YOU MIGHT VERY WELL THINK THAT, I COULDN'T POSSIBLY COMMENT: Michael Dobbs, a one-time Chief of Staff for the Conservative Party, wrote House of Cards - a clever little novel about Francis Urquhart's devious ascent to the Prime Ministry in the wake of Margaret Thatcher. It was, in short order, turned into the best political dramas ever put out by the BBC. Sir Ian Richardson, as FU, is all but perfect as the antihero.

Now, Kevin Spacey is leading US-set remake. It's unclear quite how this works in a US setting. FU's rise was premised on the fact that election cycles were fluid, leadership of the legislature does meant leadership of the party and the country, and that scandals in the UK burn far faster there than here.

I like Kevin Spacey, of course. And House of Cards is so good I'm surprised it didn't get sucked over here years ago, but how does this show dirty, dirty politics without showing itself as a humorless West Wing?

LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD:  Of the nearly six million submissions in ESPN's bracket contest, President Obama is in 492nd place (top .0083%) with 29/32 correct so far and only one Sweet 16 team eliminated (Louisville).  There are no perfect brackets remaining, and only nineteen entrants with 31/32 in the first round.

SQUIRREL RESEMBLING ABRAHAM LINCOLN FOUND: The 55 best newspaper headlines on The Simpsons.

ALOTT5MA FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO:  Just when you thought we had dropped this feature, Tom Scocca notes some changes in the AP Style Guide:

The AP announced today that it will drop the hyphen from the word formerly written, under AP style, as "e-mail." It is also changing "cell phone" to "cellphone." Nearly a year ago, the wire service switched from "Web site" to "website." ...

Some people believe that the hyphen in "e-mail" is antithetical to the free and speedy spirit of the in4mationage. Some people believe that the unhyphenated "email" looks faddish and lazy. I find both sets of people irritating, and I have no desire to stage a debate between them when I am simply trying to mention, in passing, that the means by which someone wrote and delivered a particular piece of text was an electronic-mail program. It was an email. An e-mail. I don't care which.

What's the point of switching sides now? In 10 more years, for all we know, everyone's going to do the even more straightforward thing and call electronic mail "mail." Most people I talk to already call their cell phones "phones," because those are what they use to make all their phone calls. (That thing sticking out of the wall, which I got mostly for the sake of hearing people clearly during phone interviews, is a "landline." Or is it a "land line"? AP, so eager to keep up with the times, doesn't specify.)

In addition, "smart phone" is now smartphone, and Calcutta is Kolkata, and according to the Style Guide's website the preferred nickname for St. Patrick's Day is "St. Paddy's Day," not "St. Patty's Day."

SALAD BAR ADVICE EVEN RON SWANSON WOULD LOVE: Having already figured out who's getting elected, in what neighborhood of New York you should live, and whether, statistically, trading for Carmelo was the right call for the Knicks, Nate Silver finally turns his attention to a real issue--how can I maximize the value I'm getting out of a pay-per-pound salad bar?

AND SUNDAY COMES AFTERWARDS! It's Friday! (Yes, I know we're behind, but didn't make sense to post on Wednesday or Thursday.)

On a related note, for the first time in a long while, there's a plethora of new film options for folks this weekend, including Frost/Pegg alien comedy Paul (which our friend Linda Holmes loved), a pair of adult-oriented thrillers in Limitless and Lincoln Lawyer, a limited release of the new Tom McCarthy film Win Win with Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, and the widening of a new version of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbinder. How are folks planning on spending their entertainment dollars this weekend? For me, Paul is a sure thing (Frost and Pegg haven't made a bad film yet), and maybe one of the new adult thrillers or Adjustment Bureau.

IF YOU WATCH JEOPARDY! BACKWARDS, IT'S ABOUT RICH PEOPLE PAYING MONEY TO GET ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:  Also: "If you watch Harry Potter backwards, it’s about a young wizard who gets sent into witness protection after a violent altercation" and "If you watch 127 Hours backwards, it's a lovely film about a disabled man finding an arm in the desert."

IfYouWatchItBackwards.com is your meme of the day.