Showing posts with label Springfield Mo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Springfield Mo. Show all posts

Sunday, February 5, 2017

DESDINOVA'S PODCAST - PSYCHEDELIC LIMITS - THE SPIRO AGNEW EDITION


Here is a new Psychedelic Limits podcast from your favorite subversive snowflake and nattering, nabob of negativity. I'm poking fun at the time a president and vice-president tried to ban certain rock songs.



Thursday, December 24, 2015

CHRISTMAS CAROL GIVEAWAY BOOK FROM THE 50S

This a book of Christmas carol that was given away for free by businesses in the 50s. This one is from Wickham Gardens in Springfield, Missouri. I obtained it at a garage sale this summer. These are mostly  familiar religious Christmas songs with three older secular Christmas songs.  Each song features a history of the song at the bottom of the page.




Two songs I am unfamiliar with, one is sacred, entitled "Angels From the Realms of Glory," and the other is called "The Boar's Head Carol."

 





Wednesday, December 16, 2015

CHRISTMAS IN THE OZARKS IS NEVER FUN

Dear Santa: Can I have her under my tree?

I know, I know. You are going to say, "Here we go again! Another blog post from Desdinova about how living in the Ozarks is horrible." Folks, I only want what is best for the kids, because I didn't have much fun as a kid.

Some of you may remember a post from last year about some people who complained on a local TV stations Facebook and website about how the girls in one of the high school's marching bands were dressed. They were wearing "Santa's Little Helper" outfits, like the lovely lady above is wearing. The more I think about it, the more I got to thinking about how we don't do Christmas right in the Ozarks. It isn't fun. I'll give reasons it is not fun later in the post (For one thing not enough sex & nudity, but that is for Christmas as a holiday in general).

First, I'll give an example from my childhood of this very problem. When I was a child, in the late 70s & early 80s, my sister lived in western Oklahoma. She and her husband owned two shoes stores. We would visit them on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The day after Thanksgiving, we would go to the stores in those towns for their big "Kick Off To Christmas" sales. This was before that day had been dubbed "Black Friday" by the world at large.

Remember in the movie Christmas Story how the department store and town was decorated? That was what these stores were like. An overabundance of lights, holly, ribbons and shiny silver stuff. There was also a Santa Claus in EVERY store, not just one store. Some stores had both Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. We even went to one store that had a rather buxom woman dressed as Santa with a beard. My theory is the guy who was supposed to be Santa called in sick that day and the stores owner said "Quick, Paula, put on the Santa outfit! Let's hope the kids don't notice your boobs."

I wasn't just a simple, but flashy visit to Santa Claus. THEY GAVE AWAY STUFF! Christmas coloring books, chocolate Santa Claus, marshmallow snowmen, Christmas comic books, candy canes (which I don't like), Rudolph clickers, giant jingle bells, Christmas cookies and gingerbread men were given away at the various stores.

After that, I had to come home to Lebanon, where there were some decorations on the street lights and in some store windows. There may have been a Santa at Kmart and Wal-Mart, but nowhere else.  Frankly, there wasn't much to excite a kid about Christmas in Lebanon.

Found this on Tumblr. A Christmas ad for a store in Lebanon, MO.

I should add that it wasn't always that way. When I was a small child, one of the banks had an animated display with elves making toys and a snowman that would melt and then pop back up. Another store had a teddy bear in a sled that went back and forth in the store window. Then in the mid-70s, they stop putting these animated scenes in the windows. Supposedly, they broke down and were too expensive to fix... or so they said. Probably, some cranky, redneck parent didn't like that their kids want to go look at these displays every time that came to town, went to city council and asked that there be an ordinance against Christmas being fun in Lebanon.

At the place my father worked, they had a lighted Nativity scene in the window of the lobby, that you could see from the street. They quit putting the nativity scene up because of complaints. Now, before the soldiers in the "war on Christmas" start loading their guns, let me explain that the reason some old people (a group of veterans, I believe) in town said they were frightened by the three wise men because they "looked Arab."  At least, they replaced the Nativity scene with cool Willie Wirehand statue in a Santa Claus hat.

There was also a huge wooden Nativity scene along I-44 in Lebanon. The last few times that I remember it being erected, the wind blew part of it over and it wasn't taken down until about June. Supposedly, it was "too much trouble to maintain." When I hear people say things like this, I realize that this is where cartoonist got the stereotype of Ozarkers being shoeless guys with Duck Dynasty beards, laying on a hillside, sleeping next to a big jug of moonshine. 

