I don't know what it is about Gmail that makes people completely lose their self-control, their sanity, or their ability to distinguish a verb from a noun, but I do know that I'm not the only one whose Gmail inbox attracts invitation beggars like the Sunnydale Hellmouth attracts undead minions determined to start an apocalypse. An apocalypse, because apparently there are quite a lot of them.
To begin with, they, the beggars -- and some of the undead minions -- all want an "invite". Not an invitation, mind you, they want an "invite". Most of their pathetic, bland, uninspiring, boring and unimaginative attempts at getting invited gets the trash treatment. But every once in a while I'm bored, so, I reply, "why?".
Again with the unimaginativeness.
Not one of them have ever talked to me before, don't even know who I am, found me on page 19 or so on Google when they searched for "@gmail.com", and sent their stupid ass entreats to at least a dozen more people. When I remind them that unsolicited bulk e-mail, even if their particular bulk is of the smaller variety, is commonly known as Spam, and that everybody hates spammers, they get defensive.
"I didn't mean to spam you." No, really. He tripped. It was an accident. He was doing his homework, tripped over his dog, fell on his keyboard, hit his head, and has no recollection of what happened. Actually, had he been that imaginative I'd have just given him the "invite" right away. Alas, no such luck.
Just recently, another guy explained that he in fact didn't spam me. Yes, he sent me unsolicited e-mail, but he only sent me one. Oh, well then, here's your "invite", now sod off. The same guy actually tried to convince me that I was, indeed, the first he had e-mailed about an "invite". If he truly skipped to page 19 and singled me out as his lucky benefactor, then I must have done something really terrible in a previous life.
If you can point out all the Buffy references, obscure as they may be, you get a Gmail invitation.
Comments
You make me laugh with: No, really. He tripped. It was an accident. He was doing his homework, tripped over his dog, fell on his keyboard,
I had 6 invite for grab on my weblog and barely 3 people asked for one. Seems like the more despaired they are the less their thinking ability gets.
Comment by Darice at 01:33, 24 Jun, 2004 #
I had had on the past two weeks around 25 "invites" to give on my site[1]. I have given 22 or those, then got 6 more. So I have left 9 to give out. As people emails me, I sent them. No need to post a comment, nor a joke, nor a photo of themselves with collantes.US writen on their foreheads... just given out freely what freely came. We enjoy Gmail so much, we want everyone else to experience the same joy. Honestly.
Still, I thought I was going to run out of "invites" within 5 minutes of advertising them. I was wrong.
[1] My wife, my kid and I have Gmail accounts, that is the reason for having so many invitations.
Comment by David at 03:29, 24 Jun, 2004 #
You realize that you're just making it worse by talking about Gmail invites. The more times that the terms "Gmail invites" or "free Gmail" or "Gmail invitations" appear on your site, the more likely you are to get spammed by the desperate.
For all the desperate people out there, try eBay. You can buy an invite for $1 now.
Comment by Andy Baio at 03:41, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Oh man. I just got done laughing a really good laugh. Thanks. "I didn't mean to spam you." No, really. He tripped. It was an accident. He was doing his homework, tripped over his dog, fell on his keyboard, hit his head, and has no recollection of what happened. Actually, had he been that imaginative I'd have just given him the "invite" right away. Alas, no such luck.
Comment by Kevin Francis at 06:13, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Andy: I guess you're right, perhaps I'm doing this to myself. Curse me!
Well, at least now they know they'll have to spot all the Buffy references to get one.
Comment by Tomas at 08:06, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Hah, that is hilarious. I'm surprised by the amount of attention is being paid to giving out Gmail invitations. What's the big deal? It's a web email service, and most people won't use up the 1GB anyways or come near it. Personally I don't get it.
With that said, perhaps I should point out this URI:
http://www.gmail-is-too-creepy.com/
Comment by Matt Burris at 08:29, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Matt: Oh, I get it alright. Two words: conversation grouping.
What I don't understand is why nobody is spotting Buffy references. Buffy is cult, Buffy is cool, Buffy is the bestest.
Comment by Tomas at 08:39, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Oh well okay because you asked here are the Buffy references:
the Sunnydale Hellmouth attracts undead minions determined to start an apocalypse.
some of the undead minions the vampires
all want an "invite". Not an invitation, mind you, they want an "invite". Just like the vampires who want to enter a house.
the first The first evil seen in the last season
I must have done something really terrible in a previous life. Sounds like Angel and Spike
Well there you have the Buffy references. I like to watch BTVS, so sue me :-)
Comment by Darice at 09:54, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Darice: the first was unintentional, but a good one none the less. The thing about the previous life was more of a convenient coincident or something.
But you missed some others.
Comment by Tomas at 10:12, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Well you got me Tomas, I can't find the others. If it was a "Friends" reference I'd be better at it. I almost know it by memory while I only watch BTVS when it is on TV
Comment by Darice at 10:52, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Darice: There's two left, which refer to something two major characters frequently says.
