dimland radio 9-26-15 show notes

A Co-host?

Yes, as my wife was out Friday night (when I usually record the show) my son, Hayden, graciously agreed to stay up and record the show with good ole Dad.

 

We started with a brief discussion of the big supermoon eclipse. Hayden seemed interested, but not overly so.

iTunes Sucks

I updated my iTunes and lost all my podcasts. Oh, they are still being downloaded, I can find that part out. But I can't find my podcast library. My songs are all there in the music library. I can see those, but the podcasts ain't showing up.

 

It could be that I'm doing something wrong. It seems more likely the iTunes update has some glitch. And just try to get help from iTunes. They ain't helpful.

 

Perhaps the next update will fix the issue.

 

Joe Soucheray's Problem With Global Warming

Joe Soucheray is a talk radio host and a columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He can be described as a curmudgeon and a conservative. He's also a global climate change denier. At least, he denies the human causation of it.

 

He frequently brings up news items on some extreme weather event or condition happening now that hasn't been as bad or happened in the distant past. For instance, he recently talked about an article stating California is the driest it has ever been since 500 years ago.

 

Soucheray will ask what caused that dry condition back then. "We weren't driving cars then."

 

His point is that if something other than humans caused that (and the many other examples he's given over the years) to happen back then, maybe something other than humans is causing it now.

 

It seems a fair point, but he doesn't connect all those past events. He doesn't notice those past events happened separately from each other. He also doesn't notice that all those not this bad since examples are all happening now!

 

If all of those past events were occurring at roughly the same time he might have something there. But they didn't.

Spoiling A Doctor Who Episode

 

I tried to limit the spoilage. I talked about the season eight episode 'Kill The Moon' and stated that a chicken egg does not gain mass as the chick grows inside it. The egg is a closed system, so it cannot gain mass.

I also mentioned a skit from 'Mr. Show' about blowing up the moon. I find the skit very funny. Check it out.

 

Bigfooter Determines Bigfoot Prints Are Likely Fake

Not all bigfoot print, I'm sure, but Cliff Barackman of (Not) 'Finding Bigfoot' investigated a sizable find of bigfoot prints in London, OR. He has studied casts of the prints and has determined they are probably fake.

 

There's hope for this young man. 

Movie Recommendations: Whitey: USA V James J Bolger (2014)

 

CNN Films

 

Whitey Bolger is a nasty piece of work. And this documentary shows how nasty. It also shows how members of the FBI were very willing to get in bed with this guy. Fascinating and icky all around. And there's a tragic unexpected twist in there.

The movie 'Black Mass' with Johnny Depp as Whitey is based on information in this film.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Alice's House' by The Psychedelic Furs & 'My Love Explodes' by The Dukes Of Stratosphear

Second ad break bumpers: 'Under Pressure' by Queen &  'Cat's In The Cupboard' By Pete Townshend

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 9-19-15 show notes of the show that didn't air

Server Issues, I Think

The server was down when I went in to make sure my show would air. I got it going again, but it didn't want to play my show for September 19th. It did, however, want to play an older show of mine. So, show 242 didn't air, but it is available on Z Talk's Show Archive page.

 

What I've decided to do is forge ahead and do a new show to air Saturday at the normal time, provided the server works or I work it properly. I will place show 242 in the Big Picture Science show slot. You might not know this, but the excellent science program Big Picture Science follows my show on Saturday nights. Two episodes play each week. You really ought to check it out.

 

But, for Saturday the 26th, I'll replace the first BPS show with Dimland Radio show 242, so you can hear it, if you'd rather not grab it from the show archive.

 

The following are the show notes for the show that didn't play...

A New Car!

It isn't this exact car, but this is the same model year and color.

Not brand new. It's a 2014 Kia Soul, but it's new to us. Amy's dad gave us some money to put toward a new vehicle a while back. And my dad said he was willing to help us out, too. Our dads both wanted us to have a decent, reliable vehicle before winter sets in. So, with their generous assistance, we bought that Kia Soul.

 

Yes, we do note the irony of a family of atheists owning a car called Soul, but what the hell. It's a neat car and it's the best either of us have ever owned. We'll just spell it S-O-L-E in our minds.