I will say that Lebanon STILL has one of the biggest and best Christmas parades in the area, second or maybe tied with Branson's nighttime, lighted Christmas parade. So I'm not totally saying Lebanon or other communities don't do anything fun at Christmas, but they just don't seem to make it fun for kids.    

Every time I bring this up, someone says "We don't do that stuff any more." Yet when you bring up something that needs to be changed in the Ozarks, people will get defensive and say "We've always done things that way and we will continue to do it that way." So what is the difference. Simple, what I'm talking about appeals to children's joy and happiness. I've pointed out this out before, but in Ozarks children are fourth class citizens behind senior citizens, middle-aged adults and pets/livestock.

A good example of this mentality is the women, who were complaining about band girls wearing "Santa's little helper outfits," complained when another TV station's Facebook site listed a schedule for the children's Christmas specials, that we all grew up loving (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown & the Grinch), were going to be on.

One year there was a group of protesters at the Battlefield Mall, wearing t-shirts with a red slash across a picture of Santa Claus. Personally, I think there is no lower form of life on this planet than a person who hates Santa Claus.

These people are taking the fun out of Christmas by turning it into some right-wing-talk-radio-political-crusade. This people would deny your child the enjoyment of Rudolph or Charlie Brown, just so they can please Bill O'Reilly or Glen Beck. I'm sure they would rather their children watch Bill O'Reilly or Glen Beck than Rudolph or Charlie Brown, because Ozarkers believe you shouldn't let childhood innocence get in the way of their right-wing agenda.

As for the decorations, fix them or buy new ones. How hard is that problem to solve? Put out some effort to make Christmas time special for future customers. Many of the business that were in Lebanon, when I was a child, no longer exist. Perhaps if they had put out some of the effort, like the stores in Oklahoma did, they would still be around. Who knows.

Here is an idea. Let's have fun and joy this Christmas, whether it is with we visit a department store Santa, make a Styrofoam snowman, bake gingerbread men, read The Night Before Christmas, buy toys for needy children, buy lots of toys for your own children, cruise the suburbs looking at the lights on houses, put up light on your own house, watch Christmas cartoons and movies (I have to watch Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and the MST3K episode with the 1950s Mexican film Santa Claus every year), listen to Christmas record (download my Christmas music podcast), or watch girls in "Santa's Little Helper" outfits dance. The point is have fun and be nice to your fellow human beings.

Of course, my opinions are why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

         

Saturday, June 20, 2015

R. I. P ALAN ALMOND - MYSTERIOUS HOST OF RADIO'S PILLOW TALK

For a brief time, Pillow Talk with Alan Almond aired in Springfield, Missouri, on a radio station where I worked. At the time, I was lead to believe, by some, that worked with me, at the radio station, that I was the only person in the world that liked this show. However, if you was to do a search on the Internet on Alan Almond, you would find he was a legend in Detroit radio. Of course, I would always get the old saw about how "Ozarkers don't like it," so, of course, it has to be banned from the air waves.

Alan Almond died this week at age 67. You notice that there is no photo of Alan Almond at the top of this post. That is because there isn't a known photo of Alan Almond. The radio station he worked for, WNIC in Detroit, and the syndication company that produced Pillow Talk, never sent a photo of Alan. Just a silhouette, similar to those used on Facebook, when someone doesn't upload a profile photo.

Almond originated the "love song" show in the late 70s on WNIC in Detroit. He talked about it in an article on the Jacobs Media blog earlier this year. Many major and small markets heard about the show's success and created their own version. However, in the late 90s, a major radio syndication company began distributing a "love songs" show from Seattle, hosted by an annoying, sappy, preachy woman with the same name as a hair-cutting, Biblical siren. This woman took calls from people with elaborate sob stories and she played sappy, sentimental songs for them, while telling listeners not to drink soda or not to let your kids play with video games.

I bring this show up (without giving the name) because, when I first went to work for that radio station in Springfield, Missouri, they were the affiliate for the radio show hosted by the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. The syndication company was bought out by a large radio corporation (their initials were C-C), they immediately decided that since they owned a radio station in Springfield, their radio station should air that show. They fired a woman, who hosted a local "love songs" show and took the show, hosted by the woman with the same name as a hair-cutting, Biblical siren, away from the radio station where I worked. Personally, I didn't cry over not having to hear the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. We replaced her with Pillow Talk with Alan Almond.

Supposedly, everyone in Springfield hated Alan Almond. I don't believe that, because I spoke to some people, who preferred Alan Almond to that woman who has the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. One thing I should point out is that men said they liked Alan Almond better than the woman with the same name as the hair-cutting, Biblical siren. I noticed the co-workers that hated the show were older people. Go figure. Of course, Ozarkers like preachy stuff.

