Philippe Lazaro
OCTOBER 2016

The Best of Filipino Heritage Night

Last week, I got to riff on my fascination with Filipino Heritage Nights across professional sports leagues. As it turns out I have a lot of takes–especially when it comes to the design of the giveaway merch and apparel.

Some ground we’ve already covered:

  • I’m really ready for some teams to think beyond the sun and stars when it comes to design. It’s a cool flag, and there’s still lots of examples of teams making it look good. But give me something fresh!

  • Without being a huge Filipino-American hub or having any Filipino players, there hasn’t been much incentive for my Phillies to participate… but being able to play with the name could create some fun opportunities.

  • The NFL has been a total dud. Granted, the 16 game season doesn’t allow for as many themed games, but still. Would love to see the Niners or Cam Bynum’s Vikings take the reins here.

Anyways, this time around, let’s explore the teams doing it right. I already highlighted some well-designed items from the Golden State Valkyries, Vancouver Bandits, and Chicago Bulls.

But, there’s even more where that came from!

The Best

The Mariners vs The Yankees

Going back to Griffey in ‘95 and A-Rod in ‘01, things always get interesting when these teams square off. But who has the upper hand when it comes to Filipino Heritage Night?
The Mariners have a lot going for them. I already highlighted the Verified Asian vlog declaring the Mariners to have The BEST Filipino Heritage Night in Sports. And they’ve got a good case, between the sisig nachos and rally tabo. But the thing that really seemed to seal the deal was the giveaway jacket. A classic satin-looking dugout jacket in a royal blue with red trim and the Mariners’ cap logo on top of a yellow sun. Chef’s kiss material.

But that was months ago, and later in the baseball season, the Yankees unveiled their merch.

The Yankees don’t often play the role of the underdog. But they carry a lot of disadvantages into a Filipino Heritage Night design-off. They are hands-down one of the most conservative teams when it comes to design, rarely veering from their century-old iconic styles. They’ve shunned the idea of mascots and city connect jerseys.

But when it comes to Filipino Heritage Night, they unveiled a jacket not too unlike the Mariners. The classic NY on top of the sun in the same chest position. The jacket itself was navy with a white trim, sticking with team colors rather than the Philippine flag. HOWEVER- the flag was saved for the inside. The jacket was reversible, and flipping it meant the back was an entire flag.

As someone who rarely speaks positively about the Yankees… it was pretty good.

So who comes out on top? I’m gonna cast my vote for Seattle on this one. It’s close. But the Yankees used a template that the Mariners were the ones to establish as a hit. But nicely done to both teams.

The DJ Javier Collabs

DJ Javier is a Filipino-American illustrator based in Santa Barbara, meaning most of his sports allegiances lie with LA. Thankfully, the teams love him back.

In 2024, he was the creative mind behind the LA Kings’ Filipino Heritage Night, easily establishing it as the best in the NHL. His illustrations combined his personal style with batok tattoo art and hockey. Simply put, it looked good. And the team did well in highlighting the artist’s own story.

Later, LAFC let DJ Javier do a Filipino inspired shirt design for AAPI Heritage Month, which was a similar win.

I can only imagine how hyped I’d be for these designs if I were actually a fan of these teams.

Washington Nationals

In August 2025, The Washington Nationals honored FIlipino Heritage Day for the fifth time. Previous giveaways were guilty of forcing a marriage between the Philippine flag and the team jersey, resulting in something a bit too loud and uninspired.

But this time around, they delivered.

They went with an all black-and-white bomber jacket. I guess the trend is that jackets do really well as a giveaway item. It kept the design mostly restrained except for the back, where the W logo became a canvas for a whole collage.

The back logo included FIlipino and American flags, Washington DC landmarks, tinikling dancers, jeepneys, tricycles, a carabao, and a bahay kubo. It was vibrant, brilliant, and balanced. My one and only complaint is not being a fan of the Walgreens’ W logo, but that’s not a problem meant to be solved by Filipino Heritage Night.