 

The Who North American Tour Postponed

This could be considered the yin to the yang (or is that the yang to the yin?) of our good news of getting the new car. It was announced that due to illness The Who Hits 50 North American Tour will be postponed until Spring 2016. Roger Daltrey (71) is being treated for viral Meningitis and, although we are told he is on the mend, his doctors have order no touring for the rest of the year.

I do want Roger to get better and I can wait until Spring, but the October 10th show that I have tickets to, was to be our mine and Amy's 14th wedding anniversary celebration. Now we will have to find something else to do.

Thanks, Obama.

Some Blogs Are Posted

 

I do a couple blogs, as long time listeners and readers of this blog (see?) will know. Recently, I have had a blog posted on the Stuck in the 80s site. It was another installment of my ongoing series featuring the alternative musical acts of the 80s. The posts are called Never Found in the 80s. My latest is about the Irish rock band Cactus World News.

 

And I think I mentioned writing about my most favorite toys of my youth. They were the two foot tall robots know as the Shogun Warriors. And they really were awesome!

 

More On That Whole Bush Lied About WMD

A sizable chunk of the show was my going over a Facebook comment discussion I had with two fellows who disagreed with my stance that Bush didn't knowing give false information about Iraq's WMD stockpiles and programs to create them.

 

Links and opinions were shared very civilly. One fellow was a bit more upset with me and the other fellow did capitulate that there is no "hard evidence" that the Bush Administration and Republicans were lying. Nothing that would carrying any weight in court, anyway.

 

This article from 2004 was offered as giving examples of Bush lying. However, the article lists flip flops (changes in position on issues) not lies. And the fellow who posted it neglected to post part two of that article series, which listed John Kerry's (Bush's Democrat opponent in 2004) flip flops.

 

There was also an article from 2008 that told of a study that counted 935 false statements made by the Bush Administration officials in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. I noted that those statements weren't called lies and that they were found to be false only after Saddam was taken from power.

 

I maintained that Bush and the world were going on the best information available at the time. And that information all pointed to Iraq having stockpiles of WMD unaccounted for since the expulsion of the UN weapons inspectors in 1998. I also reiterated that there were no world intelligence agencies stating they had evidence there were no stockpiles prior to invasion.

 

I, in interest of trying to prove myself wrong, did find an article on a BBC TV series, Panorama, claiming that Saddam's foreign minister had told a CIA official six months prior to invasion that there were no WMD. But, I pointed out that program aired in March 2013 and it doesn't seem to have gotten any traction. Also, it's worth noting, that same foreign minister stated just before the show aired that the story was totally fabricated by Panorama.

 

The discussion was civil and one fellow may believe in his heart that Bush lied admitted the evidence was sparse and not very good. The other fellow unfriended me.

 

Jade Helm 15 Ends...

 

Jade Helm 15 ends and Texas is still free, no ones guns were taken away, closed Walmarts did not become prisons, and martial law was not declared. Did the conspiracy theorists' alarm raising prevent Obama from destroying America or was it just a military training session that ran its course? I think you know which scenario I favor.

 

Now onto the next conspiratorial false-flag operation... 

Movie Recommendations: The Incredibles (2004)

By far my favorite of all the Pixar animated films. And Pixar has plenty of great films to its credit.

 

Brad Bird wrote and directed this excellent superhero adventure story. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but why not watch it again?

 

There is a sequel in the works with Bird at the helm again. I really look forward to it!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Dear John' by Au Pairs & 'Jean's Not Happening' by the Pale Fountains

Second ad break bumpers: 'Erica's Word' by Game Theory &  'Antonin Artaud' 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
 
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 9-12-15 show notes

Report To Court

Just before I sat down to record this show, I found something pretty scammy in my email. It was a notice from "State Court" that I appear. The English was a bit awkward and there was no indication as to which court I needed to appear before nor was there any reason given for my appearance.

 

There was an attachment which I was instructed to open. I didn't. I read the notice on the show and then deleted the obvious scam email.

Remembering 9/11

It's an annual occurrence. The swallows return to Capistrano each fall. The cherry blossoms bloom in Washington DC each spring. And, every year for the past 14 years, the "truthers" take to the social media to convince the "sheeple" that 9/11 was an inside job.

 

This is the latest example of 9/11 conspiracy logic that I spotted on Facebook.

