dimland radio 10-20-18 show notes

Back!

This is what 17 long years of married bliss looks like.

I started the show by explaining why there hasn't been a new show in two weeks. Well, I was sick that first missed week and I'm still coughing crap out of my lungs. Then the following Saturday (10-13) was my wedding anniversary, 35 year high school class reunion, and the one year anniversary of the death of my father-in-law. I'd say that was a big Saturday.

 

The baseball playoffs got in the way of my posting a bonus show for the second week of my absence.

 

But I'm back now!

 

And Did You Do Your Homework?

Way back on the September 22nd show, as part of the Three Cool Things segment, I gave a homework assignment to watch this short film by Adult Swim.

 

I hope you watched it, because I went on to spoil it and explain why I thought it was so cool. Go watch it now and you'll see. Here's a clue: It involves The Who and the greatest song ever recorded. 

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Joe Pera Gets The Lyrics Wrong

OK, you watched the film? Good. Did you catch what they got wrong?

 

When Mr. Pera sings the beginning of the song (Baba O'Riley) for the priest who hadn't heard it, the congregation joins in. That's funny. But Joe sings. "Out here in the field, I fight for my meal." I had always heard that as "fields" and "meals." It was an ongoing, daily struggle the song's protagonist was singing about. However, it is difficult to hear if the words are plural. Daltrey isn't very clear on the studio version of the song, so as I recorded the show I wasn't certain. BUT! I found this live footage, filmed for the rockumentary The Kids Are Alright (1979), in which I think it's pretty clear that Roger uses the plural versions.

 

I was certain that Joe and Co got this other bit wrong. As the congregation joins Joe in singing along, they get to "I don't need to fight to prove I'm right," but they sing "I don't need to fight to prove that I'm right."

 

WRONG!

Hey! Whose Memory Is This Anyway?!

I told the tale of three DEA agents coming into the building in which I used to work to investigate a tenant. It was a mystery at first as to who ransacked the third floor apartment, but over the course of a few days the story was revealed.

 

Then someone else who worked at the shop, who wasn't involved in the story, began to tell the story as though he was involved. My reaction at the time was very negative, but I learned that memory is a tricky thing and that that person probably really remembered it the way he told the stories, despite his being wrong.

 

Of course, that's how I remember it.

It's Not True: The Rumor About The Tootsie Pop Wrapper

Memory comes into play again for this item.

 

A Facebook friend posted this image:

 

He asked, "Do they still do the if you find the Indian shooting the star you get a free one?"

 

I had never heard this rumor. What I remember from when I was a kid was we would always look for the "Indian" and get excited if he was on our wrapper. My wife remembers it was supposed to mean good luck. Neither of us remember there being an offer for a free Tootsie Pop if we redeemed a wrapper with that character on it.

 

I looked into it and it is a myth. Snopes.com and the Tootsie website both say there was never such an offer. Interestingly, Tootsie only mentions the "shooting star" and not the white kid dressed as a Native American. They probably wished to avoid any ethnic insensitivity. (I did say "Indian" quite a lot in the segment. I started to feel a bit uncomfortable when listening back. I meant no offense.) 

 

So, why does my friend remember getting free Tootsie Pops?

 

It may be that he remembers the rumor and over the years he's conjured memories of getting free suckers. Or, maybe a store in his neighborhood decided to play along with the rumor and gave away free suckers as a way of getting customers. The second explanation has strong merit as Snopes mentioned that is what some stores did, without Tootsie's sanctioning.

 

Memory is a tricky thing.

Three Cool Things

 

That's not linen draped around him.

It's his skin!

1) My friend Travis went on a trip to Europe and while visiting a church in Milan, Italy he took a few pictures of this statue of St. Bartholomew. It's fantastic sculpture that is incredibly gruesome. Listen to the segment for the gory detail and a bit of dark humor on the part of the Catholic church.

 

2) The above response to the "dairy is bad for you" claim is pretty cool. I wish had thought of it when a pharmacist suggested my drinking milk was what was causing my high blood pressure.

 

 

3) Rock 'n Roll High School (1979) is a pretty ridiculous, campy, low budget, schlocky movie that is a love letter to the Ramones. It may not be high art, but it does have the Ramones and some other really good music in it. And it has the Rock-O-Meter which displays the potency of certain rock bands. Please note which artist comes in just under the Ramones. Pretty cool.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'All That Jazz' by Echo & The Bunnymen & 'Your Autumn Days' by Figures

Second ad break bumpers: 'Celebrated Summer' by Husker Du & 'Here Comes Your Man' by Pixies

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 3-25-17 show notes

I Don't Believe The Universe Wanted Me To Find The Perfect Line

I believe in randomness and coincidence. There are those who see a significant connection in just about everything. They think the universe has a plan. Or their god has a plan. That may be, but I don't see any strong evidence for it. The evidence there is is based on feelings. Well, that's not good enough.

