Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

Saturday, January 11, 2020

PSYCHEDELIC GIF OF MY PROFILE PICTURE


I will soon be celebrating 13 years as a blogger. A few years ago, I joined Tumblr and began making sarcastic captions to photos. About a year ago, Tumblr installed some sort of robo net nanny, algorithm thing to flag "offensive" & "inappropriate" post. It flagged some really innocent stuff on everyone's Tumblrs. Many good Tumblr bloggers quit, partly because there was nothing done to combat rampant alt right activity (racism, antisemitism, homophobia), but a girl in shorts or, in my case, a photo of a person's finger in the center of a bagel (the algorithm thought it was a "close up of sexual intercourse") could get you "flagged" as "inappropriate."

Needless to say, Tumblr decided to punish me & branded me "NSFW". When you are branded "NSFW" on Tumblr, the confesscate you avatar-profile pic, replacing it with some little, silly, orange shape. I sometime post my famous avatar-profile pic in my Tumblr feed just to remind folks of what Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks looks like. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Also the algorithm didn't stop the number of "porn bots" that follow you. It is hard to determine who is a real follower and who is a porn bot for a dating or sex site.

That being said, I was followed recently by a pop culture Tumblr called Camp Kitchy Kitchy Koo, which post some very creative GIF files. They must like my Tumblr, because they made a psychedelic GIF of my famous avatar-profile picture. I posted it above. Thank you, Camp Kitchy Kitchy Koo! This had been a rough week, with three illnesses, expensive car trouble, & extra bills, but you made me smile!

  

Sunday, May 5, 2019

NEW ADVENTURES OF DESDINOVA IS EIGHT YEARS OLD


This retro blog is eight years old. The original Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks blog began during the infamous ice storm of 2007 and soon was upsetting Ozarkers with satire and opinions that were frowned upon. After it caused some problems with my career (to the point that I left my job for a brief time), I decided to try a retro blog, because I was fond of what the those blogs were posting. As time has went on, I seem to be one of the few of that group still going (the exception is Plaid Stallions, which seems to be consistantly posting new stuff). My post have become few and far between, because I'm currently working on two novels and I busy with my real job.

Hopefully, I can continue with this blog, since it has proven to be more successful (numbers, readers and hits wise) than the original blog. Thank you for reading!

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE



I wanted to let everyone who reads this blog to know that I plan to continue blogging. My time this spring and summer has been taken up by several activities.

INTERNET PROVIDER:  I also found out recently that I would have to switch Internet providers. I have had the same Internet provider since the 20th century (1999), but I was told they could no longer provide service to my area.

HEALTH: There have also been some problems with my health, namely as bad back and hip. I was taking physical therapy two times a day for most of the spring and early summer. Add to that some other problems (which are of a TMI nature), I have spent most of the summer in doctor's waiting rooms.

SCUMMY CLICKBAIT SITES STEALING FROM ME: It has come to my attention that some scummy clickbait sites are swiping some of my post, sometimes word for word, for their nasty little websites. I've tried to contact these website, but to no avail. Most click bait is sleezy as a used condom.

THE POLITICIZING OF "RETRO" & "NOSTALGIA": This bothers me more than anything. I switched from being a blog that talked about news & politics to a retro pop culture blog, because the writing a news & politics blog was leading to death threats and causing problems with my job. I was mocked on the Internet when I mentioned the threats of violence. It is why I have tried not to "reveal my true identity." This has been a controversy in the Springfield and Ozarks area, but I now have proof that it was a good idea.  Randy Turner, whose blogger I had a link to on the old blog, was attacked earlier this week by some who didn't like what he had posted.

I was seeing the nature of discussing politics becoming volatile and dangerous, so I became a retro blogger. Now, I'm seeing the discussion of retro pop culture becoming to political too. I recently saw an article on the ME-TV website about Highlights Magazine and most of the comments were from idiots bashing gays, African Americans and Millennials. These comments had nothing to do with Highlights Magazine. ME-TV should remove them, but I've said the same thing about the disgusting stuff people post on videos on YouTube of old TV shows and music. I'm tired of seeing comments like, "This was back in the good old days when there were a bunch of n***ers and qu**rs on TV" or "This is what the J**s use to brainwash our children."

My reason for creating a retro blog was to give younger people information on music, movies and TV of the past. When I was younger, information on this stuff was hard to come by or in expensive books. Other adults were useless, because they wanted to get on a soapbox and lecture me about how I shouldn't be interested in pop culture. That is why I don't bash young people or Millennials. I've found, thanks to Tumblr, that Millennials are VERY interested in the older pop culture and how it connects to the current pop culture.

Now for some good news:

I'M ON TUMBLR: Tumblr is my new addiction. What I do over there is not earthshaking, I basically reblog pictures and add funny captions. If you like my sarcastic humor, then follow me on Tumblr.

CONSIDERING A DIFFERENT FORMAT TO THE PODCAST: I'm considering creating a podcast that is a discussion with a colleague/family member. We just need to right equipment.

GETTING READY FOR COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: My favorite time of the year. There have been several times I have had ideas for a post and then thought, "No, I'll save that for Countdown To Halloween."

Trust me, I have tons of stuff, I've been wanting to post, but haven't had the time. Hopefully, I can share some of the fun stuff from the past that is cluttering up my apartment right now.



