This has to be the longest scam email I have ever seen.  It’s amazing how much time some people have on their hands and the lengths they will go to to swindle you out of your money.

I wasn’t aware of this before I found this sitting in my spam folder today, but apparently “Ma Delun” has been at this for quite some time.  I found posts online going back about two years.  He (or perhaps she?) has apparently become somewhat famous due to the sheer length of this email.  If you don’t care to read the whole thing, the short version is he claims to be from the Bank of China United Kingdom (which does exist) and has access to an account from some dead guy in an amount of over $8M USD.  If you’ve seen a typical Nigerian scam email before, you know the drill from here.  He needs your help in getting access to this money and is willing to split it with you 50/50 in exchange.  In the email, he asks me to contact him at some yahoo.com.hk address, although the email listed in the header is madelun@ub.cn.  I looked up ub.cn, and it looks like some Chinese machinery company.  Why on earth would a banker have an email address at a machinery company?  The icing on the cake (as if you needed any more proof that this was a scam) is the originating IP address listed in the header is 41.138.178.89, which would place “Ma Delun” in–where else–Lagos, Nigeria!

Oddly enough, this is only the second Nigerian scam email I’ve ever received.  I inadvertently deleted the first one before I could do anything with it.  This one I’m saving for a bit, because I’m seriously tempted to fuck with the guy for a while.  Anyway, if you want to see the full text, check it out below.  A word of warning:  Grab a snack or beverage before you start reading.  You’ll be here for a while.

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Ronnie James Dio, 1942-2010

The only person on earth who could make rainbows metal.  R.I.P.  \m/

Holy shit, this tournament is off to a great start! So many close games, a couple of big upsets, and it’s only the first day! Thank you NCAA for reminding me why I love basketball. I thought I’d have trouble enjoying this tournament since Arizona didn’t make it for the first time in many years. Fortunately, that has not been the case so far. I wish I had known that the games in SJ were going to be so good. I would’ve called in sick. LOL! I wonder if I can still get tickets for the games in SJ on Saturday.

A few days ago I saw Alice in Chains in concert, and I have to say I was impressed.  If you’re a fan of the band, or if you were a fan many years ago when Layne Staley was still around, check them out if you ever get the chance.  You won’t be disappointed.  Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, and Sean Kinney have not lost their touch, and it’s scary how much William DuVall sounds like Layne.  I already knew he sounded a lot like Layne from the new material that has been playing on the radio, but to see and hear it live was still really weird.  First I’m thinking, “Who’s the tall, skinny, black dude with the afro?”  Then he starts singing, and I’m thinking, “Holy shit!  Layne Staley has been reincarnated as a tall, skinny, black dude with an afro!”  Weirdest thing ever, but it was awesome.

The show took place in the Fox Theater in Oakland.  I’d never been there before.  I generally try to avoid Oakland for obvious reasons.  But the Fox Theater is a very cool venue.  Even Cantrell felt the need to say so during the show.  That’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed about living in the Bay Area for the last year and a half.  There are some awesome concert venues out here.

They played a good mix of old stuff and new stuff, and their style hasn’t really changed since they made “Black Gives Way to Blue.”  There were times when I was wondering, “Is this a new song, or is it just an old song I don’t remember?”  It was hard to tell at times, and I don’t consider that a bad thing.  It’s a style that works for them, and as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  I was also impressed by the sound quality during the show.  I don’t know if that’s just because the Fox theater has really good acoustics or if AIC actually has sound techs that know what the fuck they’re doing, which is far rarer than it should be nowadays.  Way too many people seem to have this turn-it-up-all-the-way mentality, and it often results in a big, steaming pile of distorted bass covering up everything else.  At this show I could hear everything clearly, and while it was loud (and I do like my music loud), it wasn’t too loud.  For once, I actually remembered to bring earplugs to this show, and I didn’t even need them.  Figures.  They also had some screens set up on stage that displayed some pretty cool, trippy visual effects.  I imagine people would really enjoy this show while stoned.  At least the stoners that were at the show seemed to be enjoying it.  One of the funnier moments occurred when one of them tried singing along.  I’m sure they thought they were singing quite well, but typically singing requires “notes” and “words.”

Really the only problem I had with the show was the small cameras they had set up on the band members’ microphones.  Every once in a while they would fade in some live shots of the band members onto the screens, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea.  But these cameras had some serious lag.  It was especially obvious during one song when they showed (drummer) Kinney’s camera, and everything on the screen was a half-beat behind.  They only used this during a couple of songs, so it didn’t really impact the show at all.  But it did look a bit second-rate.  If they can’t get the cameras to work right, they really shouldn’t bother doing it at all.  The show would’ve been fine without them.

That’s about all I have to say.  There’s a tour schedule on aliceinchains.com.  If you have a chance, check them out.  And while you’re at it, give “Black Gives Way to Blue” a listen.  It ain’t half bad.