Juliana Hatfield Might Be In Love: “Puppy Bowl”

By the time Juliana Hatfield had reached her mid-20s, she’d become the poster girl for ’90s indie rock. She was looked upon as the thinking person’s alternative to the riot-grrrl phenomenon, and the future seemed rosy. Hatfield had formed revered combo the Blake Babies, launched a red-hot solo career, played bass on the breakthrough Lemonheads album and gained national attention when she told Interview magazine she was still a virgin and wasn’t too worried about it. The backlash from those without much of an attention span was inevitable. In the ensuing years, Hatfield has honed her art and produced a wealth of stirring, self-confident albums. Peace & Love, out next week on her Ye Olde label, is an utterly sincere revelation that proves well worth the wait. Hatfield will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our exclusive excerpt from her 2008 memoir and our brand new Q&A with her.

Hatfield: The Animal Planet TV channel airs Puppy Bowl each year around Super Bowl time. It’s a very simple concept, but it’s brilliant: A bunch of puppies are let loose together with toys in a miniature (puppy-sized) indoor model football stadium. Cameras track the dogs’ hilarious haphazard movements while color commentary—the play-by-play—runs throughout in voiceover by a very official-sounding sportscaster. When a dog runs across the end zone line with a toy football in his mouth, it is declared a “touchdown,” and a canned audience roars and cheers. When a puppy relieves himself on the field, it is called “foul.” Puppies run around and around, playing and jumping and skidding and wrestling, and it’s endlessly entertaining. I could sit and watch this for hours and never get bored. Who doesn’t love puppies? Video after the jump.