TM
YOUR VOICE. OUR VOICE. ONE VOICE. WEEK OF MARCH 26, 2009 New York EDITION VOL 1 No 8
Printed with Explicit permission From Each Content Provider
Steven Karl Metzer | tpburl.com/hzv480 New York
Violence and Post Modern Art, Also Known as the F Train By Brooke Van Poppelen | 2/5/09 | NY is Retarded tpburl.com/29dyz7 NY----you’ve done some retarded things. Profoundly retarded. But last night, you really raised the bar. I was leaving a great show I had performed on at Bowery Electric and because of the awful, bone chilling wind, scampered down into the 2nd Avenue F station instead of walking to Delancey. For those of you who don’t know this station very well, or anyone who has never been here, a brief description is paramount. The 2nd Avenue station is where nightmares come true. Aside from being the most consistently urine soaked station along that line, or any other for that matter-- ( E train, you’re not off the hook, this story just doesn’t involve you) I am certain that the generator that provides power for all of Manhattan is underneath the platform. Either that, or some accessible version of the fires of hell. It is the most outrageously sweltering place on earth mixed with stifling garbage stench, fecal matter wafting, and sweaty, toxin filled New Yorker perspiration rolling down smalls of backs and foreheads. And this is the winter time. I would need to go under hypnosis to explain what this is like in the summer time because I have repressed these experiences and pushed the trauma down so deeply. So, not even a second into the first step down, I notice something that looked like hot sauce? Maybe. It is custom in NYC, when done eating your food, to violently throw whatever is left of it onto the steps, platform---really, anywhere someone could step on it, slip and break their neck. Hmmm. But there was alot of this stain and no food. A pomegranate slurpee? With a hole in the bottom that trailed behind the passenger sprinting to catch the train? I just don’t think so. I take a few more steps down and realize they are drops of blood. Then there is a large splattering of it at the bottom of the steps and of course it leads up to the MTA vending machine where I need to purchase my card. I look around not sure what to expect; there is no station attendant present to witness this horror scene. I approach the machine, begin to touch the screen when I realize there is blood smeared all over it, covering all of the metrocard options. Ugh. How awful that I am so used to these machines looking like a baby’s highchair tray, that I don’t notice blood smeared everywhere. It’s dripping down the money slot where you feed your dollar bills and I see out of the corner of my eye, 2 dollar bills wadded up on the ground sort of floating in a pool of blood. I feel concerned and nervous that someone has been hurt really badly. Finally I react to the person pumping money into the machine next to mine and I say, “Uh, do you see all this blood everywhere?” The man says to me, “Honey, this is NYC, it’s probably just an art installation---get over it.” I just shot him a look like he was nuts for saying that and he was shooting a look at me like I was nuts for caring that there was blood covering the station, fake or not. I don’t want to
live here so long that I no longer react to the sight of blood. And I also don’t want to ever be so blase towards violence that I assume it’s always an “art installation”. Which leads me to another topic. I see so much shitty art in this city it boggles the mind. Get the f#%$ out of town if you think staining public property with blood to stage a violent crime “art installation” is valid. Yes, you got a reaction out of me as art is supposed to do. My reaction was to kick your ass for making bad art, and causing me to miss my train because my dollar kept getting spit back out at me, each time, more smeared and red, much like the art installation I would like to make out of your face. So, I still have no clue if I was supposed to be concerned for someone curled up in a corner bleeding out, or if I should go home and google “The New School funds bloody subway station art project”so I could write a snippy letter. (I googled and couldn’t find any reported murders or a senior art thesis involving gore.) All I know is that I was stuck on the same car as the guy who thought I was a tourist and prone to histrionics. We sat on opposite ends eyeing one another; on the same train, but living in very different New Yorks. Advertising
Views expressed in Content do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or the printed blog inc.
Politics
PHOTOS
No Mention of Iraq in Bush’s Presidential Library Bio By Amanda Terkel | 3/1/09 | Think Progress tpburl.com/sk1j3v Last week, Politico reported that President Bush’s advisers have decided to downplay the Iraq war in presentations for his presidential library: The president’s advisers are still chewing over what topics to emphasize. Iraq is unlikely to be one of them. Advisers say they have made a specific decision to leave that verdict to history and not try to defend it at a time when Iraq could still wind up as either a democracy or a disaster.
Not only will the Iraq war be de-emphasized, it may not show up much at all. TP reader Grumpy Demo points out that Bush’s official 483-word bio on the presidential library website doesn’t have a single mention of the Iraq war. In fact, the man who once declared “I’m a war president,” has just one short paragraph devoted to national security issues — with no mention of Iraq or Afghanistan. He instead devotes a long section to his domestic accomplishments: He signed into law tax relief that helps workers keep more of their hard-earned money, as well as the most comprehensive education reforms in a generation, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This legislation ushered in a new era of accountability, flexibility, local control, and more choices for parents, affirming our Nation’s fundamental belief in the promise of every child. President Bush also worked to improve healthcare and modernize Medicare, providing the first-ever prescription drug benefit for seniors; increase homeownership, especially among minorities; conserve our environment; and increase military strength, pay, and benefits. […] On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked our Nation. President Bush took unprecedented steps to protect our homeland and create a world free from terror. He is grateful for the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform and their families. The President remains confident that by helping build free and prosperous societies, our Nation and our friends and allies will succeed in making America more secure and the world more peaceful.
