Rachelle's Reading List: Thursday, January 27th, 2011

by Rachelle Hruska · January 27, 2011

    Today we look at the jealous Davos mistresses, the grand piano that mysteriously showed up on a beach in Miami, and the piece of paper that fooled Hitler. A gym membership that charges you for not going, the best day to buy your plane tickets, and move over Chinese Mothers, the Minnesota Mothers are the new women taking over our news feeds!

    1. Did anyone else hear that loud boom and bright flash of white light around 7:30 last night (during the start of the snow)? I did and I was also freaked out. [InOtherNews] In Other News, whaaaaaaaaaat is going on here. It never ends! #SNOOOMG.

    2. Jealous Davos Mistresses. The best article written on Davos yet: [Reuters]

    "The wives’ name tag guarantees that the Davos man in question will instantly decide you are of no value and so he immediately looks over your shoulder for the next best opportunity, i.e. someone without a white name tag who is, by definition, more important than you. Many wives refuse to be Davos wives and the white name tag is the reason they most often cite for their decision to stay home."

    And John Carney's reaction [CNBC]

    3. Forget the obsession with Chinese Mothers, check out this new trend to follow: The case for Minnesota Mothers! [TheAwl]

    4. And, why rich parents don't matter. [WSJ]

    5. I'm obsessed with these art inspired outfits on Polyvore. Thanks [AlexisHyde]!

    6. Cookie Cutters, Girl Scouts are trimming their lineup for lean times. [WSJ]

    7. Charlie Sheen was hospitalized after a "wild party" with 5 women. Yes, you read that correctly. [TMZ]

    8. This grand piano, damaged by fire, was seen on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay in Miami, Florida. It was unknown how or why the piano got there. [InOtherNews] Until now. An art student apparently thought it would be a cool stunt to pull off to get him into a prestigious art school. Pretty creative if you ask me! [WSJ]

    9. The best day of the week to buy airline tickets? Tuesday-Thursday. [WSJ]

    10. Americans have grown less trusting of business in the past year according to be presented at Davos. [FT]

    11. Check out the piece of paper that fooled Hitler. "It was an audacious double-cross that fooled the Nazis and shortened WWII. Now a document, printed for the first time, reveals the crucial role played by Britain's code-breaking experts in the 1944 invasion of France." [BBC]

    12. Is Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, a puppet master of the news media? He would like you to think so. But the Time's dealing with him reveal a different story. Bill Keller, tells his intimate tale of working with Assange first hand. [NYT]

    13. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarvis's journalism student launches a site called "Localeaks." Think: Wikileaks for your neighborhood. [BuzzMachine]

    14. A Gym Membership that charges you for not exercising. This. is. brilliant. [GOOD]

    15. Did you guys know that porn stars love Twitter. Yep. They do. The fantasy-based porn business was slow to embrace the real-life interactions of social media. But now hundreds of adult stars are on Twitter, talking to fans and receiving gifts. Plus, a gallery of 10 porn stars to follow. [DailyBeast]

    16. Looks like both Ricky Gervais and Will Ferrell are going to step in to shore up the NBC version of "The Office" and this could be very funny. [@sadknob]

    17. I also love a good word cloud! SOTU word cloud [Politico]

    18. I'm not alone, but I can't help it, I'm addicted to Purple Diary's coverage of parties in Paris. [Purple]

    [Olivier Zahm, Mario Testino and Carine Roitfeld]

    19. RT @AntDeRosa: The short and quick answer, the @NYTimes Tumblr will launch next month, according to @NYCcyn[Soup]

    20. Alex Eylar, a 22-year-old screenwriting student and film buff in Oakland, Calif., owns more than 30,000 Lego pieces and uses them to recreate famous film scenes. [Today]

    21. Do you, like me, get sick of having to sign papers and then scan them and create pdfs out of them just so you can get documents on email over fax? Then EchoStar is for you! [PonyPony]

    22. Check out these Float Cappuccino Cups “The double-layered structure of the Float glassware series separates the bowl containing the liquid from the hand, keeping cold liquids from warming in the hand and hot liquids from scalding." [Selectism via Elspethjane]

    23. And, then check out these 10 coffee shop pickup strategies! [HowAboutWe]

    24. Go and download the new Bright Eyes single here: [HEAR]

    25. Love this "Keep Warm Bus Shelter." [BBook]

    26. Take a look at Steven Colbert's senior yearbook page. He was really into Astronomy and Glee! [InOtherNews]

    27. I'm obsessed with this story of the KC Royals pitcher who turned down $12 mil to keep his self respect. [NYT]

    28. I too am in love with this luggage from Streamline. [Via SimplyJess] Do you guys wanna hear a CRAZY story that I just recently was told on my latest adventure (a trip through SE Asia this Christmas)? So apparently rolling suitcases didn't exist until, like, 1989! [History]. AND! To get us from the luggage you see below to the rolling ones we all use now, one inventor used this luggage handle that folded and that you had to attached your luggage to. When the first built-in handles and wheels were introduced, (by inventor Bob Plath), they didn't take on at first. It took a couple of years for the high end fashion brands to get behind the trend. (The more you know...) [history of rolling luggage]

    29. Speaking of travel, check out the first air show at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. September 30th, 1909. Photographed in Autochrome Lumière by Léon Gimpel. [Ck/Ck]

    Well, that's all for me today, do you have something for tomorrow's list? Email me: Rachelle@guestofaguest.com!

    [Wednesday's List]