April 26, 2005

I Hope This Guy Gets a Google Job

balakumar: My Unforgettable One-Day at Google India Hyderabad

April 22, 2005

The Divorce

Shaft passes this along to his favorite HMOT (Honorary Member of the Tribe):

The Divorce

An elderly man in Miami called his son in New York and said, "I
hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and
I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough."
"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screamed.
"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old
man said. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick
of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell
her," and he hung up.

Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone,
"They are not getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this."
She called her father immediately and screamed at the old man, "You
are NOT getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm
calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then,
don't do a thing; DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hung up.

The old man hung up his phone, smiled, and turned to his wife...
"Okay," he said, "They're coming for Passover and paying their own
airfares."

Foul-mouthed Tori Botley !

My, what a foul mouth Tori Botley has:

From: Tori Botley [mailto:toribotley@comcast.net] Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 5:49 PM Subject: SUCK

your album covers are stolen from a different site with the same covers, same 12 albums, different order of suckiness

and you material is fucking lame

If Tori had bothered to dig, she would have seen that I have had long conact with Nick D., the progenitor of the Worst Album Covers Ever material, I've credited him, plugged his book on Amazon, and even gotten him a magazine piece in Esquire!

(It's the World Wide Web, fer cryin out loud! I didn't write nasty ignorant emails to these guys when they ripped my site off:

http://porktornado.diaryland.com/albumcover.html )

So, foul-mouthed Tori, I hope you have a wonderful weekend being a mean-spirited little snit!

The Darth Side

Something speaks to me out of the velvet between the stars, and I cannot ignore it.

Welcome Back Izzengez!

It feels good to have you around again!

The Top 50 Places to Eat

Mix snail porridge, sardine sorbet and you have a Fat Duck:

Top 50 places to eat
1 The Fat Duck Bray, Berkshire
2 El Bulli Montjoi, Spain
3 The French Laundry Yountville, California
4 Tetsuya's Sydney
5 Gordon Ramsay London
6 Pierre Gagnaire Paris
7 Per Se New York
8 Tom Aikens London
9 Jean Georges New York
10 St John London
11 Michel Bras Laguiole, France
12 Le Louis XV Monte Carlo
13 Chez Panisse Berkeley, California
14 Charlie Trotter Chicago
15 Gramercy Tavern New York
16 Guy Savoy Paris
17 Restaurant Alain Ducasse Paris
18 The Gallery at Sketch London
19 The Waterside Inn Bray, Berkshire
20 Nobu London
21 Restaurante Arzak San Sebastián, Spain
22 El Raco de Can Fabes San Celoni, Spain
23 Checcino dal 1887 Rome
24 Le Meurice Paris
25 L'Hotel de Ville Crissier, Switzerland
26 L'Arpège Paris
27 Angela Hartnett at the Connaught London
28 Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Oxford
29 Le Cinq Paris
30 Hakkasan London
31 Cal Pep Barcelona
32 Masa New York
33 Flower Drum Melbourne
34 WD50 New York
35 Le Quartier Francais Franschhoek, South Africa
36 Spice Market New York
37 Auberge de l'Ill Illhaeusern, Alsace
38 Manresa California
39 Restaurant Diet

April 21, 2005

Back in the swing

Hey - 'Izzengenz here.

Not to get too maudlin, but the Bezos entry (below) marks my return to Stone as a guest contributor since sitting out most of 2004 to 1) move to DC from NYC, 2) get married and 3) survive a small bout of brain cancer.

I was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor (which turned out to be a supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor, or PNET) on June 1, 2004, admitted to the hospital immediately and had surgery three days later. It was scary as hell, but within a few weeks, my girlfriend and I had decided to get married, and we've been putting the focus on hope and the future rather than on fear and dread.

And now that the end of my successful treatment is in sight, I want to make sure other people have access to the same kind of treatment and support that I've had. To that end, I'm raising funds for the Cassidy & Pinkard Race For Hope - a May 1, 2005, 5K in DC to raise money for brain-tumor research.

Please check out my new favorite cause:

http://raceforhope.kintera.org/2005/schiggins

Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful

Just noticed this gem while reading on old Wired profile (03/99) of Jeff Bezos:

"At a certain point I was sort of a professional dater," he explains about his years in New York. His systematic approach to the quest for a permanent relationship was to develop what he labeled "women flow," a play on the "deal flow" Wall Streeters try to generate to locate worthwhile investments. In managing their deal flow, bankers will set limits like "I won't look at anything under a $10 million equity investment." The limitation Bezos set for friends producing candidates for his "women flow" was more esoteric. "The number-one criterion was that I wanted a woman who could get me out of a Third World prison," he says.

"What I really wanted was someone resourceful. But nobody knows what you mean when you say, 'I'm looking for a resourceful woman.' If I tell somebody I'm looking for a woman who can get me out of a Third World prison, they start thinking Ross Perot - Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! - they have something they can hang their hat on! Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful."

Orkut blows

Just playing around with Orkut, Google's social networking site, and it is awful: slow, clumsy, broken.

Your Assignment

Count how many white smoke metaphors the lumpen pressatariat disgorges this earnings week.

April 20, 2005

Ink-a-bink

A bottle of ink
The cork fell ou and you stink.

April 17, 2005

TheLadders.com appoints Andy Kaslow to Board

We announced Andy Kaslow's appointment to our Board of Directors this past Friday. Andy is a complete superstar: was head of HR at Vivendi, AOL Time Warner, Becton Dickinson and KFC!

