International Women's Day 2011

[img via The Adventure Project]

From Jumo:
• Women perform 66% of the world’s work and produce 50% of the world’s food, yet they earn only 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s property.
• According to the United Nations, girls make up the majority of the estimated 72 million children who are not in school.
• Close to 70% of the world’s 759 million adults who cannot read or write are women.

Today is International Women's Day! Unfortunately, this week is an insanely busy week for me so as much as I want to write a proper post dedicated to women, it will have to be slightly delayed.

However, I have been tweeting (or rather, RTing) for a good portion of today with posts revolving around #IWD11 :) When I get the time later this week to sit down and compile my thoughts, I will do so.

Before I go (and study my brains out about macroeconomics for international affairs), I just want to say that women should most certainly be celebrated, not oppressed! Honor the women in your life by pledging to make a difference in the lives of women across the globe :)

For a start, you can visit Google's IWD page (accessible by clicking on Google's doodle today) and seeing the various organizations dedicated to positively impacting our world through putting women's issues on the agenda.

And now I'm off. Have a fabulous rest of the week, folks! And remember that all of March is Women's Month!

X-Men: First Class (Trailer)

YES.

Yes, yes, yes.


"Excited" does not begin to cover my feelings towards this trailer. "Stoked" barely even does.

Yes.



Edit

...And I realize that on June 3, I will NOT be in the country. Or possibly in an area that has a legitimate theater that will play this.

$*&#^*@^#@*#!!!!

Must. Watch.

Undercover at Blacktone's 25th Anniversary + Holiday Party

This article in NY Mag pretty much sums up my Thursday night as a spy amongst bankers. Except I wasn't regretting my career decision at the end of the night still.



When I grabbed drinks last night with a friend from Barclays, he told me that most places were axing their holiday parties -- JP, Morgan, etc. -- and that Barclays definitely did not have them. Sad day for them.

Private equity parties...only they would book the ENTIRE Met for a night. Amazing.

Crush: Carey Mulligan.

Love her blonde.


So unbearably adorable.

I'm excited that she's playing Daisy Buchanan in the new Gatsby :)

RockMelt: new browser!

RockMelt launched its beta version today. I think I want...even though I dislike using Facebook. But Tony is very convincing.

Read more about it on the link above. Faster, easier searches, integration with social networks and RSS feeds, & it still has an Icognito mode.



[edit] About 12 hours after this post, I got my RockMelt invite from Mark! Sweet.

Christianity in Orissa, India.

Jane sent this to me just now.

I remember back in 2007 when I first heard about the orphanage burnings and the attacks against Christians in the Orissa region. The reports on the persecutions continued into 2008 when I lived in my tiny post-it covered apartment. I made sure that a post-it went up that said "Orissa" on it. Sadly, I've since moved to 2 different apartments and an Orissa post-it never went back up in either of them. Tomorrow when I return to Manhattan (from my one night retreat to the Other Island), I need to remember to put one up.

Agents of change.

Awww. You know you're special when someone not only quotes you, but puts your quote into some pretty graphic that looks like it belongs on someone's Tumblr page :)



Haha. Thanks, Jeannie.


PS - Yesterday, I made the comment that a sign that you've pretty much succeeded in my field, the sign that you've done something pretty spectacular with your life, is when you're mentioned, quoted, interviewed, or (best of all) highlighted by Nick Kristof. Hero.

Happy 25th birthday, Super Mario Bros!

To celebrate the anniversary, Nintendo released the above video, a timeline of the major Mario releases (sans Super Mario Kart & other spin-offs that feature Mario & co.)

If you don't want to watch the video of Super Mario Bros' history, Mashable created a graphic timeline:

"Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan 25 years ago today on the Famicom, the Japanese version of what Americans call the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since then, Mario has become one of the most iconic characters and entertainment brands in the world.

...Super Mario Bros. has sold more than 40 million copies over the past 25 years. In fact, it was the best-selling video game of all time until just recently. That title now belongs to Wii Sports, the game bundled with the Nintendo Wii."

- Mashable

Andddd 25 Fun Facts About Mario!

Most beautiful music video.

[via FangFoundThis]

For a phenomenal visual + audio experience, you MUST check out http://thewildernessdowntown.com -- it's an interactive film by the amazing Chris Milk to Arcade Fire's We Used To Wait. Everything about it is beautifully done. By the end of it, I was a wee bit in love.

A Chrome Experiment, this is truly incredible; the start of changes for future of entertainment and film.

Dumpster pools on Park Ave.!

[img via NYT]

For the next 3 Saturdays, the dumpsters-turned-pools from Brooklyn last summer are going to grace Manhattan. Specifically, Park Ave. between 40th & 41st St. I'm super excited & will definitely be checking it out.

103+ degrees?

I feel the need to announce my immense dislike for Fox "News." I find them to be arrogant with poor taste in everything.



As Kai said in his Tweet, "Hey FOX News: COME OUT TO THE EAST COAST RIGHT NOW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK NOW YOU GOONS." Eloquent & profound, if you ask me.

PS - The other day, it hit a record high of [insert absurd 100+ degree statistic here] & Con Edison met some challenges as parts of NYC were shutting down because the system couldn't handle the heat. Crazy.