3 LOOKING IN 7 NOTES & BOLTS
SEX RATED
19 MOVIES
23 MUSIC
26 INTERVIEW: JESCO von PUTTKAMER
by R. Allen Leider
The man with his head in tomorrow
30 SHOCKING STOCKING STUFFERS
Article by Allen Charles
A Christmas morning surprise!
35 PEARL
Pictorial
A loner opens up
44 THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
Satire by Dan Truitt
He did it all for you
47 FIONA
Pictorial
An uncaged Scot
56 LIARS FOR HIRE
Article by David Chagall
They lie for profit
59 GREAT CANADIAN BEAVER HUNT
Christmas greetings from the bedroomsof the nation
75 FANTASY TAPES
83 FATIMA GAMAL
Pictorial
Pyramid Princess
93 BEVERLY BEAVER
This month: "Jet set movie star"
PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT
NUMBER PLEASE
Mo-nop-o-ly, noun, exclusive possession or control.
Bell Canada recently announced its seventh rate increase in seven years —
and nobody could do anything about it. That's a monopoly!
Are we getting any better service in view of these increases? Judge for yourself:
one particular situation that was brought to our attention concerned an eighty-year-old
woman. She moved her residence and wanted a telephone installed. She was told
that she had to go to the nearest Bell office (which was not very near), pick
up her telephone, take it home and wait for the company to send someone to install
it. Personal service!
But the best is yet to come! Ma Bell tells us in those glorious television commercials
that long distance is the next best thing to being there. Maybe she should get
her act together because compared to our neighbors south of the border we are
paying very dearly for the privilege of talking to somebody in distant places.
In Canada, a three-minute station-to-station call from Toronto to Vancouver costs
$3.15. In the United States, a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco,
which is roughly the same distance, costs $1.30. This wide difference in cost
holds true for practically all coast-to-coast and most other long distance calls
also.
As a matter of fact, business and residential phone charges in the the United
States are generally cheaper than what we pay in Canada. The States recently introduced
a new system called Measured Service which allows customers who keep their calls
below 50 per month to receive a bill that is less than half the new Bell rate
of $8.55. This makes sense because why should you pay the same rate for 20 calls
a month as the person who makes 500 calls?
Ironically, Bell Canada knows about this system but isn't making any comment even
though old age pensioners, who pay like the rest of us, could surely take advantage
of such a system.
Will this increase give us better service? Or perhaps a better relationship? I
doubt it! The operators who have never read Dale Carnegie's book How to win friends,
etc. will still be taking night classes in illiteracy and those head office types
will continue to plague you if you don't pay your bill within their specified
time.
But I have devised a way to beat the system. When the next postal strike comes
(and it will come because a little parrot in Ottawa told me) I shall take my telephone
bill, along with a certified cheque, and drop it into the nearest mailbox. And
if I am called because I am overdue on my bill I shall produce my receipt with
a flourish. After all, I can't be made to pay twice! Or is that going to be the
next increase from Bell Canada?
