11 Points Inbox-O-Rama, Number 5
Published Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM - Single-page view

Inbox-O-Rama #5 is upon us. I have to tell you, I love writing these up. The questions and submissions I'm getting just keep on getting better.

As always, anyone whose question, comment, etc. is included in an Inbox-O-Rama gets a new 11 Points sticker. (Assuming you're patient, send me your address and live in the U.S.) And the good news: They've arrived! They're a little smaller than I thought they'd be but they look really cool. I've put one my laptop, and my girlfriend's laptop. I didn't ask first. Love me, love my website, I say.

Here we go...
  1. Photoshopped headlines have fooled me! Last week in Inbox-O-Rama I posted a picture of an Irish newspaper headline reading "Massive blow jobs for Belmullet". I found it mind-boggling. Well... it was too good to be true.


    The fake headline, with the real one next to it.
    I was going to title this email "Massive Blow Jobs" but I figured that might not make it past your spam detector.

    I may not be the first to inform you, but I believe the picture you displayed in your last Inbox-O-Rama was tampered with (the headline from the Mayo Advertiser). Most of the articles I have found online list the title as "Massive Jobs Blow for Belmullet" (here: http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/14280 and here: http://muckrack.com/link/143776)

    Also, the text in the headline appears to be altered ("blow" is set a little too close to "Massive" and the other words in the headline appear lower than the first).

    May still be an actual headline, but the way I've seen it phrased elsewhere seems to be more believable. I don't want it to seem like someone did this intentionally to fool people, but ... I don't know for sure.

    Just wanted to give you a heads up. Love your site.

    --Jennifer in Omaha, NE
    Aww shit. Irish, you gonna mess with me and fool me with your headlines, I'm going to fool you with mine. I hired a virtual personal assistant in Bangalore to submit the following photo to 80 Irish newspapers and websites every day:



  2. T9 Switch of the Week. Every week I get great submissions for words that T9 predictive text switches out for other words. (Like last week's Smirnoff-poisoned switch.) Here's the best one I got this week...
    The t9 on my LG [prefers] the word "jews" to "keys".

    --Bridge (via Twitter)
    That is a good one. I would find it hilarious to get a text that said, "Come home, we're locked out and need your jews" or "That guy cut me off, let's go jew his car" or "Matt Millen said that stopping the run and drafting wide receivers are the jews to victory."


  3. How can you not love Adam Shankman?
    Favorites on "So You Think You Can Dance"? Last year I did a list on 11 reasons why "So You Think You Can Dance" is better than "American Idol", and one on 11 reasons why "American Idol" is better than "So You Think You Can Dance". Have never received a question about either show until this one...
    Who is your favorite choreographer- dance wise, and who is your favorite choreographer- judging panel wise?

    Mine would be Mia Michaels dance wise, and Lil C for the judging panel, his method of critiquing is always so entertaining.

    --Amanda (via Twitter)
    Choreography-wise, I think my favorite remains Shane Sparks. I know that's controversial and he doesn't always "hit", but he's done my favorite hip-hop routines on the show. I also like Doriana Sanchez a lot, but mostly that's because I think the disco dances are always great. Mia Michaels and Wade Robson are clearly the most talented, but sometimes get so far up their own asses that their routines piss me off.

    I'm still not sold on Tabitha and Napoleon, Sonya or Mandy Moore. Tyce DiOrio is hit or miss for me. And Alex de Silva had OK routines, but he was arrested for sexual assault, so he ain't coming back.

    As for judges, Lil C is actually one of my least favorites. Only Debbie Allen is consistently worse. Without any hesitation my favorite guest judge is Adam Shankman. I think his personality can be polarizing but I find his judging to be funny, useful and accurate.


  4. In defense of Natty Light. When I turned 30 back in August, I lamented it with two lists. In last week's Inbox-O-Rama, I told a story that included my friends and me drinking Natural Light. Which prompted this...
    ewww... natty light? really? aren't you 30?

    --Mallorie
    Well there really isn't any retort for that (other than "at least it wasn't Boone's Farm")... but I would still like to speak in my defense. At age 30, I still play a whole lot of flip cup. I feel that game is timeless. And in flip cup, you're not really tasting the beer. (Thus the infamous 11 Best Crappy Domestic Beers list I wrote back when this site was less than a week old.)