They site the usual anomalies or what they think are inconsistencies in the reporting of the events of that day. Jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to melt steel. There's no way 19 hijackers armed with box cutters could pull this off. The Jews all stayed home that day. What's his name said, "Pull it." The Pentagon couldn't have been hit by a plane. Building 7! Blah. Blah. Blah.

 

And on it goes. There's little hope of getting them to face reality.

 

Here is what the evidence tells us about what happened on September 11, 2001 and how the conspiracy theorists are so wrong. And here is what a former "truther" has to say about Building 7. He is a former "truther", so it may be possible for others to see the light. And this from Popular Mechanics.

 

I also talked about what I remember of that day and the fearful strangeness of the days that followed.

 

Politics

I'm no expert in politics. Frankly, I'm just plain tired of the whole us versus them scenario that any political system made up of humans can't help but create. I see a lot of Left against Republican stuff on my Facebook. Which obviously means that most of my FB friends tend to be politically liberal.

 

I commented on a posting on the liberal site PoliticusUSA by Sarah Jones, was detailing a speech given by Sen. Al Franken before the Senate explaining his support of the Iran nuclear deal. What he said seemed reasonable to me.

 

Something Ms Jones said gave me pause: "Maybe it's not possible for Republicans to learn from their Iraq decision, because they don't view it as a mistake to invade a sovereign nation on a lie." (Emphasis added by me.)

 

There it was again. This Bush lied bullshit. Ms Jones appears to forget that nearly every Democrat was on board with using military force against Iraq, including VP Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Here is an admittedly conservative source listing Democrats "lying" about Iraq.

 

I usually ask: If Bush lied and he knew there were no stockpiles of WMD, why didn't he and the evil genius Dick Cheney make certain that the weapons inspectors found some? Why didn't they assigned some special black ops unit to bring in some biological and chemical weapons containers and plant them so as to be found later?

 

But, on a closer read, Ms Jones does seem to be indicating the Democrats have learned "from their Iraq decision" when it comes to the handling of Iran.

 

As always, however, when it comes to politics I have to admit it's possible that I am wrong.

Gone Jetta Gone

 

Our Jetta at a healthier, happier time.

After more than a year and a half of sitting in the garage, we finally got our VW Jetta out and parked on the street to be towed away as a donation to a local school. It was quite a chore and my wife and I owe big thanks to my younger brother, Steve. He made it possible to get the dead vehicle out of our lives.

 

10 points, Steve!

 

Star Trek: DS9's Lowest Moment

Regular listeners to my show know I really like baseball. I can't play it, but I love to watch it.

 

Regular listeners to my show will also know I like Star Trek. The Next Generation series is my favorite. No other captain can top Picard.

 

I just recently finished watching the Deep Space 9 series for the first time. I'm not sure why I wasn't interested in it when it originally aired, but I saw it was streaming (not for free) on Netflix. I figured I'd watch it and it would be like a new Star Trek series to me.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It had a few awkward moments, but when the war with the Dominion heated up, the show got pretty darn good.

 

BUT, they produced quite a clinker in their final season. In an episode meant to lighten the tension of a season long war, the producers decided to have the characters take part in a baseball game.

 

Not since I saw what was claimed to be a baseball game in that sparkly vampires movie, had I seen such a ludicrous depiction of the Great American Past-time. It was awful.

 

First of all, according to Star Trek, there is no baseball in the 24th Century. What?! Why live in the future? But Captain Sisko and his son still like the game and play it in the holo-suites (don't ask me to explain). An old rival stops by DS9 and Sisko finds out the rival and his crew (all Vulcans) have been playing baseball regularly (don't ask me to explain). Sisko issues a challenge to a game pitting DS9's best players against the Vulcan's best. The DS9 crew then have TWO WEEKS to learn all the rules and how to play the game.

 

What ensues is absolutely ridiculous. Almost impossible to watch, but I forced myself. Our heroes do lose to the Vulcans by a score of 10 - 1. But, realistically the Vulcan's score should have been much, much higher.

 

This clip with a U2 song, not sure why, will give you some idea of what I went through watching the show. This clip without U2 might do even better.

 

It was horrible.

