Month: June 2015

Pictured above is the cast of Bend It Like Beckham: The Musical wishing England luck in the Women’s FIFA World Cup with a cheer and a banner that’s in very desperate need of a comma.

(In case you were wondering, the phrase “come on” is used in the UK in the same way we in North America use “let’s go” to cheer someone on.)

Here’s the tweet from which it came, which also features a video:

Now for a special message for #ENG from the West End cast of @BendItMusical… COME ON ENGLAND! #lionesses https://t.co/AyDAtqtfBl

— BBC Three (@bbcthree) June 22, 2015

Here’s the banner, fully (ahem) extended and ah, unwrinkled:

Remember, people: punctuation is important!

Blast from the (recent) past!

It’s been only a year since I last posted an article titled For the want of a comma. Clearly, we’ve learned nothing.

I’ll let other people post videos featuring famous “talking heads” talking about what’s properly identified as the “Virginia Battle Flag” and popularly (but incorrectly) called “the Confederate flag” or the “Stars and Bars”. I’m going to post this piece made by one Ronnie C. Rouse that I stumbled into on Facebook. Yes, it’s as off-the-cuff and rough around the edges as every other YouTube rant, but but I like Ronnie C’s message and style, so I’m giving him some love by sharing his video:

Kill nine people in an attempt to start a race war but you’re white and hungry? That’s okay, we’ll get you some Burger King. That’s what the #CrimingWhileWhite hashtag is for!

#CrimingWhileWhite means that when your story gets featured in the news, you’re written up more sympathetically as white a killer of nine than a black savior of one:

This is the problem with the American media. Stay woke. pic.twitter.com/q1uWgcocLV

— Rashad Alaiyan (@rashadalaiyan) June 21, 2015

If you’re white, the media looks for your graduation photo. If not, they look for your most gangsta one:

This makes the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown so powerful. It's sad that some people have taken it to another level. pic.twitter.com/oZnLDRRDhN

— Super Sayian 4 (@SvmmieArnold) August 11, 2014

Walking while brown? That’s a ground-slammin’:

Here’s Mr. Patel recovering in the hospital after the incident: In case you were wondering, the trial of Eric Parker, former (thankfully) police officer, was delayed for a few months because a crucial witness is out of state until September. Carry your loaded AR-15 while white through an airport, largely to be a dick about it? You’ll get some reasonable questioning, and you’ll live to complain about it: I strongly recommend not doing this if you’re any other color:

Not even with a pellet gun: Crime is cuter when you’re white:

Awww. Aren’t white criminals just adorable? #CrimingWhileWhite pic.twitter.com/9ihypSeDfc

— JRehling (@JRehling) January 16, 2015

What does a mall cop do when an angry racist white guy threatens a bunch of pro-Palestine marchers and a black guy who’s just trying to get to his destination? Hey, why tell you when I can show you?

Raymond Wilford — he’s the black guy — took a defensive stance, but never threw a punch.

Ah, good, a mall cop! Now we’ll see some justice served.

You go, Paul Blart!

Wait, what?

Oh, sheeeeeeeit.

Here’s video shot by Alex Garland:

The shirtless white guy was never apprehended or even identified. Stuart Hind, the mall cop who maced the wrong guy got off with no charges. And Raymond Wilford will just have to deal with it.

I don’t think the cops would’ve offered Dajerria Becton — she’s the 15-year-old girl who got thrown to the ground and pinned there by (thankfully) ex-police officer Eric Casebolt at the now-infamous pool party in McKinney, Texas — some Burger King? I have my doubts.

You white kids go have your fun #CrimingWhileWhite. I’m going to go brush up on the advice in the videos below…

An ultralight pilot had to cut his flight short when he found that his flying club’s cat mascot had stowed away in the wing. It’s all captured in the video above, titled Remove Cat Before Flight.

The flight starts out as expected: smooth takeoff and a climb to altitude…

…and that’s when a little head appears in the hollow space inside the ultralight’s left wing:

The cat moves closer to the cabin…

…and that’s when the pilot discovers that he has a stowaway.

He quickly comes in for a landing…

…hops out of his seat…

…reaches to extract the cat…

…but it turns out that the cat is quite capable of freeing himself.

The caption for the video reads: “Pour info le chat va très bien, il continue avec application son rôle de mascotte du club”, which translates as “FYI, that cat’s fine, he remains the club’s mascot.”

I inherited a lot of Dad’s qualities. He loved to speak in public, work the room, tell jokes and stories, and hold court. He was driven to set things right and make things better. He loved helping people. And most of all, he loved putting the “Asian” in “Rabelaisian”. He was Dr. Guillermo O’Hara de Villa, Jr., he was my Dad, and I owe what I am to him. He passed away in 2006, but he’s still with us in spirit.

Happy father’s day, Dad.

I don’t have this problem with rice, because I measure that stuff.