Food

Finally had a bowl of Pho that I liked

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One of the national dishes of Vietnam is “pho.” It’s spelled “phở.” To  pronounce it correctly, start to drop the f-bomb, and leave off the final “k” sound.  Or start to say “full” and leave off the final “ll” sound. It’s a noodle soup, usually with beef or chicken.  It’s very mild.  Vietnamese people see it as comfort food.  I see it as boring.  Usually.

By Codename5281 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23216056

A few days ago, I got a stomach bug that was really debilitating (I was lying in bed all afternoon today with stomach cramps).  This evening I wasn’t really hungry, but I needed to get something in my stomach, so I went out for some pho. It isn’t hard to find pho in Vietnam.  It’s everywhere, from streetside bistros to upscale restaurants.  I chose a middle-of-the-road chain called Pho 24.

Usually I don’t like pho.  It’s so mild that it’s boring.  But this time, it was just what the doctor ordered.  The rice noodles are easy to digest, and the warm broth feels good on an upset tummy. Maybe pho is Vietnam’s answer to chicken soup. If chicken soup is Jewish penicillin, maybe pho is Vietnamese penicillin.

Cheeky Barista

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When baristas at Starbucks ask me for my name so they can write it on my cup, I don’t like to give my real name. It’s a personal quirk. As a small token of rebellion against the system, I give a fake name.

Usually I’m “Phil,” for some reason. Today, though, I decided to be Ed, because I was in a hurry, and I figured that it would be pretty hard to mess up that name.

“My name is Ed,” I said as clearly as I could, thinking to myself, “that should be easy.”

Boy, did I not expect this. Did he think I had a cold?

I am a YouTube Violator

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So apparently my food videos are offensive to The Powers That Be at YouTube. I was just notified that my video violated YouTube’s delicate sensitivities.

This is part of the notification:

Your video “Ca Loc in Danang” was flagged for review. Upon review, we’ve determined that it violates our guidelines. We’ve removed it from YouTube and assigned a Community Guidelines strike, or temporary penalty, to your account.

I thought it might be a spearfishing attempt, so I went to my YouTube page. Sure enough, this snippet of text was waiting for me:

The video is question is an 11-second shot of my lunch: clay-pot fish. Sure, it’s “steamy,” but not in the pornographic sense:

Does this video offend you?

What “Community Guideline” does this video violate? Here are the categories, according to YouTube’s website:

Nudity or sexual content: Admittedly, the fish is not wearing any clothes. Maybe this is the one?

Harmful or dangerous content: Well, if you asked the fish, it would probably say that the video isn’t good for its health.

Hateful content: Some people don’t like fish, it’s true. Maybe this is the one?

Violent or graphic content: I’m sure that the fish was murdered. This could be the one!

Harassment and cyberbullying: Um…

Spam, misleading metadata, and scams: It’s fish, not spam. Pretty sure this one is out.

Threats: No one is saying anything bad will happen to you if you don’t eat the fish.

Copyright: It’s my video. I shot it, I own it.

Privacy: Again, the fish is nude. So, maybe…

Impersonation: The fish isn’t trying to push itself off as anything but a fish.

Child endangerment: You’ve got me: some kids don’t like fish. This definitely could be the one.

 

I assume that this is an AI fail. But it’s pretty funny to think that my food video was found to be inappropriate.