DO LITTLE BEARS, LIKE LITTLE LAMBS, EAT IVY?  Awww ... the Chicago Cubs have a mascot, Clark the Cub. I'm sure that'll fix everything.

A LONG JOURNEY TO A FAMILIAR DESTINATION:  Yes, it took 264 football games to figure out that the penultimate weekend should feature Seattle-San Francisco III and Brady-Manning XV, and Mike Tanier is On It.

[How long ago was Brady-Manning I?  The iPod had yet to be introduced, Zoolander was a new release that weekend, and the Houston Astros were in first place in the NL Central.]

RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS THEORY SAYS THIS MOVIE SHOULD WIN A NUMBER OF AWARDS TONIGHT:  Cass Sunstein has taken to movie reviewing.

U.S. FIGURE SKATING GOES BCS?  Well, that's one explanation for why skating officials today decided to bypass last night's women's championship results to place Ashley Wagner, the 4th-place finisher who fell twice during her long program, on the Olympic team over 3rd-place Mirai Nagasu.

COVERED:  Tom Junod's "An Ode to Waffle House":

So what makes Waffle Houses so great? Well, like many other Southern institutions, Waffle House overcompensates. Just as your big Southern university overcompensates for the SAT scores of its students by playing some kickass SEC football, Waffle House overcompensates for its bitter brew by serving truly delicious fountain products, including the best made-from-syrup Cherry Cokes extant in these United States, with free refills yet. It overcompensates for serving frozen, grated hash-brown potatoes by a) keeping them on the grill until they form a golden crust, thereby making them a perfect delivery system for the salt grains you can hear bouncing around on their surface when you shake the shaker, and b) serving them a dozen ways... All I know is that by the time Waffle House gets through with the variations on its frozen potatoes, it has made frozen potatoes into what Italians have made pasta, i.e., the bedrock of an entire culinary universe. And that's how Waffle House works, in general. Its menu is narrow the way the selection of notes in "The Goldberg Variations" is narrow.

GIVE IT AWAY NOW:  Joining Bruno Mars as performers at the Super Bowl halftime show?  The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  For all the marketing they've put into "this time the game's in New York!" (even though it's in New Jersey), kind of odd that they have opted for two resolutely West Coast acts to entertain at halftime (and two West Coast acts who don't seem like the most natural of fits together).

CLASSICAL GAS?  Our good friend Adam C. wants to know:

I am 43 and interested in learning guitar.  Not particularly well, and not particularly expensively.  I have no known musical aptitude other than singing along respectably in the car and the ability to play some harmonica without causing others to flee.  I have never taken instrument lessons of any kind and haven't read music since middle school music class.  Essentially, I am interested (a) in training my brain to do something new, (b) playing along at a reasonable level with my kids, who do seem to have some musical aptitude (clarinet and drums/vocals, respectively), and (c) learning to play some of my favorite rock songs just for funsies. I do not aspire to membership in a band, weekend busking, a recording contract, session gigs, collecting a variety of cool axes, or other things that well-trained and talented guitar players might aspire to.

So I'd be very appreciative of any advice any of you guitar heroes can throw my way.  Should I start with acoustic, electric, or acoustic/electric?  Whatever I should start with, what make/model/accessories do you recommend for the beginner? Should I take lessons (live or online) or try to teach myself?  What is a humbucker pickup and should I want it?  You get the idea.  Thanks in advance for your wisdom.