Last month, I took the Bolt Bus down to Philadelphia for Chris’ surprise 30th birthday party. It was a blast with plenty of food, a slideshow, trivia and a DJ. My friend Matty Baker took all the pictures using a fish eye lens. I have to find out where they got those cupcakes.
I took this picture at the top of Sunset Park. It’s a beautiful view of the skyline.
I normally don’t write on matters of the Gawker, but I think that the CityFile acquisition is a good thing. Hardly anyone who has been reading Gawker less than five years knows who Remy Stern is, but I do. [I won’t call you out for being a newbie because maybe you were busy getting a graduate degree or working on Wall Street.] Remy Stern is a good writer and editor. His first blog endeavor was NewYorkist, which was kind of somewhere in the middle between the newsiness of Gothamist and the gossipy pop culture of Gawker. He’s worked at Radar, edited Gawker Media properties and then he launched CityFile a few years ago. CityFile gives the back story of all the media elite and celebrities in New York. It is a good fit for Gawker because CityFile is like a statistician for the baseball team called Gawker. “There’s no crying in baseball”, so everyone should just relax and carry on like Carrie Bradshaw.
Update: The Observer’s take. Sounds like the new Gawker will more the old Gawker. Sounds good to me.
I’m here in Seattle Washington to preview Cinnabon’s new line of cupcakes. I will write a full post when I get back home to Brooklyn, but wanted to post one mouthwatering, drool-worthy picture.
The second annual Social Media Week was a success. There were lots of good panels and interesting people. I heard people got job interviews, made business deals and garnered new friends and followers.
Monday, I attended the Branding The Future With Social Engagement panel which was sponsored by Pepsi Refresh. Kelly from Media Post covered the event.
Wednesday, I was like chasing a dragon but there were no drugs involved. Four stops in one night started with Next New Networks party, Women in Social Media panel, Sound CTRL event and drinks with Brian Solis.
Lunch with Jeff Pulver and 50 people at the Roger Smith was fun. I met MWW’s Alex Payne. I also met Joe Mulligan and Art Jones. Thursday evening, I went to Keen Kong party and Obliterati.
Friday’s food and social media panel at Whole Foods was good. I stuck around afterward to hang out with @db @joemull and @rklas for sushi. Joe created the Bowery Roll.
Tomorrow I am leaving for Seattle, Washington for Cinnabon for a sweet retreat. All I know about Seattle is what I see on “Grey’s Anatomy”. I am excited to be a part of a special mission along with other bloggers to sample new treats from Cinnabon which includes CUPCAKES!
Update: Here is the list of bloggers who will be going.
Amanda Acuna, Mommy Mandy
Alice Currah, Savory Sweet Life
Cathy Danh, Gastronomy Blog
Tanya Gordon, Mommy Goggles
Carey Jones, GigaChef.com
Elita Kalma, Soul Parents
Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Mommy Perks
Nichelle Stephens, Cupcakes Take the Cake
Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats
I will be blogging about this here, Cupcakes Take The Cake and on Twitter.
[Sponsored Post.] A few weeks ago, I got an email from Andy at FSC Interactive asking if I wanted a King Cake from Sucre, a bakery based in New Orleans. A King Cake is a Mardi Gras Cake that is a coffee cake. It is usually a ring of twisted bread similar to that used in brioche topped with icing or sugar usually colored purple, green, and gold.
The cake was delivered via UPS on Thursday in a special King Cake box.
The King Cake came Mardi Gras Beads, and they were the good ones not like the cheap one from 99cents store.
I brought the cake over to my friend Anita’s place. She is from New Orleans, so would be a perfect person to share the cake with. She heated up the cake for 10 minutes, and we ate with tea. The cake was delicious with a cream cheese filling. If you want to order a King Cake from Sucre, then you can order it online. The cake is $19 and the shipping is $9.95.
First off, I don’t hate “Social Media Week”. It just reminds me of those made up Hallmark holidays like Sweetheart Day. I will be attending a few Social Media events next week which is like pre-gaming for the big orgy of tech networking, SXSW. I will be there, too.
Anyway, these are a few fun events for the first week of February.
Feb 1. Valentine Craft Night at Etsy Labs (55 Washington Street) with Rachel Johnson of SwapBot. 4-8PM. FREE
Feb 2. Summit Bar on Avenue C is making fancy drinks. Free tastes and $6 cocktails. 6-8PM
Feb 2. Aziz Ansari is back in town to promote his new comedy CD and to answer questions at the Soho Apple Store. 7PM
Feb 5. Carolyn Castiglia’s Splurge. It is a comedy show with LIVE music (Adira Amram), funny comics and a video. Happy Ending. 8PM Free
Last night, I went to the Paley Center for the first time in years. It was so cool to see a screening of VH1’s new Rock Doc, “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America”. I danced in my seat watching the footage of The Jacksons, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, The O’Jays and many others performed on Soul Train. Don Cornelius is a fearless legend who produced the show which ran for 35 years. Growing up, I watched the show on Saturday afternoons and it was a tradition to watch it with my family. Speaking of family, I was pleasantly surprised to my cousin, Imani Perry, in the documentary as one of the “talking head” experts. Yay!
After the screening, there was a panel discussion that was moderated by Danyel Smith. Panelists were Soul Train dancer Tyrone Proctor, Big Bank Hank from The Sugarhill Gang and Questlove from The Legendary Roots Crew.
The Soul Train documentary will premiere on VH1 on February 5th. Check local listings!
Jan 28. Witstream, Michael Ian Black’s curated comedy twitter feed is having a live comedy show at 92YTribeca. 9PM Free wifi $12 Adv. $15 Door [BTW, loved MIB’s guest performance on Mercy]
Jan 30. Molly Crabapple’s Dr. Sketchy’s class will have a tribute to Paul Pope. It is @The Slipper Room (167 Orchard St.) from 4-7PM. $10 adv. $12 door.
Jan 30. Sweet Revenge (62 Carmine Street) is having a Haiti fundraiser and will be debuting a special Haitian inspired cupcake with guava buttercream. All Day Saturday. Festivities start at 11AM.
Feb 1. Freestyle Love Supreme @Comix (353 West 14th St.) 8PM $20 Adv. $25 Day of Show.