There are a lot of guys out there like Jason and it is sad. They have to spend a lot of loot to make up for their lack of personality (and more than likely lack of penis) to have women around them, attempt to look cool and be popular. He also sounds lke someone who is trying to make up for a less then popular adolescence. I feel sorry for him because he is pathetic. Where are these "friends" of his going to be when he is out of money and has to move to Weehawkin, NJ and drive a Nissan because he can't afford the Manhattan lifestyle~he created~ anymore? I like nice things and having a great time too, but not at that price. Besides, I want people to hang out with me because they genuinely enjoy my compnay not my money.

I would rather hang out with guys like PK who are fun, smart and drink beer like real men do. I drink Grey Goose and love it, but I would never pay $300 for a bottle of it (nor would I ever let a guy pay that either for me) and I can afford to. I guess I respect myself and money alot more than Jason does, and I would have a hell of lot more fun with people like myself then him. My uncle owns a dive bar in Philadelphia and he has a customer who is a millionaire and you would never know it. He wears jeans, drinks beer, gets drunk and shoots darts like the rest of us. He is a genuinely great guy, never forgot where he came from and a class act. This guy could drink at the finest drinking establishments Philadelphia has to offer, but he doesn't want to. Jason could learn a thing or two from this man.

What Jason hasn't learned is that having money and being flashy with money DOESN'T buy you respect or class OR a chance to get into my pants. What a loser.

What a douchebag, this guy is a moron. What I want to know is how can I open a bar/club and convince people that they should pay $300 for a bottle.... let alone run up a minimum tab of $2,500??!?!

Jackass.... but where is he anging out. Hey if someone is going to buy $300 bottles I'm sure they would spring for my tab too!
I'm aware I have no self respect. Thats ok tho.

I've been a web developer and producer in NYC for about 8 years now. 1997 - late 1999 were heady days for us web types - we former geeks were now seen as wizards and rockstars, the foundation on which billion dollar companies would be built. I was immediately hired by a large, trendy consulting firm and went to work for a bizarre mixture of wide eyed startups with SERIOUS venture capital funding, to the most staid of Fortune 500 financial institutions terrified of being left behind in the internet goldrush.

What all this means is there was a lot of fucking money kicking around and a lot of quirky, hip, smart people willing to spend it.

In 1996 I was a nerd in chunky black glasses.

In 1998 I was able to get the doorguy at some shithole club/lounge to loudly apologize to me for his steroid attitude (he didn't know that I wasn't merely on "the list" - I was one of the honorees at some private party).

So, I'd sit there at places like Tao and NV and all the other 1998 shitholes that have closed, drinking beer and doing shots, just looking at all of these fucking idiots who were paying for this crap on their own damned dime.

Haha - I knew this little internet bubble couldn't last so I milked it for what it was worth. Clients paid for everything. You'd bust ass for them for 3 months, 80 hours a week and they'd reward you with a launch or release party at some trendoid place. Shit - maybe they'd rent you a freaking boat to sail around NY harbour while you munched brie and drank their champagne.

But it came to an end and we went back to getting together at the local bar for our launch parties - who cares anyway? I'm a computer programmer not a Hilton sister, fer crying out loud. Shit - even if I spent a night at NV drinking Cristal served by some sexbot, I'd always end up having a night cap at the Racoon Lodge, drinking Cuervo served by the stunning and leather clad Stefanie (no longer working bars in NY, unfortunately - which sucks, because she makes the bartenders on Kevin Fitzpatrick's site look like construction workers).

Its all about keeping it real, people.

I'm a blue collar guy, from blue collar stock. But you pick up the tab and I'll be glad to drink witcha Mr Client Man anywhere you please. Where to? Panagea? Lotus? Filter 14? Bring it on - I'll only end up at the Racoon Lodge later, anyway.

But these punks who spend 1000s of dollars of their own money for a FUCKING CLUB?

Sigh - but the kids are stupid today. Everyone knows that hyperinflated prices at trendoid joints are for corporate money. Anyone spending their own dime for this shit is a jackass of the highest order.