Norfolk Tandangs

In my last entry, I applauded the Norfolk Tides’ one-day rebrand as the Norfolk Lumpia to honor the 44,000 Filipinos that live in its surrounding communities. Then they outdid themselves. For Filipino Heritage Night, they rebranded as the Norfolk Tandangs, to pay homage to the Filipino fighting rooster… among other things.

Their social media unveil showed that they did their homework.

The coloring and design elements honored things like the walis tingting, batok tattoos, and the barong.

Lots of great tie-in merch was also released.

Sampaguita Kit

My favorite Filipino Heritage Jersey of 2025 came from the US’s second soccer league– USL League One.

If you’re not paying attention to the USL, you’re missing on some of the best kits in all of football, courtesy of design partner Hummel.

I was a bit surprised when I saw that Forward Madison from Madison, Wisconsin was the team going hardest for Filipino swag as part of AAPI Heritage Month. I mean, Filipinos are everywhere, but still. Madison’s not quite a hub.

They do have some active Filipino nonprofits, like PAMANA, that aims to keep the connection between the Philippines and residents of Central Wisconsin with Filipino ancestry. They also have a goalkeeper, Bernd Schipmann, who plays on the Philippine National Team.

Forward Madison partnered with PAMANA to unveil two Filipino keeper kits. The first was a vibrant yellow, inspired by the sun. It was nice, but the one I had to purchase for myself was the mint green Sampaguita Kit, named after the Philippines’ national flower.

One of my favorite indulgences time-to-time are extremely niche soccer jerseys and this is why.

Suggestion Box

As I’ve said a few different times now, Filipino culture gives you no shortage of visual inspiration. There’s a depth of references to be used. Designers have no need to get hung up on the sun and stars.

Here are a few ideas that I’d love to see some teams indulge.

Jollibee Collabs

Okay, this one might be the most complicated because it requires the participation of a corporate partner… but trust me, Filipinos would absolutely rock a Jollibee parody of your teams logo.

This Knicks example is actual streetwear, a collab between Mga Bagay and Barkada. I don’t even root for the Knicks and I’ve got to admit, that’s a good look. Bonus points if the Charlotte Hornets get in on this as the team that comes closest to having a bee logo.

The Banaue Rice Terraces

I came up with this idea for the Utah Jazz and the Jazz specifically.

Of all the pro-sports hubs that have Filipino populations, Salt Lake City isn’t particularly high. BUT. For many years, Jordan Clarkson balled in Utah. Filipinos love Clarkson. There were ads in the Philippines for a long time starring impressionists of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Jordan Clarkson. It’s like that.

The Jazz throwback mountain jerseys are some of my favorites. So I decided to play with a design that turned those mountains into the Banaue Rice Terraces, one of the Philippines’ more iconic land formations.

Batok & Barong

I love the stories, traditions, and art in the Filipino art of tattooing. I’m a bit biased, I guess. I’ve been wearing a batok piece on my arm for years.

The tattoos are a deeper cut, as far as Filipino references go. But when teams have leaned into it, it’s typically worked out well! DJ Javier used the design element in both his LAFC and LA Kings pieces. The Norfolk Tandang made it work really well as a trim. I whipped up this sketch of what it might look like to play with the White Sox’ sock logo. Could work for the Red Sox dual sock logo too… but Chicago’s the bigger Filipino hub.

Meanwhile, one of the good examples I threw out last week was the San Francisco Giants’ barong jersey. What about actually stiching on a barong? Trying it out on Atlanta United to rep ATL’s Filipinos.

Baybayin

The traditional Filipino script is visually gorgeous. And its fluid strokes lend themselves well to the traditional athletic cursive.

In the LA area, I’ve seen some Filipino streetwear add a Baybayin Dodgers’ logo. Not gonna lie, it looks good.

I’ve already mentioned how I’m hopeful to one day see some Filipino Phillies gear, so I decided to give it a shot on their cream alternates.

If you’ve made it all the way this far… and especially if you’ve read both of my Filipino Heritage Night posts, you’re a real one! Seriously. If you did that because you share this same very niche interest, we’d probably be good friends.

Or maybe, we’re already good friends and you read all this to humor me. Either way, you’re a real one.

