KraftONE Knows How To Have Fun

Yesterday was the KraftONE Booze Cruise around South Manhattan.  Despite the dreary weather, I think we all found it in ourselves to have a good time.  Thanks to everyone for coming out and to the Katies, Yi-mei, Karen and the social team for helping to plan the event.  Also, special thanks to Kelly Sheehnan and Mitch for the awesome photos, you can see them all here.

It's not a media event without flip cup

or icing.

Good work KraftONE!

The Best & Worst Gowns of Miss Universe

I didn't actually watch all of Miss Universe, but from what I did see there was definitely some interesting gowns if you know what I mean Poland & Sweden.  Congrats to Mexico, you are beautiful, too beautiful, and now you have a crown that confirms that you are possibly the most beautiful person in the universe (after Queen Amidala of course).

Here are my favorite gowns of the night:

Here are the 'what were you thinking' gowns:

rug unraveled?

uhhh...

no comment

80s hair much?

bubble gum

explosion.

I Will Miss (Your Foods) East Village

As I count down the days until I can no longer call East 9th street home, I get sadder and sadder about the foods I will miss.  A good quarter of my salary has gone to supporting the restaurants, shops and bars in this neighborhood with no regrets.  Here are my favorite East Village eating spots:
Pomme Frites - large french fries w/ the free especial sauce (mayo, ketchup, chopped onions)
Artichoke - best after 2am
16 Handles - mangotango & eurotart flavors with mango, mochi and rainbow sprinkle toppings
Boka Bonchon - watermelon soju and soy garlic fried chicken
Pho 32 - #3 small pho
Spice - lettuce wraps and lemongrass seafood combo
Plump Dumpling - wonton noodles in curry soup
This Little Piggy - something else
The Immigrant - assorted bruschetta and wine
Led Zeppole - zeppoles with powdered sugar and maple syrup
Crif Dogs - chihuahua dog and tater tots
S'mac - garden lite nosh
Flea Market Cafe - french toast brunch
Esperanto - eggs benedict brunch
Prof Thom's -  harpoon and nachos, best NYC Boston Bar
Saint's Alps - mango sorpie bubble drink
Zen Sushi - sushi mania with salad
Xi'an Famous Foods - A1, B2, D4-S spicy
Lychee - $1 Chang Beer, drunken noodle
Itzocan - goat cheese ravioli, roasted stuffed chicken breast 

Countdown Until I Get A New & Less Ghetto Phone

I really want an iPhone4 but I can't seem to get rid of my really ghetto $10 Nokia pay-as-you-go phone.  Call me a late adopter or simpleton but I'm attached to my no-internet or caller ID cell phone.  With the pressures of working in digital and the soon-to-be dominance of the mobile web, it is about time that I grew up and got rid of my toy phone for a more sophisticated toy phone that will allow me to battle other iPhonites with imaginary light sabers.  So, for my upcoming birthday I getting myself a new phone.  Yay for unnecessary apps and expensive phone bills.

Why We Love Don Draper & Now Jon Hamm

photo by AMCTV.com

Don Draper is 'not a good person' yells his secretary Allison (which he slept with) as she storms out on her job in last week's episode, than why is Don Draper, Creative Director of Sterling Cooper Draper Price, still the hottest man on television right now?  

Is it his full chest of chest hair or (I can only imagine) the smokey smell of bourbon and cigarettes from his lips.  Or, maybe it is his charisma and confidence in his work.  I do like the Creative-type.  Better yet, maybe it is his mysterious past as a poor farm boy bastard that makes him lovable.  Whatever the reason, Don is a major dick but we still love him for it.

Don Draper brings back to our televisions the man of the 50s & 60s--fitted suits, clean shaven, perfectly groomed hair--the suave, seductive man my grandfather might have been like when he was courting my grandma.  Like Humphrey Bogart or Larry Hagman, all Don Draper needs to do is look you in the eye, crack a slight smile and your heart will beat a little faster.  It's sex appeal you can't find in today's social-networking, hipster, jesus-hair, bros icing bros society, which is why Jon Hamm who plays Don is a genius.

According to a credible source wikipedia, Jon Hamm doesn't actually smoke real cigarettes during the show (he smokes herbal cigarettes), has been dating the same woman for 10 years and guess what, he loves hockey (St. Louis Blues to be exact)!!  Jon Hamm just topped the hottest man on television by being the hottest man I.R.L. (in real life).  Hamm was at a Rangers game I attended, and I look forward to his upcoming move The Town set in one of my favorite cities Bahstan.  No matter what though, Jon Hamm will always remind me of Don and that is not a terrible thing.

