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Facebook, according to BusinessWeek, has passed up a reported offer of $750 million and is holding out for, yes, it's true, $2 billion.
I suppose anything that my little sister uses must have some legs. She's one of those too-cool-for-school types, but she seems to be pretty into Facebook. Good for them.
That's where all the cool startups hang out like this one, Rubyred and their Monday morning cereal parties.
First off, why would you want to do anything on a Monday morning that involves talking/hanging out with a bunch of people you don't know? Isn't that what the weekend and for?
Secondly, here in New York, we spend our weekends on the lookout for creatures like B-List celebrities, not thinking about our Monday morning cereal social.
The moral of the story: Cereal may get the peeps over at Adaptive Path to your office, but we're gonna use beer and wine to snag Gawker!
I went to High School with this kid, Jonah Feld. He seemed like a normal dude, we hung in similar circles. We've run into each other from time to time back home in Boston. There's usually alcohol involved.
He ended up kicking my ass as a blogger.
Check out Burrito Blog, now going strong after a full year. Jonah, like many other burrito-philes, popped his burrito cherry at Anna's Taqueria in Brookline, MA (I'll take a Super Chile Verde, no cheese, no salsa, add hot sauce) but has since expanded his repetoire to include places in Washington, DC, NYC, and LA. Congrats, man.
Mike Tice, welcome to the Hitler Youth. (Editor's Note: It appears as though CNNSI has changed the picture to one of Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil who does not appear to be giving the salute popularized by Nazi Youth in the 1930's and 1940's. Well, that's a relief, but it makes this post kind of pointless. You see, it was much funnier with the old image, the one of Mike Tice looking like he's standing in 1938 Berlin watching a speech by Hitler, when in fact he's probably reacting to another Nate Burleson drop. I guess that speaks to the nature of the web...make a boo-boo, just press delete. Maybe I can find a Google cache image. Nope, not there, and not on Google images either. I swear it was up -- can anyone find it?).
Maybe this explains why both Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper were run out of town?
I work in a big loft space down in Soho. I guess it's a loft because we don't really have walls, there's no place for all the wires, and you can see clearly from one end of the room to the next. That pretty much sounds like what I picture as the typical "loft" in New York -- the loft that Tom Hanks rents in "Big".
Apparently, a lot of the buildings in the area have similar layouts, and well, you know how us Internet types love offices with no walls and other associated crap that gets in the way of our "Internetting".
What's my point here? I'm getting to it.
Anyway, with the renewal of the online industry in New York, this area of the city is fast filling up with, you guessed it, Internet companies. You can read about it here (and no, I'm not bitter that we weren't mentioned in this article...much) if you are interested. This part of the city is starting to look and feel like Chelsea back when I interned at Vault. In a related story, some of my friends were able to parlay their summer internships into something substantive like a full-time job. All I got was a t-shirt that said "I interned during the Bubble and all I got was this lousy t-shirt". Or something like that.
So it was with great excitement that I read that the folks from Gawker moved to the neighborhood! Guys in our office love Deadspin. The ladies love Gawker. I love both.
I'm not really sure what excites me about this. Maybe Gawker will come to our next Toast and I can convince them to put a picture of me dressed in my finest business casual duds in "Blue States Lose".
...but this guy can.
And he can synchronize his routine to parts of The Beatles "White Album" "Abbey Road".
Very cool! (Requires sound)...Thanks to Machi for the tip.
Back to the Trader Joe's beat for a moment.
The crazy cats over at Fark ran a "Photoshop this display of bananas at Trader Joe's" contest last week.
There's some really funny stuff here...
For some reason, I found myself laughing out loud at the one with the little dancing banana.
As a rule, I try to avoid soda.
But it's a Friday and it's been a long week so I'm kicking back right now with a nice cool Sunkist. Ahhhh...
I was in college when the Internet bubble burst. It wasn't pretty.
