dimland radio 8-16-14 show notes

More On The McCartney Show

 

There was one story I didn't get a chance to relate on last week's show about the Paul McCartney concert. The following morning my dad called to hear how the show went and to tell me that my mom had spotted Amy, Hayden, and I in a picture of the concert going crowd that was in the Sunday paper.

 

Well, it wasn't us. Sort of looked like use, except the dude's hair was longer, his bread was thicker, he wasn't wearing glasses, and he was wearing a light colored polo shirt. But other than that he looked just like me.

 

I also talked about my wearing all black and not wearing shirts with logos. And how a teenage girl got hot by just looking at me. No, not that kind of hot.

 

Robin Williams

 

I talked about learning of Robin Williams' death by suicide. I talked about depression and how I'm thankful I don't know how Mr. Williams felt. Not to be crass and unfeeling, but to underline that depression is a terrible disease and that those of us who don't suffer from severe depression just can't know what it feels like when death seems to be the best option.

 

And I talked about some of his films. In particular, I talked about the much maligned 'Popeye' by Robert Altman. I like 'Popeye'! I liked it when I saw it and I still like it. I think Altman captured the essence of the early Max Fleischer cartoons.

I suggested that those of my listener who haven't seen 'Popeye', that they watch a few of those old cartoons to get an idea of what to expect.

 

Here are a few examples:

Goonland 

Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves 

Morning, Noon, and Night Club.

  

Of Course, There's Always The One...

 

Atheist, skeptic, and professional outrage merchant, PZ Myers felt it necessary to use Williams' death as an opportunity to rip politicians and the news media. He and Rush Limbaugh must be getting used to the taste of their own feet.

 

Other atheists and skeptics have addressed PZ's latest outrage...

 

JB Eberhard

Jerry Coyne

Terry Firma

People Driving Stupidly

 

The other day, all within a span of five minutes, I had three separate drivers do something stupid while driving near me. No, I didn't cause them to drive stupidly.

A few weeks ago, two drivers took advantage of myself and another driver's politeness. What is with people?

 

Trifexis, A Dog Killer?

 

Well, some pet owners seem to think so. They offer no empirical evidence other than post hoc reasoning. No, connection has been established between Trifexis and dog deaths, but that doesn't mean these owners will stop blaming it. It also doesn't mean Trifexis is off the hook. The FDA continues to investigate.

 

I cautioned against just relying on what pet owners have said in this case. The news media must be careful about over emphasizing the anecdotes of bereaved pet owners.

 

Movie Recommendation: Any Robin Williams Film You Want

 

There are loads of them. From the excellent: The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, World's Greatest Dad. To the good: Awakenings, Good Morning, Vietnam.  To the unusual: The World According to Garp, Popeye, Hook, Jumanji. To the disturbing: Insomnia, One Hour Photo. To the overrated: Mrs. Doubtfire. And to the downright crap: Patch Adams, Toys.

 

He gave his all to all of them.

    

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Know Your Rights' by The Clash & 'Kerosene' by Big Black
Second ad break bumpers: 'King Of The Hill' by The Minutemen & 'The KKK Took My Baby Away' by Ramones

 
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 11-2-13 show notes

Paradigm Symposium Round-up (One Day, That Is)

I spent the entire day of Sunday October 20th at the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul.  It's a very impressive building.  Shiny marble floors, high arched ceilings, tall windows.  Very nice.  And one wing of the building was set aside for four days of alternative histories, alien intervening to help early human civilizations, some ghosts, an animal psychic, crystals and lots of books for sale.  There just wasn't much science involved in the second annual Paradigm Symposium.

Man, But Can They Talk And Talk And Talk...

I only went for what was the last day of the conference.  My friend, Scott Roberts, was one of the organizers and he got me in as media, so I didn't have to pay.  There was no way I was going to pay for this.  You know it ain't exactly my bag.

The speakers that I listened to that day were LA Marzulli, Laird Scranton, PZ Myers, Thomas Fusco, and Joseph Amara.  Yes, you read that right PZ Myers was there.  And his talk was the best and the only one based on actual science.

The other talks were fine examples of confirmation bias.  The speakers had an idea of what happened in the past, say being hybridized by the Nephilim (as LA Marzulli contended) for example, and looked for those anomalies from the past that they thought were evidence for their "theorizes" (read: guesses).

And, boy could they talk.  PZ was the only speaker who understood the concept of brevity and how to stay on topic.