 

So, when I randomly picked the perfect book to use for a brand new meme going around social media, it was a great coincidence. That's all.

 

The new meme sensation is the "And then the murders began" phenomenon. Author Marc Laidlaw (I mistakenly called him Eric Laidlaw on the show) twittered in early March of this year that "the first line of almost any story can be improved by making sure the second line is, 'And then the murders began.'" I saw that on the Facebook and took up the challenge.

 

I thought a children's chapter book would be funny. The first book to come to my mind was Charlotte's Web. I'd never read the book. I was familiar with the story from seeing the animated film from 1973, but I had no idea what the first line of the book was.

I looked it up and what I found couldn't have worked any better.

 

"'Where's Papa going with that ax?' said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. And then the murders began."

 

Perfect! Got it in one try!

I Have A Listener!

Well, I have a handful of listeners, but I pretty much know all of them. They're people I have some kind of affiliation with and they listen to the show. The other day, however, someone I don't know sent a message to Dimland Radio. He was suggesting I make a t-shirt design based on one of my show ID sounders. The one in which I pretend to be shaken by an extraordinary EVP (electronic voice phenomena - the audio anomalies ghost hunters think are communications from the dead). The EVP says one thing, but I say it says, "Bread trout."

 

This listener suggested I draw a bread trout and put it on a shirt with the Dimland Radio logo. It's an intriguing idea. And drawing a bread trout would be a good challenge.

 

We'll see.

Hollywood (And Lots Of People Including Me) Likes 'Em Shaved

 

Shaved legs and armpits on women specifically, I mean. I didn't talk about other parts of women that might or might not be shaved.

 

This came up because there was some objection to the fact that Gal Godot, the new Wonder Woman, clearly has shaved armpits in the trailer for the soon to be released DC super-hero movie. Some of the outcry stems from pedantry: Why would an Amazon shave her armpits? Much more of it comes from decrying the patriarchy.

 

Well, I must confess I like the look of a woman with shaved legs and armpits. I guess I'm part of the patriarchy.

 

I noted that having women shaved in otherwise preposterous situations goes way back in Hollywood. Of course, so does the patriarchy. I gave the examples of Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC (1966) and Linda Harrison in The Planet of the Apes (1968). Both were playing essentially cave women and both were way too hairless to be true to life.

 

 

 

I also mentioned women weren't the only ones Hollywood made shave off body hair. William Holden, a man crush of mine, can be seen shirtless throughout much of the David Lean classic The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). He's also very hairless. Legs, armpits, chest, and back are as smooth as can be.

 

So smooth and glistening!

If you watch the Billy Wilder classic Stalag 17 (1953), you won't get to see Holden shirtless (pity), but you will get to see a fair amount of chest hair peeking out from under the collar of his undershirt. Interesting. I've also found images of a shirtless and hairy William Holden on the internets.

 

What that stuff coming up from under his collar?

From what I can tell Holden had to shave his chest for at least two other films he was in: Picnic (1955) and Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955). For some reason Hollywood wanted him body-hairless for those roles.

 

Patriarchy!

An Example Of How Bad Memory Is And How I Might Have Been The Dick

I told the story of the time the DEA came into the building in which I was working and searched one of the loft apartments. It's quite a tale that I won't get into here. I'll just say that the office manager at the time had nothing to do with witnessing the three DEA agents who did the searching.

 

He saw nothing. He was busy with customers. Dave, one of the fellows in the shop, and I saw those three men. We had no idea they were DEA. Dave and I stayed after work to tell the police what we saw as one of the tenants in the that apartment thought he'd been burgled. We found out the three dudes were DEA days after the event and that they were searching for evidence against the tenant's roommate.

 

Years later, I would hear the office manager recount the tale to customers. He told the story as though he saw the men. And he saw them sneaking up the stairs. He saw their shirts with "DEA" on the back.

 

No, he didn't. He was busy doing other stuff.

 

One day he started to tell me the story. I shot him down. He hadn't seen anything. Dave and I saw the men. And we didn't know about the DEA thing until, at least, a couple days after the event.

 

The office manager wasn't happy that I shut him down so bluntly. But I thought he was being a self-aggrandizing dick by making the event about him. What a dick! So, when I got the chance I took it and told him he wasn't there. Ha!

