TIME has offered up its fifth annual list of the 100 Most Influential People, and who should appear at #78 but artist/Kanye collaborator Takashi Murakami? I have to say, he looks REALLY dorky in a bow tie, for all that his art is fantastic (regardless of what Zetsubou-sensei says).

Also of interest: the #1 result on TIME’s user-voted “most-influential” poll is none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, of Nintendo everything fame. Each of these guys gets a pros/cons list, and Shiggy’s cons mostly have to do with how fat gamers are. Thanks, TIME, we love you too.

So I was reading through the November 12th issue of TIME, specifically their article on libertarian Republican nominee candidate Ron Paul and his growing popularity amongst nerds. I almost missed the reference, but then, there it was!

“He’s about something that American nerd culture can get on board with: really knowing one subject and going all out on it,” says Ben Darrington, a Ron Paul supporter at Yale. “For some people, it’s Star Wars. For some people, it’s Japanese cartoons. For Ron Paul, it’s free-market commodity money.”

Okay, it’s a pretty miniscule mention, but I can’t help but think: wow, we’re on the default list of obsessions now? I mean, c’mon, they could have picked model trains. Stamp collecting. Sports. But no, this Yale nerd picked anime. Huh.