Comment by Tomas at 11:00, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Again with the unimaginativeness. taking a guess here, Anya or Xander ?
the beggars must be Spike
I'm going to start paying more attention when I watch the episodes again.
Comment by Darice at 12:55, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Darice: I'm impressed, you nailed the Xander reference. The other one was off though.
Comment by Tomas at 13:35, 24 Jun, 2004 #
I'm going out on a limb here, but the Oh, well then and sod off-part definetly sounds like something Spike would say. Especially when combined like that. :)
Comment by Pythagore at 13:43, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Pythagore: It certainly does. The Gmail invitation is yours, if you want it.
I'm assuming of course that Darice isn't interested, since she's got several of her own.
Comment by Tomas at 13:58, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Arg hahaha...I knew that sod off thing was Spike...
Already got Gmail, but thanks :-)
Comment by Darice at 14:33, 24 Jun, 2004 #
No, it's ok - I already got one. Perhaps I should feel bad about stealing an invite from one of the undead minions. :D
Thanks anyway.
Comment by Pythagore at 14:44, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Aw crap, and I thought I had finally gotten rid of it. I guess it's up for grabs... for anyone who can tell me Spike's nick name when he was human.
Both the abbreviated version that Spike prefers, and the complete one.
Comment by Tomas at 14:49, 24 Jun, 2004 #
You are tempting me to answer that one too Tomas, but I'll leave it to the undead minions
Comment by Darice at 17:30, 24 Jun, 2004 #
What is the BIG DEAL about GMail? I just got it, and it's just a web-based e-mail system. Nothing more, nothing less.
Comment by Beerzie Yoink at 17:39, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Okay, I don't want the GMail invite, but I love Buffy, so here we go:
like the Sunnydale Hellmouth attracts undead minions
a hellmouth is a mystical center, a geographical weakness that can be used to open doors to demon realms. Not the BTVS definition, but my brains fried on paint fumes.
An apocalypse, because apparently there are quite a lot of them.
Referenced a few times on Buffy. The first by Scoobies..."It's the end of the world. Again??" Next term specific reference by Riley to Buffy, something like ..."I find myself needing to know the plural to apocalypse."
some of the undead minions
undead minions -- all want an "invite". Not an invitation, mind you, they want an "invite"
My original impulse was to have this be one reference, but since you used it unintentially, I've made it two. Makes me recall two things, Buffy and Willow revoking Angel's invite into Buffy's house, and Harmony and her minions calling Buffy out (hilarous).
Most of their pathetic, bland, uninspiring, boring and unimaginative attempts at getting invited gets the trash treatment.
Yes, this could have gone with the above grouping as well, but if invite was not intended, then I'm not certain if you meant to paraphrase Buffy's quip to the vampires who couldn't come up with appropriate wit to her witticisms.
Darn, someone posted the remainder before I finished typing. Oh well, that was fun anyway.
Comment by allgood2 at 19:48, 24 Jun, 2004 #
Do you mean the "William the Bloody Awful Poet"? or his real name?
Comment by allgood2 at 19:55, 24 Jun, 2004 #
What I can not understand is how come people "loves" Buffy. I saw it once or twice. It is so silly and the "actors" are so bad... I guess there is a person for every taste. :-)
Comment by David at 21:44, 24 Jun, 2004 #
David, Buffy sorts of grow on you. I started watching two years ago on reruns here. So I started with season 1 until the final season.
I find it funny, and the last couple of season became more dramatic. So it has a bit of everything.
Comment by Darice at 00:28, 25 Jun, 2004 #
allgood2: I meant "William the Bloody", and "William the Bloody Awful Poet".
David: Actually the cast of Buffy have proven of multiple occasions that they're a group of rather talented people. I know perfectly well that Buffy seems like a very superficial show at first glance, but, and you'll have to take my word for this, it's great depth is apparent to anyone who's watched the entire series, or just a couple of seasons even (except perhaps for the first two seasons).
Plot and character archs are planned years ahead, and very tiny hints of what the future will entail are dropped once in a while, but are only obvious years later when you see and understand what those hints hinted at.
Some of the episodes are actually fantastically moving. The murder of Tara is the obvious example, it totally ripped my heart apart. Not to mention Willow subsequently turning evil, hunting down the murderer and quite litterally ripping off his skin.
Apart from all of this, Buffy is a great show in the sense that you're always in the mood for it. The characters are alive, rich and deep, while the shows inherent action theme makes it go down like sugar, any day any time.
Buffy fans, such as myself, love Buffy because of the characters and the fantastic storylines, while those who shun Buffy, I've found, mostly do so because they don't know about that aspect of the show. Only after I had watched 5 episodes in a row from the third season, mostly because I was bored and there was nothing else on TV, did I realize that this show is fucking fantastic. Where as Buffy and the rest of the gang have a very ironic, humorous and distanced stance regarding what they do, those who only see a show once in a while often miss that.
