New "Dark Knight" Trailer
If you're checking this blog frequently, I salute you. For being such a valuable patron, I've switched out the "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" trailer with a new Batman trailer. Call it an upgrade, courtesy of AMDAL.
Rosie Hughes in Nepal
For those familiar with the wanderings of the cherubic Rosalie Hughes '07 (above), you already know our conquering hero is spending the next ~year in Nepal working with the International Rescue Committee. For the rest, check out her blog -- Na-ma-stay in Nepal -- to better acquaint yourself with the one, the only.From Rosie:
It's a bit slap-dash now, but I have high hopes of writing in it at least once a week. And by and by I'll post pictures of my apartment and my office and my favorite vegetable vendor down the street.So check it out. Links also to the left.
Goodbye Friday night
Friday,
You've betrayed me, you sack of shit. Its fine if you dont want to hang out, just dont leave me stranded with Work. I hate that asshole.
It's just not right
John Mayer is just like us. Similar to Danny's choice between Georgetown and Michigan, Alex's choice between New York and Boston and my choice between going out and playing MaWiio Kart, Mayer was recently faced with what I call a "good problem."
As posted a few months ago, Mayer was seen around town with everyone's favorite FNL actress, Minka Kelly. Somehow I forgot about this, even as pictures surfaced of the fast-talking Connectician maxin' out at pools with the forgettable-but-attractive Jennifer Aniston. At some point, he had to make a decision, and from the looks of it, he played it about as well as he could, considering the apparent lack of brain cells.
"John Mayer might have broken Minka Kelly's heart when he left her for Jennifer Aniston - but he had the decency to call her before the news about them hit the press. A Kelly pal said, "Minka [above] received a call from John prior to the story breaking about his relationship with Jennifer. He apologized to Minka, 'Sorry, but I'm really in love.' " She found that interesting as, "during his relationship with her, John mentioned, 'I don't really get this Jennifer Aniston thing.'"
Repent, John, repent.
Caption this
Two of the funniest men alive (ie: no they're not dead), Chris Tucker and Dave Chappelle, share a laugh in LA. What could they be chuckling about?
-Jackie Chan's perma-bad haircut
-AMDAL
-Rising corn prices likely caused by the demand for ethanol in the wake of escalating fuel costs (LOL)
-The differences between white and black people
-Thoughts?
Virtual hula hoops and the meaning of life
I've battled with myself for the last week on whether its appropriate to post this. An alternative name to AMDAL could be "What Would My Mom Think?" (WWMMT?). But every so often, something comes along that forces me to push the AMDAL envelope.
I've used some restraint and not posted the video directly to the website. Instead, the link is here. Basically its a girl being videotaped by her BF doing the hulahoop thing on Wii Fit... in her underwear!
Below are a few questions to ponder while watch this video
1) Whats more hypnotising - the hulahooping or the music?*
2) Why is her boyfriend posting this?
3) Does she know she's being taped?
4) Does she know she's on youtube?
*Lay-up
Old Psi U
I came across this earlier this evening:
If one had to sum up Psi U in one word, it would be oldness. Not only are we the oldest house on campus, but we also have an old dog, well, not that old, but pretty old, and many other old things, such as books, artifacts, documents, etc. One person once said that they found a fossil near our house that was over 1.5 million years old! That person may have been lying, or the fossil may have been placed there unnaturally, but either way the point is clear.
Other than oldness, there are many other mysteries bounding through the chapter's halls. WHy does Argus hate things with wheels? Why does Winterbottom break all our stuff when he comes back? What kind of hair care products do i-bankers prefer?
Despite our respect for oldness, when deciding whether to rush Psi U you need not make the decision between oldness and newness. Rather, it is this inescapable dichotomy that gives us our strength. Our frategy is clear: Grow old as slowly as possible, but appreciate the oldness as you slowly succumb to it.
Cheers.
It was fun while it lasted
To: [AMDAL]
This automated messsage is to notify you that your account in the Dartmouth
Name Directory (DND) will expire as of 18-JUL-2008.
The expiration date of your account has been automatically set based on
information from one of the following sources, depending on your
affiliation with Dartmouth:
Farmers:Warriors::Cooks:Delivery girls
Kate Beckinsale says she refuses to learn to cook because she is too good in bed. She says women can be divided into two groups - incredible cooks and fantastic lovers. The Sun UK reports:
"And Kate has proudly announced she falls firmly into the latter group, which must surely keep her largely takeaway-fed husband Len Wiseman a happy man in the bedroom. "I'm the worst wife in the cooking department. I always thought you can't be good at food and sex, but you can always order the food in. I'd rather he didn't order in the sex."
