The Lynnertic

Party Barbie colette at Régine, Paris, and Shara’s engagement at avec in Chicago

Collette — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:10:44 +0000

The Barbie Doll’s 50th birthday is being celebrated around the world!

Party Barbie colette

March 12th, 2009, at The Régine.

Come celebrate Barbie’s 50th anniversary at Régine this Thursday, March 12th, starting at 10pm, with Lady Bunny, Mister Rabbit, a live by Steed Lord, a warm-up by Olympia Le Tana & a dance performance by Dangerkat. The House of Dangerkat is a Canadian-based collective of arts professionals synthesizing fashion and styling with music and dance, further enhanced by video, photography and design. The House’s laissez-faire style of performance art has wowed the fashion, dance and music communities with their progressive approach to art making and rule breaking. Check out performances from Paris, New York and Canada at Dangerkat.

A very special thanks for providing champagne to Nicolas Feuillatte, for vodka to Girl By Necker and for lemonade by Lorina.

My friend Jason Williscroft saved me from getting too wrapped up in the trappings of this non-holiday by sending me the video of his evening at avec in Chicago last weekend, where he proposed to his girlfriend Shara with a self-described Barbie Diamond.** Congratulations to Jason and Shara! May you have a long and happy life together!

** It’s a Barbie Diamond because it’s pink, not because it’s tiny. The diamond, I mean, not the ring. Watch the video.

Happy New Year! (Lunar calendar)

Collette — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:12:40 +0000

In honor of the Chinese Year of the Ox, I share the story of Ferdinand the Pacifist Bull, whose mother just let him smell flowers under the cork tree and be happy. An accident caused Ferdinand to be judged the fiercest bull in his herd and so he was sent to a bullfight.

By the way, the matador is a caricature of Walt Disney. (Cartoon at link!)

A Spanish Bullfight is a barbaric game inevitably leading to the bull’s death. It’s a glamorous spectacle meant to emphasize Man’s domination over animals. Ferdinand’s happy refusal to fight thwarts the Matador’s aggression, defeating him, and saving his own life.

Like Ferdinand, may you who read this save the day by sitting on your ass, when asked to facilitate violence and oppression. I wish you all the happiness and joy of peace in the coming year. You can have it, if you want it. I want it now.

There’s noone as Irish as Barack Obama

Collette — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 05:16:01 +0000

Irish TV presents Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys!

Open microphones reveal what conservative pundits really think about Sarah Palin

Collette — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:31:40 +0000

MSNBC’s Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy and Chuck Todd agree that McCain’s Gimmicky choice for VP means: his campaign is over. They’re all bummed out.

Who is Mike Murphy? Only McCain’s former campaign manager.

Silicon Valley, birthplace of electronic warfare.

Collette — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:57:02 +0000

The Secret History of Silicon Valley

Google Tech Talks
December, 18 2007
Speaker: Steve Blank

How Stanford the CIA/NSA Built the Valley We Know Today

How much does an average Googler know about the history of the place he works in? Silicon Valley. Come and test your knowledge. I have seen this talk and I assure you - even seasoned Silicon Valley veterans will find this story interesting. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank will talk about how World War II set the stage for the creation and explosive growth of Silicon Valley, and the role of Frederick Terman and Stanford in working with government agencies (including the CIA and the National Security Agency) to set up companies in this area that sparked the creation of hundreds of other enterprises.

Speaker: Steve Blank
Steve Blank spent nearly 30 years as founder and executive of high tech companies in Silicon Valley, most recently the enterprise software firm E.piphany. He has been involved in or co-founded eight Silicon Valley startups, ranging from semiconductors to video games, and personal computers to supercomputers. He teaches entrepreneurship at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Columbia University and Stanford’s Graduate School of Engineering.