dimland radio 11-27-10 show notes

A rocky start because of server issues, but I did get underway.

Winter Solstice Tree

Not our tree, ours looks better.

I know this may sound odd coming from an atheist such as myself, but my son and I put up our winter solstice tree (Christmas if you insist). Believe it or don't, we do celebrate Christmas in our household. We keep it secular. There are no angels on our tree, but are several Star Trek characters. There is no Jesus either, but there is an Elvis ornament and that's close.

The Griggs Mansion of St. Paul, MN is not haunted

The Griggs Mansion

My wife pointed out a piece in the East Side Review detailing how an old supposedly haunted mansion in town is, in fact, not haunted. That's according to the family who had lived in the mansion for 27 years. Oh, sure, it's listed as a most haunted place in the Twin Cities, but I'll take the word of the family who has lived there for nearly three decades.

You can read the article here.

It's Not True: The Cottingley Fairies

Hey, the paper cutouts are a little lower. Where are you looking?

Inspired by another article found in the paper by my wife (an obituary, actually), I related the tale of the inadvertent word-wide and long-enduring hoax of the Cottingley Fairies. In 1917, cousins Frances Griffith and Elsie Wright attempted to prank their parents with pictures of the fairies they claimed to have been playing with in the glen on their family property.

The family didn't bite, but there were those who did. Most notably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. For 60 years the hoax persisted, until Geoffrey Crawley, an expert in photography (among other things) had explained in 1983 how the hoax was carried out. And finally, the girls themselves, much later in life, confessed to the hoax.

Still there are people who will believe. Aren't there always?

I look at the photos and find it hard to believe anyone thought the fairies were anything but paper cutouts. You can read all about the hoax here and read Geoffrey Crawley's obituary here.

What? First Christmas, now songs with a Christian theme?

Shocking, I know. But it's true. I do like some songs that have a strong religious tone. To me art is art and if I like it, I like it. It doesn't matter if I agree with the message. I like catchy tunes and I mentioned a few on the show. I'll link them below...

Earn Enough For Us - XTC (This song was written by Andy Partridge, an atheist, who also wrote Dear God)

Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good - Don Williams

The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

Pride (In The Name Of Love) - U2

On Eagle's WIngs - Fr. Michael Joncas

The last song is the most overtly religious song on the list. I do like it, mainly because the priest who wrote it and sang it originally was my priest many, many years ago. I couldn't find a link to his version ( the one I prefer), but you can hear a sample of and buy it on iTunes.

I also mentioned Pete Townshend's Let My Love Open The Door. A song Pete intended the door opening love to be God's love, but most listeners thought it to be the more mundane boy loves girl theme.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'If Hollywood Don't Need You' by Don Williams & 'But I'm Different Now' by The Jam
Second ad break bumpers: 'Cheeking Tongues' by Wire & 'Next Position Please' by Cheap Trick
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

concert memoirs pt. 43 - the guess who & don williams

The Guess Who at the Cabooze with John, some other high school friends and lots of beer.

How embarrassing this night was. It's the only concert at which I've ever been so drunk. After this night, John took to referring to The Guess Who as my favorite band. It isn't, but I sure acted that night as if it was.

It was sometime during the summer after my first year of art school. I had adopted some of the "arty punk" fashion and style (whatever they were) and John and I had started getting into the indie music scene. This show was more for the guys we went with. They were more "normal" and into the mainstream scene. They thought John and I had gotten a little weird, but we were still cool.

The Cabooze was hosting these Canadian has beens. (Just look at that picture. The picture is more recent, but that's pretty much what they were like when we saw them.) It was two-for-one night and, for some reason, the guys kept giving me their extra beer. And I was soaking them up. By the time the band played, I was pretty lit.

I'm not sure how many were original members, but it appears that Burton Cummings was not involved. They played their hits and I rocked out like this was the greatest band ever. I had learned to appreciate the fun to be had while slam dancing, but, because of my state of inebriation, I had forgotten that The Guess Who didn't play the kind of music that lended itself to slam dancing. Nor would the audience appreciate my choice of dance.

Not that I was in full skank or anything. I wasn't flinging myself around, but I wasn't very careful about bumping into the people next to me. I wasn't being very violent, but I was a getting a little out of hand.

At one point, two fellows standing behind me pulled me aside and told me to settle down. Actually, they were pretty cool about it and I immediately complied. John also told me to knock it off. He didn't feel like getting beat because his friend was being a moron.

I settled down and watched the rest of the show when something interesting happened. The band was closing their set with their song 'Share The Land'. The song contains the lyric, "Shake your hand/Share the land". As they get toward the end of the song, they sing that part a cappella and reach out to the crowd to shake hands. Press the flesh. Give the audience a thrill.

Guess who (no pun intended) came climbing over our backs, clambering through the crowd to get their chance to shake the band's hands. Uh huh. It was the same two fellows who dressed me down for my inconsiderate behavior. "Do as we say! Not as we do!"

At least, we didn't get beat up that night.

Don Williams (country music legend)

My wife, Amy, indulged me on this one. I don't think she's much of a country music fan, but I think Don Williams is great. Especially his earlier material. In the 1970s, he was big, but when Amy and I saw him in 2002 he was playing smaller clubs and casinos. He retired from touring in 2006.

Despite losing his audience to the crap country of Garth Brooks and Toby Keith, Don still could put on a terrific show. He played his crowd pleasers and mixed in a new song or two. His band played well and he still had the pipes.

Amy and I sat at a table at the back of the room, but we still had a good view of the stage. Don was so smooth. He sat and sang his best tunes and the audience loved him.

He had this easy manner to his stage presence. And he kept thanking the crowd for being so kind. His deep voice would smoothly roll out, "Oooh, you're sooo nice. You are sooo kind. Aren't you folks just something?"

He was being sincere. He really enjoyed playing for an audience.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Don's songs of romance had me looking at Amy and being so thankful and in love, there was some sort of salty discharge coming from my eye.

Hmmm, what was that salty discharge?