This is why I was surprised that several of my co-workers alerted me to the death of Alan Almond earlier this week. Then again, these were real on-air radio people. They understood what made Alan Almond great. He created a magic world that he transported you to where wishes came true and love was the most important thing one could possess. He always talked about embracing your inner child, which maybe why Ozarkers hated him (Ozarkers hate kids). Also, Alan Almond didn't played what was know in radio at the time as "quiet storm music" or light R & B, another no-no in the Ozarks.

How better to pay tribute one of radio's greatest voices than with two of his most famous "bits." The "Make a Wish" segment and his closing with "Summer Madness" by Kool & the Gang playing in the background. On the syndicated show, he would use a line borrowed from Red Skelton, "If you remember something I said and it makes you smile, then our time together was well spent. Sweet dreams angel."


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!!!     


       


Sunday, October 5, 2014

TERROR CASTLE AT THE STUDIO


In the good old days of the old Desdinova blog, I used to post the ads for The Studio that appeared in the Springfield Daily News. The Studio was Springfield's adult movie theater. According to this ad, tit was located at 3833 S. Campbell. Here is an ad for a "horror" film called TERROR CASTLE. The actual title is TERROR AT ORGY CASTLE. You can find a short clip of this film on You Tube, and the whole thing is available on DVD from Something Weird video.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

FORMER OZARKS JUBILEE USA & JAZZ MUSICIAN CHARLIE HADEN DEAD

This is from KYTV's website. It features a story KYTV's Steve Grant did about Charlie Haden in 2010.

TRIVIA FACT: Charlie Haden was the father-in-law of actor Jack Black.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

I HAD AN ODD CONVERSATION ABOUT ELI WALLACH ONCE

Eli Wallach as Tuco in The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Actor Eli Wallach died at age 98. He was in two of my favorite Westerns, The Magnificent Seven and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as well as an appearance on Batman as Mr. Freeze.

His death reminded me of a somewhat odd conversation about Wallach with legendary Springfield journalist/blogger Ron Davis at a going away party for Tony Messenger, when he was leaving The Springfield News Leader to go to The St. Louis Post Dispatch. Ron mentioned that Wallach had once shared a slow dance with Marilyn Monroe and how we, as journalist, would like to ask him what it was like to dance with Marilyn.

How did we get off on that subject? Ron brought up Wallach because of a strange incident that involved Tony Messenger from about a week or so earlier. It happened at what was supposed to be a panel discussion on immigration.  One of the participants on the panel besides Tony was a local talk radio show host with a huge cult following, even though this host had the mental stability of the proverbial outhouse rat. This guy is the reason I started the old blog. This guy had gotten into some battles with me on Ron's Chatter blog and Missouri Radio Message Board. I decided to start my own blog, so I could fully poke fun at this guy and make satirical comments on other news topics of the day. A person, who worked in the news department at the radio station that carried his show, told me that when he would read my blog he would fly into a mad fit cussing and throwing things. That makes me proud to find out i had that effect on him.
 
Franco Nero in Django

Back to the story. This host had showed up at this panel discussion dressed like Franco Nero in the movie Django. He ranted, raved and accused a local group that helps Mexican immigrants in the area of sneaking Al Qaeda terrorist into the country and changing their names to "Juan and Jose." Then he hurled a brown paper bag with two tennis balls at Tony, telling him it would be "the only sack of balls he would ever have."  As Dave Barry would say, I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

We began discussing why did this talk radio host dress in this Spaghetti Western outfit, when Ron Davis put forth an intriguing idea. "Maybe he thought he would be allowed to hang Eli Wallach like in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly."

And that is how we got off on the subject of Eli Wallach. 

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?

  

Saturday, December 28, 2013

KGBX AM COMMERCIAL FROM 1983


This is a commercial for Springfield, Missouri radio station KGBX from 1983. At that time the radio station was on AM. They are now at 105.9 FM. I remembered this commercial after watching it again for one single image: the baby with headphones on and James Taylor's "Your Smiling Face" playing in the background. The only thing that could have made this commercial more exciting would have been Deborah Shelton.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

50 YEARS OF DOCTOR WHO

I'm one of those American kids who discovered the original Dr. Who during the post Star Wars sci-fi boom years. Dr. Who was mixed in with Battlestar Galactica, Jason of Star Command and the revamped versions of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Star Trek. Our Doctor was Tom Baker in his floppy hat and long scarf. He was a cross between Bob Dylan and Groucho Marx. Had a robot dog named K-9 and one of his female companions was a scantly clad cavewoman.