So, basically, what I'm saying is that you can't really know what Buffy is about, or how good the actors are, or how good the storylines are, until you've watched a lot of sequential episodes. A single episode, or several single episodes out of context, will only come off as superficial monster hunting, and that's not what it's about at all.
Although, I must say, imho, season one and two were substantially less rich than the following seasons.
Comment by T. Jogin at 12:18, 25 Jun, 2004 #
I said: "Buffy fans, such as myself, love Buffy because of the characters and the fantastic storylines"
As an example of this, most Buffy fans favorite episode is a completely action-free episode. A musical, an episode in which there is basically no action, but the songs reveal a great deal about the characters thoughts and feelings.
I hope this illustrates what Buffy is about, and what it is not about, for Buffy fans.
Comment by T. Jogin at 12:25, 25 Jun, 2004 #
Well said Tomas! For me the most dramatic part was at the end of the musical. When Buffy said that she was happy after she died and how hurtfull it was that they brought her back. So the top 3 dramatic was that one, Tara dying and Buffy's mother dying. The last season had multiple dramatic parts, but that would be another post on its self.
Comment by Darice at 12:46, 25 Jun, 2004 #
Darice: What fascinates me is that, even though characters die all the time, in what seems to be a pattern even, you're never ready for it. The death of Buffy's mother, for instance, seemed impossible for me. I could not understand that she was dead, it just wasn't possible, until two episodes later or so, when I had given up hope.
And then, much later, when Tara is shot, how bloody likely is that to happen? Again, impossible. It just couldn't be.
It seems like at any time a Buffy character finds itself in total happiness, be it a vampire with a soul or not, their world subsequently crashes into suffering, or death, or both.
Comment by T. Jogin at 13:18, 25 Jun, 2004 #
Arrrrgh! Next time when talking about Buffy warn for spoilers!
Not all of us has seen the whole series. *mutters*
Comment by Pythagore at 16:18, 25 Jun, 2004 #
God, I forget that their are still places where people haven't seen all the episodes. I started watching with episode one and didn't let up until the Series Finale, and to further my obsession, went on to watch the series in repeats on FX multiple times over.
Just watching all of Season One can let you know how good Buffy is, and Season One isn't even the best season. But you can't know how great Buffy is until your watching Season Three or later, and find the foreshadowing from Seasons One and Two. The story arches are fantastic. The characters are greatly written and skillfully acted. But the best is the writing is just superb.
Back to Tomas, the deaths Tomas mention are great because they are so heartbreaking, and so utterly human, where are hero can clearly do nothing about them. Ahhh. An Anya after Joyce's death. God wrenching. But my personal moment, when I went from knowing Buffy was great to utter appreciation of the greatness that is BTVS was Ms Calendar's death.
For days, possibly weeks after first seeing it, I was just moping around muttering things like, I can't believe he JUST killed her like that. Arguing, he could have bit her, battered her, beat her to a bloody pulp, something, anything to make it less harsh, less cold. And then the realization that everything you can imagine to make it more real, and "better suited" character death, is so much more violent then what was given, and recognize the genius behind what you were given.
That was just as brilliant as Hush, or Once More With Feeling (the silent and the musical episodes). God, I love Buffy.
Comment by allgood2 at 16:49, 25 Jun, 2004 #
I missed the part when Angel killed Ms. Calendar. The reruns are back, now its mid season 1. So soon I'll see how it happened. The most longterm plot was of the First evil, who made an appearance in season 2 or 3, can't remember exactly. And at the season final the First evil comes back.
I hope they will make a movie to give a more concrete end to BTVS and Angel. I don't watch Angel but I read that the final was full of cliffhangers.
Comment by Darice at 20:34, 25 Jun, 2004 #
Tomas over at Jogin.com has, perhaps unwittingly, encouraged his < ahref="http://jogin.com/weblog/archives/2004/06/23/umpteenth" title=Umpteenth">Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans to speak up. And I know as a ardent Buffy fan, there&ap...
Trackback from Wide-eyed & Laughing at 01:00, 26 Jun, 2004 #
because of gmail, another free email accounts as yahoo and hotmail are giving an extra spaces for free members and also new layouts. My friend, named Thomas has also written about gmail, too. I don't understand why people, who have gmail accounts now, are telling another like,"if you want to have a gmail account, i can invite you, but you have to pay" and another bla bla things while gmail is a free email accounts and the people who have been invited from blogger got it for free, too.
Beggars are just friendly when they need something. But when they got an invitation, their behaviour are so different and also i've seen that they then considered that they pure got an invitation from blogger, not from their friends.
Now, is it nice to say to another people that they have to pay for a gmail invitation? i don't think so.
Comment by Vanessa at 15:54, 26 Jun, 2004 #
Vanessa: And why is it "nice" for anyone to assume that they will get for free what others considers to be valuable?
Comment by T. Jogin at 22:42, 26 Jun, 2004 #
that's what i am thinking about now...
Comment by Vanessa at 01:00, 27 Jun, 2004 #
The discussion has been closed on this entry. Thanks to everybody who participated.