dimland radio 8-27-11 show notes

Cold Open: A Correction

Yes, that is my son you can hear during my cold open, in which I corrected a mistake I made in last week's show. What was the mistake? You'll just have to listen.

Skeptics Get A Little Primetime: Follow Up

A fair amount of skepticism and a little lazy journalism.

I talked about ABC's Nightline Primetime: Beyond Belief program on psychic ability last week. They did about as well as we skeptic's could hope for, but I did take exception with the last report of the show filed by (possibly lazy) journalist, David Wright. That report abandoned all skepticism. I wrote a blog on my thoughts on Mr. Wright journalistic fail here.

I had more to talk about, because we found out a little something about that report. You can read my original review of the show here.

Randi's Amazing Trick

Please, Randi, don't be upset that I gave away your secret. Just one of them!

I related the story of how James Randi was once put on the spot by Barbara Walters to duplicate a supposed psychic feat done by Uri Geller. Randi pulls it off. He doesn't tell how he did it, but I told on my show. I hope Randi doesn't get upset.

Feel The Love

Then a couple stories about how some Christians treat atheists when they speak out. Just as Jesus would want them to - with death threats. Ahhhh, feel the love.

The stories are here and here.

Minnesota's "Bigfoot" Caught On Tape

Then I talked about yet another very inconclusive video of what could be a bigfoot or a guy in a costume. I'm sure you can guess which one I'm leaning toward.

You can see the video clip here.

Movie Recommendation: Super (2010)

This movie may not be for everyone, but if you like dark, violent comedies about regular people attempting to be superheros, this one is for you.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Go!' by Tones On Tail & 'Big Mouth Strikes Again' by The Smiths
Second ad break bumpers: 'In-Between Days' by The Cure & 'Teacher, Teacher' by Rockpile
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 friday night music special 8-26-11 show notes

Friday Night Music Show Special

Another Friday night music show packed with not country music (I did that the last two Fridays). This time I played a more Indie, Punk, New Wave, etc. mix of music, however I did sprinkle in several songs by bands that have had at least one member work at the shirt printing shop that I worked at about 5 years ago. The shop was called Cold Side Silkscreening. I will note each Cold Side band with a CS, just so you know.

I am not allowed to archive music shows, so you had to tune in to listen. And this is the last music special I'll be doing for the foreseeable future. The following is what you missed if you weren't there...

Playlist

My Degeneration - Crawdad Creek (CS)
Hearts Are Trump - Trio
Here Is The News - ELO
Tori Tori Tori - Dander (CS)
Lisztomania - Phoenix
Vanishing Girl - The Dukes Of Stratosphear
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - PM Dawn
Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
Red Rain - Peter Gabriel
Black Leather - All The Pretty Horses (CS)
White Girl - X
What A Life - Juliana Hatfield
That One - Guzzard (CS)
New World Man - Rush
Perfect Memory - TV Sound (CS)
Boy Who Cried Wolf - The Style Council
Ray Of Light - Madonna
Music For Boys - the Suburbs
We R The Engineers - Mach Fox (CS)
Ahead - Wire
Ram - The Yoleus (CS)
Regret - New Order
Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues - The Godfathers
Rock 'n' Roll Hate - The Murderers (CS)
Wake Up The Nation - Paul Weller
That's Not My Name - The Tings Tings
The Mayor Of Simpleton - XTC
Be That Kind - TV Sound (CS)
Needle In The Hay - Elliot Smith
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
House Divided - Mach Fox (CS)
Freeway Picnic Party (live) - Urban Guerrillas
Marathon - Audrey (CS)
What Difference Does It Make? - The Smiths
You'll Never Pay For The Farm - Gang Of Four
5:15 - The Who
Talk Of The Town - The Pretenders
One Step Ahead - Split Enz
Wow And Flutter - Stereolab
Jique - Brazilian Girls
Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
Skyway - The Replacements
Angler's Treble Hook - $5 Fiddle (CS)

Other Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Twist' by Tones On Tail

That's it! You should know that I am not able to archive the music shows I do due to the limitations of Z Talk Radio's music license. So, if you want to hear the music you have to tune in. Then I'll see you next Friday night for Dimland Radio 10 Central, 11 Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

a follow up on ABC's beyond belief

Regarding ABC's Primetime Nightline Special: Beyond Belief, aired last Wednesday night (8-17-11):

The last report on that special featured reporter David Wright's encounter with two "psychic" mommies, Alison DuBois and Rebecca Rosen. Each "psychic" did a reading for Mr. Wright who claimed he was "naturally and professionally skeptical." His skepticism quickly disappeared when Rebecca Rosen hit him with some pretty specific (although her technique looked like standard cold reading) information.

