I'm looking for a new place to live this spring, so I decided to check Craig's List. A friend had told me there are a lot of scam artists there, so I thought I'd have some fun and go in search of the fake ads. Deals too good to be true. I sent a few emails off to see the kind of replies they'd get.
This one was classic, and worth sharing. It just screams form letter, complete with far too much info, and odd bolding of facts. I especially like the Nigeria style sentence structure. "It is my gladness hearing from you..." Convenient the only person to contact is deaf, so I can't call her. They'll just courier me the keys. I have to assume SOME people fall for such ads. Crazy.
For legal reasons, I should admit that the names have not been changed to protect the innocent. I do not know this is a fake ad. I'm just making that assumption.
Delivered-To: jeffg@frogstar.com
X-Originating-IP: [41.58.49.69]
From: elizabeth dixon eli.dixon01@hotmail.comThanks for your email and it is my gladness hearing from you. I am Reverend Dixon Griner the owner of the place you are making inquiry about. Actually I resided in the place with my family,my wife and my only daughter before and recently we packed out due to my transfer from my Missionary work and now situated in La-Grange, Kentucky USA and presently the place is still available for rent and the price include the hydro, Heat laundry facilities, Air condition, Internet access,gas, water and electricity and so on, also it is well fully furnished.
I will like you to get in touch with my wife for more discussion as she is with the keys and the document to the house!Please i want you to note that,I am a kind and honest man and i spent a lot on the property, so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this place and i would be glad and happy if you to treat it as yours,its not the rent deposit that matters but to keep it tidy all the time so that we will be glad to see it neat when we come for a check up because we do that once in a while,i hope you understand and Please a special notice : Please note that there's none of us to show you the place for now we would have to send you the keys through DHL courier service on a next day delivery to your house or any where you want the keys to deliver to.
If you are ok with this please email my wife Mrs.Elizabeth Griner on (eli_griner@yahoo.com) and she will attend to you better with more information and pictures.( please note that she is a deaf woman so e-mails is the only way to communicate with her )
Thanks hope to read from you soon,
Reverend Dixon Griner.
The Shows I watch. 2011 Edition
A lot of people say they watch too much TV.
I won't say I watch too much, but some people certainly would. This list is what I set my PVR to record all new episodes of, for the upcoming season... so far. With very few exceptions, I wil watch it all as new episodes fill up. I'm so glad I got the new PVR with bigger hard drive last month.
Pan Am
Charlie's Angles
Person of Interest
Charlie Sheen Roast
Charlie's Angles
Person of Interest
Two and half men
Rules of engagement
Big Bang Theory
How I Met your mother
Being Erica
Fanboy Confessional
Nikita
Ringer
The Soup
Jimmy Kimmel Live (Opening only, usually)
Daily Show (seldom the full interview)
Tosh.0
Saturday Night Live
This Hour has 22 Minutes
Rick Mercer Report
Doctor Who
Alphas
Supernatural
The Secret Circle
The Listener
Royal Pains
Burn Notice
The Suits
Franklin & Bash
Flashpoint
Mythbusters
Attack of the Show (Not daily)
Almost Heros
Todd and the book of Pure Evil
Happy Endings
House
NCIS
NCIS LA
CSI
CSI Miami
CSI New York
30 Rock
Rookie Blue
Lost Girl
King
Warehouse 13
Covert Affairs
Murdock Mysteries
UP All Night
Whitney
Two Broke Girls
Castle
Survivor
The Mentalist
The Playboy Club
Hawaii Five-O
Bones
The Office (test new star)
Glee
Family Guy
Simpsons
Body of Proof
Unforgettable
X Factor
Dragons Den
Shark Tank
Harry's Law
Robot Chicken
Revenge
Prime Suspect
Community
Fringe
Terra Nova
Ringers
Quebec: Point form notes about things I noticed.
No pirate pay phones. All the pay phones were Bell, like Ontario used to be. Later, in one district of old Montreal, they were all TELUS payphones.