Dinner with the Munozes

Hi Readers!

Thanks for dropping by my personal blog, here, Stone.

Here's the menu from Friday night's dinner with my friends Susan and Alex Munoz!:

First course: Seared diver scallops with watercress, endive, and blood orange segments in a fennel cream reduction.

Second course: Fava bean ravioli in a english peas and brown butter sauce, finished with mint and basil pistou. Grated parmigiano reggiano.

Third course: Proscuitto San Daniele with whole wheat bruschetta and bitter greens.

Fourth course: Pork Involtini (Pork scalopinni rolled in a parmigiano reggiano, pecorino romano, pancetta, bread crumbs and parsley filling) in a Sicilian spicy sauce (onions, carrots, moroccan olives, raisins, white wine, proscuitto, and red pepper flakes). Accompanied with sauteed spring vegetables (shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and english peas).

Fifth course: Homemade chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas.

Mmmmm-mmmmm!

ChiefMonster un-launched

Launched back in September 2000, ChiefMonster is being unlaunched:

Dear Monster Seeker,

On or about May 14, 2005 Monster Worldwide will integrate the Chief Monster product into its core Monster.com product set in an effort to improve your career management experience. To access your account information, simply log into your My Monster Account using your current username and password.

On Monster, you'll still be able to access your existing resume and account information, maintain your current job search agents, and continue to search for senior-level opportunities from today's top employers, executive search firms, and venture capital companies. Employers will still be able to locate you as a highly qualified candidate for their open positions. In addition, you'll be able to take advantage of several innovative enhancements including:

INCREASED EASE OF USE
From updating your account information to creating a searchable resume, new features will make managing your career online easier and more efficient than ever before.

MORE CUSTOMIZED EXPERIENCE
Your new My Monster homepage will bring together all the key elements you need such as job search and resume agents, recommended next steps, featured opportunities, networking, and customized career advice for your level and industry. It's all in one place, and just a click away!

Monster is looking forward to providing you with the tools you need to manage your career. And, as we are always interested in your feedback, feel free to contact me directly and let me know how we can improve our service to you.

Best regards,

Ed Benack
SVP, Customer Service

Well, you can always head over to my company TheLadders.com, where you'll find about 20,000 all-new $100K+ jobs each month!

April 14, 2005

This might just be...

...the worst thing I have ever seen on the internet.

Tradesports

Online gambling impressarios, Tradespots, email me with this info:

Dear marc

There has never been a better time to trade on TradeSports.

The Papacy
There is much talk of an African Pope but the market seems to suggest an Italian Cardinal will be elected. You can trade on the country of origin of the next Pope as well as the actual named Cardinal. Trade the Papacy Now

American Idol
This week American Idol gets down to the last eight contestants and the trading suggests a win for Carrie Underwood (Ask 37) although Bo Bice has 'rocked' his way into serious contention... Trade Idol Now

Michael Jackson Trial
The market for conviction continues to drop as the lawyer's battle over the timeline- could the lewd behaviour have happened when the accuser said it did? Traders are still betting the case against Michael Jackson is crumbling. Trade the Trial Now

Morgan Stanley resignation
Will Philip Purcell, CEO, resign? Our markets currently suggest he won't but pressure is mounting on him to step down to prevent damage to the image of Morgan Stanley. Trade the Purcell Contract Now

Together with our regular contracts there is more going on than ever before and we hope to see you back on the exchange soon.

Regards,

Mark Irvine - Chief Marketing Officer
Trade Exchange Network Limited

Incorporating

www.tradesports.com
www.intrade.com
www.tradebetx.com

T: ++ 353 1 6200 350
F: ++ 353 1 6200 396

I think that's pretty cool to have defined markets for all these circumstances...

Flame a Meetup.com Founder

It's the right way to handle a change in your business model. Matt from Meetup.com is asking people to flame him on Meetup's message board. Inevitably, people are going to be upset with the move from free to paid -- probably a majority, perhaps as many as 90% of Meetup users will just walk away.

But free isn't sustainable; free isn't a business, it's a hobby, a pasttime, a diversion, and Meetup needs to pay its bills to keep the community thriving.

So kudos to the Meetup guys for handling the change forthrightly and taking it on the chin!

April 13, 2005

TZOO tanks

TZOO bites the dust. This long-time high-flying speculative stock has regressed to the mean. CEO, CFO, President and Treasurer Bartel could probably use some help on his team and would profit by spreading the responsibilities around.

Perella Leaves Morgan Stanley

This, I think, is deadly.

Long-time all-star banker Joe Perella is bowing out on embattled CEO Philip Purcell. 5 out of 14 members of the executive committee have resigned. That's very, very difficult for a CEO to weather, and there has to be more in play here than is visible on the surface....

Save Toby!

A well-crafted scam, or should I say deviously-crafted?

April 12, 2005

Sublime Justice

For Ken Lay via Google.

April 07, 2005

$100K+ executive jobs and executive management jobs

You can find $100K+ executive jobs and executive management jobs at TheLadders.com!

April 04, 2005

Fortblogging!

From C'ville!

April 03, 2005

Fire this guy

Hmmmm, screwed-up IPO, the industry's worst hiring practices, and "forgetting" about revenue.

Shouldn't the Board be concerned?

What you can find on Flickr

Wow, I was looking through Ireland photos on Flickr and came across "The Green Slippery Edge of the Earth" Read the description... wow!

April 02, 2005

Deviant T-Shirts

Busted Tees.

April 01, 2005

Being A Considerate Houseguest

The Onion advises.