We should e-mail him 101 times and thank him for the mini coverage. He will start dreaming mini's, maybe even think they are following him.

 

Brilliant idea! THE HAUNTING OF THE MINIS! *evil laugh*

 

It is pretty obvious that it the jackass wasn't a real reporter. This guy is a reporter like Jon Stewart is a political comentator (only at least Jon Stewart is funny ).

Would be fun to go slam & bombard the site but not really worth signing up & getting a screen name.

 

What a terrible blog. No imagination and an 8th grade level of humor. Witness the title...
Small *** Probes Ford Foundation

edit: That's at the Jalopnik site. Detroitwonk is simply boring. Lilliputian? Munchkins?

 

I'm a moron for watching the whole thing.
Obviously someone with no video skills (oh wait... MTV style). He just looks like an idiot on the world wide web!

 

It wasn't horrible. It's obviously far from a serious piece of jounalism, so I can't justify getting that bent out of shape about it. I love MINIs, and even I'd get bored watching 101 of them puttering by, straight-and-narrow, at 15mph. If you look at it as absurdist instead of observationalist, it's almost funny.

That said, I'm glad he was freezing.

John

 

I'll bet he drives a Saturn.

 

I had to copy this from his blog-------
So I left a little comment, being as I struggle to ever keep my mouth shut on topics I'm passionate about.You've got to give the guy recognition for more then likely increasing his site traffic exponentially.
Hehe... and we're the silly munchkins!

 

I have to agree with you on this one. I'm not one to live on line and comment on things often but first seeing the venom on Michigan MINI then NAM I became intrigued.

Who cares? What does matter is if YOU enjoy your car not someone else. Also looking at his other blogs it is apparent he is the "Jon Stewart" type of commenting.(albiet a poor version) Either you get it or don't. There is bad journalism everywhere you turn and this one was no worse. Ever see reality TV? (I try not to after I was forced to watch such a show once)

Anyway, if he was not into the brand before heading out on an assigment he will NOT be now. So the next time he heads out and maybe reports on muscle car owners he may decide to poke more fun at MINI's remembering the infantile comments and "hurt feelings". Anyone ever realize that perhaps that's his JOB? His sole purpose of giving a "crap video and commentary" was to irk the owners and (hopefully) provoke comment? This guy and others like them need to have MATERIAL. Anything they can get feeds the public need for gossip. Well, go ahead and email him. Your falling right into the "plan". Realize that anyone in broadcasting, entertainment has to know something about getting such attention and believe it or not as some talent and ability if even to play the BS card to get where they are. If only to garner the cash to support their gig. If this guy can do this to some degree he is by no means a complete idiot. And I'm sure he is trying to get further ahead by causing controversy. Again, that's his job, right or wrong. To us outside of this industry this seems foreign and unfair.

Also he is not the first or the last to make "fun" of the Mini. After owning a classic Mini and several other (uncommon) cars, the BMW MINI is welcome deviation from usual hecklers when driving such cars.

This guy is no threat and the only harm that is being done is sending him emails providing fodder for him to dislike MINI's for real and or their owners.

When owners are telling him to grow up by using "threats", ranting like its the end of the world etc. Come on... There are bigger issues in the world than someone not liking you car. Jeez. As mentioned before. It ONLY matters if YOU like your car. Stop using a car as an extension of self esteem. And that is exactly how it comes across if your pissed off enough to get on some guys case because me made a comment(s) that were not liked. Oh Well. Keep motoring and not let his "cluelessness or agenda detract from your enjoyment of your car....Or personal pride.

Read the posts by MINI owners and then ask yourself which is worse and belongs in a playground setting.

-C

 

We really should just leave the little guy alone. Obviously, anyone can operate a video camera and a computer. Not everybody is as informed about automobiles as we are. Not to defend the guy, but there are SO many common people in the world. There's not enough time to defend ourselves to people who don't even realize what they don't know. We're better than that.

 

Why are people comparing this guy with Jon Stewart??? Stewart is original, quick on his feet and an astute political commentator even if it is "fake news." This video and the Detroitwonk blog show just the opposite. "There's a blue one, and a red one, and a green one, and a checkered one" is none of those three characteristics. The only thing in that whole video that made me chuckle was when he picked up a MINI with his fingers and moved it into the parking lot. Simplistic, yes, but at least it was somewhat unexpected.

I'm also very glad that the mods nuked the cell phone post. Totally uncalled for and showed an utter lack of class or propriety.

 

And I apologies to the members of NAM for that momentary lack of judgement ...I had no intentions of inciting people to behave badly or go so far as placing death threats (although given this person's lack of credibility, I imagine this was another of his exaggerations). I was going to delete that information the first thing this morning but am glad they did it for me...too much passion is not a good thing and my rant got out of hand Now that I've made an *** of myself (bound to happen sooner or later)...I'll go back to doing something more productive...