That was several years ago. Since then I have learned that human memory is not good. It's very unreliable. Memories change over time and it's very human to incorporate someone else's memories as your own. I learned that it was very possible, even likely, that the office manager wasn't being a dick by putting himself in the story. He probably really did remember the event that way.

I might have been the one being a dick the way I shot him down. I could have handled that situation much better.

Movie Recommendation: None

  

I didn't specifically talk about a movie recommendation, but you could watch The Bridge on the River Kwai or Stalag 17 or both. They are excellent.

 

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Warm Leatherette' by The Normal & 'Rattlesnake' by The Replacements

Second ad break bumpers: 'Only You' by Yaz & 'North Country Girl' 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

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 2-7-15 show notes

 

Catholic Clothing Vs Islamic Clothing

Both outfits seem weird to me.

I spotted this graphic (above) on the Facebook. I didn't think the person making the image was making a valid point. First off, both outfits are weird. But, then again, weird is in the eye of the beholder. Second, the Catholic group is made up of nuns who are wearing their habits because that is what they are required to wear as being nuns. The habit is a nun's uniform. It is not a requirement of all Catholic women, just nuns. 

The burkas worn by the second group are required to be worn by Muslim women, because they are women. I see that as being not entirely analogous with the nuns' situation.

I also mentioned that the Muslim women required to wear burkas might not see them as a hardship or degradation. They may believe it is a requirement of their faith and have no problem with it. Some might believe it takes their appearance out of the equation when dealing with men.

Still, both outfits seem weird to me.

  

Pedantic Moment

Pandora has been playing an ad for a money loaning company called Kabbage. They have a woman releasing a genie from a lamp and the genie offers to grant her a wish. She wishes for a business loan.

(Record needle scratch) A what?! A business loan?! She wishes for a business loan?!

What a crappy wisher.

A Dimland Radio Look At Sports

 

Quite a Superbowl game, eh? I talked a bit about how Seattle was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And I lamented the MN Vikings' woeful history of always losing Superbowls and that it's been 38 years since the Vikes have had an opportunity to lose another one.

And, apparently, Al Michaels has said that he believes the MN Twins' organization had added extra crowd noise in the Metrodome to help give the Twins an extra at home advantage in their 1987 World Series championship. Really, Al? Selling a book, are we?

 

Brian Williams May Have A Memory Problem

I posted on Facebook that I'm willing to give Brian Williams, NBC News anchor, the benefit of the doubt that his 12 year-old memory of the military copter he was on had taken enemy fire of rocket propelled grenades. He had been taken to task for his enhanced recollections and he issued an apology for getting it wrong. That apology may not be enough as Williams is still getting a lot of heat. Even from his predecessor, Tom Brokaw.

One thing we should all know is that memory is not video tape and is a very tricky thing. People have gone to prison due to witnesses having faulty memories of which they were absolutely certain. And I was able to go with Mr. Williams by his word. However, it has come to the public's attention that Williams appears to also have enhanced memories of his involvement in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The investigation continues.

A few links for this one...

Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus talks about false memories.

The Stripes and Stars story.

But this fellow says Williams' memory was mostly right.

An article from Skeptic on flashbulb memories.

An article comparing flashbulb memories and normal memories.

The Katrina memory problem article.

 

Also, bear in mind, those who are accusing Williams of making false memory claims are also going by their memories.

 

A False Memory Story From My Past

 

I told the story of an old office manager of mine putting himself into an event in which he really had no part. We had three DEA agents making their way into our place of business some years ago. They were searching one of the upstairs loft apartments for drugs and info on a dealer we had living there. We didn't know the guy was a dealer. And we didn't know they were DEA agents until a couple days later.

It was thought to be a break in and a police report was filed. One of my coworkers and I had seen the agents, but we didn't know they were agents, and we gave our report to the officer about the three men we had seen. The office manager never saw the fellows and couldn't stay around to watch us file our report.

For some time after that, when the office manger would tell our customers the story, somehow he became involved. He would state that he saw the three agents sneaking in and sidling up the stairs. Each time he did this, I would seethe with annoyance. But I wouldn't call him out in front of customers. I would just let it go.

Until, one day, he told the story to me!

 

Movie Recommendation: None This Week

 

You are on your own.

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: 'I Generate a Feeling' by Pete Shelley & 'Couch Potato' by Man Sized Action
Second ad break bumpers: 'A Song from Under the Floorboards' By Magazine & 'Coldbringer' by Naked Raygun

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.