My friend Brian quit his Wall Street job last year.  He and his wife Kelley decided to start a business selling luxury baby clothing, called Itzy Ritzy.  I'm not quite in their target market but their clothing, made from bamboo, sure sounds soft and comfortable — hmm, maybe they'll bring out a men's line! 

Here they are being interviewed on ABC News Chicago and Kelly asking Donny Deutsch as to how they should tweak their strategy given the downturn in spending.  Use "ragsgupta.com" as a promo code to get 20% off.

The FT writes about the refreshingly candid report issued by Terra Firma (actually one of their vehicles) on the state of EMI, as does the New York Post.  They claim not to have known about certain excesses until after their purchase (with the implication that prior management hid this), such as huge contracts that were doled out to top staff.  They go on to note some of the other excesses like a 700 K GBP tax bill for london taxis last year (more than a few investment banks), paying more than double market rates for staff and that 88% of artists make a loss.  It's curious that this wasn't picked up in their due diligence.  Either they didn't pick up on this, which would imply incompetence, or they were bamboozled, which is what they are sensibly telling their investors.  They are also lowering expectations by claiming it will not be a quick fix.  That way the bar is so low that anything positive will be viewed in a good light.  Smart.  

Ronning Lipset Radio got acquired by TargetSpot today.  It is a combination that makes a lot of sense:

I still remember getting a call from Andy Lipset when I was at Live365.  He wanted to talk to me about repping our audio ad inventory.  I basically called him crazy (*no one* wanted to touch that inventory back then).  I have since become friends with him and his partner, Eric Ronning.  They are incredible professionals and true pioneers in internet radio, having broken open a market that was basically dormant before they took it on.  It makes a lot of sense for them to combine their sales prowess with the technically driven TargetSpot. 

Congrats to Eric and Andy, and to Doug and the TargetSpot team for making it happen. 

The Economist does a small piece on the impact of video games on the music industry.  We've already seen video games break artists and even singles premiering in a video game.  The most interesting, yet unqualified, anecdote is how Aerosmith made more money from their Guitar Hero game than from any of their albums.  The article quotes Bob Lefsetz as saying that music games could flame out and certainly won't save the business.  I don't think music games are the mythical silver bullet for the industry either, but I do think they'll last.  Music games are just another step in the phenomenon of people using technology to participate as they consume media — from karaoke to YouTube to blogs to Rock Band — and I don't see that trend ending anytime soon.

Ocado is an online grocery service operated by Waitrose, a large supermarket chain in the UK.  I just used them for the second time and well, they have nailed the user experience:

• The site is intuitive and fast.  You can search and browse in a few different ways.  They also include what you'd expect in terms of recommendations but also do little things like denote an item as something you've previously bought.  This is important when having to look through a lot of items, which can make it a daunting experience otherwise.
• It was easy to select a delivery time and they also give you the option of being 'green' by selecting a slot where their van will be in your neighborhood.  Nice touch.
• During checkout, they tempted me to add a couple of items that were on sale or that they recommended based on past purchase.
• They thoughtfully send you a reminder text with youor delivery time and also the time after which you can no longer change my order.
• Finally, both times I've ordered, the delivery man came right on time during the appointed slot.

I've only used them a couple of times but it doesn't get much better than this.  My one gripe is that I wish they had more whole foods-type stuff.

Have a drink at dusk at the Rooftop Bar at the Grand Bretagne hotel. It has a breathtaking view of the Acropolis against the setting sun.

Music does a lot for us.  It makes you cry, makes you dance, gets you laid and, ultimately, touches your soul.  But has it ever saved your life?  It did for David Crosby.  Charlie Gillmor of the Guardian just posted an interview with the artist where he talks about the songs that mattered most to him throughout his life and even those that kept him alive.

My friend David Porter just published the playlist on 8tracks, or click below to play: