Things That Really !&$%2 You Off

Drunkalilly wrote:

The whole Trump thing is terrifying.

As I read that, I had an image of The Thing - you know the films -, being Trumpers.

Then I realised that's actually far less frightening than reality.

The whole world would breathe a collective sigh of relief if, at his inauguration, his neck snapped and his now-independent head sprouted legs from the mouth. "Thank God," Americans would say, "he only wants to eat our flesh".

Those new army recruitment ads.

PRE-CONCERN DISCLAIMER: this is not a complaint about the actual army, or the people that choose to serve in it. I am a coward, and I have much respect for people who are willing to put their lives on the line to try and positively change the world, helping people that may not get the chance to thank them.

Father: "Don't join the army, son."
Son: "Don't join the army? Don't have the opportunity to become a better me? Don't" (and the son fires off 5 or 6 similar sentences)
Father: *inspired happy face*

The advert has the recruit suggesting generic phrases about what sort of person he'd become, in the most skirting-around-the-facts way possible, without ever suggesting what "the army" is, or what the guy will be doing in the army. The implication is that the father doesn't want his son to join the army because he wants him to be a loser, as opposed to, I don't know, for example, having concerns about his son being killed or injured.

I still wouldn't ever join the army, because - as mentioned before - I'm a wuss. But in years gone by, the adverts recreated events that would reflect a conflict zone, showing situations where soldiers worked to stop conflict rather than join it, with the implication that, if you are the sort of person who could do this, you'd be a hero and the army would be a good career. These latest adverts smack of the most basic entry-level propaganda; the equivalent of a politican on Question Time that blatantly isn't answering a question directly, and continues to repeat a phrase long after being accused of evasiveness.

Phew. Sorry everyone.

Yeah, those adverts are driving me mad too. I'm sure it's really meaningful going and bombing syria...

I bought X-Com 2 today. I can't wait to play it next year.

I'm downloading it as we speak, from Muss' steam library, just to play it before him like a dick

I'm done with this forum.

Wow, cold-callers aren't even trying now.

Me: "Hello?"
Person: "Hi, can I speak to the youngest member of the household over the age of 18 please?"
Me: "Can you *laughs* speak to the youngest mem - *laughs* - you're kidding right?!" *phone off*

Now I appreciate I am also a little bit rude, there. I did hang up the phone (not literally, this is the 21st Century). But if you're not going to even try and be clever about some kind of targeted marketing push, then you don't get a go. I know the other person at the other end of the phone is just doing a job, and they do have a script (the wonderful Sara Pascoe recently wrote an article about her time in a charity call-centre - and those are the people who are at least trying to do one small bit of good). But there's got to be something better that company can do with that telecommunications technology. Only my grandfather calls our landline; everything else is cold-callers. Even services send you a text or e-mail nowadays.

I know cold-calling is everyone's problem, but it was the opening gambit that really threw me.

And then they phoned up again 10 minutes later. I got someone else to answer. They (a) used the same line again, and (b) made a point of saying they were hung up on!

That reminds me of this superb scene from Boiler Room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW-PHukzdgM

I only have a mobile, and I don't even answer unless I know the number. Even then, I'm a bit like... who phones in 2016?

The_Jaster wrote:

That reminds me of this superb scene from Boiler Room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW-PHukzdgM

That was a good'n, I liked that.

If you haven't seen the film I highly recommend it.

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I am beyond fed up with this cropping up whenever I spend more than three minutes on a message without previewing or posting it.  No idea whether it's england-australia communications networks being utter trash or google fucking up chrome, either way it's fucking annoying in the extreme.  


HA, did it AGAIN while making this message!

Speaking of google screwing up chrome, I just love how every time I open a new tab I have lag now!  Brilliant coding!  









Oh, and I'm also tired of the whining about the Zeka virus.  Don't get me wrong, I get it's a serious thing for the countries affected, but lets be real here.  It's only getting broadcast because of Rio and slow news period in general, this time next year it's still going to be sweeping these countries and we won't hear jack about it.




I'm in such a nice mood today aren't I.

This is what happens when a crap week caps off with a crap day and you wake up in one of those moods.

