dimland radio 1-19-19 show notes

I Was Challenged

This is the actual story.

You may recall a story I told a couple shows back about a skeptic sharing a bit of fake news on Facebook. It was my position that they should have known better. They should have taken the time to make certain the story was true and that the site was a reliable source for news.

 

At the time I did a quick Google search using the story's headline - Georgia Man Cuts Off His Own Penis To Stop Masturbating. I added "Snopes" to the headline and immediately found an article on Snopes debunking this bit of fake news.

 

Done and done.

 

However, a friend of the show challenged me to do a deeper dive. So, I did. I tell the story of that deeper dive on the show.

New Year's Resolutions

Normally, I make only one resolution each year and it's always the same: I resolve each year to live to see the next year. One of these years I'll break that resolution.

 

But this year, I realized I had made two other resolutions. It wasn't an intentional thing, I was just thinking that I was determined to finally finish a portrait I had started and had been tickling at for a couple years. I also had been thinking I was determined to be a more positive and less snarky presence on Facebook. Not that I won't ever snark, but I'll try to tone it down a bit.

 

Then it hit me! I just made two resolutions! Heaven help me!

 

Well, let's see how I do.

 

An Examination Of Lazy Photoshopping

Look at those poorly Photoshopped big pants!

Someone thought it would be funny to make Pres. Trump look fat by Photoshopping really big pants on him in the official holiday photo the President and First Lady took last year.

 

Oh, har, har! Look at the big pants!

 

I used the photo to explain how to spot poorly done photo fakery.

 

Of course, one could just do a quick Google search to find the actual image.

 

 

A Dimland Pedantic Moment: Listener Questions Are Questionable

I have been listening to and really enjoying the Slate podcast Hit Parade. It's a monthly podcast on which host Chris Molanphy examines some aspect of pop music history. I don't always care for the music, but I still find the podcast fascinating.

 

The main show comes out near the end of each month, but they release a mini episode as a connection between shows in the middle of the month. They call it The Bridge episode. On the bridge podcast the host and one of the show's producers will follow-up on the previous show and preview the next show. They also have a listener call in to partake in a three question trivia challenge. The first question of the challenge has to do with the previous show's topic, while the second and third questions relate to the upcoming show.

 

Then the listener gets to attempt to stump the host with a trivia question. The implication being the listener crafts the question themselves, except, call me cynical, the question also has to do with the upcoming episode and they sound too professionally written.

 

Hm. Am I being pedantic or am I being cynical?

 

Three Cool Things

Skeptics to the left of me, birders to the right...

1) The above photograph was taken be my friend Craig at the most recent MN Skeptic's meet-up. A meet-up that happened to coincide with another group that Craig meets with: A gathering of birders for talking about birds and drinking beer. It was an usually crowded night for the skeptics. The birders were pretty cool.

 

2) Craig also clued me onto this young musician from Germanland. Her name is Sina (pronounced See-Nah. I got it wrong on the show.) She's very talented and has quite the appreciation for the music I like. How can I not like this kid?! She posts videos of herself playing the drum parts of famous drummers flawlessly. Her videos include her explaining why Ringo Starr was great, there's an absolutely beautiful version of The Beatles' Something with Avonlea an equally young and talent singer, and there are videos of Sina playing Keith Moon's part on My Generation and Won't Get Fooled Again. Kids today! I tell ya!

 

3) The decidedly not cool and not punk novelty album Chipmunk Punk by Alvin & the Chipmunks is horrible. I explain why it ain't punk. It has covers of songs by Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, Queen, and Billy Joel - punk icons all. This album is so not punk, it might just be pun... Um. Hang on...

 

Anyway, on my Spotify I came up with a punk alternative listing of songs Alvin & Co could have covered. And that's cool. If I say so myself.

 

You can find and follow me on Spotify. Search Jim Fitzsimons and you'll find my playlists.

 

However, here's the list with links!

 

Gotta Getaway - Stiff Little Fingers

Girls Don't Like It - The Undertones

Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not - X

Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys

What Do I Get? - Buzzcocks

Pumping (My Heart) - Patti Smith Group

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

God Save The Queen - Sex Pistols

Judy Is A Punk - Ramones

Just imagine those songs as sung by those pesky rodents.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Nocturnal Me' by Echo & The Bunnymen & 'Twilight Zone' by Golden Earring

Second ad break bumpers: 'How Soon Is Now' by The Smiths & 'Electric Lash' by The Church

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 12-16-17 show notes

Slowly I Turn

I started the show by talking about vaudeville, the old time variety shows held in theaters across America. Vaudeville was the precursor to shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, The Donny & Marie Show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, etc. There would be singing acts, jugglers, acrobats, one act plays, and comedy routines.

 

One such comedy routine involves the phrase, "Slowly I turn..." It's a sketch about a jilted lover who gets violent whenever he hears a certain word or phrase and he beats up an innocent stranger.

 

The Three Stooges do a version called Niagara Falls.

 

Well, I've picked up the phrase "slowly I turn" and I use it whenever I think I'm done doing tasks for the day, but one more thing has to get done.

 

A Refresher On Homeopathy

 

 

The comic strip above demonstrates that homeopathic medicine has nothing in it. The kid could eat a hundred bottles off those pills and still be fine.

