We all get them: e-mails based on an original concept, the Nigerian 419 scam, formerly a post scheme called after the statute number of Nigerian law that makes them a crime. Typically, the contents have lots to do with you sending them a substantial chunk of change -- or the routing codes and numbers for your accounts -- to help them semi-licitly spirit a large sum of money out of their government's bank accounts and a rather small bit to do with the scads of money -- usually in the millions, US dollars -- they will send you after the money is safely tucked away in the Cayman Islands.
It's become droll to repeat snippets of these e-mails, but I think this one, received sometime early this morning from one Bates Alan, bears quotation. It begins, "As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday." Indeed. That's pure poetry compared to the large helpings of mangled English typical of these sorts of missives. And, hey, Bates, you are so right on man: everyone will die someday.
And this is about games because... um... Oh! In, uh, games you can keep dying over and over, often for the same reason! Yeah, that's it! That's the ticket!
Posted by: ClockworkGrue | 03/11/2004 at 07:29 AM
Since when is GGA *just* about games. Go read the category list, Grue. There is one category directly related to games. One. The rest run the gamut from sociology to pop culture trends.
Open front door, walk out into Big Room. Stay there for at least a quarter hour. Return with a fresh perspective.
Or to put it more directly: piss off.
Posted by: san | 03/11/2004 at 09:02 AM
Troll the ancient fooltide email!
Posted by: Mr. Falcon | 03/11/2004 at 09:02 AM
Falcon: not bad.
Grue: I retract the piss off bit. Sorry. But although GGA may be merely about games to you, it seems about a lot of things to lots of others.
Posted by: san | 03/11/2004 at 09:09 AM
Uh, san, we're on the same team, remember? You have my sincerest apologies; I guess I was basing my assumption off of the explanation of the site on the "about" page, which implies (although you are correct in that it does not state explicitly) that GGA is about games (and music, film, fashion... and girls), and the archive of old posts which is almost (but again not entirely) consisting of articles on things relating themselves in some way to gaming. However, when you make an assumption that's an ass of u and mption, so I guess that shows what I know. Sorry again.
Posted by: ClockworkGrue | 03/11/2004 at 09:26 AM
Sniff.. Can't we all just get along??
Posted by: Andrew | 03/11/2004 at 10:59 AM
C'mon! You're supposed to argue for at least three more go-arounds! Haven't you guys learned anything from my comment threads?
Screw you guys, I'm goin' home ;p
Posted by: Bowler | 03/11/2004 at 11:41 AM
I think 419 letters are funny. Those using the net that are stupid enough to fall for these scams (keeping in mind the glaring spelling/grammer/factual errors) deserves to lose all their cash and then have Nigerian Thugs cut off their *insert extremity here*.
Natural Selection Baby!
Posted by: Alfred | 03/12/2004 at 10:58 AM
I don't think the word "droll" means what you think it means.
Posted by: don't feed the droll | 03/12/2004 at 11:31 AM
Droll. Yeah, you're right, strictly speaking. Droll means basically to be funny or humorous but it has sort of, in the common usage, come to mean "trying to be funny or humorous and failing while also being boring and repetitious". I meant it that way.
But you're right: I didn't properly use droll in its real meaning.
Posted by: san | 03/12/2004 at 01:05 PM
yeah i've gotten this e-mail, in all sorts of dumb vbariants.
-my dad had a big chocolate field but i can't get my hands on his money because ______ won't let me, give me your bank account details.
there are more, but i can't remember.
i remember i ocne saw thisa website about this dutch guy who got the e-mail and actually led the nigerians or whatever to believce he was falling for it, that he was adopting them and all sorts of dumb stuff. apparently it was even turned into a book!
Posted by: Azrael | 03/23/2004 at 12:48 PM
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Posted by: outsider | 04/11/2006 at 08:50 AM