BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!

Subject: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 03:44 PM

Since we're in dire need of sober & serious artistic discussion around here, I offer these excerpts from article in my local paper (yes, that IS all I read) for consideration:

The Trek Back To Profitablity
October 6, 2002
By JOHN M. MORAN , The Hartford Courant

When actor William Shatner first hit the TV screen on behalf of Norwalk-based Priceline.com, the company's future looked limitless.

It was in 1999 that Shatner, best known for playing Capt. James T. Kirk on "Star Trek," launched a memorable series of Priceline commercials featuring him as an atonal lounge singer.

The quirky campaign, along with earlier radio and print ads, helped make Priceline one of the premier names in Internet commerce, right alongside such luminaries as Amazon.com, eBay and America Online....

Now, Shatner is back touting Priceline in a multimillion-dollar series of TV commercials featuring him and the Priceline "Super Computer." But it's a far different Priceline than the one he fronted a few years ago....the company's stock price is mired in the low single-digits....And they're counting on Shatner's latest collection of TV commercials to help them recapture at least some of the company's early magic....
***************************************************************
OK, USA & Canada JT Kirk fans, have you seen the commercials? Wow. A *classic* performance. Truly indescribable. And that *computer*! Such *personality*!! Got to have a major effect on the stock. :)

--Pook Provocatuer

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 04:20 PM

The possibility of seeing Shatner in his role as Priceline's spokesman/lackey makes me regret yet be eternally thankful that I don't have a television.

Okay Pook - How's that for obfuscation?

Bruce

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 07:07 PM

Oh, my! And there I was just mentioning how few S***ner threads had been on Mudcat lately... It's spooky! You just can't keep Big Bill down!

Man, I'm gonna have to start watching TV again...well, maybe for 5 minutes anway.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 07:31 PM

Pretty obfuscin' good, bee-dubya. Bee Plus. :)

Ohh, LH, ya gotta see it! It's magnificent. Homeric. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: khandu
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 08:19 PM

Ah, I almost had an orgasm!

khandu

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 08:19 PM

Almost? So sorry. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: GUEST,Horse Shat
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 08:40 PM

This is dumber than those 99 horse punching threads. At least they are about music, sort of.   I did think it was cattle that cowboys punched, not horses though. Back to Shatner, sort of. Shat up!

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 09:50 PM

Dear Horse Shat,

Before being so quick to condemn, please consider the unique status of William Shatner among modern cultural icons. No man has boldly gone so far into the heart of Western popular culture bearing so little talent. Read between the lines. The Shatner threads aren't just about the man. They're about the cultural phenomenon of hero worship - whether the hero is deserving of the status or not. And if heroes, real or imagined, genuine or fraudulent, are not the provenance of folk music then we need to eliminate about half the songs in the DT.

Bruce
   

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 10:07 PM

Hee hee / Well said & Yes indeedy, beedy. So take *that*, Horse Shat. (Nice pun-gency though, O thou equine-defecated. "Shat up", to be sure! *G*)

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: khandu
Date: 06 Oct 02 - 10:31 PM

Well said, bee-dubya-ell! And a good retort from you, Pooka!

khandu

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: radriano
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 07:45 PM

Enough with the Shatner posts, already. You're using up perfectly good space with this crap.

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 07 Oct 02 - 08:27 PM

Why do people who object to threads' subject matter feeled compelled to open them up and bitch about it? Why can't they just ignore them?

If you don't like it, you have every right in the world to not click on it, but don't try to take away other people's right to say it.

Bruce

(Who, incidentally, is not a Shatner fan but is a big fan of The First Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 02:47 AM

Of course, the ultimate would now be that he has joined 'Punch the Horse' and we can't escape him anywhere!!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: radriano
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 11:34 AM

Normally I do refrain from posting to threads I object to but there have been NUMEROUS shatner threads. And besides, the First Amendment gives me the right to voice my opinion too, no?

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 11:42 AM

I think Shatne ris possibly the second most boring topic ever introduced on the 'Cat.

There.   