 

Sunday, May 17, 2015

I DON'T WANT TO BE CLICKBAIT




I hate to give you two rants in a row, but this I've been needing to say this for awhile. I started the original Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks blog in 2007 and The New Adventures of Desdinova four years ago this month. Since that time, it has been an ongoing struggle to figure out how many people are reading the blogs and exactly what post they are reading.


I have used the Google Analytics, the Blogger stats and Feedjit. They give me some idea, although not a thorough picture of what is going on. I would like to know more about why and from where they are coming. Many times it may show the name of the search engine, but not if it is a link on another page.

There are times when I get sudden multiple hits on a post and I wonder if it is a link shared on another blog or social media. My fear is the my blog is being used in some way by a clickbait sight. Clickbait sights are the prostitutes of the Internet and spread their V.D on social media.

For those who don't know the terminology, clickbait is a sight used to drive Internet users to sight loaded with tones of streamed commercials and click though ads. Sometime these websites link to other websites or blogs in order to use there articles. Other times these clickbait sights create their own content. Usually, when they do create their own content, it is either some tabloid style garbage or badly researched articles masquerading as an informative article.

On the first account, the article is something trashing famous celebrity or the entertainment industry in general (i.e. "Can You Guess Which Movie Stars are Ugly and Smell Bad?") or it is something macabre or freaky (usually Victorian era postmortem photographs) or hokey stuff passed off as something "you just have to see" ("Watch this dog sing "Amazing Grace" the funeral of a soldier").

The other is either right-wing propaganda and misinformation or it misrepresents itself by being badly researched and full of errors. Now, I will add here that I do know of one sight that linked to me for an article on a classic motion picture. The author also credited my blog, so I guess there can be some good in these.

The trick with these is to force you to watch a commercial or by something. Many of these exist to infect your computer, phone or tablet with spyware. Bad part these are shared on Facebook or Pinterest over and over again.

Do me a favor, if you come across any of my articles linked on one of these sights, please e-mail me at d4windsbar@yahoo.com. I want to see if I can get it removed before I get a disease.



Wednesday, May 6, 2015

FOUR YEARS LATER I LAUNCH MY PODCAST

Today marked four years, since I changed to the retro blog format. While I miss some of the satirical commentary and mischief I created on the old blog, this retro blog has been more fun and less hassle in my personal and professional life.

One thing I have always wanted to try was a podcast, like the ones on other retro blogs like Retrospace.

It's a mix of retro hits you don't hear on commercial radio and some comedy bits and commercials from the past.

As a nod to the original Desdinova - Super Villain of the Ozarks blog, I introduce it as a megalomaniac, mad scientist/super-villain persona that I used when writing post on the old blog. It will be interesting to see how many of the KSGF crowd reports me to Springfield PD or the FCC.

This is just a test. Not sure how many of these I will do.

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK:

Sunday, January 18, 2015

I COULD HAVE BEEN CHARLIE


The horrible events in Paris last week and the upcoming eighth anniversary of the original Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks blog, made me ponder a serious question: Could an attack like the one at Charlie Hebdo happen here in the United States of America? Yes, as a matter of fact, it could have happened to me several times.

The original blog was a satirical jabs at what was going on in the news, with a few real news pieces hear and there. Much of the content was poking fun at the talk radio industry and a very popular talk radio show host here in Springfield, Missouri. At that time, poking fun at this guy was the equivalent of poking fun of the prophet Mohammed. His listeners were radical fanatics. Before I started the blog, I enraged his fans when the Springfield News Leader ran a article about his marathon broadcast during the ice storm with a photo of him, his wife and his dog. I posted a comment over on Ron Davis' Chatter blog about the photo, something like "Which one is his wife and which one is his dog?" I was the most hated man in Springfield, Missouri, because he supposedly cried about it on-air during his show. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Let me explain that the persona of Desdinova started because this talk radio show host would go on attack people on Chatter and the Missouri Radio Message Board. He would say crude and disrespectful things about TV news personalities and other radio stations. Needless to say, I never felt one bit of remorse poking fun at this guy and trying to knock him off of the pedestal he had place himself upon.   

Let me say this from experience, talk radio personalities are some of the scummiest people in the world. They are heartless, mean-spirited jerks. Like the playground bully, they will call you names, insult you, and want to fight you, but when you retaliate and get the best of them, they cry and whine like a infant with a wet diaper. They then start their, "They are out to get me" routine. This causes their nitwit fans to feel sorry for them and rally to show their support. This guy was a master at that game. He had his audience believing that not only was I a threat to his well-being, but his life was threatened by "devil worshipers" and "anti-war activist."

From the moment I began the blog, the fans of this talk show host were leaving hateful and threatening messages on the blog. Several called for my death. There were also several blogs that sprang up to champion this talk radio show host and slam me. These bloggers were claiming I was "unethical" and "cowardly" because I didn't have "my real name" or "home address" on my blog. Really? Put my name and home address on my blog, so every hot-headed psychopath in Springfield and the world could see it? I wasn't stupid. I was a student at SMSU during the Normal Heart uproar when students had their tires slashed on their cars and one student had his home burned to the ground. Springfield gets violent with people who have a different opinion than theirs, especially when there is a charismatic figure agitating them.

