Illustration by Gretel
Mon, March 09
Think Pink
Barbie's 50th Birthday
Come on, Barbie, let's go party! In honor of her big 5-0, the $3 billion Mattel brand is busting out the global confetti. There's a birthday bash in a life-size Malibu Dream House -- complete with signature-pink carpet -- designed by Jonathan Adler. A New York fashion-week show, featuring designs by Diane von Furstenberg, Norma Kamali, and Alexander Wang. And the Shanghai opening of House of Barbie, an eight-floor mecca to the 11.5-inch doll with spa, museum, doll-styling stations, and eateries. "Every detail is customized -- even the iconography on the bathroom. Should it be the regular man sign or something fun? We did a Ken doll, of course," brand manager Richard Dickson says. "It was exhausting." -- KR
Tue, March 10
Buy Houses
MIPIM
Cannes, France
"The home-building market is on life support," says Mike Lucki, head of Ernst & Young's global-infrastructure services, reaffirming what we already know. Yet the 30,000 attendees at this four-day event -- the real-estate industry's premier worldwide gathering -- are likely to be upbeat. For one thing, they'll be in Cannes, so what's to complain about? Also, starchitects Zaha Hadid and Wolf Prix will supply further distraction, sharing their big thinking on design, urban planning, and the future of architecture. And just in time for 2009, forecast to have the lowest hotel-occupancy rates since 1971, there's a session on "Hotels Go Sexy: Fashion Industry Meets Hotel Industry." Which is perfect, because hotels not being sexy is the main reason people are staying home. -- Anne C. Lee
Tue, March 10
Eat
International Pizza ExPO
Las Vegas
Say it ain't dough: Even pizza isn't immune from the crusty economy. "The downturn is definitely affecting us," admits Peter Cooperstein, a Pizza Expo regular whose 11 Amici's East Coast Pizzerias in Northern California have suffered same-store sales declines in part because corporate pizza parties are getting sliced. Pizza Expo EVP Bill Oakley acknowledges the concern among the 10,000 operators expected this year, but still believes the "drop-down effect" -- diners opting for a nice pizzeria rather than a fancier Italian restaurant -- will cushion the industry. A stretch? Maybe, but it can't compare to Bruno Di Fabio, whose 39.9-inch dough stretch last year won the World Pizza Games, an annual highlight of the Expo. -- DL
Fri, March 13
Listen
South by Southwest
Austin, Texas
It's been called the biggest industry party in the world -- nearly 150,000 attendees, 80-plus venues, and more than 1,800 acts, including Ben Harper (above) this year. But SXSW veterans know the annual music-and-more festival's most talked-about events often belong to no industry at all. Unofficial film screenings and seat-of-the-pants jam sessions draw clusters of festivalgoers to clothing stores and parking lots across the city. Last year, while brands like Xbox 360 and Rock Band pushed their wares at official parties, others including Red Bull and Scion were hanging around (and hosting) unofficial gatherings. All this big-brand marketing, at an event once dominated by boutique record labels and niche music mags, may leave a bad taste in some purists' mouths. But take it from us: It's nothing a free Red Bull can't wash away. -- Clay Dillow
Sat, March 14
Count
Pi Day
Number nerds, rejoice! Pi -- that magical, mystical number representing the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter -- gets the attention it deserves today (ahem, 3.14). The world's most widely known mathematical constant will be feted with pie parties, pi-ku (aka pi haiku) readings, and recitation contests, though spouting 100 digits is no big whoop when you consider a Japanese computer scientist calculated this never-ending number to 1.2 trillion digits in 2002. Want to up your pi-lover's cred? Sink your teeth into a slice today at the Pi Second: 1:59:26 p.m. -- KR
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