Many of those companies that are so panned in the press now (and then) were actually decent ideas. So much of the "well, they never really had a business plan" criticism is valid, but looking at the landscape now, you see plenty of companies that are in the "build an audience first, figure out the revenue later" mode that characterized so many of the failures. And a lot of them are basically copying the ideas of stuff that failed the first time around.
That's why studies like this are important:
According to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than 50 million Americans per day used the Internet as their primary news source in 2005. That's up from 27 million in 2002. In fact, checking the daily news is the third most popular activity on the Internet, the study found.Pew attributed the increase to the rise in broadband availability and subscriptions in the home. Since 2002, the number of home broadband subscribers has risen from 20 million to 70 million, the group said.
The media is calling this new generation of Internet companies "Web 2.0". I suppose that makes us one (but only by association -- we've got the business model figured out, thank you very much). What's different now isn't so much the product (although with new technologies like AJAX and such, there are definite differences and improvements) but it's the potential size of the audience.
Let's face it: The web sucks on dial-up. Any page that takes longer to load than I take in the bathroom after lunch is bad news. So a company that tried and failed at something in 2002 now has over triple the potential market it had before. That's not an insignificant number.
So all the naysayers who have already rebranded Web 2.0 as "Bubble 2.0", look at the size of the market -- there's plenty of pie to go around.
Growing up, I had a book called "Things Not to Do Today".
It was aimed at kids, so it didn't include stuff like this. But I'm pretty sure this would have to be number one of my list. Anytime the words "severed organ", "several knives", and "Taser" can be used to describe your day, chances are things aren't going so well for you. I could actually see something like happening near my apartment, given the wackos you see walking up and down 14th St.
I think this sums it up best:
"We took him out without any serious injury, with the exception of his own,"
You're gonna have to get the details yourself....this is a family blog.
Robert points to this article.
A quarter of U.S. workers who use a computer admit using it to hunt for a new job on company time, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
People do all sorts of crazy things on their work computer; I'm actually surprised that only 25% of people admit to looking for other jobs from their work computer. That number has got to be higher.
To be sure, this is a surprise.
No, it's not surprising that Adam Vinatieri is no longer a Patriot. Sad? Sure. But not surprising.
What's surprising, to put it mildly, is that he decided to join the Colts.
When Johnny Damon crossed over to the Dark Side and joined the Yankees I thought that had been the low point of Boston athletes leaving for not only their teams but their teams biggest rival. Adam Vinatieri took it another down another notch today.
By the way, there was always something about Johnny Damon that rubbed me the wrong way. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it is, but his joining the Yankees eventually became one of those man-I-can't-believe-I-didn't-see-that-coming-a-mile-away things as opposed to something that still stings. Sure it will be interesting to see him in a Yankees uniform, and, without fail, he'll play some huge games against the Sox this summer, but can you imagine the look on Steinbrenner's face the first time someone stretches a gapper to left-field into triple? And his "gee shucks" act wore thin when he became Daddy Yankee the day he signed the contract.
Vinatieri though seemed different. Look, I don't fault him for taking the money. At the end of the day, the Pats, as they always do, had their ceiling (see: Woody, Damien; McGinest, Willie; Law, Ty for recent examples). They simply weren't budging for more than $2.5, $2.6 million max. So Vinatieri took a $3.5 million signing bonus and $2.5 million a year from Indy. Good for him; he got his.
But did it have to be with the Colts? I mean, the COLTS!?!?!?
The Colts and Pats, fueled by the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning rivalry, has developed into one of the best recent rivalries in sports. Sure it's been one-sided -- 3 Super Bowls for Brady and the Pats, none for Manning and the Colts -- but there's enough bad blood between the two teams, that, as a Pats fan, you'd have to at least consider them a rival.
What happens when Vinatieri, some January soon, comes into Foxboro and kicks a winning field goal FOR THE COLTS? Huh, what happens then?
