Things I don't like

One thing I dislike about living in France is that there are no dryers (or Europe really). I know, I know, it's probably better for the environment, our electricity bills are lower, blah blah blah.....but it's so incredibly annoying to hang your clothes everywhere and then they have that crinkly, rough feeling (especially the towels!!!). It's probably just the influence of American marketing (well done P&G), but there is nothing better to me than a towel that's soft and fluffy just out of the dryer.

This guys knows what I'm talking about

Le Sigh. Clearly, this isn't the end the world, but since I've been pretty positive towards living in France I figured I should show both sides of the coin :-)

Also, when I googled "fluffy towel out of the dryer" looking for an image this one came up. Thought it was quite a coincidence. It's even spelled correctly!

This has nothing to do with France, but I need to vent. I also HATE when I opt out of an email list and then they send me a confirmation email. I am opting out because I hate your crappy email, please don't send me another one! Thanks for letting me write that, I feel much better.

....And I'm back

So this whole 'no internet in your house' thing is really cramping my blogger style. (First world problem much?) Anywho, the internet is still not connected (apparently "1 week" is open for interpretation in French culture), so I'll continue to squeeze in time to blog during breaks at work (SHHHH!).

If you are in France sometime in the near future, RUN, don't walk, to Bordeaux. Bordeaux was such a lovely city -- beautifully quaint, good food, awesome vibe and of course it is SURROUNDED by delicious wineries. YUM. I've only ever been to wineries in and around San Fran (sonoma and napa), which are superb, but there is definitely a different feel while touring wineries nearby a typical french chateau. I learned all about the wine making process and the types of grapes that are found in the bordeaux region. One fun fact unkown to me was why they put rose bushes at the end of each row of vines -- apparently the roses get the same 'diseases' as grape vines, but 2 weeks in advance so they can diagnose before it ruins the vine. Tada!

We also toured the adorable town of St. Emillion. It's a bit touristy, but makes sense seeing as it's so beautiful.

Things I love about Paris: THE METRO

Coming from a city with a fairly stellar public transporation system, I feel like it's hard to impress me. But I must say, the Paris metro is superb. I have now taken the metro for an entire work week from the new place (metro stop Voltaire, as pictured). I've taken it at various times between 7:30 and 9:30....and I've gotten a seat every single time and have never had to wait longer than 2 minutes (and I know this because there is a countdown clock). The Paris metro is clean, fast, and thorough... I am a HUGE fan. (Same timing going home at night anywhere between 6pm and 10pm ...always a seat!)

Another cool thing is that my work is required to pay for half of my travel costs. Thus, my monthly pass is ridiculously cheap. YAY French Gov't!

Speaking of other yay french gov't tactics, work is also required to subsidize and pay for half of my lunch. We have a cafeteria (which is also superb), which means my lunch is around 3-4 euro a day. For others with no cafeteria, you buy tickets from your company for 50% of the cost. So they give you a 10 euro ticket, you actually only paid them 5 and you can use them at restaurants around the city.

How do I say awesome in French?

RIP Steve Jobs

I was sleeping when it happened, but during my waking hours yesterday as Steve Jobs was dying I said these exact words to the question what do you miss most from living in the US? "my iPhone." I love it so much, I yearn for it. (I know, I know...I can get one here, but it's complicated and I don't have it yet and I feel like I'm living in 1999).

It may be a sad thing to admit I miss most (I mean, showers with curtains could be a more appropriate answer..or Shake Shack), but it's true. Steve Jobs has revolutionized how I communicate, how I keep in touch, and most top of mind for me how I discover a city. I desperately need google maps, Yelp, and all my other apps which help me explore and get the most of where I live. Thanks Steve, for everything.

I leave you with this quote I found on my awesome friend Ashley's blog -- A little Dash of Ash

I truly believe this and I try to follow it everyday. Thanks for the motto.

Things Parisians Like: STRIPES!

This one is sort of an obvious one, but it's sterotypically true! I see them everywhere and luckily stripes have been "in" other places in the world lately so I own a few striped sweaters already.

Wanted to share this adorable picture from the blog Mrs. Lilien Styling House ... So cute and I love how she uses the bread as an arrow and says croissant is for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. True!

Also, the scarves is another obvious thing that Parisians Like :-) (and my friend Andrea...tee hee)

Prague...as beautiful as everyone says.

Prague truly is a beautiful old city. It has a rich, rather turbulent history, which is evident in every aspect of its culture. It also has, of course, Czech Beer. According to one travel brochure I saw, "Czech Beer is a part of every day life in Prague." OY is it ever. It's cheaper than water and coca cola combined and it flows throughout the city at every hour of the day (even breakfast for some...not me, I promise).

I've been told to go to Prague by multitudes of people since I was 18 years old and was so excited to make it 10 years later. However, I feel like those people were 18 years old when they went. Prague is swarming with tourists and backpackers (and this was september, I can only imagine in the summer) which becomes tiresome. When I travel, I like to do a mix of touristy things while trying to feel like I'm living in the city (with emphasis on the living). We had a very hard time finding out where the 'real' czech were located and constantly felt like we were in a touristy part of Epcot (it was that beautiful it felt fake).

 Also, not only were we always in the touristy part, the locals weren't all that friendly. Finally, on our last day we met Jacob, a Czech man about our age who had recently spent a few years working in Canada. Jacob apologized for his 'people' saying that do have the tendency to try to rip off tourists. Tendency, may be downplaying it a bit. As a group of fairly well-travelled tourists, we were ripped of left right and center from taxis whose meters went a million miles an hour to double charging on bills at restaurants or corner stores. (Or my personal favorite--being sold a tour ticket to something that was closed...hmmm) It was truly incredible and I must say it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth about the country (it happened in Czesky too).

To be fair, if my city was inenduated by tourists like that I would be annoyed too (hell I was annoyed and I was one of them). And the fact that we searched and couldn't find evidence of real life meant that we were probably out-numbering them, which is a little disconcerting. In general, I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't go back and I probably wouldn't recommend it without some serious research on how to approach (or maybe for a short weekend?).

And I'm back.....

This was my outfit for the past 3 days of incredibly good times. I think I might start wearing a Drindl more often - they're incredibly adorable and comfortable too!

After 4 days in Prague, 1 in Czesky Krumlov, and 3 in Oktoberfest my body is beat. Mainly from Oktoberfest, so I'll start there.

Oktoberfest (or Wiesn to the Germans) is truly an incredible event that only the Germans could pull off. First of all, when you walk up it looks like a huge state fair, which was surprising to me in how familiar it seemed. There are rides, booths with games, stalls of food etc. The difference lies in the fact that there are 14 huge 'tents' (more like small stadiums) FILLED with people eating and drinking. OH and by the way they're all in drindls (above) or leiderhosen. When you walk into the tent the roar of the crowd is truly awesome and you could go deaf by the loudness of the singing. The germans love to sing (who am I kidding, I do too) and there are about 5 different 'toasting' songs, songs with dances, songs with hand gestures, etc etc. Needless to say my voice hates me right now (and the liver, but that's a given).

I had many a conversation about how there is no way an event of that scale, centered mainly around drinking massive quantities of beers, could exist year over year anywhere else. The Germans are incredibly law abiding and efficient people, which is why the event continues. I'm pretty sure if something like this were to exist in the US, half the people would be fighting in the street, passing out in a gutter, or driving home drunkenly-- ending with people sueing the organizers and it would never happen again. I'm sure all of that happens to some extent at Oktoberfest, but you just felt like no one wanted to ruin the fun by doing something really stupid.

Anywho, I highly recommend it for a weekend. 3 days was almost too much (ALMOST!). And definitely don't forget your Drindl.

Playing European

Andrew has arrived and we are off to Prague and Oktoberfest!!

Will check in on the way, but if not au revoir for now!

