Well, first off. My Superbowl prediction turned out to be about a touchdown too heavy for both teams (the Saints and the Colts), not to mention backwards. Congratulations to New Orleans for a 31 – 17 victory over Indianapolis (that’s a really nice feel good story that anybody can get behind).

Now, to the Superbowl commercialism.

The usual sellers doing the usual stuff. Men behaving badly. Check. Celebrities. Check. Humorous animals (gophers, groundhogs, and other assorted varmints especially). Check.

However, didn’t it feel like this year’s advertisers all met in a big room and kinda, sorta colluded? Three ads where men don’t wear pants anymore (subliminal message possibly). At least three ads where hot tubs full of hotness made random appearances. But, the overriding theme for a lot of these advertisers had to have been selling to male insecurity.

Here’re only a few examples:

Dove: Are You a Man
“Now that you’re comfortable with who you are” – buy some Dove men’s lotion.

Dodge Charger: Man’s Last Stand
“I will … I will … I will …” put up with a bunch of stuff just so I can drive a Dodge car.

FloTv: Spineless
“As you can see, Jason’s girlfriend has removed his spine … ”

On the whole, the game was awesome. I guess after everything Archie Manning has done for the Saints’ franchise, it’s only fitting that his son should be the one to deliver New Orleans their first Superbowl Title. Mardi Gras came to Bourbon Street a week or two early. And the best commercials (cumulatively), I think, were Denny’s free grand slam ads with screaming chickens.

What’s a Shadow Bat?

Shadow Bats appear in Chapter 18, The Catacombs, and are just one of the many deadly enchantments the evil Ring Dragon in Ring Dragonz has left for any intruders to discover.

Looking like any typical vampire bat from a distance, Shadow Bats, like their namesake suggests, are actually just shadows that flit and flap along the walls of the dragon’s lair.

As Sheshen explains, Shadow Bats will tear and shred any other shadow entering their chamber. Walsh, therefore, mistkenly concludes that these creatures (being only shadows) can do the boys no harm. Wrong, Walshy.

Drawing their required light from huge hanging candelabras, as the Shadow Bats rip through a shadow, so will the shadow’s owner (body) be likewise torn to pieces, too.

Ouch.

Zombie Whales appear in Chapter 17 of Ring Dragonz, A Whale of a Tale.

Zombie Whales are the dead, rotting, and sometimes even completely skeletal carcasses of whales (plus assorted other great fish) that have been eaten by a Ring Dragon, and then magically enchanted back to life by the same said dragon.

In this monstrous undead form, Zombie Whales are usually tasked by the Ring Dragon with a certain duty. For example, the Zombie Whales in chapter 17 are lying in wait for any intruders entering the ring dragon’s secret lair at the bottom of the South China Sea (as Walsh, Henry, and Peter discover when they are forced to follow Sheshen down there).

See the artwork section for one rendering of the Zombie Whales

Speaking of Superbowl week, a story is only now cropping up that apparently has its roots in last year’s Superbowl week (and it’s kinda interesting).

Recently we’ve all witnessed the strange goings-ons over at NBC, whereupon Conan O’Brien was relieved of his duties as Tonight Show host after only a few months (a buyout worth between 40 and 60 million depending on who’s doing the reporting). The former incumbent, Jay Leno, is now the returning incumbent, as he will be resuming his old job.

Reasons for the switch-back are as rangy as the number of opinion-ators reporting on this whole fiasco. But I think it’s reasonable to conclude (gleaning from Conan’s scathing humor the last week of his show) that NBC executives didn’t see Conan as the right mascot for their network (which is pretty much what the show’s host has become). Whereas, presumably, the network favored Leno’s more wholesome, Midwestern appeal (he definitely has that over them city slickers, Dave and Conan).

Now, to the good stuff.

So, while we my never know all the reasons behind the decision (and the reasons were no doubt cumulative), this Super Bowl week, a story has sprouted that suggests Conan O’Brien’s Bud Light Super Bowl ad from last year was the lynchpin for this whole shakeup.

That’s right. The conservative minded NBC executives freaked out over, “Vroom Vroom Party Shtarter!”

If your memory of the ad is a bit hazy, the goofy Conan (who doesn’t really appear to take himself all that seriously) was convinced by his agent to shoot a Bud Light ad that would only be seen in Sweden. The next thing you know, Conan and his agent are standing in Time Square watching the Swedish “ad within an ad,” and it comes across as a little bit wild and hairy (literally).

Like everybody else in the country, NBC saw the ad. Unlike everybody else, they got really torqued.

Fine. However NBC wants to go about crafting their image is their business. No doubt, most of the board members over at the peacock network see themselves (and by extension the whole of reality) as good old fashioned, down-home folk, and from all accounts, that’s exactly what Leno is, too.

Comedy is such an acutely subjective field, and unlike many other professions, when the people don’t like your work as a comedian, then in essence, they don’t like you as a person. It’s all very personal, and feelings are often wounded. I’d say the only job where it’s harder to gauge whether or not you’re doing a good job is teaching.

Okey Dokey. It’s that time of year again, everybody. Super Bowl (XLIV).

Of course, this year’s participants are the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. I don’t have a rooting interest. Nobody I know has a rooting interest, either. Alas, I’m a Rams fan. Can you say Ndamukong Suh? No, neither can I.

So, let’s get down to brass tacks. The Superbowl commercials. No, seriously. Does anybody even really watch the Superbowl anymore? I know, I know. “Hey, buddy! The Superbowl pulls like the biggest ratings number every year!”

But that’s not my point. Does anybody even really watch the game anymore?

Colts 38
Saints 24