Now it’s explained why Sarah Jessica Parker is in the new GAP ad… They’re opening a chain of GAP stores for women 35 and over. They had GAP Kids, GAP maternity, GAP Body and babyGAP. Now what are they going to call it?
First off, thanks to the Toronto Star for the info below. I’ve stopped linking to the site, since their content expires and leaves lots of dead links on my journal entries.
Starting October 1st, 2004, it will be a lot easier to keep telemarketers at bay. While Canada still doesn’t have a US-style National Do-Not-Call list (yet), we are getting assurance that we get put on any individual company’s DNC list.
Next time you get a telemarketer call, ask if you won “The Contest” (not “A Contest”). I always do that, since I figure that contest winner notifications probably sound similar to telemarketers.
Once the telemarketer stop being confused, then ask to be put on their “Do Not Call List”. Starting in a couple of weeks, they MUST issue a registration number as proof that you are on their list. Write it down, along with the company name (make sure to get that) and - Hell - write down the date too. Keep that by your phone.
If they call again (as one particular Duct Cleaning company keeps doing to me), then you can make a formal complaint to the CRTC… but again, make sure you haven’t won a contest!
The American DNC list has 62 million registered users (about 20% of the population). The Marketing Association has a similar list for its 800 corporate members. You can get yourself added to that list by faxing full name, address and number to (416) 441-4062 or online at the Canadian Marketing Association web site.
Starting October 1st, there’s also a longer list of information the telemarketer MUST provide before starting the sales pitch - including the contact phone number. This is going to be funny… they’re going to be talking for thirty seconds before you can tell them to screw off! Also outlawed are Predictive Dialing Devices (PDD’s) that let them dial a bunch of numbers at once, then whoever picks up gets the call. The others get dead air. (Well, not ‘outlawed’, but ‘fewer than 5%’.)
…of course, if you’re feeling really spiteful, hold on to this page - The EGBG Anti-Telemarketing Counterscript (PDF version here). I’ve had a lot of fun with this, and even got someone down to the question on “which toothpaste would you recommend?”
Everyone has those little clips of memory from childhood that they still hold on to. Often they’re of significant events - my mom’s amazed that I remember pulling up to our “new” house in Barrie, even though I was three and a half years old. However, there are memories that have no real significance, but are just programmed so deep into the brain that all the beer in my 20’s can’t find those memory cells. I have one such insignificant memory of running from the front door of our house in Winnipeg to the back door.
So I’m not surprised when I have memories that resurface every month or so that have no real connection to anything. Recently, I’ve drawn a line between one such memory and a “complex” (for lack of a better word) of mine.
When I was young, something like six or seven, I tended to lie a lot. I don’t know if it was more or less than an average child, but I did. Where my family failed was letting me know my “tells“. Since then, I have become a very convincing liar when I want to be. However, most children don’t master their “tells” by six, and neither did I. Instead, I wound up learning the morale of the story in “The Boy Who Cried Wolf“.
One day, my mom brought home a six-pack of Mmmarvelous Mmmuffins - a kind of alternative to donuts. I can’t remember when, but shortly afterwards, my mom came to me and asked, “did you eat one of the muffins?”
Not knowing what she was talking about, I simply said, “no”.
That’s when things went wrong. My mom started into the “Stephen, I want you to tell me the truth”, and “Stephen, I won’t be mad, just don’t lie to me”, and finishing off with a “you’re grounded. Do you know why?”
“No”.
“It’s not because you took the muffin. You’re grounded because you lied to me”.
Now what was I supposed to do? I’m six, and my debating skills were at least a good decade off. As a believer of Good and Truth, I didn’t understand why I should throw myself into the fire and accept responsibility for something I didn’t do. A comparable situation would be to plead Guilty to a lesser charge when you’re accused of Grand Theft, you have opportunity and motive, and you don’t have any alibi. But again, I’m SIX. I hadn’t seen enough episodes of L.A. Law to see Jimmy Smits pull that rabbit out of a hat.
John admitted to me later… months or years, I can’t remember… that he took the muffin.
……………
When some people see a police car on the road, they slow down. They make complete stops at red lights before turning right. They turn down a different road…
…or maybe that’s just me.
I’m a very safe driver (no Rain Man joke intended). Since moving to the GTA I’ve become more aggressive, but I’m still pretty aware of my surroundings. I slow down at stop signs more than most drivers do, and I almost NEVER go more than 10 km/h over the speed limit. It’s more than just that “The one time I drive fast, I’m picked off by a cop”-type paranoia. I really feel that the York Region Police are watching me, looking for a reason to give me a ticket.
Such a complex was probably enriched when I was pulled over for expired tags on my licence plate, and he proceeded to dump two more non-moving violation tickets on me. Cops will tell you that they don’t have “Quotas”, but I’ve heard that they have “Expectations”.