I should also bring up here that those nasty comments by this guy left on Chatter and Missouri Radio Message Board were usually under the name "The Talk Radio Guy." So, he used an alias too, but because I was making him look like the fool that he really was, he and his sycophantic followers portrayed me out to be the bad guy (or super-villain). He was trashing local media right and left once on one of these sight, when I asked him (not knowing who he was) "What do you like - that new guy on K*** named John Jacob Jinglehimerschmit?"  At the time I didn't know his name, only that he used his first and middle names. The news director at the radio station I worked at recognized this guy as a someone, who had been fired from a radio station in Jefferson City, where he had previously worked. There this radio host used his real name and, oddly enough, his real name sounded like Jinglehimerschmitt. This "Talk Radio Guy" informed me of the name of the host at our competing radio station and then said that "I should have more respect for a talented broadcaster and true conservative." Note this was after he had slammed some of my co-workers and several TV news people.

So I found a way to needle him, that used to cause him to lash out at me on these message boards. I would refer to him using his current on-air name, but between the middle and last name I would add 'John Jacob Jinglehimerschmitt' and several great vocalise song titles from the 50s and 60s, such as "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Do," "Rama Lama Ding Dong," "Papa Ooo-Mow-Mow" and others. I even added the 70s McDonald's Big Mac jingle to his name. He and his followers didn't like it, but everyone else thought it was funny.

Most of what I said was so harmless, so goofy and so outrageous, that I still can't believe anyone was upset about it. One thing that upset this talk radio host and his fans was jokes I made about "when I marry Paris Hilton." This guy had a deep and disturbing hatred for celebrities (which bothered me because I consider myself one), especially female celebrities...and especially Paris Hilton. I have been told by one person, who worked at that radio station, that this host would get violently angry when he read my blog. They knew I had mentioned Paris Hilton, because he would have a major meltdown in his office. He once screamed "HOW CAN HE SAY PARIS HILTON IS BETTER LOOKING THAN SARAH PALIN?," then he threw or kicked his waste basket across the room. To me, that sounds like someone with serious mental issues.

Most of the time what made this guy and his fans upset was basically that I made a snarky post that was the opposite of what he had said on his show that morning. Honestly, that was all I had to do to make people mad. If he said something like, "I think we should publicly execute anyone who drinks Diet Pepsi," I would say something on my blog like "When I the take over the world, I will force everyone to drink Diet Pepsi. If they resist, they WILL DIE! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" They next day, he would be on his radio show complaining that an anonymous blogger was a "threat to the him" and "the community at large" because of my "anti-American opinions" (a nervy accusation to make about me since he was a Canadian - BTW I have nothing against Canadians). All I did was reverse the crazy things he said.

As I mentioned before, the whole Desdinova persona was a combination of several pop culture villains. I thought everyone spent Saturday morning watching cartoon where a villain bragged about what he would do when he "ruled the world." Once I said in a post that "everyone will bow to me, Desdinova the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" One of this guys little minions posted on my blog, "I will not bow to you. I will only serve the Lord Jesus Christ." That made me fell like dirt. Also the fact this person didn't want me to rule the world hurt my self-esteem. 

I was not a listener to his show, but I knew what he did, because he would post clips from his show on his radio station's website. Also our boss forced our news director to tape his show and give a report on what topics were discussed on that his show. I recently found a file of these reports at work and found that our news director noted "He had a rant about the 'masked anonymous blogger' ridiculing him."

You would think people in the media industry would find this funny, since this guy like to attack them. The News Leader editorial board was against "anonymous bloggers" and one columnist especially didn't like me because they were a big fan of this talk radio show host (also I had made light of one of her columns about how she didn't like a local urban legend being turned into a horror film). Also a family member, who worked at the time for another radio station cluster in town, mentioned me for an open position and was told I was banned from working there, because they thought my satirical website poking fun of a rival radio station's personality was "unethical" and "unprofessional."

Even people I worked with didn't support me. Two salesmen at the radio station cluster I worked for had a big man crush on this host and his radio station. They kept telling me that I had "no right to make fun of him" and they were going to reveal my identity to him. With co-workers like that, who needs enemies.

I will say that I had more supporters among the local TV news people and some of the people who had to work at the radio station with this talk radio host. I've heard some scary story about this guy threatening people and trying to fight people. He almost punched a legendary broadcaster in this community, when he visited the radio station, because he thought this man was Desdinova (which was the subject of the cartoon above).  Also heard a funny story about how this guy sent around a memo at the radio station saying he didn't want "homosexuals using the same bathroom as him" after finding a pink toothbrush in the men's room.

This guy may have jumped the shark when he claimed the mayor and other Springfield official were covering up the fact that a gang of devil worshipers were living in tunnels under Park Central Square in Springfield. That was what was so great about the old blog, because as David Letterman would say, "The comedy just writes itself." I immediately began posting about "my secret laboratory and hideout below the city at 666 Park Central Square."

Do I still receive death threats today? No. I've not received a threatening message in several years. One reason is, of course, I started a new blog that focused on retro pop culture and abstained from too much satire of current events. Also, that talk radio show host is no longer on the air. When he was fired from the radio station he worked for, I was like David Frye when President Nixon resigned and LBJ died or Yakoff Schmirnoff when the Iron Curtain fell.

The bloggers that were against me all disappeared around the same time. I guess without a hero to stand up for, they decided there was no point in going on. They may have moved to Facebook, but  who would want to "friend" them. One blogger made one post about me and that was it. He was especially upset that I said I wanted to ban country music. I only found the blog after I Googled the name of the blog. One blogger once posted a picture of Stalin on his website and linked it to my blog.
 