Also noticeably absent from Bush’s list of accomplishments is Social Security reform. In January, he cited his failed push for Social Security privatization as what he was most proud of during his time in office. (A few days later, however, he backtracked and said he regretted it.) PHOTOS
Chad Cress | tpburl.com/v5pr9z
Chris Smith | tpburl.com/b05xnq Business
A New Era - Take Action By Tim Nagle | 3/13/09 | American Express Forum tpburl.com/21wrvz It is a new era. Every day we realize that in fact each day is unique and uncharted waters, truly a new era is in front of us and all around us. I can look at these words ”new era” in many different ways and apply the meaning in so many different aspects of our lives. We set goals to achieve, accomplishments we want to obtain and a life we want to enjoy. For many of us small business owners, we started a business to serve our lives. A business that serves our lives enhances every goal and accomplishment and fulfills us. Our proud life. A business that serves our life is one that is dedicated to making our business function and trying to reach our goals. A life that serves our business consumes us and makes us reactive, not proactive. The difference between business serving life and life serving business could be the difference between succeeding and not succeeding. Gone are the days of having time to recover a business from bad decisions. Gone are the days of having the time to have a long learning curve trying to establish your business and reach your goals through trial and error. Proactive or reactive, which one describes you? A proactive person is pragmatic, thinks about their business and plans strategy before tactics, but takes action to implement this plan. Good decisions are based off good information, but we will never know the fruit of our planning if we don’t take action. The worst plan is one that never comes to action. A reactive person usually does not plan strategy before tactics and will put the cart before the horse. This type of planning or lack there of, requires timing and luck. If you miss your timing you are only left with luck and you will probably need plenty of it. It is hard to rely on luck. I was partners with a very successful man that grew his business from one office and one truck to a national company with multiple factories. Needless to say he was a great business man. He always said a couple phrases to me over and over and they are worth repeating now. “Without sales, you might as well throw away the key to the front door, because without sales, there isn’t a business ”and“ If you aren’t marketing you don’t get the opportunity.” What did he mean I thought the first time I heard him say that. Opportunity? I found out quickly that opportunity meant staying in business to keep selling and creating revenue. As small business owners it is time to get back to the basics that make small businesses so great. The new era is about small business and making good decisions. The new era is about taking action and responsibility for ourselves and refusing to fail. Zen philosophy says life is full of 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows. Small business owners are resilient, we bounce back realizing that any failure is just an event. The ability to keep focused on your goals, ability to keep building your dreams one step at a time, planning and putting strategy in place before tactics and taking action is a proactive approach to having our business serve our lives.By being proactive and saying that I will market wisely and take advantage of my resources, we are developing an aggressive proactive approach to having our business serve our lives. Marketing isn’t about spending more than your competition in the marketplace. Marketing for small business can be simple, effective and affordable. There are resources if you are proactive. More importantly, operating a successful business is about doing all the little things properly and building your operation organically, one block at a time. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the structure. The stronger the structure the longer it will stand and weather any storm. Remember it is a new era and it is our time to shine. When times are challenging, it the successful ones that rise above, not by luck, but by taking action and doing the little things right one block at a time. PHOTOS
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The Printed Blog
PHOTOS
Usual Suspects
Or Maybe You Just Shouldn’t Do Whatever the Bathroom Wall Tells You To Do By The Bloggess | 3/15/09 | The Bloggess tpburl.com/85dqhs So I was in the bathroom at Taco Cabana and someone had written “LIVE EVERY DAY AS IF IT WAS YOUR LAST” on the wall of the stall which is really horrible advice because if it was really my last day on earth I’d spend that day calling all the people who have wronged me to tell them they’re assholes. But then you’d wake up the next morning and BAM, you’re still alive and now your voicemail is filled with people yelling at you because they all got the messages you left last night. I was going to write this all on the stall but I couldn’t find a sharpie. And then like a month later you’d be at a party and you’d totally run into one of the people you called but you don’t remember telling them how much they suck because you were probably drunk because who’s going to be sober on their last day on earth? Not me, motherf’ckers. And so I’d be all “Oh hi, you!” and they’d be like “Um…didn’t you leave me a voicemail calling me a giant whorebag?” and then I’d be all “Oh. Awk-ward.” But then I’d be all, “But I mean, you are kind of a whore. You slept with my ex-fiance, remember? Whore?” Which would actually be kind of awesome. Okay, I’ve changed my mind. This is excellent advice. Expect some calls tonight, assholes. PS. I tried to look up the “Live every day like it’s your last” saying to find the author but google was all “Did you mean ‘Live every day like no one’s watching’?” which I think means you can dig your underwear out of your butt during important business meetings. I am totally going to get promoted. PPS. In utterly unrelated news, I got a letter from my doctor saying my final tests came back positive for rheumatoid arthritis but that my x-rays showed “no obvious deformities yet” and the doctor ended the letter by assuring me this “was all good news”. I don’t know medicine terminology but I suspect when your doctor tells you the good news is “no obvious deformities yet” in layman’s terms it means “Lady, you are totally fucked”. Someone start building my blog scooter now. Also, I want ramps everywhere and from now on all the handicap parking spots really do belong to people in wheelchairs and not just to people who feel like they’re disabled because they have really bad cramps that day. And also, if you’re in a wheelchair you get frontsies in line at the liquor store. We need to get this all passed in congress before I’m disabled because then it’ll look like I’m just doing it for me because it’s what Jesus would do.
You don’t want your fingers to smell like vagina By Kimberlee Auerbach | 3/12/09 | The Nervous Breakdown tpburl.com/86jhsw When I was a little girl, I liked two things: getting naked and touching my vagina. Nothing wrong with that. Totally normal. Completely natural. Yet, not so appropriate during dinner parties with my parents’ friends milling about the living room eating Brie cheese on water crackers. I had a knack for unveiling myself at the strangest times, in the most unlikely of places. There’s a photo of me, age 5, standing on top of my tricycle seat, trying hard to keep my balance, wearing nothing but a red bandana on my head. In another shot, I’m chasing our dog around the backyard wearing my baby doll’s dress, which basically comes up to my neck, and no underwear. You’d think I’d be the type to go to Burning Man, boobs bouncing around a bonfire, but I’m not. I’m actually rather buttoned up, and I’m not sure why, or how I went from being a little girl who relished her birthday suit to a woman who often wears a bra to sleep. It’s not like my mom tried to rain on my “I hate clothes” parade. She never punished me or scolded me or told me I was going to hell. She had been sexually abused as a child and was determined to make me feel good about my body, to normalize sexuality, to empower me. When I was 16, she even gave me a “back massager,” and told me to put it “down there.” Her feeling, God bless her, was that if I learned how to give myself pleasure, then I’d be able to tell a man how to pleasure me one day. She didn’t warn me that no man’s fingers would ever be able to vibrate with the same velocity as a vibrator or that certain men in my life would actually feel threatened by it. My college boyfriend once hid my “back