Vinatieri is a legend in Boston. Without him, the Patriots don't win 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. Doesn't happen. I'll still consider him one of my favorite athletes in Boston's long sports history. But something about this just feels wrong. Not in a Wade-Boggs-to-the-Yankees way, or, or a Ty-Law-to-the-Jets way, or hell, even a Roger Clemens I'm-going-to-eat-myself-out-of-this-city way (although my feelings about Clemens were, and still are, strong. I wrote an article in my high school newspaper about the atrocities he committed against me as a 15-year-old. Strangely therapeutic). More in a "Wow, you know, he just didn't seem like the type" kind of way.
Make no mistake about it. This is Brady's team now. Most of the familiar faces from the 3 Super Bowls in 4 years run are gone. Guys like Tedy Bruschi and Deion Branch will still share the limelight from time to time, but the face of The New England Patriots is Tom Brady.
Am I worried about the Pats? No, of course not. Remember, we've got the best coach in the league. Richard Seymour anchors one the best, and youngest, defensive lines in the league. Bruschi should be back at full strength, and I've got to believe that a healthy Corey Dillon has one more solid season in him. Throw in Branch -- a bona-fide number one receiver -- and a dynamic pair of tight ends, and we've got more than enough to take another run at the title.
What worries me more though is cheering for players that don't consider what it meant to put an entire city on your back and have the city respond with such unadulterated idolatry. Because as Vinatieri has shown, unyielding support doesn't get you much these days but a decade worth of memories and a plane ticket to Indy.
You'll notice a new "Music of the Moment" feature down the right hand side of this blog.
I "borrowed" the HTML code from another blog and don't have time to update the actual albums on there, so for the moment, amuse me and pretend that these CD's are what I'm actually listening to.
I also could've taken a "Books of the Moment" piece as well, but, well, books just aren't my flavor.
Thanks!
I've listened to Cat Power's "Willie" about ten times today. Just a fantastic tune.
It has the same breezy feel as Iron and Wine's "The Trapeze Singer", but it's more bluesy, and just plain better.
An early contender for Mr. Shafrir Song of the Year.
Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover" is currently leading the "Oldies but Goodies" category with "Let it Be" by The Beatles a close contender in the Place spot.
I also bought two versions of Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" -- the single and the acoustic version -- after hearing it on an American Idol show a few weeks back. I then saw a short feature of him on MTV so I figured I'd check it out.
The Verdict: A catchy song that I could listen to a few more times before it shows up this May on "The Hills".
iTunes Balance: $11.00.
Finally, last night I was coaxed into some 3AM karaoke at Planet Rose. Don't worry all you fans: I warmed them up with "Dead or Alive" before I kicked ass and took names with "Maybe I'm Amazed".
I stumbled across this blog today: Ben Casnocha.
If this kid is really in high school, I'm just glad I have a 4 or 5 year head start on him before he enters the workforce. Although, guys like this don't tend to stay in college very long either, so I better get cracking. The quality of his writing combined with the (thoughtful) depth of insight is really, really impressive.
Hey Ben, if you're reading this and would like to do some work for us this summer at TheLadders.com, email me. We'll even give you a blog with your name as the URL AND we've got a ping-pong table in the office...
Update: OK, I checked out this page, and now I'm really scared. Plus, this kid is a dead ringer for my friend and old college roommate, Jay.
In case you're one of the two or three Manhattanites who haven't heard, Trader Joe's opened today just east of Union Sq.
For the uninitiated, TJ's (as the faithful call it) is a hippie/hipster grocery store that stocks mostly "Trader Joe's" brand items (or Trader Giotto's or Trader Ming's). The stuff there is (relatively) cheap and incredibly varied; it's worth checking out. Or, if you're like my Dad, it's apparently worth going every single day just "to get some milk". The entire staff also wears Hawaiian shirts, although the NYC store went with the Hawaiian t-shirts as opposed to the short-sleeve button-downs I've seen in other stores.
