!" You Just Did.

The Clash using their right to free speech to say we don't have free speech.

I brought up the irony of those decrying their lack of freedom of speech while using their freedom of speech to make the complaint. I used the example of The Clash's song "Know Your Rights" from their last real Clash recording, Combat Rock.

Movie Recommendation: The Shootist (1976)

John Wayne last film and it's a good one. He plays an aging gunslinger who lived his life by his own principles. Early in the film, he learns he has cancer and that he'll die a painful death, probably in bed. It's suggested that that's no way for a man like him to die. So, does he die in a sick bed or in a blaze of glory. It's John Wayne, what do think?

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Civic Hall' by The Vapors & 'Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)' by The The
Second ad break bumpers: 'I Can't Take It' by Cheap Trick & 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side' by The Smith
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 7-23-11 show notes

The Local Connection

Another reason I don't like the way local TV stations report on the local connection to any not local story. Am I gonna care more if I know someone from my home state was involved in a plane crash in Spain? I doubt it.

Ant Invasion

Die! You invaders! Die!

The joys of being a homeowner! I talked about dealing with ants taking over the window ledge in the bathroom. Some vacuuming and laying down of ant poison seems to be working.

County Fair Game Trickery

"Dad, win me one of those angry birds!"

I took the wife and son to the county fair last weekend and my son wanted to win a stuffed angry bird. I was apprehensive, but did it anyway. Less than 10 minutes later (and my wallet $25 lighter) he got his angry bird. Hopefully, both he and I learned the lesson to just not get involved in the whole game of chance ever again.

It's Not True: The Piltdown Man

Nope! It's not real

I gave a talk about the hoax that was the Piltdown Man. Piltdown Man was a set of fossils of skull bones and some teeth that were thought to be about 500,000 years old. If true, that would not fit the established timeline of human development. The hoax stood for more than four decades before exposure.

The story is an illustration of how science can be mistaken from time to time and that more science is what corrects those mistakes.

I mentioned the Cardiff Giant (another hoax) and a short story written by Mark Twain. It's a humorous tale about the ghost of the Cardiff Giant haunting the copy PT Barnum had made. It's a good read.

Good News

The Texas Board of Education decided 8-0 to keep creationist educational supplements out of high school biology classes. A win for science and reality.

Movie Recommendation: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2

We saw it today. Very good. I think it was a satisfying end to the film series. The revelation of Snapes' past and his words to Harry were very touching.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Shaken But Not Stirred' by The Red Guitars & 'Hiding Out' by Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (Yes, that's his full name.)
Second ad break bumpers: 'Another Nail In My Heart' by Squeeze & 'Something I Learned Today' 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 7-19-11 show notes

Sexy Voice? Me? Really?

Shouldn't it be Haunted 999?

I frequent a paranormal program that originates in the UK. It's called Haunted 911 and I'm their resident skeptic. I cut a show ID audio clip for them and they played it last week. A person in the chat room thought my voice was sexy. I humbly protested, but he insisted. Yes, HE insisted.

I'm cool with that.

Another Doomsday Prediction...Really?

A friend sent me a link to a YouTuber who thinks the government is keeping us in the dark about some impending doom...blah, blah, blah.

The video is here.

The Larry Sanders Curse...Really?

There's no curse and no flipping.

I've been streaming The Larry Sanders Show lately. On one episode there were these three guests featured: John Ritter, Gene Siskel and Warren Zevon. Other than them all appearing on the same episode, they have something else in common. All three died before their time!

Ahhhhhh! Run! It's the curse of the Larry Sanders Show! Ahhhhhhh!!

You can check this link and go to the episode called Off Camera to see the guest list.

We Could Use A Man Like Johnny Carson Again... Really!

Johnny Carson: King of Late Night & Skeptic

I sung the praises of Johnny Carson for a bit. Not just because of his humor and class, but because Johnny was a skeptic. I talked about how Johnny worked a lot with James Randi. Johnny thought "psychic" Uri Geller was doing tricks and booked him on the show. Randi got involved behind the scenes to help set up some controls and, lo and behold, Mr. Geller couldn't perform his tricks.

Uri Geller: Bending spoons with his mind (and hands)

You can watch the Tonight Show clip of Johnny and Uri here.

Sadly, when Jay took over the show he brought Uri back, placed no controls on the demostrations and, lo and behold, Mr. Geller could perform his tricks. Jay would just say, "Well, you be the judge."

Michael Shermer wrote about the Leno/Geller trickeration here.

