dimland radio 3-5-16 show notes

An Original Pic Of Re-Enactors

Are these the actual Earp brothers and Doc Holliday?

A Facebook friend shared a photo (above) that was said to be an original pic of Doc Holliday, Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp. Weeeeellll. Not so fast there, Spanky.

 

To my somewhat trained eye, the photo looked too modern. It didn't look like the kind of photographs taken in the late 19th century. In fact, it looked more like a color photo that had been grey scaled. I was skeptical.

 

The real Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp.

 

 

 

The real Doc Holliday.

I looked for what I could be reasonably certain were actual photos (above) of the four men in question. Those men didn't quite match up with the four fellows that my friend shared. And the photographs look much more as though they were taken in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. In fact, Wyatt's and Morgan's photos appear to have been taken earlier than Virgil's.

 

I continued my search and found a color photograph of four re-enactors from present day Tombstone, AZ. Surprise! Surprise! Two of the men in the color photo are also present in that "original pic of Doc, Wyatt, and his brothers".

 

Compare the two on the left in this modern image to the two of the left in the picture of the alleged real lawmen.

That sealed it. However, my FB friend didn't care, because the image was romantic. Well, she should care. The internet is full enough of misinformation. She and the rest of us should all do our best to not add to the bullshit.

Abe Vigoda's Oscar Snub

His daughter called it an injustice. I don't think it's quite that, but I was disappointed to find out the producers of this year's Oscar ceremony didn't think to include Abe Vigoda in its In Memoriam segment. I guess they must have thought Vigoda was more TV than movie. More Fish, less Tessio.

 

Perhaps. That was the same reasoning when Farrah Fawcett wasn't remembered after she had died. But both Farrah and Abe had made movies. And Abe was in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, for crying out loud! I mentioned it would have been very poignant to show the scene in which Tessio realizes he won't be returning from the ride he's about to take. "Tell Mike it was just business." How great would that have been?

 

Vigoda wasn't enough of a movie guy, eh? How much of a movie guy was David Bowie? Do you think of Bowie as a movie guy? He does have more than 20 films to his credit, but so does Vigoda.

 

I looked back at past In Memoriam segments. I was looking to see of Johnny Carson had been included after he died. I looked for Carson because someone on Facebook suggested Vigoda might be like Carson - too TV. But Carson had hosted several Oscar ceremonies, so I thought it might be possible he was included. He wasn't. But! I saw that Jerry Orbach was.

 

Jerry Orbach had made some movies. He was the voice of the candelabra in Beauty and the Beast and he did put Baby in the corner in Dirty Dancing. But, come on! Most everyone who remembers who he was identifies him as Lenny Brisco, the police detective on TV's Law & Order.

 

Well, someone always gets missed. Abe Vigoda should have been included. The Emmys will likely remember him, but I don't ever watch the Emmys.

 

Maddy Love Talks About Being A Skeptic

 

I have been trying to listen to more of the local skeptical podcasts lately. One of which is the MN Trans-Atheist Podcast hosted by Maddy Love. I haven't gotten to listen to much but on a recent show Maddy gives a six minute talk addressing what it means to be a skeptic. She uses some ideas gotten from the awesome Carl Sagan, but she weaves in plenty of her well-focused ideas. She says in six minutes what I've been trying to impart in six years of doing Dimland Radio.

She graciously gave me permission to use her talk on my show. She even linked me to a nicely set-up mp3 version that I could easily play for my listeners.

 

Thanks, Maddy!

The Return Of Never Found Live Bonus Week

My Never Found in the 80s segments on the Stuck in the 80s blog had been dormant since last September. So, with Steve Spears and Brad Williams (hosts of the Stuck in the 80s podcast) heading out on the 80s Cruise, I thought I'd help Steve out with the blog by providing five more live clips of 80s alternative bands.

 

The acts I covered were: The Replacements, Let's Active, Cocteau Twins, Killing Joke, and Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians.

 

I talked about how the song by Let's Active (Blue Line) had an opening that was very similar to an REM song. I told how I had difficulty figuring out which REM song it was. Finally, I figured it out. It was Kohoutek from their album Fables of the Reconstruction. Phew! You can compare the songs using the links. Let me know if you think I'm right... or wrong.

