Shook the Spot

Fuck it man. Gawker, fishbowl, etc, are all but shallow imitations of Gadfly: the week in buzz.

Keep hustlin, oh obsessive one.
 

PREP RALLY

Ever since that whole “meritocracy” thing happened, true-blueblood Ivy Leaguers have had to use sartorial means to identify one another in a crowd. You know the drill: Brooks Brothers oxford button-down, ribbon belt, tweed jacket and—for the more sporting chap—a pastel Lacoste polo, collar upturned. But wait a second—weren’t half the people in your Tuesday morning Gov class wearing the exact same thing? Welcome to campus style, 2004: Retro preppy is in, and if the morning traffic across the Yard last week didn’t prove it, check out the recent New York Times fashion piece on the style of the “Yale Man.” This year both genders are getting in on the act, exchanging spaghetti straps and hoodies for colorful polos and cable-knit sweaters. For Harvard, it’s 1954 all over again, only with more women, minorities, and Jews.

So how does a Brearley Beaver recognize her Hotchkiss hubby when surrounded by a veritable sea of argyle? To spot the old-school WASP in a crowd of drones, look for the traits you can’t buy in J. Crew: a hint of lockjaw, an enviable air of aloofness, and a faint crease of contempt around the eyes. If all else fails, check the nametag: if it says Wigglesworth, you’ve got yourself genuine prep.

CLASS WARFARE

CourtTV’s live coverage of the Alexander Pring-Wilson murder trial has focused squarely on one angle: the divergent backgrounds of Pring-Wilson and his victim, Michael Colono. In the process, the network’s anchors have discovered every possible euphemism for “Hispanic”—our favorite was a pointed reference to Colono’s black headband—and even spent time last week ruminating on the possible effect of the hyphen in Pring-Wilson’s last name.

But it was CourtTV’s James Curtis who really put it all in perspective with this undeniably true statement: “When Colono crossed paths with a Harvard student, it wasn’t for a tutoring session.”

No shit—it was for a stabbing.