massager” to see how long it would take me to notice it was missing. Two days. Still, I never stopped masturbating, not for him, not for anyone. To me, it’s always felt sacred, something that’s all mine, something no one can take away from me. I know that sounds super dramatic, but I’m serious. For most of my life, I’ve told myself that I wasn’t smart enough, pretty enough, whatever-the-fuck enough— disgracing Stuart Smalley and all his fine work—so there’s something about making my body feel good that smacks of self-love and basic survival. It’s gotten me through two bad relationships with men who didn’t like to kiss me or go down on me, and it’s helped me last long stretches of no man land. Recently, I had a relationship, well, relationship is too strong a word, given he didn’t want to call it anything, so I’ll just say, recently, I fell in love with a man who rocked my world sexually. He lives in LA and I live in NY, so we didn’t see each other that much, but, man oh man, when we did, the first thing he would do was tear off my panties and dive down, and then he would stay down and keep going, and I would keep going, and it was amazing. Turns out, I’m multi-orgasmic. Who knew? When it ended, I cried and cried and cried. I cried because I missed him, yes, and because I thought we had potential, blah, blah, blah, but more because I didn’t want to give up how he made me feel. When people had asked me about him, I would say, “He makes me laugh and come all the time. What could be better than that?” Nothing. That was the problem. When I went back to my “back massager,” it wasn’t the same. Sure, it still vibrated at ungodly speed and with unhuman consistency, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t warm, even with the heat on. I tried watching porn to get me going, to keep me going, but I got bored. There’s only so much in and out and strings of spit you can watch before getting disgusted. And then it occurred to me, this whole time, my whole adult life, I thought I had been a good lover to myself, but my vibrator had been doing all the work. I didn’t know how to love myself at all. When I was in seventh grade, pre-vibrator days, my mother came up with a slogan for me to run for Vice President: “Don’t Dance Around The Issues, Vote Kim Auerbach for Vice President, She Bops!” not knowing “She Bops” is another way of saying “She Masturbates.” When I asked my mother what “masturbate” meant, she said, “Well, Kimmi, you know how when you were a little girl you liked to touch your vagina, well, it’s kind of like that, it’s not polite to do in public, and it’s important to wash your hands after, you don’t want your fingers to smell like vagina, but Kimmi, sweetie, there’s nothing wrong with masturbating.” Well intentioned, I know, but it set something up. It set up the notion that vaginas smell bad. I’m not blaming my mother for my distant relationship with my vagina or for my addiction to my vibrator or for my tolerance of men who don’t like oral sex, but I am realizing that that kind of message can shut you down and make you self-conscious. I don’t want to be shut down or self-conscious. I want to get naked and touch my vagina. Pure and simple. So, I’ve put away my “back massager,” and I’m choosing to kick it old school. After all these years, I’m finally learning how to give myself the pleasure I thought only a machine or man could give me. Granted, I can’t rip off my own panties, and I can’t lick my own pussy, but my fingers, well, let’s just say, they’re doing a fine job, and while I do think it’s a good policy to wash my hands after, I like when my fingers smell like vagina, when they smell like my vagina. I may never bounce my boobs around a bonfire in the desert or balance naked on a tricycle ever again, but I plan on reclaiming that little girl, on being free again.
Derek Wood | tpburl.com/1d0w2t
HoggiN By Neal Boulton | 3/16/09 | Bastard Life
tpburl.com/pn835f
Big really is beautiful, especially in the bedroom. A new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that overweight women have more sex than women with so called “normal weight.” The research, conducted by Universities in Oregon and Hawaii, investigated the sexual behavior of 7,000 women. It looked at the relationship between body mass index and sexual behavior, including sexual orientation, age at first intercourse, number of partners, and frequency of intercourse. According to the study, “92 per cent of overweight women reported having a history of sexual intercourse with a man, as compared to 87 per cent of women with a normal body mass index.” The findings debunk the myth that fat chicks have less sex and are less sexual. The results actually show the reverse to be true – that overweight women are more likely to get-it-on. The study also showed that overweight women had a higher chance of unexpected preg nancy than so called “normal women.” So fellas, bag it when you bunk a big, beautiful babe.
Views expressed in Content do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or the printed blog inc.
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Cute As Hell: Pet Social Networking Goes Viral
Mashable
How To: Find a Job on Twitter By Sarah Evans | 3/13/09 | Mashable Tough economic times call for innovative approaches. An estimated 51 million people internationally are expected to lose their jobs in 2009, and with the unemployment rate on the rise, how does one find career opportunities fast? One great option is Twitter. Twitter is evolving as another resource, in addition to traditional methods, for both job searching and recruiting. Get the most out of your page Make your Twitter presence “employer-friendly” ° Put your job pitch in your Twitter bio (which is 160 characters) ° Use a professional looking avatar ° Tweet about your job search Utilize your Twitter background. There’s lots of space you can use to promote yourself. Don’t know how to create a professional-looking Twitter background? Use this free template to design your own. Include a link to an online CV or resume in your bio. Use a tool like VisualCV. (For more information on building an online resume, see Dan Schawbel’s post HOW TO: Build the Ultimate Social Media Resume) Establish yourself as an expert in your field on Twitter. It’s important to note that you should not misrepresent yourself. If you’re not a medical doctor, don’t play one on Twitter. As those on Twitter become interested in your content, when employers are looking at you, you’ll have more than just your resume to back up your knowledge and experience. “It’s about who you know” How do you get to know the right people? It’s not always about who you’re looking for, some people on Twitter are actually looking for YOU. There are many job recruiters who use Twitter to look for potential candidates. Before contacting a recruiter via Twitter, check out: • Their bio • Follower/Following ratio (Have they been around a while? Do they follow people back?) • Click the link to their website • Ask others in your network whether or not the recruiter is a credible source Here are a few recruiters representing different professions and industries on Twitter: Christa Foley a.k.a. @electra - Christa is the recruiting manager and recruiter at Zappos.com. Christa gives followers an inside look into her career at Zappos. She tweets out examples of negative recruiting interactions with potential clients, outreach she does with high school and college students, and ultimately looks for potential Zappos candidates.
Craig Fisher a.k.a. @Fishdogs - Craig is an IT and executive recruiter who co-founded A-List Solutions staffing firm. On Twitter he offers tweets on how to find a job in the web industry, hiring tips and tricks, along with professional career advice. Jim Durbin a.k.a. @smheadhunter - A social media recruiter, Jim is active on the Twitter scene. His goal is to partner “social media gurus” with the right companies. Jim responds to followers’ questions, offers general recruiting advice and sends out “teaser” tweets for positions he thinks followers might be interested in. Jennifer McClure a.k.a. @CincyRecruiter - Jennifer is an executive recruiter/coach. She often tweets out specific advice for job seekers, including words not to use on a resume. Jennifer is accessible to her followers and tweets about non-recruiting topics as well. Laurie DesAutels a.k.a. @biotechjobs - Laurie recruits a specific niche, looking for senior level leaders in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Her tweet stream includes links to other job search resources and lots of Twitter information. Job search tools & resources A reactive job search on Twitter probably isn’t the best way to find a job. There are many new Twitter tools and applications to assist with a proactive job search.