Mon Appartement

Oui, allo! We have an apartment. It's in the 11th, a very 'vibrant' part of the city that's young and up-and-coming. Basically, the Brooklyn of Paris :-) So many cute restaurants, bars, and things to do! And like our guidebook says "REAL French people live there!" As opposed to those just playing Parisian.

I'd just like to show you the reason why we chose it. Please take a look at the beauty kitchen.

Many a great meal will be made in that baby (not by me!). Things Parisians Tolerate: TERRIBLE KITCHENS. I swear to you, I've never seen so many bad kitchens in my life. Other weird things we saw on our hunt -- two showers in a bathroom. WHY? A shower in a closet...HUH? A toilet room...not so weird, but makes you think. Spearmint walls...when was that ever a good idea? We are not in Florida. Basically, as per everywhere, there are some crappy apartments in Paris. But luckily, we found a gem :-)

Since I'm boring today....

Please take a look of this hilarious video of a 'racist' rental car. LOL

Racist Rental Car

So Tired.

Apartment hunting in any city is exhausting, but apartment hunting in Paris takes the cake. I AM SO TIRED (and currently homeless). Hopefully that will change by tomorrow night. Stay tuned!

A Michelin Star Meal...

I know what your thinking...WOW Danone must be paying you well if you've already had a Michelin star meal in Paris! Sadly, not exactly. In fact, far from it -- it was a frozen meal (No judging me blogosphere....I'm living alone, have no friends and I hate cleaning dishes). But it's not just any frozen meal....It was a frozen meal by the most decorated chef in the world Joel Robuchon.

My awesome dinner last night.

Fleury Michon (the pre-eminent frozen meal producer in France) had the extraordinary vision to partner with one of France's most famous chefs. Having admired Joel's culinary empire for many years (and having the fortune of going to L'atelier in New York) I had to try it. It was just too funny and too French.

The result? It's actually really good. It even comes in a real ceramic pot and tastes nothing like Frozen food. This one I feature here is a sort of French sheperd's pie, but made with duck (obviously). It was spiced perfectly and I'm a sucker for mashed potatoes so I enjoyed it a lot. All told, it was about 1 euro more than the reguar frozen meals and I think it was a euro well spent (if only for the blog post). Well done Joel! Do you mind seeding this idea with Thomas Keller?

A room with a view...

A lot of apartments in Paris have 'courtyard' views, which they say is attractive because they are quieter, but secretly I think its because Parisans like to spy on their neighbors (this has not been corroborated, although I find it fun to look in other people's apartments). In my temporary apartment, I wake up to a vew like this...Not too shabby!

I'm currently in the 9th, a quiet neighborhood (or 'calm' as the parisans say) north of the 2nd Opera arrondissement in which I work. There's not a whole lot going on, but it's convenient, safe and a 10 minute walk to work, which is why it's at the top of my list of neighborhoods to live permanently. Others in the running are the 10th, the 3rd, and potentially the 11th/20th.

I have looked at the map of Paris neighborhoods about a bajillion times, but for some reason I am still having a hard time visuallizing the neighborhoods when someone tells me where they live. That being said, I do find it easy to find my way around as there are very few tall buildings. Because of that, I can usually find some structure that peaks out above the others to orient myself -- the Eiffel tower, Montmartre, or a tall building and figure out where I am. Tips from the top!

Paris Vs New York

One of my favorite blogs is ParisVsNYC, as described on the site it's a "friendly visual match of two cities told by a lover of wandering through New York." The visual matchups are not only visually appealing, but darn clever as well.

I don't pretend to be remotely as clever and I am surely not as artistic, however, I did have a Paris vs. New York observation the other day while wandering around Paris. I present for your amusement the movie poster for the newest Justin Timerlake and Mila Kunis ensemble film "Friends with benefits," otherwise known en francais as SexeEntreAmis...or Sex Between Friends. Apparently, the French are not ones for euphemism. (as a side note, I may be showing my ignorance here but I always thought it was euphenism. WHOOPS, sorry dad)

Also, as Elena pointed out, please notice the hand gesture in the Paris poster. SUBTLE France, SUBTLE.

Things Parisians LIke: Drinking as Teenagers along the Seine

I had the perfect Paris day on Saturday with my friend Laurence, who was visiting from London. It was in the 70s (25 Celsius for my international friends), sunny, and without humidity. We started with a walk up to the Sacre Coeur and wandered our way to the left bank and beyond. My feet were fed up with me by the end of the day, but my Parisian excitement overcame the pain.

After dinner that consisted of 'happy juice' (aka rose wine) and a charcuterie mixed platter, we decided to enjoy the perfect weather and take a stroll along the seine (how romantique of us and very "Midnight in Paris"). We were instantly excited as we saw there was a crowd along the river and it looked like some sort of party! For the New Yorkers out there, I was thinking it would be like the boat basin where 20 somethings come to buy a beer and look at the view. However, this turned out to be a make shift teenage soirree, complete with a DJ and bongo drums.

My friends in March drinking along the Seine...not nearly as cool as the Parisian teens. Do note the Evian bottle filled with red wine.

Both Lau and I instantly regretted how uncool we were for A. not being a teenager and B. (more importantly) not carrying a bottle of wine with us at all times just in case we have the urge to drink along the Seine. Is carrying wine in your purse being an alcoholic? Potentially, but we decided it was just playing Parisian :-)

Things Parisians Like: Part Deux

Bonjour from grey Paris! Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, but in the meantime I've been experiencing the 'Winter Haze' the past 3 days. Grey and looks like it's going to rain, but weirdly doesn't. At least it's been fairly warm.

Anywho, one observation I've noticed over the past week is another thing Parisians like: The Fiat 500. We all know europeans are into their small cars, but this car is ALL over. And I can see why, it's a beauty. But even better than that, I saw it in HOT PINK yesterday. I almost wanted to go up to the lady at the stoplight and hug her....such an adorable car. Luckily I restrained myself, as I'm pretty sure that's a thing Parisians don't like -- crazy americans trying to hug them.

Take a look:

Doesn't it just make you want to go out and buy one? (If I wasn't totally against cars, I would.) I'd feel like a Barbie doll in it... I've never wanted to feel like a barbie doll, but for this car I would happily. I've been trying to get my mom to buy a 500 instead of a mini for her next purchase. Perhaps the pink will tip her over the edge (HI MOM!)...Totally a car that's appropriate for Nashville, TN, right?

It's official! www.playingparisian.com!

Somehow without the support of my super tech-y, geeky and handsome boyfriend, I figured out to A) buy a domain and B) link it to blogger! Well done me (and google!). GoDaddy.com's super bowl ads finally got me. It only took four years and Danica Patrick.

You can still go to lindsaycollins.blogspot.com if you want to, but it will re-direct. Internets, this is you patting me on the back :-)

Relish & Quaff in Paris!

My dear friend and fellow foodie Andrea has a great restaurant blog Relish & Quaff and she has invited me to blog my restaurant experiences in Paris (she's currently based in Toronto, but will be moving to Paris soon!). Check out my post on my restaurant excursion to Le Taxi Jaune in the Marais last night here.

Things Parisians Like: Part Un

This section is not to be confused with Stuff Parisans Like or the book my parents bought me upon departure but rather, little "Lindsay Observations" about living in Paris. I am going to consult the list to make sure I do not replicate in the future. But I already have two (two!) and it's been a week.

Et voila, On Y Vas...

1. CAMPING. I know, can you believe it? I couldn't. I had my co-worker pinky swear it that she wasn't pulling my my leg. I had no idea the parisians were so into nature, outdoors, sleeping on the ground, etc. C'est Bizarre, n'est-ce pas? I asked my designer-clad colleague what she did over the weekend and she said "camping".