Movie Recommendations: None

I went on too long about that Star Trek assault on the greatest game ever. I didn't get to a recommendation, so you are on your own. 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Bonneville' by The dB's & 'Jordan, MN' by Big Black

Second ad break bumpers: 'Los Angeles' by X &  'Cooks County' 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
 
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 9-5-15 show notes

Hot, Sweaty Week

I hate sweating. Oh, I don't mind it if I sweat while I'm working, but if I'm sitting and reading or whatever, sweating is just plain wrong. And I've been sweating a lot this past week, because it's been so humid and the AC at the office doesn't work for shit.

Earning My Pay

So, it's hot and crappy sweaty all week and, on Friday, I got to cap by telling two employees they were losing their jobs, because we lost the account at which they were working.

My job is working for a janitorial service and we occasional lose accounts. Hopefully not because we were doing a poor job. On rare occasions that may be the case. But most of the time it's because of new management, they decide to clean themselves, someone came in much cheaper, or they go out of business.

We think this latest lose is because they want to clean it themselves. Still, it doesn't make it easier to tell someone they've lost their job, even it is just part time work.

 

Climate Versus Weather

This isn't the graphic I talked about, but it will do as a stand in.

I mentioned a graphic I spotted on the Facebook. Unfortunately, I can't find it, so the image above will have to do and you'll just have to take my word about that graphic. It was being shared by folks who want to get others to understand the serious threat of global warming.

Now, I am on board with the whole climate change thing being largely human caused and that we need to curtail our release of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, but I'm not on board with using weather to argue climate.

Yes, as the graphic tells us, Seattle has no record of ever having a summer with ten or more days with high temperatures of 90 or higher, until this year. But that is just one year. That's weather. If the graphic had shown how there has been a steady increase in those hots days each summer in Seattle over the last ten, twenty years, that would be climate.

Minneapolis normally averages ten 90 degree days per summer. Of the past two summers, there have been only two days of 90 or higher in 2014 and 2015 hasn't had many more than that. Would I be accurate if I used those two data points to argue the globe is cooling? 

It's Not True (Probably)...

I talked about how most of the evidence refutes the idea that when women work or live together their menstrual cycle synchronize. There is some published work out there that indicates that pheromones may affect cycles, but it has been called into question.

Therefor, I called this an It's Not True...Probably.

 

Most Memorable Moment In High School Health Class

Not exactly my health teacher, but close.

Ms Gredvig was a tough Phy-Ed teacher. She could be harsh and unfair.

I didn't have her for phy-ed. I had her for health class. One day she decided to show the class, the entire class, an educational film about breast cancer and how to do a self examination. The film included a young high school age looking woman (probably at least 18 years old) performing a self exam.

No blurring. No black bars. We saw naked breasts in our health class. We never did find out why Ms Balbricker..er... I mean Ms Gredvig didn't excuse the boys from the class.

Kim Davis And Tracking Social Media Outrage
 

I weighed in on the Kim Davis situation, by saying she should quit her job if she doesn't like what the job requires her, by law, to do. Part of her job is to issue marriage licenses, but her religious faith has her refusing to issue those licenses to same sex couples.

She has be found in contempt of court for the refusal and is headed to jail.

I'm OK with that.

I'm not OK with attacking her because of how she looks. That is irrelevant. I find it funny that some on the Left feel personal attacks are fine when used against people they disagree with, but not so when they agree with the person being attacked. It's a bit of that whole Us versus Them thinking. And we all need to do our best to avoid partaking in it.

Here's a take that also doesn't like the attack on her looks approach.

I also mentioned I'm considering keeping track of the social outrages of next year. There are sure to be a few rolling around the social media. I'm interested in how long outrages last, who they are against, and which next outrage draws the public's attention next.

I'm considering it. We have to see if I do it. 

Movie Recommendations: The Legend Of Boggy Creek (1972)

Howco International Pictures

I recently blogged about this docudrama about a bigfoot-like creature living in the swampland near Fouke, Arkansas. When this movie was released it was a sensation and it thrilled me as an eight year old. But, when I saw it as an adult, it had lost its senational appeal.

It's still an intriguing viewing. I wonder how people back then didn't just scoff at this rather amateurish film. It's worth look and you can see the entire movie on YouTube. 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Big Brother Muscle' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & 'Smalltown Boy' by Bronski Beat

Second ad break bumpers: 'Small Blue Thing' by Suzanne Vega &  'Big Mouth Strikes Again' By The Smiths

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.