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1

Pump It Up

OPEC Extraordinary Meeting
Vienna

Extraordinary times (and gas prices) call for extraordinary meetings. Citing the need for "extreme vigilance in assessing the market," ministers from the oil cartel's 13 nations--responsible for 40% of global output--will hold a special summit at OPEC HQ in Vienna. (Has anyone else ever wondered why OPEC is based in oil giant Austria?) Our money is on the petro power brokers voting to hold production steady before adjourning for lavish amounts of schnitzel. --Jeff Chu

3

Watch

Super Bowl XLII
Glendale, Arizona

Most years, Super Bowl Sunday is less about the football than the ads (list price this year is up to $2.7 million for a 30-second spot) and guacamole (though the oft-repeated factoid--that more than two-thirds of U.S. annual avocado consumption is pegged to the big game--is myth). While we don't expect major innovations in guac, watch for ads from first-time Super Bowl advertiser Cars.com and from Doritos, which will air the debut of an unsigned singer who wins an online fan vote. --JC

3 - 6

REFUEL

The National Biodiesel Conference and Expo
Orlando, Florida

The whole biofuel thing may be au courant, but we're still not sure how a conference with sessions such as "Feedstock Procurement and Risk Management" and "Biodiesel Plant Feasibility" lures the likes of Larry Hagman and Daryl Hannah. If you're still not filled up with all things biodiesel by the end of this four-day meeting, the National Ethanol Conference--also in Orlando--starts on February 25. --William Lee Adams

4

Breathe Easier

Debut of the Low-Emission Zone

London

Britain's capital tries to clear the air a bit as the government begins charging old, diesel-fueled vehicles to drive into the city center. Trucks, buses, and vans that weigh more than 12 tons and don't meet current European standards for new vehicles will have to pay up--or, policy makers hope, stay out. --JC

5

Read

Rock On
By Dan Kennedy

It's everyone's childhood dream, no matter the level of musical talent, to be part of the rock-and-roll world. In his memoir Rock On, humor writer Dan Kennedy chronicles how his fantasy is fulfilled, albeit cruelly, as an office drone at a record label. His workplace boasts all the dysfunction of The Office, except it's the real deal. Sycophantic underlings jockey for position, psychotic bigwigs condescend, Kennedy's soul slowly withers--and we laugh, as he describes it all with satirical playfulness. Along the way, there are cameos by Jewel ("Who's that attractive blonde woman walking toward me? ... Connie, maybe? From accounts payable?"), Jimmy Page, and Stevie Wonder. --Abe Lebovic

6 - 8

Think

LIFT08
Geneva

One word on LIFT's program snapped us out of the winter doldrums: "cyborg." Among the speakers at this ideafest, centered on emerging technologies' effects, is British cyborg-researcher Kevin Warwick, who had a microchip implanted in his body so he could study his nervous system via PC linkup. (His goal is to aid the disabled.) Also on the agenda: Anthropologists for Nokia and Intel discuss how their studies of tech users affect product design. --JC