I gave her a funny look, and she, being Italian and not from Paris, said "I KNOW. I never thought I would either, but give it 2 years, the Parisians will convince you." Say what? Camping? Like in a tent? "Yes, in a tent. However, it was on the grounds of a large Chateau. I still slept on the ground, so I'm counting it."  Perhaps I could be convinced to camp outside a chateau...hmmm

Anywho, I was still skeptical walking the streets and admiring all the parisian women with their designer purses etc, UNTIL I went to a Camping Store called Decathlon yesterday to look for an air mattress (for my apt, not nature).  This.Store.Was.HUGE! I mean, biggest camping store I"ve ever seen (like Sports Authority huge). Meanwhile, the French apparently LOVE food, but their grocery stores are tiny. So imagine my surprise when I go to a camping store and IT"S AN ENTIRE BLOCK. So they must really love camping, I say. And the place was packed. Tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, grills, back packs, etc FLYING OFF THE SHELF. I'm still in shock, if you can't tell. I basically had to fight over the last double air mattress (you're welcome elena!).

Who knew that was a thing parisian's liked?

I saw this on a car yesterday and thought it was absolutely hilarious and totally appropriate.

update: realized I didn't translate. It means I heart nothing, I'm parisian. lols

Parisians, They're not like US! Part 1

And thus begins a new section, alluding to one of my favorite tabloid columns "Celebrities, they're just like us!"....Although, just the opposite, pointing out things in my daily life which I wouldn't see if I were in the US.

It started this morning on my walk to work. Beautiful day, business people and families all around. I noticed a cute little boy (maybe 4 years old), in those absolutely adorable french uniforms holding hands with his mother (maybe 40?) who was wearing...LEATHER HOT PANTS. And they actually looked good and normal on her. It's Monday morning at 9 am. Wowsa. And she was just strolling along as if this was everyday attire. Way to rock it French lady, more power to you.

Work Update

9:05...Arrive, and no one from my team is here
9:15...Caroline (not on my team, but knows me) feels bad for me and asks me for coffee
9:45....Arrive back from coffee break, team is here.
10-12:45...training
12:45 - 1:45....LUNCH (I actually took a lunch break, this may be a first)
1;45-2:00...Coffee break

Why on earth one needs a coffee break after a 1 hour lunch, I have no idea. But I am not complaining :-) Just a little shaky from all the caffeine.

First Day of School Outfit

So this was my outfit on my first day....I thought it was a fairly hilarious shot, as it was taken with my iPhone which is apparently incredibly difficult to get a full body shot by yourself. I was actually taking the pic to see what I looked like as there is no length-wise mirror in my apt. And this is how well that worked :-) As a sidenote, I feel bad for kids these days who only take pics with their iphones...how are they going to get awesome shots like this one on the bottom of me and Natalie. The 'hold the phone with one hand and take a pic shot' was a classic when I was in high school (errr that pic was definitely taken 3 years ago) and I feel sad that it's basically impossible with the iphone.

As you can see, I went with the black shirt to 'fit in'. Although, I'm clearly kidding myself....There are a few things non parisian about this outfit: No scarf, No Layers, Wet Hair. Unfortunately, I forgot that my commute isn't an hour and a half and is only a lovely 9 minutes and thus did not time my shower correctly. C'est la vie!

Also, as an update on my french I went to a cafe this morning and ordered a croissant and a coffee en francais. I even said I was going to stay and eat, vs take away. BABY Steps!!!

NY Hearts Me

This is what I call the I Heart NY T-Shirt for Narcissists...The feeling is mutual NYC! It's also the awesome going away present Miss Martini (yes that is her real last name) gave me. I also wore it on the plane ride over here (hence why it looks wrinkly) as an ode to my former city


Plane ride went well....After a disastrous experience trying to change my flight with BA, I got an upgrade to Economy +. I was skeptical at first (it's not first class, it's not business, it's still economy, but it's plus?!?!), but lordy, that chair was comfy. I sat down and immediately fell asleep even before take off. I didn't even wake up for food, which is very unlike me (I am my mother's daughter...we both LOVE airplane food). I had a 4 hour lay over in London for a 40 minute flight to Paris (errrr that didn't make sense and one of the reasons I was fighting with BA). When I arrived, it was sunny, no lines in customs (they didn't ask me a single question...you know I"m coming her to work, right?), no problems with bags, no taxi line, et voila! I am now playing Parisian.

So I'm off to a good start! I was supposed to be flying out of New York to begin my jaunt in Paris at approximately 5 pm today, but because of "hurricane" Irene I'm postponed until Tuesday.

C'est La vie! New York gets me for another 2 days.

Things left on my list to do before departure: US Open, Shake Shack (again), Tour of the UN, shopping. Et Voila!

The Sistine Chapel in ALL it's glory.

This blows my mind.


Kids are so lucky these days. We actually had to go wait in the stupid line at the vatican to see the Sistine Chapel, but who needs to go there for reals when you can just click here? ha

Pepsi Super Bowl Half Time Promotion

What would you do with 100 blinged out cans of pepsi? [And life time tickets to the super bowl ain't half bad either.] check out: http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2007-01-10-pepsi-usat_x.htm

FINALLY! The Apple iPhone is here!

If you're an Apple nerd like me, you'll be/already are swooning over the news about the release of the iPhone [set for June 2007 via Cingular Wireless].

A few things that popped out at me: it's an ipod, phone, camera, internet, e-mail, Visual Voice Messaging [what?], and best of all Touch Screen Compatible. No stylus, no buttons. [Well one button that brings you home.]

So simple, sleek, small, smashing, any other S-adjectives to add to the bunch? Unfortunately, it's only available through cingular and still has a pretty steep price of $499 with a 2 year contract [ouch!]. But so worth it. Almost a good enough reason to switch. Almost.

For more information check out: engadget or http://www.apple.com/iphone

Too perfect.

Props to Greg's mom for getting this for him for christmas. As he says, "My mother can barely turn on a computer, yet somehow found this on the internet." Well done Mrs. Suber!

If you see something, Eat something!

This is from a local New York blog [Gawker] in response to girls not eating passing out on the subway. I guess I shouldn't be one to talk [since I have passed out on the subway. . but I was sick. . .so there!] Anyways, it's pretty funny.

Utilikilt: We Sell Freedom ?!?!

And I'm back. . .a little bit tanner, a little bit more relaxed, and a little bit disturbed.

I was in CVS yesterday and a seemingly normal guy [surfer looking, blond, tan, probably in his early 20s] was wearing a skirt! well a kilt. At first I just thought they were boarder shorts and then I looked closer. This corduroy 'kilt' had cargo pockets, went just below his knees and had a couple of ill-placed pleats. PLEATS! And then I noticed the brand name 'utilikilt.' I decided I need to research this further.

Turns out they are a UK company with a mission of "...pioneering a comfortable alternative to trousers by producing "Men's Unbifurcated Garments" (MUG's). " I'm pretty sure they pulled that Un-word out of their ass. To get the full story go here.

To wet your appetite, here's a pic: Does anyone else have a problem with this? I'll admit they did the best they could 'manning' up a skirt, but I'm not exactly seeing the attraction to men wearing a skirt. I mean I guess when it's mildly warm out, but if it's too hot your legs just rub together and you have to shave [err i guess this one doesn't apply to men. . ]

Someone must be getting fired at Chrysler! [Or Time. . .]

"You might not be person of the Year. . .but you can drive like one. "

Can we say oops? That's why the communication between the sales team, the editors, and the clients should be more important. Awkward.

Congratulations to me!

So Time named the person of the year [err people] Me!!! And you reading this, and everyone On Myspace, facebook and the like.

Kind of interesting, I mean there has been a TON of new social-networking, web 2.0 or whatever other buzzword you want to throw around this year. I guess sometimes I feel like it's just me, and the people around me that are caught up in the midst of it--but according to Time, it's not just me so congrats everybody!

I'm already pretty sick of the press and buzz around myself. . .but heck, I guess I deserve it.

The Wii is Wow

So my friend and fellow Williamsburger, Pat, fought the elements yesterday morning in a successful attempt to acquire the Nintendo Wii. A mere four hours in line and a hint of frostbite later, Pat was the lucky owner of a little white box the thickness of 3 dvds, 2 controllers that look like remote controls, and the game Wii sports [otherwise known as the future cure to childhood obesity].

