Words hurt, you know

In response to my Crikey piece, "NBC" writes:

"Re: Michael Jackson -- these are the jokes. (Yesterday Item
19) Please tell Ben Pobjie he is not funny. "As a professional writer" he
reminds us - as opposed to a non-professional I guess, he strings together a
limp collection of M.J 'jokes' and tells us how important he is by thinking
anyone is remotely interested in his last will & testament. Never heard of Mr
Pobjie before - and I now understand why. Are all your usual
correspondents on leave? Fair suck of the sauce lads - Crikey is better than
that."

Now, that I am not funny I have no doubt. Jacqueline Reidpath set me straight on that. But in my defence, since the article was about how bad Michael Jackson jokes tend to be, I don't know how strong a criticism it is to say that the Michael Jackson jokes in it weren't any good.

However, I take the point that nobody is interested in my last will and testament. I will in future refrain from including such serious legal documents in online humour pieces.

BUT! I am glad at least that "NBC" now knows why he has never heard of me - it must have been annoying for him to have gone all these years not having heard of me and wondering why. Must have gnawed at him something chronic.

The most intriguing thing about all this, though, is the confluence of three notable facts:

1. Crikey misspelled my name as "Pobje" on the article.

2. "NBC" claims to have never heard of me.

3. Yet "NBC" somehow knows the correct spelling of my name, and does not use the Crikey spelling.

This plot is as thick as ostrich gumbo, my friends.

Fess up, "NBC" - who are you REALLY?