Friday, June 10, 2011

McDougalhopper Points System

A friend and I have been having a written conversation about Star Trek. Mostly we've been discussing the superficial and obvious points such as which series is superior, how Voyager was pandering to women viewers, etc. I ended up awarding this friend a thousand bonus imaginary points for liking Star Trek: The Next Generation.

He had been watching the later Star Trek movies, so I recommended the fourth one to him. The fourth Star Trek movie (the one with the whales) is by far my favorite. Upon my insistence, he watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Unfortunately, he was disapointed by the cylinder that would only speak to whales. In fact, he said:

"All that for some whales? The alien probe giving off the whale sounds seemed like the cheapest prop ever used for a villain in movie history. It was a cylinder with a glowing sphere."

I find this criticism of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home completely unacceptable. This particular Star Trek movie has few flaws. Nay! - it has NO flaws! It is fantastic.

After awarding this friend a thousand bonus imaginary points and then receiving this inaccurate and faulty review of a clearly fantastic movie, I felt obligated to inform the gentleman that, had he liked this movie, he could have been awarded an additional million billion jillion imaginary points. His response was not one of remorse and regret at his hasty, ill-thought-out critique of an amazing cinematic work of art. He told me that I should be careful about giving away points, because giving away too many will devalue them.


First of all, imaginary points from me are invaluable. They are basically each worth more than 100,000,495,024.493 solid gold bricks. In fact, imaginary points by me are accepted as an international currency. You can go to a bank and tell them how many imaginary points you have from me - it is kind of an "on your honor" system - and they will trade you those imaginary points for copious amounts of any currency you choose. (Might I suggest the Yen? I was listening to NPR today and learned that the Yen is strong right now, and this may cause Toyota some money in the coming year.)


And so I provide you with a list of possible ways to earn imaginary and bonus imaginary points from me. Please know that this is not an exhaustive list, and it is subject to change at my whim.


Way to Earn Points
Possible Points Earned
Comments/Notes
Liking Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
One million billion jillion
Must really like this movie and recognize its flawlessness.
Watching and enjoying Star Trek
One million bonus
Must acknowledge that TNG and the original series are superior to those other spin-offs
Bringing me ice cream
100 – 1 billion
Depends on the kind of ice cream and my mood at the time
Singing “Walk Like a Man” a cappella
10 – 1 million
Depends on enthusiasm
Off-key renditions generally score more points
Reading Jane Austen Novels
63.89 per book
Must have a favorite and be able to discuss character idiosyncrasies
Must show disdain for Willoughby
Not correcting my grammar when I am speaking to you
0
You just shouldn’t do it
Recognizing that language is an ever changing, living entity
One thousand
Must listen to my rant
Must dislike having grammar corrected for same reasons as me
Playing Boggle, Bananagrams, or other word games (NOT Scrabble) with me
3 per game
Must not make up words and insist they exist
Being awesome
369
As defined by me at any particular moment
Liking Cats
Varies
How much do you like cats?
Which cats do you like?
Are you a crazy cat lady?
Remembering to keep peanuts away from me
198,001,324
Keeps me alive
Appreciating the “Wehrenberg Theater” opening sequence
59 ½
Must giggle out loud when the whispering part starts
Accepting me for me
A lot
Seriously, I’m weird, so if you can take me as I am and still like me, you get “a lot” of points

After learning how difficult it is to get points from me, the gentleman mentioned above decided he wants to keep his points. Good thing, too, because retracting points is a lot of tedious paperwork, and while I am getting good at completing pages and pages of boring paperwork at my place of employment, I would rather not do it at home.

*Don't forget to take this quiz and then vote on the poll this weekend! Last chance!*

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