Entertainment - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:22 - 4 Comments
Twitter Approval Matrix Tells Us Who To Follow
By now, everybody loves Twitter—or since the backlash is now officially on, loves to hate it—but what do you if you have just recently caught on, and you are struggling to figure out who to follow? New York magazine has a handy-dandy Twitter Approval Matrix so that you can figure out who has the coolest 140-character brain farts, and whose tweets are probably being updated by their publicists (pssst: Martha Stewart.) Here are a few things that caught my attention:
- Our very own Jay Rosen is the highest on the Insightful/News-sharing quadrant.
- Soleil Moon Frye made it? I haven’t seen anything with her in it since Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
- Sean Combs/Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddle-Poo tweets about tantric sex. Is it necessary to say something is irrelevant if we already know it’s irrelevant?
True story: This past Monday, my journalism ethics class invited Craig Whitney, Standards Editor at the New York Times, to have an informal Q&A session about ethical and legal issues that the Times faces. Continue…
Entertainment - Thursday, April 16, 2009 14:11 - 3 Comments
Michel Gondry Sells Personalized Toilet Paper
With the recession hitting everyone and anyone, no one is above peddling (really) useless objects, least of all popular hauteur Michel Gondry. On his website, Gondry offers some interesting deals that seem ridiculous– but with those very low prices, I know a couple friends who would totally buy Gondry’s 2-ply 500-sheet toilet paper covered with his thoughts and sketches (that’s only $13.95, kids). You can also get your portrait done by Gondry based off a photo of your choice for $19.95! Since sitting in a tiny dorm room in Hayden (or Weinstein or Brittany) watching Michel Gondry videos with your friends is like an NYU rite of freshmen year passage, there are more than enough Gondry-philes here who would think that these are deals that cannot be matched.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
City - Thursday, April 16, 2009 12:51 - 1 Comment
James Franco Reps Both NYU and Columbia– Finally
Bless New York Magazine for their optimistic covers week after week. This week’s feature issue compiles stories from characters that are New York fixtures (or new New Yorkers) who talk about their experiences moving into the city, while also highlighting the fact that the failing economy has actually motivated more people to move to the city because they no longer have jobs to tie them to their (less superior) city.
Some of these famous individuals’ stories are hilarious, like Lauren Hutton getting here in 1964 “to get to Africa and find LSD”; Andy Samberg’s eerily-prophetic account of post-graduation living situations ; Amy Sedaris’s first sight of a man shitting in public (I saw that two weeks ago– it was disconcerting.) Also notable is James Franco not snubbing NYU and acknowledging that he attends both Tisch and Columbia. Whew, about time.
Photograph by Andrew Eccles at New York Magazine. One hundred and sixty people who moved here in the past six months, April 3 at Pier 59 Studios.
City - Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:05 - 0 Comments
Need To Make Some Extra Money This Summer?
School will be over in a month, and if you are looking for a restaurant job (or even a post-grad job), good luck. The City Room reports that there is an influx of competition in the restaurant industry because of recently laid-off workers. No surprise there.
However, if you are staying in the city for summer school or an unpaid internship and have a couple days free in your week, it might be good to check out work as a movie extra. The hours might be long, but at least you can make some money just standing around. And possibly be discovered! You can sign up at Extra Talent Agency for your shot at fame.
Another way to make a quick buck during your free time is to sign up for focus groups. Soho Research Center will pay you to write reports on your experiences at various restaurants and stores or what you think of a new product. (WSN readers, beware of Shopper Select.) If you don’t enjoy writing, then this might not be the gig for you because Soho Research Center requires you to report some pretty thorough investigation, such as asking waiters at restaurants specific questions just to see how they might respond. More quick cash ideas after the jump. Continue…
City - Thursday, April 2, 2009 12:13 - 0 Comments
Pillow Fight On Wall St.; Stress-Relief For The Suits?
If you are not too busy getting over your hangover on Saturday, you should hop on the train down to Wall St. to take part in New York City’s Fourth Annual Pillow Fight! Though this event is typically held in Union Square, the folks over at NewMindSpace might have taken pity of the situation down at Wall St. and this will certainly liven up the atmosphere down there. So grab your fluffiest pillow (NewMindSpace requests non-feather pillows to help with the clean-up effort after) and indulge in some childhood whimsy.
