dimland radio 7-27-19 show notes

A Correction

 

Last week I made a little boo-boo. I was talking about the Apollo Moon Landing missions and I got the number of men who had walked on the lunar surface wrong. I said there were six, but it was actually twelve. There were six successful Apollo missions involving a moon landing. There probably would have seven had Apollo 13 not had its problem.

 

Apologies.

The Bomba Squad And I'm Not Psychic

The Minnesota Twins are far ahead of the rest of the league when it comes to hitting home runs. As of this writing, the Twins have 201 homers for the season. They now hold two records related to this surge in hitting prowess. One: The most games in a season with at least five home runs (nine games, previous record was eight games). Two: The quickest to 200 dingers in a season (103 games, previous record 122 games). At this point, the Twins have 25 more home runs than the next highest team in the league.

 

I also talked about how my dire prediction ahead of the recent nine game home stand did not hold. But for the first five games I was looking like I might actually be psychic.

 

Multilevel Marketing, My Mom, & Me

I took some time to talk about multilevel marketing (MLM) schemes. (Don't call these triangular-shaped business models pyramid schemes!) I warned against getting involved in an MLM. You will waste your time, alienate friends and family, and you will lose money. Don' get involved no matter how enticing that "opportunity" may sound.

 

I talked about my mother's brief involvement in Shaklee's MLM. Fortunately, she did not get deeply involved and didn't lose much money.

 

I also talked about being approached to partake in a couple such schemes. The first time I didn't know what MLMs were, but I knew I wasn't a salesperson, so I didn't bite. The other times I was approached I had learned about MLMs and the folks who attempted to get me into their trianglar-shaped (I didn't say pyramid) scheme received a polite, "Not interested."

 

Wanna learn more about MLMs? Check out Brian Dunning's InFact video, this Squaring The Strange podcast episode, this Last Week Tonight with John Oliver exposé, and the excellent podcast series The Dream.

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment: Penn Jillette's Memory

Don't look so stern, Penn. It's just a memory glitch.

On his podcast, Penn's Sunday School, Penn Jillette recounted the tale of his and Teller's second appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In his talk, he also briefly mentioned their first appearance.

 

His stories were detailed, funny, compelling, dramatic, and wrong. Well, at least, certain parts of the stories were wrong. I go through his errors in memory (you'll have to listen for those details), which I'm certain were honest mistakes, that he remembers those event just as he told them. However, video exists of those appearances and some of his recollections are not supported. See Cool Things 1 and 2 below to watch the videos.

 

The second appearance involved cockroaches. Penn's memory says there were thousands of them. The video shows more like dozens. Penn said there were cockroaches all over Dave's suit jacket. The video shows there were none. Penn said Dave was very upset and yelled at them when in commercial break. In the video Dave doesn't seem angry at all and we've seen Dave angry on Late Night.

Manhunt: Unabomber And That Famous Sketch

My wife convinced me to watch the Discovery Channel miniseries Manhunt: Unabomber, which is streamable on Netflix. It's an eight part series that dramatizes how the FBI were finally able to identify and capture Ted Kaczynski, who had been sending bombs through the mail for nearly two decades. The series introduces Jim Fitzgerald a very talented profiler who was able to create an accurate profile using the many Unabomber letters that been received by the FBI.

 

It's a good series and Paul Bettany as Kaczynski is especially good.

 

The famous sketch released in 1994.

There was a moment in the series that I found very interesting, when it comes to how memory is not videotape. In the scene in which Fitzgerald is trying to convince David Kaczynski that his suspicions of his brother being the terrorist were correct, he tells the brother that the famous Unabomber sketch of 1994 is not the suspect. Rather it's more likely a sketch of the police sketch artist who had done the first drawing seven years earlier.

 

The original sketch done right after witness saw suspect.

That's right. There were two sketches produced from the descriptions of one witness. The first one was done by Robert Exter immediately after the suspect had been seen leaving a bomb in a parking lot. The second sketch was done by Jeanne Boylan seven years after the bombing. And it seems very likely the second time the witness described the suspect she was describing Robert Exter.

 

When watching the series, I was curious if the claim in the series was accurate or was it dramatic license? I looked it up. Turns out the claim is on the level. Click here to see a report from 1994 that explores the memory glitch.

 

I even consulted memory expert Elzabeth Loftus on this and she confirmed that "All other things equal, the earlier sketch should be the more accurate."

 

Ah, memory. Such a tricky, tricky thing. 

