BBlog

Wednesday, April 9 12:00 AM ET

BBspot Mailbag

Now you too can enjoy my Inbox without the annoying spam. Every week I get some amazing e-mail. Some amazing because of the sheer cluelessness of the sender, some because of the time and energy that went into crafting them and some are just simply amazing.

BBelievers

I'm starting to think that the two persistent Esenam Ayele BBelievers are the same guy. I get messages from both of them on the same day, both essentially saying the same thing. Nothing really funny this time, just asking for money, so I won't post their messages.

Now for the fun part. First, I dropped in the bait, and then I set the hook. I was surprised how many people fell for the quotes, but don't feel bad, even my editor who didn't send the fake email fell for it. I hope he doesn't think that everthing in The BBook of Geek is true...

From: xxxxxx@kensingtonbooks.com
Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Subject: Sorry to hear about your father
To: briggsb@gmail.com

Hi Brian,

I saw these blurbs on your site. Are they real?

"The BBook of Geek is my number one. It'll have geeks laughing all the way to the Trek Convention." --Jonathan Frakes, Commander Williams T. Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation

"I don't start a day without first checking BBspot. The BBook of Geek only solidifies Brian Briggs's position as the king of geek humor." --Joel Hodgson, MST3K and Cinematic Titanic

"The BBook of Geek will be required reading at the Googleplex."--Larry Page, co-founder of Google

Mission Accomplished!

From: xxxxxx@yale.edu
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Subject: On quotes for The BBook of Geek
To: briggsb@bbspot.com

My 2cents: Jonathan Frakes’ and Larry Page’s comments are the best choices for selling your book.

Frakes is a well known geek icon, an entertainer, and his comments were highly enthusiastic.

Page is a businessman geek and his endorsement would get people other than those living in basements to buy the book.

Hope this helps.

And...

From: Leonid
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 3:16 PM
Subject: Most Effective Quotes
To: Brian Briggs <briggsb@bbspot.com>

I'd definitely say the last two are the best quotes. One is flattering, the other is also amusing. The first one is more stereotypically geeky, and not quite as good. Just my two cents.

And...

From: xxxxxx@gmail.com
Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 2:50 AM
Subject: BBook of Geek quotes
To: briggsb@bbspot.com

Riker is the Jar Jar Binks of the Trekverse. I'm sure Jonathan Frakes is a really nice guy once you get to know him, but having his quote on the cover may be a tiny bit counterproductive.

Weekly Limerick

The winner of the 2003 and 2006 Geek Limerick contest has volunteered to write a weekly limerick for BBspot. Seth also has a new book coming out that you should take a look at..

From: Seth

Charlton Heston has finished his run.
He survived in a world where apes won,
 And played Moses. At least
 Now that he is deceased,
We can finally pry out his gun.