Is there anything funnier than when an old SNL sketch that made light of the hypothetical death of a public figure takes on a more tragic meaning when said public figure actually does die? Uh, no.

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While I am sympathetic to the not insignificant portion of my readership that was rooting for Oklahoma, it's hard not to love the last ten minutes of the Fiesta Bowl. Check out all the relevant highlights above, and if you're looking for Ian Johnson's proposal it's right here. Btw, could sideline guy Chris Myers have handled the situation any worse? Way to blow up the dude's spot, dick.

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Every mix I made last year had Irish band Director's "Reconnect" on it, and here you can find a couple more good tracks from their debut album We Thrive On Big Cities, which remains unavailable stateside. I'm not sure whether these dorks are going to have legs, but they make really good '90s alt-rock.

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I only recognize Jay Thomas as that guy who was in that thing, but this is a pretty awesome story from Letterman.

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Slate offers a quick primer on how online retails price consumer electronics.

Hal Varian, an economist at U.C. Berkeley and co-author of Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, argues that sellers offer the same products at vastly different prices as an intentional marketing strategy. (This phenomenon is what economists call price dispersion.) Imagine that everybody sold 42-inch Philips plasma-screen TVs for the same price. There would be no reason to comparison shop, consumers would always buy from the same places, and e-tailers' profits would stagnate. According to Varian, retailers who vary their prices over time—increasing them one week, then discounting the next—create the kind of price instability that encourages consumers to shop around. The end result is that shoppers visit several sites before making a purchase, which is exactly what retailers want us to do.

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EW offers their record of the best lines from TV in 2006 (Conan was most-quoted, so you know it's good). My personal faves:


"Uh, Jason...when you're filling out a female patient's exam report, her breasts can be 'Healthy' or 'Unhealthy.' Never 'Bangin' Double Ds.'"
J.D. (ZACH BRAFF), ADDRESSING ONE OF HIS INTERNS, ON SCRUBS

"Hold on a second.... Jon, I'm being told Whittington's condition has now been upgraded from 'stable' to 'stable, but still shot in the face by the Vice President.'"
ED HELMS, FAKE REPORTING ON THE HEALTH OF HARRY WHITTINGTON FROM ''OUTSIDE A HOSPITAL IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS,'' ON THE DAILY SHOW

"There's civil war, totally, and it's a great sign. Look how fast Iraq is growing up. It took America almost a century to turn on itself. These guys? Three years. At this rate, in a couple of months, they'll let black people vote."
CORRESPONDENT ROB CORDDRY, ON THE DAILY SHOW

"I never smile if I can help it. Showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life."
DWIGHT (RAINN WILSON), ON THE OFFICE

"You were in Baghdad for six hours! And you weren't even in the real Baghdad — you were in the Green Zone. That's like going to the Olive Garden and saying you've been to Italy."
JON STEWART, REACTING TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S TOUTING HIS TRIP TO IRAQ, ON THE DAILY SHOW

"Last night, Katie Couric debuted as the anchor of the CBS Evening News, and at the end of the broadcast she asked viewers to recommend a signature sign-off. So far the front-runner is 'Stay tuned for some kind of CSI.'"
CONAN O'BRIEN, ON LATE NIGHT

"In the West Bank, a group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism firebombed four churches, telling the Associated Press, 'The attacks...were carried out to protest the Pope's remarks linking Islam and violence.' The irony — and this is often the case, we find — was completely lost on them."
JON STEWART, ON THE DAILY SHOW

"Earlier this week, a man named his newborn son ESPN because one of the man's favorite things to watch is ESPN. The baby is happy, healthy, and already home with his brother Porn."
CONAN O'BRIEN, ON LATE NIGHT

"No, I don't have a gambling problem. I'm winning, and winning is not a problem. That's like saying Michael Jordan has a basketball problem, or Def Leppard has an awesomeness problem."
EARL (JASON LEE), ON MY NAME IS EARL

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There is such a thing as being too polite.