The Fine Art of Filipino Heritage Night

Back in June, the San Diego Padres held a Filipino Heritage Celebration. It was at their game against the Washington Nationals. They had Katriz Trinidad sing the anthem. Filipino dance troupes performed and some Filipino vendors turned out at the ballpark. They gave away some white bucket hats with baybayin script and Filipino flag colors. I would've gone if I wasn't traveling.

It was a big success. So much so that they ran it back almost right away. They hosted a second Filipino Heritage Celebration in early September. This time against the Cincinnati Reds. This time around they ran it back. The gave out similar looking basketball jerseys matching the bucket hat. You could imagine your Filipino uncle wearing it to a garage party in Paradise Hills.

To their credit the Padres have been pretty good at celebrating the diverse cultures of the city. The 2025 season had Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Portuguese nights. Puerto Rican, Irish, and Mexican heritage nights too. Early in the year they held a BCLT (Burmese-Cambodian-Lao-Thai) night. That made them the first pro sports team I know of to have such a commemoration.

These heritage themed nights sit at a unique cross-section of my interests. The stadium giveaways are only part of the fun. When a team goes all in, you also get cultural nonprofits participating. Local artists perform the national anthem or seventh inning stretch. You get special performances by DJs and dance troupes. Oh… and food.

The best example of a flourishing Filipino Heritage Night is on display. It's in a YouTube video by Asian Verified. The vlog is: The BEST Filipino Heritage Night in Sports. 

According to the vlog, that distinction belongs to the Seattle Mariners. In 2025, the M's gave away blue-yellow-and-red remakes of the team’s classic jersey. 

The vlog also celebrated food options like ube churros and sisig nachos. Then it dove into the rally tabo and barrelman. I don’t have time to dive into these niche Filipinoisms, so IYKYK. Filipino Heritage Night at the ballpark contains multitudes. In this post, I’m gonna focus my reflection on the swag. The giveaway jerseys and merch.

In this department, the Mariners have elevated Filipino Heritage Night to another level. The royal blue dugout jacket they gave away in 2024 can easily fetch $120… and that’s assuming you can find it in your size. Their Filipino-sun hockey-hoodie also does numbers.

Alas, not every Filipino themed item is quite so refined.

In 2023, the New York Mets gave away a hat. It featured the Philippine flag within an outline of their cap logo. It also sported blue and red side panels, yellow buttons, and a repeated map of the islands on the under-visor. There was a lot going on.

This example represents one of the most common missteps. Doing way too much. It’s a common issue that previous efforts by the Padres have been guilty of.

There's another issue that plagues a lot of Filipino heritage night designers. Not being able to go beyond the sun-and-stars. Yes… they are a great visual icon. There’s a reason they’ve made it onto so many Filipino biceps and logos. But we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it again and again. I look at examples like the Houston Rockets in 2022 and the LA Dodgers in 2023. The common pattern is not being able to imagine a tribute beyond the flag, sun, and stars.

The Philippines are 7,000 islands with a wealth of rich inspiration for visuals. They range from textiles to tattoos to nature.

That said, I’m not mad about the sun-and-stars, especially when you can pull it off. When it comes to baseball caps, less is more.

When the sun can integrate with your team logo, that kind of opens up a good opportunity to have fun with it. The Golden State Warriors are the best at this. Their logo is already circular and their team colors overlap well with the Filipino flag. Filling the sun in with the Bay Bridge feels like a natural fit. It works out well that the Bay Area’s Daly City is one of the largest Filipino communities in the United States.

Speaking of cities with a large Filipino presence... that raises expectations for Toronto. The Toronto Raptors have delivered without even trying too hard on their snapback. They’ve got the classic red dinosaur logo that we already love with the eight rays behind it.

The undervisor is a pattern inspired by textiles or tattoos. Not quite a classic batok design. It does make the hat busier. I figure that if you’re already rocking a red and purple dinosaur hat, you already weren’t going for subtle. I could do without the side logos of the flag or Raptors’ claw logo, as they’re redundant. And I could do without the huge FILIPINO colored with the flag on the back, because it’s hard to read, and also, WE GET IT.

