Did you hear the one about the woman who was saved from a speeding taxi by Ryan Gosling? All she had to do was tweet about the incident and it became instant international news. Hilarious posts about Ryan Gosling approaching perfect-man status appeared on Jezebel and The Fashion Spot, with the latter updating us on the rescued woman’s response to all the fuss. She thinks we should stop discussing her run-in with the actor because there is a war in the middle east. But that’s another story.

The visiting London journalist tweeted that Gosling did not say “Hey Girl” and instead yelled “Hey watch out!” Why would he say “Hey, Girl” in the first place, I wondered, and sought to find out. Here is what I uncovered: entire blogs devoted to captioned images of Ryan Gosling which range from a Tumblr for stage managers to a feminist forum (click on the photos). Plus I discovered the definition of a meme: a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. Gosling (or Godling as Nerve is calling him since the superhero act) appears to be more popular on social media sites than in mainstream journalism – remember Bradley Cooper beating him out for People’s Sexiest Man Alive? Of course, a social media backlash ensued.

On an unrelated note, have you noticed Ryan slide a small Canadian reference into his films? Drive opened with a Raptors game on the television and in Blue Valentine a character was called Bobby “Ontario” (Ryan’s home province). I’m not sure how long he’s been doing it but it’s fun to watch.