No hot dog street vendors. Not one, anywhere I could see, and we visited tourist and non tourist areas.
McDonald's tastes different, is cheaper and has different packaging. Not just French, but different.
Street signs often hard to spot. Now this happens in many areas, as every district seems to have their own style, but even in tourist areas, I often had to really look to find the street names on the signs.
Traffic lights lower than usual. I could almost touch some of them. This was neat because I got to see how huge traffic lights are. You don't usually notice.
No turn on red. Had to ask to know for sure, and oddly they all se happy about it, instead OD frustrated as I expected. The quote; "no way... We'd kill people if we had that" was the common theme, like they are aware, and partially proud of being horrible drivers.
People drive through reds like stop signs frequently, and pedestrians and bikers don't care about red lights at all.
I saw less scooters than expected, and very few electric bikes compared to Toronto. Lots of regular and rental bikes.
Excellent symbols on their other street signs. Expressive and well designed signs for warnings and other non English or French picture signs.
The subway (Metro) was way more complex, and deeper underground. Frequently we had to take 3 or more escalate rides to get there. Apart from the different style of train/track that uses rubber tires, the stations were very similar. All dirty and in stages of disrepair seems to be like public transit everywhere. I did find it interesting the cars had far less advertising than our Subway cars do.
Very little English. Less than I remembered. I know this is Quebec, and English is practically illegal, but i remember it being more bilingual in Montreal.
Overheard almost all French conversations. Very few people spoke English except US.
Less gang graffiti but more art graffiti
Two way bikes lanes were awesome. I guess this is possible in a city where mist roads are one way. More room. They also park on both sides of the one way streets.
Better parking meters
I noticed three major differences in their casino too. First, it had windows, which is unheard of usually. It also helped you find your way to the exits easily with floor markings. Lastly, the casino floor was almost quiet. All the ring ring shout noises were very muted. Weird.
All on all, had a great 2 day discovery and re-discovery of Canada's cool foreign city.
Table for one.
The job I have is one I do alone, and it means I usually lunch alone. Through the week, I work an uneven mixture I'd days at hone, and days on the road to places all over the area. I am often available to share a lunch with somebody, but not always in the right place at the right time.
In the past few years, I have become far mire comfortable with eating lunches alone in restaurants, and in fact, can often find joy and pleasure in the experience. My talent for eavesdropping is often a course for education and entertainment.
I love observing the world around me, and taking in the different tidbits of human interactions I see. A single person has a very different lunch experience than a couple, or group.
Some waitstaff understand these differences and others do not. Lunch staff probably see more singles eating than dinner staff do.
First, the single eater does have conversation partners. While this may seem obvious, the effect is, they don't need as much time to discuss topics prior to ordering, or to decide on menu items interactively. They also notice the delay more. This is equally true after the meal. When I est my last bite, I have little need to linger and discuss life, because I am alone. My bill should arrive quicker.
I don't blame anyone if they can't figure this out on their own, and I don't complain or lecture. I do however, notice when the staff do take notice, and treat me right.
Today, I had a pizza buffet in an empty restaurant. My sole entertainment was the sales team seated beside me. I enjoy other people's conversations more than ones I participate sometimes, because I listen on multiple levels. I catch the flow of the discussions, and track the path. These particular people were all quite fascinated in traffic, and no matter what ranges the flow of conversation went, it frequently came back to driving directions and traffic. They were obviously from a smaller town. To them, Toronto is a stress of cars.
When they left, I write this, paid and left.
Modern Day Zombies
Image via Wikipedia
Sometimes life is more fun when you notice it on purpose. It's always odd how the universe tends to show you what you're looking for.
Have you ever noticed you see more of your brand of car on the road after you start looking?
When I am alone, outdoors in the sunlight under a blue sky, I like to let my mind wander to new topics, rather than the indoor stresses of my day. Today, on the elevator ride down to my street level exit, I happened to notice two separate current day zombies.