I had seen photos of the show in Starlog and other magazines. A TV Guide article on "The Five Doctors" episode sparked my interest in the show. I also had two classmates, both named Robert and both army brats, who talked about watching the show in Oklahoma. Luckily, I had a sister who lived in Oklahoma and I could watch it when I visited her, because as I mentioned in an earlier post about being a superhero fan growing up in the Ozarks, the cool shows were rarely seen on TV in the Ozarks. Dr. Who was seen on public television in Oklahoma, but not in the Ozarks.

Eventually, I was able to collect several VHS tapes of the episodes when a video store went out of business here in Springfield. My problem with the VHS tapes and even some of the reruns I saw in Oklahoma was the editing of them into one long episode instead of their original serial form. The cliffhangers are as important the mystique of Dr. Who as they were to Flash Gordon.

I have not seen very much of the new shows. I saw one with Christopher Eccleston, but I turned it off in the middle. It was the Doctor as I enjoyed him, however I have seen some previews of the David Tendant and Matt Smith episodes. I want to see them because they have the elements of the original show that attracted me to it back in the 80s.

And if you are wondering, I own a copy of the book picture above.  

 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

LOOKING BACK AT KYTV's CHILDREN'S HOUR

If you grew up in the Ozarks between the 50s and 80s, you will remember The Children's Hour. The longest host was "Aunt" Norma Champion. Here is a great video KYTV's Ed Filmer made for the 60th anniversary of KYTV Channel 3. The link below will take you to it.
Remembering KY3's Aunt Norma and The Children's Hour

Friday, August 9, 2013

SPRINGFIELD RADIO PERSONALITY ALEX STONE DIES

I hated to hear about the passing of radio personality Alex Stone. Alex was heard on many Springfield, Missouri radio stations such as KWTO-FM (99 Hit FM at the time), US 97, KGBX-FM, Hot 106.7, KOSP - Oldies 105.1, Mix/Magic 92.9 and B 95.5.

What I liked about Alex Stone, he didn't conform to the Ozarks style" or radio. He didn't try to sound like a hillbilly or a wimpy, hen-pecked husband.  Alex Stone sounded like a real big city Top 40 DJ - So Help Me, Real Don Steele!

I've linked to Ron Davis' Act Your Old Age blog. Ron worked with Alex at Radio 2000.

ACT YOUR OLD AGE: GOODBYE, BUDDY:

Sunday, June 30, 2013

FRUSTRATIONS OF A SUPERHERO FAN IN THE OZARKS

Before I begin this post, I want to point you in the direction of two great post on other retro blogs. Plaid Stallions has a podcast about being a young superhero fan in the 70s. Also, Retrospace has a great post about The Incredible Hulk TV series of the late 70s/early 80s.

The Plaid Stallions podcast brought back some memories for me, both good and bad. One point they make is, for must of the early to mid 70s, live-action and animated superheroes in movies and TV was few and far between. Today, we have two or three superhero movies released each summer, but until the late 70s you didn't get any superhero movies. Even after the success of Superman the Movie and the Incredible Hulk TV show, there wasn't very much produced in that vain.

There was older stuff that you read about in an article in Starlog, TV Guide or some other magazine, but there wasn't home video and you were at the mercy of local TV or the networks. This was also at a time where cable systems stopped at the city limits.

I was (and still am) a hard core superhero fan, which has made me a pariah here in the Ozarks. From the time I was about six or seven, adults told me that "superheroes are not real." Other kids (also about six or seven) would tell me "superheroes are for babies," they told me they were dating, which explains why they married early and now are bitter adults post that "kids-today-are-stupid" crap on Facebook.

In many areas of the country, children came home from school to watch reruns of Batman, The Adventures of Superman, Tarzan, or possibly, the Japanese superhero TV show, Ultraman. We had none of that here in the Ozarks. The closest TV market for Batman in this area was Joplin (Okay, I realize some syndication contracts at that time were written so there were non-compete clauses - so maybe Joplin conflicted with Springfield).

If we got a superhero TV show or cartoon on local TV, it was for a brief time. When I was in the second grade, KYTV began running The Lone Ranger series everyday at 4 p.m. Not sure how long they ran it, but I watched it every afternoon.      


At some point, while I was in fourth grade, KOLR began showing the 60s Spider-Man cartoons, but his too was brief.




The only superhero that was on Springfield TV on a very regular basis was Underdog, which was a on-again-off-again afternoon staple on KOLR for many years. Occasionally, Young Sampson would turn up during the summer.

Also, channel 27 (Then known as KMTC) would air The Mighty Hercules at 6 a.m on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

While I mentioned The Lone Ranger (Calling him a superhero might be debatable), I skipped some of the sci-fi shows like Star Trek, Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers, since I wanted to focus on the concept of the superhero ideal not fitting into the Ozarks' mentality.

Some would say, "Why complain about this? You saw them at some point. Get over it!" I wouldn't be as upset if there had been more variety in the mix, but you must understand that M*A*S*H has played on local TV in Springfield since it entered syndication in 1979 and Little House On the Prairie was shown several years in this market from the time it entered syndication. I should also note that these shows were still in production and airing on network television when they turned up in reruns on Springfield TV stations.  

One of the common things I heard growing up and even after I got involved in the media was that "older people don't like that stuff." Does everything in Springfield and the Ozarks have to be approved by old people? I assume old people like infomercials and those bad shows where a white judge yells at a young African-American guy about being "irresponsible." I'm sure in the future we can look forward to reruns of Duck Dynasty.

After growing up and working among people in the Springfield and Ozarks, I realized why so many in this area frown on superheroes. The superhero believes in helping the weak and oppressed for free. Consider the Lone Ranger's creed, which features the passages:
"That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world." 
"That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number."
Neither of these would be uttered by any of my classmates from Lebanon High School or any Springfield businessman. In a Lone Ranger episode entitled "The Law Lady," the Lone Ranger tells Tonto that Wyoming recently passed a law granting women the right to vote. Tonto says that he thinks that is a good idea. "It is a good idea, Tonto. Someday every woman in the Untied States will have that right," the Lone Ranger states. Of course, some local talk radio show host of the past said that only wealthy male land owners should be allowed to vote. I'm going to side with the Lone Ranger on this subject. I was shocked to see on You Tube some comments under some of the Lone Ranger episodes that people think the Lone Ranger killed and even lynched "troublemakers." If you go back to the origin story, the Lone Ranger tells Tonto he will not kill anyone. In several episodes, the Lone Ranger and Tonto stop lynchings, because everyone deserves a fair trial. I think these people commenting on You Tube (Mainly bigots comment on You Tube) are thinking of another group of masked riders...the Klu Klux Klan.

I guess Ozarkers would accept superheroes if they were more like business people and talk radio host. If someone was to create a superhero, who charged an exorbinant fee for his services, only helped white, wealthy, Republican heterosexuals and frequently lectured young people, while dressed in bib overalls, a John Deer cap and a Confederate flag for a cape, then Ozarkers would support the idea of a superhero.

I feel that my love of superheroes has made me the person I am today. I also have never been arrested or had a brush with the law of any kind. I believe in equality, fairness and helping others. Of course, that is why I'm considered the SUPER-VILLAIN of the Ozarks!!! mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 


Saturday, June 1, 2013

WORST JOB l EVER HAD - WATERLESS COOKWARE SALESMAN (While Bullied by Texans)


A song can bring back memories, both good and bad. Sometimes they are stupid. One that brings both bad and stupid memories for me is "Walking In Memphis" by Marc Cohn. I didn't like the song from the minute I heard it on the radio, but started hating it even more because I associate it with my short lived stint as a waterless cookware salesman. Let's set the time machine for May 1991.

My parents always wanted me to get a summer job when I was in college,but I have always had a hard time finding a good job. The problem with being in a college town (contrary to what people say Springfield Missouri is a college town) The News Leader is filled job notices for crappy direct sales jobs in the spring. They are usually a mass recruiting for commission only sales of expensive stuff nobody would want...like cleaning products or waterless cookware.

The people recruiting and training for the waterless cookware company were from Texas. This was the start of my dislike for Texans, with the exception of Joe Bob Briggs, Mike Nesmith, Roky Erickson, Stephen Stills, Morgan Fairchild, the Dixie Chicks, ZZ Top and the late Molly Ivins. They are just really arrogant, obnoxious, pushy, hot-headed people, who believe that everyone should do things their way, nobody should tell them what to do and you are worthless if you don't want to be like a Texan. They believe that nobody in the other states measure up to their greatness and they really shouldn't have to be a part of the United States of America. This is why they keep wanting to secede from the Union. "So help me Mitch Miller!" (Sorry, I had to throw a Stan Freburg reference here).

The other problem with these people were they were sales types. They worshipped at the all mighty alter of Zig Zigglar, who they claimed had worked for their company (Big whoop). They believed selling this stuff was more important than anything in the world. Forget your family, your girlfriend, even your college education and your future career, you are now a member of the cult of waterless cookware. You should even stop to eat, rest or go to the bathroom until you have made a sale. They actually told that I would be better off dropping out of college and making waterless cookware sales my career.