I should also point out that some of the worst death threats I got had nothing to do with this talk radio show host. It was about the case in St. Louis where a mother created a My Space site to attack her daughter's classmate, causing the girl to commit suicide. After that I stopped allowing comments on my blog. After that, a talk radio show host who worked for my company wanted me to reopen the comments so he could "debate me on the issues." I said to him, "Why do you want to debate the opinions of a guy, who wears a mask and claims to live under the city square with an army of robots and a death ray?" I honestly don't think he understood how stupid he and those others looked taking me so serious. 

Through all of this craziness, I never did fear for my life, because very few people knew who Desdinova really was. A former classmate from Lebanon tried to out me on another website, but I had that removed (kind of nervy for a guy named Bubba).

My enemies might claim to be "Standing Up For What Is Right," but as the killers of the Charlie Hebdo staff found out, killing is always against the law. It is even wrong to kill the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!!Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!     


       


Thursday, December 4, 2014

M.I.A BECAUSE OF NaNoWriMo





You've probably been wonder why I haven't posted much. I was working on novel for the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It's a young adult novel with a satirical edge. I actually had started a novel about 15 years ago. That novel focused on a bullied teenager with a terminal illness in a small town in the 50s.


I have sadly lost interest in this story. Maybe it was because the story followed the main character from birth to his death at age 18 or the amount of research on the culture of the time frame of the storyline. As I researched the young adult novel market, I decided the world didn't need another young adult novel about a terminally ill young person.

Another thing that is overdone in YA literature is dystopias. Usually, these are to be allegories for junior high and high school with a kingdom, where "ugly" people must compete against "beautiful" people in an "athletic" competition.

My new attempt at a novel is a more realistic dystopia. If I was too describe it using a past pop culture reference, I would say Green Acres. It is about a hipster teenage boy, who is forced to move from a small town in California to a small town in Missouri when his grandparents get sick. The boy becomes the most hated person in town after he e-mails the president about a bill sponsored by the local congressman, Earl Bob Porcine, that would allow schools not to admit students not born in the school district. The kid closes the e-mail by pointing out to the president that the name Porcine is the word for swine and that Congressman Porcine looks like a pig. The president mention the joke in a press conference. Turns out just about everyone in town is related to Congressman Porcine.

I plan to satirize small town and Missouri politics, as well as, hipsters and high school. I did some quick research on being a hipster and found out (Wait for it) I was a hipster before anybody else was. Since this takes place in modern times, I won't have to do a lot of research.

I didn't get very far in the contest, as I write on paper before transferring to computer. Also got hit with a ton of responsibilities from work. I intend to finish this one. Wish me luck!    

Thursday, January 16, 2014

DESDINOVA'S BIG MOVE

For those of you wondering about the lack of post on this blog, I will give you (grainy smart phone) photographic proof of my activities. I moved to a different apartment. Some of you may remember that on the old blog I sometimes gave my address as 666 Park Central Square in Springfield, Missouri. That was a joke aimed at a local talk radio host and part of a persona I created as a evil super-villain/mad scientist bent on taking over the country.

Truth is I had lived in a third floor apartment since 2002. Sadly, my health has declined to a point I cannot climb three flights of stairs like I once did. Part of that was due to a fall on ice on the sidewalk at my apartment complex four years ago. I fell again before Christmas. Maybe fearing a lawsuit, they decided I could move to a ground floor apartment. Now comes the job of unpacking everything. Here is what I have ahead of me.
Notice the Phantom of the Opera still I posted Halloween

A reprint of a poster for the Superman serial

Velvet Underground's Loaded has been my moving soundtrack


CDs, their shelves and some Christmas candy

While I'm at it, I want to give a shout out to My Movers Moving and Storage and the U.S. Post Office.

My Movers moved my huge collection of CD, DVDs, VHS tapes and books along with my furniture with out any trouble. The movers dismantled my futon to remove it from my old apartment and took the time to reassembled it in the new apartment. I won't go into details but they are very honest in their pricing.

Do not let certain people out there tell you that the United States Post Office is inefficient and useless. I filled out a change of address on December 31 and they had already starting forwarding my mail to my new apartment on January 2nd. Remember how UPS and Fed-Ex screwed up during Christmas?

  

