dimland radio 5-7-16 "the who show" show notes

Second Easiest Show Notes I've Ever Done...

 

Photo credit: Steve Cohen/CityPages

Honestly, I had not intended for the show to be solely about the greatest rock band ever: The Who. I even had notes prepared for a few other non-Who related topics, but I just couldn't help myself. I just had to gush about my all-time favorite band.

 

I talked about the first time I saw The Who. I hadn't planned on it, because I wasn't much of a Who fan then. But, my friend had an extra ticket and asked if I would go. I said yes and my life has been a love affair with the band and Pete Townshend in particular ever since.

 

I also covered the other times I saw the boys in concert. Each concert was thoroughly enjoyed by me, but then why wouldn't they be? I'm a massive fan and The Who are the greatest rock band ever. Have I mentioned that?

 

As part of my Who indulgence show I included the story behind this current tour and it's postponement due to Roger's illness in the fall of 2015. That illness added close to seven months to what would have already been a yearlong wait. The tickets went on sale in October 2014 for a show that was originally scheduled to take place in October 2015. The concert was to be part of Amy (my wife) and my 14th wedding anniversary celebration, but, because of the postponement, it became part of our Mother's Day celebration.

 

Photo credit: Steve Cohen/CityPages

The concert took place in the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. The Target Center is located across the street from the legendary nightclub First Ave & 7th Street Entry. Before heading into the stadium, Amy and I went over to see the temporary memorial that has been put up by Prince's star on the wall of First Avenue. There was a posting on the wall from The Who paying tribute to Minnesota's musical genius.

 

I described the show. I talked about my favorite moments and about the crowd. I speculated about those elderly audience members and how they may have conducted themselves way back in the 70s when they were young and going to concerts.

 

There are two versions of my review of the concert online. A shortened version for the Stuck in the 80s blog and a more verbose version on my weekly blog at Warehouse Find, the official blog of Nostalgia Zone. And was able to find a YouTube video of the ENTIRE concert! It's not the best quality video or sound, but you will be able to see what I was talking about.

Movie Recommendation: None

I ran out of time, so no recommendation 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: 'Another Tricky Day' & 'Athena' by The Who

Second ad break bumpers:  'Cry If You Want' & 'You Better You Bet' 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 12-5-15 show notes

Dimland Radio War On Christmas

Each holiday season the Salvation Army bell-ringers take up residence at the entrances of various retailers throughout town. And each holiday season I feel that twinge of guilt because I don't drop any money in the bucket. Sure, the Salvation Army might be helping feed, clothe, and house the poor, but it's all done with a heaping helping of Jesus.

 

As an atheist, I just can't throw in a buck. I'll give to a different charity that doesn't proselytize as part of the bargain.

 

But, recently having successfully dodged the bell-ringers, I found I had another obstacle that I really couldn't avoid. The cashier at the grocery store asked if I wanted to round up the total to give the extra money to... the Salvation Army!

 

I just serpentined my way past the bucket brigade outside! Now I have to declare to the cashier that I do not want to give money to the Salvation Army. What's a poor atheist to do?

 

I said, "No."

 

Internet Awesomeness

Back in the mid-80s I became a regular at the legendary Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue & the 7th Street Entry. Every Tuesday night my friend John and I could be found there enjoying DJ Kevin Cole's Club Degenerate. Cole played the coolest alternative tunes of the day and the past, along with whatever else hit his fancy. Those nights were almost always great fun and we rarely missed a Tuesday night at First Avenue.

 

Occasionally, there would be a live performance on those nights. A local band would play a few songs and then the night would move on. One such band was the Fuckin' Shit Biscuits. The Biscuits could best be described as a noise band whose members barely knew how to play their instruments.

 

But, it didn't matter. They were just plain fun. They would give out free tap beer at the start of their set which led to audience members dousing the band in the free beer. So much fun.

 

Well, the other day, I posted a link on the Dimland Radio Facebook page to a Skeptoid episode on black mold. A comment appeared telling me that link was fair payment for all that beer given away at Club Degenerate.

 

What? Could it be? Yes, it could.

The poster was a member of the band! How cool is the internet?!

 

Internet Not-So-Awesomeness

 

Well, hold on there, pardner! Before we get too excited about internet awesomeness. There's this guy.

 

 

 

Joshua Feuerstein is a YouTube evangelist. Not only does he think evolution is a lie and that atheists are fools; the dumbass insists on doing virtually all of his videos in the portrait format. And you know how much I hate that.

 

Well, last July, Josh took a break from displaying his scientific ignorance to talk about Cecil the lion. He couldn't help but compare the death of that lion to the millions of babies killed through abortion. He remarked on how the dentist who killed Cecil had to going into hiding, fearing for his life.

 

Josh upped the ante and told his fairly sizable audience that it was time that abortion doctors should have to fear for their lives.

