WHY I STOPPED TALKING ABOUT POLITICS AND 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.

AFTER FIVE YEARS, NO MORE UPDATES HERE

On this, the fifth anniversary of my starting this blog, I wish to announce that I will no longer be updating this blog. I will continue to post over at my new blog, The New Adventures of Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks. Please continue to follow me by clicking on the link above and choose "follow." It has gotten too time consuming to try to post material to both blog sites.

I should also let some long time readers know that I deleted quite a few post. Why?

1. Irrelevance. This blog originally tried to be topical. However, it was to a fault. Many of my post really didn't need to be here any more. Some of them I read and couldn't figure out who or what they were about. I had to Google the names.
2. Broken links. I linked to some local news websites for some of my post. Those stories or articles are gone. Many of the times I posted to material on YouTube (especially music) has been removed. So I removed those post as well.
3. I deleted things that might keep me from a finding a new job. I apparently stepped on a few toes of some people in the media, as well as most of the Ozarks. Anyone who knows me knows that I love the media, which is why I studied it at S.M.S.U (now M.S.U) and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in it. I felt that many of my statements about the local media were nothing more that constructive criticism. Some didn't feel that way. One company, apparently told someone I know, that I have been blacklisted from working at that company. I should point out that I was much rougher on another company and an on-air "personality" that worked there. Of course, that company took care of that problem. The criticism I gave the company that blacklisted me was mild to what I gave their rival across town. Then again, I also had some people in the company I worked for that, instead of thinking what I did was funny and laughing along, were upset about my comments about a rival company and it's on-air "personality." I knew that people in the Ozarks are touchy, but I didn't realize that people in the media were that touchy too.

However, I left quite a few things because I felt, if you were offended by what I wrote, you probably deserve it. Much of what I have posted here is satire. It was just a fun way of looking at political opinions held by many here in the Ozarks. Many of those who complained were what I called "weenie bloggers" and talk radio host. They seemed to be a humorless group of people, who made themselves miserable because their extreme beliefs. I feel that life is too short to not be able to laugh at world around us. I also found it interesting that many of these bloggers and talk radio host, who hated me so much are no longer around. That was part of the reason I decided to change the blogs direction.


I thought this blog might lead to a job as a morning show host, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. The new blog is focused on things I can write about much more easily. There will probably be less animosity and violence advocated toward me. My hope is I can develop a radio show, preferably syndicated, that will be tied into the retro theme. Contrary to what some would tell you, I believe there is a need for that type of programming in many radio markets.

I plan to leave this blog up for now. I plan to resurrect some of the post on the new blog from time to time. I hope to hear from some of you fans on the new blog. 

TURA SATANA DIES

The star of the 1966 cult film, Faster Pussycat Kill Kill!, has died. Tura Satana played the tough go-go dancer Varla in the Russ Meyer's film.
Dave Itzkopf of the New York Times has a story about her.

I have this gem of Naughty Springfield history.

BEST OF DESDINOVA: OZARKERS WERE AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF BUT NOT FASTER PUSSYCAT!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I USED TO LIKE THAT SONG

Did you ever stop liking something that you thought was "cool" when you were younger? Recently, I discovered that I no longer liked a song from my youth called "88 Lines About 44 Women." The song was by a group called the Nails. It kept coming up in my Ipod and Itunes. I had transferred it from a CD of 80's hits, so it wasn't like I had paid to download it.

You see when I was in junior high this song would occasionally be heard on the radio. If it was heard it was after 10 p.m at night. The reason was it had "dirty words" in it. I don't think I ever heard a "censored" version of this song. Somebody in Hammons Hall had it on a tape or record, because you could hear it playing down the hall. I didn't hear it again until I bought this 80's hits CD.

As it began playing on my Ipod and Itunes in shuffle mode, I noticed something. "88 Lines About 44 Women" is a really lame song. It is only about five minutes long, but it seems to go on for an eternity. The singer reads the lyrics like an NPR radio host, while the music sounds like it was played on a children's keyboard. The lyrics are simple yet so random. I could write new lyrics to this song and nobody would know the difference. All I need was to do would be come up with (1) two women's names - one exotic and one common, (2) an action that is very normal or sweet and tender (3) an action that is both disturbing and repulsive about either religion, drugs, sex or bodily functions and (4) throw in a four letter word. It would go something like this:

"Vanda was a fat girl, but she knew how to dance. Melinda was a sexy blond with a bad habit of $#!++ing her pants. Hhhuuummmm-hum-hum-hum-hum-HUM-hum-hum"

At the end of each verse, the lead vocalist/narrator would hum (Yes, I said hum) along with the music. To make things worse, there was another song about that time that sounded like it was being played on a child's keyboard that consisted mainly of the words "Da da da" repeated over and over.

