Awesome LOL: Global Stereotype Map

This is brilliant ... and a brilliant commentary on the absurdity of reductive stereotypes.  It is also delightfully insightful and incisive in places: note how it calls a chunk of Russia "Putingrad," Ukraine "Putin's Precious," and Crimea "Putinistan."  On a lighter note, Sweden is labeled "ABBA," "IKEA," and "Nobel Prizes."

Terrified By Screaming At 1 AM, Neighbors Call the Cops ...

Who rush in to find that the folks next door were just trying to assemble IKEA furniture.  

Hey, don't laugh!  If you've ever tried to put that stuff together, you'll be screaming, crying, cursing, howling, and throwing things in no time flat.

Quote of the Century: On Considering History

Heh:

"Sometimes the really obvious take on history turns out to be the right one."

Read the whole thing; it's delightfully and provocatively entitled "Sorry, the Vikings Really Were That Bad."

Mynd You, Møøse Bites Kan Be Pretty Nasti

So use quadcopter videocameras if you want to spy on your local moose in Norway!

Quirky Euro Files, Holiday Edition: the Gävle Goat of Sweden

Let's see how long he can hang on this year before somebody burns him down! Here's a webcam and even a blog and Twitter account for the gigantic straw goat. You gotta love a holiday tradition that involves ritual arson.

Monday Therapy: Office Coffee

Ugh, it's Monday. Time to chug a potful of coffee so we can get our work done ... We might as well have some fun with the whole idea of coffee at the office!

What Do Real Swedes Think of the Muppets' Swedish Chef?

Slate is busy asking the important questions of our age.

A Brief History of Santa

7 Weird Christmas Traditions

Outstanding!  I still think the Krampus is delightfully scary-strange.

The Great Norwegian Butter Shortage of 2011

OH NOES!   And right during Christmas baking season too!  I can't resist quoting from the story:

Last Friday, customs officers stopped a Russian at the Norwegian-Swedish border and seized 90 kilos (198 pounds) of butter stashed in his car. 

Food safety authorities then warned people not to buy butter from strangers, Norway's TV2 reported.

Quirky Euro Files: Arsonists Get Sweden's Goat

"It's a Swedish thing -- you wouldn't understand"?

Northern Lightweights: Finland and Norway Squabble Over the Aurora Borealis

The short version:

The Norwegian tourist board is unhappy about an attempt by its counterpart in Finland to market the country using a video of the northern lights. The Norwegians claim the Finns are trying to "steal" the celestial phenomenon from them.

My advice to the Aurora Borealis: start a bidding war and then agree to work for the winner. Oh, and here is the offending (but very cool) Finnish tourism video ad:

Headline of the Day: "Drunk Swedish elk found in apple tree near Gothenburg."

No, really!  There's even an incriminating photo of the elk that partied a little too hard.  I bet it was an undergrad.

Video of the Day: The Aurora Borealis Explained

Check out this lovely educational video by the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo:

The Aurora Borealis from Per Byhring on Vimeo.

Awesome Photography: Arctic Light in Norway

Spectacular scenery filmed in Norway!

The Arctic Light from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Movie Review: "Thor"

Thunder from Down Under.

The 2011 summer movie season kicks off with color, action, spectacle, and humor as the buff, boisterous, blond Norse god of thunder with his trusty magic hammer Mjölnir storms onto movie screens all across America.  It's a hilariously humorous combination of Shakespearean credentials and comic book action, as Kenneth Branagh (yes, you read that right) directs and Sir Anthony Hopkins takes a supporting role in a tale of, among other things, brothers in competition and father-son conflict on a truly epic scale that still has enough personal human drama to catch your interest in the characters.  I had given "Thor" my stamp of approval briefly here, but I just promised the Cinema-Mad Sibling a real (if quick) review, so here goes.  Note: You don't really need to be familiar with either Norse mythology or the comic book in order to enjoy this colorful popcorn flick, so no worries.

Awesome: Time-Lapse Aurora Borealis in Norway

Utterly breathtaking.  Bonus: soundtrack from "Gladiator."  How I love that flick!  Anyway, feast your eyes on this:

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Quirky Euro Files: Sweden's Vasaloppet Cross-Country Ski Race

It's the biggest cross-country ski event in the world.  The 2011 Vasaloppet took place on March 6, covered 90 km (that's nearly 56 miles), and involved nearly 15,000 ski enthusiasts!  Check out this amazing video.

Awesome: the Aurora Borealis in Norway

Here is just a taste.  Go feast your eyes on more amazing photos here.

Forgotten History: Viking Navigation

Cool!  OK, I just have to add that reading the references is in itself a wee bit amusing.  See for instance: "Gábor Horváth, an optics researcher at Eötvös University in Budapest, and Susanne Åkesson, a migration ecologist from Lund University, Sweden ..."

Now I can't help myself:

Wik
Alsø wik
Alsø alsø wik
Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yer?
See the løveli lakes
The wonderful telephøne system
And mani interesting furry animals
Including the majestic møøse
A Møøse once bit my sister ...
Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti