Urban Pulse

Elizabeth Taylor, the legendary actress known for classics such as Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, passed away last week at the age of 79. According to sources, Christie’s will be auctioning off $240 million worth of Taylor’s jewelry, with most of the proceeds going to charities such as the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation and amFAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research). Elizabeth Taylor’s philanthropic efforts during her lifetime led her to raise $270 million for her AIDS foundation, and the auction of an estimated $240 million worth of jewelry after her death appears to be able to match or even surpass the amount Elizabeth Taylor raised herself. Elizabeth Taylor has not only left her legacy in Hollywood classics, but will also be iconic in a more significant social endeavor–to support AIDS victims and research.

For more information, visit:

http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2011/03/28/elizabeth-taylor-jewelry/

-My

Okay, let me get this straight.  Jimmy Choo, the person, wants to buy back Jimmy Choo, the label, for $500 million dollars?  Apparently, Mr. Choo hasn’t owned OR designed his namesake label for over 10 years now.  Instead, a private equity firm, TowerBrook, currently owns the majority of the company, along with co-founder, Tamara Mellon.  Jimmy still needs an investor to back his bid, but I don’t think he’ll have much trouble coming up with the money.  Once the finances are figured out, TowerBrook might take the offer, and then its out with the old and in with the Choo (Sorry, I had to do it).

- Sandra



The South by Southwest Interactive conference is a Mecca for new ideas in technology.  This year, one of the major cliffnotes is to keep your eye on social gaming as geosocial applications like Gowalla and Foursquare.  As more and more people start playing these games, the marketing potential is going to grow exponentially.  Even now there are businesses giving away free stuff if you check into their location a certain number of times, which is awesome for people, like me, who always lose those annoying little punch cards.  I think that little incentive will go a long way too, considering how much time people already spend playing painfully mundane online games with absolutely no pay-off.  I don’t know about you, but I once wasted an entire weekend Farmville-ing and I had the embarrassing automatic Facebook wall notifications to prove it.  There’s just something so soothing about harvesting digital eggplant.

-Sandra

Tiburon Bay House

The Tiburon Bay House, now one of the highest rated LEED Platinum homes in the country, is finally finished!  This home, being the stellar example of green living that it is, features exclusively Coyuchi bedding and bath products.  So…when can I move in?

To check out the house, visit www.tiburonbayhouse.com

- Sandra

Method founders Adam Lowry & Eric Ryan

Did you know that our client, Method‘s first cleaning batches were made and stored in beer pitchers? Quite a contrast from their sleek and stylishly designed bottles today. See how founder’s Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan’s genius idea, ambition, and hard work paid off into big success on CNBC’s “How I Made My Millions” here.

-Mukkitu

Roofs in Kenya

JR’s wish was to change the world, so TED gave him $100,000 to do it. This guy (presently known as my hero) has been traveling the world for the past few years, taking pictures of local faces, blowing them up into huge black and white posters and putting them everywhere they don’t belong. From rioters’ faces on sides of bourgeois Paris buildings, to locals peering up from the roofs of their slums in Kenya, to Israeli faces outside Palestinian doors, this art can’t help but resonate powerfully with anyone who sees it. Now with the funding, the project is expanding to include anyone who wants to participate. All you have to do is send a black and white portrait to InsideOutProject.net, and your photo will appear somewhere in your community. So, so cool.

Would you submit a portrait? I think I’ll send them a picture of my roommate.

Check out the website: http://www.insideoutproject.net/

- Sandra

Bloomberg TV to launch new west coast focused daily program

Emily Chang, co-host of "Bloomberg West"

Bloomberg announced last week that they will be airing a new daily program focusing on the best and latest news in technology, business and innovation called “Bloomberg West”.

Continue reading “Bloomberg TV to launch new west coast focused daily program” »

TimesLimited Campaign

The days of clipping coupons out of the newspaper have been over for some time, but now, The New York Times has taken it one step further, managing to make saving money seem sophisticated- even chic.

Their new service, TimesLimited, will send subscribers exclusive daily-deals on high-end goods and services from ad partners.  Since Groupon, it seems like everyone is jumping on the online, group-buying bandwagon, but who can blame them?  Everyone likes a good deal.  It’s a little unclear exactly which products will be included in TimesLimited, but just that angle shot of the yacht keeling over on the open sea makes me want to be a member of this club.

- Sandra