If you MUST hear this song, you can find a homemade video of the song on You Tube. It probably isn't safe for work because it is not PC, not family friendly and down right annoying.

IDEA FOR A DESDINOVA NOVEL

I've noticed some of the other bloggers on SGF Blogs have published original fiction on their blog sites. I'm considering trying this. I thought it would be interesting to write a series of comical/satiric novels about myself - Desdinova the Super Villain of the Ozarks.

There have been very few super villains who have been the main character in a series of novels. The only ones I can think of are Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu and Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter. In each novel, Desdinova would commit a crime that would horrify the Ozarks, but would probably not be taken seriously in California, New York or even Oklahoma. The local authorities would be so incompetent that they would be unable to stop Desdinova.

The plot of the first novel would be similar to John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos, which has been filmed twice under the title the Village of the Damned. The plot is also based on the old joke about "something in the water."

Desdinova develops a technique called "covert hydro fertilization." He uses this technique to impregnate women attending a convention for Republican women through complimentary bottled water given to those attending. The women are not only shocked that they are pregnant (since Republicans don't have sex) but their pregnancies only last three weeks.

Once the children are born, they begin to grow and mature rapidly. The boys, who all look like the cute little boy pictured above, have a maniacal laugh (Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!). They do horrible things to embarrass their parents in front of their rich friends. Slowly they begin to try and bump off their parents. That is when it is discovered that they are under the power of Desdinova and their goal is world domination! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Just an idea so far.

WASN'T MY GENERATION SUPPOSED TO CHANGE RADIO FOR THE BETTER?

Once again, I've decided to travel back into time to my SMSU days. I've been reflective lately on all the hope and promise of those days that has been largely stomped on the repressive Ozarks culture.

Let's look at one facet of my media career, which is radio. As a media major, I studied newspaper, radio and television. I had a particular interest in radio. Part of this came from the simple fact that i was always interested in improving the local radio scene. I used to do some DXing late at night as a kid and I felt that many of the local radio station needed to be more like the major market stations. It was my destiny to try to change things around here, especially KWLT FM 92 and KJEL in Lebanon.

Another thing that energized my interest in radio, was an article in Rolling Stone about college radio was becoming a big influence in the music world. Rolling Stone and Billboard both had college rock charts. According to Rolling Stone, the young people in college radio were going to revitalize radio with their creativity and free-form programming.

The only radio stations in Springfield offering internships were KTTS, KTXR and KSMU. Rumor has it one of the rock stations in town stopped offering internships because they didn't want any college kids telling people about rampant cocaine use by the staff. I took an internship at KSMU, because they allowed students to program their own music on the Midnight Snack show. I used to listen to the Midnight Snack in Lebanon. It was there that I first fell in love with the Sex Pistols, Ramones and the various paisley underground bands.

College radio eventually beat mainstream radio to probably the greatest band of the 90's, Nirvana. Springfield even had a radio station playing college rock, Z105 the Planet. Yes, it looked liked my generation (now dubbed Generation X by the press). SO WHAT HAPPENED???

Several factors played into our lack of power in 2010. The major explanation goes back to the Telecom Act of 1996, which opened the door for the large radio corporations like Clear Channel, Cumulus, Journal and Citadel. Here is hoping the FCC reverses all this consolidation soon. With consolidation, most creative program directors lost their power in favor on PD for the whole country. Sadly, most of these companies adapted the attitude that "only country and talk are profitable in the post 9-11 society" and many alternative station were changed to something else. So then, why has radio lost so much money and listeners in the past few years? Could it be you are driving away listeners with that talk and country garbage?

A major problem that isn't talked about is the animosity and resistance faced us Generation X-college-radio-trained-talent from an element of white-conservative-Baby Boomers, who were in management, not just in radio but other media. These balding, fat middle aged guys wanted to keep us out of the industry. They also did like the changes we wanted to make. A Rolling Stone article once gave a name to a name to a notorious alternative rock radio destroyer, Randy Michaels of Jacor. I should also point out that Jacor (later engulfed by Clear Channel) owned the Premier Radio, which produces such garbage as Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and Delilah. Do you see a pattern here?