That became my observational game of the day.
I do not take credit for the term, which I stole without credit from some online blog headline, but will pass on and re-use forever, because it is fitting.
A current day zombie is a person, or group of people wandering without direction or life. People looking down, hands out - smartphoning. Either reading, or texting, or facebooking. Whatever they are doing, they are no longer an active live member of society.
While I do not fear they will be after me for my sweet brains, I do fear they may zombie out in front of my car while I'm driving, or into me in a line.
Today, the elevator ride had two separate zombies. One had a blackberry, the most common choice among BBM brand zombies. He was so dedicated to his testing, he based right into the second zombie as she blindly entered the elevator, one floor below.
She had my phone, an Android Desire, and was reading a Facebook page. The smashed, looked up briefly, mumbled some zombie form if apology and continued. Two floors down, still far from her destination floor, the doors opened, and she aimlessly walked off onto a floor she didn't mean to be on, like an instinct. No brain required... doors open and exit.
If I had been alone, I would have rushed to push the door close button and laughed an evil magical laugh. We don't shoot zombies anymore... but we can abandon them on the wrong floor.
I found the whole ride somewhat entertaining, but now the thought was in my head, and so everywhere I walked, I saw Apple Zombies and Blackberry Zombies everywhere. I watched as kind innocents held back their arms to stop careless zombies from walking into traffic. I watched numerous collisions and many more near collisions happening in every direction during lunch hour.
I'd love to know the stats on smart phone zombie related accidents in a city like Toronto.
Oh no. It has infected me. I just realized I'm writing this whole blog on my phone, sitting on a rock outside in the sun. I'm not walking, but I am equally guilty of leaving the world behind as I focus on the megaverse behind my thumb keyboard.
Ahhhhhh... I'm a zombie too.
New weeks resolution
I like Monday. I think of it as a mini-new week, and I start fresh with resolutions.
Recently I blogged here about no longer reading books, or more accurately, ebooks on my phone at lunch. Instead, I have been reading Facebook and playing Jewel games. At that time, I thought about creative writing instead. Blogging from my phone while I eat alone. In the past, I have enjoyed writing thoughts and theories. I thought I might start it as a regular thing. Lunch blogging.
The problem with blogs is, writing them is not the same as a diary because nobody actually ever reads a diary or personal journal. To be fair, few will ever read most blogs either but they need to be written with the intention of actually being read. This creates a huge responsibility to generate content worthy of reading. At lunch, I don't always have a good idea or topic on demand. My best blog ideas come to me randomly, as I see things that inspire me. Today I was just hungry.
This may be why twitter is popular. It lets us blog, but in only 140 characters, so even if it's boring, at least we only waste a fraction of a second of the reader. A blog is longer, and to make it worthy of your time is effort. Some days I'm in the mood - some days I'm not, but a forced obligation of lunch blogging will make for poor blogs. My writing is inspired by the moment - something that hits me at the time. Well - we'll see how it goes.
Edit : on my way out, after the meal was finished, I ventures into the men's room and happened to notice a man standing at the urinal with both of his hands down at his sides. Now that is a blog topic, but I'm fine for today. Not every post is a winner.
Being alone in a crowd
Long time readers of mine will know I much prefer being in a partnership or relationship to being alone. I've often said I fell co dependant without the co when alone, and the happiness of others gives me purpose. Having said that, I will also admit that being alone, and staying happy has been something I've worked at. You can lean a lot by sitting alone at lunch in a cried and just watching and listening to life around you.
I have always been great at overhearing. At eavesdropping on the lives of those beside me, or even across the room, and this is something you just don't do when seated with friends. The lives of the people you know and see regularly are far less educational than strangers... and an office food court in urban Toronto is always full of strangers.
Food courts traditionally have more singles than traditional restaurants, and I use that term for individuals dining or seated alone, not relating to their social or marital status. People who don't have friends to eat lunch with.
