dimland radio 7-17-10 show notes

It had been a dark and stormy night, but the storms pasted and we still had power and the show went on. I was a little under the weather as I had a bad stomach and a bit of a headache. Still I was well enough to soldier on. Besides, I had a guest...

The guest... Jessica Fox

I had a nice conversation with Jessica Fox. Jessica is well known to Z Talk regulars as a frequent listener and commenter in the Z Talk chat room. Jessica will being having a show on Z Talk. She and her co-host Sara Rembert will be bringing their show 'Talk Is Cheap' to Z Talk each Wednesday at 4 - 6pm Central.

So, Jessica and I talked about a variety of things. We talked about her raising chickens for eggs and what they do with all that chicken poop. We also talked about movies, mostly notably the 'Twilight' movies.

Jessica and her family put on a haunted barn attraction each Halloween season. Not an actual haunted barn, which there aren't any anyway, but one put on to scare and entertain the locals. Originally done one year on Halloween night as a free thrill for whoever came by, it has grown to quite the operation that now happens each weekend from late September through Halloween. The profits are donated to charity. Pretty cool, eh?

Because I'm a skeptic, I thought it would be interesting to find out what Jessica might be skeptical about. Jessica believes in the paranormal and does investigations herself, but it turns out she's way skeptical of bigfoot. So, we talked a little about why that is and, in a startling reversal of roles, I pointed out that bigfoot's existence might very well be possible. Although, at this point, there is no good evidence to suggest that it does exist.


So, be sure to catch Jessica and Sara each Wednesday for their show 'Talk Is Cheap' on Z Talk Radio.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'She's Tight' by Cheap Trick & 'She's Calling You’ by Bad Brains
Second ad break bumpers: 'She's On It' by The Beastie Boys & '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

dimland radio 7-10-10 show notes

After a couple minutes fumbling with the server, I managed to get another show going. It was most likely due to my error.

Mea Culpa. What?! Again?!

I started the show admitting I was wrong about something. In the Z Talk chat room the night before, I stated that every Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer has dissenting views. In Skeptic, at least, each issue includes a forum section, in which readers often take issue with articles in past editions. Well, I thought the forum was in each edition, but after taking a closer look, I found out the forum section is not in each issue. Whoops, I was wrong.

Zapped & penny wise pound foolish

There was then the story of how I learned that when working on electrical equipment one should always be sure it is unplugged. My younger brother and I were working on a industrial strength floor fan, trying to get it working again, when I zapped my fingers on the cord that was still plugged in.

Then I related how my boss, who two hours earlier said that those fans are pretty cheap, about a hundred bucks, was upset when I told him that my younger brother and I fixed it. He was upset because I didn’t clear it with him first when I told my brother (who works for us) to put an hour on his time card for helping us out. That one hour would cost my boss eight bucks!

A hundred bucks for a new fan? No problem. Eight bucks to get the broken fan fixed? Problem. I believe that would be the definition of “penny wise, pound (or dollar in the States) foolish.

Shrek 2

My wife, son and I had watched ‘Shrek 2’ for the first time earlier that day. Amy picked up the never viewed VHS tape at a garage sale the day before. It was a bargain.

It wasn’t as good as the first and not nearly as good as the worst Pixar film. Of course, there isn’t such a thing as a bad Pixar film. I made the point that Dreamworks’ ‘Shrek’ series will likely never become a timeless classic as, say, Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ series. ‘Shrek 2’ is just way too full of pop culture references. References that can’t help but date the films as time goes on.

Pixar films do have some pop cultural references, but not nearly as many. That’s why I think Pixar edges out all the other animation studios’ feature films. That and the fact that Pixar knows how to crate enduring stories that warm the heart and entertain.

Living longer?

The latest issue of Skeptic has an article looking at the idea that people are living longer than way back in 1900 and even farther back. Sort of. Life expectancy has increased nearly 30 years among men and women in the States since 1900. But that’s life expectancy at birth. Infant mortality rates have come way down since the good old days. That has more to do with life expectancy levels rising than does medicine, food, or dentistry. (All of which have had a hand in extending our lives.) But in the good old days if you survived birth and your first five years, chances were pretty good that you would make it to 60, 70, 80 or even more.

As I talked about how old people lived to be way back when, I was trying to remember the Charlton Heston film in which he played Michelangelo. I couldn’t think of the name at the time, but it was the 1965 film ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’.

