dimland radio 7-8-17 show notes

A Correction

Yes, again. I said that artist Chuck Close, after a paralyzing event, painted with his mouth. That is not the case. He has some use of his arms, so he straps a brush to his hand and paints that way. His paintings are now on the "pixelated" side when viewed up close, but from a distance...Wow!

 

Click here to check out his Wikipedia page.

James On Coke Bottles Got Me Thinking Of Presidents

I usually buy a couple/few 20 oz bottles of Coca-Cola a week and recently the brand has been putting names on the bottles. First names. And I found a bottle with James on it. Well, of course, I bought it. My name is James after all.

 

That somehow got me to note to the cashier that James is the most common first name of the American Presidents. There were six named James (one is more commonly called Jimmy, but he's still a James).

 

That got me talking about Grover Cleveland and other aspects of the American Presidency. My mind goes in interesting directions.

 

Then I mentioned finding a couple names that matched part of the name of the alternative rock band Pixies' lead singer's real name: Charles Thompson. I thought that was cool and I asked the twenty-something fellow behind the counter if he had heard of the Pixies. He hadn't. Damn kids.

 

 

It's Not True: Buzz Aldrin And Pres. Trump 

 

Recently, a story has been making it's way through social's media stating that the second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, praised himself for not punching the President. Aldrin made a few humorous looks, but he didn't punch the Commander in Chief, at a press conference, as our first child President gave his book report on a book he hadn't read. The book this time was about space, something about which Aldrin knows a good deal more than the President.

After listening to the most powerful man in the world's meandering and clueless statements, Aldrin claimed his greatest life achievement was refraining from an act of physical assault. And it's not true. Aldrin said nothing of the sort. A satirical website, wishing it was The Onion, made the whole story up. That didn't stop the internets from believing it and spreading it like wildfire.

Snopes.com sussed this one out by simply looking at the fake news site's "about" page.

A Rant

 

I had started into doing a skeptical examination of a recent big claim, but I sidetracked myself by going on an unplanned rant. The rant was about a couple annoying cheers, I guess that's what you'd call them, at sporting events that get under my skin.

 

One has been around for some time now. It's the asinine "get in the hole" cry every time a golfer attempts a shot that has even the remotest chance of getting in the cup. Every time I watch golf on the TV some dipshit is there to yell it out. Thank you so very much, Caddyshack. (Doing some research, I thought I might have to blame Happy Glimore, but Adam Sandler never says the phrase in that movie.)

The other cheer is a newer phenomenon. It's the Ric Flair woo. Flair was some pro wrestler who made that woo sound as part of his gimmick, but it has gained traction among all sorts of sports fans. It's been creeping into sporting events and the dipshits who do it at football or baseball games just do it to hear themselves do it. I mean, there isn't a reason to woo many of the times I hear it. Most of the time there hasn't been a big, cheer-worthy play, they just like to shout, "Wooooo!". Thank you so very much, Ric Flair.

 

Finally! The Amelia Earhart Mystery Has Been Solved! Uh, Well, Not So Fast...

Motivated reasoning can make for people accepting really poor evidence as proof that they are right. And seeing as how the 80th anniversary of the disappearance of aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart, has been reached, it just couldn't go by without someone making a claim that a solution has been found. A claim bolstered by, in my opinion, motivated reasoning.

A two-hour TV documentary special has arrived to tell us what really happened to Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, all those years ago. Once again the notion that they were captured by the Japanese and imprisoned as spies is promoted. This time there's a newly discovered photograph, in which, the investigators claim, Earhart and Noonan can be seen.

 

Photo: US National Archives

 

Well, maybe. Maybe it's them. I think it's far more likely the two in question in the photo are just two of a group of eight Japanese people, standing on a dock.

I dig deeper into my reasons for my skepticism on the show. One big reason for my skepticism is the fact that the special is airing on...

The History Channel

 

 

Oh, it's on the History Channel? Well, then the mystery must be solved. Obviously, Earhart was captured by space aliens!

 

It doesn't help the special's credibility at all by being on that sad and pathetic channel. It only very vaguely has anything to do with history as it is and what it has is sensationalist bullshit.

 

How bad is it that skeptics are longing for the days when the History Channel was the Hitler Channel? At least then there was some history involved.

Movie Recommendation: None

I ran out of time, so you are on your own this week.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Bikini Red' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & 'Rock The Casbah' by The Clash

Second ad break bumpers: 'Is It A Crime?' by Berlin & 'Night Time' by Killing Joke

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

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