One of the best incorporations of the sun has to come from the WNBA. Specifically the Golden State Valkyries. The Bay Area strikes again! Here, they omit the circle to get the rays to line up with the bridge lines on their triangular logo. It doesn’t hurt that on the night of its release, they had Ruby Ibarra and Jeremy Lin in attendance tor ock the gear.

Similarly, the Winnipeg Jets managed to incorporate a lot. Sun rays, the angular outline of a jet, a chevron pattern, and a Maple Leaf. Somehow they did this in a way that doesn’t feel too busy… thanks to some well-thought use of negative space. It would’ve been easy to overlook the NHL when it came to Filipino Heritage Night. I don’t follow hockey much. But there are some jersey gems.

The Clippers’ logo variation seems pretty similar, and they’re a team that gets the less is more approach. It helps that their whole brand is built on minimalism. They do find a way to reflect those vibrant Filipino patterns in a contained way.

The tricky thing about minimalism is that it can quickly veer into laziness. That's the feel I get from the Chicago Bulls, who decided to turn their hat blue, slap a flag on it, and call it a day. That said, while their hat fell short, their bobblehead more than made up for it. The giveaway of Benny the Bull in a Barong draping the flag over his shoulders is a fun one. Teams should get their mascots in on it more. I suppose a bull works very well for Filipino Heritage, being cousins with the carabao.

There are some teams that I’ve simply expected more from.

Let’s start with my beloved Phillies. Philadelphia’s Filipino population isn’t necessarily huge. Especially for the sixth largest city in the US, but it’s there. About 31,000 deep. The missed opportunity is the fact that the team name would be such a layup to work with! 

Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, and Fernando Valenzuela were trailblazers for their countries. When a Filipino or Filipino American truly makes a big splash in the MLB, it'll gets things flowing.

This has happened in the NBA to some extent, with Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Green, and now Dylan Harper. To be fair, the Rockets have rolled out some Filipino gear… just not very inspiring editions. But now… Jalen Green is on the SUNS, which seems like a free throw if there ever was one. Jordan Clarkson going from the Jazz to the Knicks greatly increases the odds. I would’ve loved to see the Jazz play with their classic mountain jerseys.

I’ve already shouted out some good examples from the Toronto Raptors. I’ve got to say, the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays seem to come up short. You mean to tell me we can’t be the Toronto Banana Leafs for a day? Or that the Jays’ logo doesn’t lend itself to some play?

The biggest missed opportunity, in my opinion, belongs to the NFL. The entire league. The themed games have been almost non-existent. Granted, with 16 game seasons, the NFL is probably the stingiest at themed games, but still. I especially expect more from the Niners representing the Bay. Or the Raiders representing three hubs of large Filipino Populations. Or the Vikings having Cam Bynum.

Minor League and Semi-Pro teams have never been stingy about themed games.

There's the Canadian Elite Basketball team, the Vancouver Bandits. They had one of the best logo adaptations. They rolled out pretty true-to-style batok designs on a variation of its usual fox head. The jersey patterns are also a win.

And then there’s the Norfolk Lumpia… usually the Norfolk Tides. Minor League Baseball never misses the opportunity to rebrand as a beloved food item.

Funny enough, Norfolk’s Filipino population barely hovers above 4,000. But its surrounding area of Hampton Roads has around 40,000 Filipinos thanks to being a Navy hub. 

I often get tired of lumpia and adobo being the only Filipino foods non-Filipinos know.

“You’re Filipino? My friend’s mom makes some really good adobo.”

“Congrats, you’re the 99th person to deliver that exact line.”

But still, I applaud Norfolk for branching out beyond the sun and stars.

Speaking of good ways to branch out, in 2024, the San Francisco Giants gave away a barong inspired jersey. This is currently one of my hands down favorite Filipino Heritage Giveaways. Maybe some day someone takes it to the next level. Maybe they do actual patchwork on barong material, that would be a work of art. Probably way too expensive for a stadium giveaway, though.

Now… let’s talk about those Seattle Mariners again. Seattle has about 200,000 Filipinos in its surrounding area and… OH SNAP! I’ve been writing about Filipino Heritage jerseys for quite a while now. And I have like… work and life to tend to.