However, there is a nostalgia for the college radio era and it's music. A friend of mine works at a book and music store. He has noticed people in their 40s buying the "college rock" of the 80s and 90s. Two blogs, Spinning Indie and Slicing Eyeballs, discuss both old and new college rock.

There is hope that there could be a turn around in the radio industry and us Generation X college radio slackers will save the industry from the suit wearing, Rush lovers in the big corporations. We are radio's only hope.

Of course, opinions like these are why I'm considered Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I MISS THE CRAIG HALL CROWD & I STILL HATE THE PREPPIES

Permit me to wax nostalgic for a bit, but this post has been coming for awhile and it is something I have to get out of my system. I've been thinking about my college years, when I was obtaining my Bachelor of Science in Media. I was just out of high school, away from home and I didn't have a job, so I was able to enjoy myself and have fun.

I found it was easier to make friends with people at SMSU (now known as MSU) than it was in the Lebanon R-3. For one thing, the need to conform to what everyone else was doing disappears in college. Also, I seem to have more in common with the city kids. We tended to like the same music, movies and other activities. We were the "Craig Hall Crowd," because that was where the communications, media and drama classes were held.

The people I tend to hang with in college tended to wear tie dye shirts with peace signs on them or shirts that said "EAT THE RICH" on them. Some even had pink t-shirts with a photo of Howard McNear, the barber from the Andy Griffith Show on the front and the words "PINK FLOYD" on the back. Get it! Yeah, it was funnier in 1987. We tended to drive older model small cars with bumper stickers reading "He who dies with the most toys, STILL DIES" or "Wouldn't be nice if the schools had plenty of money and the Pentagon had to have a bake sale?"

Our dorm room walls were covered in posters of Jim Morrison, Ozzy Osbourne and James Dean, as well as numerous assorted scantly clad women. The only names I can think of for these women were Marilyn (The Seven Year Itch subway grate pose), Farah (These were usually kind of ragged because they had been around for several years), Brooke and Elvira (Yes, THAT Elvira - usually these were Budweiser promotional posters, so you wonder if these guys were more attracted to beer than the big breasted Goth chick). Oh, I cannot forget the Tennis Girl poster (above).

I should point out that there was a boom in psychedelic music and fashion. Part of this may have been because Rolling Stone was celebrating its 20th anniversary and running a lot of retrospective article on the Summer of Love and the 60s. However, as I look back, we may have been rebelling against the "Just Say No" crap that had been forced down our throats in junior high and high school.

There were some people that we didn't like. These people were what we called Preppies. These people were like the villains in a lot the comedy films of the time. While we were wanting to Bluto from Animal House, these people wanted to be Greg Marmalard and Douglas C. Neidemeyer from Animal House. These people took things way too seriously. They were like the people we didn't like in junior high and high school. They were all involved in Young Republicans and came to class wearing ties. They were always business majors of some sort, only interested in money and kissing butt. They were overachievers, who felt Bart Simpson was a bad role model for children. Bad part I see many young college kids now who are exactly like the Preppie kids. Kind of sad when you think about it.

Someone at the Standard gave one of these boneheads a column. I can remember his last name was Seitz, because I thought he was full of baloney. He spread hate toward anyone who didn't think like him and his tie wearing Preppie friends. He probably is either a talk radio host or a weenie blogger. They went to little meetings on Monday night where they listened to speeches by Mel Hancock and Jean Dixon. Needless to say these people were not out having fun like the rest of us.


I guess what has brought this on is the fact I keep running into or seeing the Preppies around Springfield, but the people I liked are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they went back to St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. At least one person, went to Hollywood. I see her on TV from time to time. I guess the Preppies were from here in Springfield. I hope my friends are still they way they were when we were in school. After all the Preppies are all still the obnoxious little twerps they were when we were in school.

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

WHY DO I GET FLAK FOR DOING THE PSYCHEDELIC LIMITS ON KSMU?

