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Monthly Archives: March 2010

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Hello Princeton student. Did you think you went to the apathetic, relatively conservative Ivy? Well, shhhhhh. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Princeton’s actually commie.

What am I referring to? Why, this comment, among many others, from the Prince’s comment sections on the recent and controversial appointment of Van Jones to be a visiting fellow next year:

Mar 6, 2010

Oh Princeton, you commie, you…

By Miriam Geronimus

Posted in Goings On, In the news, Politics Tagged comments, Communism, Daily Princetonian, Derek Gideon, environmental justice, Glenn Beck, Princeton Climate Dispatch, Princeton University, Van Jones, visiting faculty Leave a comment

Flawlessly clad Princeton students back in the day

Yesterday, blogger Mister Crew posted that an American publisher is reissuing Take Ivy, a classic photobook that captures the celebrated Ivy League look through pictures of students on several Ivy League campuses — including Princeton. The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $24.95, almost a hundredth of what many have been paying for hardcopies of the original.

The book, by Japanese photographer Teruyoshi Hayashida, was first released in 1965 and the few remaining copies now sell for over $2,000 online and elsewhere. Its re-release is huge news to prepsters and fashionista/o’s everywhere; the book is the authority on that classic prep look — best typified by a crewneck sweater, an oxford shirt, tapered chinos, and Bass Weejuns — that so many revere today. This is the look that current brands like Band of Outsiders and Thom Browne are celebrating in almost all of their collections, not to mention the look that seems to be sweeping through campus.

Mar 6, 2010

Ivy Style, Revisited

By Woody Hines

Posted in Style Tagged take ivy, take ivy book, take ivy reissue Leave a comment

We do a lot of work here at Princeton. Probably didn’t have to remind you.

And yes, folks, Monday is the beginning of midterms, that most bitter of weeks when we hunker down and churn out page after page, pull all-nighters and give ourselves caffeine-induced heart arrhythmia, and have those long awkward silences in precept because, seriously, who would do the reading.

rlv.zcache.com

That’s why we here at The Ink want to help you out. We know what you’re going through, and we want to make you feel better, or at least less insane.

So we’re hosting a contest! You tell us how much work you have this upcoming week (in terms of numbers of pages, problem sets, and midterm exams), and the person with the crappiest week gets a shiny prize.

Oh, and you get massive bragging rights, of course. Because what do Princetonians love more than saying they have more work than one another?

The rules: Post everything you’ve got to do for midterm week in the comments below, or send an email to theinktips@gmail.com. (Be sure to detail how many pages you have to write, problem sets to solve, and midterms to take! And if you win, you have to prove it to us, so no funny business.) We’ll post the winners at the end of midterm week.

(Also, don’t have a mental breakdown before it’s over.)

Mar 5, 2010

CONTEST: Midterm Mania, Spring ‘10

By Will Saborio

Posted in Contests, Goings On Tagged Midterm Mania, midterms, spring 2010, work One comment

(source: oscars.org)

The Oscars are upon us, Tigers! I know you all would like nothing better than to waste all your waking hours on the NYTimes Carpetbagger blog (for the uninitiated, it’s the Times’s Awards-Season blog, and is frankly the best thing since sliced bread. Despite the fact that sliced bread has never seemed particularly awesome, but there you go.). However, midterms are once again upon us…which is decidedly not conducive to wasting time. Obviously. Why on earth would we waste time when we have tremendous pressure to get approximately ten zillion things done before spring break hits? Silly question.

Mar 4, 2010

Paint [the Oscars] Black…and Orange…

By Julia Bumke

Posted in Goings On Tagged Coen Brothers, midterms, Oscars, Princeton Leave a comment

from thecenter.fsu.edu

Congratulations, freshmen and sophomores! Did you wander into Frist today hoping for your paycheck, only to find a thick envelope stuffed with fancy embossed paper telling you that your stellar grades “may have earned you a nomination for membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars?”

Yeah, you and a few hundred other people.

For $75, you can join the Princeton chapter! And, you know, put that on your resume? I guess? You’ll also get a “personalized diploma” (Is there any other kind?) from the society. Which is, cool? …Yeah, it better be MADE OF GOLD.