Source: Idontlikeyouinthatway a few weeks ago
UPDATE: After talking one of my female coworkers off an emotional cliff, it's probably safe to assume not all women share this binary perspective. Which is probably good - I like breakfast in bed*
*ZING
A case of the Mondays
"Taped at a large U.S. financial services firm in May 2008. A couple of minutes prior to this taping the main character in this recording had been informed about the immediate termination of his employment. He was given ten minutes to clean up his desk and leave the building. One of his co-workers accidentally interferes with the cleaning up by touching a pile of papers on the fired employees' desk."
Another view + sound here
They could have really used this guy
The heat is on
Mildly relevant for east coasters, but mainly to get rid of that terrifying dog picture.
Dog sitter?
Would anyone be willing to take care of my dog for about a week around July 4th? His name is Porkchop.
Social Entrepreneurship
Today's BIY is not an article, but rather a thought. I would love this to be the start of a discussion.
Over the last 2-3 years, I have been working on a couple different start-up companies. As a result, I have taken a lot of enjoyment from studying the markets for products--particularly consumer goods and internet services. When I started this blog, the idea was to eventually become a non-profit run in a for-profit business model. This week, I came across a Design 21 Competition called Power to the Pedal.
"The DESIGN 21 series challenges designers of all disciplines to find solutions to social and global issues. It’s guided by UNESCO’s premise that education, science, technology, culture and communication are tools to spread knowledge and information, build awareness and foster dialogue."
Inspired by the plot, I think this can be taken to the next level to create a phenomenal project in social entrepreneurship. Read on...
THE IDEA
Providing innovative solutions to everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
SUMMARY
When people believe in ideas, they do not need to be monetarily compensated for their effort. Think Wikipedia. Think the translation of Facebook. With this in mind, I want to create a worldwide network to design and develop products that will solve everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
People in poverty stricken regions face countless problems that those in developed nations take for granted--access to food and water, transportation, medical supplies, power supplies, shelter, and many more categories come to mind. Creative minds around the world have a plethora of ideas to help solve these problems economically. This business will connect the two.
HOW TO DO IT
1. Use an open social platform to create a network of product designers who will create solutions to everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
2. Take investment to develop the best solutions--as decided by the network.
3. Create an e-commerce solution to sell the products before manufacturing, and mass manufacture based on demand. Products will be purchased by people around the world for those in poverty stricken regions. All revenues over manufacturing costs will be put back into the company for product development.
4. When enough units of a product are ordered to create economies of scale, manufacture using an approved facility in a developing nation and distribute in the specified regions.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL IT TAKE?
1. To begin, one full time person to coordinate all elements. This person must be able to build and maintain both the networking platform and the e-commerce solution. He/she must also be able to oversee the production and distribution of products. As we start to manufacture more products at the same time, more people may be necessary.
2. Marketing Department: Members of entrepreneurship clubs worldwide
3. Designers: Worldwide volunteers interested in seeing their designs developed and manufactured
4. Manufacturing: Approved facility in developing nation
HOW MUCH MONEY WILL IT TAKE?
I believe this project can begin under $100,000 and become self-sustainable thereafter.
WHY WOULD THIS BE A GOOD NON-PROFIT?
There are tons of charities out there--too many to count. For a person who wants to give to a charity, it is very difficult to decide. Moreover, when giving to a charity, it is even more difficult to know where your money is actually going. This project would be completely transparent--every cost would be broken out and made readily accessible to the public. For every purchase someone made, they would see exactly how much money goes to the manufacturing and distribution of a product, where the product is going and how it is helping, and how much money is going to future product development.
So, this is a fairly brief synopsis of the idea. But, what do you all think? Ridiculous or realistic?
Over the last 2-3 years, I have been working on a couple different start-up companies. As a result, I have taken a lot of enjoyment from studying the markets for products--particularly consumer goods and internet services. When I started this blog, the idea was to eventually become a non-profit run in a for-profit business model. This week, I came across a Design 21 Competition called Power to the Pedal.
"The DESIGN 21 series challenges designers of all disciplines to find solutions to social and global issues. It’s guided by UNESCO’s premise that education, science, technology, culture and communication are tools to spread knowledge and information, build awareness and foster dialogue."
Inspired by the plot, I think this can be taken to the next level to create a phenomenal project in social entrepreneurship. Read on...
THE IDEA
Providing innovative solutions to everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
SUMMARY
When people believe in ideas, they do not need to be monetarily compensated for their effort. Think Wikipedia. Think the translation of Facebook. With this in mind, I want to create a worldwide network to design and develop products that will solve everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
People in poverty stricken regions face countless problems that those in developed nations take for granted--access to food and water, transportation, medical supplies, power supplies, shelter, and many more categories come to mind. Creative minds around the world have a plethora of ideas to help solve these problems economically. This business will connect the two.
HOW TO DO IT
1. Use an open social platform to create a network of product designers who will create solutions to everyday problems in poverty stricken regions.
2. Take investment to develop the best solutions--as decided by the network.
3. Create an e-commerce solution to sell the products before manufacturing, and mass manufacture based on demand. Products will be purchased by people around the world for those in poverty stricken regions. All revenues over manufacturing costs will be put back into the company for product development.