It was an interesting day.

Never Found In The 80s: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Tone On Tail, Peter Murphy, & Bauhaus

It was a special week on the Stuck In The 80s blog the week of Halloween.  I featured profiles of four Goth bands.  Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and their song 'Spinning Round' started the week.  The next three days featured Tones On Tail ('Go!'), Peter Murphy ('Final Solution') and, on Halloween, Bauhaus ('She's In Parties').  Oooo, it was a scary week!

Speaking Of Stuck In The 80s

 
It was also Halloween week that saw me guest co-hosting again on the Stuck In The 80s podcast.  Our topic was the 80s horror/comedy classic 'An American Werewolf in London'.  Check it out here.

 

The Greatest Moment In All Of Star Wars

The folks at the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe talked about what they thought was the greatest moment of all the Star Wars movies.  Episodes 4 - 6, of course, the prequals have no great moments.  Well, they mentioned a few good moments, but they were all wrong! Wrong!  Wrong!

 

The greatest moment is... You'll have to listen.

 

Movie Recommendation: None This Week

 

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Spinning Round' by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry & 'Go!' by Tones On Tail
Second ad break bumpers: 'Final Solution' by Peter Murphy & 'She's In Parties' by Bauhaus
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 8-17-13 show notes

Just Trying To Put Someone To Work

My day job has me working as an office manager of a small (and getting smaller, in fact it seems to be disappearing) janitorial company.  The latest challenge has been placing a cleaner in a property that has heavy security.  There are so many hurdles to jump over and I've been doing that with an employee who has been working for us for over two years.  I finally got him through the obstacle course and he started in the building last Thursday and on Friday he tells me he doesn't want it.

WHAT?!

Well, I cajoled him into giving it more than one night and he's going to do that.  He better keep it.

A Few Corrections

1) The name of that Suzanne Vega song is 'Small Blue Thing', not 'Small Blue Dot'.

2) Angela Lansbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Manchurian Candidate, she did not win.

3) The Discovery Channel did not air the fake documentary about mermaids.  That was Animal Planet that was responsible for that misleading program.

Never Found In The 80s: The Suburbs 

Having been absent on the Stuck in the 80s blog for a couple weeks, my blog series about musical artists that never made it with the general America listening public in the 1980s returned.  The latest finds me profiling another Minneapolis band.  The band is The Suburbs.  Kinda funk, kinda punk and always very danceable and fun, The Suburbs was big in the Twin Cities.

Click here to find out more.

Hollywood Is Considering Ruining Another Classic

I've seen it reported that the call has gone out for a crew to build sets for the reboot of the 1975 summer blockbuster classic: Jaws.  Why?!  Didn't parts 2, 3, and 4 do enough damage?

Lullaby Movies

It's a category of movie that I've come up with: good, interesting, entertaining movies that are paced in such a way or the music has a certain tone or for some other reason I can't point my finger on, can't help but put you to sleep.  Blade Runner (1982) is just such a movie.  As is Dark City (1998).  Both have interesting stories and are visually intriguing, but they tend to make me sleepy.

Actors Ain't So Stupid

Cracked.com is a fun site that has lots of funny and thought-provoking observations of popular culture.  One such list was on actors improving their characters or lines by not going by what the writers called for.  One example was from Blade Runner in which Rutger Hauer greatly improved his final speech.
 

Go here to see the entire list.

More On The Unpleasantness

I talked a bit more about the unpleasantness taking place in the skeptic/atheist community and how PZ Myers has opened himself up to a lawsuit.  He is, in fact, being instructed by the lawyer of the prominent skeptic/atheist to remove the accusatory blog piece and issue an apology.  I guess we'll see what happens.

I also mentioned Brian Keith Dalton's take on this rumor-mongering.  Dalton plays the character Mr. Deity (God) on the popular YouTube video series.  The latest video in which Joseph Smith, inventor of the Mormon faith, is lampooned is followed by a couple minute address by Mr. Dalton to his audience about rumors and accusations from anonymous sources.  It's very clever, without directly speaking about the current events.

Check it out here.

Movie Recommendation: Blade Runner (1982)

Warner Bros.

 

There are several versions of this classic (I admit having a soft spot for the original with the Harrison Ford voice-over and the happy ending), but The Final Cut is probably most readily available.  It's a really good example of thoughtful sci-fi.  Be sure to drink a lot of coffee, drop some speed, or snort some meth, so that you stay awake for this excellent lullaby movie.

