Jimmy Kimmel Sabotages Jay Leno

Jimmy Kimmel was a video guest on 'The Jay Leno Show' on Thursday night, and was supposed to simply be a guest for Jay's normal 'Ten at Ten' segment, wherein he asks someone ten questions. With nearly every answer, however, Kimmel managed to find a way to twist his answer into some form of a Leno insult. While Jay took it in good stride, the answers were so anti-Leno we are really wondering if it was pre-planned or an act of pure disdain for Leno.

The laser-focus of Kimmel's aggression towards Jay is a sign of the overhwelming support fellow entertainers and fans are showing towards Conan O'Brien, who they feel was slighted by Leno. During the Leno-Kimmel exchange, the questioning went mostly like this:

Jay to Jimmy: "You're known for pranks ... what's the best prank you've ever pulled?"

Jimmy's Response: "I think the best prank I ever pulled was... ... I told a guy that five years from now, I'm going to give you my show. And then when the five years came, I gave it to him and then I took it back almost instantly. It was hilarious."

Jay to Jimmy: "Ever ordered anything off the TV?"

Jimmy's Response: "Like NBC ordered your show off the TV?"

Jay to Jimmy: "What's the most number of lapdances you've had in one night?"

Jimmy's Response: "Jay, my mother's watching the show. No wait, the show's canceled so nobody's watching. ... Strippers, I don't like in general because you have this phony relationship with them for money, similar to that of when you and Conan were on the 'Tonight Show' together passing the torch?"

Jay to Jimmy: "Is there anything you haven't hosted that you want to host?"

Jimmy's Response: "Oh, this is a trick right? Where you get me to host the 'Tonight Show' and then take it back? You've got $800 million. For God's sake, leave our shows alone."

US to give money to Haiti - where are we getting the money from?

Please don't get me wrong I for one want to take $20 out of my own pocket and donate to the efforts over in Haiti but when I read that my government is pledging to send $100 million dollars in aid and more American troops I can't help but ask;

Where are we getting this money from? We already have a debt into the trillions of dollars.

Why didn't we use this kind of money to help persons who were loosing their homes during the mortgage crisis or to help Katrina victims rebuild their homes and lives?

More troops? Haven't we lent enough of our troops out into the world? Here of course it most definitely needed but perhaps we should pull out of countries that don't really want us there and we'll be better positioned to help out countries such as Haiti.

And think about this, on September 11th the World Trade Centers were attacked and destroyed. Wasn't that a catastrophe? Then why didn't the government just open up its coffers then and pay for the rebuilding work of those towers (which btw are still not up and this is like going on 9 years!)? Heck for that amount you could build a tower as big as the worlds new highest marvel in Dubai!

I just find it strange that during times of natural disasters that we in America are so ready to take of our excess and yet when a financial disaster occurs we don't have that same compassion for our fellow man. Think, if each of us just took $5-$20 and donated to a fund to save the victims of Katrina or to help them rebuild what could have been done. To this day there are homes in New Orleans that still have not been rebuilt and probably never will be.

Taking that same model for example think of how many homes we could have helped be saved from bank foreclosures. Now I'm not saying that we should help those who lied on their credit applications, owned multiple homes or the like but you get the point. Where was or is our sense of responsibility and charity for our fellow man? And why is the media playing the scenes in Haiti out over and over while not giving the same media coverage to lets say homeowners being evicted out of their homes or grannies being shipped off to a nursing home because they lost all of their money in the Madoff scandal? If they did would we have been as generous to help?

I personally feel bad for those in Haiti for all that they are going through now and I hope that in time that Haiti can rebuild and move forward from this with perhaps a more forward thinking government running things. Those in Haiti will also need to learn from this and hold their government accountable for the gross poverty and substandard living that exists. True the country was poor but that's because the ruling class has long used the governments treasury as their own personal ATM. And let us not mention the mass corruption that exists at all the governmental levels.

So in ending I ask that we not only come together to help out our fellow man in Haiti but I ask us all to deeply ponder over the thoughts herein raised and ask "What am I doing for my fellow man?"

Up-and-Coming Retailers: Gilt Groupe

These days, walking into a Saks Fifth Avenue(SKS) store is confusing for most shoppers. To your left is a bizarre T-shirt for $58 and on your right is a pair of lace-up ankle boots for $524.99 (and that’s the sale price).

For the past year, the luxury store has taken to the tightrope -- trying to lower prices enough to survive while maintaining its elite, fashion-forward status. Despite its efforts, economic conditions have sent consumers flocking from high-end department stores to discount stores, such asT.J. Maxx (TJX), which reported a 10% increase in revenue for the third quarter compared to Saks’ 8.5% drop.

But as the masses started to migrate, Gilt Groupe was there as a tempting new gathering point.

The online re-seller offers designer clothes, shoes, and accessories at a discount, but is still structured with an elite flavor: Its “invitation only” membership scheme (anyone can join for free, but wannabe members have to wait for an opening) and its time-limited sales allow customers to experience the thrill of a designer sample sale without having to throw elbows. Online shoppers do have to act fast, however, as items only stay in virtual "carts" for 10 minutes before becoming available again to the other 2 million members.

Gilt stocks its online sales by acquiring excess inventory and merchandise from well-known brands, and even has some of its own signature products in the works. The site begins a sale every weekday at noon (when most of its shoppers are at work pretending to be busy with a spreadsheet), and offers products for up to 70% off, but ends the sale exactly 36 hours later. Many items sell out within hours. While women’s apparel was at the company’s core when it started two years ago, it has since expanded to include men’s clothes and travel deals. It's also grown its customer base; while most of Gilt shoppers are in the US, the company now caters to a sizable Japanese market.

