Is A Part Of
Okay, I am very intrigued by the “Write a MasterCard Commercial” contest introduced during the Oscars TMAMPAS* Telecast. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to go totally freeform, you have to fit one of the two pre-produced spots used to introduce the contest.
In one, a guy with an old typewriter and writers block sittling out in a field is ‘rescued’ by a woman on a motorcycle… “Blank: $9, Blank: $60, Blank: $110, Blank: Priceless.” I can’t imagine him spending more than $9 on that typewriter, the motorcycle helmet he wears as he’s riding off into the sunset could be $110, but that piece of open land where he was had to require a real estate loan.
In the other, a guy apparently living on a sailboat gets a letter from a rowboat-postman, smiles and dives into the water…”Blank: $52, Blank: $129, Blank: $40, Blank: Priceless.” For a brief period while I was growing up, my father had enough money to own a sailboat. Over 35 years ago, you couldn’t buy squat for a sailboat with that kind of money.
In other words, this feels more like a puzzle than a creative writing project, and I got nothin’.
I can say:
Windows Media Center/DVR equipped home computer with a 19-inch LCD monitor: $818 (via eBay, but, yeah, you can use a MasterCard on eBay if you pass it through PayPal first).
Being able to fast-forward through all the bad parts of the Oscars TMAMPAS* Broadcast (AND take a break for a “Foster’s Home” cartoon I recorded earlier): Priceless
Almost missing the MasterCard Contest Announcement Commercials because I’m fast-forwarding, rewinding, going to priceless.com and discovering the contest isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be: Worthless.
Now, let’s see… who won the Award for Best Clooney this year?
*I learned sometime ago not to mention that awards ceremony by name without TRADEMARKACADEMYOFMOTIONPICTUREARTSANDSCIENCES, or TMAMPAS