By Stan Schroeder | 3/16/09 | Mashable
tpburl.com/p8h0rg @Microjobs Started by well-known PR professional, Brian Solis, @Microjobs was developed to bring together job seekers and recruiters through tweets. How does it work? Recruiters begin their tweets with @Microjobs, and then submit. The @Microjobs account automatically tweets out requests to its growing network of job seekers. TweetMyJobs Another tool born out of Twitter for job seekers and recruiters. Follow the hashtag #Tweetmyjobs and visit the website. This is a very simple (and free) tool for job seekers. You can subscribe to desired job channels and even have new openings automatically sent to your mobile phone. Even better? You can specify which cities you want notifications from. Job search accounts There are a variety of Twitter accounts dedicated to providing job listings by field, company, region, and more. Once you’ve decided which best match your job search, consider turning on mobile alerts for these accounts to be among the first to receive messages (if your mobile phone plan includes SMS messages). By company @attjobs – Jobs at AT&T @mtvnetworksjobs - Jobs at MTV @TRCareers – Jobs from Thomson Reuters By field @alldevjobs - Developer jobs @ArtDirectorJobs – Art director jobs @cwjobs - Copywriter jobs @jobsinhiphop – Jobs in Hip-Hop @journalism_jobs - Jobs in journalism @juicyjobs – Green jobs @libgig_jobs - Library Jobs @mediabistrojobs - Media job listings from mediabistro.com @medical_jobs - Medical jobs @media_pros – Jobs for media professionals @narmsjobs – Retail marketing jobs @PRSAjobcenter – Jobs in public relations, communications and marketing @reflectx - Physical Therapy jobs @seojobs - SEO job listings @socialmediajob - Jobs in social media @travelmaxallied - Healthcare jobs @travelnursejob - Jobs for traveling nurses @usmusicjobs - US Music Jobs @web_design_jobs - Web design and other graphics jobs By job type @findinternships – Internships and entry level jobs for college students @freelance_jobs – Freelance jobs @heatherhuhman – Entry level jobs and internships @Project4Hire – Freelance and temporary jobs @jewish_jobs - Jewish job listings By region @MyBristolJobs – Job listings from mybristoljobs. co.uk @chicagowebjobs – Web-related jobs in Chicago @ChicagoTechJobs – Technology jobs in the greater Chicago area @ITJobsLondon – IT jobs in London @ITJobsSydney – IT jobs in Sydney, Australia @JobsBoston - Jobs in the greater Boston area @jobshawaii – Jobs in Hawaii @NewYorkTechJobs – Technology jobs in the greater New York area @PDXJobs – Jobs in Portland, Oregon @sdjobs - San Diego technology jobs @sfmobilejobs – Mobile Web and Digital Media jobs in Silicon Valley @mtltweetjobs - PR/marketing/social media/tech jobs in Montreal @TopJobsInLondon - Top jobs in London, UK @web20jobs - UK-based web 2.0 jobs
Cute as Hell is a new social network for pet owners that just launched in beta. It’s created by Erick Laubach, who also has a travel social network called Driftr under his belt. Pet-related social networks aren’t exactly scarce, but Cute as Hell is interesting because it takes several tried and true viral concepts and integrates them into the network. It can probably best be described as a cross between Cute Overload, Hot or Not (for pets) and MySpace. Two features that make this so are the so called cuteness rating and the Thunderdome. The former lets visitors rate pets by their cuteness, while the latter is a tournament where pets can compete for the title of the cutest pet. The advantage of this approach is the fact that the site can be fun even if you’re not part of the social network; you can merely browse it for cute animals. Considering the popularity of sites like Cute Overload, it might bring in a significant number of visitors. It also engages users to participate in the site more, instead of just maintaining their pet’s profile and adding friends. Other features currently available are social shopping (users can rate and review products), comments and photos; videos, Facebook and iPhone app, as well as questions and answers are coming soon.
Jinni’s movie search now works with Netflix By Stan Schroeder | 3/16/09 | Mashable tpburl.com/rfy14t Want to see an action movie that features a future dystopia? Or, perhaps, something humorous and similar to Ted Demme’s wonderful 1996 movie, Beautiful Girls? Jinni is a semantic movie search engine that lets you do exactly that; and as far as semantic search goes, it’s one of the most useful tools I’ve seen. We’ve written about Jinni before, but now they’ve added a very interesting new feature: complete integration with the Netflix API. That means you can semantically search through the Netflix catalog even without visiting Netflix. You can also discover movies within the Netflix Watch Instantly catalog, add titles to Netflix queue, or even start streaming directly from within Jinni. Additionally, you can import ratings and reviews from Netflix, so that Jinni’s recommendation engine has something to base its initial suggestions on. Finally, you can import Netflix rental history, and Jinni will only recommend movies you haven’t seen. If you’re a Netflix user, I’m sure that Jinni will definitely be worth your time. It does for movies what Pandora’s done for music, and having it work with Netflix is a great practical implementation of the technology. PHOTOS
General @JobAngels – Helping the unemployed find jobs @indeed - One search. All jobs. @jobshouts – General job postings @simplyhired - Job search site @StartUpHire – Jobs at VC backed companies @twithire - Job board service To find additional Twitter job resources, use the Twitter search function and type in keywords important in your job search. For example, “job openings,” “looking for a job,” or “healthcare career.” Additionally, you can search out others in your desired career field on sites like Twellow, Just tweet it, and TwitterTroll. Your next job could be just a tweet away.
Charlotte Dunkley Trotman | tpburl.com/0r8z7c
PHOTOS
Joanne DeCaro | tpburl.com/n9mfwh
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The Printed Blog
Chris Knight | tpburl.com/rf7532
Travel
Food
I’m a Travel Addict But Is It Nature or Nurture?