See you at the Raccoon Lodge.

I don't understand why this is such a big deal. So the guy spends a shit load of money to have a good time. It doesn't seem like its entirely his fault. When your raised with money and spend it like nothing your entire life, you don't even think twice about what your bill will come to. I highly doubt this guy simply spends money just to get people to like him. This is the lifestyle he's used to and maybe this is what he considers a normal night out.

What is wrong with the whole story is that Jason's ridiculous spending on parties was featured on a Nationwide show called Primetime Live. If you want to be featured on shows like this, then you are looking for popularity and praise for having money. I don't care how you were raised, but discretion is appropriate behavior regardless of your upbringing. Jason is a jerk off.

I don't have a big problem with overspending, per se. We all do it, at times, on our own scales. But there's no way this guy can be sure that every smile being shone to him is geniune. Not when you're trotting around town aggressively trying to be a big shot. That's what separates him from a guy who might spend tons of money on classic guitars or baseball cards.

I didn't see the episode, so why was this national news? Is Iraq/Afghanistan/War over?

I agree that's a jerky way to party in New York. It's not the style of anyone on this site.

But currenly my new favorite show is "Simple Life" and I laughed my ass off at the rich girls' lifestyle. It's so completely out-there that it cracks you up. OF COURSE they are from another planet.

Kevin-I swore I was not going to watch "Simple Life" and I did. I am hooked. What I love about it is the fact that I hardly have the lifestyle that these two young ladies have, and you would never get my ass to Arkansas to live with an inbred family and doing the things they are doing. So to see the likes of Paris and Nicole doing it is hysterical.

The main reason I am watching is because it is just a matter of time before these two start banging the locals. Now THAT I want to see. Those poor young boys are never going to be the same. They will never find women like those two in Arkansas, hell it is hard to find women like that anywhere.

Cass - the family in The Simple Life seemed to be as normal middle class as it gets - certainly not inbred. I can see trashing the bizareely rich, but tossing a slur at an utterly normal family seems a bit much.

What we need is a show about regular everyday Americans and their quiet lives of desperation...oh, yeah, there is one. COPS.
OK then, how about a show that gives a glimpse of people that will do anything for money...no, that's been done too. Fear Factor.
Shit, how about taking some nothin' happenin' assholes and pitting them against each other in teams. Hell, Survivor.
OK....rich, nothin' happenin' assholes and make them live like the people profiled on COPS. Now, we got something.
What the hell is next? How about televised executions? Jesus, people, pick up a fucking book....

wow, never thought that the term inbred was a slur. the family in normal life is hardly a normal family. maybe normal for arkansas. paris was sent there because it was such an extreme opposite of her life, and middle class is hardly extreme.

sorry if i offended the innerbred.

Ain't no lovin like from your cousin!

It depends on how you define "normal." It's all subjective, anyway. As far as the family in "The Simple Life" not being an example of normalcy...perhaps they wouldn't be normal to someone who lived in a different region, who held opposite traditions and belief systems. However, in their area, this family would probably be considered "normal," maybe even representative. I've resided in various regions....northeast, south, west....and this family on the show seems okay to me, for all intents and purposes.

Cass - in my high school way back in the day there was an inbred kid - his mom was quite literally his half sister - he was born with out cartilidge in his nose and he ran around the school in a big floppy hat, singing the theme from the Greatest American Hero (belive it or not, I'm walking on air!).

So yeah - inbred is kind of a slur. Not that I took offense or anything - I just thought the Simple Life family was pretty damned normal - in that middle American, Wal-Mart shopping kind of way. Look at the kids - that bizarre middle America mix of sports jerseys, crew cuts and hip hop accessories that every rural white boy wears these days.

But hey - I live in Chelsea in Manhattan - what do I know from normal?

Henry

Ahem, you have proven my point, Henry...there is nothing normal about shopping at Wal-Mart or those with the desire to shop there. Wal-mart is not middle america, it represents scary america. When it comes to convenient shopping there are to categories of people: The Wal-Mart Shoppers and the Target Shoppers. Wal-Mart people shop there because they HAVE to and Target people shop at Target because they want to buy the same stuff but don't want to be seen at Wal-Mart. I happen to prefer Target.