I've mentioned before that my first job in radio was at KSMU-FM. I was one of several young media students who worked overnights as part of a show called the Midnight Snack. We would take in our own got college credit and, most importantly, we got radio experience. Once a month, I would play only psychedelic music on my show with some comedy from the likes of Firesign Theater, George Carlin and Cheech & Chong. I called this segment, The Psychedelic Limits. I was inspired to do this show from a syndicated radio show called Flashback (which didn't air in Springfield at the time - it later ran on KWTO-FM and KKLH), the All-Night Coffee House on KCFX, and Beaker Street. Many of my radio instructors at MSU (then SMSU) told me to mention the show in my resume because "it would show potential employers that I was creative."


For some reason, I have gotten flak from several people in the radio industry (and radio fans too) for doing this show. I was told by one former boss that the show was "unethical" and the "equivalent of pushing drugs on the radio at the tax payers expense." This was from someone who thinks great radio is a program called "Bids for Bargains."


At my current job, my college work gets the same kind of disrespect. I was told the music I played on that show was "hippie" music and "hippies have ruined America." That's funny, I thought it was the Republicans. Oddly enough, "hippies" are still a worry for some of my co-workers. They tend prefer the company of redneck women who talk about blowing people's heads off or old men who wish we would bring segregation back.

I would just like to go on record for saying that the lyrics of most psychedelic songs are more creative and meaningful than most of the country songs that Ozarkers and local radio management find so wonderful (Yes, Desdinova has been forced to play country music in his radio career). I'll give you the lyrics to four songs I played on my KSMU psychedelic show: "Incense and Peppermint" by Strawberry Alarm Clock, "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I" by the Yardbirds, "Requiem For the Masses" by the Association and "Planet Caravan" by Black Sabbath. Now compare these to the silly lyrics of "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band, a favorite of many Ozarkers. I think you can see my point (BTW: Do you hear the line "A yardstick for lunatics with one point of view" and immediately think of Glenn Beck?). Some feel this music is destructive. That is dumb, especially considering that the same people think good radio is having a host wishing for the Springfield school board to die in a car accident or hoping that someone burns down MSU.

Much of this bile from the local industry comes from the fact that this was on KSMU, which is not only public radio, but owned by a state university. I was supposedly "wasting the taxpayers dollars." They could have been spent on something like a war. That would be a much better use of taxpayer money than my training for the radio industry. Oh yeah, I forgot, I should have gotten a MBA.

I just think I'm getting too much heat over something that could have helped the industry. Of course, opinions like this are why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Enjoy a little psychedelia from the Pretty Things.



TAKING TIME TO BLOG

Early in the history of this blog, I was attacked by an anonymous commenter that I didn't update my blog enough. That snide remark has made me worry that I don't post enough on my blog.

I'll admit, there have been long gaps in between post at times. There are two reasons for this:

1. Lack of interest in anything going on. If something doesn't strike me as something I can find humor in or I have a need to speak my mind on, I leave it alone. There are plenty of blogger who will comment on it.
2. Time. Yes, that is what this post is about. I'm pressed for time due to my "real" job and the odd hours I work. Sometimes I can post at work, but even then I'm usually doing something else. I force myself to blog while fighting sleep when I get home.

I would love to make a post an hour like Tony's Kansas City (That is a rough estimate). Of course, I know of many of the Founding Fathers of Springfield Blogging used to knock out a great post everyday. These days, we are lucky to see a post out of them a month. They are busier than they were in the early part of the past decade.
Some times I have an idea for a post on a current topic, but by the time I get a chance to post anything it is old news. Case in point, my view point on the Super Bowl commercials since I'm an advertising nut. On the other hand, some things have been sitting on the back burner a long time. The spanking post from a few weeks ago has been in my head for a while, it was just some recent things going on that made me go ahead with it. I'm dying to sound off on something I read on another local blog that proved a point I have about certain people's political beliefs.
My advise to bloggers: DO IT YOUR WAY! MAKE THE BLOG YOUR OWN CREATION! Take advise on how to improve your readership or promotion, but don't listen to people who want hard set rules for bloggers. You don't have to give your real name or allow comments if you don't want to. The people who say you have to take comments and give your real name are people who want to harass you over some silly thing like preferring the 60s TV show Batman over that horrible movie The Dark Knight.
Most of all, HAVE FUN! I frequently find myself laughing while posting my opinions. Of course, opinions like these are why I'm the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

NEWS LEADER CARTOON FROM 1960

I found this editorial cartoon in a July 26, 1960 edition of the Springfield News Leader and Press. According to the caption, it was drawn by Lucy Van Pelt of Peanuts. It is unknown if this is in fact the work of Charles Schulz or News Leader's Bob Palmer. It is better than the cartoons the News Leader currently runs (especially those from the guy from Branson).