Such as, his mother's name (she guessed it was an Ann or Anna and he told her it was Deanna), that she was dead (Wright stated he had not told either woman about that), that his wife was Irish (she said she was seeing clovers and wondered who was Irish, he told her it was his wife), his wife's name (she said she saw a V as in Victor and he told her his wife's name was Victoria), she claimed to feel a strong connection between his oldest daughter and his late mother (he told the audience that daughter was named Deanna after his mother), and so on.

David Wright: naturally and professionally skeptical?

David Wright, the natural and professional skeptic, was "hooked" and he specifically said that none of that information can be found on the internet. Well, it turns out that the personal information alleged psychic, Rebecca Rosen, "psychically" gleaned from the beyond CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET! (My thanks to the skeptics on Twitter who bothered to look for and found this information mere minutes after the program aired.)

You can find the information about his daughters here. This item is dated 2008.

And...

You can find the name of his mother, the fact that she is dead, the name of his wife and the fact she is Irish here. This item is dated 2005.

Remember, the reporter said none of that info could be found online. So, either Mr. Wright is just plain lazy or he was being disingenuous, figuring most people won't do the search and he wanted his report to give the impression there may actually be psychic abilities.

Rebecca Rosen: a psychic or a cold reader who knows how to use the internet?

For some reason, the networks are under the impression that skeptical and/or scientific programming is a ratings killer. They think that the paranormal draws more viewers. This may be true, but I think if a program is done well enough in its writing, production and presentation any topic will grab viewers. 'Cosmos,' the science series presented by Carl Sagan did spectacularly well for PBS in 1980. It can be done.

But the networks, especially the cable networks, just keep trotting out the tired old mystery mongering, paranormal, ghost hunting schlock. Those programs are less than a dime a dozen these days and the science content of all of them combined is close to zero. They may feature a skeptic (usually edited to appear cynical) who will provide some science to the proceedings.

I stated in an earlier blog that I give credit to ABC for getting most of that program right, as far as its presentation of skepticism toward psychic abilities went. But they just had to abandon the skepticism completely for that last report by David Wright. There may be a couple reasons for doing that.

One reason might be the need of the news media to give some balance. They had given the skeptics a pretty good shake for 90% of the show, so give the psychics that 10% for some balance. Ok, maybe.

The other reason might just have to do with the fact that it appears ABC will be running their own mystery mongering series on the paranormal. They don't want to spoil that series by being too skeptical on this special program, do they? That might explain why they chose to run the most credulous report on psychic abilities last, leaving millions of viewers with the impression that Rebecca Rosen and Alison Dubois might actually be psychic. In my opinion, the way ABC ended that special tainted all the proper skepticism that had gone before.

So, the networks think there are big ratings in mystery mongering, paranormal, ghost hunting schlock. And it's the skeptics who are called cynical!

dimland radio 8-20-11 show notes

Cold Side Employees Listen

I start off mentioning that two former coworkers of mine listened in on my Friday night music special the night before. I talked about how cool it was they had stopped by. I also mentioned that many of the folks who worked at Cold Side were also in bands, so next Friday I might play a few songs by bands with a connection to Cold Side Silkscreening.

Circle Of Life

Red Tailed Hawk, the visitor to our backyard

Then there was the story of the hawk in our backyard having caught a small bird and eating it. Yummy!

West Memphis Three - Free!

The West Memphis Three

After 18 years imprisonment (one of the accused on death row), two compelling documentaries, celebrity support, and a huge legal effort the West Memphis Three (Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jesse Misskelley) are free men. They had been wrongly (the evidence seems very clear on this) accused and convicted of brutally murdering three eight year-old boys when they were themselves teenagers. They got caught up in the Satanic Panic of the late 80s and early 90s and railroaded into prison.

The documentaries, 'Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills' and 'Paradise Lost: Revelations,' were largely responsible for bringing this case to national attention. The men owe a large part of their freedom to the makers of those films. There is a third film, 'Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory' set to be released soon.

The legal settlement that freed them may not have been perfect, the three had to plead guilty of the murders (while being allowed to state they were innocent) in order to gain their freedom.

Read more about the case here and here. And put those films in your Netflix queue.

Spare The Rod And Avoid Beating Your Seven Year-Old To Death

"Daddy, these authors say God says you should beat me into being a good person."

