dimland radio 6-1-19 show notes

The Big Scrub Job

Each year for the last several years, the janitorial service for which I work does a a big scrub and wax job of a small supermarket in Osseso, MN. I talked about some of the particulars of the job, but I also detailed a mugging and a close encounter with a deer.

More Sports Talk

As of this writing the Minnesota Twins baseball club still has the best record in the Majors. Although I still think the air is going to quickly exit this balloon, it's heartening to see this team do so well.

 

I brought them up again because they had suffered a humiliating loss at the bats of the Tampa Bay Rays, a team from the American League East division, which is a tough division that includes the Boston Red Sox and the Hated Yankees. And Tampa is a tough team to beat.

 

The Rays mopped up the diamond with my favorite team by a score of 14-3 last Thursday. Yikes! A friend texted me that that was it. The balloon was deflating. The season is over.

 

One sports' cliche remarks on the character of a team in how they respond to such a loss. If they fold, their previous success was probably a fluke. If the lose the next game, but give a good battle, don't give up hope. If they win, you just might have a great team on your hands.

 

The Twins won the next game, which was game two of a four game series with the Rays in Tampa. Hey. Maybe we do have a great team.

 

And then they won game 3. They still have the best record in the Majors.

 

This is interesting.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Oh, Yes, There's Crying In Baseball

Another example of how Hollywood got something wrong again. The film A League Of Their Own gave pop culture the phrase: "There's no crying in baseball." Well, that's wrong. In the past I have given other examples and on this show I give the most recent example.

 

Albert Almora Jr. of the Chicago Cubs was at the plate facing the Houston Astros, when he fouled off a pitch which was a line drive directly into the stands. Almora watched in horror as his line drive hit a four year-old girl. She was immediately taken from the ballpark to the hospital.

 

However, in the direct aftermath of that fouled off pitch, Almora was devastated that he had hurt that young fan. He went down to a knee, head in hands, completely shook up. When he went over to the area of the stands where the girl had already been removed he ended up crying on the shoulder of a security guards. Almora is a father himself and this moment was breaking his heart.

 

So, you can see, Hollywood, there is crying in baseball.

 

The good news is the girl is expected to fully recover.

 

Years ago ballparks throughout the Majors had extended the protective netting to the ends of the dugouts to help prevent these kinds of incidents. I'm guessing some teams, maybe all, will choice to extend the netting even farther.

It's It Ironic, Don't You Think?

 

During last week's exclusive download only show, I talked about how I thought the owners of Ark Encounter in Kentucky, the tribute to human gullibility in believing in fairy tales, suing their insurance company over rain damage to an access road to the folly wasn't really ironic.

 

My opinion was that it would have been ironic if the ark itself had been damage by rain, but not an access road. At least, not very ironic. Well, Facebook friends more smarter than me respectfully pointed out the error of my thinking. I realized they were right and I was wrong.

 

Hey. It can happen.

 

In Defense Of Snopes

 

Nobody likes to be wrong, including me, especially about strongly held beliefs. So when a website like Snopes.com comes along to find the facts and the truth about all sorts of urban legends, memes, and political claims, there will be folks who will dismiss those efforts. Often times the dismissal is to claim a specific political and social bias on the part of the debunking entity.

 

If Snopes debunks a myth about Pres. Obama, they are a bunch of bleeding hearted lefties. If that same website puts to waste a lie about Pres. Trump, well, obviously, the site is a right wing nut mouthpiece. I've heard Snopes disparaged in both of these ways, however lately the claim they are lefties is more prominent.

 

I went through an article that I think shows a more balanced approach. It confirms that Prs. Obama has been named "Most Admired Man in the World" 11 years in a row, according to Gallup. Of course, that's just one article. They could still be a bunch of pinko, dirty, red Dummycrats. Or hate-mongering, money-grubbing, corporate lap dog Republithugs.

 

It depends on the political and social leanings of the readers.

 

Three Cool Things

 

1) It's a little slow and you know how it ends, but this real-time computer-animated re-enactment of the sinking of the Titanic is awfully cool.

 

2) Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were guests on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and they did a segment with the host and The Roots covering The Who classic Won't Get Fooled Again. The whole bunch is crammed into a small space as they play the song using interesting, kid-style instruments. It's fun and Fallon didn't annoy me as he usually does. And that's cool. (Well, he's still a little annoying.)

 

Based on an illustration by the great Frank Frazetta.

3) It's June, which means I did another drawing for the DIY calendar I'm doing for 2019. This month I drew a tardigrade, a way cool microscopic critter. A Facebook friend suggested it and I came up with a fun way to present it. I hope you think it's cool.