The non-Saks business model that offers Saks-like merchandise has caught on like wildfire. Gilt rarely goes a month without being mentioned in high-profile publications such as Vogue,Marie Claire, and InStyle, and the site was named the E-tailer of the Year by Footwear News.

“At Gilt, people who would be deeply uncomfortable spending full price feel like they've saved money, not spent money,” CEO Susan Lyne, formerly president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), once told BusinessWeek magazine. “There is a psychological lift. And there is pent-up demand. I think people want to shop. It makes us feel better.”

But the new competition isn’t making Saks feel any better. The department store held its own 36-hour private online sale in October.

“We are still very early on in understanding the business opportunity,” said Denise Incandela, president of Saks Direct, in a Wall Street Journal interview. She added that the store will evaluate results of the sale before deciding “how we would proceed next year.”

Jami Stapelmann, a New York City resident and occasional Gilt customer, said she and all her friends who used to frequent Saks Fifth Avenue no longer live the Sex and the City lifestyle that might include a full day of beauty treatments, shopping, and long lunches -- but they still covet the Manolo Blahnik shoes and the bling.

“We know what we want and we shop from the comfort of our own home,” she tells Minyanville.

But retail analyst and Minyanville contributor Kristen Graham says that Saks shouldn’t be completely shrugged off. She says consumers, especially those willing to spend thousands of dollars, value the personal attention they can only get in a brick-and-mortar store with trained associates. “The ability to physically inspect and try on an item, and receive special attention, becomes increasingly important as the price goes up,” Graham explains.

However, retailers are coming face to face with the “new consumer”, who is choosing lower prices over almost everything else -- a shift that Graham says is likely to stay and one that will help Gilt transform the high-end retail industry.

Gilt made about $200 million in revenue last year and expects $500 million this year. With such rapid growth, there have even been rumors about an initial public offering in the works.

Up-and-Coming Retailers: E.L.F. Cosmetics

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

When Ted Rubin, head of marketing for E.L.F., a budget make-up company, talks about the Great Recession, he describes it as a welcome blessing, one part of “a perfect storm” that's helped facilitate stellar growth at the mostly online retailer over the past two years. Before the downturn, he tells Minyanville, “People would whisper about using E.L.F. They’d say, ‘Yeah, I use E.L.F. lip gloss, but I’m a M.A.C. buyer.’ Now, cheap is chic, and everybody is looking for ways to save a buck.”

E.L.F., which stands for “Eyes, Lips, Face” makes an entire line of make-up that only costs $1 a piece. That’s right: lipstick is $1, foundation, $1, even brushes are $1 per stick. Two other “premium” labels within the company are slightly costlier, at $3 and $5 per product, which still compares favorably to $30 and $50 per item for most department store brands, even if E.L.F.’s quality is described by many users as simply “fine.”

College students and budget-conscious women have been ordering E.L.F. make-up online since 2004, when the retailer launched, though the products are also now available in Target (TGT) and K-Mart shops. According to Rubin, E.L.F.’s growth has been fueled almost entirely by word-of-mouth and social-media marketing, another part of the storm that's propelled recent revenue figures.

The company doesn’t have a traditional advertising market, says Rubin, but it's used blogs, email, and networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (GOOG) to reach millions of people in the US and around the world. In the past few years, these social-media outlets have hit a critical mass within a mainstream audience, enabling the make-up sellers to reach further and faster than ever before, according to Rubin. “Almost every day you’ll see another video entry from an excited E.L.F. shopper who has just received a package from us and wants to blog about it,” he says. The company claims more than 40,000 Twitter followers and 30,000 Facebook fans between its various sites. It also communicates daily with 400 bloggers.

And the third event to help E.L.F. reach its tipping point? A glowing, shine-proof review of its cheap products in O: The Oprah Magazine two years ago. When Oprah’s editors tell women to "go crazy without going broke" women listen.

Rubin will not disclose exact sales figures for the privately held company but would say that E.L.F. does tens of millions in sales annually. In the first quarter of 2009, sales were up 40% over the first quarter of 2008. In February 2009, online sales jumped 400% over the same month in 2008, according to Rubin. The company makes roughly 60% of its revenue from its website and 40% from brick and mortar stores.

So far E.L.F. hasn't opened its own shops and has no immediate plans to do so, though Rubin admits that the idea is “occasionally” discussed around the boardroom table. Such a move would put E.L.F. toe-to-toe with department store boutiques like Bobbi Brown or standalone stores like M.A.C., both owned by Estee Lauder (EL). For now, says Rubin, E.L.F.’s online business model and its prices put the label in a category of its own. "We consider everyone our competitor, and we consider no one our competitor," he says. “A M.A.C. fanatic might not ever switch to E.L.F, but she may put me in her car, or in her gym bag.

E.L.F.’s products, all made in China and sold with plain packaging, are quickly gaining fans abroad, too, in the U.K., France, Columbia, Japan, and India.

As the world pulls out of the current recession, the company expects to see demand for its butter pecan eye shadows or shimmering face whip stay stable. “Value will be at the heart of commerce for a long time to come despite upticks in the economy,” says Rubin. “Brands that ignore this new paradigm do so at their own risk."