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show tunes
Hollywood power player Randi Zuckerberg struts her stuff
Meet Randi Jayne Zuckerberg Tworetzky, Facebook's rep in Tinseltown, who scored No. 45 on The Hollywood Reporter's list of digital power players. The newlywed, Mark's older sister, was a surprising choice — an infuriating one, to some of our tipsters — but she got the props for brokering content deals with ABC and Comcast, no small feat. Still, we're less interested in Randi Tworetzky's business dealings than in Randi Jayne's musical stylings. (If Hollywood had any sense, they would, to.) Which makes this lip dub of her singing "Going to the Chapel" utterly frustrating. Randi, we don't want to watch you mouth the words. Girl, sing out! (Video by Julia Allison) More » -
breakdowns
David Pogue blacklists Google, sings uplifting show tune
I tried to send an email to New York Times columnist David Pogue, but I failed. It appears that Google's Gmail has been blacklisted by the Sorbs spam-blocking system. At the moment, Sorbs claims to be in a "maintenance period." Pogue's email provider could be blocking all mail because it can't reach Sorbs — but why would it be down for maintenance in the middle of the day? See the full error message after the jump and tell me if you can figure it out. In the meantime, David, call me? Everybody sing! Let the sound of your voice turn winter to spring. More » -
media
Brad Stone, the baddest tech reporter that ever was born
Fake Brad Stone is doing a passable job of celebrating the career of the ruggedly handsome New York Times reporter who outed Fake Steve Jobs. Passable. I mean, I like the idea of supplanting the Pulitzer Prize with a new "Stoney" award. But Fake Brad could do so much more. He could, for example, burst into song. With apologies to George Thorogood — and, while I'm at it, to Brad Stone, Fake Brad Stone, and my readers — Valleywag presents a rock-and-roll celebration of our favorite Timesman. Here are the lyrics to "Brad to the Stone": More » -
show tunes
"Nerds" musical explores Broadway compatibility
Watch out, Randi Jayne. Hollywood actor Sean Hayes is moving in on your nerd-chic musical territory. Earlier this week, Hayes joined a reading of "Nerds://A Musical Software Satire." Unlike the work of Jayne, however, the Facebook employee and sister of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, "Nerds" is far from Techmeme-current. Instead, the musical explores the decades-old rivalry of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. As such, it's unlikely to draw much of an audience in the Valley, to whom the story's all too familiar, and old. But the names of Gates and Jobs may just be familiar enough to draw in the the Midwestern tourists who fill Broadway's seats, and Hayes's star power won't hurt. Here's an idea for the producers to draw Silicon Valley fans: Cast the petite but sparky Jayne as diminutive venture capitalist Ann Winblad, Gates's ex-girlfriend and occasional vacation companion. -
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social networks
Facebook's users turn up their noses at its ads
Today, I don't think Randi Jayne, director of market development at Facebook and sister of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, would sing quite so gleefully about "startups [that] get the rag ... from Valleywag." Because now comes her employer's turn. The Reach Students blog notes that a campaign on Facebook drew a 0.04% click-through rate — a dismal response that's far from uncommon in advertisers' experiences. No wonder the site is scraping the bottom of the barrel to find advertisers. If Zuckerberg is to maintain his site's precious independence, he will have to figure out better ways for his company — and its advertisers — to profit from its rapidly swelling user base. Should he consider placing ads on his sister's show tunes instead? They'd get better click-throughs. -
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family business
A Facebook insider dances her way to the IPO
I've always said that if there's one thing Silicon Valley needs, it's more show tunes. Which is why I'm such a sucker for the oeuvre of Randi Jayne and Jennifer Lee, the comedic duo behind such hits as "How to Get a Guy in Silicon Valley" and "Failure Is Fun (Valleyfreude)." (Jayne, newly solo, has come out with another brilliant number, "Crackberry," which you must go watch immediately.) But if you want to review Jayne's past works, you'll be stymied. "Valleyfreude" has gone missing. "It's a take-down," Jayne's site reads. I can't imagine that the disappearance of "Valleyfreude" anything to do with the fact that Jayne has a day job at Facebook. And that she's the sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And that Facebook's getting ready for an IPO. Oh, wait. I can imagine that. More »
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1-7 of 7 for "Show Tunes"
