1000 buffalo stampede

I?m tracking the comment spam that hits the blog, whether it gets caught or not. Obviously, the not list gets fed into the Blacklist, to catch it. Today, the filter had caught something. I decided before deleting the SOB’s message, to grab the text of the comment as well. Much of the text left by comment spammers is either short, inane bits of flattery (apparently in an attempt to get my to leave their link to some online casino or what have you) or bits of rambling or I suppose text from a real document, completely devoid of context. Here, without the offending product names, is the text of what got caught:

“It’s something to think about. I’m not sure if I will follow through with my urge or not. If I do, it must of course be done relentlessly. I can relate, as I feel myself distancing myself from this tedium, far more interested in the shifting time signatures in the song I’m listening to (three of three followed by one of two) than in any idea of work at this place. Had a long talk with Leah.”

Mind you, it had eight product names inserted completely randomly into the text. And left with a craplink and fake or spam email account. Lovely. But, what the hell. Let’s get a little enjoymment out of this. Continuing with instruction manual, let’s insert eight equivalent terms from, oh, gaming. In no particular order or reason:

“It’s something d20 to think about. I’m not sure if I will follow through Warhammer with my urge or not. If I do, it must of course be done relentlessly. All Flesh Must Be Eaten. I can relate, Green Ronin as I feel myself distancing myself from this tedium, far d20 more interested in the shifting Delta Green time signatures in the song I’m listening to (three of three followed by one of two) than in Whispering Vault any idea of work at this place. Had a long talk with Leah, Nobilis.”

Well, don’t look at me. That’s what the instruction manual apparently said. Or some spammer program that generates the stuff. I suppose it might be more readable if I rearrange some words a bit in a more Lewis Carroll type of arrangement.

“All Flesh Must Be Eaten. It’s something to think about. I’m not sure if I will follow through with my urge or not. If I do, it must of course be done relentlessly. I can relate, Green Ronin, as I feel myself distancing myself from this tedium, far more interested in the shifting Delta Green time signatures in the song I’m listening to (three of three followed by one of two, if in d20) than in Whispering Vault any idea of work at this place. d20. Or Warhammer? Had a long talk with Leah, Nobilis.”

At least that’s more logical. Whatever. Spammers – I hate ‘em.

Ya, know, while I’m not a big fan of George Bush (big surprise, I know), I also don’t think of myself as someone who supports heaping inaccurate or meaningless slaps and slams on top of his (or any one else’s) reputation.

This is mind, let me go out on a limb and suggest that G.W Bush falling off a bike is hardly CNN-worthy news, let along front-page stuff. Nor is it any indication of the man’s clumsiness or otherwise. Believe it or not, lots of people fall off bikes – especially when riding trails. For instance, me. Heck, I managed to get myself thrown from my bike and knocked flat out unconscious before while riding. And it certainly wasn’t 16 miles through a 17 mile ride. I’ll give the President knocks when he deserves them. But for falling off a bicycle? You’re got to be kidding me. In short: nothing to see here … move along …

I finally got around to picking up The Shield (complete 2nd Season) on DVD a few days ago. Now, The Shield is a show I greatly enjoy. I’ve slowly gotten through the first eight episodes, and have another five to go. A great show – edgy, disturbing, but good. Some of the episodes bother me for days. I like that – it hooks me. From a storyteller perspective alone, that’s insightful – analyzing the show and why it hooks me tells me more about creating engaging stories of my own.

Aside from lessons learned, The Shield is just damn great modern cop drama – by far my favorite. I think my Dad would like The Shield; if he had a DVD player, I’d get it for him. Hmmm … Father’s Day …

For those who aren’t familiar with The Shield, I’ll offer some words from Amazon’s editorial review:

Creator Shawn Ryan’s uncompromising police drama pushed the limits of basic-cable permissiveness, bridging the relative discretion of NYPD Blue and the HBO liberties of The Wire. Without exception, these 13 episodes justify their hype, focusing on pugnacious detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), whose amoral Strike Team employs dubious tactics in the crime-ridden (and fictional) Farmington district of Los Angeles. Mackey and his maverick partners are at odds with seasoned detectives and beat cops, escalating tensions with precinct Capt. Aceveda (Benito Martinez), a Latino with flexible scruples and a political agenda.

I was able to check out the proofs from the super-secret writing project i was working on in the Fall. Well, apparently, the latest is it’s going to print, and might be out in a month or so, according to Ben. The book is “One of the Living”, for Eden Game’s All Flesh Must Be Eaten. You know, the game of zombie horror survival. I’ll say the book looked very impressive. I did get a rush out of flipping through the chapter I helped write – Eden and the editor did a fantastic job, at least based on the flip through. Got to see most of the NPCs got in there, my nod to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, got in there as well. Heh.

Needless to say, I’m very excited, and looking forward to the book being printed.

Well, well. It seems like my spammer “friends” have returned. I was checking the blog this morning as I do over my coffee and news. I make a point of checking the Blog Stats info – quickest way for me to see who – if anyone’s – commented. Seems the Blacklist I installed – while working – isn’t working 100% (or more likely, isn’t 100% tuned – yet). Looks like I?ve been spammed – heavily. Most of it is against old postings (one tip off) – which I need to go back and close.

Once I get home, I’ll track the IP addresses of the offenders, update the Blacklist filter, and delete the comments.

Freakin? annoying, I’ll tell you that.