 

I also noted the fan made video for REM's song Green Grow The Rushes was nothing but anti-capitalism images. I found it ironic as REM has made millions and millions of dollars through the capitalist system. I guess it's OK for your favorite band profits from capitalism, but not Coca-Cola.

And speaking of Robyn Hitchcock, I told the story of when Amy (my wife) and I were dating. We both had tickets to see shows on the same night. She had tickets for Joe Strummer, I had tickets for Robyn Hitchcock. We saw Hitchcock. Amy had never seen Strummer, I had. Amy would never see him. Joe Strummer died not long after that show.

I have regretted not going with Amy's tickets, instead of mine.

Someone Send Megan Fox The Demon-Haunted World!

 

 

Megan Fox has once again been photographed in public carrying a book written by my friend Scott Roberts. Scott is pretty much at the opposite end of the skeptical scale from me. Oh, he has his moments, but overall he tends toward the paranormal. I don't.

 

There's his name: Scott Alan Roberts!

In May 2015, Ms Fox was seen with Scott's book about giant angels. This past February, she had Scott and his co-writer's book on the Exodus (which didn't happen). Jeepers! It's good for Scott. I'm happy for him. It's just not so good for rational thought.

 

I wonder if I can figure out how to send her Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World.

 

Movie Recommendation: Breaking Away (1979)

 

20th Century Fox

A little sleeper hit from 1979 about four young men coming of age. They are called "Cutters" by the college students after what used to be the main industry of the town: Stone-cutting. "Cutters" is meant to be an insult when used by the students. Our four friends don't much care for those college kids.

 

There's Dave. He is the focus of the film. He is adrift like his friends, but he has cycling. And he's very good at it. He fancies himself Italian because he so admires the Italians' cycling skills. But reality hits him hard.

 

The conflict with the college students leads to the college allowing a team from the town to compete in the big cycling race to be held on campus. Dave and his friends enter that race to prove "cutters" are just as good as any college kid.

 

If you haven't seen this, put it in your queue!

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Blue Bell Knoll' By Cocteau Twins & 'Every Word Means No' byLet's Active

Second ad break bumpers: 'The Wait' by Killing Joke & 'The Man With The Lightbulb Head' by Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians

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 5-9-15 show notes

I Prayed For A Stranger...Sort Of

The other day, as I sat in my parked vehicle, scarfing down some super healthy fast food, a fellow approached and asked me to do something for him. At first I couldn't tell what he was saying, but he finally made it clear that he wanted me to pray for him.

 

Phew! I thought he was gonna ask me for money.

 

I asked why and he said he was just asking people to pray for him. Now, I'm an atheist. Do I take that moment to inform this clearly on some sort of substance fellow that he's barking up the wrong tree? Do I try to reach him and plant a seed of doubt in his religious beliefs?

 

Nope. I told him I'd pray for him and he thanked me and staggered away. I didn't, however, tell him who I would pray to...

 

"Dear, Flying Spaghetti Monster..."

Good For My Friend

 

Probably won't be added to any college history curriculum any time soon.

Good for my friend, but for rational thought and an accurate understanding of history? I'm not so sure. But, what do I know?

 

My friend, Scott Roberts, wrote a book examining the possibility of the existence of the Nephilim. The Nephilim were giant angels who came down from heaven to knock up human women, because human women are so damn hot. I mean... Damn!

 

Ok, perhaps the reasons were more complicated. Anyway, their offspring were giants and they were mentioned in the Bible and in parts of the Bible that were voted to be excluded from the official Bible. That's right. Humans at one point decided which of the words of God were to be kept in the Bible.

 

So, my friend's book isn't exactly looked on as science. I don't think there are many scientific historians and archeologists who accept the notion that there were giant angel/human hybrids wandering the earth.

 

I mention all this, because just recently actress Megan Fox posted images of herself on Instagram. She can be seen walking and carrying a certain book. Can you guess which book that might be? Here's a hint: It wasn't Carl Sagan's 'The Demon-Haunted World'.