Of course, opinions like this are why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

BUY A DESDINOVA T-SHIRT OR ELSE!!!

In my never ending quest to rule the world, I have created t-shirts for my fans at the Zazzle website. I have a shirts for men, women, children and even babies. Hurry and order them for Christmas! I think everyone would love a Desdinova t-shirt. Of course, opinions like this are why I'm the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

OZARKERS WERE AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF BUT NOT FASTER PUSSYCAT

While looking through some Springfield News Leaders from 1966, I found an ad for the Hi-M Drive-In. They were showing Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The interesting part is that this same week another theater in town was showing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Oddly enough, there was a noted trouble making preacher leading a crusade against of the Burton/Taylor film. The LTTE were saying the film was filled with "vulgar talk" and "excessive use of liquor." Oooooooohhhhhh! That is scary. They ignored the film where Tura Satana backed over a guy's crotch. It also came with a disclaimer at the beginning of the film.

The more things change the more they stay the same. The good thing is the News Leader only ran letters to the editor on Sunday instead of every day. It would cut down on the overabundance of letters from right-wing nutjobs, but of course, opinions like this are why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

SPRINGFIELD MUSIC LEGEND BENNY MAHAN DIES

Unfortunately, I never had a chance to see him perform live, but I've heard some recordings of his. I also recognize his name from countless marquees in Springfield during my youth. Local music legend Benny Mahan died over the weekend at age 65. The Springfield News Leader had a nice article Sunday on "The Local King" or music.

I also want to point you in the direction of a post on the Queen City Roller blog. It was posted about Benny Mahan on Saturday.

Tuesday evening, several people on Facebook mentioned his passing. A short time later, KSPR's Joe Daues mentioned he had talked to the family who said Benny Mahan was not dead but in the hospital. I didn't hear anymore, so I posted a message on Art Morris' Missouri Radio Message Board in hopes of hearing from someone who knew how he was doing. I had to keep bumping it because of the clogger/trolls that I mentioned in my previous post.

For some reason the subject of rock and roll and the local music scene upsets the clogger/trolls (They tend to listen to radio stations that don't play music), however, I received an e-mail on Friday from a friend of Benny Mahan's.

"It seems he had multiple bypass surgery on Monday and came through that ok. Sometime after that he had some plaque come loose in the arteries to his brain and suffered a series of mini strokes. He is in ICU and the prognosis is not too promising. Benny has a great love of life and hopefully his love of life will pull him through this. He certainly could use all the prayers you could say for him and if you're not a believer then just think positive and hopefully that will help pull him through this."

On Saturday, I contacted this person about the e-mail and they informed me that Benny Mahan had passed away.

I'm going to allow comments on this post for fans of Benny Mahan's. I will post them as soon as I can get them while screening out the trolls (I'm the unpopular one, not Benny). Also, you could post a message in the thread on the Missouri Radio Message Board (You will have to register).

THE LEGEND OF SHEBBA THE BELLY DANCER

This post on my blog has been over a year in the making. I had to go look through some of the old News Leaders and Daily News on microfilm at the Springfield Library Center to find the information I was looking for. It was in regards to a person known to many as "Shebba the Belly Dancer." When I was small, I remember that stories on the KY 3 6 o'clock news about "Shebba" sparked chuckles from my parents, but I also remember that the laughter stopped when "Shebba" took her own life. That name was stuck in the back of my brain for years, but I didn't know what it was that "Shebba" did.

Some of the info came from the memories of some veteran news people here in town, but most of it came from newspaper articles. I will not give her real name out of respect for any living family members. Also the photo above is not "Shebba" but a generic belly dancer.

"Shebba the Belly Dancer" first came to the attention of Ozarkers in 1977, when she asked to refuse her a place to display information of the benefits of belly dancing and how to get involved in belly dancing classes. City fathers thought she was going to be belly dancing in the courthouse. This spawned several visits to Springfield city council meetings where Shebba railed against the city council members for not listening to her when she tried to tell them what she wanted to do (They did allow her to set up a display with brochures in the courthouse rotunda).

