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"Why don't we get things started?" --the Muppet Show audience "Why must we get things started?" --Statler and Waldorf |
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Telemarketing and Television "Are you the person in charge of the phone account at this number?" "Yes." "You're paying about $30-$40 a month for local service with Bell Atlantic, right?" "Yeah." "Well, I'm calling from MCI WorldCom, and we'll switch you over to our service, so that you'll only pay $20 a month." "No thanks." "Why don't you want to save all that money?" "See, I heard the terms the last four times you guys called, and the way my calling patterns are, it would actually cost me more." "Oh." "Thanks anyway, though..."
I actually don't mind telemarketers that much. Okay, the last time MCI called, it was during Buffy, which I didn't appreciate, but I managed to get rid of them in record time on the occasion in question. And they've woken me up once or twice... but, on the whole, I can abide telemarketers without getting irritated. This is largely because I know that I could have been one of them. The only reason I haven't looked into working in telemarketing myself is that I know that, given the way I talk, I wouldn't stand a chance. Being able to communicate is essential to the job, and I just speak too quickly. If not for that... well, let's face it, the job is just made for starving college students, and I fit that description fairly well. Decent pay (for a starving college student), no experience required, you can work weird hours... you just have to live with the fact that your line of work is only slightly more respected than the legal profession. No, I can live with human telemarketers. It's the mechanical ones that drive me bonkers. There are few things more obnoxious than having a machine calling people up so that they can listen to a recording when they answer the phone. With that having been said, I do wish the MCI people would give it a rest. I've heard from them entirely too many times lately, and I already like my phone service the way it is. (Local service from Bell Atlantic, and no long-distance carrier; I use 10-10-321 and 10-10-220 for long-distance calls.) But, well, whatever.
I found out late this past semester that Professor J had never actually seen the Muppets. None of the movies, and not a single episode of the '70s TV series. Clearly, something had to be done about this. So I informed him, in no uncertain terms, that he had two options: either he could come to my apartment, and I'd rent The Muppet Movie, or we could go to the Museum of Television and Radio, where we'd watch a few episodes of The Muppet Show. He chose the latter, and after numerous attempts to get him on the phone, I finally got hold of him, and, almost two weeks ago, we settled on yesterday as the big day. It figures, of course, that the day we settled on would turn out to be the day a snow storm hit New York. Nonetheless, I made it there just in time, and we went on to watch five episodes of The Muppet Show in one two-hour sitting. I'd never actually seen that many in one shot before; I invariably see one episode every time I visit the place, but I usually spend the rest of the time watching other stuff. But we saw the episodes guest starring Madeline Kahn, Ethel Merman, Liberace, Pearl Bailey, and Harry Belafonte. Most of those were ones I hadn't seen before, the exceptions being the first half of the Liberace episode, and Harry Belafonte's. I love Harry Belafonte's episode. I mean, he even got Statler and Waldorf to sing and dance; how cool is that? Anyway, Professor J now claims that, having seen the show, the knowledge that I was exposed to it at a young age explains everything. Hey, I can buy that.
Whoever's doing the M&M commercials deserves a raise.
Speaking of entertaining television... needless to say, I made sure I was home in time for Buffy. My reception's been pretty good for the past few weeks; I don't know if this means that my neighbors haven't been using whatever appliance was interfering with it, or if it's solely due to my finding the optimal antenna position for channel 11. I think the writers may have tried to move the overall plot along a bit too quickly in the latest episode, but Spike continues to be great, and I'm certainly not complaining. Personally, I'm hoping The Initiative gets totalled by the end of the season, and that Buffy and the gang are at least partly responsible for that. The only thing I can't quite decide is which side I want Riley on when it comes to the final showdown. I'm tending towards including him amongst the bad guys, but I'm still flexible on that. (Incidentally, if you have any inside information on where the show is heading, don't tell me; I don't want to know. On the other hand, if you haven't read any spoilers, and you want to schmooze, feel free.) As for Angel... Wesley's not Doyle, but he's not bad, either. The only problem is that with him and Cordelia both providing comic relief, the show's moving closer to Buffy's light-hearted tone. I'd liked the fact that Angel was darker. But I'm quibbling, and I trust the writers, so we'll see what happens.
I could have sworn there was usually a week-long break from football before the Super Bowl. Am I wrong, or did they change things this year? Not that I care about football in the least; I don't. But I do care about advertising. And I'm quite excited that, for the first time in years, I'll be able to watch the Super Bowl ads. Well, assuming my reception is good enough. I wonder what station they'll be on? <Shmuel checks the newspaper.> ABC. Hmmph. Okay, I'll have to keep the computer off. It would have been nice to be able to use it between commercial breaks, but I can manage.
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