Eick makes me try things: Pizza Zing
By Amanda Kendle | 12/1/08 | Vagabondish tpburl.com/tchjvm The nature or nurture argument runs through all facets of life, and I often wonder how it relates to whether or not people have the travel bug. Is it something you catch from your family or are you born with this bug? The thing is, on this planet, there are people who love traveling (probably you, and definitely me), and then, believe it or not, there are people who would rather stay home. But how do people become lovers of travel: is it something they’re born with, a part of their personality, or does it depend on their upbringing? I’m going to take a look at both sides and then let you all decide. Nurture: Parents Who Love Traveling In my case, it’s fairly clear to say that there was some element of nurture in my love of travel. I was brought up in Perth, Western Australia, the most isolated city in the world, but my parents made sure that I knew there was more out there. Something that must have had a huge impact on me was a six-month trip we made with a mobile home around Europe when I was nine years old. (In case you’re wondering, Australian employers offer this amazing thing called “long service leave” which enabled my father to be away from work for six months but still get paid). Anyhow, we visited about twenty countries, staying in caravan parks along the way or sometimes just parking near a beach for the night. I was a curious child and loved crossing borders to find new currencies, different languages and exciting products in the supermarket, all of which I recorded in countless journals. We met interesting people from all over the world, saw all the sights, and had our hair cut by my mother in the distant corners of Dutch caravan parks. We also played a lot of cards. It was perfect. From that trip on – my first time on a plane – I was always interested in other countries. My parents repeated the travel bug experience by driving us around Australia for two months when I was twelve; they managed to send me on a month-long exchange to Germany when I was fourteen, and once I left home, all I wanted to do was get out of Perth. And they were always happy to see me traveling. Nature: What Personality Makes a Travel Addict? So you might conclude that my love of travel was instilled in me by my parents. But there’s always an exception: Enter my sister. She had the same experiences as me as a child but, although she does take a few vacations abroad now and again, she is far from being a travel addict. What are the differences between her and me? Well, we have fairly different personalities, of course. I seem to have a few key traits which make me more likely to become an avid traveler, including:
By Cary | 3/14/09 | So Good tpburl.com/z4b23d The other day, I received a small cardboard box in the mail. A small sticker affixed to the side told me to expect “Pizza Zing!” I was, as one would expect, excited. Idea: Take the Big Three pizza toppings from any NYC pizza-eatery (Parmesan cheese, oregano, red pepper flakes) and combine them in one easy-to-use container. You now have Pizza Zing! And yes, if you didn’t know what the Big Three Pizza Toppings were, you’ve never eaten New York City pizza. And if I may go one step further, if you reveal this to a native New Yorker, you will most likely be pelted by shoes. Beware the truth, it hurts. Like thousands of New York City shoes, raining down from the heavens. Presentation: It’s essentially a modernized Parmesan cheese container, as it should be. Its ridiculously bright yellow and red color scheme makes me think about eating pizza, which is strange. Perhaps this container has a hypnotizing effect? So yeah, bonus points for making me wonder if I’m getting programmed a la Manchurian Candidate. Favorite Visible Catch-Phrase: FLAVORFUL HEAT! Oh wow. LOVING THIS CATCHPHRASE. Let it roll off your tongue. Use it as your Facebook status. Let’s get together and create the new meme: FLAVORFUL HEAT. Just as one can apply Pizza Zing to any food, apply Flavorful Heat to any situation or person. Trust me, this is the new FAIL. Taste: We made an incredible mistake in ordering a deep dish pizza from Edwardo’s, one of the great Chicago deepdisheries. Myself and my companions applied vigorous amounts of Pizza Zing to the pizza, making sure to fit the word ZING! into the conversation as much as possible. This was fun. However, I would not advise one to apply Pizza Zing to top-of-the-line pizza products. It’s powerful stuff, and the 7 spices completely overwhelm the 2 “hearty” cheeses the bottle advertises. I mean, throwing red, jalapeno and cayenne pepper into the spice-blend is one thing, but adding in habanero as well? Overkill in my honest opinion, especially for those with an aversion to truly spicy seasoning. Remove the habanero, and lazy people every may indeed rejoice in a spice combo that will aid in pizza-loving. The Verdict: While spicy and flavorful, Pizza Zing lends itself to the frozen pizza crowd. On a Tombstone, Digiorno’s or Red Baron, this topping would help kick the flavor up a notch. Will it replace my Frank’s Hot Sauce or Sriracha hot sauce? No, probably not. But if you’re jonesing for those pizza seasonings, and find yourself bereft of a local shop that sells slices, Pizza Zing is right up your ally.
Restlessness I’m easily bored. Just ask my mother, who had to deal with my constant requests for new kinds of entertainment when I was a child. Traveling to new places helps to satisfy this restlessness and keep me interested in life. I’m really not that good at staying still. Curiosity If I was a cat, I’d be dead. I have to know everything about everything, preferably immediately. I want to know the differences between Danish and Swedish and I must explore the chocolate aisle in a supermarket in every new country I visit. When I meet people, I ask questions. (Politely, I hope). Open-mindedness If something or someone is different, that’s never really disturbed me. Perhaps it’s because of my curiosity problem! I tend to accept new places for how they are and don’t let lifestyles or cultures that are different to mine bother me.
So What’s the Answer? Nature or Nurture? Well, I guess from my case I’d have to say that it’s a bit of both. It’s interesting to ponder – if my parents hadn’t taken me traveling as a young child, would I still have had the urge to leave Australia and live in several other countries? Or if I had my sister’s personality which doesn’t have such a large dose of curiosity, would I have stayed home instead? Staff at The Printed Blog
Jeff Pelline / Managing Editor
Jeff Pelline is a veteran editor and award-winning journalist - in print and online. He was a business writer and chief technology writer for The San Francisco Chronicle for 11 years, covering the evolution of Silicon Valley. Jeff also was a founding editor and the Editor of CNET News, making him an online journalism pioneer. He also has been managing editor of a community newspaper in California, considered the last “sweet spot” of mainstream journalism. Jeff’s experience gives him a unique perspective on the convergence of print, online and “hyper-local” journalism. He has a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s from Northwestern University near Chicago.
Scotch Ain’t Stuffy By Knowist | 3/3/09 | Knowist.com tpburl.com/wfxvnr I’ve really come to love Scotch and Whisky (and Whiskey, but more on that later) So, I’m starting a new series called Whisky Tuesday leading up to Whiskyfest Chicago. To be fair, it might not always be on Tuesday, and I might continue writing about whisky after the fest, so the whole moniker is kind of messed up before I even get started. A quick whiksy primer: Whisky is distilled beer fermented from grains. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland. Bourbon is whiskey made in Bourbon Cty Ky. Everything else is just whiskey. (or whisky). At a party last week, I heard the comment: “People who drink Scotch are so stuck up about it” That struck me as kind of a shame. I just got back from Scotland a couple of months ago. Whatever the connotations of Scotch are here in the states, I take a different view. Scotch reflects some of the best parts of the people of Scotland! Point #1: The people of Scotland are very warm, and so is Scotch! During my trip, I was amazed at just how friendly everybody was there. In bars, cafes, shops, at the hotel. Pretty much everywhere we got into some great conversations about hiking, the land, politics, and of course Scotch. It was amazing. Some of the best people on Earth! Point #2: The people of Scotland are very down to earth and so is Scotch! In Scotland, folks drink Scotch because they enjoy it. They don’t drink it because it’s a status symbol. Actually, I’m pretty sure nobody does anything for status in Scotland. Well, actually, we did run into a kilt clad wedding party, and everybody knew they were awesome because of it. That ain’t stuffy, its heritage! Point #3: The people of Scotland invite you to slow down and enjoy life and so does Scotch! Nobody we talked to was in a rush. One gentlemen was stopping in a cafe for some tea in the course of his work day and ended up giving us a long chat on the history of the town of Aberfeldy. Which, interestingly enough, is completely gung ho about fair trade. Which is awesome! I think I’ll probably be doing a small Scotch tasting in preparation for Whiskyfest Send me a tweet or an email if you are interested.
