It’s not just a really good Ratatat song. (Sigh, shortly I expect to add an mp3 feature).
Lapland:
The Swedish province’s shield crest is all right:
But the Finnish one is amazing!
Closer!
Look at my innie or I'll club you
That is so fucking hot. I want to drink beer and cuddle with him.
I blame VH1 for the resurgence of meaningless lists over the past decade, since they started with the 100 Greatest Bands of All Time. (None was more self-serving and ridiculous than Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which had “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones at no. 1 and no. 2).
But this is bad too. Forbes ranked the 25 Most Influential Liberals now that Obama’s in charge. Some are good (Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart, Matthew Yglesias, Kos) and some are a little inexplicable (I would hesitate to categorize Oprah with the rest of them; I would relegate her to the category of the social rather than to the political, in academic terms. And no Olbermann? I don’t like him but he’s def waxing gibbous).
And some are awful–and they’re mostly towards the top. Maureen Dowd is in there, presumably at her scratching post. Chris Matthews, also listed. As is Christopher Hitchens, which shows you that being an atheist is so freakish and unacceptable in America that supporting Bush and advocating torture won’t get a nonbeliever listed as a neocon. Andrew Sullivan? Oh right, you can’t call yourself a conservative and also be one if you’re gay.
And Tom Friedman is no. 4. Why, why, why. At least Paul Krugman is no. 1. (His column today is pretty good, by the way). A Nobel trumps two Pulitzers.
I think Forbes felt left out by a few inaugural parties and wanted to remind people they they service other purposes besides telling them how much money they’re losing. Namely, informing the glitterati how great they are. Oh, the politics of politics.
Suck the Rainbow 