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

SIDETRACKED, OVERWORKED AND OTHER EXCUSES

My post have been sporadic of late. Three reasons:
  1. I have been working a double shift at my job. An employee quit while filling in for another employee, who was on a two week vacation. I had to work both shifts.
  2. I've thought of a few good ideas, but realized they would be better for next month. I plan to participate in the annual Countdown to Halloween.
  3. One idea I have was kind of wimpy at best but sidetracked me into something else. I may still use it, but it fired my imagination. The topic would be "media/celebrity satires of the 50s." Yeah, you have no idea what I'm talking about. It would mention several movies and plays made from the mid-50 to early 60s that were comical satires or vaguely dramas about well-known figures or fads of the day. Some of the more famous topics included Walter Winchell (Sweet Smell of Success), Arthur Godfrey (A Face In The Crowd), Hopalong Cassidy (Callaway Went That Away, Slim Carter), Elvis Presley (Espresso Bongo, Bye Bye Birdie), Peyton Place (Please Turn Over) and fan magazines (Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?). I have been working on a novel that was about working in talk radio (against my will, I should add) that is sort of a combination of Sweet Smell of Success and A Face In The Crowd with a dash of the 90's film Falling Down. A very dark and ugly story that included two characters modeled off two local talk radio icons and a female character modeled off two national female talk radio host. Granted, two of the local talk show host have wanted me dead for years, but the female character would be a problem, because people might question if it was a local personality. The female character is a snippy, self-righteous radio psychologist, who off-air is a dominatrix, exhibitionist and into corprophilia and urophilia (panty pooper/panty wetter). This last one is based on a story that has been circulating the Internet about a 70s radio talk show host (And like this person, the character in my novel was a former beauty queen). I incorporated this into the story because it is also sort of symbolic of what the radio industry does to it's best talent. It is also a fetish that people would understand, especially if they have changed a child's diapers. The novel began with the man character, a disgruntled radio producer, walks off the job after putting a CD of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears on the air to run over Rush Limbaugh's show. He then causes a near riot in a fast food joint, when he swipes the revolver of a rather obnoxious advertiser/frequent caller, pistol whips him and encourages the patrons, over the loud speaker, to beat take turns assaulting the guy.    While researching this post for the blog, I thought of a better safer idea. Instead of local personalities, who might sue or have me investigated by the FBI, I decided on satirizing a national talk radio figure and several other national celebrities and politicians. This idea just took off and, I will have to say, has been easier to write because of it's lighthearted nature.
 I realize these are probably not very good excuses or reasons, but I thought I should explain a little bit about what is going on. 

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I WAS KICKED OUT OF THE AMAZON ASSOCIATES PROGRAM (Because I'm from Missouri)

This is going to be an odd post. This may dip into the nasty political waters of the old blog, but I hope to steer clear of that mess.

I received an e-mail from Amazon.com yesterday. Here is what it said:

"Greetings from the Amazon Associates Program.

We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective August 27, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Missouri state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Nixon on July 5, 2013, with an effective date of August 28, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after August 27 nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Missouri residents.

Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to August 28, 2013 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with your regular advertising fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of August 27, 2013, any final payments will be paid by October 31, 2013.

While we oppose this unconstitutional state legislation, we strongly support the federal Marketplace Fairness Act now pending before Congress. Congressional legislation is the only way to create a simplified, constitutional framework to resolve interstate sales tax issues and it would allow us to re-open our Associates program to Missouri residents.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and look forward to re-opening our program when Congress passes the Marketplace Fairness Act.


Sincerely,

The Amazon Associates Team"

Am I upset about this? No. Why? Let me explain:

I understand the reasoning behind the legislation. I usually think everything the Missouri Legislature does is stupid, however, this is something I agree with.

If Missouri is the only state that is now requiring state sales tax on on-line sales, why ban everyone from Missouri from the Amazon Associates sales program? Childish if you ask me.

The main reason this doesn't upset me...I HAVEN'T SOLD A DAMN THING SINCE I HAVE BEEN WITH THE AMAZON ASSOCIATES PROGRAM. I started using the program with this blog because of the nature of the content. I thought it would be a great way to direct people to find songs to download or DVDs of movies and TV shows. I was especially impressed by the MP3 download widget. I loaded it with the more obscure songs mentioned here.

Nobody downloaded a song or bought a DVD. According to my stats, only 40 percent of refereals came from my sight.

I also had trouble with some of the linking and codes. They caused problems with the post structure and became time consuming. I tried to contact Amazon about this, but I couldn't find a direct way to talk to a tech person. The only resource was to "post on a message board," which for some reason wouldn't allow me to register even though I was an associated.

Another widget was supposed to update automatically with offers on merchandise related to the post on the blog. This widget didn't update very often. At first I was okay with it, because it showed some 80s hit compilations. After I had a post where I said The Man From UNCLE was cooler than 24, it showed Man from UNCLE and 24 DVDs. That was okay. Since January, when I posted an obit for actor Conrad Bain, it has showed nothing but Conrad Bain related merchandise. Not items people are clamoring to buy.

So, Amazon Associates, I'm not going to miss you, because you really haven't done anything for me. To quote the Boyce and Hart song "You can't lose a friend you never had."  

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

LOOSE ENDS FROM PAST POST

I've debated just updating some of my post which I left something out of or create a new post. Since I haven't created many original post lately, I decide on a special "loose ends post."

Earlier this year I gave you a post entitled "People Guilty of Interrupting TV Shows," a look at some of the actors and actresses who portrayed famous advertising characters. I realized early on that I left off a few and the names of the people who created the role. Part of the problem was with Bloggers ability to load multiple photos on a post. I got very frustrated with that post, so once I got it half way decent looking, I gave up, but chose to make a separate post with the actual names of the people who portrayed these iconic characters.

"I'm so lonely."



"Time...to...make...the donuts."



Two people I left off were actors Jesse White (top), who was the first Maytag Repairman, and Michael Vale (bottom), who played the Dunkin Donuts maker.

Then there was "Disco Shock or I Can't Believe They Made a Disco Record." This was a list of artist that nobody thought would make a record that was even close to being disco, but they did. After it was completed, local KTXR radio personality Wayne Glenn ("The Old Record Collector") mentioned Frankie Avalon recorded a "disco" version of his 50s hit "Venus." I also discovered this week that the late Richie Havens recorded a disco song in 1980 called "Going Back To My Roots."

 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A OLD LADY

With the passing of Jonathan Winters, I thought of something he said in an interview in the PBS documentary Make Me Laugh. He was talking about the character of Maude Frickert (above). He mentioned that when he was dressed as Maude Frickert, he could get away with saying just about anything.