City - Thursday, April 2, 2009 12:06 - 2 Comments
Topshop Finally Opens, Use Your Gift Card Wisely. Or Frivolously, Whatever.
The long-awaited opening of Topshop happens today at 11 am, and it is rumored that Kate Moss herself might show up to participate in the ribbon-cutting! If you don’t know what Topshop is– though you should since they have been handing out free stuff around campus all last week– just think of it as H&M with a dash of cocaine. Even if you’re short on cash (Not only do they carry London-chic wear, it’s also London-priced), the store should be a sight to behold, and WWD did an impressive photo spread on the interior of the four-level, 40,000-square-foot store on Tuesday.
City - Tuesday, March 31, 2009 13:23 - 1 Comment
The City Section of NYT Cut, Blogs Take Its Place
Last Thursday, the New York Times laid off a hundred workers in its corporate operations and decided on a temporary five percent salary cut for most remaining employees. It was a sad day – for those laid off employees and for anyone who still had hope in the print industry – and pretty soon, the effects of the lay-off will be seen in the Sunday paper. The Times have decided to eliminate The City section, which covers local stories and happenings – like the bar that is 30 feet from the old Yankee stadium and cheap brunch picks around the East Village.
The City Room Blog will be able to successfully take the place of The City section if the Times starts immediately incorporating more area-specific posts, like this one about a proposed jazz museum in Harlem. I also think that the newborn Local Blog, which has great potential if the Times would put a little more effort in covering more regions, could be a possible alternative.
Photo: Flickr courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik
City - Friday, March 27, 2009 10:10 - 1 Comment
Vintage Shop In BK Provides Sweet Recession Deals
Three words: $25 vintage dresses.
Shopkeepers all around New York are trying to entice reluctant shoppers, and Collecther, a vintage clothing boutique in Bed-Stuy, seems to be ahead of the game. Sundays there are now “Recessionista Sundays” with all the dresses going for only $25, and you also get a complimentary mimosa! Collecther also offers free alterations to clothing purchased there, so if it’s just a tad too loose, you can easily get it taken in at the store.
Collecther is just a train ride and a short walk away– the free drink and dress should more than make up for the $2.00/$2.50 that you spent on the subway. Continue…
City - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:32 - 7 Comments
Subway Ridership Up, Then Down; “Bail Us Out?” Begs MTA
There is something bizarre going on with the MTA, and whatever comes out of it is going to affect anyone who rides the subway regularly, especially those monthly metro-card carriers commuting from the other boroughs. On February 22, the MTA announced that ridership is at a 59-year peak. Two days later, it announced that no, we were mistaken—it is actually down. You know, because of the recession and all.
A week later, a financial rescue plan for the MTA (bailout?) went to the Senate but remains stalled because legislators are trying to call the bluff on the MTA’s deadline for the plan’s passage. If the rescue plan is delayed past March 25, the MTA will probably have to hike up subway fares and cut more services. Legislators are all, “No way is that deadline for real. You guys are just trying to squeeze some fast money out of us.” Apparently, playing chicken in the Senate is the mature way to handle a budget crisis. Continue…
City - Thursday, March 5, 2009 13:09 - 0 Comments
Hoboken Day Promises Drinking in the Streets
Why would anyone ever need to leave New York City for anything? Well, this Saturday could be the day you step off the Best Island In The World and cross the river to– no, not Brooklyn, nor Queens– Hoboken, to celebrate Hoboken Day! This wild street party is a precursor to next week’s Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, and according to some friends over at Stevens (you know, the technical, non-liberal-arts school) it is just people drinking everywhere on the streets while cheering on a parade. So show up to the lovely cobbled streets of Hoboken at 1 pm if you want to be drunk before 2. It’s just a 15-minute ride over on the Path train, and then you will be in the best part of New Jersey that actually resembles the West Village (rent prices resemble the West Village too– believe me, I looked.)
