Sun 1 July 2007 - Dumped… by Virginia (part 2)
I’m relatively used to seeing my name in the newspaper, but most of the time I know it’s coming (like this morning) and I know it’s going to be in a particular context.
So when my Google News RSS Feed (surely a sign of a healthy ego) showed up Virginia Haussegger’s article yesterday, I looked at opening sentence: “Daniel Bowen you are so dumped” and assumed it was about somebody else with the name.
But still, I clicked through and read it. It wasn’t about someone else, and that’s I think what surprised me the most. Unexpected and totally out of context to what I’m used to, which made it feel rather odd reading it. Like Sam Tyler in Life On Mars when the people on TV talk to him.
Obviously she’s just tried to get an interesting angle on the Census figures that have started coming out in the last few days, gone Googling for “average australian” and found me — to my surprise (and apparently hers) I’m the top hit, above the Census itself. Judging from what she wrote, it’s doubtful that she was really reading for very long.
Is it overly critical of my blog? Well, it may seem that way to people who know me, but she’s just having a little rant, and it’s aimed at me because of my choice of the word Average. But 99.99% of the people who read it wouldn’t have visited here, so I doubt they batted an eyelid.
All in all, I’m pretty amused by the whole thing.
Hey Virginia: you’re probably not my type either.
- Profile: Virginia Haussegger (ABC Canberra TV news presenter) — It’s possible that she’s presented a story I was in, but I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to her. I did speak to one of the Virginias on 774 a couple of years ago, but I think it was Trioli.
PS. Monday 9am. Marita’s response: “No, she’s wrong, you’re very average!”
July 2nd, 2007 at 3:09am
You are to be commended for such an even handed response. I enjoy reading your daily musings if nothing else because they are “average” rather than fictious or extremist. A worth lesson to many: hold off on hitting send for 24 hours.
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:06am
i still thought it was rather odd, but i do see your point, as well. i suppose getting an interesting angle on the census is not exactly easy.
July 2nd, 2007 at 9:18am
Of course I only took offense to the fact that if your entries are dull, then so must your readers be. However on reflection (and with ego in check of course) I’ve decided that as I’m a rather interesting person then you must be too…
(And there are people out there who actually *want* fame? They can have it!)
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:10am
Good response DB. You appear to have taken it in the spirit in which it was intended. Still, it does prove that op-ed pieces are often less well-researched and carefully considered than many blog postings.
July 2nd, 2007 at 1:52pm
Ooh, harsh Miss Marita! Still, if anyone is going to get away with saying it, it’s either your parents or your girlfriend…
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:13pm
Oh that others might aspire to be as average….
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:12am
Averageness is something we can all aspire to! Touche, matey! Good response - and thanks for being yourself. Yay! \o/
Cyalayta
Mal
July 3rd, 2007 at 5:18am
Well, I’ll join the crowd and say well done on the mild, even handed response post. Nothing, really, to get too excited about. I think that maybe you’ll see a spike in traffic, then it’ll die down again, with about the same number of average readers as before. That’s the nice thing about the internet: don’t like what you’re reading? Just go elsewhere!
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:19pm
Good on you Dan for not giving any ground to that [removed]. Cheers mate.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:06pm
Some ppl will say anything to make themselves feel good no matter what the effect on you or others not happy unless they are being negative - I suspect another SPOTW.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:12pm
hausegger is a typical ABC whinging leftie from the carping harpie school of journalism. correction. she ‘reads’ the canberra abc news, so her intellectual input into that probably reaches the level of intellectual rigour she applied to this article.
a man can be judged by who his enemys are.
i’d be glad if this tireseome beson disapproved of me. id hold my head high and traipse down the street whistling a happy tune.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:15pm
i forgot to add that she also has ENORMOUS ears, like elephant ears, and not those small indian elephant ears, but those giant african elephant ears which perversely actually look like a map of africa.
here ears are so distracting that unless her ‘do’ of the day covers them (hard to do) i find it hard to actually pay attention to her shrill voice.
July 9th, 2007 at 11:23pm
You should sue the bitch for defammation! She is mean-spirited, evil and totally out of line to write those things about you!
Take her to court and tear her reputation to pieces!
July 15th, 2007 at 2:58am
Hi Daniel:
She professes to be a reporter but her research is obviously thin as she hasn’t gotten the flavour of your blog at all. Wonder what else she has written? Perhaps she could learn a thing or two if she actually read your blog routinely.
Thanks for all you do, public trans, green everything and have the occasional Violet Crumble for me in America. Stephen in Glendale, AZ.
August 7th, 2007 at 3:52pm
How odd - I live in Glendale, AZ, too (and I’m pretty sure I don’t know Stephen). Well, I’ve been reading TC since about 1999 and in my considered opinion you, sir, are quite average! >>>Yawn