 

Could she be reading it with a critical eye? Can we hope so?

 

But, Scott is my friend and this is pretty exciting. For him, if not for science and history. But, what do I know?

How Awesome Is My Dad?

It's Mother's Day weekend so of course I thought I'd relate a story about my dad.

 

We've had a leaky refrigerator for some months now. The water was leaking into the fridge from the freezer. I didn't know what to do so I asked Dad. He had the same thing happen to his refrigerator. He, however, is not so inept when it comes to doing repairs.

 

Without the internet. Without any "how to" guide books. Without any assistance, he came upon a solution that involved, in part, hot water and a turkey baster.

 

I couldn't just take his word, so I consulted Google and I found a tutorial video that explained how to unclog a frozen drain in your freezer. It is a solution that involves, in part, hot water and a turkey baster!

 

How awesome is my dad?!

Penn & Teller Part 1: The Show

 

On Friday, May 1st, I went to see Penn & Teller perform at Mystic Lake Hotel & Casino. I went with a friend and his son. It was my first time seeing them perform live and I thought the show was very entertaining and fun.

 

A few of the routines I had seen them perform before on television, but they were still impressive. And there were a few that I had heard about, but hadn't ever seen, so that was cool. One of the highlights was Teller escaping from a large garbage bag filled with helium. I don't know how they did it. So impressive!

 

The biggest highlight involved an eight year old audience member named Tiffany and a pair of scissors. Tiffany did something with those scissors that made Penn believe that that would be the last show he and Teller would ever do.

 

Tiffany did as she was instructed, making her a rare child. None the other kids they've had help in the routine did as they were instructed. That's what P&T count on.

 

As a joke, sorry to spoil it, Penn instructed Tiffany to run with the scissors. Kids in the past might take a step or two or none at all, but Tiffany followed instructions. She ran with the scissors. Oh, but she did even more! With Penn calling after her to stop (that instruction she didn't follow) she got to the edge of the stage, hesitated for a second, and then jumped off. She was heading back to her seats, when Penn, with the assistance of the stage crew and casino people, got her back on stage.

 

She was ok. Everyone was ok. Penn & Teller's career isn't over.

 

Penn tells the story in more detail on his podcast 'Penn's Sunday School' (cue to the last 14 minutes to hear the story). You can download the Tiffany episode (#166) here.

Penn & Teller Part 2: The Meet & Greet

Since the very early days of Penn & Teller, they have done meet and greets after every show. They meet their fans, take pictures, and sign autographs. They stay as long as it takes so everyone gets a chance.

 

I originally hoped to get a hug from Penn, which he probably would have given had I asked, but I didn't want to push it. Half a hug was almost as good. He signed the two books I had brought: one by them both, the other was Penn's novel 'Sock'.

 

When I told Penn that Teller, who we had gone to first, had signed Penn's book, Penn responded quietly just to me, "Asshole."

 

I'm pretty sure he was referring to Teller.

 

Photobombed by a Vikings fan. Teller took this picture, by the way.

 

Half a hug from one of my man crushes.

Penn & Teller Part 3: The Troll

So, when I got home I immediately posted the two pictures of me with P&T on my Facebook page. I wrote, "Ahem. Look who just bumped into a couple of his heroes..."

 

Most of those who commented on the photos were happy for me and pleasant and had kind things to say, until the troll entered. It is the internet and some people feel compelled to shit on things.

 

A Facebook friend (I friend anyone who sends a request) doesn't care for Penn & Teller's politics. He doesn't like Libertarians. He hates the Koch brothers. And everyone needs to know that through my thread. He started by stating, "I'm not a big fan of these Libertarian idiots."

 

As the troll had hoped, another of my FB friends responded and it was on. There was quite the back and forth going on before I even noticed. I had posted the images and gone to bed before the troll arrived. So, when I opened my FB the next morning the discussion was on.

 

I want to thank the friends of mine who engaged with him. I tried for a time, but realized it was futile.

 

Oh! I didn't mention this on the show because I ran short of time. During the comments flame war, the troll let it be known he had seen Penn & Teller perform THREE times!