Birthdays, Goodbyes & Beergarden

Now that the stresses of finding an apartment are over (I'm moving to Brooklyn!), I can finally enjoy my weekends in the way I know best--gin+tonics, beer games and UNHEALTHY amounts of fried food.  Last Saturday, I was up by Columbia celebrating Chanel's birthday at her bar 1020.  Fun fact, Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg's The Other Guys filmed at this Upper West Side joint and Ferrell apparently pukes on the same pool table that Chanel blew out her birthday cupcakes on.  How awesome is that?

The rented Karaoke machine went to good use, as Chanel had her rock star debut to No Doubt's Spiderwebs

It is mid-August and that can only mean one thing--interns are starting to leave.  The media operations team said goodbye to its dear intern Damon as he heads back to Brown for his last year of school.  Conveniently, Midori--the kryptonite-looking green melon liqueur--was promoting its new drink Midori Melon Aid (Midori+Skyy Vodka+Sprite...pretty nasty) by giving out lime green shades and test tube shots.  You can't complain about free lime shades and test tube shots.

In my head, 'beer garden' is synonymous to 'good weather' and Saturday was beautiful out--sunny, low 80s, not humid, gorgeous.  We ventured to Astoria around 5pm (Saturday was a slow start, probably due to the night before at Ace Bar) and luckily found a table pretty quickly at the packed Bohemian Hall.  Signs around the beer garden say 'No Beer Games Allowed', however, laying conspicuously on our bench was a laminated sheet of beer games instructions to Asshole and FOTCH (Kings).  If this is not an invitation to play beer games, I don't know what is.

It's a good thing Hannah and I came prepared with two decks of cards (two is key if you plan on incorporating a beer game within a beer game... explain that Christopher Nolan).  And so the 3-hour game of FOTCH begins!  FOTCH is basically Kings (possibly King in German?) but the difference is you have to say 'FOTCH' before you drink, meaning this game is way cooler than Kings (by the way, King in German is Konig, not FOTCH).  Maybe because it sounds like another commonly used curse word or is one syllabic making it easier to scream/yell or just sounds great when yelled at a beer garden, FOTCH proved to be an awesome drinking game. 

My rule: Face card = Ben takes photo with woman older than him ("Is the joke on me?")

Best part about Bohemian Hall is the beer--Staropramen, Frankenstein, Krusovice, Oktoberfest--great choices for beer games

Somehow we managed to top FOTCH with probably the most successful game of Thumper ever (It was during this game that a security guard reminded us there are no beer games allowed).  That didn't stop the rave, utter milking, money shot, cougar, percussion hands, dive, dead robot, patty cake, elbows and palm tree from continuing.  Guess who had what signal in the photo below.  I want to say Sean & Noah's are pretty obvious.

I think the night was officially over when we ordered 75 soy garlic korean fried chicken wings in K-Town and had about 30 left.  A sign we had lost our game.

Seth & Summer FOREVER

There is hope for my favorite TV couple--Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts (i.e. real-life names Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson), since Rachel Bilson's engagement to Darth Vader has been officially called-off.  I KNEW that Seth and Summer would always be together... teenage soap operas never lie.  Look at Mischa Barton's career--trainwreck.  Time will tell whether the on-and-off screen romance will return (the teenager in me is pretty sure they're meant to be together).

In honor of Seth & Summer and the glory of The O.C. here are my top 5 favorite Seth & Summer moments:

1) The Declaration - Seth openly acknowledges his relationship with Summer on top of a coffee cart at school, and at this moment the Seth & Summer relationship is official

2) The Wonderwoman Xmas Present - In a war for Seth against the hipster Anna, Summer dresses up as Seth's fantasy Wonder Woman for Christmakuh

3) The Spiderman Kiss - After realizing she preferred to date a little boy over a sophisticated jock, Summer ditches a trip to Tuscany to make out with Spiderman Seth

4) Both For Brown - All high school relationships go through the what do we do after we graduate? talk and some like Seth and Summer take their chances in getting into the same school to stay together 

5) The Wedding - In the very last episode of the show, we find out that Seth and Summer do get married (foreshadowing?) despite having a rocky relationship throughout college

Wow it's been a long time since I have felt giddy about something, probably because I am not 16 and no longer find the Backstreet Boys attractive; however, this OC flashback makes me happy and feel somewhat dated.

Old Spice Case Study by W+K