Row

for One Word Sunday

Big Brother is advertising…play it again.

In 2012, I mused about Big Brother and Viagra in advertising.  At that time, I hadn’t heard the radio ad from a doctor that promises you’ll get results right at his office.  Is that good thing?  How long do you have to stay before you can safely leave?  Who would want to be the receptionist in that waiting room?

But I digress.  Here’s a re-post of that post.  As I prefer not have to click on another link to get to what I want to read, I’m posting the original here for your reading pleasure.  Please enjoy responsibly.

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So many of the little helpful things on the internet are (or can be), if you think about them, a little creepy. Ads pop up based on things in your emails that are pulled out by something. Before I send an email, a box comes up to inform me that the word “attached” appears somewhere and did I mean to attach a file? If “they” can do this, what other information might “they” be tracking, recording and using? Great conspiracy (and reality) stuff here. But why can’t “they” figure out that I, as a female, am unlikely to want Viagra and not send me spam about it? It’s all more than a bit “1984”.

Speaking of Viagra….I always wonder….are there really that many men who need it? Would they get together for a guys’ night out, hanging around the swimming pool and sing “Viva, Viagra”? Wouldn’t they rather be at home so they don’t miss “the moment”? (Maybe I’m mixing products here, but you get the idea.) I’d also like the bathtub rights for all those Cialis people who sit out on the top of a mountain in his and hers tubs! Never quite got the connection there.

And why on earth would anyone think that insurance should pay for Viagra for prisoners???? Or for anyone, for that matter?

But the question that we’ve never been able to answer satisfactorily and causes gales of laughter every time we toss it around is how do you discreetly get to the doctor or hospital if, after four hours, you’re still “Viva-ing”? As one of our daughters said about something completely unrelated when she was very young, “I never had a problem like that before!” So very true!

Friday Fictioneers–2084

Take heart, all ye brave Fictioneers
For Wednesday is finally here.
Look at the prompt.
Create what you want.
Work through the blood, sweat and tears.

One week I’m sure that I heard,
“One hundred words? That’s absurd!
I can’t tell my story
In all of its glory
With that few,” some authors averred.

Now that the deadline is near
Even tho’ that story’s so dear
If you wield the scalpel
Relief will be palpable
And your writing all that much more clear.

(Thanks for the striking picture, Jennifer, and for hosting, Rochelle; everyone else for writing and reading.)

copyright-jennifer-pendergast

Genre:  Science fiction

2084

The searing light felt as if it plumbed the depths of his brain before he went under again.

“More anesthetic! Hurry the download.”

………

The once-a-month headache always emanated from his right eye.  His government-assigned doctor offered no explanation, assuring him the brain scan found nothing abnormal.  More disturbing were the sense of emptiness and the loss of short-term memory the next day; possible side-effects of age, he surmised.  As he proffered his pass at the high-level security gate, he wondered again why he couldn’t forget that jingle from his “Ancient Advertising” class:  “Is it live or is it Memorex?”

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For those of you too young to remember Memorex (pun not intended but noted) , here are a couple links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZyFcJcZiaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhfugTnXJV4

This week I had two stories and couldn’t decide which one I liked better.  I’m posting this one today and  I’ll post the other Thursday, then come back and edit this post so the link is included.  (Here’s the link for story #2: https://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/friday-fictioneers-2-the-eyes-have-it/.) If you’d like to read both, wonderful; if you have more than enough other stories to read, I completely understand!  🙂  In the meantime, for stories by other Fictioneers, click on the little blue guy that follows and settle in for some fun.