If you’re going to fork over the money, here’s the only reason you have: discounts!

Among the fancy sheets of paper you might have thrown into your recycling bin is a listing of a few “Scholar Exclusive Discounts.”

25 percent off textbooks from Pearson Textbooks. OK, that’s pretty sweet. I mean, if you don’t already get your books from Amazon, for half the price.
5 percent off at Barnes & Noble (with a super double-discount of 10 percent that you can get three times throughout the year!) Or you could, you know, become a B&N member and get 10 percent off…all the time. (And 40 percent off bestsellers! No, seriously! Get in on that!)
10 percent off participating Motel 6 establishments in the U.S. I don’t really have anything to add to that one.

Mar 4, 2010

National Society of Collegiate Scholars = That Coupon Book You Bought For Your Little Sister’s Band Fundraiser

By Angela Wu

Posted in Goings On Tagged discounts, mailtime mailtime mailtime, motel hotel Holiday Inn, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, scam 11 Comments

Fabr_634031215921547114_fl You might know that custom shirt-maker Alexander West makes some pretty awesome shirts. But you probably don’t know that company founder Alex Yoo recently filled us in on one of his brand new designs, a blue and orange button-up called “Tiger” — inspired, as Yoo told us, by none other than Old Nassau. And, of course, its hefty price tag of $175 suggests Yoo had Princeton’s aspiring i-bankers in mind.

But trust me, these shirts are legit. (That’s a link to a story on my old menswear blog, prepidemic.wordpress.com — but while I’m shamelessly plugging my own work, check out Prepidemic.com, the new site.)

For those of you who don’t know about it, Alexander West is a pretty cool tailor service, and they have much more affordable options — starting as low as $105. And it’s completely custom. You can do it all online, or hop on the dinky and visit the shop in New York.

Mar 4, 2010

A Custom Shirt with some Princeton Spirit

By Woody Hines

Posted in Musings, Style Tagged Alex Yoo, alexander west, bespoke, custom shirting, Tiger Leave a comment

For someone who makes such a big deal about food, author-turned-activist Jonathan Safran Foer ‘99 sure has a fairly low opinion of gustation. I don’t quite agree with his hierarchy:

“Look, taste is clearly the crudest of our senses: this is scientifically, objectively factual. It is less nuanced. Eyesight is extraordinary – hearing, touch. I find people who devote their whole lives to taste a little strange.” He stresses the last words as if this was a vast understatement.

Veggie blues.

Perhaps Dining Services weren’t in their finest form in the late ’90s?

Well, a lot of things aren’t quite right about this interview — it all sounds a little detached, a little demure. (He apparently checks his watch constantly and only answers questions in the negative.) Although if I were drinking something “the colour of manure” and considering food only in weighty philosophical terms–”symbols” or “the centre of stories”– I might be sort of down, too.

Cheer up, JSF. And maybe trade your dogma for a hot dog?

(image source: ft.com)

Mar 3, 2010

Jonathan Safran Foer ‘99 Denounces the Sense of Taste

By Giri Nathan

Posted in In the news, Musings Tagged aloof, Dining Services, Eating Animals, food, Jonathan Safran Foer, lame, taste Leave a comment

You’ll have to pardon my insistence on Chatroulette. I’m just consistently amazed at this… thing, and the interactions it produces. What’s even better is that some people have made such a connection to people they’ve met on Chatroulette that they’ve actually friended each other on Facebook (not to mention posted missed connections about lost opportunities on Craigslist).

source: funpics.classicfun.ws

A female student who chose to remain anonymous (we’ll call her Flustered Flo ‘12), told us about her own experiences getting to know some ‘rouletters.

Flo heard about Chatroulette through some friends and thought it was hilarious the first few times she did it.

“I generally don’t tell people who I am or where I am, until I know who they are and where they’re from,” she said. “I’ve only ever told one person that I was from Princeton, and we found out that we knew some people in common. That made me feel safer.”

She’s even Facebook friended two college students she met on the ‘lette and has kept in contact with them through messages.

That’s not to say it was all rosy, though… Because, you know, things get complicated in matters of the heart.

Mar 2, 2010

The Curious Case of Chatroulette, III: You’re nice! Or, not.