 

I agree with you to the points that the extent at which some people went (nasty emails, death threats, etc...) was very uncalled for and may have tainted a reputation we have for being free-spirited and kind.

That being said...

I disagree with you on a few points.

1. When you go home at night, do you ever complain about your boss, or if you had a crappy day, or just vent to family about frustrations?
Well, to me and I can guess a few other people, NAM is a sort of family. A place where I can escape to and just think about my MINI and the community which it brings. So if there is something that aggrivates one or more of us, there is going to be some venting within the family. I think that is completely ok and I think it should be taken with an open ear. Sometimes people just need to vent to clear their head.

2. While a MINI, or any car for that matter, should not be an extension of our self-esteem, it most assuradly is something we identify with, and more often then not, something that identifies us. So if someone starts flapping at the mouth and offending us through something we identify with, of course there are going to be some aggrivations. You can't expect MINI owners to just lay back and take it... especially when it is something we're passionate about.

 

Can I say "I Told You So" know?

 

The death threats are way too Fascist. This is America, where you are "free" to announce your Town Idiot status.
Did anyone offer him a ride on a roundabout?

 

Yes.

 

I told you so!

 

He is obviously a graduate from the Dan Rather School of Journalism.

Y'all (that's Southern for "you all") need to leave the boy alone.

 

Hey Msfitoy don’t sweat it, I know you're not an “***”…. . It’s hard not to have a reaction to folks like that.

Note to self…..Don’t say anything bad about Msfitoy tail pipes. Ok that didn’t sound right.

 

 

1 People = me. Guess you didn't read my post because then it would have made sense to you

 

Good news, it appears that the 'Elders' will let him live.

As it appears on http://raywert.blogspot.com/ in the comments to his Blog...

From Anon...

"I, for one, don't think he should be killed. Most MINI owners hopefully agree. I'm sure Ray agrees.

We are a peaceful religion and it has been given a bad name by some zealots who act using the cover of our enthusiasm for the MINI.

The elders of the Michigan MINI sect have denounced the death threats and can find no reason why Ray should be put to the sword since he appears to pose no literary threat to anyone past third grade. Further, it is likely that Ray was only doing the best he could under the stress of the situation.

We are also gratified to hear that he has been moved to a new assignment and will be relocating to Zambia where he will be doing political commentary regarding the current government. We wish him well. "

Looks like he'll be safe in Zambia...

 

Is it over yet?

 

When he gets to Zambia... it will be over

 

On your first point of course I do. Who doesn't? However posting emails to fellow employee's deriding him/her will get you no where. Even fired maybe. The point I was making is why go so far as to fuel this guys issue/lack of professionalism if all he is going to do is deride further and possibly escalate things further?

Perhaps I'm a little different since I don't have a family to go home to vent. I have always been an "internalizer" and don't feel the need to burden others with issues that are not paramount. Excuse me if I offended you and others on NAM.

Clearing the head is fine and the venting is fine. Totally agree with your points. Again, it was the "going after" the guy which seemed excessive in the manner in which it was actually detracting from exactly what you were saying the reason is you like to frequent NAM. "To get away from it all and enjoy the MINI". Hence after the ititial bantering extending the issue seems pointless.

On your second point. Of course we are all passionate about the MINI. Otherwise we would not be on NAM, or any other site for that manner or even care to respond all together about the this certain issue.
As unfortunate as it may sound "identity and self esteem sometimes go hand in hand. Point is that the car will not change if someone dislikes it. It is the same before and after the comment. And being an inanimate object it does not know or care that someone may not like it or actually loves it. The owner is the one who attaches the personality and meaning. Plain and simple. So when someone goes off and attacks our pride and joy WE not the car take it personally. Depending on the severity of the comment or "attack" the response will vary. Name calling in the minute sense is nothing more than that. Something to get your goat. In my eyes why bother, it's detracting from my enjoyment and feeding their purpose. Believe me I have been through more than my share of comments, remarks and pointless comments than I care to remember. Perhaps that's why I have chosen to take this view point.

Now if some clown decided to escalate things by committing vandelism then it's another story and more action is required. In my experience it's often the first responses to chiding that up the ante to property damage. This however was not going to happen in the original post instance. I just illustrated the point of mindset if something similiar (in attitude) happens in day to day existence.

MINI owners lay back and take what? A comment that we don't happen to agree with? Well that happens everyday. It's a choice to "not take it" or to take action. Well in this case, with nothing really committed, what's the point? Now if there was some act of vandelism commited by some kids etc, (such as I noticed on Elise Talk) then I can understand the need to vent since the stakes are much higher. But in this case? Ummmmm. No.

-C