(Dimland Radio does not endorse illegal drug use.  That was just a joke.).

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Love Like Blood' by Killing Joke & 'Love Is The Law' by The Suburbs
Second ad break bumpers: 'Love Vigilantes' by New Order & 'Love On A Farmboy's Wages' 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 8-10-13 show notes

The Pleasant...

 

Two pleasant items to start off the show.  Namely, this summer's weather has been very agreeable for the last three weeks or so.  We've been able to get outside and able to get by with little or no air conditioning.  And that's so nice.

Also, this past week on August 7th, James 'The Amazing' Randi turned 85.  He may be getting older and is now barely taller than the average garden gnome, but he's still amazing!

 

Time-out For Some Spoon Bending

 

As an a palette cleanser before getting to the unpleasantness, I mentioned watching The Matrix the night before.  In it is a scene with a child bending a spoon with his mind.  He merely holds it the spoon by the base of the handle and the spoon wilts and twists at the other end.  That's how I want to see spoon-benders like Uri Gellar do their feat.

 

The Unpleasant...

 

A lot of disappointing and demoralizing revelations and accusations have been coming to light in the skeptical movement this past week.  Men and women whose work in the movement I have admired are turning out to be human after all.  I found the situation so upsetting I blogged about it.

I didn't expand on much of what I wrote.  I did mention Brian Dunning of Skeptoid.com and his legal troubles and impending prison time.  And I did mention PZ Myers and the FreeThought Blogs people.  They seem to really be enjoying what is going on.  They have been accused of being internet bullies.  PZ and others have been gleefully (my opinion) posting accusations against prominent skeptics on hearsay mainly.  The allegations may be true, but don't we as skeptics require more than someone's word?  It's awfully complicated.

You can read my thoughts on this here.

 

PZ Myers has said he won't speak at any conference that doesn't have a good number of women on the speakers list.  Well, he will by speaking at the Paradigm Symposium in St. Paul, Minnesota (woo hoo!) in October.  The thing is there will be 19 speakers (including PZ) and only one of them is a woman.  There have been other skeptics who have been pointing that out.  I guess, you can count me among them. 

 

Let me be clear, if any of the accusations are true, those who are accused must be held responsible.  But let's encourage victims to report to the authorities and have more than hearsay before we take to the internet to out the alleged offenders.

I had mentioned hearing James Randi talk about the late Martin Gardner, a leader in the early days of the skeptical movement, and Martin's belief in some kind of afterlife, soul, and god.  I could not find the clip, but here is a link to Martin Gardner's Wiki page.

The Disturbing...

 

I'm sure this was a spoiler, but I had to talk about it.  Louie CK is a divorced dad and a stand-up comic.  He has also written and directed an FX series based on his life called Louie.  He plays himself in the show, but in one episode there is a flashback to his days in Catholic school.  The story depicts the brutal and guilt-inducing way the adults in his church demonstrated how all of us killed Jesus.  I found the treatment of those kids horrifying.

 

The Ridiculous...

I had two items for the ridiculous...

First up was the Discovery Channel's misleading "documentary" on the long extinct shark relative the megalodon.  Oh, sure, they flashed a disclaimer along the bottom of the screen for seconds at the end pf the program, but casual viewers probably didn't notice and may be thinking the megalodon is swimming the oceans today.

Former cast member of Star Trek: TNG (among my least favorite) and current geek blogger, Wil Wheaton has taken the Discovery Channel to the internet woodshed.  Hmm, Wesley Crusher is becoming less annoying.

 

The second ridiculous item was the apparent push back at Peter Capaldi being announced as the 12th doctor on the very popular sci-fi series Doctor Who.  For some reason, people aren't liking this.  He's too old?  He's not sexy?  I don't know, but I say give him a chance.

BBC America is considering the "nuclear option" and producing their own Doctor Who series with a different doctor.  Oh, please.  Settle down.

Movie Recommendation: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

 

United Artists

 

I thought this pick somewhat fitting with the current unpleasantness in the skeptical community.  It does have an element of the McCarthyism rampant in the '50s.  And it has an excellent Oscar-nominated performance by Angela Lansbury.  Co-starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey and was directed by John Frankenheimer, The Manchurian Candidate is an intriguing film of Cold War politics and brainwashing.