Okay friends, this is very clearly gonna have to be a two-parter. We haven’t even begun talking about the US Soccer League, or DJ Javier’s NHL collaborations.

I hope you’ve found my takes on Filipino Heritage jerseys amusing… because I’ve got plenty more in the tank! Stay tuned, my friends.

Halloween 2025

Halloween always goes hard around these parts. Logging this past weekend for posterity.

Rhys turned six and was a ninja.

Good times and hot pots with Daniel & Joy.

One of my most fun Optimus Rhyme shows- Halloween edition.

Dropping some bars about Vita Coco in character as Pepe Le Pew.

Trick or treating for mezcal.

Annual stock-up-for-next-year decoration run at a 50% off Spirit Halloween.

Baseball drama.

What a life.

Rhys is 6

The past six years have been the best six years of my life. Also, Rhys turns six today! Coincidence? Don’t think so.

Watching this kid grow up is wild. On one hand, pump the brakes. But on the other, it’s really cool to unlock new abilities and ways we’re able to have fun together.

Would gladly race Bowser, sample cheesesteaks, and tour haunted houses with him every day.

That Thin, Thin Veil

If you’ve seen Sinners, you know what I’m talking about when I reference *that* scene.

In case you haven’t, I’ll be able to refer to it without spoilers, as it calls back the first line of the film.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

I saw the movie in April, during its theatrical release. I don’t make it out to movie theatres very often on account of having young kids, but I saw the movie was getting high praise. Specifically, one online comment that said: Coogler just dropped a vampire musical and it’ll be the best movie of the year.

Well, okay!

I made my way to the theatre after bedtime on a Monday night and was ushered in to a very rich world set in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

I couldn’t hear that opening line without immediately thinking about a friend.

He was a fairly new friend, but an easy guy to talk to. Just weeks ago, he and I had been talking baseball and dad life. Out of the blue, I got a message that he had been hospitalized and it sounded pretty serious.

For about 24 hours, we were unsure how he would pull through. It was the sort of scenario where I kept checking my phone for updates throughout the day. By the time that Monday came around, things looked much more promising. But for a good while, he kept us in a state of uncertainty.

When the movie’s opening line referenced “the veil between life and death” it felt like way more than a metaphor or Biblical allusion. It was a very real thing people could brush up against.

In the past week, I’ve lost a couple family members. They lived full lives; in fact, the number of years they got on earth would make many envious. It’s always sad to say goodbye, but also comforting to know they lived long, lived fully, and at the end found relief from a number of physical discomforts.

I have an old family. Both my parents were on the young end of a chain of siblings, and both of them had me rather late in life. This means that I have plenty of aunts and uncles who are old enough to be my grandparents. Some who felt more like grandparents. I only had enough overlapping years with one of my grandparents to know her well. Thankfully, it was because she kept going for 98 years.

I appreciate my older family. Perhaps some of those longevity genes floated my way. Knock on wood. But it also means that at this stage of my life, in my mid-30s, there will be a lot of funerals to go to.

This week, perhaps even this year, I’ve been a little more conscious of that veil between than typical, and I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.

My kid’s Spanish kindergarten class has been making ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos, and so I’ve sent him to school with several photos of deceased relatives. I got to spend a bit of time in Oaxaca a few years ago, and it was enough to make me appreciate the local perspective on death. Framing it as a part of life, rather than as a hard stop. It’s made me appreciate cultures that keep conscious of death, rather than trying to keep it out of mind.

Losing my dad as a child, growing up in a very religious setting, and having an old family meant I was probably more aware of my mortality than most kids my age. And I think that propelled me towards living life differently. I was more motivated by the idea of building a legacy or having stories to tell than advancement or financial security. And to be honest, I don’t think that’s changed too drastically. I’m thankful I’ve lived this way as I think it’s taken me down some of the roads I’m most thankful for.

These days, I try to let this consciousness be my reminder to go slow. To not take myself too seriously. To deal with setbacks and unpleasant surprises with a deep breath and a sense that some day they’ll be a distant memory.

To spend as much time as I can with people. With loved ones. Especially those getting up there in years.

