Stories about Humor from February, 2006
Albania: Tirana To-Do List
Alwyn Thomson of Our Man In Tirana posts a Tirana To-Do List: “Experience the last outpost of post-communist chaos while you still can.”
Russia: “Buratino-the-Pooh”
Konstantin of the Russian Marketing Blog shares a really weird label: instead of a bear, there's Buratino, the Russian Pinocchio, on the cake called “Winnie-the-Pooh Cake”: “No, Russians don’t call Pinocchio Winnie. Why is this picture on the cake’s box? Call “Vega-Nord” Bakery hot line.”
Iran: Being American Iranian
Brooding Persian talks about in an ironic way about being American Iranian in a future US-Iran war: In a case I am taken as a prisoner of war by either side, I refuse to perform human pyramid tricks or commit suicide by downing hair removal creams. I also like to...
This week in Israel: election campaigns, a kidnapping in France and more
Israel is now six weeks before general elections, and the campaigning is starting to heat up. Shai Tsur of Shaister has a concise and intelligent roundup of the campaign platforms of the major parties. He writes that he likes the ad campaign of Meretz, a leftist Zionist party, the best....
Guyana: Sucking teeth
“With one long “stchuuuuup” and you eyes looking thin and mean, you can cut a big man down to li’l boy size,” writes Guyana-gyal in her treatise on the Caribbean art of sucking teeth.
Trinidad & Tobago: Carnival necessities & reenactments
Got your snake oil? Just in time for the official start of Trinidad & Tobago's Carnival on February 27, Attillah Springer makes a list of Carnival necessities. She also posts photos of old-time Carnival and the reenactment of the Canboulay Riots of the 1880s.
Russia: Political Jokes
Sergey Belyakov of RUBLog posts six political jokes, which target Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, and Adam and Eve.
Caribbean: Cricket shrink
Ri imagines a conversation between the West Indies cricket team's captain, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and the team's new Irish shrink.
Hungary: Spoof Campaign Posters
Posters have appeared in Hungary imitating one of the opposition party's campaign posters and mocking politicians who are too eager to get back to power, writes Pestiside.hu.
The Law of Love in China
How to regulate love in China? A mock law on love has been circulating online in China as early as 2002 and was recently picked up by mainstream media. Joel Martinsen presents the English translation on Danwei.
How Many Parents Can Toby Have?
So far 10 South Korean have claimed to be either Toby Dawson's birth parents or relatives. Toby Dawson was born in South Korea, adopted by his American parents at age three, and recently won the bronze medal in the men's mogul ski event. The Lost Nomad cites two reportings on...
Bahrain: another eventful week in review
an eventful week in Bahrain.. but we've ALMOST moved away from "the cartoons"...
Iran: Valentine & a Joke
Abtahi, a cleric blogger & reformist politician, writes about Valentine that a guy buying love gifts asks the sales attendant for a dozen cards with the sentence “I ONLY LOVE YOU.”
Yanukovych and Poetry
Oleksandr at Messages From Canada has a post about “proFFessor” Victor Yanukovych talking poetry in Odesa. Very funny. Yanukovych is Ukraine's former prime minister who ran for president in 2004 and was accused of rigging the election, which caused street protests that became known as the Orange Revolution.
Malaysia, Japan: This Love Thing
Kenny Sia points out that in Japan, girls buy boys chocolates for Valentine's Day. He complains that in Malaysia it's the opposite. “Man, this love thing is evil.”
Singapore: Funny Valentine
Doubleyellow suggests that Singapore should have its local version of Valentine's Day: a day to profess love for the government. “On this day, all bus and cab prices will be marked up 10% and GST will be increased to 50%.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Hip-hop meets Carnival
Caribbean Free Radio posts a humorous tale about a rap video crew's attempts to shoot a music video during Carnival
Indonesia: Simulating TV Reality
Inspired by an Economist article about how the U.S. military hires Hollywood production companies to make their combat training simulations more realistic, Indonesia Anonymus guesses what would happen if the Indonesian military hired local TV soap producers to run their simulations. One possibility: “There will be a lot of screaming,...
Putin's Dissertation and Russian Energy Sector
Sean Guillory looks at Vladimir Putin's dissertation, “Strategic Planning of Regional Raw Material Operations in a Market Economy,” which he wrote as a student of the St. Petersburg Mining Academy in 1997. Stored at the Russian State Library, the dissertation is a hit with the readers. Also, Sean discusses Vladimir...
More of Russian DIY Design
Two more additions to Konstantin Dlutskiy's photo collection of DIY design at the Russian Marketing Blog: wedding flowers sold with a discount for loyal customers, and a “Baby” store selling vodka and beer.
“A Good Solid Enemy” for Hungary
Pestiside.hu explains why it wouldn't hurt Hungary to have a foreign enemy or two, and offers a list of potential candidates.