The first thing we did was set up Pat's avatar [a.k.a. Mii]. His turned out pretty well, with square glasses, a hint of a beard, a rectangular shaped head, scruffy hair, etc. Our little hipster was officially in Wii World! My Mii on the otherhand, was, and continues to be heinous. The girls are a little harder to create in this game [or maybe it's just mii?]. Once we had our avatars set we were off to purchase some games. There's a lot of old favorites available [from regular to super Nintendo and Sega] but my favorite part is that when it downloads the game Fireball Mario runs across the screen catching coins and hitting his hand on the coin blocks [From the original Super Mario Brothers game of course]. Very clever.

The Wii comes with Wii Sports which includes bowling, golf, boxing, tennis, and baseball. Lots of fun to be had. All of the sports require an abbreviated version of the movement you would actually use--which was a bit of a problem for me since I was using, for example, my real baseball stance and my real tennis swing. [Luckily, I don't golf much]. But once you figure out that it doesn't need to be so exaggerated [and can actually hurt your game] it's pretty easy. I especially liked boxing. . .I'm embarrassed to say that my shoulders/arms are actually sore [it's quite the work out! Shows you how much exercise I get lately!] And I have to brag here that I kicked both Pat and Andrew's asses at boxing--only Andrew made it to a second round once.

About every 15-30 minutes or so there's a hilarious message that pops up saying "Maybe you should take a break? You can always press [x] to pause." I think it's great that they have to cover their asses from over-assertion, as opposed to normal video games that don't exercise anything but your thumbs. Well done Wii! I can't wait to get one of my own.

"Viral Learning Center". . Improve your videos today!


This 2 minute parody does an amazing job spoofing everything that's wrong with corporations or even an average joe purposely trying to create a viral video. Viral videos are a crap shoot--they can be really good, really bad, poorly produced, brilliantly shot--it doesn't matter. I personally believe trying too hard to make a video viral video will only make it unsuccessful.

The normal way to improve something is through a learning curve, learning from your mistakes and generating wisdom from experience. But the opposite is true in viral videos--people will not be willing to share or turn a video 'viral' if it's something that has been seen before. The video has to be fresh and inconsistent--those are fightin' words to big business. So I guess the only thing that you can learn is that it has to be completely new and different.

Additionally, viral videos have to be 'cool' [cool can be defined in many ways obviously]. If you think about the coolest of cool people [like say in high school. . .] they didn't try to hard, they just were 'cool.' Same rule can apply to viral videos, don't try too hard, just be cool. And if you are, your video will be shared organically.

I think my favorite part of the video is when he's explaining the types of things you'll learn like "working with excrement and vomit." Classic.

My Thanksgiving: How to deep fry a turkey, Elvis lives, and a lot of Bud Light. . .

So although I currently reside in Brooklyn, my 'roots' are in Tennessee. And by roots, I mean that this where I go during the Holidays and when my friends are getting married. Anywho, Andrew, Vicki and I ventured to Memphis and Nashville over Thanksgiving for a taste of South. And boy did we do it right.

We arrived in Memphis to the smell of turkey frying in the backyard. It smelled like what I would describe as "McDonald's on steroids" so much oil and frying it's enough to make your arteries harden just by looking at it. But the end result is sooo delicious. Moist [ick, I hate that word but it's appropriate to describe the turkey] with crispy skin. I can't get enough. Other highlights of our meal was corn souflee, mashed potatoes [of course] and brownies for dessert. yummm If you've never deep fried a turkey before, check out the pic below. A little tid-bit. . .turkeys cost around 15 bucks. . .the oil to fry the turkey? 70 bucks. . the taste? Priceless.


The next day we headed out to see the sites in memphis. First Stop: Graceland.

Graceland was very interesting, especially learning all about Elvis' music and the history of his career. His house was. . .Intriguing. Highlight: The jungle room aka the family room with Green Shag carpet on the floor, walls, AND CEILING. Hot.

After working up an appetite we went to the Rendezvous for ribs. . .*Amazing*

After stuffing ourselves silly we headed to Nashville [my hometown] for some Country Music fun.

First Stop: Sonic . . . It was vicki's first time so we had to document it. Oh yeah, they have a new Chili Frito's wrap. We didn't try it, but Sonic is Genious.

After Sonic, we took Vicki out on the town 'honky tonkin'. Highlights: Bud light and a LOT of cigarette smoke.

And then it was the dreaded Sunday already, time to head back to NYC. Overall, great trip. Oh but how could I forget. . . we ended a fab weekend by seeing Borat.

Do you Google on Yahoo?

On the google blog recently, an official google blogger Michael Krantz tried to explain why they were in court protecting their trademark. Google is attempting to not allow, oh say the dictionary, to define google as a verb, i.e. to search for information on the internet. The link to his blog entry is here.

I found this interesting, because I do 'google.' And lucky for the company, I 'google' on google.com. But I guess some people don't [shame on them!] and that's why they are having the problem. Google claims that they don't want to fall by the wayside, like elevators, xerox, or kleenex and lose their trademark to the pits of 'genecerity.' [is that a real word?]

I don't have a huge problem with this and I see where they are coming from. But I think it may be too late. Their pesky lawyers can't stop the American [or global I guess] vernacular from embracing google and ultimately that's where the problem lies. If google is already defined in the dictionary, you're about a billion steps behind because Mr. Webster wouldn't waste his time with a word he didn't think would stick. Sorry, but fad words don't make it into the bible book of language. [psych!] They should have dealt with this issue a long time ago and now it's like stopping a snowball from growing while rolling down a hill.

Another thing that irks me is the actual blog entry. He was trying to be funny, but I think he came off as condescending. . .And frankly not very 'google-ish.' Google people should be funny, but defining a trademark? It just sounds like you think people are dumb [so maybe we are, but that's another story.] Also, I feel like they should have made fun of the lawyers more, that would be have made it like hey, it's not me, it's them. But maybe that's the problem--the line between the corporate, serious drones and the fun, laid-back google people has blurred. I guess it's hard to not be one of 'them' when you are company's net worth is $156 billion and you have a bajillion [don't know the exact amount, maybe I should google it] investors crawling down your back. Oh well, until their lawyer comes a knockin' I'll be googling.

Top Chef Spoiler Alert

I can't believe Josie got kicked off top chef!!! I think it was a bad choice because
a) she had never been in the bottom 3 before
b) Up until this point she had pretty much been middle of the line, but had so much potential
c) she's from williamsburg weee and
d) she has cool hair.

I can't believe it, I'm in shock. I guess I was right in my deduction that because she's working at Bonita she didn't win [not that Bonita isn't a fine establishment]. So if you want to go visit Josie and tell her she rocks and that Tom Colicchio was an idiot to kick her off, stop by bonita and be my guest. Also, while you are at it, pick up some guac and chips because they are delicious.

We love you Josie!

Google Search #1 of 14,200!!

Announcement:

Props to the person who searched for "Josie Top Chef Bonita" on Google because my blog comes up #1.

Very exciting. I'd like to thank Andrew for being a devoted reader, Lauren, Charisse, and Ruthana for commending me on my "Excited Double Fist Pump" and Vicki for mentioning I should post it on the blog.

:-)

In other news, Marco [crazy guy from the Upenn class] sent our ENTIRE class an e-mail. I have copied it verbatim below. Enjoy.

Dear All,

I think that everyone come back to yours commitments...How are you? I enjoy you so much...even if you are american or english...or whatever.....ah, ah, ah........
My time with you it was so fun...that I sent you an attachment with an italian picture....
...I'mjoking....To be onest.....many times I tought of you in theese days and it seems to me that the time run out so fast from when we were together in Philly...Thank you to be friendly with me....I hope to keep in touch with you in the future....A lot of kisses, Marco
P.S.= I enjoy professor Raju.....

and for an added bonus, he sent us a picture he obviously drew on 'paint' of two hand flicking us off. Normal.