The reason this event really pissed me off was that I was cut off three times on the drive that day, and one of those drivers nearly caused an accident. Yet I get pinged for over $300 because my paperwork wasn’t in place.
On the other hand, it might just be another memory, filed in my brain under “Miscellaneous” beside the one where I’m playing in the backyard at Grandma and Grandpa Jordon’s.
*Watch out… gross amounts of IMDB linking below*
Chris Roberts used to be one of my favourite people and one of my most hated people, all at the same time. Chris Roberts was the visionary who created the ground-breaking Wing Commander video game series. However, he was also the one responsible for the Wing Commander movie. This movie had the worst casting and exploitation I have ever seen. Not to mention the movie had lamest looking Kilrathi in any of the Wing Commander franchise… and that’s including the 8-bit cartoon Kilrathi in WC 1 & 2.
Years have passed, and although I still haven’t figured why I shelled out fifteen bucks for the video, I’ve mostly gotten over it. My video game collection has grown to include every version of the primary game series, from Wing Commander 1 through 5. So what if it was the worst casting ever? There will eventually be worse, right?
…
Johnny Knoxville (Jackass) as Luke Duke, Ssean Williams Scott (Stiffler) as Bo Duke, and Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke. They’re moving ahead with the Dukes of Hazzard movie, written and directed by the crew that made the drunk-funny Super Troopers and the financial bomb, Club Dread. In fact, the closest they come to accurate casting is Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg… altho’ I think he’d make a better Roscoe P. Coltrane given his Cannonball Run & Smokey and the Bandit past. If they’re bastardizing the rest of the series (did anyone else think that Daisy used to be the smartest one of the bunch?) they might pull a “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and combine the two characters.
Somehow I feel they’re going after the same campiness that worked for Charlie’s Angels. However, Jay Chandrasekhar is not as talented as McG.
There is no way I’m seeing this movie. Pokemon 2000 clause doesn’t work here.
While my entries may continue being one week apart, I’d like to close that gap. The last two to three weeks have been really busy at work. Actually, this is the most busy I’ve been all year! One project enters approval stage, just as another comes down the pipe. Really nice. I function best under loads of work. I’ve even had the opportunity to do some client Flash work, for the first time in almost 18 months. Oh, how I’ve missed it!
I’ve come to the realization that I never even mentioned that Simone found an apartment downtown. Not only has she found one, she’s moved in! More proof that you’ll have to call me in order to find out what’s going on in my life… this simple Blog just doesn’t always cover it all. In fact, it rarely covers more than whatever is peeving me at the moment.
*cough* *Jays sucking* *cough*
I’m really not sure what effect this will have on the ol’ budget. Simone’s no longer around the corner, so it’s a 50 km round trip to her house. However, once I’m down there, there’s a lot more to do.
For example, last Saturday, we were trying to figure out what to do. It was already almost 10:00. In Richmond Hill/Thornhill, our options were limited to going to a movie ($27, and not all theatres have shows starting after 10:00), renting a movie (store closes at 11), bowling, or some other “date-y” thing. Instead, we picked up the Neo-communist NOW magazine (altho’ I prefer the more moderate Eye) and flipped to the Events section. From there, we found a comedy show at the Tim Sims Playhouse (just beside the main stage at Second City) that started at midnight. Just plain perfect!
We went out and had a drink and a plate of fries (subbing for dinner) before paying about $22 for a brilliant show. Produced by FuzzyCo, we watched a live, improv group named Chicago Neutrino Project make short films and show them almost in real-time.
First, they took items from the audience (we arrived about one minute late, so we didn’t have miscellaneous objects involved), sent out three camera crews, improved scenes around the building, brought the tapes back into the stage room, gave them to the two guys at the back with Apple Powerbooks, digitized the video, then ran out to film a second ‘act’. All three teams ran in and out of the room, submitting their content and having it played in sequence. Three storylines formed, with one climactic end sequence involving characters from all three skits.
I loved it! My interest in Improv was only superceeded by the technology employed and the innovation of combining the two. We stayed for a bit after the show and chatted with the cast to find out a bit more about the process. They mix up the crews every show, and sometimes have to compete with impossible odds (like the World Cup of Hockey semi-finals or the Cubs in the World Series).
Speaking of film technology, I start up my Ryerson courses again tonight. The Digital Film Production was cancelled due to “lack of registrations”. Sucks. That’s the one I was really hoping for. I do not want to go into filmmaking having to worry about film stock, developing celluloid, and storing the original negatives properly so they don’t need to make a visit to Lowry Digital Images in twenty years. While all three Film Production classes are required for the Film Studies certificate, what I really want to do is Digital. Others may disagree with me, but with digital, you can really get closer to the things you’re filming - you don’t have to worry about lugging around huge eff-ing cameras just to hold 1000 feet of 35mm stock.