 

It took him three times seeing them to decide he wasn't a big fan.

 

Movie Recommendations: None

Sorry, 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: 'Straight To Hell' by The Clash & 'If Hollywood Don't Need You' by Don Williams
Second ad break bumpers: 'Life's What You Make It' By Talk Talk & 'Heat Of The Moment' by Asia

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 2-16-13 show notes

It's Not True: Lottery Give Away

The internets are full of baloney.  And I talked about something I've seen on the Facebook a few times.  It's a picture of a fellow holding up the winning Powerball ticket and includes text that promises to give the millionth person who shares that post one million dollars.

Well, as you may have guessed, it's not true.  Check snopes.com here for the details.

Mr. Big Shot

I took the family to see 'Wreck It Ralph' last weekend.  We went to one of the older theaters in the Twin Cities.  It's almost as old as I am!  It's a second run theater now and has been for several years.  People can see the recent releases on the big screen (biggish, it was bigger when the theater had the single screen, but it has two now) for only two bucks.

You can learn about the Maplewood Plaza theater here.

Anyway, as I said it's two bucks a ticket and we happened to getting behind Mr. Big Shot waiting to pay for our tickets.  Mr. Big Shot paid for his two dollar ticket with a hundred dollar bill.  Smooth move, Ex Lax.  We were all impressed.

Science Hero

Another science hero was crowned by Dimland Radio.  He is US Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ).  Congressman Holt is a scientist!  An honest to goodness scientist.  We need more scientists in politics.

I alluded to an organization that is encouraging scientists to get involved in politics.  Here is one such organization.

So, Congressman spoke in Congress about a resolution to make February 12th Darwin Day and he spoke highly of Charles Darwin and the importance of the Theory of Evolution.  And that makes him a Dimland Radio Science Hero.

See his talk here.

Oh, and I mentioned a science zero in politics who thinks the earth is only 6000 years old.  You can witness her ignorance here.  I mentioned this ignoramus on my show of 4/21/12.

Uncle Joe

 

I retold a story about my uncles Joe and Dick.  They're twins and they just turned 70 (and I thought I was old!).  The story was about barhopping up north to visit his twin brother and how all that drinking affected my Uncle Dick.  It's a funny story, but it could easily been a tragic story.

Dimland Radio does not support drinking and driving.

I told the story again as a way to bring up that my Uncle Joe passed away 2/13/13.  He had suffered emphysema the last few years after a life of smoking.  Some months ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer.  We're not sure which disease took him from us.  No matter.

Uncle Joe will be missed.

This Is History?

I then spent some time giving my thoughts on my friend Scott Roberts' pseudo-history book "The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim. "  Don't know what the Nephilim are?  Well, they're angels or aliens who came down to earth in biblical times to have sex with human women to advance the human race.  The women birthed giant hybrid angel (or alien)/humans and God had to send Noah's Flood to wipe them out.

See?  History!

Scott has also written a book about the Reptilians and will be co-writing a book about Moses and the Exodus.  Despite the total lack of any archeological or historical evidence that Moses existed or that the Exodus actually happened.

Oh, well.  I'm sure Scott won't let actual evidence or lack thereof get in the way of his guess about supernatural being real.

I also mentioned an actual archeologist, Kenneth Feder.  Kenneth Feder doesn't quite see the past the way Scott and other pseudo-historians see it.  He follows the evidence to where it leads and it doesn't lead to giants or angels or aliens or whatever the pseudo-historian wants to find.

Here's Scott book about giant angel babies and here's Kenneth Feder's book.  Two guesses which I think has the better chance of being accurate to our actually history.  However, Scott's book is much more affordable.

Movie Recommendation: None This Week

I didn't have time to get to a movie recommendation this week, so you are on your own.  But "Wreck It Ralph" is worth a look.

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: 'Candyman' by Siouxsie & The Banshees & 'Love Is A Stranger' by Eurythmics
Second ad break bumpers: 'Middle Of The Road' by The Pretenders & 'Walking & Falling' by Laurie Anderson
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.