Got a little angry here. An innocent child of seven died after being beaten by her parents for seven hours! They did take breaks for prayer, presumably to ask God to heal the child enough to be able to resume the learnin'.

The parents had their other eight children taken from them and were tried and sentenced to prison time for murder. What needs to happen now is the prosecute the crackpots who wrote the book from which these two parents learned their disciple techniques. The book is call 'To Train Up A Child' and it's a best seller.

The CNN report can be seen here.

Skeptics Get A Little Primetime

Not perfect, but I give ABC credit for giving skepticism a mostly fair shake.

ABC's Nightline Primetime: Beyond Belief program on psychic ability aired this past week. They did about as well as we skeptic's could hope for.

You can read my blog on the show here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'We Care A Lot' by Faith No More & 'Spinning Round' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Second ad break bumpers: 'Here Comes Your Man' by Pixies & 'Eight Miles High' 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 friday night music special 8-19-11 show notes

Friday Night Music Show Special

Another Friday night music show packed with some awesome country classics and some not so classic or country, but close! I had two old friends drop in to catch the musical goodness of my song choices. It was good to see them in chat.

I am not allowed to archive music shows, so you have to tune in to listen. I will be playing more music next Friday. The following is what you missed...

Playlist

Flowers On The Wall - The Statler Brothers
East Bound & Down - Jerry Reed
When I Dream - Crystal Gayle
Choices - George Jones
Whiskey River - Willie Nelson
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
Poor Little Fool - Ricky Nelson
I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
Crazy - Patsy Cline
He'll Have To Go - Jim Reeves
Please Mister Please - Olivia Newton John
Call Me Lonesome - Eddie Arnold
Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
Louisiana Saturday Night - Don Williams
D-I-V-O-R-C-E - Tammy Wynette
Diggin' Up Bones - Randy Travis
City Of New Orleans - Crawdad Creek
Your Cheatin' Heart - Hank Williams
Hello Darlin' - Conway Twitty
Everything Is Beautiful In Its Own Way - Dolly Parton & Willie Nelson
Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds
Stand By Your Man - Tammy Wynette
Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.
Just A Girl I Used To Know - George Jones
Old Dogs, Children, & Watermelon Wine - Tom T Hall
One's On The Way - Loretta Lynn
Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb, Merla Haggard & Chet Atkins
Don't Fence Me In - Sons Of The Pioneers
Promises - Eric Clapton
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys - Willie Nelson
El Paso - Marty Robbins
Amanda - Don Williams
Welcome To My World - Jim Reeves
Mocking Bird Hill - Patti Page
Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell
Satin Sheets - Jeanie Pruett
Big River - Johnny Cash
I Fall To Pieces - Patsy Cline
Streets Of Bakersfiled - Dwight Yoakum & Buck Owens
What's He Doin' In My World - Eddie Arnold
Travelin' Man - Ricky Nelson
Cold Hard Truth - George Jones
Act Naturally - Buck Owens
Hello Walls - Faron Young
Long-Haired Country Boy - Charlie Daniels Band
Blues Eyes Crying In The Rain - Willie Nelson
Talking In Your Sleep - Crystal Gayle
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
We're Gonna Hold On - George Hones & Tammy Wynette
Tumbling Tumbleweed - Sons Of The Pioneers
The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

Other Music heard on the show...

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

That's it! You should know that I am not able to archive the music shows I do due to the limitations of Z Talk Radio's music license. So, if you want to hear the music you have to tune in. Then I'll see you next Friday night for Dimland Radio 10 Central, 11 Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

regarding nightline's beyond belief

I just watched ABC's Primetime Nightline special, Beyond Belief. The special was about as close to a skeptical look at psychic ability as we skeptics could hope for. Would that be considered cynical? The special looked into psychic claims and they enlisted the help of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). That enlistment was promising, so I had high hopes. Well, guarded high hopes, this is the news/entertainment media after all.

ABC got some things right. First, they did have the JREF involved. And they featured skeptics in more than the typical two minute segment edited to make the skeptic look like an angry, dismissive cynic. So, I was happy that Banachek (skeptic) was given time to demonstrate or explain some of the tricks and to give the skeptical perspective without being edited to look like a jerk.

James Randi was also featured. His segment was decidedly short and I'm sure folks might not warm to his explanation as to why people continue to believe they are psychic despite the evidence indicating they aren't. His reason? They are stubborn. I dig Randi. I admire him and his cause, but that didn't help. True though it might be, it would have been better to have a psychologist explaining how people deal with cognitive dissonance. How people will cling to their belief in their psychic abilities, despite being shown that simple controls thwart those abilities.