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'O, Superman' by Laurie Anderson & 'Villiers Terrace' by Echo & The Bunnymen

Second ad break bumpers: 'Eye In The Sky' by The Alan Parsons Project & 'Institutionalized' by Suicidal Tendencies

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 5-25-19 show notes

Exclusive Download Only Show

There was new playback and chat room on Z Talk Radio for this show. Saturday was the night of the annual big scrub job for my janitor job. I still recorded a show as per usual and these are the notes for that show.

Enjoy.

Isn't It Ironic? Well, Maybe Slightly

Just earlier in the day when I recorded this show several of my Facebook friends were sharing links to articles with headlines suggesting how ironic it was that Kentucky's Ark Encounter Park (an actual attraction that assumes the Noah's Ark story in the Bible is true) had flood damage due to rain.

I read one of the articles. The headlines were misleading. (Here's one example.) The article stated that an access road to the replica of Noah's Ark was damaged, not the ark itself. I was disappointed and thought this story wasn't an example of irony. I stated as much of Facebook, as well.

Weeeelll, some Facebook friends did give good arguments on why it was still ironic. More on that on next week's show.

The 2019 Minnesota Twins Have The Best Record In Baseball

I can't shake the feeling this roll of home runs and wins the Twins are on will come to an end, I am a fan of Minnesota sports team after all. Still, it is astounding how well this team is doing. As of this writing, they have the best win/loss record and the most home runs (104) in the majors, seven more than the Seattle Mariners who have played three more games than the Twins so far this season.

It's a nice feeling, but they'll return to earth soon, right?

A Facebook Discussion With Two High School Classmates Of Mine

 

People tend to accept dubious stories as true if those stories coincide with their worldview and personal biases. And because I am a people as well, I try to be aware of this and vet the stories I share on social media. I also occasionally point out when friends have let their biases lead them to sharing dubious and discredited stories.

 

The other day a high school classmate of mine shared a blog item from 1998 about actor Robert deNiro being linked to a French prostitution ring which was also connected to child sex trafficking. deNiro was questioned be French authorities because his name was mentioned in connection to the prostitution ring (not the child sex trafficking). He was questioned and released uncharged.

 

That was more than 20 years ago, but that doesn't stop the internet from bringing it up.

 

I shared a Snopes article that discredited the pedophilia angle that was being pushed around the webs. The discussion went from there. Here was mine final response:

 

 

 

"It is true that Robert De Niro was linked to a child prostitution ring in 1998 in France, because ONE person involved mentioned his name. The French authorities questioned the actor for nine hours and then released him uncharged.

This linkage is from more than 20 years ago and I'm unaware of and I can find no other more recent links to child prostitution or pedophilia concerning De Niro. The resurfacing of this story appears to be an attempt to discredit De Niro, possibly in response to his recent anti-Trump statements.

I'm a skeptic. When a story seems hinky or is from a source that I've never heard of, my skeptical antenna goes up and I take the time to see how reliable the source is and if the story is credible.

Part of my personal skeptical activism is to encourage my friends to vet stories before sharing them on social media. Read the article. Don't just go by the headline. Look for other sources.

I even confirm celebrity death notices before commenting or sharing.

Remember the nation wide scare about ritual sex abuse at day care centers all over America that ran rampant in the '80s? The McMartin case in California? Jordan, Minnesota?

Well, it turned out it was an unfounded panic sparked by well-meaning parents, social workers, teachers, politicians, and prosecutors. But there was no vast ritual child sex abuse going on in this country.

I bring it up, because as those cases finally began to fall apart, investigators were beginning to doubt the claims. The claims became more and more outlandish. The supporting evidence was just not there. And one claim that helped the unraveling was that ONE child mentioned Chuck Norris as one of the abusers.

So, we can rightly say that Chuck Norris was linked to the ritual child sexual abuse at day cares throughout America in the 1980s. The statement would be true. But would it be fair to Mr. Norris?

I'm asking you to be skeptical."

 

Apparently, Ghost Hunting Is Still Happening. And Still No Ghosts

 

No ghost, but plenty of anomalies, which may not be what people are hunting for, but that's what they keep finding. And on a recent Jason Show, a Twin Cities morning talk show, host brought in a sincere, honest, intelligent, and well-meaning ghost hunter to talk about her recent hunt in a "haunted" apartment in New Orleans, the "most haunted city in America."

 

I'll just say the evidence she presented was underwhelming. Check for yourself here.

 

I'm Not Sure About This

There is this thing called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) that is a pledge that 14 states and the District of Columbia have signed up for that voices those states agreement to give their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote. This pledge would go into affect provided that enough states sign on to bring their total of electoral votes to at least 270, the number needed to win the office. New Mexico is the latest to take the pledge.

 

This is to prevent another 2016, but would it be constitutional? And couldn't this, in effect, disenfranchise the states whose voters voted for the lower vote-getting candidate?

 

This whole national thing is pretty complicated.

 

Not A Movie Recommendation: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

 

I often say art is subjection and comedy is hard. One person's hilarious movie is another's "This is stupid" experience. 