And to spend more time doing things that feel eternal.

Some people are born with the gift of making music so true that it pierces the veil between life and death.

Unfortunately, I was not born with that gift. But I do wonder if each of us perhaps has some sort of gift that can make that puncture.

I know I can tell stories. I’ve experienced swinging a room between tears and laughter before by painting a picture with words. That’s a good feeling. I’ve been told that one of my stories made someone momentarily forget about a bunch of political drama that had been hounding her lately, and that made me want to try and create that for more people. Not for the sake of escapism, but to go even deeper than the noise on the surface.

I also think that some people might be born with a veil-piercing gift that doesn’t take the form of what we usually think of as art or performance. The gift of deep listening. The gift of making somebody feel like they belong. The gift of lovingly challenging others to be better versions of themselves.

I’m probably not saying anything new here. Memento Mori is as ancient of a reminder as it gets. But I know I still benefit from having that reminder. The reminder that time is passing, but sometimes it can stand still. That there’s a lot of good to be done while we’re here. And that making a visit to an older loved one is something you never regret. 

Tyrese Maxey

“The work you put in when no one is around always comes to light when you’re in front of thousands.”

–Tyrese Maxey

Welcome back to the NBA despite the very awkward start to the season. I just watched Kyle Schwarber’s guest spot on Abbott Elementary and now I’m thinking Tyrese Maxey would be a fantastic feature as well.

Everyone Goofs Different

I hadn’t been in New Zealand for very long when I decided New Zealanders might be the funniest batch of people on Earth.

You know how isolated islands lead to all kinds of quirky species evolve? Like Tasmania or the Galapagos? Something similar must be happening with humor over in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a rather large profile when it comes to comedy, especially relative to its size. Taika Waititi is currently its most known entity. His popularity follows that of Flight of the Concords. You can find Kiwi sensibility all over their work. Yet, to best appreciate New Zealand’s wit, you need to take things down to a street level.

Much like their neighbors in Australia, New Zealand jokes fit the Tall Poppy Syndrome. It’s rooted in a culture that values egalitarianism. It’s what happens when someone starts to achieve a ton of success. When they start to stand out, it’s the duty of their peers to ‘cut them down to size.’

Barbs and roasts are a pretty good way to trim those “tall poppies.”

In comedy terms, you often hear this described as “punching up.” But in New Zealand, it’s often applied among peers than in a revolutionary sense of “speaking truth to power.”

In that regard, no one of Taika Waititi’s pedigree could be a complete ambassador of New Zealand’s funny side. I love most of his movies, but it’s hard not to see him as the current tall poppy in the field.

It goes without saying that the best way to get to know and appreciate New Zealand’s humor is at a street level. It’s in the subtle chuckle of a bus driver when a tour group is too serious. It’s in the self deprecating admission of our wine tasting guide blurting out that he’s more of a beer guy.

It’s mischievous, understated, and revels in the awkwardness of social situations. The proper word is “cheeky.” What a fitting adjective. There’s a fine art to cheekiness that I envy.

For new explorers of comedy’s fault lines, The Office is a good starting point. The differences between the British and American versions, that is. Dry British humor catches so many of us Americans off guard. As a teenager, I discovered TriggerHappy TV. It was Britain’s take on a Candid Camera type show. I loved it, but there was something so blunt about its gags.

That was my first conscious encounter with different comedy cultures. But earlier exposure came via the land of my ancestry, the Philippines.

In the 1980s, a duo called Dolphy and Babalu were the Laurel and Hardy of the Philippines. Their comedy routines often involved a lot of shouting and running around. I still remember a bit when Dolphy (or was it Babalu? Who knows?) is trying to take a shower in a bathroom with a bunch of plumbing malfunctions. Around the same time, I was also introduced to Yoyoy Villame. Imagine the Philippines’ Weird Al. A maker of silly songs.

Filipino humor was as loud as New Zealand’s is subtle. But what it lacks in sophistication it makes up for with endearing sincerity. And there are some good explanations about why it’s like that.

