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.

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

world's coolest toys pt. 1: ghost of capt. kidd

I collect old toys. I should say I used to collect old toys. I no longer have the disposable income I once did. To tell the truth, I never really had the disposable income and yet I would collect old toys.

Not just any old toys, I collected the toys that I or a friend or relative had when I was a child. I used to say that I was buying back my childhood. One toy at a time.

There is one toy, however, foolishly given up in my youth, that has eluded my ability to buy back. It's an action figure that was put out by Matchbox Toys. It was part of their "Fighting Furies" pirate series and he was called the Ghost of Capt. Kidd.

In 1975, when I was ten years-old, I was looking through the Sears Christmas catalog, something every kid must have done in those days, when I spotted him. There he was, the Ghost of Capt. Kidd. He was pictured with two or three other pirate figures, but I didn't care about them. I wanted the ghost.

I saved up my allowance money and, when I had enough, my mom ordered it for me. I don't remember how long I waited, but I'm sure it felt like weeks and weeks.

When the fairly plain and unassuming package arrived, I was beside myself with excitement. It was worth the wait, because it was such a great toy. It had a button on its side that you could push to simulate sword fighting. And though it was a bit smaller than my Johnny West and GI Joe, it had a feature that they didn't. It could glow in the dark!

To this day, kids dig just about anything if it glows in the dark. Matchbox had the brilliant idea of painting, in pale white, a skull and skeleton on the figure. So, he didn't just glow, he glowed so you could see his ghostly skeletal structure. It was a very cool and eerie effect.

Glowing in the dark! How cool is that?!

The Captain quickly became one of my favorite toys. I would frequently bring it over to my friend Todd's house, along with my other action figures, and Todd and I would play with his GI Joe action set and his actions figures for hours.

Once I left the Captain at Todd's at the end of one of our adventures. I had to go home. I think Todd may have asked me to leave the Captain, so he could play with it some more. Todd was very good to his toys, so I wasn't too worried about him having one of mine for a while longer. The only thing is is his family then went on vacation. They would be gone for at least a week and I'd be damned if I would be without such a favored toy for so long.

I hatched a plan.

Todd's house had an attached garage which led to their basement. I knew that his family never locked the garage door (those were the days). My plan was simple: I would head over to his house, open the garage door just enough for me to crawl under, go in, and get my toy.

I'm certain the statute of limitations has long since past, so I can tell you now. My plan worked like a charm. I retrieved my toy and no one was the wiser. I don't think Todd ever knew I'd broken into his house. And I was single-minded. There was no taking of any of his toys or comic books, no stealing money, no going through his older sister's underwear drawer (Come on! I was only ten!). I was there for the Captain and that's all I took.

The Shroud of Turin?

As with so many of the other toys of my youth, the Ghost of Capt. Kidd went away. No doubt, sold at a garage sale. How I have grown to regret giving him up.

I've never been able to get him back. I've seen him on eBay a couple of times and once came close to getting him, but, at the last moment, someone swiped him away from me. Now my money is needed for more mundane things. You know, food, clothing, mortgage. Nothing so exciting as the Ghost of Capt. Kidd.

I just called Mattel and asked if they'd consider reissuing the Fighting Furies, especially the Captain. Toy companies have been known to reissue toys from time to time.

They might. Pirates are so hot right now... in Somalia.