dimland radio 1-9-16 show notes

Heeeere's Johnny!

Yeah, not that clever of a heading, but that's why I don't get  paid the big bucks. I'm just trying to say that Johnny Carson is back on television. AntennaTV is now showing reruns of Johnny's Tonight Show every night of the week. I stumbled on a show from 1974, I think, last week and it was so cool.

 

I talked about these reruns being excellent time capsules to our lives from 1972 to 1992, the years these shows cover. We get to see twenty years worth of Johnny's thirty year run on the Tonight Show. The first ten years were, sadly, not archived. But in 1972, Johnny stepped up to save his shows for posterity.

 

I showed a bit of my morbid nature by talking about taking Mr. Peabody's Way Back Machine to head back to that one show I watched last Sunday night. The guests were Bob Hope, Don Rickles, Michael Landon, Freddie Prinze, and Carol Wayne. Including Ed and Johnny, I'd ask those celebs which one would still be alive in 2016. I'm sure the answer would surprise them.

 

Yeah, I have a morbid streak. What are you going to do?

 

I wrote about Johnny's return for Warehouse Find, the official blog of Nostalgia Zone. I made the point that Johnny was the definition of class and cool and he didn't yell to rev up the audience. Today's batch of late night hosts feel it necessary to yell, because if they are yelling then it must be exciting!

Disgusting!

I had thought the whole psychic phone line thing was over, but I was wrong. There's a thing called California Psychics that is advertising to bilk people out of their hard-earned money. I saw the ad while watching Carson (talk about the yin to the yang). At first I thought it would be an ad for one of the televangelist programs, but nope.

 

The ad shows a young woman feeling lost in life and not knowing where to turn. So, she turns to a psychic on the California Psychics' service and her life is all better now. The ad wants viewers to believe psychics can help, but the small print says, "For entertainment purposes only." That's so they can keep from getting into troubling with the FTC or FCC, whichever has jurisdiction.

 

So, if you're depressed and need help with big life decisions, call a psychic to be entertained. That makes no sense. That's also why the type for that disclaimer is so small. Most people won't notice it.

 

They also won't notice what else the small print says. The ad states that a call is only one dollar a minute. Which is $60 and hour! Not chump change. But, wait! It gets worse. That dollar a minute rate is only for the first 30 minutes. Additional reading time prices out at four to 13 dollars a minute! That's insane! 

 

A lot of gullible sorts are gonna be spending a lot of money on what are most likely cold readings.

 

Disgusting!

 

Who Should Really Win The Powerball Jackpot

 

I put this suggestion out on Facebook. I suggested that we all agree to give the jackpot ($700 million at the time, but now it's over one billion dollars!) to the person who came up with the term "Y'all Qaeda". I think it is brilliant.

 

"Vanilla ISIS" isn't bad either when describing the folks who have taken a remote Federal building hostage for the last several days. But Y'all Qaeda is just so damn good.

 

I also talked about how unlikely it is that one particular person will win the Powerball lottery. But a billion dollars? I might just but one ticket. Just one.

 

Movie Recommendation: 30 For 30: Four Falls Of Buffalo

ESPN

A wonderful documentary about the Buffalo Bills' incredible early 90s' run at getting to and losing four Superbowls in a row. The Minnesota Vikings have lost four, but not in a row. It's amazing that team could get there four years running. That's an accomplishment all on its own. It just would have been nice if they could have won one of them.

 

Also, it's pretty evident that the Buffalo Bills have the best footballs fans.

 

It's streaming on Netflix, not for free.

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 & 'Voices Carry' by Til Tuesday

Second ad break bumpers: 'Shout To The Top' by The Style Council &  'Talking Doll' 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
 
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 5-18-13 show notes

Talking About The Weather Again

 

Yes, more weather talk.  This past Tuesday in the Twin Cities we went from having the heat on in the morning to needing the air conditioning on in the evening.  That's right.  We went from temperatures in the 50s to a high of 98 degrees.  Ick.

 

Whoops!   Spoiler Alert

 

I didn't mean to spoil the Kevin Spacey connection to the film Se7en, but I did.  In order to not dig a deeper hole, I went into the spoiler after the show "ended" so that listeners could turn off the show if they wanted to avoid the spoilage.

SPOILER ALERT!  The thing I talked about was that I swear Spacey works in a little Henry Fonda in the delivery of one line.  I'd love to ask Spacey if it was intentional.

Here's the scene from Se7en the line comes at the 1:20 mark.  Compare it to this scene from the Henry Fonda film 12 Angry Men.  Pay close attention to the 1:49 mark.  Am I right or am I right?

ABBA's Super Trouper

It's a really enjoyable song about how sick and tired the singer is of touring and performing in concert.  But, at the up-coming show the love of her life will be in the crowd, so that show will be fine.  The fans should be insulted.  "What are we?  Chopped liver?"

 

Never Found In The 80s: Cocteau Twins

 

This band certainly requires a lyrics sheet if you want to know what is being sung.  With this Scottish band it was more about the feeling than the words.  You can see my piece on this never found band at the Stuck in the 80s blog.

Gas Pump Couple A Put On?

It was a feel good moment.  It really was, but the skeptic in me wondered if it was too good to be true.  Well, it just might have been.  The singing and dancing couple "discovered" at a gas pump during a regular gag bit on the Tonight Show became an internet sensation.

 

The original clip was very inspiring, but subsequent information has cast doubts on just how spontaneous the whole thing was.  Read all about it here.

 

The Skeptic's Bias

 

Last week I talked about Ben Radford's admonishment of "psychics" failing to warn of impending tragedies.  Well, I talked about it some more.  I acknowledged that we skeptics probably do have a bias against folks claiming to have psychic ability.  That bias is come by honestly, because thus far no one has ever proved they have any abilities that a competent magician doesn't also possess. 

 

I also touched on open-mindedness.  Skeptics (big "S" or small) are the ones with the open minds.  Show us the evidence to back up your extraordinary claim and, if it stands up to scrutiny, we will change our minds.  That's being open-minded.

 

Movie Recommendation: Unforgiven (1992)

 

Warner Brothers

This is a terrific Western!  Clint Eastwood stars in and directed this nuanced take on one of my favorite film genres.  This film blurs the lines between the good guys and bad guys.  And with a cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris it is hard to go wrong.

Music heard on the show (These songs are linked above)...

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

First ad break bumpers: 'Cotton Alley' by 10,000 Maniacs & 'Ivo' by Cocteau Twins
Second ad break bumpers: 'Jesus Chrysler Drives A Dodge' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & 'Baby Have Some Faith' by 54-40
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.