Age_

I'm just a big girl.

(for a week)

11/02/2008

See, I *told* you yesterday. Today I got a phonecall from a program on national television (Volt with Martine Tanghe, for you Belgian readers), to ask me if I was interested in being a part of a little experiment on their show. Once again, they mistook me for the *other* Hans Otten. Happens to me all the time. A bitch when they have your mobile number...

10/02/2008

Yay! +1000 profile views, that's worth a celebration!! (popping sound in the background... ; pity then it's just a bottle of sparkling water)

Nah, 1000 visits to my li'l profile just makes it clear I could just as well add some more personal stuff about me. Not that there's a lot to tell...

Well, to begin with *something*: a lot of people asked me about the 'mask' in the profile picture. There's no special reason for that, actually, apart from the fact I liked the character called Rorschach (from the Rorschach blot test that covers his mask) out of the comic Watchmen from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It's a superbly crafted graphic novel about how people can't cope with losing control over their environment. Although it was considered unfilmable for more than fifteen years, they're (those pesky Hollywood people) putting a movie out shortly. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm one of those geeks who consider it unfilmable. And it's being made by director Zack Snyder from that ridiculously macho '300' movie. Being a film buff clashes here with being an comic nerd, but that's just how it is.

Oh yeah, AND I've got quite an ugly mutt. That's why the mask.

Yes, my real name is Hans Otten. I didn't know that the name shows in the url of my profile page, untill Ellie Williams brought it to my ignorant attention. Nice one, thanks Els. Age is no nickname of mine, I just made it up as I signed in on SB. It refers to the little 'h' I use to sign my mails and letters. If I remember it correctly, I wanted to sign in under 'Hans', but it was already taken. I didn't want to use my full name, because I know it messes with the heads of Belgians a bit. You see, there is *another* Hans Otten in this fleasized country (although it's not a common name at all), and the other one is a bit famous as he's a television presenter. To make it worse: he comes from the same small village as I do. Nope, we're NOT related... It's just a major coincidence. Oh, to make sure: I was here first, born about six months BEFORE him. Anyhow, him being famous and all makes my life and work as a journalist quite hard. There's not a day that goes by without people asking me -when I talk to them on the phone- 'you the one from the tellie?'. No, I am not. I can even read the disappointment in their eyes when they meet me in person...

Well, you can call me Age, you can call me Hans... It's all just fine.

(I've got to stop typing for now. I'm getting seasickness from that swirling lady in the Heineken (ceci n'est pas une bière) advert on the right. What *is* she doing actually?)