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-
- I worked for a bit in the coastguard in Wales and I used to send weather
- reports to other bases, using a sort of antique FAX machine. I would call
- first on a special telephone and then send the data.
-
- They used to answer the phone with:
-
- " Epicentre of the Universe, God speaking."
-
- " Hartland home for lost whores." (that was Hartland CG)
-
- " Da, zis iz Ivan: do you have zee secret information, Boris?"
-
- " Pentagon command: transmit destruct sequence (pause) sequence correct:
- T minus one minute and counting"
-
- And then there was one phone we didn't use, with a number one off that of the
- local take-out. With my, non-British, accent I had some great fun with that
- phone.
-
- "Starship Enterprise, Uhura here, can you hold please? -- Captain, there is
- a transmission coming in on hailing frequency seven, do you want it on screen?"
- (silence...click)
-
- "Vancouver coastguard, may I help you." British long distance rates are
- phenomenonal and I had this poor dude sputtering with horror that he had
- managed to make a long distance call by dialing five digits.
-
- ===============================
-
- This is not an answering machine--this is a telepathic thought-recording
- device. After the tone, think about your name, your reason for calling,
- and a number where I can reach you, and I'll think about returning your
- call.
-
- -------------
-
- Thanks for calling Dial-An-Asshole. Right now, all our assholes are busy.
- After the tone, leave your name and number, and we'll have an asshole
- return your call as soon as possible.
-
- -------------
-
- I can't come to the phone now because alien beings are eating my brain.
- Leave a message anyway, and after the alien beings assume my shape, one of
- them will get back to you.
-
- -------------
-
- Thank you for calling Santa's workshop. Santa can't come to the phone
- right now, and the elves are out back barbecuing Blitzen. After the
- tone, please your Christmas list, and maybe we'll get back to you!
-
- -------------
-
- I can't come to the phone now because I have amnesia and I feel stupid
- talking to people I don't remember. I'd appreciate it if you could help
- me out by leaving my name and telling me something about myself. Thanks.
-
- -------------
-
- C'mon...you can do it...just a little one. That's the way...just a little
- beep, just a little one. C'mon...good boy...here we go...like
- this--beeeeep, just a little one, beeeeeeeeeep, c'mon...There you go!
-
- -------------
-
- Andy Warhol said that one day everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.
- Well, your 15 minutes was last week, but since you weren't ready, we gave
- it to Vanna White. Sorry.
-
- -------------
-
- Thank you for calling the Confessional Hotline. Father Durway's not here
- right now, but if you'll leave your name, number, and confession at the
- tone, he'll get back to you with absolution as soon as possible. And
- remember, confession doesn't count unless you confess all of your sins in
- vivid, graphic detail!
-
- -------------
-
- A bubble in the space-time continuum has connected your line to a channeler
- in the 23rd Century. Any message you leave will be broadcast into the
- future....
-
- -------------
-
- I can't come to the phone right now because I'm down in the basement
- printing up a fresh new batch of 20 dollar bills. If you need any money,
- or if you just want to check out my handiwork, please leave your name,
- number, and how much cash you need after the tone. If you're from the
- Department of the Treasury, please ignore this message.
-
- -------------
-
- Kemosabe no in tipi now. You leave'um message after little smoke signal,
- and Kemosabe get back for pow-wow real fast.
-
- -------------
-
- [VOICE 1] Answer the phone, please, Hal.
- [VOICE 2] I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that.
-
- -------------
-
- [For Shakespeare lovers only]
- So long as phones can ring and eyes can see,
- So leave a message, and I'll get back to thee.
-
- -------------
-
- [Carefully modulated English accent, like Alex in _A Clockwork Orange_]
- Oh, my brothers and only droogs, your poor narrator's not in now--he's out
- on his oddy-nocky looking for a bit of pretty polly--some young devotchka
- with horrorshow grooties. Leave thy message after the malinky beepie-weep,
- and I'll get back to thee later, righty-right.
-
- -------------
-
- Thanks for calling Dial-A-Shrink. I can't come to the phone right now, so
- after the tone, please leave your name and number, then talk briefly about
- your childhood and tell me what comes to mind when you hear the following
- words: orange...mother...unicorn...penis. I'll get back to you with my
- diagnosis as soon as possible.