Also in the documentary, Whoopie Goldberg discusses how she was doing an imitation of African-American comedian Moms Mabley (above) on Saturday Night Live and one of the jokes was cut from the show by Standards and Practices as being obscene, even though she had remembered Mabley doing the same joke on The Flip Wilson Show in the early 70s. Both Winters and Goldberg attributed this to the fact that Maude Frickert and Moms Mabely were perceived "harmless" old ladies.

Hind sight 20/20, if I had known that back when I started the original blog, I would not have chosen the persona of a comic book/movie serial, megalomaniac super-villain (with a crush of Paris Hilton) to do my controversial blogging on current topics. Ozarkers for some reason feared Desdinova, as if there really was a megalomaniac plotting to take over America from his hide out under Park Central Square. I have been told that some people actually called Springfield Police to ask why they hadn't attempted to arrest me before I banned talk radio with the aid of my giant robot and my raygun that turned people "gay."
 
Instead I should have been an old lady with salty opinions on current events and local media personalities. I probably could have named her after my own grandma and called her Grandma Jones (Because there are probably millions of Grandma Jones in the world). To add to what Jonathan Winters and Whoopie Goldberg theorized about Maude Frickert and Moms Mabley, Ozarkers tend to worship old people and believe they are smarter than most highly educated people. So I could have got away with saying things like, "My third husband used to spout off crazy opinions like KSGF's Vincent David Jericho, but I found the perfect thing to stop that - I gave him poison" or "That Billy Long is such a big ignoramus. Someone ought to rip his Fruit of the Looms off, while he is STILL WEARING THEM!" or "Did you ever notice the people who hate rap and hip hop are the same morons who like Hank Williams Jr and that Chicken Fried song" or "I don't know why folks around here don't like Honey Boo Boo, she got those cute little dimples. They tell me they prefer to watch Duck Dynasty. I'll be those stupid guys on that show are covered in tick and chiggers."

People would have just said "That old lady is funny. We ought to have her over for dinner Sunday after church."

Then again, my opinions are why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  

Saturday, April 6, 2013

TO BE LEGITIMATE

I should have done this a long time ago during the heyday of the original blog, but I didn't think it would be important (I really never think anything is important in the grand scheme of the universe).

I have created a Mission Statement and Rules for Comments on my blog. I've been disgusted by comments I have seen left on You Tube and the local media Facebook sites as well as their public forums.

I wanted to also put down in writing what I want people to take away from this site and what I didn't want on it. I wanted to teach people to respect and enjoy pop culture as I do.

For the average person, who finds this site through Google, Yahoo or another search engine, this will not be a major concern. However, there are still flames of animosity smoldering from the days of the old blog here in Springfield (and Lebanon too), MO. There are also people in both communities who feel they should be able to use every forum on the Web to expose their obnoxious opinions. These people don't see this as a fun blog, but a threat to "the quality of life in the Ozarks" or "American family values." These people can post their hate, bigotry and hate speech on other forums here in the Ozarks all they want, but not here. I will keep their opinions off. That goes for people who hang around other websites like You Tube posting the same kind of garbage.

This is not to discourage posting but to cover myself in case any of our local activist type want to take me to court for hindering their free speech.

Of course, doing something, like this, is why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Friday, January 25, 2013

OZARKERS HAVE PUT UP WITH ME FOR 6 YEARS NOW

Yes, it has been six years since started the old blog. We were suffering through an ice storm at the time. I commented on current events in my own satirical manner. After all, I grew up watching people like Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Mark Russell, The Smothers Brothers and the various stars of Laugh-In and  Saturday Night Live make jokes about current events, why couldn't I. I also created a persona of a crazy mad scientist/super-villain. I used every cliched phrase used by super-villains and mad scientist in comic books, movie serials and Saturday morning cartoons. I thought it was funny. Apparently, most Ozarkers didn't watch the same cartoons I did. THEY REALLY BELIEVED I WAS SOME SORT OF TERRORIST PLANING TO TAKE OVER THE COUNTRY!

One of the reasons I stopped allowing comments on the old blog was because of the stupid comments from people who obviously didn't get the joke. The bad part is that many of these people would leave their full names. I really didn't want them to be embarrassed. I would say something like "Soon I make myself emperor of America! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The next day someone would leave a long explanation of why the Constitution wouldn't allow me to be the emperor. Once I said I was going to "Rule the world" and that "every knee will bow to Desdinova!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The next day I had at least two different post from people saying, "I will only bow to the Lord Jesus Christ." That made me feel like dirt. Another post from a guy named Carl said, "As long as I got me a gun I won't be bowing to you. Stupid Lefty!" Comments like these were very bad for my self esteem.

There was also a person at my work, who asked if I could go back to allowing comments, so he could debate me. I said no, "Do you really think it is going to make you look intelligent debating a guy, who calls himself a super-villain and mad scientist, claims to live under Park Central Square and claims to have a giant robot and a death ray?" It made this guy mad, BUT HONESTLY!


The funny thing is, THE SECOND POST I MADE EXPLAINED THE CONCEPT TO PEOPLE!!! Here is what I posted:
"Maybe I should have posted this first. I feel that in this day of silly disclaimers ('Please do not put child in dish washer' or 'Toilet seat should not be used as a flotation device') I should have one too. There are some very litigious individuals out in our world.I am not a real super-villain. I don’t really have a death ray or the ability to throw balls of lightning. I’m not trying to take over the world and enslave people. So don't report me to Homeland Security or Springfield PD. You'd end up looking like an idiot.

