Men In Black

Last night I attended a Mediabistro publishing industry mixer hosted at the Google headquarters in Chelsea. I usually don't enjoy those sorts of things too much, there are always clumps of adverstising hotshots in severe black outfits and tiny cruel angular glasses who are compulsively checking their Blackberrys while shaking your hand. But last night's event was actually pretty decent, with great food and giant screens showing various Google Earth zoom-ins on NYC locations.

The event was held just off of Google's employee cafeteria, where their employees famously eat free. I couldn't help wandering around in there, amused by the over-the-top California-ness of the offerings: a raw foods bar, an allergen-free bar, organic foods, etc. But it was the view from the huge terrace off the party room that kept drawing people outside into the 10 degree air. From their employee cafeteria, the Google employees enjoy an unbelievable river-to-river view of midtown, the Empire State Building, the whole schmear.

I didn't win the door prize iPod (always, always, these things give away iPods now), but I had a nice time chatting with a few homos that found each other in a corner of the room. And then on the phone on the way home in the cab, I talked to a guy in Philly named Sal, which I promised him I'd mention here.
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