Well, you know what they say…”Imitation is the best form of flattery”. So another blogger, What’s Your Point at First2Board, makes fun of my blog and I LOVED it! It made me laugh so hard I think you should laugh too! So, I got permission and here it is, enjoy:
TravelBloggerBuzzParody: Rodent Droppings, Rio de Janeiro, Toll Bridge, North Korea & more!
Simply brilliant! Thank you!
And thanks to all my readers, enjoy!
Here it is the direct link to it. Even the title is so TBBish:-)
TRAVEL
First2Board announced the details of their Charleston sessions. I’m thinking about going just so I can confront Mr Pickles in person and ask him what happened to his “secrets” series that he promised to reveal to us. Ugh. I was hoping he would divulge stuff about eyebrow hair.
How to use FlyerTalk app. Yeah, ok. The first two hits in the first screen shot are from someone named Canarsie. Who the frig is this Canarsie anyway, and why would the writer of the article have Who Will Be The Next FlyerTalk Member To Post? as the top choice? I can think of millions of other threads I’d rather read on FlyerTalk.
Points Summary posts a series about the sights and sounds of Rio de Janiero. The latest in this series is Centro, and the photo above is from Sugarloaf Mountain. Now I’m in the mood for some Brazil nuts. Sounds right. I read about Brazil and I’m nuts.
An absolutely gorgeous bridge which may be the most expensive toll bridge in North America depending on what you drive. Think I’d rather swim.
This brings the phrase “I would kill to have dinner” to a whole new level. WTF?
MILES/POINTS
Get 40 My Coke Rewards points just for signing up as a member of the Red Robin Royalty program. Nothing like free points and free food…and no affiliate links!
Speaking of affiliate links, what’s with What’s Your Point? A record 513 affiliate links were embedded in one entry containing only a total of 15 words. How’d he do that? 
BLOG BUZZ
Get ready for yet another blog. First post by Wald Around The World is about…you guessed it…going around the world for 6 months, and he bought his ticket on Groupon. Matt Wald quit his law firm job to do it. I would do the same thing if I didn’t have this blog taking up all of my time. Maybe I can think of a way to get affiliate links to pay for my trip and blog about it at the same time.
View From The Wing posts about two favorite readers for when Google Reader goes bye-bye on July 1: Bazqux and Newsblur — but they cost money. WTF, Gary Leff? I ain’t got no dime for dat!!!
Heck froze over today. My love affair with Delta Points continues…he actually apologized today for a mistake he made! His “mistake” was that he didn’t post Delta Points on Facebook sooner. Now you can keep scrolling FOREVER and “like” everything along the way. Just what I want to do about the blog about my beloved airline…NOT.
The Gate posts some stuff about the FDA inspecting the airplane you are on. Rodent excreta pellets and mammalian urine, anyone? I wanted to see pictures of that, but Brian Cohen did not include any of them, and I’m hungry now! I am trying not to be one of them angries again, but I can’t stand when bloggers blatantly promote themselves and post links to their blogs anywhere and anytime they dang well feel like it.
So much of the same crap in the blogosphere…I am tired. And it’s getting late and have all day of meetings tomorrow. Who the freak has meetings on Sunday? Cut me some slacks s’il vous plait. I’ll even take pants instead of slacks. Get me a tie so I can wrap it around my neck. Sock it to me ’cause I’m full of shirt!!!
ON MY MIND
This blog is taking too much of my time. I haven’t slept in five months, and I have way too much reading to catch up on. Maybe I can think of a way to sleep while I blog. I’ll ask WordPress if there’s a plug-in for that as I eat my dinner while I take my shower on Thursday.
I can’t believe this blog is still here. No one reads it. No, wait, I take that back. Wife is thrilled that she is no longer the only person reading this thing. Readership tripled when I finally convinced my son and daughter to read it. Must’ve been that threat of a one-way trip to Yorkton, Saskatchewan in January that convinced them. Did I spell Saskatchewan correctly? WTF is a Saskatchewan?!? Sounds like some hairy monster. Anyway, maybe now I can convince some credit card companies to let me post affiliate links.
It’s been 30 years since I was 16 years old. I miss those days. No writing this blog which takes at least 29 hours out of my day and 70 years off of my life.
