That's funny, I was just thinking, "I would love to be well-known enough one day that my switching employers would make the front page of HN."

I hear you, though. To me, it matters a lot what I think about the "celebrity." Christopher Hitchen's becoming an American citizen, for example, felt like news to me because he's a thoughtful, worldly person who presumably considered his decision. If Russell Brand became a citizen, though, I wouldn't care and would just presume it was for tax reasons, or a joke, or whatever.

Considering that I haven't heard of Tim Van Damme before, I'm inclined to agree with you and consider this gossip.