The next time folks heard of her was when she showed up a city council meeting where a group called Springfield Council Against Pornography was pushing a tough anti-porn ordinance. Shebba told everyone that she recognized the preacher heading the anti-porn group as a man, who had tried to hire her and her dance troupe to perform a "nude fire dance" for a party with some of his male friends and possibly make some "films." The preacher resigned his position as head of the group. He didn't admit to Shebba's charges, but said the accusation drew too much attention to him (Some locals say that Shebba's accusations held water - one long- time Springfieldian referred to this as a "Baptist Boogie Nights").

The next month, Shebba had a scuffle at her home with Springfield PD when they came with a search warrant. It was believed that Shebba and her husband had reported a burglary and vandalizing of the home earlier. The police came to search for evidence that she had damaged the home herself as part of an insurance fraud scheme. This began a succession of assault charges, court appearances, police visits and fights with neighbors. One neighbor claimed that she tried to shoot him. She was charged with firing a gun into a building (she died before this went to trial).

In the middle of all of this, she would frequently call members of the media to tell them about the benefits of belly dancing and the "evils" of the Springfield city council and police department. One Springfieldian remembers that she once performed a sabre dance on the porch of the police department, facing Chestnut Expressway, and knocked the P & O off of the side of the building with her sabre, so it read "SPRINGFIELD LICE HEADQUARTERS."

Shebba's neighbors asked Mayor Paul Redfern to have her locked up. In August of 1978, she went to jail before being sent to Park Central Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. While on a weekend furlough from the hospital, she went back to her old neighborhood and walked around shouting "SHEBBA IS BACK!"
One of the neighbors snitched to the Assistant Greene County Prosecutor, who revoked her furloughs. A judge, shortly thereafter, ordered Shebba to be transferred to the State Mental Hospital in Fulton. While waiting for her transfer, she hung herself in a closet with a bed sheet.

The News Leader tried to interview neighbors, but many would not speak to the reporter. One neighbor, who said she never had problems with Shebba, blamed the other neighbors and the assistant prosecutor. Shebba's psychiatrist said he thought the prosecutor's office was over zealous, while the prosecutor's office said they believed that she was "a threat to the community."

A neighbor was quoted in the News Leader as saying "We didn't want her to die." It was a sad ending to a story that started with the same recurring theme that all problems start with - the Ozarker's repressed sexuality and there need to find "an enemy." Was Shebba "a threat to the community" or just to her nosy neighbors? Only God knows that.

The community has a problem with thinking that someone is "the enemy" or "a threat" to "the good life we have in the Ozarks." If Shebba was such "a threat" how come only those who dealt with her in someway remember the details and some of those feel she got raw treatment. Most current Springfieldian's have never heard of her and even some old timers memories of her are vague as to what she did.

I'm sure some people will be upset by this post. They will go into the entomology of some of the words I used in this piece or find a neighbor who "still has nightmares about Shebba" or call me "an unpleasant coward" because I "call people names" (That is like the pot calling the kettle black).

You might say Shebba the Belly Dancer was the original SUPER-VILLAIN OF THE OZARKS!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

SPRINGFIELD HAD ITS OWN BATMAN & ROBIN

One of my reasons for majoring in media/broadcasting was to eventually write a horrible wrong enacted on children of the Ozarks. None of the TV stations in the Springfield market ever ran the Batman TV series in syndication. I mention this to anyone and get the same old "Ozarkers- don't-like-that-show" garbage (Of course, they get obsessive over the Andy Griffith Show). I began thinking about it and decided that probably when the Batman TV show went on the air in 1966, the Springfield News Leader ran an anti-Batman editorial and several pages of anti-Batman letters from "concerned Ozarkers" (or as I call them "right-wing nutcases"). So I decided to check the old News Leaders at the library to see if my theory was right. What I discovered was more interesting.

Apparently, the show spawned (as in the horrid film Dark Knight) Batman & Robin imitators.

Two Drury College students named Gary Griffin and Biron Valier, both from St. Louis, took on the roles of Batman & Robin respectfully. City Officials didn't find this funny and gave their Batmobile, a green Mustang, a parking ticket. HOLY SLAP IN THE FACE, BATMAN! If this happened today, I'm sure the Greene County Prosecutor would haul them into court for "upsetting an old person" or something.

I'm sorry about the condition of the photo and story, but that is what the microfilms at the Greene County Library are like. The outfits look good, but this story makes me think of the Ray Dennis Steckler film Rat Fink a Boo Boo.

