Tuesday, 14 Apr 2009

Ok. I haven’t done the graphics logo editing or page redesign yet, but I wanted to make this announcement before someone else scarfs up the best site name ever.

So…. with no further ado, I hereby christen this site/blog “Cthulu’s Underpants”.

Tuesday, 14 Apr 2009

For the previous bland netflix movie category personality post, I thought it would be amusing to think of the most ridiculous personality test I could imagine. Or at least the most ridiculous one that no one would have done yet because it would be too absurd.  What I came up with was “Which flavor pudding are YOU?”

So, then of course I started making my own mock personality test called - wait for it….”Which flavor pudding are YOU”?

The internet is great for this kind of thing. This wasn’t on my agenda at all.  I logged onto my site to see what would be involved in changing the name of this blog in wordpress, and saw the post I made the other day and remembered I was going to make a fake test, so then I surfed around looking for online personality test sites or programs, found a free php script, downloaded it, moved it to my site, configured it, started entering info for the quiz when another search revealed that someone had a lready made this quiz. Not the same questions of course, mine were non-sequitors, but someone actually made a personality test about what flavor pudding a person is?! So of course I had to finish it. Cut/paste rinse repeat. Download and upload images. Test. Find images. Etc.

I remember back in the day, people used to think I had an absurd sense of humor, now I find the world has grown in absurdity to the point that my humor is irrelevant and little more than a slightly ‘off’ reflection of reality.

The one I found:

The one I made:

Tuesday, 7 Apr 2009

So, I’ve been a netflix customer for a year and a half or so - I forget.  When I could drive a mile or two and rent a movie for 1.50 netflix seemed both pricey and inconvenient (I don’t plan ahead well, I need everything on demand), but the death of local bargain rate video stores finally made netflix both economical and easier than driving 10+ miles each way to the closest rental store that had a decent collection of foreign and non-typical hollywood films, so after a gift subscription expired I continued on.   (Those redboxes are economical and good for last minute picking, but with their limited selections I think long-term while they won’t effect my movie watching habits much, they might be the final stake in the heart of the top 40 blockbuster style of video rental stores).

Anyways, Netflix lists movies it thinks you will like based on your previous likes and dislikes, and it presents these in helpful categories.

Here’s the list of categories that greeted me recently when I logged on. Feel free to analyze my personality based on this alone, I am sure it is more insightful than the myriad “Which flavor pudding are YOU?” personality tests.

• Quirky Comedies

• Mind-bending Foreign Sci-Fi & Fantasy (Is this really even a category?  I think they made this one up because they couldn’t find  a good slot for these films.  Seriously, I’ve been a netflix customer for almost 2 years and I’ve never even heard of this category before.  And while we are at it, why mind-bending FOREIGN sci-fi and fantasy, are there really no mind-bending American Sci-Fi & Fantasy films being made anymore?)

• PBS TV Shows (that’s what I get for renting all 4+ seasons of Rowan Atkinson’s BBC series “BlackAdder”)

• Suspenseful Movies

• Violent Independant Films (Apparently I prefer my violence done by foreigners)

Monday, 6 Apr 2009

Call me old fashioned, but I want Ad writers to WORK to convey their message. I am not a big fan of advertising in general as it’s designed to create needs and wants where none exist, but if I am going to be subjected to advertisements I want subliminal messages, imagery, language all working together to create feelings and desires I am not 100% aware of. This recent trend of (I guess one might call it Post-Modern advertising?) Let-me-tell-you-what-this-ad-is-trying-to-say ad is just annoying and dissapointing.

Here’s one. On a fast food’s large beverage cup is the message (large print) “Here’s to (really big print(You) (normal sized font) A toast to your wisdom, clever drink buyer - you have selecewted a classic fountain beverage, precisely mixes for maximum refreshment”.

I don’t know what bothers me more, the basic idea that I should in some way be toasted/acclaimed for purchasing a drink at a fast food restaurant, or that they assume I am getting a ‘classic’ fountain beverage, or that they even call fountain beverages “classic”, or have the cajones to call the output of their self-serve soda machine “precisely mixed”?  It’s just all disturbing somehow and lazy.