–One thing that’s always perplexed me about the Super Bowl is the people who watch for the ads. I know a guy who works high up in advertising–he’s produced stuff for Apple and FedEx–and I can see why he would care. He earns his living tilling that particular soil. But why anyone who doesn’t make a good salary in the ad game should give a damn about the effectiveness or aesthetics of the Super Bowl commercials is beyond me. Still, if you choose to burn out your synapses on the messages from their sponsors, you might as well do it with the AVClub people.

–And yes, I picked it. Ravens +3.

–After 500 years, Richard III is still dead. After he died, his corpse seems to have had a rough time. Who knew that people of the late middle ages could be so unpleasant? It’s not like the Baltimore Ravens will carry Jim Harbaugh’s naked, mutilated carcass through the streets…hold it…oh, I guess they will. Never mind.

—Bill O’Reilly lied in his book about JFK, which means Bill-O can tick that off the list of subjects he has yet to lie about.

–Karl Rove and Steve King appear poised to fight it out for the “soul” of the GOP. (I could make a cheap joke about their fighting over a vessel so empty, and I expect to be congratulated for my restraint.) Still, as an outsider to this, the choice strikes me as one between a person who cynically exploits right wing dogma for the sake of personal power and another person who sincerely spouts right wing dogma for the sake of personal power. Makes it tough to care who wins, doesn’t it?

Later.