So, like any fearless young dude with designs on firing up the stove one of these days, I trekked out to "TJ's" this afternoon. I didn't actually buy anything -- the place was shoulder to shoulder with the young and old alike and the checkout line was at least 50 deep -- but if I ever do decide to stop just watching the Food Network and actually do some cooking, I'll be back.
Lest you think this place won't be eternally mobbed, like my Mom always says: "It's like they're giving away the stuff for free".
What an amazing title for a blog post. And I thought of it all by myself.
I'm off the the ERE Conference in San Diego for a few days. Check back with you later.
I know all of you are just gripped with excitement for the next installment of "How to spend $50 on iTunes", so here it is:
Recent purchases include:
Enya, "Only Time" and "Anywhere Is"
How did I end up with these two? Not so sure. "Anywhere Is" gets played in any montage on The Real World or Laguna Beach that deals with a coming of age or the end of an era theme. It's a fantastic song, especially when you turn your speakers all the way up and listen to it lying down in your bed like I did on Saturday. If you have to ask...
Remaining balance: $16.11
Neutral Milk Hotel, "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea"
Until last week, I thought this song was a Matt Pond PA, original. Turns out my hipster sensibilities are only moderately evolved, as this one who was originally done by Neutral Milk Hotel who are apparently huge in places like Bushwick.
We'll let Spidergirl explain:
neutral milk hotel did it first. there's no connection per se between the bands, but nmh is one of the indie rock bands with the most mystique/legend status. it was headed up by this weird, reclusive guy named jeff mangum, who basically retreated from the world after aeroplane over the sea (the album) came out. it consistently goes on indie rock best-of-all-time type lists, and people cover their shit all the time. there was even a concert last year at the khyber where a bunch of different philly musicians got together and played a concert of the entire album.for a good summary of the whole thing (and a 10.0 rating), go here:
Just an amazing song either way, by either band.
Remaining Balance: $15.10
Bloc Party, "Banquet" and "Like Eating Glass"
A little bit like Franz Ferdinand, and little bit like Dogs Die in Hot Cars, a whole lot like the songs you walk out of the bar saying "I liked that song, I just have no idea who sings it, so I'm about to go make some drunk iTunes purchases!". Two solid tunes here to take me down to $13.08.
What's next?? Stay tuned for more!
Dylan Drew loves his Chipotle. He's also a wealth of ideas.
When he wrote Chipotle about possibly adding a breakfast burrito to their menu, here is the response he got:
Jay,Yeah, we get the breakfast thing now and again. One of the reasons we cannot offer breakfast at this time has to do with the amount of preparation we put into our food daily. You see, we make the chips, guacamole, marinate meats, clean lettuce, mix the salsas, and chop peppers and cilantro all in a days (sic) work. And that's just to name a few things. This along with a simple menu is why or (sic) food can be served and retain such fresh quality. We couldn't cut corners and cheapen breakfast any less, but we would be up all night.
However, you never know what the future holds. Take care!Sincerely,
David Chrisman
Mo'Joe
Chipotl (sic)
What do I love about this response?
A few things:
1) It was written by a real live person, right on down to the spelling mistakes. Extra points for that and something we've done here at TheLadders since day one.
2) It is short, brief, and to the point. There's only so many ways to say "no, we aren't doing this", and there's no point in beating around the bush.
3) It answers Jay's question, but it also highlights major selling points of the Chipotle experience -- deflecting the negative with related positives. Excellent.
I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that Jay walked away from this negative answer with positive feelings, which, short of giving him the answer he wanted to hear, is the best alternative for Chipotle.
Well done Chipotle!
When I was in elementary school, I used to get called down to the principal's office. Why? My mom would call the school needing help with Microsoft Word. I can't even imagine which computer we might have had in the house at the time, but there I was, all of 12 or 13, helping my mom with with her word processing.
So imagine my surprise/mortification/moral dilemma of "is this the first comment I delete from my blog?" when I found my mom commenting on my blog.
