I GUESS THE JUDGE SAW SOMETHING THAT WE DIDN'T SEE: A few more Olympic remainders -- a fantastic video by the NYTimes tracking Olympic Pictograms Through the Ages; CNBC's Darren Rovell ranks the 25 Most Marketable Winter Olympians (sadly, it's a slideshow); my favorite winter Olympian's film debut (3:10 in, NSFW); and for evolution of both skating and skater over time, Scott Hamilton's 1984 gold medal long program and Dorothy Hamill, 1976 ("her first difficult jump, a double axel right here.")

We've decided not to Cover-it-Live for the closing ceremonies tomorrow night, though we'll be active in the comments. (CIL will be back for the Oscars, of course.) But I do have this Closing Ceremonies story to tell, because Google has solved a mystery for me -- namely, at the close of the 1980 Summer Games (farewell, Misha!), how did they handle the handover to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics given the boycott? Was there still a presentation from a California contingent the way Atlanta introduced itself at the end of the Barcelona Games, Sydney at the end of Atlanta and so on?

As it turns out, unsurprisingly no one from Los Angeles was there. President Carter insisted that the IOC not even raise the United States flag in Moscow; instead, the Los Angeles city flag was raised, with IOC chair Lord Killanin urging the "sportsmen of the world to unite in peace before a holocaust descends." Despite the 1984 boycott, holocaust averted -- so far.

I REMEMBER HEARING FROM DAD THAT FOR GOOD STORYTELLING, YOU HAVE TO GIVE ALL THE CHARACTERS SOMETHING THEY WANT AND SET UP OBSTACLES TO THEM GETTING THOSE THINGS: The Wall Street Journal explores what makes Modern Family "the new face of network-television family comedy." Come May sweeps, we'll get to enjoy a very special Brady-esque development.

YES, BUT CAN SHE BACKFLIP AND LAND ON ONE SKATE? Gretchen recaps last night's ladies' free skate:

Figure skating requires a level of sustained perfection that, to me, is unique in the world of sports. There's no second run. There's no round robin play. A free skate for the women is just four minutes alone on the ice, with twelve required elements (each of which has numerous moving parts), elaborate choreography and transitions, bright lipsticked smiles, and the expectation of perfection. I can think of no other sport quite as unforgiving.

And last night, in one of the most thrilling Olympic competitions in years and years, Kim Yu-Na was, indeed, perfect -- both the best athlete on the ice and also the most elegant. Mao Asada's two triple axels were breathtaking; Joannie Rochette was sophisticated; Mirai Nagasu was charming and captivating. But Kim Yu-Na was perfect -- and deservedly the winner.

One final note: if you're sick of elegance and athleticism and would just prefer to see the glory of truly cheesy figure skating routines and costumes, be sure to catch the exhibition program on Saturday night, featuring your platinum medal winner Plushenko. I can hardly wait!

However, it ain't much of a gala if they don't have Johnny Weir skating to "Poker Face" -- and as of now, he's not invited. Last night;'s performances are all online here, and those with an enhanced sense of Schadenfreude will likely jump to Australia's Cheltzie Lee, who spent more time on the ice after a late failed jump than I've seen from a skater in some time.

I BOUGHT THE GEAR AND MARY SAID "SEEYA" LITTLE DID I KNOW IT WAS "MADE IN KOREA?": On personal privilege. I'm going to Seoul for five days on business in April and will have a free day ahead of my meetings and then a free morning after. Unfortunately, my preferred tourist attraction - the Panmunjom conference rooms at the DMZ -- is closed on the Monday and the tour wouldn't get back in time for my flight on the Friday. Any suggestions from the peanut gallery on things to see? If it matters, I'm staying very near the old Olympic Park and atop the COEX, the ROK equivalent of the Mall of America.

ALSO RULED OUT: ALEXANDER HAIG, WILLIAM COLBY, AND FRED FIELDING: Carly Simon has finally named David Geffen as the inspiration of "You're So Vain." This finally ends years of speculation that leading candidates Mick Jagger, Kris Kristofferson, and Cat Stevens were, in fact, vain.

Any other great pop culture mysteries yet to be solved?

'AUTHENTIC' IS A MOVING TARGET: Ha'aretz explores the question of what constitutes a "real" Jewish deli in the sustainable food era, recapping a debate which occurred recently in, shockers, Berkeley, CA. (Yes, Michael Pollan was in attendance.) While it certainly seems plausible that "what American Jews think of as the authentic Jewish deli is an ossified construct based on post-World War II ideals of abundance that had little to do with how Jews ate in early 20th-century New York, let alone in the Old World," it required 80-year-old Philadelphia native Max Cooperstein to bring it all home:

"I grew up on chicken necks, kishke, all the stuff that clogs your arteries," he reminisced, pushing his cap back on his head and smiling at the memory. "And I was a victim of it - I'm a cardiac patient. Now I eat lunch at the salad bar at Whole Foods."

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION: If you watch no other aspect of tonight's Idol elimination show, watch the group number at the beginning -- Crystal Bowersox and these Silver Platters numbers are an uneasy fit, so enjoy moments like this until her personality is assimilated into the 19 Entertainment Borg.

I'll go to one of my standby tropes of Idol analysis: do I think they eliminated someone tonight who could have won the competition? No. Do I think they eliminated the right four people? Hell no. Spoilers, after the break.