Music heard on the show...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Hangin' Downtown' by The Replacements & 'Crocodiles' by Echo & the Bunnymen
Second ad break bumpers: 'English Roundabout' by XTC & 'Bull Rider' by Johnny 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

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 4-13-13 show notes

Star Stuff

One tough little girl!

I was commissioned to do a portrait of one tough, little girl.  She's been dealing with a bad ticker and set of lungs since before she was born.  I finished the portrait some weeks ago, but it wasn't until earlier this week that it finally arrived at its destination. 

 

The mother let me know that she had received the portrait and she was quite surprised (I was commissioned by a third party) and very happy with it.

 

See?  An atheist can have a heart.

A Hard Spring

It's been quite a week for my wife and fellow ZTalkers Jenny and Scotty.  All of whom have ended up in the hospital.  My wife had emergency gall bladder removal, Jenny had a kidney infection, and Scotty was leaking spinal fluid.

I couldn't help but make the observation that it was science-based medicine that pulled them all through.  Not chiropractors, not hand waving, not prayers, just actual medicine.

 

Never Found In The 80s:  Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

 

Another in my guest blog series of musical artists Never Found in the 80s for the Stuck in the 80s blog.  This entry is the great Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians.  I picked their excellently bizarre The Man With The Lightbulb Head.

You can read my piece here.

My First Skeptical Conference

What do PZ Myers, Hemant Mehta, Greta Christina, Zach Weinersmith, JT Ebehard, and Tim Farley all have in common?  They were all seen by yours truly at the first ever SkepTech conference in Minneapolis.  They each gave interesting and enlightening talks.

It was the first such conference I've ever attended.  It was very enjoyable and it was free.  And free fits right into my budget. 

Movie Recommendation: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

 

Warner Bros/Universal Studios

One of the Coen brothers unjustifiably overlooked films.  It's very funny and it is the second film recommendation in a row in which Paul Newman plays a significant role.  It also stars Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Charles Durning.  It's available on disk at Netflix, so please stop overlooking this terrific movie.

Music heard on the show (Whenever Possible, I Will Link To The Song)...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Who Dunnit' by Genesis & 'The Man With The Lightbulb Head' by Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians
Second ad break bumpers: 'Homebreakers' by The Style Council & 'All That I Wanted' by Belfegore
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 7-9-11 show notes

I Have My Doctorate! Sort Of

Thanks to Thunderwood College I have a doctorate now. It was easy! And free! Brian Dunning of Skeptoid.com has set up a diploma mill. So, go and get your diploma. Sure, it's not worth the paper it's printed on, but so what?

An Early Life Of Crime

The toy I pulled some shenanigans to get

I confessed a few of my youthful indiscretions. I switched price tags on a Shogun Warrior toy. I switched a book I could legally buy as a youth with a naughty book that I couldn't. And I broke into a friend's house to retrieve my Ghost of Capt. Kidd action figure. Shame on me.

Here's a blog I wrote about the Ghost of Capt. Kidd toy.

I Was Stunned By Dr. Dawkins This Week And So Were Many Other People

Richard Dawkins and Rebecca Watson

After a brief sidetrack about the gravestone for Uncle Ben in the Spider-man movie, I related an interesting controversy in the skeptic/atheist community this past week. Skepchick Rebecca Watson mentioned being made uncomfortable about being hit on by a stranger in an elevator at 4am. She didn't make a big deal about it, but Richard Dawkins did.

Dr. Dawkins jumped into a comment thread on PZ Myers' site and sarcastically belittled Rebecca complaint. Richard was being a dick and didn't get it. Judging by the many, many comments on several blogs, many people did get it.

This should make for an interesting TAM 9 this coming weekend.

Links galore for this one. Phil Plait's, PZ Myers', Rebecca Watson's. Rebecca's original video post in which she mentions the elevator incident is here.

In A Better Place? Really?

On the local news tonight was a story of a young woman who was found murdered at the side of a nearby highway. The report featured two of the woman's friends placing a memorial near the site where her body was found. An ex-boyfriend is suspected in the murder. One of the friends said she is "in a better place."

A better place?! Is she suggesting that the ex-boyfriend (allegedly) did the victim a favor? Well, of course she wasn't. Still, I made my observations as to the situations where the "better place" statement would work more properly.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: 'Seconds' by U2 & 'Epic' by Faith No More
Second ad break bumpers: 'Inside A Fireball' by Hunters & Collectors & 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
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