In fact, there wasn't a science based psychologist involved in the show at all. The only psychologist consulted seemed more like a parapyschologist (she was introduced as a psychologist, so I am making an assumption here) who attempted to convince us that the paranormal program Psychic Kids is not child abuse. I wasn't convinced.

One of the good parts was the opening report where the reporter wasn't convinced by James van Praagh's alleged psychic abilities. The reporter rightly explained that what van Praagh does is more likely cold reading than tapping into the beyond. It was also pointed out that the information delivered could have been acquired by a Google search. Kudos.

Also good was the demonstration of the JREF's Million Dollar Challenge. Three "psychics" were tested, none passed. No surprise. This always happens when people are tested under controlled conditions that they agree to, they fail. They are unable to perform the paranormal feats that they confidently perform anywhere else once simple controls are put in place to prevent cheating or trickery. That fact was addressed in the report. Good job.

But then came the final report with the psychic mommies. The reporter of that segment claimed to be skeptical, but... It appeared the psychics got so much right using what looked to me to be, you guessed it, cold reading that the reporter's skepticism waned. Unlike the van Praagh segment, this reporter stated that the info given couldn't be found on Google. But the segment didn't show how long the readings were, how many questions were asked, how many times the wrong guesses were edited out, or if perhaps the psychic may have asked someone the reporter's wife's name off camera prior to the reading, etc. And to top it off a "predicted" rainbow showed up after a reading. The reporter marveled, skeptics rolled their eyes.

Correlation does not mean causation.

And was that an ad for a new series exploring the paranormal coming soon to ABC that I saw in an ad break late in the show? Doesn't look like it will be very skeptical. Shame.

I give credit to ABC for what they got right and for the attempt, but the news media's obsession with reporting both sides of the issue for the sake of balance, just had to have them leave the viewer with the impression that maybe there's something to this. All the properly controlled, scientifically gathered evidence says otherwise.

"Two steps forward, six steps back! six steps back! six steps back!" - Gang Of Four

dimland radio 8-13-11 show notes music show

Music Show

Continuing this August's musical extravaganza, I played a series of song that all had one thing in common. I was testing listeners to see if they could guess that commonality. After the playlist (below), I will reveal the answer.

I am not allowed to archive music shows, so you have to tune in to listen. The following is what you missed...

Playlist

Constant In Opal - The Church
Know Your Rights - The Clash
Dark Entries - Bauhaus
I Won't Back Down - Johnny Cash
Above It Now - Figures
America Is Waiting - Brian Eno & David Byrne
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Who Loves The Sun - The Velvet Underground
We're So Cool - Au Pairs
Give Blood - Pete Townshend
I'm Just A Country Boy - Don Williams
Homebreakers - The Style Council
Big In Japan - Tom Waits
Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
Wake Up - XTC
Three-Dee Melodie - Stereolab
Wild Blue Yonder - The Screaming Blue Messiahs
Burning Down The House - Talking Heads
I Wanna Destroy You - The Soft Boys
Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not - X
Love Is The Law - The Suburbs
Los Angeles - Frank Black
God Is Not Great - George Hrab
Night Time - Killing Joke
Holiday In The Sun - The Sex Pistols
The Spirit Of The Radio - Rush
Telepathic You - Ana Voog
Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
Home Of The Brave - Naked Raygun
The Electric Version - The New Pornographers
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush
Fake Empire - The National
Finest Work Song - REM
Disorder - Joy Division
Ether - Gang Of Four
Slip Kid - The Who
Pretty Green - The Jam
Something I Learned Today - Husker Du
Golden Ring - George Jones & Tammy Wynette
Waiting For The Sun - The Jayhawks
Two Of Us - The Beatles

The Answer

So what one thing do all these songs have in common? Each song is the opening track for its respective album. Yes, it's a hard answer to get, but it helped me put together this playlist.

Other Music heard on the show...

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

That's it! You should know that I am not able to archive the music shows I do due to the limitations of Z Talk Radio's music license. So, if you want to hear the music you have to tune in. Then I'll see you next Friday night for Dimland Radio 10 Central, 11 Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com for another music show and, then, Saturday 11pm Central, midnight Eastern for another regular edition of Dimland Radio. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

dimland radio friday night music special 8-12-11 show notes

Friday Night Music Show Special

I decided I wanted to play music this month, so I paid the music fee and jumped on during the old Paradigm Shift time-slot to spin some tunes. I decided to go with country music. Yeehaw!