This cookware and fancy china they wanted you to sell was $800 in 1991. Gosh knows what it would cost now in 2013. That made me realize I was not going to be able to make any money, because nobody was going to pay $800 for this stuff.

The Texans in charge of the Springfield office were a guy and his fiance (I don't remember their names and that is good because they might sue me if they read this). They trained us in how to make sales calls and give these demonstrations on how to use the cookware. We were given literature about the company and these two were in just about every photograph.

This is where the song "Walking in Memphis" comes in. This Texas cookware guy was constantly singing that song, when he wasn't lecturing me on how I needed to have more "zeal" for selling and I should accept Zig Zigglar as my personal Savior. His fiance was even more obnoxious than him, as a matter of fact, she was downright hateful (I will be politically correct here and not use that word that begins with a "B").  She looked like Liza Minnelli, only with out the giggly, bubbly personality and more make-up. Among the things I didn't like about her was she didn't like The Simpsons and she said Imo's Pizza was "the worst pizza she ever had."

They trained us to do these demonstration of how the cookware worked. They told us the easiest thing to cook was carrots. For some reason the Texas had some sort of stupid rule that you were not supposed to peel the carrots. They were obsessive about this carrot rule. Everyone in the group had to give a practice demonstration in front of the other recruits. I decided that I was not going to tell people to not peel their carrots. My mother peels carrots before she cooked them, my Grandma Jones peeled carrots before she cooked them and my sister, Villanova, peels carrots before she cooks them, and since I'm a laid back, "do-your-own-thing" liberal, I was going to tell people that it was okay to peel your carrots. I was doing my demonstration and I got to the carrot preparation. "Next you wash and peel your carrots," I explained to the group, like I was an infomercial doofus. Those words had barely left my mouth when the Cookware Sales Queen of the Lone Star State snaps, "You are not supposed to peel the carrots." I tried to be diplomatic and said, "You can leave the peel on, if you like, or peel them if you want." She went ballistic, "I SAID YOU DON'T TELL THEM TO PEEL THE CARROTS! YOU ARE TO LEAVE THE PEEL ON THE CARROTS! DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS?"

In review, if anyone ask you what Texans are passionate about, you can say they are anti-gun control, anti-gay marriage, anti-evolution and anti-peeling carrots. Here I should mention that in training they wanted us to say that eating food cooked in waterless cookware was "better for you than fast food." However, if the person you were giving the demonstration to said it was easier for them to eat fast food than pay $800 for waterless cookware, then you were supposed to tell them that fast food companies give much of their revenue to "an undesirable group" such as pornographers, atheist organizations, gay rights organizations or devil worshiping churches.

"I don't think that is ethical?" I questioned them on this practice.

"WHY DO YOU NOT WANT TO DO WHAT WE TELL YOU?" The Cookware Sales Queen of the Lone Star State yelled at me. "We have won awards as top sales people with the company. We know what we are doing!" She was so mad her thick layer of make-up was starting to crack.

Next day, I had to go out with the Cookware Sales King of the Lone Star State, who would burst into singing "Walking in Memphis" every five minutes. He had the names of girls and newlywed couples he wanted to try to sell waterless cookware on index cards.

"We have a person at the home office that can access membership list of sororities and wedding gift registries," this guy said between random lyrics of "Walking In Memphis." Thinking about it this now, this seems very unsafe and an invasion of privacy. Hopefully there are now laws against obtaining this information because this would be a treasure to sexual predators. 

I casually mentioned that I was not interested in talking to a girl named Andrea, who I had been in a bad relationship with, especially since she said she hated me and I told her I would never speak to her again (Although, I did look up her name on Facebook - Her profile listed Sarah Palin as a person she admired and she belonged to group "Women For Todd Akin" - I'm glad now that she hated me). The Texan kind of ignored that comment. I also mentioned that I probably would not get any sales from the girls i went to school with in Lebanon, because they hated my guts.

Not the real Eunice Moneymaker but a reasonable facsimile

I then saw a card that made my blood run cold with disgust and fear: "Jack & Eunice Strapp - From Lebanon now living in Springfield." Those who have read the old blog and this one recognize that "Eunice" is the name of the girl I liked in junior high and high school, Eunice Moneymaker. At that time, she had just gotten married to muscle-bound athlete named Jack Strapp, Lebanon High School Class of 85. This guy lived on a diet of steroids and was know to beat people to a bloody pulp if they even spoke to Eunice. I knew that I was not going to their house, because Jack Strapp would beat me to death and leave the remains at the curb in a Hefty bag. Well, it was the Cookware Sales King of the Lone Star State's turn to go ballistic on me this time.