I try not to stare to long in any one direction or at any one person, bit its fun to browse the tables and guestimste histories for these people. Some are easy; the tie wearing, blackberry typing middle age businessmen who est fast, type fast, and leave. Others linger and eat slowly as they read a newspaper or just look around at everyone as I do.
I remember the days when I was obligated to take a full hour for lunch, and had time to kill. I think I can see a difference on they way people who are here for an hour everyday and those just killing time. Of course, its all in my head at this point, so I just make believe I am right.
The smartphone has changed single lunch life. It has given us something to look at in solo times, and not only ignore life, but to be ignored. I don't give those computer thumb typist much thought. They don't talk, or look around or give me any enjoyment. They are alone in their world, Facebooking, tweeting or whatever... occasionally smiling or laughing.
Now of course I realise - so am I. My lunch time flew by, and I hardly looked up or listened at all. Back to work.
I read it somewhere
During a commercial break, I pause the playback and return to the keyboard.
I started rethinking about something I mentioned in passing in a previous blog entry. I used an old saying fragment; "I read somewhere" before stating some supportive fact. It's an innocent enough thing to say. We all have memories from things we've read or seen or heard previously without any real knowledge of it's source. We all say this, or similar lines during conversation before we interject some rumour or wisper or article or TV segment we've seen.
This got me thinking a bit about how those sources have changed over the past decade.
Before the Internet, or at least before daily feeds came into mass popularity, a good percentage of our society didn't use print media much for news and current events. We didn't read our news. Some did, but many of us either got their news, POP culture, and social cues from TV, or real world social interaction. Although they say the days of the newspaper are fading, I know a great percentage of the world never used newspapers for news. We've always heard or seen more than we've read to keep pace with the world.
In my found adulthood before the Internet, I once asked a friend; "what war?" I was shamed at the time, and it changed my life a little. In my teens and 20's, I knew little of politics or news in general.
If I had heard of wars, the environment, local news, the economy, or natural disasters, it would have been from my top news source, Saturday Night Live and morning radio. If it was important enough to know about; they'd be making fun of it.
As I grew, I added late night talk host monologues and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to my news sources. In Canada, This Hour has 22 Minutes and Air Farce spoofed the top stories. Howard Stern was my morning man.
However, in today's world, the internet sites like Facebook have quickly become the new source for social awareness. We are reading again. Lots. More than ever. Not only am I informed of upcoming weather, horoscope, movies, and the passing of Leslie Nelson, this news is all presented by my peers and friends I trust, often delivered to my morning ritual with a smiling photo and comments and commentary.
As a nation, we have become even more informed of everything our friends think is important. We have become the news source, and sharing gives u a personal pride in being first - or being a news provider. When people die, we feel good telling our friends before they tel us. It's almost a race. I get a bit upset when I have news, and as I am going to post it for others, I see a friend has beaten me to it.
Although we have no proof of many of the facts we spread, because it comes from friends, we trust it anyway. It's all new.
As I evaluate this concept in detail for this blog, I remember the quote that inspired the whole thing. I was watching The Mentalist, and was remembering seeing some article that Police departments did not use civilians in their investigations like they did in this show. It was absurd to the Policeman interviewed that the public thinks it's something real. I don't really remember anything about the article itself, including where it may have come from. I just have a general feeling I saw it somewhere. The police talk about The Mentalist the same way CSI agents talk about those shows, or doctors talk about Hospital shows. Reality is far from TV fiction. In truth of course, I don't know this to be the case... I only have a vague memory of reading it was said. It could have been a skit on Saturday Night Live.
Facts are irrelevant in society. All of existence is just the story we tell.
Unpause
Ask yourself whether this is the right moment for humor. (humour)
"Ask yourself whether this is the right moment for humor."
The Mentalist: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1196946/
That line made me pause, literally. While watching Kendall Cho, a character on TV's "The Mentalist" interrogate a witness. The witness makes a joke, and that is his reply. You have to imagine the speedy flat monotone delivery Cho uses to give the line, almost a tribute to Jack Friday.