 

Cut to just a couple weeks ago when a domestic terrorist, anti-abortion nut went into a Planned Parenthood clinic and began pulling the trigger.

 

Josh removed his post, but through the awesomeness of the internet there were people out there who thwarted Mr. Feuerstein's efforts. Thanks to Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist.

 

I don't know that the gunman was a follower of Feuerstein's, but it's obvious Josh doesn't want the association to be made.

 

Josh also posted a video (This time in landscape! All hail to His Noodly Appendages!) in which he gave his theory as to why all these mass shooting events have been happening in America. It's because we kicked God out of our country. This kind of thing didn't happen back in the days when there was prayer in school.

 

I gave a list of things that did happen in our country back in the good old days of prayer in school: Turning a blind eye to wife and child abuse, institutionalized racism, closeted LGBT folks, and let's not forget lynchings and, in the really good old days, slavery. Mr. Mehta also pointed some of those items out. I added that Sweden, a country that could be said to have also "kicked God out," doesn't seem to have the mass shooting incident rate that we have in the States.

 

And Speaking Of Mass Shootings

   

Two more have occurred since I last did a show. It's really frustrating the apparent frequency at which these shootings are happening. They are still very rare, but that doesn't make them less impactful.

 

There are always the demands for more gun laws, but would that work? If there were 14 gun laws broken by the shooters in Colorado and California, would a 15th law have stopped them? Maybe. I don't know.

 

I don't know the answer to all this.

 

And it's damned frustrating.

 

Movie Recommendation: None

Ran out of time, so you're on your own this week.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Cows' by The Suburbs & 'Brass Monkey' by Beastie Boys

Second ad break bumpers: 'Bull Rider' by Johnny Cash &  'Crocodiles' by Echo & the Bunnymen

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 3-14-15 show notes

5 Years!

I have been doing this show for five year! It's hard to believe I've managed to think of something most every week. I say most, because there were a couple few week's a didn't do a show, but let's not get bogged down in details. 

I've done 224 shows in those five years. That doesn't include the 30 plus music only shows I did back when Z Talk Radio had the license to play music by signed artists. Boy, those music shows were fun, but without license. I don't need to go into the details, do I?

In five years I have interviewed a handful of people. Not many, but I did get to talk to George Hrab and Ben Radford.

Will the show last another five years? Will I ever have another guest? Will I ever have more than two listeners? Will I ever get it on iTunes?

Stayed tuned.  

Scooby Doo & In Search Of...

I reminded my two listeners that the first skeptical topic I address on that first show was the cartoon 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You?' It was the introduction to skepticism for a lot of kids in the late 60s and 70s. The g-g-ghost never turned out to be an actual ghost. It was always some person pulling a scheme of one sort or another.

I also mentioned In Search Of.. That was the credulous show which "investigated" the unknown and unexplained. It was the forerunner and template setter of all those mystery-mongering shows that are so plentiful on cable.

In the day, I lapped up the nonsense that host Leonard Nimoy delivered with such a straight face and no hint of irony. What a great actor he was.

When I watch In Search Of... now I'm far less impressed by the bullshit, but I still like the show so much. Oh, well. Chalk it up to the duality of man.

Vaccination In The Courts

Two stories in the news about vaccines in the courts. In Germany, a biologist, Stefan Lanka, had issued a challenge with an award of 100,000 euro to anyone who could demonstrate that measles is caused by a virus and is not psychosomatic as he believes it to be. A Germany doctor provided the evidence and claimed the prize. Lanka refused to pay. The case went to court and the court found that Lanka needed to pay up.

In America, the US Court of Federal Claims, after studying three test cases of claims that vaccination was causing autism, has found that the evidence does not support a causal connection. This is good news as science has long maintained that autism is not caused by vaccines or the mercury that has not been in most vaccines for years.

Kinda Busy

I related that I've been a bit busy lately. I'm writing blogs for Stuck In The 80s, I'm going to start blogging for the Nostalgia Zone, I have a forward to write for a friend's graphic novel, and there's a special podcast that has just been released (after I did this show) that I'll talk more about next week. Plus I have a couple art projects that I need to get done.

But you can listen to that episode of Assault of the 2-Headed Space Mules right now! And you can read my latest Never Found piece by going here.

Playlists On YouTube

I have been trying out the playlist option on my channel at YouTube. So far I've put to playlists together. One is of Pete Townshend songs that might not be as well know and the other is a list of songs that were played at First Avenue on their Club Degenerate nights.

I talked a bit about my days hanging out at First Avenue of those Club Degenerate nights. There were unusual people who would hang on there as well as the occasional appearances of the Fuckin' Shit Biscuits that could be quite fun. Noisy and messy, but fun.

