dimland radio 9-6-14 show notes

In Search Of Has Arrived

 

I succumbed to my personal nostalgia and purchased the In Search Of DVD collection. The entire series of pseudoscience arrived Friday and I've begun binge watching it. Maybe I shouldn't have bought it, I mean how many times will I watch the shows? But the price was good and my younger self really wanted it.

 

Perhaps I should do a dissection of each episode. But, that would be a fair amount of work though.

 

Congratulations Cosmos

 

The Emmy awards were handed out recently and the Fox science series, 'Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey' picked up four awards. The series had been nominated for 12 awards. Its four wins were:

 

Outstanding Original Main Theme Music

Outstanding Sound Editing

Outstanding Writing

Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.

Maria Menounos Was A Millionaire At Age 23

 

I'm just sayin'.

 

Talk about bragging rights at the high school reunion, television presenter, Maria Menounos was a millionaire by the time she got to age 23. I wondered (probably unfairly, although I tried to be fair) how the fact she's a stone cold babe helped her achieve that financial status. She is smart, quick-witted, talented and very good at what she does, but if she had a face for radio... 

Firewalking Ain't No Big Thing

 

Ms Menounos, while a guest on the Adam Carolla Podcast, talked a little bit about motivational speaker Tony Robbins and firewalking. I don't know much about Tony. I know what he's famous for and maybe he helps people, but I'm leery of the whole motivational thing.

 

Firewalking, on the other hand, I have learned that there ain't much to doing it. Yes, a person needs to wrap their mind around actually doing it, but if the hot coals are prepared properly and one walks quickly, there is little chance of getting burned, even if the coals are measured at 750 degree F.

 

Walking barefoot across a metal grill used at the local Wendy's while heated to half that temperature? That's a different matter. No about of motivation will prevent someone from getting horribly burned.

 

Here's the science behind firewalking.

 

More Police State Talk

I don't exactly agree that we live in a police state, but I could be ignorant and naive. I talked about a meme I saw comparing friendly neighborhood TV cops to today's jack-booted thugs. The examples I gave for the TV cops were Andy and Barney of The Andy Griffith Show and Pete and Jim of Adam 12. They were the "aw shucks" form of TV fantasy 60s/70s law enforcement.

 

I also gave real world examples of the jack-booted thugs from those same time periods. Reality is way more complex than the meme suggests. Take a look at what some cops were doing in 1963 and 1968.

 

The $100,000 Shifting The Burden Of Proof Challenge

 

Internet preacher and ball cap wearer, Joshua Feuerstein has issued a $100,000 Challenge to atheists. He's challenging atheists to prove his god doesn't exist. Joshua, that's not how it's done. Those making the positive claim - God exists - have the burden of proof. The nonbeliever does not have that burden.

 

A few YouTubers and others have responded to the challenge. I include links to three of them. Two of them are very good responses, Bionicdance's and the Thinking Atheist's, but Cult of Dusty's isn't so good. Sure, Dusty makes a good point or two, but he smothers them with his vitriol and ad homenim attacks.

 

You can see for yourself:

 

Cult of Dusty
Bionicdance

The Thinking Atheist

 

Hey, Spider-Woman! Nice Bu...Whoa! Spider-Man! Have You Been Working Out?

 

Apparently, a variant cover of a recent issue of the Spider-Woman comic book has raised a few...eyebrows. Spider-woman is depicted climbing onto a rooftop with her butt in the air like she just don't... Anyway, her costume also appears to be painted on her body. Well, duh! Superheroes have been drawn as though they were naked for decades. Sure, the anatomy has gotten more accurately drawn as the artists got better and society's standard more accepting of that way of depicting superheroes, but they've been drawn estentially naked since I started buying comic books in the 70s.

 

Maddox of the Best Show in the Universe does an excellent take down of the outrage over Spider-Woman's butt. Be warned the video in this link is NSFW.

 

Movie Recommendation: Crazy Heart (2009)

 

Fox Searchlight Picures

 

I really enjoyed this movie. Jeff Bridges (who won an Oscar for this role) plays "Bad" Blake, a country singer whose career had seen better days. "Bad" now drives himself to low paying gigs at bowling alleys and small time honky tonks. He still has his chops, but his drinking has pushed him off the main stage and he stopped writing songs. Enter a young single mom (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who seems to give "Bad" a reason to give a damn again.

 

Two near miss tragedies also give "Bad" a reason to clean up his act. Bridges is wonderful as the messed-up, but always charming "Bad" Blake. And there are times I swore I was looking at Kris Kristofferson.

