Friday, December 31, 2010

Top Ten of Aught Ten

1. Janelle Monae The Archandroid

Janelle Monae "Tightrope" (from Letterman)

2. Arcade Fire The Suburbs

Arcade Fire "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

3. Kanye West My Beautiful Dark twisted Fantasy

Kanye West "Power"

4. Beach House Teen Dream

Beach House "Walk in the Park" (from Pitchfork)

5. The National High Violet

The National "England" (from the Brooklyn Academy of Music)

6. Vampire Weekend Contra

Vampire Weekend "Giving Up the Gun"

7. Joanna Newsom Have One On Me

Joanna Newsom "Soft as Chalk" (on Fallon)

8. Wild Nothing Gemini

Wild Nothing "Chinatown"

9. Sleigh Bells Treats

Sleigh Bells "Rill Rill"

10. Twin Shadow Forget

Twin Shadow "Slow" (from 4AD)

And, Honorable Mention (because I am bad at editing or counting or both):

The Black Keys Brothers

The Black Keys "Tighten Up" (from Letterman)

Monday, December 20, 2010

Here Is Some Trivia About An Animal That Unfortunately For My Trivia Became An Internet Meme And Now Probably Only Gets Read By People Looking For That Meme (Sigh)


1. Honey Badgers are not really badgers (they are more closely related to weasels and skunks)
2. They got that name because they go around tearing into beehives, but they don't even really want the honey as much as THEY WANT TO EAT THE BEES (or anyway, the larvae). They get stung hundreds or thousands of times and they do not give a shit.
"FUCK BEES" -- a Honey Badger
3. They routinely fight off much larger animals in order to defend their territory or their kills. They have been documented fighting with lions and winning - because the Honey Badger likes to get underneath the lions and RIP THEIR BALLS OFF. I'm serious.
4. Honey Badgers eat pretty much everything. They have one of the most diverse diets in nature and are true omnivores. They will eat all parts of an animal they kill, including the bones.
5. They eat cobras. They get bitten by the cobras when they try to eat the cobras. Cobra venom can kill a human in under half an hour. The venom nearly kills the Honey Badger, too. They get bitten and then fall over, paralyzed, their bodily functions shutting down. To all the world, it looks as though the Honey Badger has been killed. Then, after a little while, the Honey Badger sort of shakes it off, comes back to life, and goes right back to killing everything in the world and just generally being BOSS.
6. They eat tortoises. Because their jaws can crush the shells.
7. They have been known to dig up corpses to eat those, too.
8. Their skin is extraordinarily thick and loose on their body so, even if you manage to pin one or something, it can turn around enough inside of its own skin to bite and claw you to death.
9. An army of Honey Badgers could take over the world. Luckily, they don't give a fuck about politics. They just want to murder and eat everything they can get their teeth or claws into.
Here is a charming little video about Honey Badgers doing all those things (and more!)