    So if occasionally, during a beer-purchasing trip, you grab an extra 30 of Natural Light (for around $11, mind you)... it's not the end of the world. It's a cheap insurance policy against running out, and since you're not really drinking the beer for its full-bodied flavor and rich tones anyway, I say, why not?

    Also, I'm terrible at being 30.

  5. The gingers are coming! There's been much talk on this site about gingers. Two vigilant readers wrote in to warn me about a recent festival that brought together 3,000 gingers...
    They're plotting something: Ginger festival

    --Derek



    Hey, Sam, love the 11 Points lists, just thought you might want to check this Redheads Festival thingie, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8245290.stm

    --Daniel
    And while I don't trust them (I strongly believe gingers are the second-most-likely people to be plotting world domination, only trailing the Germans, and just ahead of the Chinese)... I'd like to think they all got together and sang this in harmony:

    Hand in hand, we can live together,
    Ginger or not, we're all the same.
    Black or white, brown or red,
    We shouldn't kill each other, 'cause it's lame.


  6. A home run is from behind the meatballs.
    Baseketball. In my list of 11 Firsts In Internet History, I speculated that the guy who invented the first search engine, Archie, was probably so upset he didn't push harder and create Google that one day he was found hanging by his neck in his fucking closet. In last week's Inbox-O-Rama, I posted an e-mail from that guy, because he actually wrote me to tell me no, he's very much alive.

    But, as of last week, I had repeated the line "hanging from his neck in his fucking closet" twice, without anyone catching the reference. Until finally, this e-mail came...
    I missed it the first time, but nice Baseketball reference, I freaking love that movie.

    --Hiller
    Yes! Someone finally caught my "Baseketball" reference! Which finally lets me share this list of the 11 dumbest comedies I inexplicably love. I didn't think this list warranted its own full 11 Points but it's perfect to include here...

    1. "Baseketball"
    2. "Dead Man on Campus"
    3. "White Chicks"
    4. "Miss Congeniality"
    5. "The Stoned Age"
    6. "Good Burger"
    7. "Eurotrip"
    8. "The Ladies Man"
    9. "Dirty Work"
    10. "Half Baked"
    11. "Orgazmo"

    I look forward to defending at least one of these choices (and probably more) in next week's Inbox-O-Rama.


Continue reading on page two...


This list was published on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM under the category Misc.

Did you enjoy this list?
11 Points is a one-man operation that relies on word-of-mouth & repeat readers.
So please consider sharing this list using the social media icons in the box, and/or joining the 11 Points mailing list, Facebook fan page and Twitter feed.
11 Points About Our Penthouse DVD Release Video

11 Things the Car Thieves Didn't Take

11 Lamest Sports Injuries Ever

11 Points Inbox-O-Rama, Number 11

11 Posters From My College Days That They Still Sell Now

Archive of all Misc lists
11 Classic Simpsons Quotes About America
Published Sunday, July 4, 2010 at 08:30:00 AM under the category TV

11 Things You Didn't Know About Comic Sans
Published Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM under the category Web & Tech

11 Magazines With Surprisingly High Or Low Circulations
Published Monday, June 28, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM under the category News & Politics

11 Points Live Blog - World Cup 2010, US v Ghana
Published Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 11:30:00 AM under the category Sports

11 Foods That Feature Cartoon Animals Killing Themselves
Published Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM under the category Food & Drink

11 Points Live Blog - World Cup 2010, US v Algeria
Published Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 08:49:00 AM under the category Sports

Full Archive

11 Points is comprised entirely of (theoretically) humorous 11-item lists covering a giant swath of topics.

It's composed entirely by this stern-
faced goon to the right. His name
is Sam. Screw Flanders.
(advertisement)
11 Points on Twitter
interaction, news, randomness
11 Points on Facebook
community, forum, public affection

11 Points RSS
instantaneous, confusing to the elderly
11 Points Mailing List
updates, contests, exclusives

(advertisement)
11 Points is a collection of exhaustively-researched, meticulously-written, theoretically-humorous 11-item lists, covering topics ranging from TV and movies to the Internet and video games to food and dating to politics and race relations.

It's all written by Sam Greenspan, a Midwest-born, classically-trained journalist who now tries to make a dollar out of 15 cents in Los Angeles. (It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent.)

Read more about 11 Points and Sam here.

For information about reprinting 11 Points content, or for quotes/interviews for your newspaper, magazine, website, TV program, or radio show, contact Sam via e-mail at