My Love affair with Scrubs

Me: Hi, My name is Lindsay and I'm addicted to the show Scrubs. Everyone: Hi Lindsay.

Okay, so I think I have a problem--I'm addicted and thoroughly obsessed with Scrubs. What's that you say? . . . Scrubs is like on it's 6th season where have you been? . . .There's plenty of other better, NEWER, TV to blog about? . . . Zach Braff really sucked a big one in that last movie? You're right, you're right, but unfortunately a) I was never introduced to the awesomeness that is Scrubs in the earlier seasons b) yes there is better, newer TV on but may I remind you I HAVE AN ADDICTION and c) actually zach braff was likeable in the last movie, but the script was horrible [not his fault--I'm sort of ignoring it and just concentrating on Garden State]. Lucky for me, between comedy central and my DVR I happily watch nearly 2 episodes a day. You see? I do have a problem.

In addition to the actual 'viewing' of Scrubs taking over my life, I've started thinking that the characters are my friends. [I probably am going to get hell for admitting that, but what can you do.] I have on more than 1 occasion had to stop myself before referring to the show in a conversation with real people. . examples: "Well J.D. did this once. . ." or "that's so something Elliott would say. .. " I've even for a split second considered becoming a doctor minus the whole blood thing [which if you know me is SO out of the question because I have a horrible fear of needles, blood, and pretty much anything about hospitals].

So I guess this is my first step--admitting the problem. I think Comedy Central is on season 3 or 4 so maybe this will be over soon. However, I hear the new season of Scrubs is approaching so basically I'm screwed. I mean, once a week is better than twice a day, right????

My 50th Entry!

Just wanted everyone to know that this is my 50th blog entry. [pat on the back to me!] Very exciting.

On another note, here's to my happy hangover weekend. Too much drinking is on the itinerary, but hopefully a lot of sleeping as well. Cheers!

Let's chat. . .

So the last couple days have been pretty dramatic:

a) the election. I don't consider myself an overly political person [or even mildly] however, this election has been close to my heart since the gay marriage amendment was up for vote in Tennessee. I was a good little Nashvillian who knew my vote would be wasted in NYC so I got my absentee ballot in the hopes that maybe my vote would make a difference. But as per usual, TN ruins everything [umm do I even have to mention that Gore didn't win his home state back in 2000? yeah I tried to forget that too]. It really amazes me how many people even care about gay people getting married. If someone in your opinion is going to hell by their lifestyle WHY DO YOU CARE? It's just more room for you in heaven. In addition, Ford didn't win in the senate [another time we're ruining everything] so basically this is why I hate politics. As per a previous post, I'm a competitive person and I like to win and these days it's just not in my cards.

b) Britney Spears is getting divorced. That's one big "I told you so." Poor gal. I really do feel sorry for now that she's a Divorcee with two kids in tow. Granted she has more money than I will ever see in a lifetime, but I feel like she went through a lapse of judgement for two years and because she was a celebrity we all get to gawk and laugh at her. We all have lapses in judgement, but fortunately [errr] for us we aren't under a microscope. Oh well, at least she's showering again.

C) So Lost was on last night for the last time until February 7. Yes, you heard me correctly 02-07-07. Who does that? 6 episodes and then nothing for 3 months. It's like waving the little bit of cheese in front of my face and then BANG mouse trap SUCKA. DAMN YOU JJ ABRAMS!Anyways, I feel like it wasn't nearly enough of the show to fill the Lost void that exists in my heart. It ended with too many questions, too much drama and a little bit of "what are you thinking" that makes me angry that I have to wait 3 months. And it's not like a season finale which I have become forced to accept every year--that my shows end in May and that I switch to DVDs in the summer. No No NO, I waited 4 long months in the summer for Lost to return. Then I waited til October [after everything else had already premiered] and NOW you're making me wait til February? The producers obviously don't respect my TV watching time. Fall/Winter/Spring = Good TV and Good TV = Lost. I may just not watch the show when it returns [you're right, I will, who am I kidding?] But seriously, they shouldn't take us for granted. P.S. I heart Kate's ex-husband. Firefly is amazing.

Long time, No Blog

So after a week of going back to school I've learned a very important thing...I don't like school. I thought I knew this, but I was thinking it was because I maybe took the wrong class, or was bombarded by tests. This week kind of confirmed that although I dont' mind it, especially when it's a class I like, it's really not my cup of tea. But frankly, if it's a class I like it's probably something I've learned about some other way [oh say the internet]. I've always done well in school, but that's just because I'm competitive--I'm not the book learning type. I always thought the more brilliant people I knew didn't do so well in school--I think street smarts will take you a lot further.

Anyways, high-lights include: 1) a christopher knight/johnny depp/tom cruise/orlando bloom/matt le blanc look alike. I promise you, depending on the angle he was all these things [although not as good looking]...2) A guy who texted his boss when he was meaning to text his girlfriend. . . "Hi Cup cake. Hope you're nude when I get home because I'm going to devour you." 3) one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, flooor. [i guess that wasn't a high-light, more of a haze) 4) MARRRCCOOOOO [crazy italian mafia guy who showed up to about 25% of class and yelled out answers without raising his hand] 5) Marco taking a picture of the professor with his digital camera during the middle of class. classic.

Overall, money well spent by my company. I had a pretty exciting day yesterday as well. Highlights: 1) Watching the NYC marathon right outside my front door. 2) Seeing Lance Armstrong [crazy guy] running it. . . but last but not least 3) I saw Josie from Top Chef at my favorite restaurant Bonita. She must be working there b/c we saw her go into the kitchen. Which makes me think she doesn't win...oh well, go Josie!! [and special thanks to Andrew for making me look like an idiot in front of her. . ."Oh my god, look who it is!!]

Get your Doctor's note. . .

H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S. And on the slightly same note, I'm going to try to go see Justin Timberlake in CT in march!! sshhhhhh

The Dove Evolution

This video is amazing. Ogilvy Toronto did it, showing how even a 00 size model doesn't look good when they wake up in the morning [and how most of the ads we see in magazines, etc. are airbrushed. yay technology!] This whole campaign is really powerful to me, it was about time someone put a stand to our country's/continent's misperception of what beautiful is. Another great show that show along this same line is 'Covershot' on TLC which takes women and makes them up, hair, clothes, makeover and gives them a real photoshoot. A picture of them is then posted on a billboard in times square. These women are definitely plain janes [more just 'normal' looking] before they go in. Some are mothers of 5, some just lost 300 pounts either way the Model who hosts the show's main message is that Models look like Models because they have a crew of people making them look good every day. If they had to do it on their own, they wouldn't look the same. Pretty powerful eye-opening stuff.

Studio 60: Major Yawnfest

So I watched Studio 60 last night and was actually optimistic since last week's episode was pretty good [but not good enough to blog about apparently, I'm still skeptic]. Maybe because I had such *high* hopes [actually, my hopes were about as high as my shin] Studio 60 was doomed to fail. Either way, they crashed and burned.

Mistake #1: They spent a lot of time around my least liked character Harriet Hays. She sucks and is completely unbelievable: see post "And I think I'm done with Studio 60."

Mistake #2: Hariett's last line was "You knock my socks off" to Matthew Perry. At which point I made uncontrollable vomiting noises and started throwing things at the TV. Andrew's response was "That's so something she would say, it's very appropriate." My response: "That's exactly why I hate her." WHO SAYS THAT? Other than, say my grandmother circa 1980 no one should be knocking any one socks off. She just should have stayed quiet.

Mistake #3: Very unfunny skits. Again.

Mistake #4: Nothing happened. I like the reporter gal, but us uncovering boring details about Hariett does NOT make an episode. I need something dramatic, something more, Actually ANYTHING. Last week's episode was good because we thought they fucked up and that was quasi-intriguing. Like I was saying to Andrew last night, the difference between this show and The West Wing is that in a presidential office there's a lot of stuff that can happen, say wars, elections, sex scandals. I'm sure a lot can happen on the set of SNL but they sure aren't showing it.