Three Cool Things

 

1) Penn & Teller's hand-stabbingly great first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. Note there is no fake blood on Dave's face or anywhere else on him. Still, it's cool.

 

2) Penn & Teller's creepy, crawly second appearance on on Late Night. Note the total lack of cockroaches on Dave's suit. This video's first half has Penn telling the story of the first two appearances and his memories don't quite match up to the video. But, still, pretty cool.

 

3) And to round out great early Penn & Teller TV appearances, here's the link to their legendary upside down gag on Saturday Night Live. Super cool!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: '(The) Village' by New Order & 'Eliminator Jr.' by Sonic Youth

Second ad break bumpers: 'Never Talking To You Again' by Husker Du & 'Der Kommissar' by After The Fire

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 8-5-17 show notes

A Pedantic Moment: Winking Face Emoji

On Facebook when you type a semicolon and the right half of a parenthesis - ;) - the site automatically posts a little winking face. My pedantry is that the wrong eye is winking. When typed it should be the face's right eye that winks, not the left.

Wrong eye.

Explosion At Minnehaha Academy

 

Wednesday morning there was an explosion at Minnehaha Academy, a private school in South Minneapolis, caused by a natural gas leak during some construction on the school. Two people were killed. I talked about how you just don't when your time might come and about how fast emergency vehicles are allowed to go to get to an emergency. I also talked a little bit about the Go Fund Me pages that have been posted in relation to helping out in the aftermath of this tragedy.

 

I also talked about there being a suggestion this accident might have been part of Islamic terrorism. I was asked how long it would take before someone suggested it. From what I can tell, about an hour and twenty minutes. A local psychic tweeted about her suspicions.

 

 

 

She's psychic. Can't she divine the answer?

 

There was a vigil at the school later that day at which people involved gather to give each other support. Of course there was some mention of how God would help people through this. And, of course, the atheist that I am has me wondering why God didn't help by preventing the explosion. I know, I know. Mysterious ways.

 

The news of this vigil led to...

Another Pedantic Moment

 

On the 10 o'clock news that night, a young reporter noted that the people at the vigil (held earlier that night) are taking it "one day at a time." He said that twice in the report.

 

Um. It's only been one day. There was no other way to take it at the time.

"Do Your Own Research"

 

The above image is being shared on social media was created by Stop The World The Teabaggers Want Off. That is a bullshit site that generates fake quotes by conservatives. I said as much when a Facebook friend shared the image. I also stated the Melania Trump speaks five languages, so she's not exactly stupid.

 

That language comment was disputed with evidence, while I provided two sources. The person disputing me did not provide sources. They eventually resulted to ad hominem.

 

Oh, well.

 

Dimland Radio Science Hero: John Oliver

 

John Oliver has been declared a Dimland Radio Science Hero once before. He and Senator McCaskill were named Heroes for their exposure of Dr Oz's peddling of snake oil.

 

John Oliver, on his HBO program Last Week Tonight, has also exposed the bullshit of the media's false equivalency on climate change, the bullshit of the anti-vax movement, and the batshit, crazy, bullshit of conspiracy theorist king Alex Jones.

 

For all of that, I once again declared John Oliver a Dimland Radio Science Hero.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

 

3) I got a pair of eclipse glasses to observe the celestial event later this month. I joked a bit about how to tell your glasses are safe, but here is a better way to do that. I looked at the sun and it was way cool!

 

2) It's Not True: This video, although very cool, does not show lightning making water explode. It's part of a mining operation clearing a channel and the lightning seen in the video is a wired charge setting off the explosion.

 

1) My son turned 14 years old this past week. Happy Birthday, Hayden! Astrologers, put your charts away!

Movie Recommendation: N

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: 'Epic' by Faith No More & 'Refugee' by U2

Second ad break bumpers: 'Certain Things Are Likely' by KTP & 'Here Is The News' by ELO

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 6-28-14 show notes

Start The Show Angry

 

Each week I listen to a movie review podcast called Comedy Film Nerds. It's very enjoyable and the hosts, Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini, are funny and really know their movies. Graham, however, seems to have fallen for the organic/natural fallacy and he is also a gluten-free fellow. He's never said if he has Celiac Disease or if he has been diagnosed (by a legitimate medical doctor) as being one of the exceedingly rare people with gluten sensitivity. I get the impression he is one of the many misinformed people who have the notion the gluten is bad. It's not.