On an archipelago with over 700 languages, slapstick and physical humor rule. They cover more ground than language based jokes. That said, Filipinos love wordplay and puns. It makes sense to me. With how much we love to sing, auditory experiences go far.

The country has seen its share of poverty, political turmoil, and natural disaster. With that in mind, humor can be a bit of a coping mechanism. Humor is a reflection of the national characteristic of being resilient, matiyaga. It helps to keep spirits up during crises.

It dawns on me that I have these insights because I have a direct link through my Filipino heritage. The settings are familiar to me. I understand Tagalog. And that makes me realize something. My grasp on the different comedic cultures of the world will always have limits. Comedy needs context. While I’ve been able to travel a lot, without the lived experience or language of a place… you won’t quite get it.

Sure. Every now and then we get a Mr. Bean or Khaby who can transcend those boundaries. But that happens like once in a generation.

(And yeah, I stand by my assertion that Khaby is the Gen Z Mr. Bean.)

Spanish creates an interesting window. Spanish speaking countries vary quite a bit in how they approach humor. When I lived in Argentina, there was a sarcastic, cynical undertone to a lot of the joking. So much of it veered into politics. I love Argentina, but this is so different from my style. It’s so different from the lighthearted storytelling humor you find in Colombia. Or the playful, raunchy jokes of Mexico.

South Africa has one of the most fascinating relationships with comedy. At least that I’ve encountered. For starters, it has a patchwork of different influences. South Africa has seen drastic amounts of social change in recent history. So much comedy takes place in the awkward in-betweens of carving out a new normal.

The linguistic diversity of South Africa creates opportunity. It allows storytellers and comedians to take on different characters. Code switching mid-anecdote paints a picture. Playing with or subverting stereotypes challenges societal expectations. Many South African comedians have a skill at switching styles. They go between macro-political commentary and humor focused on mundane everyday moments.

There are elements of that cheekiness I loved about New Zealand in South Africa as well. Is it a former British colony thing? A Southern Hemisphere thing? I don’t know. I do know I appreciate South African’s exaggerated responses. Responding to an absurd situation with a hearty shoooooo... That makes it that much more lively.

There’s no one way to be funny.

I’ve traveled a lot, and the crossroads of culture and humor remain mysterious.

I find it delightful and humbling.

The Observatory Hotel

This is possibly my favorite hotel. If you put eco-lodges and that sort of thing in another category, this might take the top spot. Definitely a top five.

The Observatory in Christchurch is modeled after Oxford. The whole city of Christchurch is named after a school in Oxford, so there’s a lot of school spirit going over there.

The location is about as good as it gets. It’s directly across the street from the city park and botanical garden, which is an excellent spot to spend hours outside. Walk ten minutes in the other direction and you’re at the river, right at the heart of the city, surrounded by all the good food.

The hotel only takes up the corner buildings of this section. The rest of the complex includes a wine bar, a pub, a paint-and-sip type place, a dance studio, and a full on cinema. You could spend a whole day just enjoying the site.

And inside the hotel, there’s a perfectly cozy drawing room where it feels like you’re supposed to do nothing but sip coffee and read.

Fewer hot takes, more Point-of-View

A friend of mine became a true accidental influencer.

He was never the type to seek out a big internet following. He only sought to get a handful of followers. For work purposes. He made a handful of shortform videos, and a couple of them caught the fair winds of the algorithm. It was the perfect storm. Without much effort, he wound up with millions of followers in a matter of days.

He’s brilliant and creative, but even he would admit that this sort of came out of nowhere. And now it’s turned into an unintentional second job.

For the most part, his videos piggyback off of others’ conversations. He stitches on to other shortform videos and adds his insight.

“Of course, whenever I start my videos by yelling WRONG! they do well. Being aggressive always does a lot better than when I try to nuance things.

By this point, none of this is much of a surprise. It confirms what we already know.

The internet stirs up big feelings by design. The minds behind the apps know that nuance slows us down. Thoughtfulness leads to moderation. Anger and fear keep us coming back for more. Whenever posts deliver these, they’re destined to do well.

We live in the era of the hot take. And there’s no denying that it’s entertaining. It’s normal to start a conversation with your strongest, spiciest opinion.