4. When enough units of a product are ordered to create economies of scale, manufacture using an approved facility in a developing nation and distribute in the specified regions.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL IT TAKE?
1. To begin, one full time person to coordinate all elements. This person must be able to build and maintain both the networking platform and the e-commerce solution. He/she must also be able to oversee the production and distribution of products. As we start to manufacture more products at the same time, more people may be necessary.
2. Marketing Department: Members of entrepreneurship clubs worldwide
3. Designers: Worldwide volunteers interested in seeing their designs developed and manufactured
4. Manufacturing: Approved facility in developing nation
HOW MUCH MONEY WILL IT TAKE?
I believe this project can begin under $100,000 and become self-sustainable thereafter.
WHY WOULD THIS BE A GOOD NON-PROFIT?
There are tons of charities out there--too many to count. For a person who wants to give to a charity, it is very difficult to decide. Moreover, when giving to a charity, it is even more difficult to know where your money is actually going. This project would be completely transparent--every cost would be broken out and made readily accessible to the public. For every purchase someone made, they would see exactly how much money goes to the manufacturing and distribution of a product, where the product is going and how it is helping, and how much money is going to future product development.
So, this is a fairly brief synopsis of the idea. But, what do you all think? Ridiculous or realistic?
Seriously Serious Life Lessons Served Up By TNBC
With the aid of fine acting skills and pretty people, we were able to see the nasty, spastic, life-altering effects of drugs or the consequences of not keeping your word, so on and so forth. Thank you broadcast television...now I just booze.
"$1000 to whoever puts this kid to sleep"
I first encountered the word "fuck" when I was in first grade.
Trampolines were a no-no in my household -- Dr. Dad was sure I'd concuss myself or get an ankle caught in the springs, concerns that weren't entirely unfounded given my track record up to that point -- but I'd spent the afternoon on one down at the neighbor's house, anyway.
When we tired of the double-bounce, one of the neighborhood kids broke out a pack of these:
Clearly fate was grooming me for a banner day of prepubescent rebellion.
I don't remember a specific discussion of cuss words, but clearly the f-bomb had come up because it rattled around my peabrain the entire walk home.
My parents had friends over for a barbecue, at which point I remembered my mom earlier that afternoon reminding me not to be late (which I was). My dad was manning the grill when I walked by, and he asked where I'd been and why was a tardy.
"Fuck you," I said innocently.
My father slowly turned around, smiled, grounded me, and that was that.
Which brings me to this:
http://view.break.com/512669 - Watch more free videos
The caption, from DiSaronno Blog, says it all. I'll chip in -- make it $1,005.
Trampolines were a no-no in my household -- Dr. Dad was sure I'd concuss myself or get an ankle caught in the springs, concerns that weren't entirely unfounded given my track record up to that point -- but I'd spent the afternoon on one down at the neighbor's house, anyway.
When we tired of the double-bounce, one of the neighborhood kids broke out a pack of these:
Clearly fate was grooming me for a banner day of prepubescent rebellion.I don't remember a specific discussion of cuss words, but clearly the f-bomb had come up because it rattled around my peabrain the entire walk home.
My parents had friends over for a barbecue, at which point I remembered my mom earlier that afternoon reminding me not to be late (which I was). My dad was manning the grill when I walked by, and he asked where I'd been and why was a tardy.
"Fuck you," I said innocently.
My father slowly turned around, smiled, grounded me, and that was that.
Which brings me to this:
http://view.break.com/512669 - Watch more free videos
The caption, from DiSaronno Blog, says it all. I'll chip in -- make it $1,005.
Cultural Understanding
That recently discovered "undiscovered" native tribe in Brazil/Peru,
ya, this is how they understand the Internet:
Corporate silk
Is anyone else addicted to Charles Tyrwhitt shirts?? (and socks??) My initial foray into high-end corporate fashion was so timid… french cuff shirt here, fanciful socks there.. but now my self-confidence hinges on the feel of silky British garments. Last night I wasn’t wearing CT (post-dry cleaners fiasco) and felt like a total rube, fresh into the city from Kansas State for a summer internship. I thought I could get through the night with brooks brothers… and was managing all right for awhile… but then some slick dude showed up in a fresh sea island quality 180… unbelievable how good it looked. Crushing. I wanted to splash my clamato juice bloody mary all over it. It was the essence of springtime- but also glory.
London revelers mark drink ban with subway chaos
A fantastic article and accompanying picture from CNN about a rogue subway party. Usually my subway drinking entails Sparks and impromptu visits to 205th Street or Jamaica, Queens. A snippet from the article below (note his profession):
Sailor Peter Moore, 35, from Brighton on the southern English coast, told the agency his night was "Drunken, I just downed a can of beer in 10 seconds. It's sweaty on there but I'm going round and round until I vomit."