Recently, I've seen some celebrities gaining popularity through live tweeting tv shows and movies. I watch all my TV via PVR, often weeks later, and my opinions and stories are worthy of more than 140 characters, so I blog here. I've been blogging while pausing TV for decades, but never really sharing my thoughts.
While watching this show today, I hit PAUSE when I heard that line, and wanted to evaluate my reaction more than just a quick 140 character one liner. I thought tom myself, and now, through the power of the blog, to you; How would I would react in an interrogation room.
Of course, a lot would depend on whether I was guilty or not.
I know I don't lie well in a situation like that. I crumble at the first signs of discipline or disapproval, but during straight questions, I believe I would be as light hearted as my nerves would allow. I know for a fact my inside voice would be creating f a lot of funny things to say. In realty, I would probably speak few out loud. Knowing the way my brain works, I would almost certainly filter the wrong ones, and say the wrong thing.
I don't even have confidence in my own fictional spontaneity.
Un-pause.
Related articles
- "The Mentalist Red Gold S03E15 (CBS)" and related posts (range.wordpress.com)
The Consultant Did It.
Image via Wikipedia
I pause the PVR and blog because I live alone, and don't have any TV watching partners.
I watch TV on multiple levels. I think about how what I am watching relates to the real world, and what I can learn from shows. While I watch shows alone these days, I try my best to let myself "think" at least half as much as I would if I was watching it with somebody, and started a conversation.
The consultant did it.
He solved the crime. Again and again. This statement could apply to any number of crime shows on the air today, or in the past few years. It's the current fad. We used to have Private Detective shows solving crimes. Now the Police do it - but with the help of some expert civilian sidekick.
I was watching The Mentalist episode this week. The one where Patrick Jane was working with his Boss's boos instead of Lisbin, who was on desk duty due to an injury. he was explaining to the chief, why he was abusive to a woman suspect during questioning.
I paused.
If you don't know The Mentalist, substitute it with Castle, Bones, 11th Hour, or any otherwise where a private citizen is a special consultant to the law, solving crimes. There are dozens of shows with the same premise. A police team of detectives has non police experts or otherwise smart people helping them catch the bad guys.
I remember reading somewhere(*), that this is hogwash, and police don't work with consultants in anyway similar to these TV shows.
Today, it occurs to me; why not?
Mr. Monk, and Sherlock Holmes, and Shawn Spencer are all fictional, but they solve creative mysteries in ways the Police can't. Even before this new rash of sidekick sleuths, there were psychic crime solvers like Medium before them. On TV, police have almost always had somebody smarter helping them. I can see why the police would prefer to expose this rumour. Cops have always had a bad image on TV.
On TV at least, thee partnerships always work. The police have rules to follow, and a specific mentality and personality that make them good cops. Detectives evolve from the police ranks, but the experts used on TV as sidekicks have obvious skills that could help solve crimes. Murder Mystery authors do have a different mindset, and Bone specialists can see things in a skull we can't. In my mind, I think I'd like to know that police do consult for the better good. For the end result - criminals caught. I think the force just may complain in the style of a weekly show where the expert consultants are always there, on the case from start tio finish asking questions and doing the work the police department really is respnsible for.
However - there would be advantages to that. Civilians could be abusive and break some of the rules the police can't. They are built in scapegoats when something goes wrong. That could be a great advantage. Today I watched Patrick Jane offend and be downright mean to somebody who's loved one was just killed. His question got the results he needed, and the police officer who could not have asked the same questions was able to reprimand him and apologize. If they'd asked the same questions, somebody would be fired and maybe a lawsuit would develop. I fully realize TV is fiction, and scripts work the way you plan... but the idea still interests me.
Maybe the police could use a "Robin the boy wonder" kind of civilian sidekick standing by.
Unpause.
Related articles
- "The Mentalist Red Gold S03E15 (CBS)" and related posts (range.wordpress.com)