I would love to know more about this story or hear from this Dynamic Duo, so I'll accept comments on this. However, if the comments are off the subject or not pertaining to this story, I will delete them because I'm still the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

MTV News Reports: The Cramps Singer Lux Interior Dead At 62

I first heard the Cramps on the Midnite Snack when I was in junior high. Some girl (Wonder who she was? She introduced me to great music) played The Cramps version of "Surfin Bird." I liked the Cramps because of their covers of obscure hits and the cover photos of Poison Ivy.

When I arrived at KSMU to do the Midnite Smack a few years later, I and some of my fellow Midnite Snack announcers thought that eventually we would take over the industry and put the Cramps music into heavy rotation. Unfortunatly, the industry is still run by money-grubbing weasels who seem to think radio should only consist of "family-friendly-timeless-love-songs," country music and Rush and his many wanna-be clones. This is why radio is in such a sad state. Below is a link to the MTV News report.

Cramps Singer Lux Interior Dead At 62 - News Story Music, Celebrity, Artist News MTV News

I See Nothing Wrong With Those Jeans

Before you read what I have to say, check out Busplunge's post about the Calvin Klein ads with Brooke Shields. Those ads are still sexy. So why are all the sleazy gossip websites ridiculing several female stars such as Jessica Simpson, Kelly Brooks and Kim Kardashian (all pictured above) for wearing jeans like that? It appears those jeans are coming back in style but the gossip sites are trying to fight their return by calling these "mom jeans." So help me if there is a picture of Britney Spears or Paris Hilton in a skintight pair of Dittos or Sasson with a caption "mom jeans" on one of those websites, I'll zap the nasty little person behind that gossip site with my death-ray and scatter their atoms to the fore winds. Did you know there is a gossip site called "Dirty Whores"? That is highly disrespectful to any woman famous or not!

While we are on the subject Ozarkers, could someone tell me the name of the Western wear store on the North Town Mall in Springfield that ran commercials in the early 80's with hot babes in tight jeans (like the ones above) shaking their booties to Joe Walsh's "All Night Long"? I loved that commercial when I was eleven/twelve.

Two Years of Blogging (or My Reign of Terror)

Yes Ozarkers, for the past two years I have been posting my evil plans to this blog. Some of you have enjoyed it and some have been offended. Those who enjoy it have posted comments(where I have allowed them)and gave me a Blogaroni. Those of you who have been offended have posted death threats (why I no longer allow comments). I hope to continue my reign of terror upon the Ozarkers for at least another year.

Flashback: My first post and my second "disclaimer" post. And as added bonus this from over at Chatter.

Springfieldian Brad Pitt Nominated For Oscar - The Dark Knight Didn't Get Best Pic (HA-HA)

I was happy to see that The Dark Knight was not nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture since everyone knows I am world famous as "The Guy Who Didn't Like The Dark Knight." One Dark Knight fan said I "suffered from being a douche bag."

However, it was cool to see Springfieldian Brad Pitt nominated for Best Actor in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. All together Benjamin Button received 13 nominations. Here is CNN's report on the Oscar nominations.

Now, soon we will see comments on the News Leader message boards by a bunch of local redneck, right-wing jerks who will brag that they "Don't care about the Oscars" and "Ain't gunna watch'em."

I don't like this attitude. See I'm in radio. I feel I deserve an award of some kind, but unfortunately the companies I've worked for have never given me the recognition I deserve. I, unlike many in the local market, believe that I'm in the same league with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Sean Penn and others. I AM A CELEBRITY! I AM A GOD WALKING AMONG YOU SILLY LITTLE MORTALS!

You people should have more respect for the Hollywood community. They deserve awards for what they do, unlike you plumbers, bankers, real estate people, insurance agents, tire store salespeople, youth ministers, gym coaches and other riff-raff. After all you Ozarkers are stupid enough to worship talk radio goons, that nerdy lady governor of Alaska and that bald plumber guy.

You people are going to watch the Oscars this year or I'll have to zap you with my death ray, which will reduce you to atoms for me to scatter to the fore winds. It is either that or I'll have my robot stomp your house. Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Springfield Daily News Started The Gay Thing

Some have complained that the Springfield News Leader is pro-gay. The Springfield Daily News began the gay newspaper story facination in 1978. Of course, one old guy was against the printing of this. I didn't print his letter to the editor. Mwu-HAHAHAHA!