I said it.

And I'm GLAD, do you hear me?? GLAD!!!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 12:20 PM

Really? You intrigue me, Amos. What is the FIRST most boring topic ever introduced on the 'Cat?

The real reason people object to Shatner-worship is because they feel left out...out in the cold...disadvantaged, next to those of us who glory in unabashed Shatner promotion. The poor sods just don't get it. They have my sypmathy. And my sympathy too.

I was in one of the local computer stores yesterday, talking to the guy behind the counter, who is a large, cheerful gent with a good knowledge of hardware and software...and I couldn't help noticing he was wearing a Star Trek tie! Yes! It had nice color renderings of all the main characters from the original show...McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Spock, Checkov, and the mighty Captain Kirk. We got in a big discussion about the humorous aspects of Shatner's legendary acting technique and he pointed out that Bill started out in Shakespearian drama. Thus he was schooled in a form of stage acting that is FAR more dramatic and "gesture"-oriented than film acting, and the poor guy just couldn't shake the habit later when he got into films. So, we got the most gung-ho over-emoting Captain in TV history. Pretty cool.

What really floored me was this...the guy in the computer store had heard of the William Shatner School of BAAAAAAD Acting! I've no idea where he heard of it, but he did. And it's all due to my efforts. Gosh. I threw a pebble, and the ripples have just kept on going out to infinity, it seems. This may indeed be the one great legacy which I leave behind at the conclusion of this incarnation.

Bored yet, Amos? :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 12:42 PM

Radriano,

"And besides, the First Amendment gives me the right to voice my opinion too, no?"

Absolutely, unquestionably, and unequivocally. Ain't it a grand thing? You just keep on sayin' what you gotta say.

You too, Amos.

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 12:43 PM

Probably not Hawk.......I tell you this though, Shatner was not acting when the enema hose blew out of Punch the Horse bung! Blew him halfway across the barn and ruined his rug.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Don Firth
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 12:46 PM

I can't say that I follow the Shatner threads with much consistency, but I find that they contain at least a dim ray of light. As BWL says above, "No man has boldly gone so far into the heart of Western popular culture bearing so little talent."

Don't you see what that means? If Shatner can make it, there's hope for us all!!!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 01:04 PM

I believe you have hit the very crux of the matter, Don. Well said.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 02:23 PM

If you really want to learn about the glorification of absolute mediocrity, study the collected works of Condolezza Scwartz. She is the most brilliant exemplar of the artform ever conceived. She makes Shatner look...well...positively qualified in comparison.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 02:24 PM

Don Firth - Yer right by God! Ha-harrrrr!

But Amos - yeah, so what *IS* the Fustest with the Boringest? (Hm. Bee dubba'ly careful wot you Ax fer, Poox...)

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 06:05 PM

The most boring topic ever entered into on the Mudcat is the general persiflage about how woeful, inadequate, imperfect and unsatisfying individual Mudcatters and the Mudcat itself are. Nothing more boring than a buncha groundless whinging, IMNSHO.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 08:23 PM

Dead right, Amos! That is it. I applaud your keen sense of discrimination.   You know Shatnerization when you see it. The only useful thing one can do with that stuff is make fun of it mercilessly...or ignore it entirely. The thing I like about Bill is that he doesn't take himself all that seriously. One can hardly say that about the people who whine and complain endlessly about the imperfections of Mudcat Cafe and its membership...

But...Condolezza Schwartz??? Huh? Geez...gotta take a look on Google and see...

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 08:27 PM

I find nothing about her, Amos. Check the spelling on that name, please. I must find out if she is indeed the apex of mediocrity combined with success.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 09:33 PM

She is a renowned folksong writer.

She has been written up extensively by PeterT, her manager, in the "Murder at the Folk Festival" fiction thread .

She is the Mistress of Inspired Mediocrity.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 10:08 PM

b'Jasus Amos & here I thought mebbe you had meant Condoleeza *Rice*. Scary she may be (intimidating, to me -- wotta woman :) but mediocre she ain't, fer sherr.

