The leftward and other blatherings of Span (now with Snaps!)

Monday, June 11, 2007

Bugged

Well isn't this always what drives me back to the blog - I'm bugged.


Specifically I am bugged by three things right at the moment:

1. Those stupid Clever Toys adverts - quite aside from the lame-o racial and sexual stereotypes (gay character is a lion with a lisp, female is an empty-headed bunny rabbit, Maori is a gorilla of below average intelligence) they are immensely irritating. And relentlessly ubiquitous. I guess I'm just not the target market.

2. People saying they'll vote National when their politics aren't actually with the Blue Team - it's part of this whole "mood for change" thang. Well actually National isn't the only political alternative if you want to shake things up. It's like everyone has forgotten the 1990s, then failed to notice National has very little policy out there and is simply coasting along on John Key's smile. Having to rely on Helen Clark, Michael Cullen, Mike Williams and co to rescue this shebang isn't making me any less grumpy.

3. Feeling too crummy to write much and/or write anything decent - but I did manage to do some ironing tonight, so surely that's a step forward?

So, what's bugging you?




(Pic Via)

22 comments:

Idiot/Savant said...

What's bugging me? I can think of three things:

1) No more Heroes anymore (and I'm sure someone could filk it to the Stranglers song as well).
2) I have to wait a whole week before seeing the return of Captain Jack. Though Sally Sparrow almost made up for it (while she didn't whack anyone with a frying pan, she was very much a Pratchett heroine, though obviously in the wrong setting).
3) Wiki providers who get acquired, then dump your material into an inferior wiki platform, requiring time-consuming transfers (OTOH, it is an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the whirling death machine that is Perl...)

Unknown said...

1) I concur with I/S regarding Heroes. I'm gutted.
2) Psyche medication. I'm getting my hate on for new prescription medications.
3) The cold. I should have been born somewhere tropical.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with you about the Clever Toys ads. It amazes me that they make their consumers of so-called toys (the rabbit, the gorilla, the lion) really stupid, like the rabbit not noticing she'd burned her hand off.

I am not that stupid

Therefore I am not the right customer for Clever Toys

Is this what Telecom want?

Aucklander At Large said...

The clever toys ads are yet another reason to stay on 021...

Paul said...

1. I can't understand a word those not-so-clever toys are saying, but I am sure it is of no importance.

2. The gorilla and mail-order girlfriend relationship is especially creepy.

3. Almost all the other advertisements.

4. Almost all the programmes between the advertisements.

5. I feel alienated by the geek/cult/geek culture enthusiams of almost everyone I know, especially Lost, Heroes, "graphic novels" and games.

Psycho Milt said...

I've only seen those clever toys ads with the sound off - seems like it was a wise choice.

What's bugging me? Your blog stays offline unless you get off your arse and do something about it. Couldn't there be like some volunteer blog administrators or something who just provide everything for free? What's the point in socialism if this stuff doesn't just happen?

Hewligan said...

I'd like to throw in another vote for the clever toys ad. They're driving me nuts.

Cheezy said...

I strained my neck opening a jar of capers. (Honest). That's what's bugging me right now.

Idiot/Savant said...

Paul: I feel alienated by the geek/cult/geek culture enthusiams of almost everyone I know, especially Lost, Heroes, "graphic novels" and games.

Clearly you need to play some games about graphic novel-writing superheroes trapped on a desert island.

LK said...

It is so good to read I'm not the only one who despises the clever toys ad, especially as their name is moronic and not representative of their actions. I've never liked Telecom but that ad is almost pushing me to change my homeline to Clear.

Paul said...

I/S: thank you for the tip. However, it might be easier if I just found a desert island of my own.

That gorilla and his girlfriend are still bothering me. Which one is the toy?

And what about the pie-eating lamb? What happened to him?

See, this is just the same as all those geek things. They draw you in; you start taking them seriously; you waste time online discussing them.

Paul said...

I/S: thank you for the tip. However, it might be easier if I just found a desert island of my own.

That gorilla and his girlfriend are still bothering me. Which one is the toy?

And what about the pie-eating lamb? What happened to him?

See, this is just the same as all those geek things. They draw you in; you start taking them seriously; you waste time online discussing them.

Idiot/Savant said...

Something else that's bugging me: the finale of Sopranos. I watch the entire last season - and for what?

(no, no spoilers, just expressing disappointment at 21 hours of my life I will never get back).

Span said...

The Lost island doesn't strike me as particularly deserted, in either sense of the word...

Anyhoo, glad to see I'm not alone on the Clever Toy adverts. It distresses me that not only are they invading my television screen they are also on the back of buses (that was how I found out the lion had a lisp) and at bus stops, and no doubt infesting those places online that have pop up ads.

The one that bugs me the most is the one with the person allegedly dressing up as the bunny and going on that bungy basket thing on Victoria St. Like anyone would ever do that if they weren't getting paid for it. Fake viral marketing anyone?

Cheezy, I hope your neck gets better soon - those caper jars are a real trap.

Amanda said...

The Wiggles song that goes "He like to tango... It rhymes with mango..." has been stuck in my head all day. Very annoying!

Heroes bugs me a lot. It never lived up to its promise. I could point out all the irritating logical flaws in the final episode that so annoyed me as I watched it except that I can't remember them anymore. I'm losing my memory- that bugs me!

I'm also really bugged that new Seasons of Supernatural and the Wire have only just started filming and its probably months or more till I'll get to see them. I have literally nothing to watch unless I start rewatching Buffy or risk permanent disillusionment with Season 6 of Gilmore Girls which I suspect has jumped the shark so I'm trying not to watch it so as to end my relationship with the series on an upnote. What to do, what to do, and how annoying to be faced with this dilemna.

(But btw if anyone wants some high quality tv do seek out the Wire. It is fan-freaking-tastic.)

Amanda said...

I just thought of something else. I can never find my damn stapler when I need it. Like now I can't find it. Why, oh why, oh why does the Universe constantly conspire against me?!?

Span said...

Speaking of staplers, that one on the Kiwisaver ad is annoying - could they have made the animate inanimate objects a bit less dreary and a bit more enthused about the scheme? Every time it comes on Nickname Pending and I look at each other and roll our eyes.

Hope you fond your stapler MTNW, we had a tendency to blame such absences on Mara in our house, she gets up to a lot for a person lacking opposable thumbs.

Unknown said...

Pedant's corner:

The Clever Pet Lion has a rhotacism pwoblem, not a lithp...

And a Happy Bloomsday to one and all

Anonymous said...

I'm the odd one out, I really enjoy the clever toys adds, I alreeady knew that the gay-liojn didn't have a lisp and your blog is the first suggestion I've seen that the gorilla is Maori.

As for what's bugging me:

1) Leaving tissues in pockets in the washing machine.

2) Union reps trying to convert me all the time.

3) Having a ginormous head cold.

Idiot/Savant said...

MTNW: Have you thought of chaining it up?

As for TV, fortunately I have a backlog to go through (season 2 lost, all of Battlestar Galactica), so I won't be that affected by the drought. But it has meant that there is now nothing 'm watching as it is broadcast.

Josh said...

Yeah, I thought the gorilla sounded South African (although his girlfriend is clearly Generic Scandinavian, so maybe that's what they were going for). Shit ads, though.

Anonymous said...

The clever toys are so irritating and stereotypical that one has to assume that they are meant to be like that *shudder*, people get paid to think that stuff up.
I'd be interested to know how the neck injury from opening a jar of capers came about, perhaps a non capering means of opening them should be tried.