Color me stunned.
Gotham Gal has a great post on her experience with the shipping company DHL.
Basically, she thought the bill she got (for $244) was way too high for what she had shipped. The customer service rep on the phone asked her what she thought it should have been. Gotham Gal said "$40" and DHL changed the bill to, you guessed it, $40.
What a fantastic customer experience. Now look, I'm not saying that the "name your own price" model is sustainable for any business, but Gotham Gal now says she's a "Customer for life". DHL will make up the $200 difference, and then some, quite easily.
Here at TheLadders, our motto is "If they've got to go, make sure they go happy"...OK, I just made that up, but the DHL model of customer service is one that we try and emulate every day.
The rumors are true: I tried out for American Idol.
The details are probably worthy of their own post, but suffice it to say I'm here, they are there, and that's that.
To answer your most pressing questions:
1) Did you make it? Surprsingly, this is the most common question I get asked. Actually, second only to this one...
2) Did you meet the judges? No.
3) What did I sing? Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I realize there are better songs out there. Josh Groban "You Raise Me Up" for one, Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" for another.
Anyway, I'm more than just a casual fan of American Idol, so, without further delay, here are my thoughts on the remaining competitors. I'll focus on the guys; I haven't felt a connection to any of the girls yet so I find myself only casually observing their side of the competition.
Taylor: I find him enormously creepy. The guy, for one thing, has a full head of gray hair. There's nothing wrong necessarily with gray hair, but the words "American Idol" and "gray hair" are as about as likely to appear together this lifetime as "Jerry Fallwell" and "Guess who loved Brokeback Mountain?" I also find his violent twitching whenever he gets a compliment to be trite, contrived, and, frankly, outrageously irritating at this point. I'm not at all surprised that he's my roommate's favorite. One more clunker like last week's "Easy" and he's headed back home.
Final point about Taylor -- on his American Idol home page, he's asked "How has this changed your life" and he answers "N/A". Is that "N/A" as in Not Applicable? Did he miss this one on the questionnaire so the producers filled it in for him? Because the last I checked, the number times I had heard about Taylor with the gray hair from Birmingham before American Idol was a whopping 0. Why couldn't he have said "You know, before this I was living with my parents working as a substitute teacher. How the hell do you think has changed my life?" Instead he thought "Hmmm, I think N/A is the way to go here".
Will: He's got the Bobby Brady thing going for him, which I suppose is good if the Idol's key demographic (15-24 year old girls) knew of Bobby Brady as a cute kid as opposed to the guy who is all over VH1's "Where are they now?" shows. He's done soon.
Another point about Will: I consider myself a good judge of character. It doesn't take me long to figure people out, and I had this guy pegged as a loser even while he was trying to pull the tall-gangly-guy-who-has-a-nice-smile-but -an-average-voice routine. Then on last week's show, he served it up on a silver platter. In his pre-show fluff piece about his experience so far on Idol, he excitedly described meeting Justin Guarini as (and I'm paraphrasing here) "one of the coolest moments of my life". I then put my head through the TV.
Elliot: He's actually got a pretty incredible voice. He did Stevie Wonder's "Moody's Mood For Love" last week which was a risky play. Rule #1 of American Idol is that you just don't do Stevie Wonder songs. You can end up sounding like I did at my Bar Mitzvah -- one verse in the voice of an 13-year-old boy, then sounding like an 18-year-old man who has to shave twice a day. But Elliot pulled it off pretty well. He's safe at least until the final 6.
Ace: The women in the office love him, which I suppose is a good thing. I can't get over how the hair on the top of his head looks so unwashed though. Plus, he's doing the whole "maybe if I try and sound seductive people will ignore the fact that I don't have much range in my voice" thing. He also lists his favorite Male Artist as "Mel Torme". The choices these people list are just unreal sometimes. Why can't someone write something like Eddie Vedder or Mick Jagger. Do you have to sit at home listening to your parents old records to even have a shot?