Darn Miami Heat with the way they are playing in the NBA Finals series. Screw it. I’d rather watch my dream game one day: 49ers vs. 76ers in the Stanley Cup finals. I predict that the 76ers would beat the 49ers. Final score in last game: 76-49, of course!
ODDZ & ENDZ
North Korea declares war on the sea. Nuff said!
North Korea vows to build up nucular deterrent. My imitation of GWB. Nucular. Get it? Good, huh?
North Korea declares that they are a sovereign country. Oh wait…that was back in 1948. Never mind.
House for sale in Atlanta for the bargain basement price of $14,900. Think North Korea can afford to buy it?
Himalayan salt caves. Supposed to heal you. Salt comes from place too close to North Korea for me.
22 Places hard to believe they exist. Yeah, I know I ran this before. But I never get bored with Bored Panda. Sorry this was not about North Korea. I know it has been 47 seconds since I last posted about North Korea.
Want some free flatbread from Chili’s? Claim it now before they’re (burp) all gone!
_____________________________
My point on this parody of TravelBloggerBuzz — which is one of the few weblogs I read on a regular basis, by the way — is that I think I know why George spends so much time writing that weblog: because a significant portion of it is not about the travel, miles and points blogosphere.
Bored Panda and Twisted Sifter do contain good content — but I believe that George should pare down TravelBloggerBuzz to report only on the buzz with weblogs and keep us on our toes. That should significantly cut down on the time he needs to write TravelBloggerBuzz daily.
What’s that? You like all that extra stuff? I have a solution: launch another weblog, George! Include the amazing photographs, odds and ends, videos and other such content in that other weblog. C’mon, George — you can do it!
I know what you are thinking, George: what idiot would actually write two weblogs on a regular basis?
…hey, wait a minute — What’s Your Point?!?!?
And I am first again. Of course it isn’t a competition 🙂
Love this post! It sounds like you wrote it and had I not seen it on f2b earlier I probably would have fallen for it. 😛
Yes the author clearly captured what TBB is about!
That was a great parody but you can ignore the suggestions on how to improve your blog. Please don’t change your content! The only thing I would like to see is a blog roll side bar with links down the right side of the page, where the recent comments box is right now. That way I can go to any of the blogs you mention in the body of your post. Add this before you add your affiliate links, ha, ha!
Thank you very much!
If I split the content int two I will certainly go bold in a flash!
The comments in the right side will eventually go, I don’t like them there either. I just have to look around to see what to replace them with. I am thinking of doing what Mile Nerd has done and add all referral links But the only two I fully endorse are ebates and the CapitalOne/ING ones. I just can not shove every one I get (especially Top Cash Back!).there like some bloggers do!
So what do you mean by adding a blog roll with links? Are you referring to the common ones we see around the web with links to the blogs we like (maybe I keep my top ten there…hmmm). Or do you mean throw there the links from each day’s Buzz post so readers (pressed on time) avoid reading my incendiary commentary (haha) and just go straight to the links highlighted in the buzz post? I wonder if there is an app (or widget or plugin )that does exactly that…
Thanks again.
Yes to putting just the links to the blogs. Your blog is the first one I go to daily to see what kind of trouble you’ve stirred up. Then after I read your blog and spend more than a few minutes looking at the material in your links (and sometime sharing them on FB) I could then go check out the blogs myself. I am not very tech-savvy and don’t do RSS feeds and all that. So I could just go straight from your blog to say, Rapid Travel Chai (another favorite). I don’t know much about blogs and websites, but couldn’t you just have those blog links there and not have to do any upkeep on them?
Oh I see, you want the main links to the blogs. Eventually I will get to that. This is a long term project…emphasis on the word “long”.
The Ink linkfest is about to start, but props to MMS for being the only major blogger to post about it without his referral links.
Say what?! Check out his post from Friday (June 14).
Actually he updated his links to disclose ………………………
I posted this on Twitter Sunday morning…
I predict a GIANT orgy of Chase Ink affiliate links all week long. Brace yourselves!
I am thinking about doing a Top 10 Ridiculous Things Bloggers Wrote on the latest Chase Ink promo.
But first I need to finish the trip report from my mega trip last year…it has been in the works for…ever!
This is what I am doing while everyone else is on a major pump mode:-)
Currently going viral. Spreading faster than the H5N1 virus.
How do I pretend to have a business? Never before have so many addicts had a small business.