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PHOTOS
Lulu | tpburl.com/7dk0n8 Sports
Are Baseball Teams Headed for Financial Ruin? By Al | 3/10/09 | Bleed Cubbie Blue tpburl.com/tqk726 This flew under our radar, probably because we’re obviously not in the habit of discussing pro basketball here, but a couple of weeks ago the NBA opened a line of credit totalling $200 million for teams to tap if they felt it necessary. The LA Times article says “12 teams that have expressed interest in the funds”. But the very same day that article appeared, this Phoenix Business Journal article said: Derek Wood | tpburl.com/1d0w2t The Phoenix Suns are one of 15 teams tapping into the NBA’s credit line, majority owner Robert Sarver confirmed Friday morning. The Suns will use that credit line, which is secured through national television rights to games, and drop an existing line through a local bank. The team has used both lines of credit for the past five years.
There’s at least one ominous sign in that quote -- that’s half of the NBA teams that are in enough trouble to tap into a national line of credit (as opposed to a local line that they’ve used in the past). While the national TV rights deal runs for seven more years -- presumably, the economy will improve enough by then -- does this mean that MLB is next? Some recent articles seem to give the indication that although a brave face is being put on by major league teams, there is crisis looming just under the surface. In last Friday’s Wall Street Journal, there are details about the troubles the Mets and Yankees (as well as the Dallas Cowboys) are running into trying to sell the high-priced amenities in their new parks: Public backlash forced New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office in January to give up, in exchange for cash, luxury suites the city had secured at the new Yankees and Mets stadiums. Bank of America recently ended negotiations with the Yankees over what would reportedly have been a $20-million-ayear sponsorship deal. Bank of America spokesman Joe Goode said the decision to walk away from the negotiations was due in part to the economic environment and “the mood of the country.”
The financial sector, one of the hardest-hit by the economic troubles so far, provided quite a bit of the individuals and businesses who were expected to pony up the huge sums that the Yankees, for one, were asking for seats (some of the best seats at the new Yankee Stadium cost $2500. Yes, that’s per game): But the affordable seats are fewer and farther away. Mets tickets will start at $11, but there are 15,000 fewer seats in the new park than at Shea. The Cowboys will have seats that go for as little as $59 a game, but they’re much farther from the action than in the old Texas Stadium. Mr. Jones notes the game can still be seen clearly on the video board. Even with slower-than-expected sales, the teams aren’t lowering published ticket prices. Jay Jaffe and a group of friends shared Yankees tickets for 11 years, but they won’t be making the move to the new stadium. The 20-game packages of $25-a-game grandstand seats they hoped to get were sold out. Instead, the Yankees suggested $85 seats deep in right field. “Literally, my words were, ‘Are you f- kidding me?’” Mr. Jaffe recalls. Sports executives acknowledge the current environment has disrupted their marketing plans. “If the economy were certain, these would’ve sold out in about six seconds,” Mr. Trost said recently as he showed off the $500-and-up Legends Club. “The problem is, people don’t want to be seen in a space like this.”
I suspect the New York teams will survive this; the only other teams that appear, at this point, to be recession-proof are the Cubs (who have already sold 2.7 million tickets at higher prices than last year), the Red Sox, both LA teams (the Angels, perhaps more than the Dodgers, especially after that ill-advised deal given to Manny Ramirez -- what happens if he sulks or gets hurt and the Dodgers collapse and their fans stop coming?) and maybe the Phillies, coming off their World Series win. Look, for example, at the Mets’ ticket pricing scheme -- can you even decipher that? Including their two preseason exhibitions against the Red Sox, there are 168 different pricing levels. Insanity. Not that any of us really feels sorry for the Mets or Yankees. And it’s not the small-market teams that are going to hurt the worst; teams like the Padres and Pirates have shed payroll (or are trying to, *cough Jake Peavy cough*) enough so that they can probably make it through. It’s what we might call, in an analogy to college sports, the “mid-majors” -- markets that are larger TV markets, but don’t have large, dedicated fanbases -- that may be in the most trouble. This includes teams like the Braves, Astros, Tigers (who raised ticket prices after having a terrible season in 2008 and being in a very depressed market -- idiocy, in my view), and others. Will MLB be forced to ask for a similar line of credit soon? And, given that MLB’s TV contracts don’t last as long as the NBA’s (they expire in 2013), would they be able to secure as much money? I don’t profess to be an expert in these matters, but I did want to put this out here for discussion (which, I would ask, will please keep away from politics). There are good summaries of many of these issues at Field of Schemes, a site dedicated to reviewing various sports stadium... well, schemes. Among them is the idea, with the A’s proposed stadium deal in suburban Fremont now dead, that the Oakland Mausoleum could be refitted for baseball exclusively (as the Angels’ park in Anaheim was), if only the Raiders and 49ers would agree to share a “regional” football stadium. Yeah, right. And just who is going to pay for such an edifice in today’s economic conditions? I think it’s time that both the owners and players who are the leaders and performers in all professional sports, not just baseball, wake up and realize that their financial model of the last 20 or so years just won’t work any more, given the changes in the economy. They either have to make adjustments, or risk losing everything.
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The Printed Blog
Steven Karl Metzer | tpburl.com/hzv480
PHOTOS
Lulu | tpburl.com/7dk0n8 Feminism
Tricia McKellar | tpburl.com/pjchgy
Do you call yourself a feminist? By Elysa Rice | 3/11/09 | Gen Pink tpburl.com/38jn19 Twenty something blogger, Sarah (aka Sarahbration) sparked quite a conversation on 20sb (20something bloggers network) all surrounding one word … feminist. The original question was quite simple and to the point: International Women’s Day got me thinking about feminism and how few people in our generation seem to identify themselves as feminists. I’m curious to hear what other 20-somethings think.