By Will Saborio

Posted in Goings On Tagged awkward, chatroulette, Facebook, missed connections, that's unfortunate, Turkey Leave a comment

Seriously, I’m at what’s supposed to be the greatest university in the world, and yet there’s not a single McNugget to be had within walking distance? What’s up with that, Princeton Borough Slash Township?

I mean, I know you think you’re just soo perfect and classy and Pleasantville that you won’t even allow stand-up signs on your sidewalks (stores… trying to sell stuff? How very tacky of them; how very Plainsboro) — I mean, I’m not surprised or anything. And maybe I’d have just learned to deal with this sorry state of affairs — accepted the situation for what it was — had it not been for the fact that Princeton’s already invited freakin’ Subway into the cool-kids club while McD’s still stands shivering out in the cold rain.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Subway — I’d shotgun their Sweet Onion sauce if they’d let me (/ if I fully knew what shotgunning meant? People talk about it a lot at all the parties I don’t go to but I’m not exactly sure how you do it).

But you can just tell that the zoning board allowed Subway in because they thought to themselves, “Oh, but it’s so much healthier than McDonalds. So much more in keeping with our small-town values.” You think Subway’s so different, so healthy? Yeah, ok. Question: You ever eaten a double-meat double-cheese extra-mayo Italian BMT? Yeah, neither have I. But my friend did once, and then he had a heart attack. IN THE RESTAURANT.

Mar 2, 2010

Why Am I Not At McDonalds Right Now?

By David Walter

Posted in Musings Tagged fast food, McDonalds, not lovin' it, Princeton Borough, Princeton Township, rant, restaurants, Subway Leave a comment

Sarcastic Cat is Sarcastic.

Ever notice how some blogs (ahem) are overwhelmingly, painfully snarky? As in, you wouldn’t feel comfortable approaching the writers, out of fear of becoming their next target– a helpless dartboard for all their incisive criticisms and breezily-tossed epithets? Point is, some bloggers come off sounding like mean dudes, even if they aren’t mean at heart. (And especially if they are.)

Newsweek editor-at-large and Princeton Ferris Journalism Professor-in-Residence Evan Thomas also noticed this phenomenon. He’s seen his fair share. Recently, he visited my Writing Seminar and ended up telling us a little tale of snarkiness and sarcasm– or snarkasm, if you will.

Mar 1, 2010

Newsweek’s Evan Thomas on Snarkasm

By Giri Nathan

Posted in Faculty, Musings Tagged blogging, Evan Thomas, high school, journalism, Newsweek, sarcasm, snarkasm, snarky Leave a comment

Such a majestic creature

Stop reading this post right now if you want to get any work done this week.

Seriously, stop reading. Close the browser and do something else.

Still here? Ok, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Robot Unicorn Attack is the single most addictive game on the planet. We discovered it around 3:30 a.m. early Sunday morning. We didn’t go to bed until 6. We just couldn’t. Stop. Playing.

The game designers describe their creation thusly on the website:

Jump into the steel hooves of a robot unicorn, prancing freely amongst the lush purple grasses and rainbow-strewn backdrops of your wildest fantasies.

Right. Anyways, the game’s delightfully simple controls and game play make it a pleasure to spend five hours at a time playing. Z makes the robot unicorn jump. X makes him (her?) crash through stars. And if you hit anything, you lose.

But the highlight of the game is the original song that accompanies the game play, performed in the style of the great power ballads of the 80s. The opening line: “Open your eyes/I see/Your eyes are open.” Poetry!

So why are we posting a flash game on a blog about Princeton? Because we’re college students. And we have stuff to do. And we need other, funner stuff to do while we should be doing the original, less fun stuff. That’s why.

(P.S. Personal best as of Monday afternoon: 45,756.)

(P.P.S. Monday night: 56,486. 87,884. Fear me, mortals. And post your high scores in the comments section!)

Mar 1, 2010

Time Waster of the Week: Robot Unicorn Attack

By Spencer Gaffney

Posted in Goings On Tagged Adult Swim, Robot Unicorn Attack, Time Waster, Time Waster of the Week One comment

The most visited posts inthe past two weeks:

Monthly Archives: March 2010

The most visited posts in
the past two weeks: