In Praise of Craig Newmark of Craigslist

I haven't done one of these in a long time ... a drunken blog post. Four white wines in an hour will make for some fine writing.

Tonight, I found myself at a function honoring Mr. Craig Newmark, the man behind Craigslist.org. If you're a frequent concert goer like myself, it's an invaluable tool for finding over-priced, unwanted tickets and for dispensing of your tickets at the last moment.

I've actually never bought tickets for a show. I waited twice outside venues and the person never showed up. Once it was for Of Montreal in 2005 at the late NorthSix and the other was British Sea Power at Bowery Ballroom in 2005. The opening act that night, Feist, and she sounded great outside on Delancy. Of course, I've sold my unused tickets many a times (hint, add me to your friends list on myspace, I usually have plus ones for shows and dump unused ones). One time I remember, I was getting rid of Animal Collective tickets a few year ago, and the dude who replied first was coming from Bay Ridge Brooklyn. He decided the best way to get to mid-town Manhattan was through Staten Island and Jersey at 5pm rush hour. He did not get the tickets.

Feel free to post in comments your Craigslist stories.

The other side of the site that I find humorous are the missed connections, especially at shows. Most of them are from guys for girls and they go something like this: "You were the girl in the black tank top, I was dancing near you at the Cut Copy or Def Leppard show, we caught each other's eyes a few times but I was too shy to go up and talk to you. Write me so we can awkwardly meet in public so that I can attempt to make-out with you."

Here are some of the previous Craigslist posts:

• High Comedy for Arcade Fire tickets (January 2007)
• More Comedy for Arcade Fire tickets (February 2007)
• Desperate People for White Stripes tickets (June 2007)
• Missed Connections at shows (February 2008)
• Trying to get tickets for my show (April 2008)
• Craig was sitting behind me at The Colbert Report (June 2006)

In any event, thanks to Mr. Craig for your unwaivering dedication to your site and for making it the easiest site to use. Even though I'll hear on the news, "The 13-year old boy met the man on the web site Craigslist," I still think the site has been a benefit to us all. More importantly for me, I found MusicSnobbery headquarters via the site and saved me $1,500 in broker fees. Finally, we share a creed not to have advertising on our site.

In chatting with him, I was trying to think of jokes he could use in his speech. I was thinking everyone should wear a name tag that says, "This Person Has Been Flagged for Content". Then, everyone can sell the free stuff they got in the For Sale section. He figured he'll try to make the speech basic, similar to the style of the site. So I suggested it should be riddled with bad grammar and poor phrasing.

If you want more from Craig, he'll be the guest on The Colbert Report tomorrow (Wednesday night).

Now, these kind of events -- sometimes I just don't fit in. I feel like a little kid who's sneaking downstairs to my parents dinner party wanting some food. I had to remind myself to look respectable and wear pants.

While trying to snarf down as many alcoholic beverages, I have to look like I belong. Eventually, I need to divulge that I am a semi-known, barely functioning alcoholic music blogger from Jersey. Yup, that will sure impress the ladies. Here's my missed connection: "You were the good looking girl in the flower dress with the v-neck. You put your drink on my table so you can text on your Blackberry.  You look like one of those vaguely-European models you see on the front of the Sunday Target ads wearing the limited edition fashions. Drop me a line and we'll talk." I looked around and I saw people I should know. It's like, "Yeah, there's the guy who wrote that book that I'll never read." Meanwhile, if you were wondering where the MisShape DJs are, they are DJing functions like this one.

The Walkmen were there to play a few songs. The new album will be out August 12, with a title still being worked on. 

Comments

[Craig Newmark]

hey, thanks, much too kind!

Craig

GET OVER YOURSELF!