All the adverts at Deadpool yesterday

Watched ol' Deadders yesterday, very good, but the stuff before it really wound me up. As usual, you had the adverts for products then the trailers for films, and both wound me up in different ways. Every single one of the adverts was lying to your face or deliberately trying to put a positive spin on the shit state of our world.

There was one for health insurance that just made me think "well, maybe we should keep the NHS then?" There was one for Virgin suggesting you need their super fancy broadband if you're gonna play music at a party. One for the license to play music in public, which just pissed me off because copyright law is so fucked and doesn't favour artists, as this suggests, but fat old men in suits who wouldn't know art if it was used to beat them to death. Finally, there was a macdonals one that more or less said "if he had a penny for every time he was asked that, he'd almost be earning the living wage." Just FUCK OFF.

Then there were the film trailers, where every one looked identical. Some of the films I'm quite interested in seeing, but when every trailer is a series of fades to black with that Inception "BWOOOOOMMMMMM" noise, you lose interest. 10 Cloverfield Lane stood out just by virtue of being different.

Cash machines. I insert my card, do the PIN thing and select 'Cash (no balance)'. The next question is "Would you like to see your balance?" I have just this second selected that I would not, goldfish brain. Get with the program.

Oh. You did.

There are two sides to every issue.

No. There is not. Sometimes, someone is being unpleasant, unacceptable, stupid or deliberately incendiary. If one party is being, either willfully or from ignorance, wrong, then they deserve scorn and/ or mockery.

Don't you just love those days you wake up filled with absolute self-loathing and despair? And people wonder why I'm such a negative cynical ass sometimes. I think I'll go back to solitude now, venting feels nice and all but really there's nothing much to say.

Equipment hogs at the gym. Unless you're an actual octopus you do not need 8 pairs of dumbbells to complete a single exercise. And if you are going to be a hog don't compound the problem by listening to music so you can't hear me ask the age old question *I put on a really deep voice for this bit*"excuse me lad, are you using these?"
Of course I don't really care if you're using them or not - A lack of a yes is a no in that situation and I'll take them anyway but newcomers to the gym may not be so blunt about things as I am and you'll make them feel uncomfortable about asking - which makes you both a shitty 2-armed octopus and a bully, neither of whom have a place in the gym.

TL:DR
Guys who think they're octopuses are stupid.

I like going to the gym I go to as it is mostly older folks and women, so there is no issue with big dick heads thinking they're Arnie because they can do one squat.

Either Nintendo UK Store or Royal Mail

I ordered a thing from Nintendo's store on Thursday which was due to come out Saturday. Most preorder's you get on the day they come out and Nintendo are also doing free NEXT DAY delivery, that I was thinking they'll dispatch on Friday and I'll get on Saturday.

I get a email late Friday night saying it's been dispatched, so no way I was getting Saturday. I thought oh well it come Monday but nope not here and by the tracking it's still in the Royal Mail's North Distribution centre.

It may not even come tomorrow but even if it does that's far from next day.

Lurpak Spreadable is the reason the Trade Descriptions Act was created.

Also, totally unrelatedly, pressing on the icon list and getting instead.

Agreed with the Lurpak spreadable. Hope you like big lumps on your sandwich!

the second half of this post has been scrapped as it doesn't quite make sense, as if I didn't read the thing I was responding to properly. I'm poorly at the moment - that's my excuse

The New Nintendo 3ds.

I wish Ninty had called it the 3ds ultra, and 3ds ultra large or something. I'm searching sites such as ebay to try and find one on the cheap, but the term "new" just helps bring up a load of results for the former model in a brand new or near new condition.

Even on game retailer sites, it's a  guarantee that both the older and newer 3ds models will pop up. Obviously I can tell the difference, but I can only assume numerous parents have made the mistake of buying the wrong "new" model numerous times.

Partly, the websites are to blame, but a better name for the machine would have helped!

Since it has SNES coloured buttons Super 3DS would be a fitting name.

That's a good shout. I do miss the days when prefixing stuff with "super" or adding 2,000 to the end of it was considered hip.

The fact that I lent my PS4 and Wii U console to the anime convention complete with cables controllers etc..

Well I'm now out a copy of smash, the charging cable to the game pad (which also isn't mine til now as I've claimed it) AND my PS4 controller.. I was lucky I even got MY Wii U back. Now I'll have to chase it up with them in the morning saying I want my stuff back