"YOU WILL NEVER MAKE A SALE IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO TALK TO PEOPLE! FOR A PERSON WHO IS STUDYING COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH TALKING TO PEOPLE! I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU GO TO THEIR APARTMENT TODAY AND GIVE THEM A DEMONSTRATION!" The problem wasn't that I didn't want to talk to people, I just didn't like confrontation or death.I also didn't want my death certificate to read "Beaten to death while pretending to cook unpeeled carrots."
          
We went to four of the addresses on the cards. Two of the girls were not at home and at the other two, we talked to roommates who really wouldn't tell us when the girl  One of the names on the index cards was a girl that I graduated with at Lebanon High School. I mentioned I knew this girl and Tex decided he had to "make sure" I made a sales call on her. She also wasn't at home and her roommate, a friend of Eunice's, wouldn't let us in. She kept the door chained, but that didn't stop Tex from talking.

"We will check back later. I want to make sure Mr. Desdinova discusses our product and gives you and your roommate a demonstration. He seems to be intimidated by women." Great! Not only can he not figure out that people don't want to hear about the virtues of waterless cookware, he has to humiliate me in front of girl's from Lebanon, who didn't have a high opinion of me in the first place."While I'm talking to you, let me ask you if you know this couple and is this their correct address?"

"Yes, that is where Eunice lives," She answered then she gave me a dirty look.

"Good, I'm going to make sure Mr. Desdinova give Mrs. Strapp a demonstration of our product. Mr. Desdinova is trying to get out of this by claiming  that her husband will beat him up."

"He probably will," she said.

"Most people are really happy to have us in their homes and giving a demonstration of our product," he explained with unabashed enthusiasm before uttering an even stupider statement. "He also has nothing to worry about, I carry a gun for my protection."

MIKE "MEATHEAD" STIVIC
ROLLIE FINGERS
We left and drove across town to the apartment where Eunice and her husband lived. I lucked out because they were not at home. No beatings and no shootings. I wonder if  it was just luck or Eunice's friend called and said, "Dedinova is on his way over to your house with an obnoxious guy from Texas that looks like a cross between Mike Stivic (Top) and Rollie Fingers (Bottom)...they are going to try to sell you waterless cookware. Hide and don't answer the door."

The Cookware Sales King of the Lone Star State at the end of the day decided that I needed a "goal" and an "ultimatum." He gave me a stack of the index cards and said I had to talk to at least five girls the next day alone or he would "chaperon" me the next week on calls. I agreed to it, because I noticed that many of the names were girls I had class with at SMSU. With the exception of Andrea, I got along good with girls I had class with at SMSU, who were from KC and St. Louis, I just didn't get along very good with girls from Lebanon (Andrea was not from Lebanon but another small town. I can't remember which one - I think they have a fair there).

I noticed that the name of one of the index cards was a girl named Annette. I sat next to Annette in film history class and made her giggle uncontrollably during Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata by simply saying "This movie blows." She was a beautiful girl with long, jet black hair, blue eyes and a nice tan. Annette was my first sales call. She invited me into her apartment and I told her what I was doing. She said that since she was graduating that week, she would be moving back home to St. Louis, so she wouldn't be available for demonstration. I explained my situation and asked her about some of the other names on the index cards. Annette must have felt sorry for me having this crummy sales job, because she was very courteous, helpful and hospitable. When I told her about the training session, she said, "She yelled at you for pealing carrots? What a bitch!"

From Annette's apartment, I drove back to campus and went to the Alpha Sig house to talk to Julie, a cute, bubbly blond. She was also graduating and going back to St. Louis. When I also told her about the job and what had went on in the training session, she too said, "She yelled at you for pealing carrots? What a bitch!"  

From the Alpha Sig house, I went to Sigma Kappa house and talked to Johnna and Chantel. Chantel was headed home to KC after graduation and Johnna was leaving for the summer but said I might contact her in the fall. Both Johnna and Chantel said, "She yelled at you for pealing carrots? What a bitch!" Chantel wondered if they had medication for behavior like that or if society would be better off if Tex's fiance was put under psychiatric care for outburst like that.

My next stop was the Tri-Sig house, where I talked to Sandy and Kerri, two blond girls who looked like they should have been sisters. They were leaving for the summer but said for me to come back in the fall if I was still working for that company and give a demonstration to all of the Tri-Sigs. They said that it would be fine with them if I wanted to peal the carrots.