 

I shared the image on Facebook and a friend took umbrage with it. I think they may have been equating homeopathy with herbal medicine. I explained the if a remedy has been prepared using the methods of homeopathy, diluting the solution to the extreme, the chances of there being a molecule of the active ingredient is zero. Homeopaths believe the water used in making the solution "remembers' the active ingredient and forgets everything else that had been in it.

 

It's magic, not medicine.

 

There are a couple videos demonstrating the homeopathic method using vodka and bleach.

 

Some On The Left Are Slut-Shaming

 
I take those few people on the Left of the political spectrum who seem to think it's OK to slut shame Melania Trump and Leeann Tweeden to task. A small segment of folks on the Left have been sharing images from those two women's modelling past. The images are sexy, nude or semi-nude, and, somehow, that means Melania only married our child president for his money and the Tweeden is somehow ineligible to make accusations of sexual harassment or assault.

 

Really? Aren't we supposed to believe the victims?

 

Pedantic Moment: Mad Men And Go Fish

 
In a scene from season four of Mad Men, a child psychiatrist and a child are playing Go Fish. I noticed that neither of them was playing the game properly.

Top Three Cool Things Of The Week

Here are the Top Three Cool Things from this week.

 

3) My wonderful wife got the in-laws' old couch off the porch, so now we have room to...

 

2) ...put up the Christmas tree. This is the second year of me putting the tree on the porch. I thought I wouldn't be able to this year, but my Honey Bunny came through. And...

 

1) She has also been going through her parents stuff. She found a copy of Sports Illustrated dated November 4, 1991. Why is that cool? Just take a gander at the cover.

 

 

Movie Recommendation: The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)

Universal Pictures

This was recommended by one of the Minnesota Skeptics. It's interesting and amusing political comedy, but there's a very racially insensitive scene involving Native Americans in the first ten minutes. Very cringe inducing.

 

William Powell, best known for his role as Nick Charles in The Thin Man film series, plays a not-too-bright Senator who just might be President soon. He keeps a diary with some very damning information that could ruin several political careers, including his own, if the contents were ever made public. As the title notes, the Senator is not very discreet with the diary and it goes missing.

 

There is a notable cameo that fans of The Thin Man films will appreciate.

 

You can watch the entire film here.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Achin' To Be' by The Replacements & 'Mea Culpa' by Brian Eno & David Byrne

Second ad break bumpers: 'Mescal Dance' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & 'I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me' by Rosanne Cash

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 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 6-3-17 show notes

In Search Of Licorice Ice Cream

When I was a kid in the mid-70s, I used go to the Bridgeman's restaurant and ice cream parlor to get my favorite ice cream: Licorice chip. Oh, I liked it so much. Eventually, the Bridgeman's closed and licorice ice cream became just a pleasant memory.

 

In recent years, I would scour the internet to see if there was any of my favorite ice cream to be found around town. I didn't have much success until very recently.

 

I found Nelson's Ice Cream with two locations, one in Stillwater and one in St. Paul. The St. Paul parlor isn't far from the comic book store I do some work for each week. So, last weekend I got myself some licorice chip ice cream. It was pretty good.

 

Nelson's in also exceedingly generous with the amount of ice cream they consider to be a child's size, their smallest. There must be more than a pint of ice cream loaded into that cup or cone.

 

Holy smokes!

Pedantic Moment: Vague About In What Vehicle One First When Over 120 MPH

 

A Facebook friend shared the above image, but wasn't very clear that he meant in what kind of a car you first broke 120 MPH. He included the phrase "in a car" when he posted the image, but I thought he meant that as his answer. In the comment thread he was more specific.

 

I answered truthfully, "In an airplane." But that's not what he wanted. He wanted the model of car I was in. I don't know this fellow well enough to go all pedantic on him on Facebook, but for the show...

Is This Slut-Shaming?

Another Facebook friend shared the image above. My apologies for the naughty word.

 

I questioned whether or not this was slut-shaming. I pointed out there is certainly a bit of making fun of immigrants and a suggestion that Melania Trump is dumb. I contend anyone who can speak more than one language is not dumb. Melania can speak five!

 

I talked about the tendency to think the worst of people who are not in our group. That's what I see happening with the person who created the image and those who share it. Immigrants are to be welcomed and respected and cherished. Unless they are married to a Republican, of course.

Kathy Griffin, Free Speech, A Fake Severed Head, And President Trump

 

I'm a bit conflicted on this one. The part of me that wants people to act decently toward each other found the image of Kathy Griffin holding a severed head that looked like Pres. Trump's to be cruel, mean, shameful, and counter-productive. However, the free speech advocate in me appreciates the need for artists and comedians to push the limits of speech. They need to do this to protect free speech for all.

 

Griffin apologize, but should she have? 

 

It's a tangled web.

 

I also talked about this sort of image of the American President isn't exactly new.

 

And there was "covfefe." The typo heard and ridiculed around the world.

 

I also mentioned the cartoon (?) showing the political spectrum and the state of political discourse these days. See below.

 

Movie Recommendation: Live And Let Die (1973) & The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

Roger Moore was my generation's James Bond. Dad had Sean Connery, but Moore was the first Bond I saw in the theaters. So, in memory of the recently deceased Roger Moore, I recommended my two favorite of his 007 films:

 

Live And Let Die

 

 

 

The Man With The Golden Gun

 

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Summer Fun' by The Barracudas & 'Love Like Blood' by Killing Joke

Second ad break bumpers: 'Uniforms (Corp D'Esprit)' by Pete Townshend & 'Too Much Love' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs

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.