Well, late in their show from last week, Graham made a joke about Monsanto not caring about killing kids with their "shitty food." I hit the roof. Monsanto is this decade's Halliburton: a giant evil corporation that only wants money and to cause misery.

I don't think many corporations would be very successful following that business model, but, perhaps, I'm naive.

 

I think Graham believes the fallacy of "Frankenfoods", the fear of genetically modified (GM) crops. He doesn't realize that virtually all the food we eat has been modified in some way. Corn, bananas, apples, oranges are not naturally occurring in the forms we know today. They have all been designed or modified by humans.

But, Graham and others like him through their fear and being misinformed would lead to children starving and going blind in parts of the world where GM crops can do the most good. It's always easy to be wrong on a full stomach.

Here is a more balanced take on GM crops and Monsanto by skeptic Dr. Steven Novella.

I'm Pretty Sure I Didn't Screw Up

 

The Boy and me with the tickets!

 

We received the tickets to the upcoming Paul McCartney concert. A few weeks ago, I related the story of how I got the tickets and of my panic when I thought I screwed it up. At the time, customer service confirmed I bought the tickets. Later, the credit card statement noted the tickets had been charged. Now, with the tickets arriving in the mail, I'm pretty sure I didn't screw up.

I'll know for sure when we are in our seats and the legendary musician takes the stage.

Nice Parking, Mr. Special

 

I encountered one of those asshole types who think they can park any which way they want. This dude took up three spaces directly in front of the store that I and others were trying to go to. I had to park on the other side of the lot and figured I would try to identify the prick when I got into the store.

Well, he was leaving as I approached and fit what I thought would be the profile of such a jerk.

 

Dimland Radio Science Heroes: Sen. Claire McCaskill and John Oliver

Recently, pseudoscience peddler, Dr. Oz was brought before a Senate hearing committee to answer questions about his promotion of snake oil on his highly rated TV show. (Thanks a lot, Oprah.) Sen. McCaskill wanted to know how Dr. Oz could justify calling the unsupported by scientific evidence diet supplements "miracles in a bottle."
 

TV's John Oliver did an excellent segment on this hearing and also dug into the history of the snake oil products and how they are protected by certain members of congress.

It's a joy seeing Oliver take this scam to task. Plus, you get a tap-dancing Steve Buscemi. What could be better?

 

Examples Of Police Brutality?

I talked about a couple examples of what is being claimed as police brutality that I have seen on my Facebook newsfeed.

One sort of showed a 19 year-old woman at a Gay Pride event in Pittsburgh being roughed up by a cop. She had been getting in the face of a anti-gay rights "Christian" fellow when the cop acted. The officer claimed she struck and grabbed at him and that he wanted to get her away from the crowd. Because of the crappy amateur camera work we didn't see the young woman hit the cop, but we did see her get knocked around.

 

The other video showed a man lying on his back, surround by cops telling him to get on his stomach. The man was drunk and had been starting fights when the police were called in. He refused to turn over and kept kicking at the officer, so they had to use force to get him to comply. I thought those cops showed incredible restraint, but the crowd and the person who posted the video on FB apparently disagree. There is more video, released by the police, that show more hitting by the officers before they backed off. I have not seen that video. I just read about in the link above.

 

Landscape! Dammit!

I then went into the problems with amateur videos on the internets. Too many people keep their camera in the portrait (vertical) position instead of landscape (horizontal) when making videos. It really annoys me, but I can't really blame the amateurs. The companies ought to set their cameras to default to landscape when taking videos, but there is an app for that.

 

The other thing about amateurs taking video is they don't understand the rule of always keeping the camera on the action. Pros know to do this, but amateurs will too often drop the camera to look with their eyes. When they do that the viewer can't see what is going on. That was the main problem with the first police brutality video I discussed. The person taking the video kept looking with her eyes and not the camera, so we didn't see what initiated the cop taking the actions he took.

 

Movie Recommendation Ikiru (1952)

 

Toho Studios

 

This Akira Kurosawa classic follows an older man through the last days of his life. He learns he has stomach cancer and maybe six months left to live. He had been working in the Japanese government bureaucracy for thirty years and he realized he hadn't been living life. After an attempt to enjoy the excitement of the Japanese nightlife and spending time with a younger woman, a former co-worker, he determines to do something important in the days he has left.

This is a terrific film.

    

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Fight For Love' by 54-40 & 'Freak' by Bruce Foxton
Second ad break bumpers: 'Four Engines Burning (Over The USA)' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & 'Freeze Tag' by Suzanne Vega
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.