Bucky: Does half of Bucky's money go right to Bo Bice (who, by the way, has an awful profile shot of himself on his homepage)? Seriously, without Bo paving the way, a Southern rocker like Bucky would've had no shot this year. He does get props though for saying that Eminem is his favorite male artist. I suspect Bucky could play well in the Nashville scene -- although my country music stylings begin and end with Rascal Flatts -- but his shelf life on Idol is limited.
Gedeon: Is it me or does this guy look like he's 27? Major props for his performance of "Shout" -- with so much made of song choice it was an out-of-left-field choice that really worked. He's a hell of a snappy dresser, so maybe he'd do well on Project Runway if this whole Idol thing falls through. The thing I don't get is this: how does someone with so many over-the-top features -- the afro, the pearly whites, the huge smile, the eyebrows -- not come off as cartoonish? He hasn't done much memorable, and while clothes may make the man, they don't make the American Idol.
Kevin: Ah, Kevin, where do I begin? Is it the unassuming manner in which you carry yourself? Is it the lisp? Is it the fact that you were jazzed last week about getting fan mail from 12-13 year old girls? Honestly, I really like this guy. First off, he absolutely killed it in his Boston audition with "You Raise Me Up". And he's clearly likeable. If he plays the Anthony Federov angle from last year's show, he's got a shot. His voice will only carry him so far, though, until the underdog meets the true heavy hitters.
Speaking of which:
Chris: The competition is his to lose. Last week when he nailed "Hemmorhage (In My Hands)", the other male contestants looked like a Little League pitcher on the mound with Barry Bon..., er, Sammy Sos..., er, well, you know, a major league hitter digging in against him. He's got the "good guy" angle covered, what with all the stories about how he's become the adoptive father of the two kids his wife brought to their relationship. Random fact: His favorite female artist is Kelly Clarkson (mine too!).
Some other random observations from this season:
What did you do to Carrie Underwood? She came out last week and sang a song called "Jesus Take the Wheel". Look, I've got nothing against JC, but even Amy Grant tried to go mainstream before she retreated back to the Country world. Why not at least give it a shot?
Ayla Brown looks like a giraffe. When she wears high heels, she looks like a giraffe trying to wear high heels. The comedy is off the charts.
There a thin line between cute and too cute, and Paris Bennett, unfortunately, crosses that line. It's too bad too, because she happens to be talented.
Everybody's got their style, David Radford included. But don't you think that if you made it as far as he did, you might try something a little different from week to week? I mean, if this were the "Harry Connick Jr. Idol" competition, he'd have been amazing. But it's not, and he's already gone. I just don't get that.
Brenna Gathers, you only got 13 minutes of fame. I'll leak a sex tape of you to the internet if you'd like the other 2.
That's all for now. And if you're wondering if I'm blogging at work, in the interest of full disclosure, the answer is yes. But I wrote 95% of this at home last night. Hi Marc!
This just in from the "it was only a matter of time department".
Barry Bonds is a cheating dirtbag.
It's one thing to be a complete prick to the media and fans. It's another to cheat. I, for one, hope he's suspended for life and banned from the Hall of Fame.
Listen up sports fans, it's Karl Malone retirement night on March 23rd in Utah!
Excited? Me neither.
Plenty of good seats still available.
I never liked Malone. Sure he's one of the greatest 50 players of all-time, and, along with the man on my bedroom wall, Kevin McHale, the definition of a modern power forward. But there's something that always said "dirtball" to me.
Plus, he's a loser. OK, sure he was unfortunate to play in Michael Jordan's prime, but conventional wisdom says you need two superstars (Malone and John Stockton), solid role players (Jeff Hornacek and Bryon Russell) and servicable size in the middle (Greg Ostertag. Before you go laughing, look at who Jordan had playing in the middle -- Bill Cartwright, Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, etc. That does assume you count Horace Grant as a power forward, which I do). He got beat in '96-'97 -- the year he won his first MVP -- and again in '97-'98, both times in 6 games, both times by the Bulls. The best part is that Jordan should have been MVP in '96-'97, knew it, and murdered the Jazz in the finals.
