"It's Another Prozac Morning in America...." Gives Its Visitors The Present For 40th Birthday of Its Creator

"Iludium Phosdex," the demented(?) genius behind the satirically flavoured website "It's Another Prozac Morning in America....", announces a reverse present for his 40th birthday on 2 October; viz., a quasi-parody tribute to the site.

WINONA, MN--"For my 40th birthday on October 2nd, it's the fans of the website as are getting the present."

So saith "Iludium Phosdex," the creator and demented(?!) genius behind "It's Another Prozac Morning in America...." (anotherprozacmorning.homestead.com), his website of satirically-flavoured opinion and commentary as has been up since June of 1999 Anno Domini/5999 Anno Lucis, in explaining a tribute he's posted for his upcoming 40th birthday.

"Unlike the late Jack Benny," Phosdex quips, "I prefer not to remain 39 all my life. We can't always remain 39 years old; it can only happen once.

"So, rather than lie about our age until the grave, what better way to mark this milestone birthday than with what I've done?"

His reverse present takes the form of a Mad Magazine-stylee parody--in this case, of Bony M's 1978 disco hit "Rasputin"--as essentially amounts to a tribute to the website, and "the cause" that such stands for, to wit, "using satire as a weapon of opinion and commentary."

Among some of the triumphs ("if they can be called so rightly," Phosdex quips) he notes on the same are:

*Exposing the so-called "gifting club" movement, and taking them to task for perverting mutual self-help towards empowerment of especially the vulnerable and socioeconomically-disenfranchised, as well as suggesting their seeking conversion to friendly-society status or similar.

*Taking offers of supposed "legal cable-TV descramblers" by spam mail to task by essentially encouraging theft of cable and subscription services.

*Subtle appeals to the crudest and basest of patriotic feelings as can tend to target the emotionally-unstable and easily-influenced among the "music shows" of Branson, MO.

As well, he takes passing note of his online tributes to the Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids and his fondness for the onetime Troll mascots of what is now Six Flags Magic Mountain outside Los Angeles, both of which have generated quite the response in terms of hits.

Asked for precedent, Phosdex is quick to note an advert as aired all over Wisconsin Dells (a popular Midwestern summer resort area) on a cable access channel there in 1989 as featured the late impresario Tommy Bartlett ("we were quite good friends," Phosdex will admit) admitting that he was "giving [Dells visitors] the presents" in the form of a special edition of the Wisconsin Dells thrill show commemorating his 75th birthday.

(Bartlett died on the Labour Day weekend in 1998 of kidney failure, aged 84.)

But that's not to say he isn't asking for apropos congratulations ahead of the occasion; on the contrary, "I am also asking people to support me and offer me congratulations" on the once-in-a-lifetime occasion, adding that he would welcome especially gifts purchased through the Cybershopping page (his "online mall," and more of a "service" than anything, he adds) to that end.

In the final analysis, Phosdex notes, "such is my way of saying 'thanks' to the many thousands as visit my website annually for all the patronage thereof," admitting that he'd like to see some sales off the online mall to help the site's bottom line essentially.

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N.B. "It's Another Prozac Morning in America...." is an independent website of satirically-flavoured opinion and commentary as has no connexion, endorsement or affiliation whatsoever with Eli Lilly & Co., manufacturers of the anti-depressant medication Prozac.