I also went to the apartment of an attractive, but rather tall blond named Jill, that I had some classes with. She was leaving Springfield for her home in KC, but would be back in July. She was also appalled by the fact that I got yelled at for wanting to peal the carrots. Jill gave me some encouragement. "I'm sure something better will come along for you. You are a good person and very smart." I gave her a hug and left with a smile on my face. Not sure if the Texans would have approved of my hugging someone who didn't buy any waterless cookware, but then again Tex was ready to shoot Jack Strapp.

Now I could go to the office and show the Texans that had talked to SEVEN leads that day. Naturally, all my work wasn't good enough for the Texans. "You should have gotten these girls to give you their addresses in St. Louis and Kansas City," Mr. Waterless Cookware of Texas complained. Dejected and demoralized after I had, like Napoleon Dynamite's brother, spent a wonderfully fun day of "talking to fabulous babes."

When I arrived at my apartment, there was a message on my answering machine from one of the professors in the media department. I returned the call the next morning to find out that I could use my independent study credits for an internship in the news department at KOLR-TV. No pay, just credit and experience. The choice had to be made between working in a TV newsroom with broadcasting professionals or being forced to try and sell expensive waterless cookware by crazy Texans. I chose the KOLR internship.

I took the sample cases filled with cookware, silverware and dishes back to the office on South Campbell. Tex wasn't too upset and seemed to be happy for me, but his fiance gave me a tongue lashing.

"How could you make such a stupid mistake? You are throwing your life away. You will never amount to anything if you don't continue with us. Don't you know that nobody likes the news media people!" Like people just love door-to-door-cookware-sales people.

I interned at KOLR-TV over two semesters as part of the independent study program. There I got to meet and work with Tom Trtan, Ted Keller, Steve LaRocco, Jill Jensen, Lisa Forgey, Dan Lucy, Scott Opher, among others (in case I forgot someone). I also had a wonderful supervisor and teacher, Lissa Page-Wood, who was always very encouraging to me. At KOLR, I learned hands on about news gathering and TV production. While I haven't had a job in TV, I use much of what i learned from the news team putting together radio news.

You notice I haven't given you the name of the waterless cookware company or the couple from Texas. It isn't because I didn't want to embarrass them, because I would love to do that. It is because I can't remember the name of the company or either the guy or the gal from Texas names. The girls names I remember. As a matter of fact, I've tried to find them on Facebook, sadly to no avail.

This ugly episode had kind of blocked it from my mind until I started hearing "Walking In Memphis" again on local radio, causing me to have back flashbacks to the strange moment in my college career. This blog post was supposed to be quick and easy for me, but the memories came flooding back like a backed up septec tank. It took me a week to write this and get it posted. Retro music, oldies or whatever you call it can trigger memories, both good and bad and stupid.       

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!!!!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI LIKED DISCO IN 1979

You may have noticed that at the top of the blog, among the clutter in the masthead, is a Springfield magazine about disco. The issue is from July 1979. The article says there are three discos in Springfield: Wicker Works at the Sheraton Inn, Merlins's at the Hilton Inn and Lucy's at the Holiday Inn. You may not believe it, but I remember the names of these places from my childhood. Of course, they are no longer in existence.

Brenda May - Desdinova's favorite teacher

One thing I noticed in this article was that you could take free lessons on "how to disco dance" on Tuesday nights at Wicker Works from Brenda May. This caught my attention because Brenda May was not only my drama and speech teacher in 10th and 11th grade at Lebanon High School, but she was one of my all time favorite teachers. She gave me confidence when nobody else would by telling me to go to college and follow my dream of a media career. A few years back, I tracked her down via the Internet and sent her an e-mail, thanking her for her encouragement and kindness. She was also the sexiest teacher I ever had.

Another name mentioned in this article is Ruthann Schwenn, who was public relations and marketing for Wicker Works. I have several Springfield magazines from this era and they contain several photos of Ms. Schwenn. She was very attractive. I would be interested in knowing what became of her.

The article was written by Katie Dark, who is now know as Katie Hilton of the Lebanon Daily Record. This article is very informative and well written. Luckily it is not filled with the disgusting Republican propaganda that fills her column in the Sunday edition of  The Lebanon Daily Record (I could eat a can of alphabet soup and barf up a better column than she writes now).

The thing that this article says to me indirectly, some 34 years later, is that at one time Springfield was interested in new things and new trends. In the past few years, local media has given us the impression that Springfield isn't interested in anything modern and contemporary. They present the views of a few fun-hating, anti-entertainment idiots as the majority view point of everyone in the Ozarks. It was nice to know that at least one media outlet in the Ozarks (Sadly, no longer published) didn't view national entertainment trends as a threat to "our quality of life" in the Ozarks.

BTW: You realize that I'm now going to have to post an disco Ipod playlist.  



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.
    
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...