So I know the question in your mind is are you going to keep watching Studio 60? The answer, unfortunately is yes. Well at least until 24 starts up again at the same time slot in January. And then Jack Bauer is going to KILL Studio 60. There's only 1 show with numbers on the title on Monday and that's 24.

On a side note, Heroes is my new favorite show. I will blog about it later in the week, but it's SO GOOD. If you aren't watching it, check out nbc.com and get caught up yo!

Mappy Hour? The new coolest thing EVER!

Hi All,

I am here writing to pass on the coolest website this side of, well, [insert your own clever internet reference here]. It's called Mappy Hour and it's frickin cool.

Check Out: http://mappyhour.nerl.net/index.php

Let's talk about the cool features [other than the fact it tells you where all the bars are!]:
-When you click down on the map, a happy face comes up where you click. HOW CUTE! Plus, it's eyes are glazed over and it looks drunk. It's a drunk happy face [how appropriate].
-When you click on a bar [also appropriately animated as a beer glass] you can link to http://www.yelp.com [another of my favorite websites] to read reviews of the bar.
-You can also "rally your friends" to go to the bar. I'm not quite sure how this works, but that's cool. Speaking of rallying, another cool website to check out is http://www.dodgeball.com.
-It's powered by google maps. And if you know me, you know I'm a google whore so I obviously love that.

While I'm throwing links left and right, I highly recommend everyone go to http://www.google.com/reader. Use your gmail account to log in. [What?? You don't have a gmail account?? e-mail me and I'll send you an invite]. Googol reader is a place where you can consolidate all your online reading [blogs like me, websites, etc] into one place. So you don't have to check lots of websites, you just go to the reader. If you put my web address into the 'add/subscribe' box you can 'subscribe' to my website and it will automatically update when there is new content! How cool is that? For those of you that know all this already, obviously please ignore. But I keep finding more and more people these days who haven't heard of it so I'm on a mission!

ps. props to andrew for sending me the mappy hour link.

And I think I'm done with Studio 60. . .

And by done, I mean I'm publicly proclaiming that "I do not like the show right now," however, because I am in a "relationship" and am supposed to "compromise" I will continue to watch it while stomping my feet, whining, and covering my eyes.

anyway, I liked the first show. I kind of liked the second one, but now it's just getting a bit blah. It's not bad, it's just blah [maybe blah is worse? I don't know.] Here's what's bothering me:

1. It's a little cliche. A jeopardy-like skit featuring a rabbi, a Muslim, a conservative Christian, tom cruise, and a witch? Come on, that's just desperate. And predictable.
2. It tries a little too much. It blatantly at least twice an episode alludes to the fact that Studio 60 is 'edgy' or is trying to 'push the envelope.' If you are really 'edgy' you don't have to tell people. You just are. [by the way can you blatantly allude? Interesting thought. . .But I think in this show you can.]
3. The Christian thing is unbelievable. I feel like these people have never been around conservative Christians before. There are two types of conservative Christians [probably more, but I'm too lazy to classify at the moment] a) one that would never put themselves in an atmosphere like Studio 60 b) and one that would. The difference is the one that would put themselves in an atmosphere like Studio 60 would probably not be so vocal about their religion. These conservative Christians are more stealth and probably believe in the "do not speak until I'm spoken to" principal where if people want to hear about Christianity they'll ask. Harriet Hays [the Christian on the show] is type B but is so overly vocal about her Christianity it becomes unbelievable to me. And why the fuck is she defending some teensy town in Missouri? Yes, they do have a right to run [or not run] any play they like, just like we have the right to make fun of them. And replacing it with the bear joke? Lame.
4. They never played crazy Christians. If they did, I would have a lot more respect for the show. If they think they are adding some 'mystery' to the show by not playing it, they are hugely mistaken.
5. None of the skits are funny. "Pimp my trike" was close, but feel like it's been done before and we only got a glimpse of a trike, not an actual skit. Further, we hardly get to see any skits, which I know is not the point, but it makes me think all of the skits are bad and that's why we're not seeing it.

Oh and another thing that this blogger who I highly recommend mentioned is that people like gossip and scandal about the people in the show not those that are running it. I could not name one single producer or executive of NBC but I can name a lot of the actors that are in the shows and probably where they live and the name of their dog walker. We.Don't.Care.That.Jordan.Got.A.DUI. Period. It's uninteresting and another unbelievable part of the show.

What is a consequence of the crime rate dropping in NYC? Cops with too much time on their hands

So a group of friends and I were pre-drinking Saturday night and began to head to dinner around 9:00, having decided we had consumed enough alcohol. Andrew, on the other hand, hadn't quite had his fill yet and riskily attempted to walk down the street with a red-stripe in tow [stealthily concealed by a brown bag]. I gave him my usual "What the hell are you doing look?" [it's basically plastered to my face when I'm around him . .and I'm around him A LOT] and he replied "I'm SO going to get an open container ticket."

Fast Forward 10 minutes to us walking down the street. Andrew downs his beer in a mere 5 blocks and like any decent environmentally-friendly Canadian, plops the beer IN THE GARBAGE CAN. Note: He didn't put it on the ground, smash it against a wall, or throw it at a passing-by biker. He.Put.It.In.The.Garbage. Next thing you know, we hear the stringent yell of a less than intelligent man to our right, in a beat up cadillac. "Hey Dude, you going out tonight?" Andrew turns to me with a questioningly look while I proceed to disregard the harassment and continue walking [it's Williamsburg, there are lots of crazies so this is pretty much a daily occurence.] Next there's a loud noise that barely resembles a siren and the same guy is trailing us saying "DUDE, get over here." Last time I checked, Andrew doesn't answer to 'dude.' Idiot, dork, loser, nerd MAYBE. but not Dude. Andrew finally walks cautiously to the car, as I was invisioning the wierd man taking out a gun and shooting it in his face [I'm such an optimist].

The conversation goes something like this:
"Policeman in car": What did you throw out in the garbage?
Andrew [or 'Dude']: A beer
Policeman: You're stupid for telling me that because I had no idea what was in there, I'm going to give you a ticket.
Andrew [a bit drunk at this point]: Are you a REAL policeman? [or one of those fake ones]
Policeman: Dude, I'm really going to write you a ticket. This is not a joke.
Andrew: No seriously, what is going on here?

You get the point. . .It was a very bizarre experience. Who gets an open container ticket, especially in New York? Last time I checked there were probably hundreds of people getting murdered, doing drugs [and real drugs, not weed], breaking into houses, gangs beating up on people, I don't know what else. . .a dog without a leash in central park? This seems like something that would happen in back woods Vermont [haha Shannon] where the police actually have nothing to do. But see in NYC we have a lot of crazy people that do crazy things so the police are actually very busy [hello, have you ever seen Law & Order? And now there's like 3 different shows, the original, criminal intent, SVU. . .complete proof that NYPD has much more important things to take care of other than a silly open container ticket]. Oh and not to mention those people call 'terrorists,' don't mind them!

And the best part was, the ticket is $25. What is the point of a $25 ticket? It probably doesn't even cover the administrative fees, not to mention the cop's time. Ah well, I feel like Andrew probably learned his lesson and I had something to blog about other than what I ate for lunch today. Which, by the way, was a chinese soup bowl from Master Yap and it was nothing short of delicious.

Studio 60: "I think we have Weiner" ~Andrew

Andrew and I watched the premiere episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip last night. Boasting the longest name on TV and the most talk value on the web, I must say I was skeptical. NBC is spending something crazy like $3MM an episode on the 60 minute drama. In actuality, that's what got me to watch it--Someone at NBC has their career riding on the success of this show and I either wanted to see what a decent $3MM show looks like or watch it go down in flames.

