Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Yesterday, I met Michael Parenti when he bought something from…
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2002 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Yesterday, I met Michael Parenti when he bought something from my register. Neat! Also bought at my register by someone else: a copy of Adbusters. Why would you buy Adbusters on Buy Nothing Day? I didn't ask for fear of offense.
As an aural Anglophile (like so many of us), I found it disorienting to deal with a Brit who asked rather elementary questions in a plummy accent.
But the most important thing: the Muppet Christmas movie. Muppet! It was excellent. I found it very funny, if a little sappy (as required in Muppet movies, especially made-for-TV holiday ones). Lots of sight gags, including an alternate-universe Sam the American Eagle as a glowstick-wielding raver. Funny bits included:
[halfway through the show] Kermit: Gee, Miss Bitterman, I can't believe you'd do this to us on Christmas Eve.In the It's a Wonderful Life segment, we saw that Miss Piggy without Kermit isn't a harlot, as I'd feared, just pathetic -- probably a better choice.
Miss Bitterman: Hmm. By now, you'd think you'd have realized I'm the bad guy....
Person Valiantly Trying to Help Kermit: Listen! I know Miss Bitterman changed the contract!
Kermit: Hey, how did you know that? You're not from one of those Muppet Internet fan sites, are you?
...
Person Valiantly Trying to Help Kermit: Alert the media! Stop the presses! Start a frenzy!
Kermit: That wouldn't help. Bitterman Bank owns the paper, the TV stations, and three quarters of the Internet.
Person: How can that be?
Kermit: Corporate synergy, it's out of control. [crosses his legs; an NBC logo is visible on the sole of his foot; NBC three-note melody plays]
As an aside -- I wish I'd thought of "It's a Wonderful Lie" first.