A Tale Of Art School

I used to do some fairly violent or weird doodles on the tabletops of the art school I attended years ago. One day I ran afoul of the art history teacher who took issue of one of my doodles depicting a woman bending over backward. The teacher looked past the violent imagery I had drawn, because those involved men. And she didn't object to the phallic images that might have shown up doodled by other students. I wasn't the only doodler.

But that bent over woman, apparently bent her out of shape. She gave me a talking to after class in the common room as students passed by. I don't remember my initial reaction, but I did do a write up voicing my concern of the double standard.

By that I mean, my design class had just gone to see a German Expressionist exhibit at one of the local museums. Fellow students and the instructor directed my attention to one particular artist whose work my doodles resembled. The artist was Otto Dix. So, I made the point in my written protest that Dix hangs in a museum while I get shit.

Movie Recommendation: None

You are on your own this week. Sorry.

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'One Day in Your Life' by 54-40 & 'One Step Ahead' by Split Enz
Second ad break bumpers: 'One Day' By The Church & 'One At A Time' 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 10-18-14 show notes

Why There Was No Show Last Saturday. 

Monday October 13th was my 13th wedding anniversary and the Saturday just prior became a date night for Amy (my wife) and me. We took in a concert by one of our favorite bands Pixies. I talked about how good the show was and how impressed I was with the opening act Royal Blood.

Royal Blood is a two piece band. There's a drummer and a bass player. This bass player was not only able to use the bass to hold the bottom of the song, but also use it to cover the rhythm guitar parts and lead guitar parts all at the same time. AND he was doing all that playing while handling the singing. Impressive!

Saturday night was also the annual Zombie Pub Crawl night, so downtown Minneapolis was crawling with zombies. In fact, there were so many zombies that the Guinness Book of World Records certified the event as the largest gathering of people dressed as zombies ever at over 15,000 participants.

So, the Pixies put on an excellent show and I gushed about various aspects of their show. It was also one of the loudest shows I'd ever seen. I talked about each member of the played and their highlight moments.

The show was over by 10:30, and since our son was spending the night at my folks' house, Amy and I figured there was no hurry to get home.

We hung out downtown for a while. At first we thought we'd go to First Avenue. Amy hadn't been there in over eleven years and it had been more than two years for me. However, The Afghan Whigs were playing and the doors had just opened for that show. Also, the ticket price at the door was $35 each!

We figured a beer at the pub across the street was a more economical option.

We had our beer and watched the zombies and started to head home when we thought we'd give First Avenue one more chance. We did find a way in and for much less than $70. I wrote a blog about that way in last week.

Movie Recommendation: Searching For Sugar Man (2012)

Sony Pictures

This Oscar-winning documentary chronicles the search for a singer/songwriter who could have been the next Bob Dylan. He went be the name Rodriguez and he released two highly acclaimed albums that just didn't sell. He disappeared. Many thought he had killed myself.

In the intervening years, his music many very popular in South Africa. He was a legend there, but nobody knew who he was or how he had died. A search began and this documentary covers that search and its result.

It's terrific.

  

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Broken Face' & 'Here Comes Your Man' by Pixies
Second ad break bumpers: 'Something Against You' & 'Debaser' 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

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.

an early anniversary night out

Last night, as an early anniversary celebration (we'll be married 13 years this Monday), my wife and I went to see the Pixies play the State Theatre in Minneapolis. It was an excellent show. Very loud! Paz Lenchantin, who replaced Kim Deal on bass and backing vocals, was great. Joey Santiago played masterfully, his solo on 'Vamos' was incredibly cool. David Lovering was solid on drums and had a funny moment when trying to get the band to end the song 'La La Love You', for which he sings lead. And Mr. Black Francis' vocals were amazing. That man sure can scream.

After the show, which ended with us satisfied, but wanting more, Amy and I popped into O'Donovan's Irish Pub, which is located right across the street from the legendary Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue & 7th St Entry. We enjoyed a traditional black & tan and watched the zombies taking part in the annual Zombie Pub Crawl.

Minneapolis' legendary nightclub

We then decided to check out First Avenue. I hadn't been in our old hang out in a couple of years and Amy hadn't been there in over 11 years. We didn't realize that the club no longer has dance nights with a DJ in the main room, which in the old days was what they did on Saturday nights. Last night the Afghan Whigs were playing. If we wanted to go in (and we did want to go in) the ticket price at the door was $35 a piece!

We asked the nice young bouncer who was checking IDs outside the entrance about what happened to the dance nights in the main room. He explained that they stopped doing DJ nights in there a while back, but they did open up a room in what used to be the VIP lounge for DJ music and the cover was only five bucks. 

Being that the cover was so reasonable, Amy and I decided to check it out . But when we got in there the DJ was spinning soulless, empty House Music and I was beginning to think we had wasted 10 bucks, when, fortunately, we both needed to go to the restroom. We noticed that this dance lounge had no facilities. At least, not that we could find.

