Tag Archives: crappy

Fallen Out

Distractions, Gaming
KABOOM!

KABOOM!

This weekend I finished Fallout 3 finally, after something like 40 hours of running around and killing Radroaches and listening to Three Dog howl “Thanks for liiistening… people!” And yes, I managed to get minor plasma TV burn in from the Hit Points meter. Nice!

I have to admit that using Liam Neeson as the voice of your father throughout the game skeeved me a bit. Okay a lot. He’s got a great voice and all, but I got this “pervy dad” vibe every time I heard his voice. Thing is, you have to suffer through the first half of the game while he coddles you and encourages you to grow up smart and strong. Stranger danger!

However, using Malcolm McDowell as the voice of the Enclave President was a stroke of genius. I suggest that for Fallout 4, they please use Hugo Weaving? That man is my favorite villain right now.

I originally didn’t want to play this game because the characters looked too much like “Thunderbirds” puppetry, but thanks to SharkBoy’s love of the commercial (the long slow pull out while using The Inkspots I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire), he made me get it during the Xmas sales. I was hooked after an hour of game play. Not as artistically intrinsic as Bioshock, but intriguing and engaging in it’s multi-layered storytelling.

Now we’re on to playing LEGO Indiana Jones, which are a ton of fun for two people (except the co-op can get a bit frustrating if you decide to go off and do your own thing and wind up yelling at each other for not being on your side of the screen). It’s amazing they can recreate the three movies in 99.99% pantomime. Or maybe that’s testament to the crappiness of the movies? Regardless, the game is a lot of fun with nods to Star Wars all the way through it.

I of course, can’t wait until they make the Lego version of this movie:


(video inspired from G4’s Attack of the Show)

Insurable

Distractions, Personal Bits, Travel

With all the gadgets in the house I started to get a bit edgy about the cost of replacing them if (god forbid) some street bacteriophage got it into their heads to enter into our home, touch things and then leave with said things. It adds up after a while and would take a while to add it back up.

Last night I saw an ad for E-insurance where regular folk turn into animated cartoons and do all sorts of fantastical things like fly, save trees, jump, fly, swim great distances, um… fly… and just be cartoony. Unfortunately E-insurance was unable to turn these people’s voices into professional cartoon voice actors which made the whole ad seemed flat and gimmicky. But I was impressed with that “one stop shop” for insurance.

Quick! To the internet!

And lo and behold, there is a Canadian version called Kanetix, a one stop shop site that is blistering with information. Not an entirely ugly site, it seems rather “Government of Canada” kind of vibe, in the sense I can trust it (no animated “Welcome!” gifs, like the previous campground post…). So I start to look around and I’m suitably impressed within moments. Beyond all the features you’d expect, it’s got dynamic forms that morph to your responses. To me, that says “smart!” and “we have money!” so already I feel at ease using the site. Ooh look! The Postal Code swaps out lower case for upper case text! Keen!

I start with Travel Insurance, since we’re going to Saugatuk, MI soon. I may be bitten by a moose. you never know. So I punch in some facts, some figures and hit submit. BAM! Faster than oh say… crappy AVIS car rental site, I get ascending pricing of about 8 quotes. I’m still reeling at the speed. I guess insurance servers aren’t as clogged as car rental sites. Anyway, two options from there: Call to buy, buy online. Snazzy!

I’m intrigued now: on to home insurance. Area code… date of birth… couple personal questions… You can imagine my tounge is poking just outside my mouth as I type all this. Oh and imagine I’m humming too. That would be nice. Right. Fire plug question… easy… couple inches from the front door… Fire hall location… Real close. Wish it was closer, hubba hubba… What? Ok. Click, no thank you, sure, no, ha! ok, sure click, and CLICK! Hey presto. Ooo a 4 second wait this time, which warranted a pop up window that barely had time to load and boom! 2 quotes for an annual fee with quote reference number. Hm! Reasonable.

Just the act of searching for insurance makes me feel responsible. More adult.

Then I ask myself real quick: Am I getting old?

The other voice in my head, the one that says “Don’t stand naked by the window nearest to the TTC stop” says real quick: “Not old. Just smarter!” My chest puffs out.

I show this to SharkBoy and without a bat of an eyeball, says “We’re already insured through my work. You married into it.”

Oh. Well.

Can I get an animated version of myself then?