Thursday, May 17, 2012

He's Written a "Book"...

Alright, apparently I have a little catching up to do here. Borsch has been on a roll, and there's one particular topic I want to address in detail. Let's do it!

On May 10, Borsch published a "column" entitled OUTTA LEFTFIELD: Get a whiff of this incredibly stupid idea, which of course is hilarious because the subject matter has to do with a smell! Get it? Quite frankly, though, I didn't feel like torturing either myself or you with another "according to a wire service story" post (aren't they all like that these days?). So I'll give you the highlights:

He says that the idea for an intoxicating spray is from the "Department of There Seems to be No End to Stupid Ideas That Aren’t Mine," which is a title so elaborate that it HAS to be funny. The spray was invented by researchers in France, which of course results in references to: croissants, Maurice Chevalier, and Pepe Le Pew. All on the first page. Such creativity! He wraps things up by saying that there is "a lot of stupidity in this country [America]." He's living proof.

There was also a May 16 column entitled OUTTA LEFTFIELD: Gobs of talented students invade 'The Blob's' bailiwick. He leads things off with this gem: Finally, I now have a connection to “The Blob.” Other than his physical girth? I'm surprised he passed up an opportunity for such self-deprecation. This was a terrible one. Basically, he's squeezing a column out of attending his own daughter's student film festival. He raves about how great she is, and that's about it.

Now here's a bit of news that just about everyone will love: on his twitter, Borsch posted the following on May 13:

Mike Morsch ‏@mmorsch35 @welkappeal @RyanHafey My book, "Dancing in My Underwear: The Soundrack of My Life" comes out in June. It has a chapter on the Welk show.

My first thought was one of absolute heart-stopping mind-bending horror: "He found someone willing to publish the crap he writes OTHER than his own newspaper??? The way he phrased it, with the "comes out," sounds like his book was reciving some kind of official release. In a very Borschian move, I immediately went to Google. The top two (and only) results matching the search were by an online company called EduPublisher. Yes, it's true - for just $17.95 (!!!), YOU can be the proud owner of Borsch's book.

Everyone has a soundtrack to their life. But how many people get to talk to the artists who make up their soundtrack? “Dancing in My Underwear: The Soundtrack of My Life” is just such a story. Mike Morsch grew up in the rural Midwest,

Great God in Heaven - he's just recycling the suicide-inducing stories in his columns!

where his parents introduced him to the music of the 1960s and 70s, including such bands as the Beach Boys, The Association, America, Three Dog Night, The Doobie Brothers as well as iconic singers Elton John, Barry Manilow and Olivia Newton-John.

In other words, he had the most generic musical taste possible. "Wow, you listened to Elton John and Barry Maniolow in the 1970s? SO DID I!!!"

Then the career newspaperman moved to the East Coast at midlife and some 30 to 40 years later, had the opportunity to interview the artists that he had listened to as a young child up through his teenage years. The result is a joyous, reflective and sometimes flat-out funny memoir by this longtime journalist. At the heart of it all, Mike shares some of the insights he’s gleaned from interviews with these paragons of modern music. And you’ll hear it in their own voices.


"Joyous"? "Flat-out funny"? Either the person writing this has never read a word Borsch has written... or, more likely, Borsch is writing this about himself.

So sit back, fire up the turntable or click on your iPod and let Mike take you on an unforgettable journey through the soundtrack of his life.

Yep, he's writing this himself. By this point, I'm feeling a whole lot better, because Borsch obviously has not "sold" this piece of garbage to anyone. This is an online self-publishing company (as evidenced by the extremely generic cilp-art cover design). Reading the company's website, they'll "publish" anything, and will actually sell the book if anyone orders it (you have to pay for your own copy). If you really want to go all-out, as Borsch has done, and get your very own book website, they'll do that... for $295 dollars. Hey, Borsch - good luck getting a return on that investment!

I poked around on the book website just to revel in how hard he's trying. The Blonde Accountant's real name is apparently "Judy." Here's a classic:

Meanwhile, you'll come to know a most engaging character in his own right — a man who grows before your eyes from a certified member of "The Eighth-Grade Stupid Shit Hall of Fame" to a loving father and a highly respected member of his profession.

DEFINITELY writing this himself. "Highly respected"? Not according to those I've heard from as a result of this blog. Folks, this is amazing. My question is: do I really want to desecrate the memory of Andrew Jackson and waste almost $20 on this book, just to enjoy how wretched it is?

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous (I suspect that's not your real name, by the way) - Normally I don't publish comments with "major" swear words, especially when you can't write two sentences without using one. But I thought this one was interesting... and not for the missed apostrophe in "its." I DON'T intend to buy the "book," for the very reason that you suggest - poor writing shouldn't be rewarded.

    Helpful hint: for future insults, try and base them on something I did ("you wrote this poorly," "you spelled that wrong") rather than something you think I might (but actually won't) do. Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe you could ask for a copy to review? That way you don't have to pay for it, and you'll end up with months and months worth or Borsch garbage to write about.

    PS- I may be Anonymous, but I'm not the Anonymous from above. Consider me Anonymous II

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh Captain, my Captain,
    Me again, Anonymous II. Did you see this? Now Borsch has assigned someone to actually write a story for his newspaper about his book!

    http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2012/06/01/entertainment/doc4fc504ffb7ef7539736639.txt

    In your honor, I made a snide comment asking whether Borsch had to approve the story before it ran, or if he just assigned it, and he deleted it! So I wrote a second one asking why it was OK for comments to rip other writers, or other commenters, and THAT was deleted. So I put on a third (I'm pathetic, I know), saying that in the time it took him to delete my previous comments, he could have assigned stories about locals doing great things who DON'T work at that newspaper. I assume it will also be deleted. Gotta love this!

    ReplyDelete

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