 

I knew I really enjoyed this movie, because as it was getting to the end I found myself wanting to spend more time with "Bad".

  

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Never Talking to You Again' by Husker Du & 'Next Position Please' by Cheap Trick
Second ad break bumpers: 'New World Man' by Rush & 'No Language in Our Lungs' by XTC

 
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 4-19-14 show notes

 

A Little Talk About The Weather

Let's just say this winter/spring has been pretty annoying.

The Goal Is To Be An Entertainer?

Notice anything about the individuals in the above image? Yes, they are all dead, but what I pointed out was that they are all (with the exception of Hunter S Thompson) entertainers. The quote is by author Chuck Palahniuk and I'm not sure he meant that entertainers are the only creators. I gave a few examples of other people who could have been included had the person who made this image hadn't been so shallow in their thinking.

However, it is good to see Keith Moon included.

Never Found In The 80s: The Minutemen

 

After a long absence, there was finally a new Never Found posted on the Stuck in the 80s blog. I had sent in several, but none had been posted. Steve Spears is a busy man so let's cut him some slack.

 

So, this past week The Minutemen were profiled. An alt rock band from California whose existence was cut short by the death of lead signer and guitarist D Boon.

The Ghost Of Capt. Kidd

In another bit of guest bloggery, I had written a piece about a long lost toy recently. Actually, I had written about it a few years ago, but there was an important update that needed to be made. So, the updated blog has been posted to the Two Different Girls blog. Well, I am a different girl, I guess.

What Does Courtney Love Know?

Apparently, Courtney Love is a vlog contributor to Rolling Stone now and, in a recent vlog on Bruce Springsteen, Ms Love made it known that she doesn't care for the Boss's concerts and, in an off hand aside, stated that "saxophones don't belong in rock & roll."

Well, in the comment thread of this shared on Facebook post I listed the following examples of how saxophones (not my favorite instrument) can be use effectively in rock & roll...

 

Shake Rattle and Roll - Bill Haley & the Comets

Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed

Young Americans - David Bowie

Save It For Later - The English Beat

Tequila - The Champs

Us and Them - Pink Floyd

Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones

Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work

Can't Get There From Here - REM

Hit The North - The Fall

Fun House - The Stooges

Waiting For A Friend - The Rolling Stones

A Night Like This - The Cure

Whatever Gets You Through The Night - John Lennon & Elton John

Respect - Aretha Franklin

Deacon Blues - Steely Dan

Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye

Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones

Money - Pink Floyd

Never Say Never - Romeo Void

Cure For Pain - Morphine

Mirror In The Bathroom - The English Beat

The New Pollution - Beck

Oh Bondage! Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

Modern Love - David Bowie

You mean to tell me Courtney Love doesn't like any of these songs? 

 

Not Arrested For Merely Standing In The Shade

The headline of the article made it seem as though the "man" arrested Ms. Slate for simply standing in the shade. Well, that's not the case. Former military and current folk singer Emily Slate decided to stand in an area sealed off by the park rangers in anticipation of a legalize pot rally. Park rangers asked her to leave the area. She refused. Park officials repeated their request for her to leave the area. She kept refusing. The rangers gave her one minute to comply or she would be arrested. She refused. The rangers then arrested her. She resisted. The rangers had to wrestle her into a park ranger vehicle to take her to jail. She kicked, spat, and screamed about living in a police state, while on-lookers called the park rangers fascists.

Congratulations, Ms. Slate. You escalated the situation by not complying. You could have made your point and walked away and not have been "assaulted" and arrested. But then you wouldn't have that street cred for your folk singing career, would you?

Here's the somewhat biased account of what happened. There's a video clip showing the rangers exercising great patience as Ms. Slate continued to not comply with their repeated requests. Here is another account of what happened. I guess you can decide if my take is correct or not.

Movie Recommendation: 20 Feet From Stardom (2013)

 

Tremolo Productions/Gil Friesen Productions

This Oscar winner for Best Documentary is a fascinating look at the careers of some of the best background singers in the business. There are some great insights into what they go through to practice their craft and how the right backing vocals can make good songs great. However, if you aren't a fan of the African American style of Gospel singing, there will be parts of the documentary that might be hard to get through. But it is worth it.

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Pride' by Echo & The Bunnymen & 'King of the Hill' by The Minutemen
Second ad break bumpers: 'Love is a Stranger' by Eurythmics & 'Gone Daddy Gone' by Violent Femmes
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.