I spent Friday night listening to the long-haired dude in the above photo, Rob Walker, a non-New Yorker and Times Mag columnist. He covers consumerism, and has written a new book entitled "Buying In," which covers the aforementioned subject.

Rob's a smart guy. A non-addie, he's spent his career watching, observing, watching, intently note-taking American idiosyncrasies. Check out his book, and more pics from the event can be found here, courtesy PSFK.

Oh, and thanks to Piers Fawkes of PSFK for the invite and free drinks/gnosch.

P.S. My planned liveblog failed due to lack of WiFi at the Art Director's Club. Lame. But oh well, more time to sap on yummy Sapporos.