Just imagine what this would do to the unemployment rate if all these small businesses created jobs too:-)
Oh please. We’re talking about a few hours here on a Sunday. So MMS was up in the middle of the night and others weren’t.
The real test is: (1) who told their readers in advance that a better offer was coming? (2) who removed their links once they knew a better offer was coming, so that readers weren’t inadvertently applying for a lesser offer?
Saying MMS got their first by a few hours doesn’t tell us anything meaningful. Others might have been sleeping in, or on a plane (I think in Lucky’s case).
MMS did warn us. VFTW warned us first I think? Mommy Points warned us too. I know that VFTW’s warning about a better offer did not include referral links for the lesser offer. They were looking after their readers’ interests.
>>>>>> They were looking after their readers’ interests.
This is what it should be all about!!!
Some bloggers live in such a bubble that they do not even realize they are NOT looking after their readers’ interests. One word comes to mind: narcissism
I will have my husband apply for the Bold card, but at the bank. They may have an even better offer and told me last time I was in that if immediately approved, they can have the card sent to us faster (like overnight or 2 day air) than if we apply online on our own. Haven’t seen any of the usual suspects suggesting that their readers stop by the bank to apply.
Luckily hubby also needs to add his John Hancock to our safety deposit box, newly opened at Chase after they offered us both a $200 cashback and a discount on a box if we opened an account. Good deal all around, given our previous bank had moved, making the box a lot less convenient. The Chase folks, at least here, are very welcoming – gave me a shopping bag full of Chase swag too. Given their good signup bonuses on a variety of cards, I think establishing a banking relationship was a good idea. Consider it if you plan to apply for the card.
Please report back on what your husband finds out. It could be huge news if the bank can consistently offer better than the bloggers/touts!
On a somewhat related note, my friend got a great deal for a Frontier CC from one of those airport people who push credit cards. I did not believe that could be so but the offer she got was 10K more points than the best one online. So it *is* possible that online is not always the best deal! Score one for old fashioned face to face dealings! Mano e mano.
Some of the bloggers seem to be taking their cues from Fox News – anyone that voices dissenting opinions is immediately branded as being “Angry” and that provides a convenient out for them to completely disregard the substantive points people are raising. Some of the recent comments on FT even go as far as singling out these commenters for spoiling the miles & points game (seriously, now?!). This is a business like any other and when (knowledgeable) customers raise legitimate concerns, brushing them off as being motivated by anger and envy and worse, and painting them with such a broad brush only serves to de-legitimze your own business in the minds of buyers. I agree there are certain instances when some of the anonymous commenters do take things too far (for example, abcx’s attacks on VFTW). But it is the thoughtful response put forth by the blogger that elevates them above the rest of the fray (and is one reason why Gary has earned my respect, for example).
Yep, if you ‘ve been around long enough…you notice the pattern
I think you should start a contest: How many tweets are posted about Chase Ink/Bold in the next week. Closest guess could “win” a guest blog on your site or maybe donate all your affiliate link income for that week. My closest guess is: one bizillion
Brings to my mind the motto:
To infinity and beyond!
lol
@ bluecat, Actually there have been a few bloggers who have mentioned that sometimes the deal is best at the bank, including The Miles Professor and another but I forget who. I was aware of it before that, after a Chase banker tried to convince me to apply for the CSP in the bank, promising me that the signup bonus needed a lower minimum spend that way. Since I’d just done an AOR I was not interested, but decided to apply for the Bold that way. Luckily, this new offer popped close to when we were planning to apply anyway. But we may not get to the bank before Wed. so if you are curious, call a Chase branch tomorrow!
hey sweetheart i went from the mean streets of Elmont to the mean streets ot Tualatin, small world.
Elmont, NY?!
I made the reference to this in the Chase post!
Is dere anuther? Jus down the road (Jamaica Blvd) from you.
Hey howya doin dere Buzz, looks like your buddy, that squealer TheMrPickles made a post today. In my neighborhood we live by the Omerta a code of silence. Capisce? But it was only a tease, not enough to put anybody in the slammer. He also left a shout out for you.Showed respect, I like dat. Forgetaboutit.
to be continued…
To make it truly authentic, we need to leave a bunch of spam comments on that post…
You are right but, oh god, please no:-)
That picture at the top of the post is mislabeled. It’s not even Sugarloaf, it’s Morro da Babilonia. Sheesh, eveyone knows that.
Ok;-)