It’s a structure that works very well with the way our brains’ design to process stories. And quite often, it uses that against us.

When our brains have to play defense, we’re less open. Less creative. Less effective at actual problem solving.

This reminds me of Fred Rogers. The rise of zany, slapstick children’s entertainment appalled him. It didn’t respect their developmental needs. While he was polite about “not naming any names.” But according to Maxwell King’s autobiography: “Fred abhorred violence. Even cartoon violence. He had no patience for slapstick. He believed that children needed slow, deliberate programming. He was unapologetic about the pace of his own show.”

So, no naming-and-shaming. Fred Rogers’ ultimate protest was the existence of his own show.

The deliberate pacing. The quiet music. The meaningful dialogue.

It was a form of quiet protest. Soft but strong. And its memory has outlived many of the shows he sought to contrast.

Of course I’m nowhere near Fred Rogers’ level. But the noise of incessant hot takes still makes me want to swing in the other direction.

I’ve seen so many articles and videos giving tips on how to drive up video view counts by stirring the pot. By starting with controversy. By flirting with ragebait. And straight up, I don’t want to play that game.

I’ve rejected a lot of these “best practices.” I’ll attract a smaller crowd, but I’d much rather have that than a crowd that turns out for drama.

The effects of living in a culture that amplifies the loudest voices are well documented.

Yes, we get a world where everyone’s angry all the time. Yes, we get a world where people gain influence by being loud.

People are capable of nuanced opinions. We don’t have to be walking caricatures of a particular worldview. But it’s common to only hear opinions the loudest and most extreme voices. That makes people pull back. Rational people retreat from conversations about important topics. The world becomes even more deprived of healthy dialogue.

I would like to live in a world of fewer hot takes.

But that doesn’t mean I want to live in a world of muzzled opinions.

I want points-of-view.

Those are different from hot takes. The difference is subtle but significant.

A point-of-view is a perspective. It contains opinions, sure, but it’s more than that. It’s a way of seeing the world.

When you’re prompted for a hot take, you’re asked for a strong opinion you have. An unpopular opinion, or one on a touchy subject.

But a point-of-view is more than an opinion. It’s a way of seeing the world.

This idea became clearer to me through improv. In improv, one of the most important things to establish in a scene is a character’s point-of-view. Without one, the characters and the scene will most likely flounder. A strong point-of-view invites goals, actions, choices, and reactions. Pick one and everything flows with ease. On stage, even a simple point-of-view can carry a scene.

This is one of those times where a skill you sharpen through improv applies quite well to the rest of life.

As you go through the world, know your POV.

On stage, once you’ve established a point of view and made it known to your scene partners, there’s a lot you can do. You can explore how having a particular point of view applies to different scenarios. Do you have a character whose point of view is to always be polite? How would they handle a career in professional wrestling? You can push that belief to its limits and the point of absurdity.

Another thing to do? Explore where that belief came from.

Does your character believe in always being polite because mom said so? Because they were a jerk before and they need to restore balance?

This is actually one of the biggest differences between a point-of-view and a hot take. Hot takes are cheap. People adopt them for sport.

But a point of view? It has an origin story. It comes from somewhere.

You aren’t shooting from the hip for the sake of having an opinion.

You’re drawing from an experience.

Because of this, it means your opinions aren’t colored by some other commentator’s words. They’re tied to values and beliefs that you embrace because of something you’ve gone through.

Imagine if our world was a lot less reactionary.

Imagine if whenever a bill was being passed and we didn’t look to our usual talking heads to see what they thought.

Imagine if a threat emerged and we didn’t pick our response based on political allegiance.

Instead, what if we ran those experiences through our biggest beliefs. Our decisions about what’s important in life. What matters at the end? How we’re supposed to relate to each other?

It might make the world less of a spectacle and more of a space to put our perspective into practice.

We live in a very loud, angry, and opinionated era. But I don’t think that our response should be to abandon our beliefs for the sake of civility. We need to dive deeper into them. See where they came from. See how they color what’s in front of us. See what we’re supposed to do next.

Hot takes are cheap.

A true point-of-view will actually ask something of you.