 

I finally watched the madcap comedy classic It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. So much yelling, so many impossible to survive situations, so much stupidity, and way too much human air raid siren Ethel Merman. I thought it was horrible without a single moment that worked for me.

 

Well, there was one. That is until Dick Shawn showed up to ruin the moment.

 

Three Cool Things

 

 

1) This photo (above) of actor Max Schreck in costume taking a break while filming Nosferatu in 1921. I hope the photo description is accurate. Nevertheless, it's damn cool.

 

2) This audio clip of Grace Slick's isolated vocals on the psychedelic rock classic White Rabbit. Some echo, but no other obvious studio trickery. And no auto-tune. It's so very cool.

 

 

3) Hey! Every home should have a globe. I found this one in the basement of Nostalgia Zone, a store filled with comics and collectables, and I had to have it. We figure it is a video store display case for the short-lived Canadian TV series War Of The Worlds (1988-90). It's out of this world cool!

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush & 'One Day' by The Church

Second ad break bumpers: 'Pretty Girls Make Graves' by The Smiths & '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

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.

Images used under Fair Use.

dimland radio 3-18-17 show notes

And Back To The ER I Go

Monday evening, Mom was hit by a pretty severe dizzy spell and then she hit the floor. She landed awfully hard and ended up in the emergency room. Dad got a hold of me at work and I hurried through what I needed to do to get to the hospital.

Mom was pretty shook up and in pain, but as the evening progressed and she was able to get that uncomfortable neck brace removed, she was able to calm down and relax.

In fact, Dad was able to get Mom to have quite the laughing jag after hearing the tales of the false teeth and the wet pants.

She went home that night. And she's feeling better.

Playboy: The Return Of Naked Ladies, Fake Boobs, And Comic Book Art

I had planned to talk about this last week, but time constraints wouldn't allow for it. Which is probably a good thing, because going from talking about sexual assaults and a sexual predatory atmosphere at the fraternity for which I had done illustrations over the past 20 years, to talking about Plaboy magazine, might not have gone over very well.

But, with a week behind us, I went on to talk about how Playboy magazine has brought back the nude photos after a year-long absence. Cooper Hefner, Hugh's son and the magazine's chief creative officer, had said the nudity wasn't the problem with the lackluster sales of the iconic men's magazine. (My suspicion is that there were too many articles.) He also said that the way the naked ladies were presented was dated.

This got me to talking about the idea that the Playboy Playmate was the "girl next door." Well, the exceptionally hot girl next door, but the women did have a quality about them that made them appear real. As time went on, the women lost the girl next door look. Part of that loss, I think was due to breast implants. The images were always touched up. Air-brushed and later Photoshopped, but the breast implants brought another level of unreality. The boobs just didn't look right.

Breast implant technology has improved though. So, I'm told! Ahem! 

That led me to talk about comic book art and one cover in particular. I showed it to my wife and said, "This is what happens when comic book artists are raised in the age of breast implants."

 

The cover was drawn by Joe Madureira, who is an excellent artist. It's a variant cover for Battle Chasers #1 (1998). The woman on the cover obviously has breast implants. Real breasts wouldn't do what they do on that cover. Maybe Madureira wanted that look. Maybe that character does have implants.

However, she's also either very bowlegged or her hips have been dislocated.

Dimland Radio Science Hero: Dan Piraro

 

OK. There are no breast implants or hip displacement here. But there is a positive and correct message presented by cartoonist Dan Piraro. His March 8, 2017 edition of his daily strip Bizarro shows a group meeting of mythical beings. The newest member of the group is the vaccine that causes autism. Truly a mythical thing.

 

For this strip, Dan Piraro has been named a Dimland Radio Science Hero.

Ark Encounter Not Drawing 'Em In

Speaking of myths, the creationist's favorite fairy tale inspired Ark Encounter has not pulled in the numbers of visitors nor the amount of dollars as had been projected. It seems God was far more successful at inspiring two of every species to head to the original ark, but He can't direct enough paying customers to Ken Ham's folly in Kentucky.

I'm shocked! Shoc... No, I'm not.

Truth be told, I probably wouldn't be shocked if it was a roaring success.

Movie Recommendation: The Chase (1966)

 

 

A bit melodramatic. A bit Peyton Place. But watching Marlin Brando as the sheriff of a small Texas town deal with the pettiness, racism, and sniping cruelty of the townsfolk as he attempts to bring in the town's ne'er do well escaped convict unharmed is very entertaining.

There are plenty of familiar faces in this one including EG Marshall, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, and Robert Redford. And keep an eye open for a young Paul Williams as one of the town's teenagers.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Erica's Word' by Game Theory & 'And Through The Wire' by Peter Gabriel

Second ad break bumpers: 'Scarecrow People' by XTC & '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.