And I commend NBC for doing something a bit different [it's not drastically different, but I'll give it a teensy step in the right direction]. First off, they make fun of themselves. It's about TV executives running SNL [or in TV Land it's Studio 60] and they make a lot of cracks about how TV execs can't be trusted, are just doing it for the money blah blah [we could go on and on about the stupidity in TV--I'm a bit biased since 3 of my favorite shows got cancelled last year]. They start the show with one TV executive "hijacking" Studio 60 because a skit that's controversial gets cut. He goes on to say that TV has lobotimized America and that we can't think for ourselves, nothing's cutting edge, etc. The main character [Jordan--played by Amanda Peet] in the midst of everyone freaking out basically says he was right and that they shouldn't start a campaign disagreeing with him. She's a real "mover and shaker" as my mother would say.

*Spoiler Alert* [It's not that big of a spoiler though. . .] And by the way, the name of the skit that cut and sets off this guy's crazy tirade? Crazy Christians. And it seems like they may air it, which depending on the skit, is in itself "cutting edge." [P.S. NBC--if you need some real life "Crazy Christians" to model in your skit please visit Brentwood, TN. We have quite a few.]

As for the characters, none were particularly likeable or memorable--but it was only one episode. Amanda Peet's okay [but I'm a big Peet fan ever since Jack & Jill--I think I'm the only person that watched the show, however.] The blond girl who plays Hariett Hays was also on J&J, she's okay but her lisp is kind of annoying. Matthew Perry was mildly funny [he was on vicadin after back surgery. . .] and the guy from the west wing was pretty much playing the guy from the west wing. Except he does cocaine [would the president approve?]

Either way, I'll be tuning in next Tuesday.

Beer Ad: Sexist or am I oversensitive?

Peroni, an italian beer, is currently running an ad in Italy that has a woman in a horse and carriage trying to parallel park. Then it flashes forward 100 years and it has another woman trying to parallel park, with men laughing at her while drinking Peroni with the tagline like some things never change, drink Peroni. [for a better description go here ]

A group of women lawyers in Italy are outraged by this ad calling it discriminatory and are suing the company. One blogger on adfreak.com said in so many words that this was a big exaggeration and that if these women saw any American beer ads, the ads would have never aired. I don't agree with this statement. American beer ads may objectify women, may show them half naked, but I feel like they never make women feel stupid or discriminatory. [maybe this is just me?]

This ad peeves me for two reasons:
-It is a sweeping statement that women can't parallel park, are bad drivers and are technically "stupid." If it was making fun of one woman and not stereotyping women, that would be more okay with me.
-Having men making fun of her is not appropriate. If they had two guys and a girl making fun of her that would be different.

I think the premise is kind of funny [someone trying to parallel park a carriage? that's unique] but the execution is lacking.

Cafe Habana: All I have to say is OMG

So there's a new book that Andrew is getting me called: No One Cares What you had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for your blog [See: http://mightygirl.com/shop]. However, what I had for lunch yesterday was very, very good and I feel like you should care. And since I don't have the book yet, I am going to take advantage of my ignorance and tell you what I ate yesterday.

First off, let me set the scene: My friend Meagan is in town from San Francisco. She is here on business and has an alotted amount of money to spend on food per day. Macy*s is not known for their generosity and has given her $45 per day in NYC to spend on 3 meals [and Meagan IS known for her eating, so this is a bit of a challenge]. However, I'll have you know that yesterday Meagan and I both ate 3 meals [more like 4 little meals. . .] for around 52 bucks [7 over our budget, but we could handle it. . .]

Our eating day included:
1. Brunch @ DoJo in SoHo [I like initials. . .] She had challah french toast, I had eggs, home fries, bacon and toast + iced tea. Total: $12 with tip.
2. Late Lunch Snack. . . This was quite the disappointment and put us back a whole $8 so I'm not even really counting it [soup bowl @ japanese sunshine market] $8. Only ate half of it so we'll say $4.
3. Another Late Lunch Snack . . . Cafe Habana Mexican Style Corn on the Cob. This is the inspiration for this blog entry. It's delicious grilled corn on the cob, with Mexican Cheese, cayenne pepper and you sprinkle lime on top. SO GOOD! $2 Thanks Vicki for the rec!
4. We're bored, let's drink! . . .Cafe zoccolo [or something. . .] for 2 glasses of wine, bread with olive oil. $20
5. We're not that hungry, but have money left so let's eat! . . . Mini Thai Cafe--had pad thai and some apps for $18.

So on food we spent $40 and had wine for another $20. In total [not counting the mistake of a soup bowl] the whole day was $52 for two of us. And we ate food from 5 different countries and we're completely full! Well done us [and thank you Macy*s!]

Project Runway. . .*SPOILER ALERT*

I need to vent about Project Runway. WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD THEY BRING BACK ANGELA AND VINCENT FOR A SECOND CHANCE????????????

Ok, I apologize for the caps. But I need you to truly understand my anger and passion for how much I hate Angela and Vincent. For those of you that don't know, Angela is a hick from a farm in Ohio who has as much fashion sense as my pinky finger [and I don't have that much fashion sense.] Vincent is a delusional grandpa who not only walks to the pace of his own drum, he beats that drum. His fashion sense is questionable at best.

So project runway brought these two has-been designers back for a second chance with the stipulation that they had to win the challenge to stay afloat. This made me feel better, as I knew there was no way in hell either of them would win. Angela, best known for her "rosettes" [yes, she does put rosettes on clothing. Does anyone have a gun?] won 1 challenge by pure luck and a lot of help from her team mates Michael and Laura who were basically holding her hands back in an effort to stop her from over-embellishing.

Vincent won a challenge as well [after being in the bottom 2 atleast 3 times or something]--the one where they had to dress each other's mothers. I think Vincent only won because he had Uli's mother who could not speak english, thus was a very easy client. Angela's mother, on the other hand, was an annoying gnome of a woman who complained about everything and did not allow Jeffrey to take any risks [hence he made the worst smock of a thing so that she basically looked like a beached whale walking down the runway]. Anywho, Vincent's win was because the judge's were so surprised he did something atleast above mediocrity.

Yeah I hate Vincent and Angela. Thanks goodness they are gone. [Maybe the producers brought them back so people like me would be passionate enough to blog about it? hmm interesting thought but I'm very very annoyed and I think bringing these negative emotions to the show is very short sighted.]

My picks for the rest of the show are as follows:

1. MICHAEL [I love him, he's the best GO MICHAEL GO!!]
2. Jeffrey [they'll say he "has a point of view" and is "fashion forward" but will be more of the same LA rocker]
3. Laura [will be sophisticated and they'll "like" it, but won't be enough to pull her the win]
4. Uli will be out because they won't want to see more print dresses that would be great in St. Tropez.

Poor Kayne. I love him, and I think he really tried on the last challenge, but didn't quite cut it. I think he'll be successful at what he does and be able to make really fun, embellished pageant dresses.

quote of the night: "I've always made beautiful music and will continue to do so. . ." ~Vincent. ummm?

Do we need MTV anymore?

The answer is no, well not for music anyways. The number of videos MTV plays has decreased drastically each year, until the only music on "Music" TV is a 30 minute snippet which focuses more on which brand of sunglasses Lindsay Lohan is wearing than the number 1 music video of the week. And ever since Paris Hilton was featured on it [soft porn much?] I don't think it even counts.

With the advent of Myspace and YouTube, bands don't need MTV to get their music out there to the masses. [Not even MTV 2. . .. ] Prime Example is OK Go! [I know you've had this example beaten over your head like a christianity to a catholic school girl, but for those readers that don't know watch: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=NINJQ5LRh-0 ] OK Go put their corky, self produced, uber unique video on youtube and their original video has nearly 1 million views to date. And as the lead singer, Damian Koulash said on the Colber Report, the free videos are a teaser for the rest of the album and their thinking seems to work.

