Friday, May 11, 2007

Facebook And Drinking Liberally



Group:
Drinking Liberally - Rudy's on 9th Ave
Network:
New York, NY
Size:
29 members
I just might have found the best of both worlds, a screentime factime combo. I had not gone to Drinking Liberally in months, and then I went yesterday and the Thursday before. I think I was missing it. But then Drinking Liberally is quite a song and dance. Being "friends with Justin" is a status symbol. Girls ask you if you are "friends with Justin!" The correct answer is Yes.

Last Thursday on my way back I was on the F train. And Ann hopped onto the train a few stations down. I had seen her at Drinking Liberally. She was with this guy who got off the train a few stations down. Then I hollered at her. "Hey, I saw you at Drinking Liberally!" We both moved one seat closer, but still with an aisle between us.

"Are you friends with Justin?"

She lives on Park Slope. I live south of the park in Little Bangladesh. She got off one station earlier than me.

"I went to the one in Williamsburg once. There was literally noone there. I got there at nine," I said.

Ann, a Fordham grad. Yesterday she was hanging out with Devin who is the most permanent fixture at Drinking Liberally I know of. She sure drinks and has no beer belly to show for it. Justin needs to get her onto the Drinking Liberally Board if she is not already on it.

I have often wondered about progressive groups in Manhattan, or events in general. Would it not be nice if everyone got on Facebook? You should not have to exchange business cards in a Web 2.0 world.

Justin is not on Facebook. Ann is not on Facebook.

But Aaron is. That guy is the funniest guy ever. I just have to look at him and I am laughing. He does not have to say anything explicitly funny and I am laughing. And he does make wisecracks.

And Aaron has a major presence on Facebook, I just discovered.

I have asked people about him. This funny thing, is it just me, or does he do that to you as well? I would like to know.

Looks like Aaron has become quite a regular at Drinking Liberally, two Thursdays in a row.

"I don't understand people who are not on Facebook," I wrote to him. Justin Krebs, I don't understand you.

Web 5.0: Face Time
A Web 3.0 Manifesto

I failed to get Krebs excited about my company, and that is okay. He perhaps wants to keep doing full time what he is doing. He is one of the leading young progressives in America. Liberal used to be a bad word.

"I think you can do it," he said about my company.

Yesterday I bought beer. The Thursday before I did not. There's plenty going around. And I try to stick to one glass, if that. I am worried I might end up with a beer belly.

The backyard can get cliquish. There are those who are there not for Drinking Liberally but because Rudy's is such a cool bar. Cheap beer, free hot dogs, Times Square noise: you can hear it. There are those there who are drinking liberally and are Drinking Liberally. Many of them have buttons. Some don't. Justin just gave up on the idea of giving me more buttons. I have a dozen of them at home. I forget to pick one each time. I will try harder next time. I like the button.

Small groups of 3-4 get formed. When it gets crowded, it is harder to move around. I like the idea of moving from group to group, but the options are few. There is a space issue. Sometimes it can feel like white valency. Other times, it is just that the space is taken. And there are girlfriends hanging out with girlfriends, and they are a complete circle, guys need not apply.

Maybe my personality type is suited more for the Obama outdoors events. There is one big one on Saturday, but I can't make it because I am organizing a meeting of all the Nepali organizations in the tri-state area on Saturday. It is to be in Central Park, southeast corner. The idea is to launch an umbrella organization. A lot of Nepalis really struggle with me being a Madhesi. But they might not have much of a choice. They are stuck with me.

David Pollak - after I learned from Justin Krebs that the dude is now chair of the state Democratic Party - I have been "using" that guy among Nepalis. I know David Pollak, who do you know? Get over my being a Madhesi, let's earn voting rights in the city. Let's form an umbrella organization. When that is not enough, I throw Spitzer in. "He might not know me by name, but I think he knows me by face!" Hence the name Facebook. Now get off your butt, and help launch this umbrella organization. And you top it all with Howard Dean. Dean does know me. And at that point you have the floor pretty much. I ask my would be rivals if they know a single person in the city council. The question goes unanswered because the answer is too obvious: no. I don't either, but that fact has so far not surfaced.

So at one point I get up and go into a corner to make a bunch of phone calls to make sure people will show up for the Saturday meeting. When I am back to the table Stephanie wants to know why I was by myself in the corner. Maybe she did not see the phone. She thought I got outcast for being an Obama enthusiast. Did she? Hey, Obama is popular. Here, there, everywhere.

"This hairstyle inspired by Barack Obma." I wish he had something a little more fancy though.

Mario is a cook. He is from Cuba. I was shooting breeze with him before I got up to make my phone calls. He was talking about girls in the plural.

I might have pushed a few people away talking too excitedly about my company. I should take that enthusiasm to potential angel investors, the professionals. I also have a very detailed business plan still to write.

I met this guy whose uncle has won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I am like, wow.

Aaron is Jewish. I have learned from some East Europeans that Jewish people like money. That is the stupidest thing you can say. Money is like music. I never met anyone who does not like either. I like money. What does that make me?

Like there was this one guy who kept coming in front of me so as to kick me out of the group sort of, the very first group I chimed into. I was very tempted to tell him, "You mind getting your white trash butt out of my face?"

In The News

Obama To Host Town Hall Meeting In Des Moines KCCI.com
Mrs Obama steps into the spotlight
Times Online
Missouri's Clay, Carnahan Endorse Obama in 2008 NewsMax.com
Hillary Clinton: Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Endorses Clinton
All American Patriots (press release)
A kinder, gentler Clinton in Iowa
Rocky Mountain News
Clinton Over Obama 56-37, "Experience Matters" New York Press
Clinton brokers deal to cut costs of AIDS-fighting drugs Amsterdam News
Nepal poll schedule soon: Koirala NDTV.com
Nepal Premier in favor of elections in November Islamic Republic News Agency
Mayawati's victory celebrated in Bihar with difference Hindu Mayawati's victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election
Journalist? Cover California from India Rediff "Due to California's public access laws, virtually all relevant government documents and meetings are available on the Internet," MacPherson said. ..... Pasadena Now has already hired two journalists at a combined annual cost of $20,800 within two days of the job posting on May 7. ..... The City Council is Pasadena's governing body and meets every Monday night and webcast of the meetings are available on the Internet.
Britain's Brown launches leadership bid MSNBC
Blair frustration with US revealed
The Age
Oral Sex Spreads Virus, Might Lead to Throat Cancer (Update2)
Bloomberg
Oral Sex Can Add to HPV Cancer Risk TIME
Oral sex could be more dangerous than cigars Register
Dell finds place in history museum iAfrica.com
DELL LAUNCHING COMPUTER FOR RS 10000 SDA India Magazine Dell plans to launch a computer that will cost USD 238 (Rs 10,000) in India and worldwide. .... Dell also launched three new laptops for the Indian market in the price range of about Rs 52,000-64,000. ..... CEO Michael Dell said, "We will look at broader opportunities ... sure we will look at low-cost personal computers"...... Mid-March 2007, Dell had wheeled out a low-cost PC for China. The cost of the PC ranges from 2,599 yuan to 3,999 Yuan (approximately USD 335 to USD 520) ...... Dell recently announced that its assembly unit in Chennai, India will go live by July this year and has projected USD1 billion revenues from India.
IPods may interfere with pacemakers CBC.ca
Stifling summers forecast by Nasa for US east coast Independent

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