Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Fun with telemarketers

“Hello, this is – “
“IS THAT YOU?” (sounding excited).  “I’ve been waiting so long for your call.  I got the body chopped up and stuffed in the bag like you told me – now what?”
Wait for the long silence.
Then have fun with them.  Try to convince them they need to help you hide this body. Give suggestions (“There’s a swamp nearby,” you can say kinda thoughtfully.”).  When things get too serious – or they are suggesting you call the cops, tell them: “But it’s one of THEM!  He told me to do it.”  Make up some story about blackmail from a county commissioner; or that you did a ‘hired hit’ – not as a professional – and now you got this body. In a bag.
Or do what my mom did:
“OH MY GOD!” She cried.  “HOW CAN YOU CALL ME AT A TIME LIKE THIS!  MY HUSBAND JUST DIED!  HE’S LAYING ON THE FLOOR RIGHT THERE!  THE AMBULANCE HASN’T EVEN COME!”  And then go into a screaming crying raging fit, trying to elicit as much sympathy – and instill as much guilt for calling her at this time – as humanly possible.
And then you can take it two ways.
1) Ask them if they are selling a life insurance policy. You need one now that your husband died.  And yeah – you wanna take it out on him.  (You can even play the ‘blame game’ – claim you were doing CPR and stopped to take the call, thinking it was the ambulance – and now HE’S DEAD! (cry).
2) Suddenly stop, and in a casual way, become interested in buying their product – whatever it is they’re selling.
and then there’s this one:
“shhhh!” you say quietly the moment you realize who it is.  “There’s a man/stranger in my house. I think he wants to kill me.”  And then go on to tell the telemarketer she/he needs to call 911 – and no, you won’t hang up, you want someone to talk to while this is going on – and occasionally stop to say ‘hush!’ while pretending to listen around.  Then somewhere along the line (before things get TOO serious) – SHRIEK! (real loud, right into the phone) – scream, bang the phone on the counter or floor (but not TOO hard – it’s easy to ‘get into the moment’ and get into the role of this kind of thing – but you don’t wanna be buying a new phone as a result.  That is NOT too funny.)
Then you can either:
a) long silence.  Then do a man’s heavy breathing into the phone. Then hang up.
b) Just let the phone lay around until THEY hang up.
Then be prepared to handle the cops.
Remember: Denial is everything. You don’t know what they are talking about; it must be somebody playing a prank.  Deny, deny, deny.  Give a soft laugh.  Encourage them ‘in’.  If they’ve found ‘evidence’ (e.g. a phone record) – it must be a wrong number.
Liar liar pants on fire, he’s the one who runs as a free man. 
Have fun with them.  I do.  Nothing better on a cloudy rainy day . . . when ‘they’ make the mistake of calling me – and I decide to have some evil fun. (evil grin!)
’nuff said.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

“Breaking News”- Is it really BREAKING?

 

BREAKING NEWS!!! What comes to your mind when you hear these two words? These are not just words but Powerful Words because the moment we hear them our eyes, ears & mind are all focused towards “What is it NOW”. Just like a coin has two sides, these two words also have inverse effect. Thanks to our Indian Television News Channels that managed to completely change the sense of these words. Today every other news is a BREAKING NEWS. Be it a “celebrity buzz” or Train accident – Both are shown on same platform and with equal importance.

So friends, the so called latest BREAKING NEWS is Actor Saif Ali Khan arrested for assault. Even your favorite English Channel is airing it under BREAKING NEWS section.

It was so surprising to see almost all news channels showing this as Breaking News. Reporters were asking the camera man to show the fans who had been waiting to see the star at the police station. The irony was that in current scenario when we have a burning issue about NCTC (National Counter Terrorism Centre) where at least 13 chief ministers voicing concerns over, don’t this powerful media need to focus on the REAL news. Don’t worry, we will not be getting into any political debate, but the point is should Media be selling “What is just another entertainment “or news on burning issues “Which is actually a BREAKING NEWS”.

But the surprising aspect is that such news over powers the real news that is important to the nation. Do you think the news channels should be wise while flashing the word “Breaking News” in their respective channels?? Or do you think they should have the liberty to sell anything and everything as news?

Remember- “Media is one the strongest tool India has which can change Lives which has the power to change Nation”.

As Spiderman once said “With great power comes great responsibility”. Hope the media also understands their responsibility while using their power.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Strange Names Celebrities Give Their Kids

       There seems to be a long-standing tradition among some celebrities to give their children unusual and, sometimes, truly bizarre names. Rapper, Jay Z, and his wildly popular Pop singing sensation, BeyoncĂ©, christened their newborn daughter Ivy Blue. In fact, the music world power couple are in the process of securing a trademark on the little tyke’s name in case they want to release lines of merchandise bearing the infant’s handle

        And while Ivy Blue may seem a bit peculiar, it actually sounds downright normal compared to the names other celebs have chosen for their youngsters.
  .
 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Why we need a National Year of Reading more than a Year of Writing

 

“Nearly half the population struggles without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work."



This sobering quote comes from the website devoted to the 2012 National Year of Reading officially launched on February 14. The website is here http://www.love2read.org.au/about-us.cfm




Unless we have readers, writers have no one to write for. I believe writing – like all communication – needs a sender and a receiver. Until the writing (the message) is received/read by a reader, the transaction isn’t complete.




I can very well recall, that, in my very young days, reading books was never seen as a waste of time. It was our entertainment. It was also education but we didn’t know that then. Reading was just fun.




As a reader, my only hope is this culture continues.

The Chinese New Year



When I discovered that the Chinese New Year begins on January 23rd, the first thought that popped into my head was, “Whoa! Another new year, another chance for a do-over!” The second was, “We should go out for a Chinese dinner." The third was, “Oh wow! I should check out my Chinese Horoscope." Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t even checked my horoscope for 2012.


The fascination for astrology had started way back in 6th grade. I would flip magazines and newspapers for my dose of daily fate. But soon, the interest waned.


It's back. After googling Gemini 2012 forecast, I found tat the first and most reliable would be Ask Ganesha, a forecast provider.


The report was not bad: http://www.askganesha.com/gemini/gemini-daily-horoscope.asp





By the way, Happy Chinese New Year 2012!

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