Three days later and 9 pages of debating back and forth I’m left with some interesting insight and answers to questions that I’d never even thought about. Sarah sets the tone with her initial blog post stating she is definitely a feminist “I’m not sure when I became aware of the f word, but it must have been fairly early on, because for as long as I can remember, I took for granted that the majority of people would say they were feminists. I mean, come on, who doesn’t believe women and men should be given equal rights and respect?”. The discussion begins with L.L saying she can’t call herself a feminist because it’s an ugly (hijacked) word. “I’m all about equality, for everyone. All colours, all sexes, all religions. However - to me, feminism has gone from calling for equality for women, to wanting women to be viewed as superior. I don’t feel that is right.” So essentially this raises the question what does feminist mean? How can you call yourself something if we can’t come to terms with what the word even means. Here’s a few of the distinctions offered by the 20sb community:
Teresa Horstmann | tpburl.com/y32t5p
Katherine Mitchell | tpburl.com/zhtyfq
• I think feminism just means that women want the right to be any kind of woman that they want to be… Which I’m 100% on board with. - Muppet • I think feminism is a hoax. “Lipstick” feminism, above all, is a contradiction in terms. I think men and women are created equal, but I usually disagree with most feminists on all of their politics. So many feminists want reparations for gender roles, they decide to make themselves into victims. Today’s feminists AREN’T fighting for my right to vote or… much else that really applies to me. THOSE first wave feminists didn’t just complain, they did way more than that. THIS wave of feminists is more of the sex and the city set - we have a right to be sexy, but we still talk about needing a man even though we think we’re independent.Kat • I’m a feminist. If I choose to wear lipstick it doesn’t make me not a feminist. If I wear my hair in french braids, or wear diamond earrings, or get a tattoo of a slice of pizza on my forearm, or wear a leather jacket, I’m still a feminist. Feminism is about choice… so anybody who wants to wear lipstick can, in my opinion. - Lisa • Yes. I am a feminist. I don’t hate men, I love my boyfriend, I love when he takes me on dates, and I want to get married and have children some day. I shave my armpits and legs and all that good stuff. But…when I go to work, I want the guy working along side of me with the exact same level of education and experience to make the same amount of money as I do and I want to be respected in public and the work place. Feminist has become such a dirty word, it’s all about equality! - Bethany • Some women of color choose not to associate themselves as a feminist but instead choose the term “womanist”. They feel feminism doesn’t speak to them or include them in the movement. As a women of color, I consider myself a feminist because I believe in equal rights. I’m sorry, but the basic definition of feminism, as Lisa has pointed out, is about equality and I believe WOC “womanists” are feminists too. - floreta • I think the joy of feminism is giving women, of all races, creeds and backgrounds, the chance to have the same opportunities and consideration given to them that men have. Feminism is about giving women the power to determine what they want to do, and supporting them in those decisions. - Elle Belle Lisa, changed the direction of the discussion, through a metaphor about Christianity saying that even though there are people giving Christianity a bad name people are still standing by that term and the term feminist should be no different. I read all 9 pages in one sitting and the discussion spun off in many interesting directions including: fathers rights in family court, maternity leave, the value of jobs historically held by women, gender discrepancy in the military, and decreasing BMIs of playmates. In the end, whenever I’m reading or listening to anything, I’m always looking for my take-a-way. I often ask my friends, at the end of movies, church and even conversations “what’s your biggest take away?”. I would say that in the whole discussion mine are: • “… feminism in no way means that we should shy away from or scoff at the value of traditional women’s roles. It simply means we don’t have to and aren’t expected to adhere to them if we don’t want to just like men shouldn’t have to follow the guidelines of traditional men’s roles.” - Sarah • And this statement which can apply to many areas of life “when you’re not extreme PEOPLE LISTEN TO YOU. They don’t write you off automatically. We’re definitely getting things done when we argue vocally with reason, passion, and grace. No screaming here. Usually. :)” - Ashley Marie
Evan Lane | tpburl.com/gs2t08
So my next question is … “so what? now what?” - maybe it’s the marketer in me but I’m looking for a call-to-action in all of this. I’m curious with all of the passion, research and energy that I saw displayed in this discussion what actual steps (if any) can/should/would someone take because of the information that has been so gracefully hashed out in the past few days via an informal forum. If before the election someone had asked “do you call yourself a Republican?” and a nine page discussion broke out at the end I would feel compelled to go vote - that’s my very clear action.
Views expressed in Content do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or the printed blog inc.
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New York
TARP $$$ buys five-figure government cheese? By David Waldman | 3/16/09 | Daily Kos
Walking tour of New York’s independent bookstores tpburl.com/hskxq7
Here’s the windup: Champagne corks are always popping somewhere, of course, and the high life never disappears entirely, especially in New York. But these days, a $750 magnum of Perrier-Jouët stands in striking contrast to the scene outside Bagatelle’s glass-paneled door, where the Dow has lost half its value since the fall of 2007, the recession has claimed a net total of 4.4 million jobs since it began, more than 850,000 families lost their homes to foreclosure last year, and the word “depression” is being heard in the land. • For decades the New York brunch has been far more than just a meal. It is an institution, an event that can start in midmorning and continue until late afternoon, a ritual in which eggs Benedict are routinely washed down by a seemingly endless stream of mimosas and Bloody Marys. And in recent months, two restaurants in the meatpacking district have begun taking Saturday brunch to a remarkable level of indulgence and expense, even by New York standards.
Here’s the pitch: On any given Saturday, brunch enthusiasts can be found dancing on tables, throwing back tequila shots and racking up four- and five-figure tabs well before the sky turns dark.
By Garth Risk Hallberg | 3/17/09 | The Millions tpburl.com/rjy4d3 Islands in the Stream: Our “Walking Tour of New York’s Independent Bookstores,” Revised and Expanded
And that ball is gone!
I. Introduction
By the time our original “Walking Tour of New York’s Independent Bookstores” hit the web in 2007, its first stop - the Gotham Book Mart - had closed its doors for good. As I type these words, stop number 5, Greenwich Village’s venerable Oscar Wilde Bookshop, looks likely to join the Gotham on the honor roll of bookstores past. The Strand Annex in lower Manhattan is, as of last summer, no more. It would be belaboring the obvious to say the last two years have been tough times for the bookmen and bookwomen. And yet, despite the vagaries of the business, independent bookstores continue to open, and to serve as hubs for communities real and imagined. I’ll spare you the exegesis on why I think this matters - we’ve covered that ground in the original post, and elsewhere. Instead, I’d like to offer you a new and improved edition of the Walking Tour. You can still find brief descriptions of many of the stops in our first “Islands in the Stream Post,” but the route we’ve charted has changed, and we’ve added new stops, with new descriptions below. In addition, through the magic of modern technology, we’ve created an information-rich online map of the tour. The full-size version of this map contains all of our capsule reviews, plus directions and website links. [Update: You can also now add your own edits to the tour at our Collaborative Atlas of Book Stores and Literary Places.] Below we offer the step-by-step itinerary, including capsule reviews for the newly added stops.