A Johnny Carson monologue joke that got no laughs (but Johnny did) can be seen here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'I Lie' by The dBs & 'River Euphrates' by Pixies
Second ad break bumpers: 'Hope' by Bauhaus & 'The Unguarded Moment' 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 7-9-11 show notes

I Have My Doctorate! Sort Of

Thanks to Thunderwood College I have a doctorate now. It was easy! And free! Brian Dunning of Skeptoid.com has set up a diploma mill. So, go and get your diploma. Sure, it's not worth the paper it's printed on, but so what?

An Early Life Of Crime

The toy I pulled some shenanigans to get

I confessed a few of my youthful indiscretions. I switched price tags on a Shogun Warrior toy. I switched a book I could legally buy as a youth with a naughty book that I couldn't. And I broke into a friend's house to retrieve my Ghost of Capt. Kidd action figure. Shame on me.

Here's a blog I wrote about the Ghost of Capt. Kidd toy.

I Was Stunned By Dr. Dawkins This Week And So Were Many Other People

Richard Dawkins and Rebecca Watson

After a brief sidetrack about the gravestone for Uncle Ben in the Spider-man movie, I related an interesting controversy in the skeptic/atheist community this past week. Skepchick Rebecca Watson mentioned being made uncomfortable about being hit on by a stranger in an elevator at 4am. She didn't make a big deal about it, but Richard Dawkins did.

Dr. Dawkins jumped into a comment thread on PZ Myers' site and sarcastically belittled Rebecca complaint. Richard was being a dick and didn't get it. Judging by the many, many comments on several blogs, many people did get it.

This should make for an interesting TAM 9 this coming weekend.

Links galore for this one. Phil Plait's, PZ Myers', Rebecca Watson's. Rebecca's original video post in which she mentions the elevator incident is here.

In A Better Place? Really?

On the local news tonight was a story of a young woman who was found murdered at the side of a nearby highway. The report featured two of the woman's friends placing a memorial near the site where her body was found. An ex-boyfriend is suspected in the murder. One of the friends said she is "in a better place."

A better place?! Is she suggesting that the ex-boyfriend (allegedly) did the victim a favor? Well, of course she wasn't. Still, I made my observations as to the situations where the "better place" statement would work more properly.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Seconds' by U2 & 'Epic' by Faith No More
Second ad break bumpers: 'Inside A Fireball' by Hunters & Collectors & 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
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 7-2-11 show notes

Can We Drop The "Under God"

No "under god?" We're going to hell!

I talked about how the phrase "under god" should be dropped from the Pledge of Allegiance. The words were forced in the Pledge in 1954 and essentially made the notion of "one nation indivisible" divisible, because including the two words excludes polytheists, non-theists and those who believe in a different god

Read about the Pledge here and a humanist's reaction to Religious Right's reaction to NBC not saying "under god" when the Pledge was recited during the US Open coverage here.

A Tale Of Reckless Fireworks Usage

Years ago, a couple friends and I acquired some very powerful and illegal fireworks to celebrate our nation's birthday. We went to great lengths (well, distance) to get them. We drove all the way to South Dakota from the Twin Cities instead of just heading to Wisconsin.

I tell the story of the beer-influenced decision to blow up our beer cooler. Boy, it blowed up good. We were fortunate to not suffer any injuries.

This video clip will give you an idea of what an m200 firecracker sounds like.

This Week's Dubious Item

Imagine Lennon voting for Reagan, I wonder if you can. I can't.

Some fellow is claiming that John Lennon was a Reagan Republican in the later days of the former Beatles' life. I'm not so sure about that. I can see John being less interested in his activism, but becoming a Reaganite? I doubt it.

Read the dubious report here.

It's Not True: The Coriolis Effect And Flushing Toilets

Clockwise? Must be in the southern hemisphere. Well, not necessarily.

It's not true that where you are on the planet affects which direction the water flushes from your toilet. The Coriolis forcing deals more with weather systems, hurricanes rotate counter clockwise north of the Equator and clockwise south of it. Your toilet flushes in the direction it was designed to flush.

Michael Palin of Monty Python fame was taken in by a con artist's trick of draining water. In the BBC series 'Pole To Pole', Palin shows us a fellow demonstrating the effect in a small Kenyan town on the Equator. The fellow is playing a trick.

Learn about the Coriolis Effect and how Palin was fooled here.

Movie Recommendation: Michael Palin: Around The World In 80 Days


Yes, I know. It's not a movie, but it's very good and worth watching. Michael Palin attempts to travel around the world in much the same way as Phileas Fogg does in the Jules Verne novel. It's wonderful and available on Netflix.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Independence Day' by Urban Guerrillas & 'Only In America' by Naked Raygun
Second ad break bumpers: 'Little America' by REM & 'America Is Waiting' by Brian Eno/David Bryne
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