But t'anks be to Gawd, annyway; I was a-feered ye wuz gonna say "all them fookin' Ireland threads". LOL! / O SO IT'S GENERAL PERSIFLAGE IZZIT? Saaaay, isn't that a chantey by Great Big Sea?

The Mudcat Whole (no Catspaw jokes now boys) is greater than the Sum of our occasionally inadequate, imperfect, & Unsatifying Parts. (No Catspaw.. / see above). We're the Berries, sez I.

Frankly I started this thread with some Trepidation. (But enough about me venial sins..) Against my Better Judgement. HAHAHA & wot might THAT be if you please) My Lips told me Yes Yes but there was No Nose on me Face, & so forth. I dunno the whole dark history of all this Shatner shite; but I like it, & thought the threadstarting article excerpt, and the new commercial, were funny. That's all. I think the commentary, by and large (what *does* that mean anyway?), Bears me Out. Awwright, who yelled "Good idea"?

-- Adm. Percy Flagellae
("Givvem a Taste of the 'Cat")

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 10:40 PM

That's more like it' Pookah! The old Pook is back in the groove! Postin' them posts that just make ya wanna scratch your head and go "What the fuck is he talkin' about?". YOU DA MAN!

WE REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO ARBITRARY RULES OF GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION!
Bee-dub-etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: The Pooka
Date: 08 Oct 02 - 10:50 PM

**LOL** heeheeheehee // Fook the Rules, BeDub! // Yees the Bees.

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 12:27 AM

I suspect there might be some kinship in alphabetical handles after all -- this B. Dub sounds like he mighta been G. Dub's grade school teacher!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Kaleea
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 12:41 AM

Shatner who?   Oh! You mean the giant head? Cap'n Kirk? Golly gee, how could I have missed him when he was on every morning, afternoon & nite talk show on TV? Actually, seeing him on a talk show one afternoon showing his new commercial prompted me to get online @ priceline & get the absolute cheeeepest airline ticket price for a friend! Whodda thunkit?

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 11:40 AM

Amos - Kee-rist! Sorry I asked. If you think I'm going to read the whole damned thread, you're crazy. I don't usually go much for the story-written-by-fifty-different-people concept. She sounds a little like Joni Mitchell on a bad weekend with no cigarettes. Does she wear Birkenstocks?

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 12:25 PM

Little Hawk:

I can only throw pearls. I can't talk the metaphorical swine into liking them!! You are turning away from some really deathless prose, is all I can say. If you are really gonna be snobbish about it, just scroll through the thread until you find the songs written and sung by the truly great Condolezza Schwartz.

Like my grandad the gardner always told me, you can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her read!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 12:46 PM

Actually, Amos, the story is:

King Rose held a lively court. All went well until he was besmitten by a young growth known as Mistress Daisy. To the horror of all, he made her his queen even though she was a complete cultural barbarian. He wined her and dined her, took her to the theater, ballet, balls, poetry readings, political debates and all sorts of other enlightening events. Nothing seemed to get through.

Finally, with great regret, he had some rotenone slipped to her. He later remarked: "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Amos
Date: 09 Oct 02 - 01:22 PM

Pretty flowery stuff, EB! ANd the fertilizer seems familiar, too! :>) Thanks for the fine academic work!

:>)


A

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 11:05 AM

Okay, Amos...scroll through, it is...

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Priceline Lives: Shatner Returns!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 11:23 AM

Uh-huh. Well, never have I waded through so much interminable dross in order to find one unbelievably bad song about farmers. Ugh. It's even worse than Murray McLaughlin's "Farmer Song".

I must explain something, Amos. I detest the modern American novel. I don't read them. Ever. They are like road kill on the highway of world literature. I am completely uninterested in contemporary fiction, whether or not it involves a murder story, a cold war plot, a terrorist faction, or someone named Cosmo.

Blah. This is why I can't get into these stories on Mudcat. They sound way too much like the stuff they are imitating.

I must say, though, that Peter T. is a very good writer nonetheless.

- LH