Funny Business

CNBC Hoodies are this IPO season's "must-haves."

We're all about the Facebook these days.

As the company kicks off its roadshow for investors, the big news is that founder Mark Zuckerberg has come to the Big Apple himself to pitch the company's market prospects.

CNBC's Kate Kelly reported on what was going on inside the meeting— revealing news about the long lines to get in, the food served ("chicken breast on salad, cookies"), and that Mark Zuckerberg was in the men's room when the question and answer session began.

(An earlier version mistakenly said Kate was in the meeting. She was not, as all press were barred from attending.)

However, the most interesting thing about Zuckerberg's appearance is that he wore his traditional hoodie, while Facebook CFO David Ebersman and COO Sheryl Sandberg wore suits.

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CNBC Jane Wells and Stephan

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy beer. I especially enjoy craft beer, as long as it's not too hoppy or bitter.

But beer is not my go-to adult beverage. I'm more of a red-wine gal. So it was with curiosity, rather than rabid desire, that I covered the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego.

Craft brewing has a pretty nice head these days, growing double digits in terms of volumes and sales while overall beer consumption has fallen. This year's conference is packed, with a record 4,500 attendees. The convention hall at the Town & Country Resort was so crowded, I feared someone might need to call the fire marshal.

Who's here?

Men. Lots and lots of men.

I saw zero men wearing ties and three sporting mohawks.

Other observations:

This is the one event I've covered where the line to the men's room is longer than the line to the women's room.

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Photo by: Jason Jepson Dragon Tongue Bean at Whole Foods.

I call Whole Foods the Apple of grocers. Get it? Apple

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Like the company which brought you the iPhone, the company which exposed you to quinoa has a reputation for beating earnings estimates. We'll see if that trend continues for a 14th straight quarter after the bell Wednesday.

Much of Whole Foods' growth is...wait for it...organic. (Here all week! Try the veal!) And part of that is due to a health conscious clientele which sees going there as equal parts shopping and exploring. You've seen them, those cart-pushing customers at a dead stop in the middle of an aisle, trying to figure out how one can make a gluten free, non dairy pizza taste good.

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A lot of people with a lot of money want to stake a claim in space. One guy is ahead of the pack, perhaps because he has chosen his partners well.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is scheduled to launch a rocket and space capsule filled with supplies bound for the International Space Station on May 7. If the launch is successful, it will be the first time a private company, not a government agency, has accomplished such a feat.

Source: SpaceX SpaceX's Dragon reusable space capsule.

In the past, NASA would pay contractors like Boeing

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[LMT  Loading...      ()   ] to build equipment which NASA would own and operate. Here, NASA is paying SpaceX for services, not equipment, which saves the government money and risk. However, NASA has to give some money upfront, hundreds of millions of dollars in fact, which SpaceX has used to fund its buildout. By partnering with NASA, not competing with it, Musk has managed to go farther and faster than others in not only creating a commercial space venture, but turning a profit.  » Read More

Before there was bacon, there was pizza.

Well, not technically, maybe, but long before we went whole hog on pork products, humanity was devouring pizza by the pie-ful.

Source: pizzashirt.net A pepperoni pizza shirt.

Pizza, however, has lost its mojo as its saltier, fattier rival has started bringing home the bacon in popularity.

Bacon vodka, bacon milkshakes, bacon cupcakes, all of these have led to the spread of T-shirts declaring our love of bacon, (I like the "Carpe Bacon" shirt with the fist grabbing a strip or two).

Well, hold on, pig sooie.

Pizza lovers are fighting back, making an impressive marketing attack with the new Pizza Shirt.  » Read More

Source: E-mancipate.net

First there was the metrosexual.

Then men started shaving their legs even if they weren't Lance Armstrong. Then came the man-purse — I mean, satchel. Then Tom Brady started wearing UGGs.

Now there's Mantyhose.

Mantyhose is pantyhose for men. Some men have manned up enough to wear a pair.  "Surprise or not — many men do wear pantyhose," says e-MANcipate.net’s Chan Kraemer. "Why? Because they like it."

Really? I don't even like wearing pantyhose, why would men want to put on “guylons”? On the other hand, Joe Namath didn't seem to have a problem back in the day, and no one’s ever demanded to see his man card.

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The folks inside the Spirit Airlines marketing department must have a blast.

Source: Spirit Images Spirit Airlines

Imagine your job is all about coming up with the most outrageous promotions possible, ripped from the headlines, employing a heavy dose of snark.

This is the airline that brought you special fares based on scandals involving Rep. Anthony Weiner and Tiger Woods.

Now it's hoping to cash in on the Secret Service prostitution fiasco.

That’s the Spirit!

The airline’s new "More Bang for Your Buck" deal offers one-way fares to Cartagena, Colombia, for as low as $19.80.

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The deal also extends to other destinations, and you have to book by midnight tonight (4/19). "Get more bang for your buck ... This sale is no secret." 

Have the last few years left you looking like a cross-eyed Mary? Were your retirement plans bungled ... in the jungle?

AP Ian Anderson, of the rock band Jethro Tull

Maybe the financial collapse has left you feeling like a dead duck, spitting out pieces of your broken luck. Oh, Aqualung.

Fortunately, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson is on your side. (See correction below)

The classic British rock artist is out with a new album for new times called "Thick as a Brick 2, Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock", which follows up on the story of the fictional young poet who wrote the lyrics to the original album 40 years ago. (40 YEARS!?)

One of the songs on the new album is called "Banker Bets, Banker Wins", and like all good Tull songs, it's angry. "Banker bets and banker wins," sings Ian Anderson, "Never missed yet, for all his sins."

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