II. The Tour • Stop 1: St. Mark’s Bookshop (31 3rd Avenue at 9th Street)
As for how he and his fellow Wall Streeters could still afford such afternoons, he said: “We all made so much money in the past five years, it doesn’t matter.”
• Stop 2: The Strand (828 Broadway at East 12th.)
A 29-year-old man who works for a large investment management firm and was at Bagatelle’s brunch one recent Saturday and at Merkato 55’s the next, put it another way: “If you’d asked me in October, I’d say it’d be a different situation, and I don’t think I’d be here. Then the government gave us $10 billion.”
• Stop 3: Partners & Crime Mystery Booksellers (44 Greenwich Avenue at Charles Street) This well-stocked half-basement shop in the heart of Greenwich Village is one of several area bookstores that specialize in mystery books. The staff is steeped in the store’s chosen genre, making this an excellent place for suspense buffs to find new titles and old classics.
I was just going to end with that, but I feel compelled to add that some time in the next two weeks, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) is going to lead his band of Senate “moderates” in an effort to kill the mortgage cramdown bill and give the finger to regular homeowners facing foreclosure and eviction, because it might “reward” someone who was “irresponsible.”
• Stop 4: Three Lives & Co. (154 West 10th Street at Waverly Place) The owners of Three Lives know that varnished wood and books go together like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and so the whole space has a uniquely warm atmosphere. The staff - one of the friendliest and most knowledgeable in the city - contributes to the sense of ease and comfort. Three Lives has also figured out how to maximize the number of titles placed face-up or face-out, which makes browsing easy. This is a particularly good spot to look for literature in translation; Ingo Schulze’s New Lives was prominently displayed on a recent visit.
PHOTOS
• Stop 5: Housing Works Used Book Cafe (126 Crosby St. between Prince and Houston) • Stop 6: McNally Jackson (formerly McNally Robinson) (52 Prince St. between Mulberry and Lafayette) • Stop 7: Bluestockings (172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington) Bluestockings, the venerable, cooperatively run Lower East Side institution, puts the independent back in independent bookstore. Of New York’s many bibliophile haunts, this one boasts perhaps the most pronounced curatorial sensibility. Punk, feminist, progressive, culture-theoretical, and environmental sensibilities predominate, without domineering. With its extensive and esoteric periodical section, its frequent events, its adventurous front tables, and its terrific coffee, Bluestockings is a great place to make a discovery. Now, across the Brooklyn Bridge to Stop 8: Melville House Bookstore (145 Plymouth Street at Pearl Street, Brooklyn)
Sara Perovic | tpburl.com/shvq43
Melville House HQ, as I like to think of it, is part publishing house, part bookstore. The daily operations of Dennis Loy Johnson’s stalwart independent press take place in BatCave-like secrecy behind a nifty set of pivoting bookshelves. Up front, shelves and tables are stocked with the Melville House catalog, as well as the wares of other Brooklyn-based independents and literary magazines, including Akashic Books, Ugly Ducking Presse, N+1, and A Public Space. • Stop 9: BookCourt (163 Court St. between Pacific and Dean) • Stop 10: Freebird Books & Goods (123 Columbia St. between Kane & Degraw) • Stop 11: WORD (126 Franklin Street at Milton Street, Brooklyn) WORD, a new Brooklyn bookstore, seeks to bring the Three-Lives/BookCourt model of the cosy neighborhood bookstore to the off-the-beaten-path precincts of Greenpoint. In this case, WORD combines top-shelf contemporary literature with a great selection of kids’ books. Frequent events and a terrific staff help cement the connection between store and neighborhood. With one of the more impressive internet efforts among NYC independents, WORD is doing online community-building, as well.
Gabriele Lopez | tpburl.com/zf9h40 What’s going on
Mashable NextUP NYC - The second Mashable NextUp NYC will bring together will bring together 4 successful local New York startups, Snooth, Behance, Boxee and Aviary. Apr 6-10 p.m. 92Y Tribeca 200 Hudson St. New York, NY mashable.com/nextup-nyc/lessons-from-thelocal-internet-startup-community/
New York Tech Meetup - On the 1st Tuesday each month at 7PM, 6 people get 5 minutes each to demo something cool to New York’s tech community. Apr 7, 7 pm FIT - Haft Auditorium 27th St. & 7th Ave, b/t 7th & 8th Ave New York, NY meetup.com/ny-tech/?a=facebook
SM4SCNYC (Social Media For Social Change NYC) SMFSC was born of the idea that the social media community can get together for one night, to support one cause. This year we are partnered with City Harvest of New York City. April 3, 2009, 7-10 p.m. Roger Smith Hotel 501 Lexington Ave, New York, NY http://www.sm4sc.com/events/nyc2009
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III. The Future(s) of Independents
Not just in the Big Apple, but all over America, the rapid technological and economic transformations of the last decade have profoundly altered the ecosystem in which independent bookstores exist. Far from solemnizing the end of an era, however, our Walking Tour seeks to illuminate some of the strategies that may help our favorite bookstores thrive in the 21st Century. A glance at our last three stops serves to illustrate the point. Since we first wrote about BookCourt (Stop 9), the store has expanded, nearly doubling its square-footage. This has allowed it to create a more generously apportioned area for children’s books - a growth genre in this baby-booming neighborhood, and a turf BookCourt can now vigorously compete with the Barnes & Noble down the street. Another advantage of expansion: the store can now book readings for big names such as Richard Price without fear of running out of space. Freebird Books (Stop 10), under new ownership, has expanded in a more metaphorical sense, building up its events calendar. Readings and screenings, post-apocalyptic book clubs, and back porch barbecues help attract readers over to quiet Columbia Street. Owner Peter Miller also maintains a lively, involving blog detailing his discoveries in the used-book trade. WORD (Stop 11) has nudged the events-plus-online-presence strategy even further toward the latter. With a frequently updated blog, a Twitter account, a facebook following and a highly functional website, Word involves even those readers who can make it to the store only infrequently. Millions alum Patrick Brown, now blogging for L.A.’s Vroman’s Bookstore, has written perceptively and at length about how a bookstore’s online dimension can become more than window-dressing. I’ll be interested to see how aggressively, and how successfully, independent bookstores expand their online efforts in the coming years.
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