I’m just a regular guy with an off beat sense of humor, off beat taste in music and (according to some) off beat political views. I’m really a nice guy if you know me. Very little of what you should read here should be taken seriously. I just like to make jokes about things going on and the folly of others. It is like Oscar Wilde said, "Life is too important to be taken seriously." Ozarks tend to be upset about the wrong things. A few years back a Southern Baptist minister came to the community I grew up. He worked to get the local cable company to drop MTV, tried to get the local newspaper cartoonist fired over a cartoon showing the Southern Baptist lynching Mickey Mouse, and trying to keep grocery stores and restaurants from selling liquor. While all of this was going on there were several unsolved murders, spouse and child abuse increased, hate groups and meth dealers moved in. Eventually people woke up and said, "What happened to our community?" Well, they ignored the real problems while getting upset about things that really didn’t matter.
Getting mad at me won’t do any good. Making a fuss over something I said would be silly, because I’m just being silly myself. Just relax, read and enjoy.
As Red Skelton used to say, "It’s a lot of fun to try and make people laugh because regardless of what your heartache might have been, while laughing for a few seconds you have forgotten about it. I personally believe that each and every one of us put here for a purpose and that is to build and not to destroy. And if by chance someday you’re not feeling well, you should remember some silly little thing that I’ve said or done and it brings back a smile to your face and a chuckle to your heart, then my purpose as your clown has been fulfilled." (Aren't you glad I didn't quote that highly overrated record he made about the Pledge of Allegiance)." 

WHAT PART OF THAT DID OZARKERS NOT UNDERSTAND??? I have it on good authority that several people called Springfield PD and ask why they were not conducting an investigation into who I was. In another instance, a frantic woman called Springfield PD after reading this post and asked if they were "going to stop Desdinova's robot from stomping on her house." Instead of calling the police, she should have celebrated Kwanzaa (BTW-The robot in the picture is only 6 inches tall. I gave it to my 2 year old great-nephew. He calls it a wo-bot).

You see, my anonymity was a major issue with my critics. I'm not sure what the big deal was. Now that I'm a retro blogger, it is not an issue, because most retro bloggers don't use their real name. I will admit much of the controversy surrounding the old blog came from my making fun of and criticizing talk radio. Especially one former talk radio show host here in Springfield, MO. He made an issue of my existence on his radio show. He also had several fans who started blogs and THEY ALL HATED ME! I even had some co-workers, who liked that guy so much they wanted me fired because I made fun of him. Once he was fired from his job, the old blog was kind of like David Frye after President Nixon resigned or Yakov Smirnoff after the end of Communism. Soon those other blogs disappeared as well. After the demise of the Blog Net News, I had a hard time finding topics. There were a few blogs on that site that I poked fun at calling them "weenie blogs," because they were mainly conservative or libertarian bloggers who seemed to be whining and crying after the 2008 presidential election (Although "weenie" came from the cartoon I posted on the original post - a double entendre).
    
The old blog proved one thing to me: OZARKERS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE OF HUMOR! Besides the people who I were told called the Springfield police about me, you wouldn't believe some of the dumb reactions from the "weenie blogs" over some of my post. One person started a blog a week after mine. This person was upset because in my profile I said that I wanted to "outlaw talk radio and country music." Whoever this would be blogger was only had about three post after that and never posted again. I think most extreme was a blogger here is Springfield, who was so upset that I said Paris Hilton was better looking than Sarah Pailin, that they wrote a post condemning me for that remark that, when I printed it off of my computer, was 30 pages long. GET A LIFE, BUSTER!!! If find it interesting that these bloggers, who hated me so bad that they called me "hateful,""traitor," "unpleasant" and "coward" cannot be found anymore. Most of their "weenie blogs" are gone. Oh, and who can forget the obsessive Dark Knight fan, who said I was "suffering from being a douchebag." 

I'm actually glad I switched to being a retro blog. I don't feel rushed to comment on anything and I get to take time to post about things I want to post about. Feedback can be slow coming, but this time the feedback has been all positive. No death threats.

Even though I stopped updating the old blog on a regular basis, I have left it up for all to see, with the exception of a few post that I removed because they were irrelevant. Last year, I received some positive feedback on something I posted on the old blog in September of 2009. I'm always amazed a how some post are up for along time before I get a response. I was contacted through my Facebook site about a post entitled "THE LEGEND OF SHEBA THE BELLY DANCER." This unusual and rather sad story from Springfield, Missouri's history would make one Hell of a movie. I was contacted by the daughter of "Sheba the Belly Dancer" (That was her stage name. I chose to respect the family's privacy and not mention her real name). She was small when the events took place and didn't understand what exactly happened that lead to her mother's death. She praised my post for filling in the details. She thanked me for showing interest in her mother's story. I guess the original blog served a good purpose even though most of Springfield and the Ozarks hated it.

And that is why I'm still the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

BTW: More people have found the original blog just searching for the "ugly hillbilly boys" photo than they have searching for a particular topic. So why not put it on this blog.
    