I am not allowed to archive music shows, so you have to tune in to listen. The following is what you missed...

Playlist

Far Away Eyes - The Rolling Stones
Heartaches By The Number - Ray Price (I messed up the end of this song, so I play it again later)
Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle
Seven Year Ache - Rosanne Cash
Luckenbach, Texas - Waylon Jennings
Endless Wire (Extended Version) - The Who
Garden Party - Ricky Nelson
Ruby - Kenny Rogers
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
Just Walk On By - Leroy Van Dyke
Sunday Morning Coming Down - Johnny Cash
I'm Not Lisa - Jessie Coulter
Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard
Whatever Happened To Randolph Scott - The Statler Brothers
Gentle On My Mind - Glen Campbell
Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy - Don Williams
Pocket Of A Clown - Dwight Yoakum
Oh Yoko - John Lennon
Paradise - John Prine
I Am The Man Of Constant Sorrow - Soggy Bottom Boys
Heartaches By The Number - Ray Price (See? I told you I'd replay it.)
White Train - The dB's
Lookin' Out My Back Door - Credence Clearwater Revival
Some Broken Hearts Never Mend - Don Williams
Two Story House - George Jones & Tammy Wynette
Highwayman - The Highwaymen
King Of The Road - Roger Miller
Good Hearted Woman - Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
Crazy Arms - Ray Price
Achin' To Be - The Replacements
I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me - Rosanne Cash
Cattle Call - Eddie Arnold
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights - Freddy Fender
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky - Johnny Cash
King Of The Rude - $5 Fiddle

Other Music heard on the show...

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

That's it! You should know that I am not able to archive the music shows I do due to the limitations of Z Talk Radio's music license. So, if you want to hear the music you have to tune in. Then I'll see you next Friday night for Dimland Radio 10 Central, 11 Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

dimland radio 8-6-11 show notes

No Cold Open

Well, there was but there wasn't. You just need to listen.

Sunburned!

On the drive up to Brainerd, MN last weekend I neglected to put sunscreen on my left arm. Not good. I got a pretty significant sunburn.

A Trip To Brainerd For My Son's Birthday Part 2

The legendary Paul Bunyan in the flesh, or fiberglass.

Last week I told about our plans to visit Paul Bunyan Land. This week I gave some of the highlights of that trip. It was fun and I think Hayden enjoyed his birthday trip.

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

Netflix Raises Its Prices! Oh, no! The Sky Is Falling!

Yes, yes, yes. Price increases suck, but let's not lose our minds here. Netflix is still a tremendous value, so suck it up.

Today's Heroes: Hege Dalen & Toril Hansen

Our heroes! Too bad they're going to hell.

These two women's heroic actions of saving the lives of 40 teenager who were being targeted by alleged madman, Anders Breivik, during his murder spree in Norway were largely overlooked by the news media. With no regard for their own safety, Hege Dalen and Toril Hanson took their boat over to the island where the massacre was occurring to get as many of the kids to safety as they could. They made four trips and saw that their boat had been shot.

Why have their heroics gone unreported (or at least underreported)? Hege and Toril are a married, lesbian couple! Maybe that isn't the reason, but it seems suspicious.

I took this opportunity to address a point a Facebook friend made about these heroes. Their are those in this world who think, because God hates fags, these two women are going to hell. Jesus Christ! How great is their god?

Read more about Hege's and Toril's selfless act here.

Continuity Errors And The Larry Sanders Show


I have a tendency to spot little mistakes in movies and TV shows, and I gotta tell ya! The Larry Sanders Show is riddled with them!

A Bucket Full Of Crazy

John Lennon and his killer, Stephen King. How's that now?

Wanna see what untreated mental illness can lead to? Go here and find out the truth about who killed John Lennon. According to this person who has gone of his meds, it wasn't Mark David Chapman. It was Stephen King. And King was under orders from former president, Richard Nixon and then President-Elect Ronald Reagan. It's a bucket full of crazy.

An Amazing Birthday Wish

The Amazing Randi

On Sunday, August 8, the amazing one, James Randi, turns 83. Happy birthday, Randi. Astrologers! Put your charts away!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Molly Says' by The dBs & 'Seven Seas' by Echo & The Bunnymen
Second ad break bumpers: 'Start!' by The Jam & 'Positive Vibrations' by The Soft Boys
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