The red phone rang last night, its soft siren wailing in my cavernous lair like a jilted lover. Only one person calls on the red phone.
The Chairman of the Internet.
“Herr Buckley,” she said, in that thick accent I could never quite place. “It is very serious. The webs, they have plenty of cat photos, a surfeit of popups, an excess of indie rock album reviews. But by God, we need more blog polls, and we need them now.”
“It shall be done, Madam Chairman,” I said, because that’s what you say when you’re talking on the red phone.
So, here we go. Poll question. It may seem strange, but please give it a vote, and I’ll explain on Monday.
And if nobody answers, then on Monday I’m just going to look like a dumbass. So, electoral participation and all that. Otherwise, fascism wins.
And nobody likes a Mr. Fascism.
Have a good weekend!
Brian D. Buckley 
I think “Good Afternoon” sounds more formal because fewer people use it, at least in my experience.
No comment yet…don’t want to skew the poll results. 😉