Stories about Humor from February, 2013
World's Grumpiest Traveler Smiles Virtually :-)
It's not true that Vitaly Zelkovsky [ru], better known as “the world's grumpiest traveler,” never smiles. He does – virtually, at least. Reacting to the unexpected fame, Zelkovsky re-posted a Broken News Daily “report” about himself and exchanged a few words with two of his VKontakte friends. Both times, he...
Kallun: A Platform of Angolan Slang
The Plataform KALLUN (meaning slang), founded by Leocarpo Mário, is a recent collaborative project with the ultimate goal of gathering in just one place all the slang with Angolan origins. Kallun enables interactive search of terms and their meanings.
Pakistan's Darkest Night On Social Media
A massive power breakdown rocked Pakistan at 11:45 pm on Sunday, 24 February 2013, plunging 70 percent of the country into darkness for 14 hours. People turned to humor on social media to make life easy during the blackout.
Weary of Austerity, Portugal Sings a Song of Revolution
Thousands of Portuguese people have promised a massive anti-austerity protest on March 2, 2013. Leading up to the date, demonstrators have led a campaign to interrupt government ministers during their public appearances by singing a historic song used by revolutionaries who toppled the country's dictatorship in 1974.
Trinidad & Tobago's Take on The Harlem Shake
The latest Internet meme craze, the Harlem Shake, in which people dance to the song "Harlem Shake" by Baauer, has now taken Trinidad and Tobago – the other side of the world from where the meme began, in Queensland, Australia – by storm. This post checks out a few of the videos...
The Spanish Government's ‘Obscene’ Hashtag Makes Waves on Twitter
The Spanish governing party launched the hashtag #QuelaenseñeRubalcaba [#ShowyoursRubalcaba] in order to urge the leader of the opposition to publish his income tax return. The hashtag has been received with great furore on Twitter and became a Top Trend within a few hours. In this article we've collected some of the wittiest tweets, as well as numerous images which surfers have been uploading on the social network. [All links lead to Spanish language pages unless otherwise stated]
VIDEO: Harlem Shakes Ukraine
Popular Internet video meme Harlem Shake [en] has reached Ukraine. On February 16, 2013, YouTube user Vladislav Stankevich [ru, en] shared a video of several costumed people dancing to the “Harlem Shake” [en] song on what appears to be Kyiv subway.
Egyptians Elected Morsi Because …
On Twitter, Egyptians who voted for Mohamed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections in June 24 are remorseful - and their regret is evident in a new hashtag which reads: I elected Morsi because .. The hashtag [ar] #انا_انتخبت_مرسي_عشان generated tongue-in-cheek and sarcasm. Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, won the presidential runoff elections against Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, who resigned after 32 years following 18 days of country-wide protests against his rule.
Marco Rubio's Bitter Drink at the State of the Union Address
Marco Rubio, Republican senator from Florida, was the first senator to address the country in both English and Spanish following President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. However, thirst played a trick on him, and his sip of water, live and in mid-speech, unleashed a wave of commentary on social media networks.
Memorable Moments from the Brazilian Carnival
The importance of Carnival in Brazilian culture cannot be overplayed. Love it or hate it, the Party has bestowed joy on its anonymous masses, fired up those with an opportunistic unbridled penchant for the pursuit of fame, and destroyed the reputation of public figures who have lost all reason and personal boundaries. Check out the following for some magical, shameful, irreverent, controversial and entertaining flashbacks from this important Brazilian extravaganza.
Argentinian Politician's Cryptic Tweet Leaves Internet Guessing
A mysterious tweet published by Argentina's former presidential candidate Hermes Binner drew speculation from Twitter users as to what the seemingly random string of letters could mean. #Obvñzfhnhxds became a trending topic on the social networking site.
For Russia's Comics, it's Raining Meteors
Although the shock wave from the Chelyabinsk meteorite injured hundreds of people, RuNet users have been more eager than ever to crack jokes and spread memes.
‘Follow the Pope's Lead,’ Brazil Tells Senate President
Brazilians reveling in the recent Carnival holiday called on newly elected Senate President Renan Calheiros, who is accused of corruption, to follow Pope Benedict XVI's example and resign. An online petition demanding his ouster has gathered more than 1.5 million signatures.
Caribbean: Valentine's Day is for Bloggers
Think you know what love is all about? A few regional bloggers use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to figure it out…
The Chechen President's Unlikely Instagram
From the start it was obvious that the anonymous album was being updated by either Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov himself, his press secretary, or someone equally close.
As Pope Resigns, Russians Resigned to Putin
Without any real interest in the repercussions of Pope Benedict's resignation for the Catholic faith, the RuNet defaulted to its favorite pastime, humor.
‘Les Miserables’ Parody by South Korean Air Force
The South Korean air force's “Les Miserables” parody video went viral over the week, garnering over 2.8 million hits. The video features snow-shovelling military men suffering under a vindictive superior while juggling thwarted love, a nightmare situation for South Korean men who are obliged to two years of military service.
Japan's Corporate Slaves Put Humor to Hard Work
With a twist of comedy, moral and technical support has been pouring in across social media sites for Japan's "corporate slaves" or "Shachiku" as they are referred to in Japanese slang.
Jamaica: Superpower!
Don’t mind the IMF. Thanks to Volkswagen of America, Inc., we’ve been reminded yet again that Jamaica is a cultural superpower. Jamaica Woman Tongue reminds us that “the Jamaican presence at the Super Bowl wasn’t just the VW ad. It was Beyoncé doing the dutty wine, to the invigorating beat...
Russia's Internet Censorship “Experiment”
A Russian federal region is about to embark on an "experimental" project aimed at censoring the internet. A joint effort by the Kostroma regional government and an NGO called the League of Safe Internet, it is similar in spirit to Russia's new internet blacklist.
Brazil Without Make-up
Brazilian LGBT activist @Rafucko posted a video on Youtube introducing the website “Brazil without make-up“. The initiative aims at demystifying many Brazilian stereotypes while criticizing the government of the city and state of Rio de Janeiro for the lies told on the preparation of the World Cup 2014.