The final nail in the coffin was when he went to the Lakers in 2004, searching for that elusive ring. Let's just say the Lakers' implosion was especially satisfying that year. I'm not critical, per se, of players who switch teams late in their career to try and win a ring. Even though I didn't want to, I felt happy for Ray Bourque when he finally won a Stanley Cup with Colorado (I remember calling my friend Joe that night and he was crying). But Malone on the Lakers is different. Not sure why, but it just felt different.
Jazz fans must feel the same way. Good for them.
I got a $50 iTunes gift certificate today and tried to spend it all in one shot today. You know how I roll.
Let's go to the scorecard to see how I did:
1) Matisyahu: "Live at Stubb's". I probably could've just gone with "King Without a Crown", the single getting a ton of airplay (not that I've heard it), but with $50 in the kitty, I dove right in. Money left: $40.01.
2) Cat Power: "The Greatest". I've got a soft-spot for women singer-songwriters (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple), etc., that come with strong recommendations from Rolling Stone. Add in the possibility of a catastrophic on-stage meltdown, and you've got yourself a winner. Money left: $30.02.
3) Whiskeytown: "Faithless Street". Call me crazy, but I love Ryan Adams. Yes, in a man-crush kind of way. I've bought (and lost, along with my iPod) another Whiskeytown album, "Pneumonia", so I went in a new direction for this purchase. Whiskeytown channels Adams' alt-country roots, while his most recent albums like "29" represent his new "I'm going to pump out as many albums as possible because my fans will buy a record of me taking a piss in the morning" direction. Bonus points to Adams for the recent rumors linking him to Lindsay Lohan. This one, inexplicably, set me back $11.99. Money left: $18.03.
Now I'm stuck. I've already got The Arctic Monkeys, and there's nothing out there that really excites me. Any suggestions, lovable readers?
Ahh, so you thought I was the only Shafrir who could churn out some snappy sentences?
Guess again.
Spidergirl is starting a new literary magazine, The Crier!
They are having a launch party too:
Launch Party
Featuring brief readings by our editors and writers
Music and dancing
Monday, March 20, 7pm
Admission is $6
Cake Shop
152 Ludlow St., NYC
Like any fledgling venture, they're looking for donations. So if any of your readers are wealthy types who would like to donate, I'll hook you up with the right people ;)...
It's all Ivy League all the time today at Mr. Shafrir.
My other sister, Spidergirl, wrote a neat little piece for the NY Observer about the crazy kids up at Columbia.
Seems one enterprising young guy created a site dedicated solely to the goings-on at the Butler Library. Best thing, in my opinion, is that he made it open to Columbia students only. Take that Craigslist Rants and Raves section!
Sites like this really intrigue me. On the one hand, it's a great way to do things like not study. On the other hand, it's a potential, albeit small, portend into the potential fate of top dogs like Facebook -- in 3 months, the site has seen 13,000 posts, and new functionality is going up every day. College kids (and I know, I was one), are notriously fickle and if anything points to the precarious position of sites like Facebook (and Friendster before it), it's stuff like this. So, random dude at Columbia, Mr. Shafrir salutes you. Now go celebrate with enough beers to end up with your pants around your ankles in the back of an NYPD cop car. Cause, you know, that's the only way to do it right.
Gawker has the scoop on last night's party at the Yale Club right here in good ol' NYC.
The pictures and captions are hilarious. Someone should have gone dressed as Joshua Jackson from "The Skulls".
I like the pair in the Kangol hats the best.
Maybe the monthly parties we have here at work should be theme parties. We could do a Web 2.0-style foam party. You know, for all the bubbles and stuff. Ba-dum ching!
Marc, any comments on your fellow Yalies?
