Somehow we’re already into the second month of 2008.  Where does the time go?

• Puppies > Sports?
  An interesting piece from the New York Times on Animal Planet’s fourth annual “Puppy Bowl,” billed as an alternative to the Super Bowl.  The program consists of three hours of puppies running around in a faux stadium, complete with a kitten-filled halftime show (and no, they don’t battle the puppies).  The most amazing part is that this special attracts an increasing number of viewers each year–7.5 million viewers watched last year!  I love puppies just as much as the next guy, but can someone please explain to me what makes this such compelling viewing?
• Photographing the hidden and unfamiliar
  In this era of government clamp-downs on anything and everything that will hold the ink from a “Classified” stamp, it’s quite astounding that photographer Taryn Simon was able to get permission to photograph–and then publish–some of America’s strangest (and most unknown) places, both publicly and privately funded, including the Hanford nuclear waste disposal site in Washington State and the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan, where people have their bodies cryogenically preserved in the hopes of one day being revived.  I think it’s critical for images like these to be released, if only to spark some discussion as to what exactly we’re spending our tax dollars–and our donation money–on.
• Satire and stock photos
  The Onion, the popular satirical newspaper, found itself in a little bit of trouble when an Ottawa firefighter discovered that his photo had been used, allegedly without his permission, for a story entitled “Hero Firefighter Loses Lifelong Battle with Fire.”  The trouble is that the woman who originally took the photo of him sold it to Photos.com, which resold the photo (as a stock photo agency is wont to do); The Onion subsequently apologized to the firefighter depicted in the photo.  I maintain that the paper did nothing wrong–they paid for the rights to use the photograph, which presumably would have included a model release.  If anyone is at fault here, it should be the photographer for failing to secure such a release.
• Justin Timberlake for Pepsi
  OK, this one is just fun, but with the Super Bowl on Sunday I’d be remiss if I failed to mention this entertaining ad promoting Pepsi’s newest promotion.  Even though I’m a Coke guy myself, this is a funny commercial.