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

THE 20 MOST POPULAR POST OF 2012

Most Popular Post of 2012 (According to Google Analytics)

1. Looking Back on Five Years of Blogging
2. Who Really Killed Jazz-Rock? Not President Nixon.
3. Desdinova's List of TV's Greatest Westerns
4. Best of Desdinova: Desdinova Presents 50's Teenage Rebel Theater
5. Happy Father's Day
6. Levon Helm Loses Battle With Cancer
7. Dark Shadow's Jonnathan Frid obit (Note: This was originally a post entitled "What's the Deal With   Barnabas Collins Hair?," but he died before I got it completed)
8. Robert Hedges of Welcome Back Kotter Dies (Obit link)
9. Best of Desdinova: The Mod Squad was Cooler than 21 Jump Street
10. Guitar amplifier pioneer Jim Marshall dies (Obit link)
11. The Stuff Narrators Say
12. Bob Welch dies (Obit link)
13. Happy New Year 2012 (Note: This is just a clip art image. Nothing profound from Wonderful Cool Me)
14. Two Prohibition Gangster Shows of the 50s
15. Why I Prefer Christopher Lee's Dracula Over Lugosi's Dracula
16. Don Grady dies (Obit link)
17. I Didn't Realize How Cool Ark 2 Was Until Now
18. My Obligatory "Whitney Houston Died" Post
19. I Am Not Ashamed part 3
20. Desdinova's Top Five Western Parodies

Here are 15 personal favorites that you missed.
1. What Happened To Poking Fun at Squares?
2. Facsimiles and Copy Cats
3. Reinventing Light Adult Contemporary Radio
4. I Wanted To Be The Next Dick Clark
5. Cool TV Show Opening - The Name of the Game
6. Twilight: Ozarks Style
7. The Man From U.N.C.L.E Was Cooler Than 24
8. A Touch of Grey Kind of Suits You Anyway
9. The Most Underrated Horror Film of the 70s - Messiah of Evil
10. Could Pat Paulsen & Lord Sutch Be Elected in 2012?
11. Best of Desdinova: Springfield Had Its Own Batman & Robin
12. My 3rd Grade Report on Dracula That Never Happened
13. Facebook "Cut-and-Paste" Poster Is Wrong
14. Why Being a Monster Kid In the Ozarks Is Hell
15. Why Did We Wear Song Titles In Rainbow Glitter On Our T-Shirts in the 70s?

BTW: How do you like the new header photo (Click the photo above to see a large, full version)?

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

WHY NO COUNDOWN TO CHRISTMAS POST? (Good Question)

I should address this before it turns into something ugly. Someone will probably ask why I haven't participated in a Countdown To Christmas, like I always do with Countdown To Halloween. I'm sure someone will say it has something to do the "War on Christmas" and that I'm really in league with Satan.

Last year, I made several Christmas post on a daily basis, much like I did with Countdown to Halloween. This year, I believe I have only one Christmas related post so far.  Do I have reasons for there not being any Countdown to Christmas post? Yes.
  1. Lack of time - I'm busy at work (even though I still consider myself "on the beach")
  2. I'm a guy - We procrastinate on Christmas things. Women put up their Christmas trees in November and have Christmas shopping done in August. Guys really don't decorate for Christmas and we usually get our Christmas shopping done at 11:30 p.m on December 24th.
  3. Not as much variety with Christmas as with Halloween. I still have ideas for Halloween post, but unfortunately that holiday has come and gone. As I have mentioned before, most of the Christmas music is the same song over and over. I posted several cartoons and movie trailers last year and they are luckily still here (You Tube never yanked these). You can go back and enjoy them again.
  4. The Countdown to Halloween is a coordinated effort with a blog site. I thought there was a Countdown to Christmas blog last year. I couldn't find one, but noticed several links to a Countdown to Christmas on Pinnerst. If there was a Countdown To Christmas blog last year, it was probably started by a craft blogger and may have been moved to Pinnerst. 
 Don't worry if I find anything Christmas oriented from the past few decades, I will post it.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

WHY I STOPPED TALKING ABOUT POLITICS AND CURRENT NEWS

Someone sent me an e-mail asking why I wasn't posting anything about politics. Andy Cline of Rhetorica once said I wrote some of the best satire of anyone. He was one of the few who liked it.
Not only were there many people in the Ozarks who didn't like it. I received many death threats, mainly from an idiot at Mansfield, Mo. The main problem was some people in the local media, including co-workers, who didn't like it. They felt I made fun of the wrong people or things. I've been told I've been blacklisted by at least one of the radio clusters here in Springfield (Clear Channel). The co-workers who didn't like my opinions went to management and tried to get me fired.
I should note that I'm not angry about the state of the country like I was when I first started the old blog, however, I am not happy with the state of the Ozarks. I may never be. I've hated the Ozarks since I was in elementary school.
I have figured out that nothing makes Ozarkers more upset than someone having fun, being entertained and not griping about politics. So that is what I am doing with my current blog. I'm entertaining people.  I'm much happier and I'm having fun. The response is much slower but has always been very positive. That is what I like.

Monday, October 1, 2012

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN 2012


It is time once again for the Countdown to Halloween and I will be participating again this year. I'm participating in Countdown To Halloween for these reasons:
  1. I had fun doing it last year.
  2. It will be more enjoyable to read than my opinions on the upcoming election and not get me blacklisted (still looking for a new job).
  3. It will upset Ozarkers. Maybe someone will mention my blog in one of those anti-Halloween articles or Letters to the Editor that the Springfield News Leader and other local newspapers run at this time of year.
Let's get the Jack O'Lantern rolling.
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