[Photo via Jakob Lodwick, via Silicon Alley]

For those of you who haven't heard of tumblr yet, its a new short-form blogging platform by 21-year old David Karp, that has been growing at a feverish pace. Think of a mash-up between Wordpress and Twitter. It has an extreme ease of use, enough dexterity to allow users to express themselves, and a feeling of ownership that far exceeds that of social-networks. Moreover, it engenders a very tight-knit community of fellow bloggers. Jakob Lodwick, of college humor and Vimeo fame, recently posted the following entry about the platform and its recent growth.

I imagine these numbers will just continue to grow as more people discover that maintaining your own blog is more satisfying than maintaining a profile on a social networking site. As I’ve said before, a comparison to being a homeowner vs. living in a housing project is appropriate.

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[Photo via Brisbane Times]

Has Willy Wonka gone posh? Have you ever wondered what Klimt's "The Kiss" would look like if it was made entirely out of chocolate? What about a Pollock painting? Neither have we, but if you care to know, you should go step inside Godiva's "Chocolate Room" in the East Village. Made entirely of chocolate (including the walls and furniture), there will be no fires lit in the fireplace anytime soon. The room was unveiled yesterday, by Hero's star Ali Larter (pictured above), as part of their unique Valentine's Day promotion publicity stunt. One lucky chocolate lover will find, upon opening up their $23 box of traditional Godiva chocolates, (ala Wonka style) that they have won a getaway weekend for two, at a recreation of the room inside the Bryant Park hotel.

[Sandy Brant and Ingrid Sischy]

After buying out his ex-wife's stake in Interview Magazine, Peter Brant quickly dispatched its longtime editor Ingrid Sischy with some choice words.

"To say that Interview is a product of Ingrid's friends . . . that's like saying, 'What's Vogue going to be like without [former editor] Grace Mirabella?' Anna Wintour does a really great job...I just thought they could really use some direction, going forward, of a younger generation of people." [NY Post]

Sischy of course is the longtime girlfriend of Brant's ex-wife Sandy Brant. Obviously he isn't too happy about that. But seriously Peter, you can't be that upset can you?! Your rebound was Stephanie Seymour, so why the hard feelings? All is fair in Love and War is it not?

[Polo Here Polo There]

[Photo from NY Mag]

Kurt Anderson is a favorite writer of ours.  When we saw his new article in this week's NY Magazine on this year's presidential election titled "Anatomy of a Freak Show.  (Romney + Huckabee)/0 + .01 McCain + ?Giuliani = Bush. And some other things we've learned about this long, strange race" , we knew we were in for an interesting take on the issue.  In it he lays out 10 statements as to why this race is such a unique one, our favorites included:

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[Photo from NY Times]

No this is not the title of an adult movie. Its a reality. A reality for kids who go to private secondary schools such as Phillips Exeter in New Hampshire. And its not because they have swollen members, but rather the institutions they attend have gobs of money to throw at these little boys and little girls. More»

[Photo from Gridskipper]

"Is this a joke?" That was the first thing that came to my mind while reading the article in the Times today about the Presidential candidates' campaign staff speaking out in their candidate's names about the Mercury Sushi Scare that has been plaguing our city. If you are having a hard time deciding on who to pick, as the thought of anyone in office over Bush makes you giddy with excitement, maybe their sushi stances will help make your decision easier:

John Edwards: “We have to stand up for the millions of impoverished Americans who go to bed every night unable even to dream about tuna sushi. This is the other America, not the fat cats plunking down $400 at places like Masa in New York. We need to speak up for the little guy, the guy who gets mercury poisoning and then sits for hours in a hospital emergency room because he can’t afford health insurance.”

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[Graph of Number of Gawker Comments on Monthly Basis via their Flickr]

Red Line= # of Active Commenter Accounts

Blue Line= # of Comments made

Many of you probably have already heard about CommentGate, the revelation by Jakob Lodwick via a posted IM conversation with Nick Denton. In it we learn that the majority of comments on Gawker are actually written by interns. This may come as a surprise, or it may not. Nonetheless, much of the color in Gawker posts are from the comments, making it a pretty brilliant move by Denton if it is in fact true. He has in effect caused a paradigm shift in blogging, making the comments as important, and in some cases, usurp the relevance of the very post that initiated the discussion.

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[Photo from Valleywag]

Maybe Steve Jobs isn't the hero we all thought he is. God knows he had to step on a lot of toes to get up to that top position he now holds as God of technology. But failing to claim his own daughter? Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve's illegitamite daughter has been getting considerable attention these days, as her own career as a writer is taking off. She has written extensively for Harvard's Crimson, but this February, she has stepped things up a bit, penning an article in Vogue titled "Tuscan Holiday". For those of you that didn't even know Steve Jobs has a daughter here's the scoop:

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[Photo from Gothamist]

The Smart Car is here, and Gothamist sent their friend Nick to give us his full report on the car that many of us have been coveting. Here is the consensus:

"Look at the Smart as a practical car that's easier to use in an urban environment than anything else, and you'll be happy. Look at it as fundamentally altering the way Americans think about transportation though, and you'll be disappointed."

The smart car isn't as green as every makes it out to be, averaging only around 38mpg, nor is it electric. Though very compact, it's not as small as you might think. The 6'2" Nick sat comfortably in driver's seat. It feels safe, with a steel roll cage surrounding you and airbags encompassing, you will be able to zip through traffic like no SUV or sedan ever could (did we mention the awesome parking spots you'll be able to score?-see above). Nick is also quick to point out that it's not cheap (the one above was $18,500), nor "Gay". We think it's adorable.

Gawker's coverage of Heath Ledger's passing has included no less than 16 posts in the last 24 hours, just 3 shy of US Magazine's 19 online posts on the subject in the same time frame. The posts have ranged from tabloidish in nature, to analyzing other media coverage including the "Grey Lady" (NY Times), determining who broke the story first, and a Heath Ledger's Passing For Dummies post telling readers "what they need to know" about his death.

So it's only fitting that we analyze and scrutinize their coverage. The posts are respectful in tone, and show a shock and admiration for the fellow who had recently been calling SoHo his home. You won't find any "I can't quit you" snipes there.

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Not getting your wedding photos and video. A bunch of New Yorkers have recently been getting stiffed by Celebration Studios, a tri-state area wedding photography company. Some were promised pictures and video that never materialized, depriving them of countless future opportunities to pour over wedding memorabilia with bored house guests nodding with feigned interested. Not a nice way to get your marriage started, however, let's be honest here.. how many times will they actually use this stuff? Most likely it will be collecting dust on some mantle or bookcase never to be perused again. As soon as they realize this, perhaps it will take away some of the bite from an otherwise troubling situation?

Today is of course the day we pay our respects and honor Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, champion of non-violent civil disobedience, brilliant orator, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. This got us to thinking about Dr. King's legacy and lasting effect on America, his remarkable "I have a Dream" speech, and our curiosity eventually led to us wondering how many roads are named after MLK? Roads are a great tangible way to keep someone's legacy alive. We are always riding on roads that are named after historical figures, such as the FDR Drive that runs along the east river, or the Henry Hudson that runs up the West Side of Manhattan.

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