I love Gawker.

They find the strangest shit to talk about. The random pieces of the internet super highway; lost Youtube tapes, celebrities falling down steps, out of place fashion shows for Darfur…really anything and everything you could ever want to know about New York City and the universe.

Every so often, they will even post a random email from a random person. These random slices of life are my favorite part, because everyone knows truth is crazier than fiction. Case in point:

An NYU student recently sent an email in about her random encounter with Cuba Gooding Jr. You know, that guy who won an Oscar and then went on to make a movie about sled dogs?

Anyway, this college student not only snuck herself into a top-secret celebrity party, but she also managed to find herself being drunkenly perused by Mr. Show-Me-The-Money himself. Who is married. With three kids.

“Cuba and I bonded over our love for Justin Timberlake” the mystery student writes, “and he’s dancing all up on me. Legit, Cuba’s crouch is up against me and he is grinding like it’s nobody’s business.” Read More »

I live in New York. It takes a lot for me to get sketched out. I walk by a legless ventriloquist who sings Sinatra on my way to work and have witnessed a mouse jump from my TV and land smack inside a potato chip bag I had eaten out of only moments earlier. Strange men say things to me almost daily, and feeling someone lean in too close on the subway is more than an occasional occurrence.

That being said, I am seriously skeeved out by myfreeimplants.com.

This web site is exactly what it says it is: a place where people (men mostly, I’m assuming) can help woman buy plastic surgery—boob jobs being the highlight. (Although it also advertises “Gummy Bear” implants. Which I can only guess would be…actually, I can’t guess. I’m afraid to.)

Chicks upload photos of themselves, and creepy men look at those photos and talk to them about how big they want their new boobs and how much money they need to raise. Women can put “personal items” up for sale (let your imagination go wild on that one, I’m sure you’re right), and men can request “custom photos of [their] favorite girls” in “specific outfits”. Read More »

The big American Idol benefit show—Idol Gives Back—was on last night, and it was quite a spectacle! The build up surrounding the show was unbelievable, and I’m not sure if it lived up to the hype, but it was totally entertaining. Except for Il Divo who I could do without ever seeing again for the rest of my life.

It might seem corny to say, but I thought the energy exuded by Ryan, Ellen (who, as always, was hilarious—“what’s the big surprise? I mean, am I being kicked off”), all the performers, and the contestants was tangible. I felt like they were proud to be a part of what was going on. And maybe I just fell for a great act, but I would like to believe they were.

I know there has been a lot of controversy about Idol Gives Back—whether they really do care, or is it a publicity stunt? Is the money actually going to end up where it should? But a friend of mine works at the food bank featured at the end of Tuesday’s show, and she said that when Simon showed up he was extremely humble and kind, and was genuinely touched by what the people there were doing. I think, whether they went into this or not with good intentions, they certainly left with a changed perspective.

Anyway, back to the show. In terms of celebrity performers—Kelly Clarkson, to me, owned it. It was great to see legends like Earth Wind and Fire, and Annie Lennox, but Kelly—our original American Idol—sounded incredible. Live the dream, Kelly! Read More »

When I first used the Google Earth program a year ago, I was fascinated that this kind of technology was possible. But, after stalking my neighborhood and locating my apartment on a 3-D world map, I really had no more use for it. I merely filed it away as something cool to mess around on when bored or while procrastinating, and only if facebook was temporarily unavailable.

Now, it is being used to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur. It was recently announced that Google and the Holocaust Memorial Museum teamed up to create this extra feature. Supposedly, the high-resolution imagery lets users zoom into the Darfur region and view more than 1,600 damaged and destroyed villages. No matter how many articles you see about this issue, nothing compares to seeing the actual conditions through pictures and video.

As college students, it’s easy to hibernate in our own safe little worlds and not pay attention to what is going on internationally. And I am definitely guilty of this as well. But, once in awhile, it’s a good idea to educate yourself on current events. And hey, at least it’ll give you something to talk about with that hottie in your political science class.

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