By the way, Michelangelo died in 1564. He was nearly 89 years-old. See?

Movie recommendation

I recommended a movie that my wife and I had watched earlier that week. It’s the 2000 political thriller, ‘The Contender’. It’s very good. Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges and Gary Oldman do a great job. I especially enjoyed a mustache-less Sam Elliott.

I have a couple quibbles. This is a Hollywood film, so there is no way the president and his choice for his replacement vice president (his original VP had died) would be Republicans and the opposition Congressman would be a Democrat. Besides, no Republican would ever want a woman VP, right? (Ahem.) But that’s pretty minor.

The other quibble surrounds Oldman’s character, the Republican Representative who vigorously opposed the choice of replacement VP. He looked a little odd compared to all the other characters. His goofy hairstyle and his suits that didn’t quite fit right, I thought were a little on the skewed side. He also had the Nixon sweaty upper lip.

Still, minor quibbles. Set your political affiliation aside and enjoy the drama of this political intrigue.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Ronnie’s Song' by Urban Guerrillas & 'Heat of the Moment’ by Asia
Second ad break bumpers: '88 Lines About 44 Women' by The Nails & 'Twilight Zone' by Golden Earring
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

dimland radio 7-3-10 show notes

234 years-old! That's how old the US of A is today and it doesn't look a day over 215.

Fireworks Part 1

This edition of Dimland Radio started with some fireworks. No, not any controversy for which I'll late have to apologize. No, I mean actual 4th of July style fireworks. My wife and son and I don't need to head to some park to see a nice fireworks display. Nope, all we have to do is head out to the front yard and watch the neighbors launch theirs.

George Hrab's 'Trebuchet' Part 2

Last week, I introduced my audience to George Hrab and his new album 'Trebuchet'.

He's a skeptic, an atheist, a podcaster and, most of all, he's a musician. George Hrab has a new album out. It's called 'Trebuchet' and it's pretty darned good. He's an unsigned artist who wants to get this, his sixth, album out there. He posted the entire album on his podcast, but he's also selling it. You can download it at cdbaby.com and iTunes. You can also buy an actual CD from cdbaby.com My copy is on it's way.You can listen to George's podcast here or download it from iTunes. Be warned, he swears a bunch and he's very skeptical. However, he's also very entertaining. I'm gonna see if I can get him on my show.

And, as in last week's show, I played selected tracks from his album. With his permission, of course. I played two songs about death! I played 'Death From The Skies' and 'Small Comfort'.

UK's libel laws put to the test

Libel laws in the UK are way messed up. In the States, if someone brings a libel suit against an individual, the burden of proof is on the accuser. In the UK, the person being accused must prove they didn't libel the accuser. That's just wrong. In the UK's libel laws, the presumption of innocence does not exist.

Simon Singh, a science writer, wrote an opinion piece about chiropractic. He opined that some of the claims made by chiropractors, such as being able to treat colic and asthma, are "bogus". That comment lead to the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) filing a libel suit against Mr. Singh.

In April 2010, the BCA dropped its lawsuit. But not until after much attention was paid out how backward UK's libel laws are. Hopefully this will lead to a greater victory for the freedom of speech and get the UK to change its laws. People should have the right to voice their opinions, right or wrong, without fear of be sued.

You can read more about it here.

Fireworks Part 2

I related the story of how two friends and I used to drive all the way from St. Paul to South Dakota to purchase then illegal (and still illegal) fireworks. We would buy the big firecrackers along with some pretty display stuff. And I mean big! M80s and M200s. They go boom! One year, we had some fun blowing up a Coleman cooler. What a blast!

Movie recommendation


This week I recommended the 1990 action/thriller 'The Hunt For Red October'. It is one of my all time favorite films. I think Sean Connery is terrific as the rogue sub captain determined to defect.

I mentioned the line in the film James Earle Jones utters when he first sees Alec Baldwin, playing Jack Ryan. He said, "Jesus! You look like hell!" No, he didn't! He looked like the young, thin, good looking, leading man, Alec Baldwin. If that's looking like hell...

Alec Baldwin looking like hell

Now if that film had been made with Alec Baldwin as he looks today, well, then I would agree.

It's a great film. Put it in your Netflix queue now!

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Only You' by Yaz & 'The Meeting Place' by XTC
Second ad break bumpers: 'King Volcano' by Bauhaus & 'Institutionalized' by Suicidal Tendencies
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 On Demand page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com