However, there was another nice young bouncer at the door that headed into the main room. He sat at a cash register at the door and we assumed he was taking the five dollars from folks coming into the dance lounge and, probably, getting the rest of the $35 dollars from those wishing to head into the main room to see the Afghan Whigs.

We approached him and Amy asked about restrooms. He told us that to use the restrooms we would have to go into the main room and use the two in there. He told us where they were situated right outside the dance lounge. We knew where they were, being old veterans of First Avenue ourselves. In fact, I later thought to myself, in classic old man fashion, that that bouncer, who was in his 20s, hadn't even been born when I first started hanging out at the legendary nightclub 30 years ago.

Amy asked him, "So, what's to stop us from just staying in the main room?"

He replied, in a rather sheepish fashion, "Well, you're not supposed to."

His reaction was such that we got the distinct impression that we could do just that. Just go ahead and stay in the main room if we wanted. He didn't seem too bothered at the notion. What was he going to do? Wait for us to leave the restrooms and escort us back to the dance lounge?

So, we took our bathroom breaks and stayed in the main room and watched the Afghan Whigs play. (For some reason, both Amy and I, not knowing the band's material, had thought they were more folksy or alt country like Wilco, but they were a pretty rockin' band.) We saved $60 because of the indifference of one bouncer to an apparent loophole in the entry policy. Lucky us.

We noted the changes to First Avenue's interior. They had done some structural refitting of a couple of the bar areas and they had moved an entire stairwell. But most striking of all, was the change Amy noticed. They had cleaned the ceiling! That ceiling had been caked in a thick coating of dust for years, but now it was entirely cleaned.

One thing that hadn't changed was Pete. Pete is one of the long time employees of First Avenue. He tends the main bar on the upper level of the main room and he's done so since I had been going to First Avenue. And we're pretty sure he still remembered us.

What a great night. Happy anniversary, Honey Bunny.

Now it's time for me to pick up our son from my parents' house.

dimland radio 10-4-14 show notes

Did You Know?

 

Did you know that at the bottom of each show notes entry is a listing of the songs I played on the show? Whenever possible I link to the videos of those songs so you can check them out. Last week I linked to concert footage from the recent Replacements concert. So, check it out!

 

Old Friends And Memories

 

I then talked about a couple old friends from way back in my working at Wendy's. They were boyfriend and girlfriend and were coworkers at the Wendy's. When they got married, I was asked to be in their wedding party.

 

That lead me to talk about dancing. I used to dance back in those days at First Avenue, but the music I danced to was usually of a faster tempo and way cooler than the popular music of the day. Well, at the reception, a danceable song was played and I cut the rug.

 

So, 28 years later the girlfriend/wife of that couple tracked me down through Facebook. I was very excited to hear from her.

You're A Naughty One, Saucy Jack

 

The identity of Jack the Ripper has finally been determined. Well, not really. It's just that yet another person has written a book claiming to have discovered, through the science of DNA, just who the Ripper was.

 

Russell Edwards is the latest in a long line of writers believing he has cracked the case. But, there is lots of room for doubt. He may have the right guy, but his evidence has too many problems to be definitive.

 

You can read more here and here.

Walter O'Brien Isn't Human, Allegedly

On a recent Adam Carolla Podcast, Adam's guests were Nick Santora and Walter O'Brien. They were on to promote the new CBS series Scorpion. The series follows a group of super-geniuses as they help the American government battle terrorists. The show is based on O'Brien who is himself a super-genius.

 

A few claims were made on the show that set off my BS detector. O'Brien kept referring to the left brain/right brain thing, which really isn't a thing. (See here and here.) And Santora added a couple eyebrow raising statements.

 

One was how super-geniuses have 20% higher rates of unemployment, substance abuse, and suicide. Really? 20% for each of those? Methinks Santora is pulling numbers out of his butt.

 

The other was the howler that, because O'Brien possesses a 197 IQ and his brain is 20% (yes, again 20%) denser and heavier, has is "literally a different species." Literally? Really? O'Brien is incapable of reproducing with other humans?

 

I think Santora is just a tad bit guilty of over-hyping his new series. There are others who have their doubts about the claims of Mr. O'Brien.

 

Movie Recommendation: From Hell (2001)

 

20th Century Fox

 

I have recommended this grim, stylish film about Jack the Ripper. I figured since I was talking about Jack the Ripper on this show that I should recommend it again. It may be bleak, but I find it well done and fascinating.

  

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'On The Phone' by Man Sized Action  & 'Outside The Trains Don't Run On Time' by Gang of Four
Second ad break bumpers: 'OK This Is The Pops' By Tones On Tail & 'One Step Ahead' by Split Enz

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.