dimland radio 1-6-18 show notes

It's A New Year...Again

As I get older, these years just go by faster and faster. Why it seems just yesterday I was making the same resolution I make every year. And it's tradition for me to talk about that very specific resolution, which I have yet to break. 

Should We Really Feel Guilt About Our Guilty Pleasures? 

I don't think people should feel embarrassed or guilty for liking something other people might think is silly or strange. Hey, your 53 and you like old toys and comic books? That's cool. You like what you like. As long as you aren't causing harm to others, why feel shame.

So what if you like ABBA. Everybody should. In fact, those who don't ought to fell guilty. The weirdos. 

ABBA, Not Exactly A Deep Cuts Band

 
My talk about guilty pleasures led me to talk about a deep dive I did on ABBA's music. I listened to all their albums through Spotify. It turns out that the Swedish supergroup is more a singles band than an album one.

If you know their hits, you've pretty much got it. There might been a deep cut or two, but really their singles are so damn good, you don't have to dig for much more. Unless you want to, then go for it.

Peppermint Lump

 
I thought I knew virtually everything there was to know about the music produced by Pete Townshend. Well, I was wrong. In 1979, Pete teamed up with an 11 year old girl singer, Angie (Angela Porter) and produced pretty catchy bit of pop tunage.

I've been obsessing on the song since I learned about it this past Tuesday. It's called Peppermint Lump. The little girl lead vocals aren't great, but that doesn't stop me from liking it. See the Three Cool Things for the link below.

Conspiracy Theory Response Not Sent

  

I have more than 2,400 Facebook friends. Many of them skeptics. Some think themselves to be skeptics but they are actually conspiracy theorists. One of them posted some conspiracy nonsense of personal incredulity trying to say 9/11 was an inside job.

I didn't unfriend the fellow, but I wrote a response to one of his posts. I didn't send it though. Some hills you just don't want to die on.

Instead I posted the following XKCD comic strip:

I also mentioned this strip on the show. I considered using it as a response:

I'm A Little Slow And Oregon's New Pumping Gas Policy 

Oregon state has joined most of the rest of the country in allowing people to pump their own gas. There were several comments and memes spreading around the internet poking fun of Oregonians.

One such fun poker image (see above) left me baffled for quite some time. My Facebook friend refused to explain the joke when I expressed It didn't understand the "green" gas reference.

The answer did come to me. Eventually.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

3) Stan Lee turned 95 on December 28. Yes, that wasn't this past week, but it's still cool. I blogged about The Man and his importance in the lives of comic book fans and creators.

2) Season 11 of The X-Files premiered with plenty of alien/conspiracy theory goodness.

 

1) And the song that has been this week's obsession: Peppermint Lump.

Movie Recommendation: None

 

I ran out of time, 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: 'Villier's Terrace' by Echo & the Bunnymen & 'I Believe In You' by Don Williams

Second ad break bumpers: 'Keep On Working' by Pete Townshend & 'Eliminator Jr' by Sonic Youth

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

Please subscribe on iTunes! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

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 4-1-17 show notes

I Don't Believe The Universe Wanted Me To Get My 5 Bucks Back

I was able to be charitable the other day. An elderly woman in front of me in line at Popeye's realized she didn't have as much cash on hand as she had thought. She let me go ahead of her as she scanned the menu board to see what she could get for her four dollars.

 

Well, I had some cash, so, after I placed and paid for my order, I handed her five bucks.

 

A week after that my boss paid me back the $15 the company owed me. He gave me an extra five bucks. He was not and is still not aware of my charitable moment. There are those who believe the universe or their god wanted me to get repaid.

 

Well, I don't. It's just a coincidence.

 

But, I would sure like there to be a whole lot more coincidences from which I end up five bucks ahead.

 

Hint, hint, Universe!

 

The other part of the story was about her reaction. The cashier remarked about how nice the gesture was and the lady thanked me. Then she praised Jesus and remarked on how God is good about half a dozen or more times.

 

Yep. For those of you keeping track of the thank you's. That's one for the atheist and, at least, six for God.

 

I-85 Bridge Collapses After Exposure To Uncontrolled Fire

In Atlanta, a bridge on I-85 collapsed after it was exposed to uncontrolled fire. 9-11 Truthers ought to take note that the fire to which that bridge was exposed wasn't hot enough to melt steel, but it was hot enough to weaken the steel and concrete of the bridge so that it collapsed under its own wait.

 

Just like the WTC towers and Building 7.

 

I also mentioned this video of a metal worker showing how steel doesn't have to melt to lose its structural integrity.

Pedantic Moment: This Space Left Blank?

 

Our mortgage holder sent the notice that our escrow was short and our payments were going to increase. It was up to us: The amount could increase by $50 a month or $20. To get the smaller increase, we'd have to pay a certain amount by the end of March. Oh, joy.

 

I was preparing the payment and I looked at the back of the remittance slip. It was blank. Well, no it wasn't. It had the following sentence:

"(This space has been intentionally left blank.)"

 

Um. No, it hasn't.

 

I speculated how corporate think made that Pedantic Moment possible. I even did some acting.

Texas Congresswoman Has An Idea That Could Be Real Money-Maker

 
Texas Representative Jessica Farrar proposed a bill intended to expose the double standard women face when it comes to reproductive rights and health care. Her bill proposed a fine of $100 be imposed on men each time they masturbate.

 

She's a Democrat, so, of course, Republicans pushed back. One Republican Congressman, Rep. Tony Tinderholt, suggested Rep. Farrar take some high school biology classes. This is the same fellow who "proposed a bill that would charge abortion providers and women receiving abortions with murder."

I speculated on the possibility that Rep. Tinderholt isn't on board with the science of evolution. Perhaps he, too, would benefit from taking a few high school biology classes.

 

I also did a little calculating. If Texas could somehow enforce the $100 fine, and if we assume that the average number of times of self-abuse (or love, depends on how you look at it) per man is one a day, and if we just go with males ages 15 - 69, the number I came up with is pretty big. I calculated the amount of the fines per year would be close to $300 billion dollars! The state budget for Texas for 2016/2017 is approximately $210 billion.

 

She may be on to something, Rep. Tinderholt!

 

Apparently, The All-Knowing God Can Be Fooled

 

If you listen to the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (SGU), as I do, and you are up-to-date on the shows, as I am, then you would have heard guest "rogue" comic Joshie Berger. Joshie was raised in a very strict Jewish community and had to live by all those very strict rules.

 

Joshie eventually became an atheist.

 

When he appears on the SGU, he takes over the Science Or Fiction segment with his Jewie Or Fiction. He picks true items demonstrating the crazy rules some in the Jewish community live under. Two are real, one in fiction.

 

Those that practice the strict rules have come up with a loophole that, seems to, fool God. One of the real rules has to do with not having any bread in the house during Passover. The Jewish family can't be certain to get rid of every crumb, so a Goy (a non-Jewish person) is contracted to buy the ownership of all bread in the Jewish household. The beard and bread products are not removed, they just are owned by a Goy.

 

That way if God should drop by during Passover and sees bread, the homeowner can say it's not their bread. And God's fooled by that.

 

Joshie gives more details on the show. It's unbelievable.

 

Movie Recommendation: None

  

Sorry, 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: 'Games People Play' by Alan Parsons Project & 'Away' by The Feelies

Second ad break bumpers: 'Generation' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & 'Apeman Hop' by Ramones

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

Please subscribe on iTunes! Just search for Dimland Radio in the podcast section. And if you could leave a good rating and a positive review it would be awesome.

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.