Since you live in Chelsea, I am sure you have never been to a Wal-Mart, and take my word for it--it ain't a pretty place. I can assure you that you would run for the hills once you saw the people walking out of one. Would you shop at a place that allows Kathy Lee to have her own clothing line? Has it's own Nascar aisle? Not me.

Cass - WalMart is not Middle America? That couldn't be further from the truth. WalMart may not be Bergdorf Goodman's or Saks with its (gasp!)Kathie Lee/Nascar lines and it may not even hold the court on quality with your beloved Target, but WalMart is definitive of Middle America. I don't care for either Target or WalMart myself. But some could call you a snob or uninformed when dissing the chain that uses CG (animated) smiley faces in its commercials.

Let's review the facts : if you did your homework, you would see that WalMart (shockingly) ranks as the #1 retailer in North America and places Sam Walton's offspring among Forbes wealthiest (net worth in the billions). All that dinero the chain has must come from somewhere...from the pockets of middle Americans.

Hehe - yeah, that was pretty much my point, too, Cass - we might not like it, we might think its scary, but damnit - that's the face of what is "normal" in America: the Wal-Mart Shopper!

Wal-Mart gave up on its plans to open a NYC store but I think we came damned close. Target is still sniffing around Manhattan from what I hear - last year they had a huge barge docked on the piers that served as a temporary NY holiday shopping location. K-Mart does ok 'round here too.

Wish I could afford to shot at Bergdorf-Goodman though. Ahh well...

If Wal-mart is considered normal, then I am defintiely moving to NYC where Wal-mart doesn't exist. Now, I have to add that bit of knowledge to my many reasons of why I love NY.

I am a normal, hard working gal and I just would never step foot in Wal-Mart, period. They censor music, books and magazines, and again-have Kathy Lee clothes and Nascar. How can you call a store "American" when it won't even uphold our rights to free speech, to listen to un-edited music and to be able to buy certain magazines and books? Wal-mart refused to sell Howard Stern's Private Parts book even though it was #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list! They even altered the NY Times list to remove Stern's book as the #1, and Stern and the NY Times went after Wal-Mart for this. You want to buy Playboy-FHM-or even a Marilyn Manson cd, don't bother going to Walmart because it won't be there. They will determine what is appropriate for you to read and listen too. I am aware that the Wal-mart empire is worth billions, but not one penny of it came from my pocket. Henry, why are you challenging me on this when you don't go to walmart either?

I never said that I shopped at Bergdorf's and to assume I am a snob (unwarrented judgement from JAB) because I won't shop at Wal-Mart is totally inaccurate. I admitted I shopped at Target, didn't I? Since I don't wear Kathie Lee clothes, I could give two shits about Nascar, and I like my music and reading materials unaltered (who the fuck do the owners of Walmart think they are that they can push their christian beliefs on people, and control what we can and can't read or listen too?)I will never go to Walmart. I will go to Target where I can buy my Playboy and a NY Times best seller book full of "sin". BTW, Target has donated supplies and Xmas trees to be sent to our troops in Iraq. What has your all american walmart done?

Cass wrote: Target has donated supplies and Xmas trees to be sent to our troops in Iraq. What has your all american walmart done?

Here's the Support Our Troops section of Wal-Mart's charity program, Good Works. It details what the company is doing for troops past and present.

Cass - I never attempted to pass judgment on you nor did I label you a snob. I said, "some" not me, mind you, "some" people could label you a snob for your comments. I wasn't passing a personal judgment on you (since I don't even know you). I look at all sides of an issue. Have a nice day.

I don't know....
I have no money, I don't really have a job besides being me, I drink too much, I'm no Johnny Depp and I still seem to get the finest ass in Yorkville. Go figure....

Like I always say, "When you have a personality, you don't need to workout!"

Samething goes for money