Myspace.com is another great venue for indie bands to strut their stuff. Not only is it a free web page [and for fledgling bands this is probably impt] it's a great place for bands to showcase their music, share it with others, have people critique, find other bands they like, etc. They also can post their tour dates and invite their 'friends' to events. And it allows their fans to write on their wall and really interact with the band mates--which for any music fan is a really cool experience.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking MTV [Hello! I love Laguna and The Hills. . .] However, as a music expert their a little behind the times. They've evolved, stayed relevant and are successful so maybe they knew what they were doing all along. However, I miss music videos --so thank you OK go for finding a new venue for them.

Wanna be an Advertising Creative?

Kayak.com Trip Idea #406 - Lubbock, TX

So Kayak.com is having a contest for people to create an ad for them staying within their ad agencies theme of "there are a million reasons to travel. . ." The ones that ad agency did are actually pretty funny [http://corp.kayak.com/tv/] and I went through a couple of the submissions on youtube [like the one posted here]. Most are forgettable, but a couple are gems. If you win you get a free trip to NYC [I should try for it!! waaiiiitttt] to watch your ad being made.

I like that kayak.com said "Our goal is not to offend or push any agenda: just to catch your attention and make you laugh." That really follows in google's footsteps of "Don't be evil" and just go with the flow. I also think it's a very liberal approach to advertising and I appreciate that. Getting bogged down in legalities can sometimes hinder creativity. Some of them are pretty racey, like making fun of Dick Cheney's hunting accident, but they make fun of Kerry as well so it's pretty much the South Park philosophy of we'll offend everyone equally to it's okay.

Chevrolet tried this same idea a while ago with their 2007 Tahoe launch asking people to create ads as well. This completely backfired with people touching on how the Tahoe is a gaz guzzling, environmental hurting piece of machinery. [See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXehk1H2q5c ] Any PR is good PR right? Maybe not in this case.

Consumer generated media is causing quite the buzz in the marketing environment these days, with viral videos swirling around the web such as the one with Diet Coke and Mentos [http://www.eepybird.com/]. Diet Coke and Mentos reacted to this video in completely opposite ways--Mentos thought it was a godsend and completely supported these guys while Diet Coke blatantly ignored it. The thing with CGM is that it's fast and you have to react quickly and risk taking is a must. Unfortunately for Diet Coke, they probably lack the ability and the forsight to take advantage of something like this. However, they were in the works of launching their own viral video sight called the Coke Show [cocacola.com]. Imagine how much traffic they could have gottenif they put the Diet Coke Mentos video on their site?? Basically, the coke show is a pretty lame attempt to create passion about this brand. I think it's just unbelievable that Coke from corporate America would sign on to something like this. Coke is not cutting edge so I have a hard time seeing the fit with viral videos. Also, I find it a very unfascinating product that produces very little passion [atleast in me. . .]. Kayak.com is kind of corky and cool [indie perhaps?] and I can see how people could be passionate about making and ad for them. Plus kayak.com put some constraints around the ads, without constricting creative freedom. Letting people loose to do whatever they want is not only risky, but can probably lead to a lot of crap. [maybe I'm wrong and either way can lead to a lot of crap??]

The marketing environment in the future is definitely going to be interesting and hopefully big corporations can keep the pace. I guess we'll see.

Overheard in NYC?

For those of you that don't know, http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/ is a hilarious website where people post conversations they over hear in public places in New York City. One of my biggest fears in life is to one day be reading this website and read something I said stupid in public [you're right, I would never say something stupid!!] Here are some excerpts:

6-Year-Old girl, holding onto pole and craning neck backwards: I did this once, and my head came off and they had to put a new one on.Younger brother: That made you dumb. I want ice cream.
--Uptown 1 train

Hobo: Everybody's somebody on my dick
--Union Square

Man to girlfriend: Shit, I like that Martha Stewart. She a gangsta in disguise.
--Kmart, Astor Place

Confused shiksa: I don't know, he was either Jewish or Polish or something...He had on that little beanie, you know?
~Central Park

Man: Well, at least we don't have to walk very far to work. I feel sorry for all the people like nurses who still have to work and have to get up like 4 hours earlier.Woman: I just hope the Korean lady makes it to the salon. It's moustache day.Man: Moustache day?Woman: Yeah, the day my moustache gets waxed. Very important.
~Madison Square Park

Conductor: We are currently being held in the station because of some other A train fucking us all over.
--Uptown A train

Conductor: Hello, and welcome to the mobile sauna bath.
--A train

Guy #1: Dude. Don't hold my hand; that is so gay.Guy #2: Ok, so I can suck your dick, but not hold your hand?
--Outside Down The Hatch, 4th St & 6th Ave

Starbucks Employee: Ma'am can I help you?
Woman: I'd like a half a dozen chocolate chip cookies.
Employee: We only sell them in 1, 2, 3. . .
Woman to Friend: Is she serious???
Friend: She'll take 6.
[I personally think this is a conversation me and greg would have at Starbucks. . cookiiess yumm]

Nashvegas, Kanye, and Wofford OH MY!

So my last week has been CRAZY hectic--I'm now back in NYC, exhausted but happy to be home.

Let's do a quick day by day of my last week:

Monday--Mom and brother came to town [if you know me at all you know that I'm not best friends with my mother, so this was obviously stressful]. Really good to see the Bro though.

Tuesday--Got free tickets to the beautiful black man convention [aka Kanye West, John Legend, Common, and Pharrell]. This concert was off the chain. We were front row to the left of the stage and they were all such great performers that they used the entire stage so often it was like a private concert. Kanye definitely had eye sex with Charisse more than once! It was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to, if not the number 1. Kanye was incredible, John legend's voice was like butter, Common is HOT, Pharrell is beautiful. AND IT WAS FREE. Thank you American Express.

Wednedsay-- Went to the US Open which was a great experience. I saw Sharapova and Andy Roddick [which were pretty uneventful matches since they both kicked their opponent's ass]. Plus I"ve seen Andy before. I'm not a huge fan of him--like who goes to the VMA's while you're in the middle of the US Open? Seems a little pretentious to me.

Thursday-- Drove 12 hours to Spartanburg, South Carolina to move my bro into school [YAY WOFFORD!]

Friday -- Moved my brother in, took a tour of campus. Wofford is basically a country club for 18-22 year olds. Scott is a 2 minute walk away from: tennis courts, student life center with pool/ping pong/big screen TVs/a CHIK-FIL-A [yummm], the track, the football stadium. His room is cute, a small single with very efficient use of space. GO TERRIERS!!

Saturday -- Drove 6 hours to Nashville, went to my friend's Sarah and Kyle's engagement party. Ended up partying til 4 in the morning, drunken ate White Castle right before bed. Woke up and had Taco Bell. I'm a winner.

Sunday --I had a pretty bad hangover for most of the day. Had to sit through a 2.5 hour tour of my parents new house/new development. The house is sweet and I'm very excited about it. The real estate agent brought 3 bottles of Aquafina for me in her golf cart--she could tell I looked rough. Sunday night was Jason's b-day so we went to his house and he had a keg. It was awesome to see people I haven't talked to in a while, in particular Tom Campion [tomcampion.com] and Scott Drennan [http://scottdrennan.blogspot.com/]. These kids are so fun, very witty and know how to have a good time.

Monday -- Spent most of my day cleaning out the house, getting ready for it to sell. WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF. It was pretty sickening to me, actually. From just my room [which was pretty bare compared to the rest of the house] I through away 8 bags of shit and had 2 bags for good will. All my childhood/bedroom is now packed into 3 plastic boxes. Kind of sad. I don't know how my parents are going to move all their shit. Oh well, I won't be there!

And my flight home was pretty uneventful, coming back to a HUMONGOUS taxi line. And I hate the new travel restrictions which basically make me have to check my bag, otherwise I wouldn't' be able to wash my hair. I actually went straight to the taxi line without picking up my bags, realizing that I was missing something substantial. Once again, I'm a winner.

So that's why I haven't blogged in a while. I.need.sleep.