Rachelle's Reading List, Monday, March 7th, 2011

by Rachelle Hruska · March 7, 2011

NASA discovered life on other planets, some dudes recreated a frat box and call it "art," and we dissected James Franco's bookshelf. Also, why goth is the new hipster, why delusional marriages are most the most likely to succeed (whaa?!), Mardi Gras from NOLA, and what Frank Falcinelli baked me for my bday. Plus! Someone with tons of money please buy the Gatsby mansion before they tear it down ok?

1. The 150 Women who shake the world. Newsweek and The Daily Beast, both brought to you by a woman-Tina Brown, are honoring 150 extraordinary women. They are heads of state and heads of household, angry protesters in the city square and sly iconoclasts in remote villages.

Check out the highlights from the very first issue of Newsweek under Tina Brown. [Newsweek]

2. "C'mon Guy" at the Scope art fair. Aka: "Frat-in-a-Box" art installation. I smell a frat. This is really funny. If there's one smell I hope to NEVER come across in my life again, it's that of the frat house. These 4 New Jersey frat dudes spent hours pounding "Natty light," vomiting, butting heads, drunkenly heckling passersby and generally behaving like complete jackasses all from behind a Plexiglass wall, and all in the name of ART. [Daily] [PSFK]

3. Speaking of frat boys. I'm sick of Sheen. I'm starting to feel non winning by even talking about Sheen still. Alas, his web show "Sheen's Korner" was watched by 1.2 million people on Saturday night. It was really bad. [THR] And Charlie even admitted so. [Twitter] But, the spoof that SNL did on the show was actually pretty funny. [Gawker.tv]

4. Play Rock-Paper-Scissors against the NYT! I love this. [NYT]

5. There are people watching you. And, if it weirds you out to have cookies and online tracking devices sending your every move on the Internet to companies for dissection, SelectOut is for you. [SelectOut]

6. Subway, with 33,749 stores, has surpassed McDonald's as the world's largest restaurant chain. The company says it plans to triple its number of outlets in China. [WSJ]

7. What's the secret to a happy marriage? Delusion. New research says that those who are "a bit delusional about their partners when they got married were more satisfied with their marriage three years later." [BostonGloble]

8. These Banksy inspired 10 year olds bough a big stack of rocks, washed them, painted the base colors, and dropped them around their town, hoping to spread a little bit of happiness to anyone who stumbled across them. Super cute. [TheDailyWhat]

9. This Sunday's 60 Minutes, on a new generation of homeless kids in our country, was HEARTBREAKING. [60min]

10. Study: too much technology has destroyed our ability to sleep. No more TV before bed. DID YOU CATCH THAT SMAC: No.more.television.before.sleep. [Tech]

11. My friend, Andrew Bevan, editor of Teen Vogue Style, stopped by the Kathie Lee & Hoda show to chitchat. Beyond exciting: [Today]

12. The average smartphone owner spends 667 minutes a month using apps, more time than spent talking on phone or using it to browse web. [NYT]

13. This is amazing. A bunch of people were stuck at the airport in Buenos Aires on Friday and were getting really pissed off. That was, until Cyndi Lauper showed up and got on the mic to sing! [Gawker]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PrBnG9E4I4[/youtube]

14. This stair storage (left) is GENIUS! Seriously brilliant. [Inhabitat via Simko]

Then, check out the 12 most creative interior staircases: [Oddee also via Simko]

15. This NYPD helicopter video from September 11th, 2001 was JUST released online today, almost 10 years later. Warning, the video below is unedited shot before, during and after the towers fell. It's not exactly a feel good film. [PP]

16. Modern Architecture 101. An [All Nighter] original:

17. Justin Timberlake to begin recording new album this summer. The 30-year old revealed his new plans to [EW]

18. Banksy visited New Orleans this weekend and left this "I must not copy what I see on the Simpsons" mural among others. Rad. [Today&Tom]

19. Farming is really "in" right now. A young generation of farmers emerges. [NYT]

20. NASA scientist Dr. Richard B. Hoover found conclusive evidence of alien life-fossils of bacteria found in extremely rare class of meteorite called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites. COOL! [Yahoo]

21. Analyzing James Franco's bookshelf. Yesterday, the renaissance man tweeted a photo of "what we can only assume is his bookshelf." Obviously, people are dissecting it....There's a huge edition of The Great Gatsby, a Rothko book, and a magic crystal ball, among other things.[Flavorwire]

22. And, speaking of the Great Gatsby, the real life mansion that was said to be author F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspiration for the novel is about to be demolished! GASP! After sitting on the market at $30 million, the home-Lands End-is set to be knocked down and split into 5 lots at $10 million each. NO!!!!!!! [Newday]

23. Gwyneth Paltrow is about to sign her first record contract with Atlantic Records. The sound of the music might be "country pop." [Gawker]

24. The Android pulls ahead in the Smartphone Race. Coming up ahead of Apple and Blackberry! [NYT]

25. I keep saying that "Goth" is the new "Hipster." I love this"Everyone needs a goth friend," by my non-goth friend [Ned Hepburn]

26. Check out these great weekend reads (for next weekend) from [the Daily Beast].

27. It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and, per usual, Nick McGlynn is on the scene documenting all of the beads, parades, and boobs. [NMG]

28. The government says it has a stupidly large amount of real estate that taxpayers are paying to maintain that it doesn't need. How stupid! [Whitehouse.gov]

29. The new NYT Magazine redesign is like reading a colonoscopy brochure from the 1960s. Whoops. [@espiers]

30. I'm not sure how I missed Bdubs Williams slow jamming with Jimmy Fallon the other night... [Fyb]

31. Why America will stay on top. Eminent historian Paul Johnson on Sarah Palin, the tea party, and "baddies" from Napoleon to Gadhafi. Inspirational. [WSJ]

32. Digital Detox. The National Day of Unplugging (NDU) was March 4th. Def missed out on that one. Whoops. [Utne]

33. Swapping dollar coins in for bills would be a pain in the ass, but did you know it could save us $5.5 billion?! Clunk.[NPR]

34. Finally, This Saturday I got beyond spoiled in Montauk at my friend's, Robin and Stephen's (of Roman and Williams design) gorgeous home. Bonus! Frank Falcinelli was there and, in case you are wondering what my bday dessert from the man behind Frankies and Prime Meats looked like, here's the photos below (they were beyond):

[Delicately cooked meringues and Green Tea custard bowls!]