Monday, May 05, 2014

Remembering "all your base are belong to us" in light of the Bellingham tortilla fad

There is a mystery fad in Bellingham. Tortillas in various spots around downtown as if placed by a prankster or an artist. Lots of folks talking about this, creating Facebook groups and so forth.

Reminds me of a silly video that went viral a few years back. A picture from my web site got used in that video. News stories were a "flash in the pan" of national TV and magazines for a bit. Watching that video these many years later brings me on a "retro early 2000s computer culture trip."

Last week, the tortilla talk turned toward whether this whole thing is a racial slur. Are tortillas appearing around town to harass Hispanic people?

Who knows. The person, or persons, placing the tortillas have not been identified so no motive is known.

That early 2000s video may have had some international slur to it as well. Turns out the video is making fun of a Japanese game company which marketed a product in USA and didn't translate it into English very well. A phrase from the game reads, "All Your Base Are Belong To Us." That phrase is the basis for the entire video.

My image is just one of many images in that video, but it is now the thumbnail on the You Tube entry. Original sign on my web site said, "Bad Route Road." I passed this sign during my 1993 bicycle trip across USA. Original picture. The video doctored that sign.

Enjoy.


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