-
- -------------
-
- [Sung to the tune of "Ride of the Valkyries"]
- Leave a message...leave a message....etc.
-
- -------------
-
- Thanks for calling the Suicide Hotline. At the tone, your telephone will
- explode, sending fragments of metal and plastic deep into your brain....
-
- -------------
-
- Next on Public Radio 91 we'll be hearing music of Antonin Dvorak. This is
- the Beep Serenade in C-Sharp Minor, Opus 72....
-
- -------------
-
- This is a test. This is a test of the Answering Machine Broadcast System.
- This is only a test.
-
- -------------
-
- No! NO! Not THAT! Anything but that! Not the beep! No! Please! Not
- the beep! Anything but the beep! AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!
-
- -------------
-
- This is the National Security Emergency Password Notification Network. To
- initiate destruct sequence, call the CIA with today's password. Today's
- password is BABY BOOTIES.
-
- -------------
-
- You're growing tired. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You feel very
- sleepy now. You are gradually losing your willpower and your ability to
- resist suggestions. When you hear the tone you will feel helplessly
- compelled to leave your name, number, and a message.
-
- -------------
-
- As the drugs take hold, you feel you are losing your grip on reality. You
- begin to hallucinate. You see a telephone...the telephone is next to an
- answering machine...you hear a faint click and a light flashes on the
- answering machine...you hear a beep....
-
- -------------
-
- Prepare for alpha test of Beep Software revision 1.05. Counting down to
- test: 5...4...3...2...1...
-
- -------------
-
- [OFFENSIVE TO MORMONS. Funny if you've been accosted by elders on bikes.]
- Thanks for calling the Brigham Young School for Semi-Formal Bicycle Racing.
- We can't come to the phone now because we're out proselytizing heathens,
- so please leave your name and number.
-
- -------------
-
- After the tone, leave your name, number, and tell where you left the money.
- I'll get back to you as soon as it's safe for you to come out of hiding.
-
- -------------
-
- The President is not in his office at this time. Please leave your name,
- phone number, the name of the country you wish to invade, and the secret
- password.
-
- -------------
-
- Don't you do it! Don't you dare! I don't want to hear it! Don't you
- beep! If you beep, I'll...don't even think about it!....Don't....!
-
- -------------
-
- I can't come to the phone now, so...hey--that's a nice phone you have
- there. Hey sugar, you call this number often? I bet you have answering
- machines bothering you all the time...yes indeedy. Why don't you give me a
- call sometime and we can listen to some old recordings...I might even play
- my beep for you...
-
- -------------
-
- This is the Metropolitan Opera Amateur Audition Hotline. After the tone,
- sing Vesti la Giubba and La Donna e Mobile....
-
- -------------
-
- I can't come to the phone now, so if, well, actually, I CAN come to the
- phone now, I mean, like, I'm at the phone NOW, recording this message, but
- I'm doing this NOW, while you're listening to it LATER, except for you I
- guess it's NOW, like, when you're listening to it...I mean, like, wait,
- gosh. This is so confusing.
-
- -------------
-
- How do you leave a message on this thing? I can't understand the
- instructions. Hello. Testing 1 2 3. I wonder what happens if I touch
- this...YOW!!
-
- -------------
-
- This is the Literacy Self Test Hotline. After the tone, leave your name and
- number and recite a sentence using today's vocabulary word. Today's word
- is acetylcholinesterase {or clitoris, or scaphoid, or arrhenotky...}
-
- -------------
-
- Thank you for calling the Metropolitan Church of the Holy Bible. Today's
- commandment is Number 6, Thou shalt not...er...bear a...er...shalt not
- witness thy...uh...neighbor's ass, oh, I mean, false...er...shalt not
- commit a bear...dern...
-
- -------------
-
- [Must have good Australian accent]
- G'day mate. Can't come to the phone now because I'm a bit tied up with
- this crocodile. Just leave a message, and I'll get back to you.
-
- -------------
-
- [Note the spelling in this one!]
- After the tone, please leave a massage--my shoulders really could use it,
- and, what? You're only supposed to leave a MESSAGE? Darn....
-
- -------------
-
- Bwana fella no home now, so you fella leave talkie-talk. Bwana 'im
- big fella mek talkie-talk back real fas'.
-
-