SO THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE HOVERBOARDS:  New York Magazine raises some difficult questions about the news priorities and journalistic integrity of the Hill Valley Telegraph.  Still unaddressed?  How a single municipality in California could legalize gambling without need for action at the state level.

THIS HOUSE IS CLEAN:  Even though Plaintiff alleged that "following her family moving into the house, various paranormal events have transpired," the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that it does not constitute the failure to disclose a material defect when a home seller fails to disclose that a murder-suicide took place on the property the previous year.  In part, the Court writes:

[H]ow can a monetary value possibly be assigned to the psychological damage to a house caused by a murder? The psychological effect will vary greatly from person to person. There are persons for whom no amount of money would induce them to live in such a house, while others may not care at all, or even find it adventurous.... The fact that a murder once occurred in a house falls into that category of homebuyer concerns best left to caveat emptor. If psychological defects must be disclosed then we are not far from requiring sellers to reveal that a next-door neighbor is loud and obnoxious, or on some days you can smell a nearby sewage plant, or that the house was built on an old Indian burial ground.

SO THIS IS A HARVARD BAR, HUH. I THOUGHT THERE'D BE EQUATIONS AND SHIT ON THE WALLS:  Boston magazine has an oral history of Good Will Hunting.

"GET OFF MY LAWN" DESK:Time to feel old--Buzzfeed has a list of 29 albums that are now 20 years old, which I'm betting much of our readership owned or still owns.  (Somewhat surprisingly, I only own 6, though that's partially because I've never owned much rap.)

BUT DOES THEIR CLAIM EXTEND TO "AND MANY MORE, ON CHANNEL 4?"  Creative Commons has had it with the Estate of Mildred and Patty Hill and their copyright claims to "Happy Birthday" and has created a contest to come up with a new song to replace it.  Notably, Sorkin and Sports Night were years ahead of the curve.

IT DID WORK OUT PRETTY WELL FOR TRENT REZNOR:  Jay-Z will be scoring Baz Luhrmann's upcoming The Great Gatsby, following a first trailer prominently featuring "No Church In The Wild" off Watch The Throne.  This solidifies my initial impression that the movie is almost certainly a contender for "Hottest Mess of 2013."

IT'S BALTIMORE. NO ONE LIVES FOREVER: Ravens linebacker/justice-obstructor Ray Lewis has announced he will retire at the end of this year's playoffs. He's 37, which in the NFL is old.

My picks for the weekend: Bengals, Ravens, Packers, Seahawks.

added: From 2/10/01, TV Funhouse on Ray Lewis.