· August, 2012

Stories about Humor from August, 2012

Russia: Moscow's Peculiar Illegal Parking Problem

RuNet Echo  31 August 2012

Russian adventures and misadventures in parking could be a movie plot. But Russia’s parking problems are anything but comedy. It remains to be seen how vigorously the country will deal with illegal parking. If it succeeds, its methods could show what kind of transportation system and cities Russia will have, and even what kind of country it will be.

UK: Lion Spotted Is Actually Pet Cat Named Teddy Bear

  31 August 2012

United Kingdom police officers were busy last weekend with a major operation launched on the evening of Sunday August 26, following the apparent sighting of a lion in the English county of Essex. It was later revealed to have actually been a large domestic cat named 'Teddy Bear'.

Russia: Chainsaws to the Cross

RuNet Echo  29 August 2012

On August 25, unknown parties sawed down three wooden crosses in the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Urals. The same night, another cross came down in Arkhangelsk, in the north. Was it a copycat political statement, or a dire plot by the Kremlin to sow discord?

Russia: Censorship Law Threatens Children's Classics

RuNet Echo  29 August 2012

After news that Russian television will soon be forced to curtail showings of a classic children’s cartoon “Nu, Pogodi!” [wiki] (the Soviet version of Tom & Jerry but with wolf and bunny instead of cat and mouse) because it is too violent for a new law protecting children from the...

Chinese Style Romance

  28 August 2012

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu has translated a Chinese video that explains the material conditions of love relation in China.

China: Neil Bush on Sina Weibo

  27 August 2012

Former U.S president's brother Neil Bush has a Sina Weibo account with more than 120 thousand followers. His recent joke about joining the Chinese Communist Party has caught some attention in Chinese social media. (via Beijing Cream)

Russia: Zombies Versus the State in Omsk

RuNet Echo  20 August 2012

Early last Sunday morning in the city of Omsk, a few hundred youths gathered together for a flashmob. Police were on hand to warn everyone that they represented an illegal assembly, and could be charged with breaking the law. Why had roughly 300 people come together? The answer to that question is the "Zombie Parade": the city's first attempted 'walk of the living dead.'

What Is A Chinese Orgy Actually Like?

  18 August 2012

A set of orgy photos leaked out online featuring three pairs of swingers, all are government officials and their wives. Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream picked up the buzz and continued the discussion on the Chinese orgy culture.

Trinidad & Tobago: 50, but not really Independent

  17 August 2012

Trinidad and Tobago's upcoming 50th anniversary of independence prompts aka_lol to suggest that “we have become a nation so taken up with running our own affairs our National Watch Words have unofficially become ‘Run Something Nah’.”

Bulgaria: The Red Army Supports Pussy Riot

  17 August 2012

On the day of the verdict in the Pussy Riot trial, Russian embassies worldwide are seeing demonstrations in support of the incriminated punk band members. The Red Army Monument in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, has joined in: a picture of it with some of the soldiers wearing Pussy Riot-styled...

#DearEgyptAir, Better Service Please

Over the past few years it has become apparent that, if one has a loud enough voice and a big enough audience—not to mention a good sense of humor—social media can serve as a great platform for change. On Wednesday, Egyptians took to Twitter to complain—and joke—about national airline Egypt Air.

North Korea: First Lady Spotted With A Luxury, ‘Dior’ Handbag

  9 August 2012

North Korea’s young first lady was pictured carrying what appears to be a Christian Dior handbag which costs around USD 1,600. While international media lashed hard at the luxury in the midst of food crisis where millions of North Koreans suffer from starvation, one net user in Sina English site raised a...

Russia: Pro-Kremlin YouTube Sensation Gets Own TV Show

RuNet Echo  9 August 2012

Sometimes, a 90-second online video can change lives. Svetlana Kuritsyna was just nineteen last December, when she became an Internet sensation thanks to a laudatory and rambling interview celebrating the political records of Vladimir Putin and United Russia. Now she's been handed her own TV show, and Russian netizens are left wondering what it means.

UK: Taking on ‘Brandalism’

  7 August 2012

The collectively maintained website Brandalism presents an ever-growing collection of street art. The project is inspired “from the Dadaists, Situationists and Street Art movements” and its goal is to “see the largest reclamation of outdoor advertising space in UK history as artists challenge the authority and legitimacy of the advertising...