NEW YORK — Last night, on a cold and blustery May evening, I boarded a boat with a few friends to check out Passion Pit's release party for their new LP, Manners. Despite the weather, hundreds of hipsters and double the amount of leggings came out to dance, drink, smoke and enjoy the new sounds from the Boston based quintet.

First, though, we had to get past the sea-sickness. At the dock on West 41st Street and 12th Avenue, the wind was a bit stronger than we'd all hoped, and much of the early night conversation turned to advice like "just watch the horizon" or "maybe lay off the drinks till we get moving." I even saw one or two dramatic haircuts leaning over the side of the ship.

Finally, the music picked up and the rocking of the boat turned to some of the most creative dancing I've seen since the Knife's concert at CMJ in 2007 (if you've ever watched serious Knife fans dance, you know what I'm talking about). Read more...

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: President Obama is nearing the end of his "First 100 Days." While important policy decisions, both foreign and domestic, are at hand, the president and his team must also think hard and be cautious of what kind of "personality" the White House will be perceived to have by everyone watching. Every decision Obama makes has the capacity to make him look strong, weak, timid, hawkish, radical, compromising, and the list goes on. In addition, in 2009, which he has forecasted to be a "difficult year," it is more than likely that he will be called all of those things, but will have to stay focused and strong in his decision-making.

Continue reading Kim's opinion of President Obama's decision-making at HuffingtonPost.com.

FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: It's no secret or surprise that musical artists from the '60s, '70s and '80s are much enraged by what the Internet has done for record sales and music piracy. When I interviewed Stevie Nicks last week, she explained that part of the reason for releasing her new "Live in Chicago" DVD was to show "the kids" a real rock show. In addition, she told me, as so many artists have, that "downloads are the end." We all know that the music industry is in a fragile state right now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the new stuff. The electro-pop and indie-rock genres are innovative and exciting, and arguably, hip-hop and rap are truly flourishing genres (see Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, 3X platinum). However, I can't help but wonder, what if this is the last wave before utter destruction of the music scene, both in quality and production? And further, what if the tangible threat that "technology" poses on the music and movies industries is reflected more subtly but equally as strongly, in literature, friendship and even love?

Continue reading Kim Stolz's post about Facebook, Twitter and texting at HuffingtonPost.com.

Kim Stolz just got punk'd! And if I'd known earlier how she'd react, believe me, I would have done it a long time ago.

When two of our interns, Talia and Kathleen, came over and asked me if I wanted to pull a prank on someone in the office, it didn't take that much to convince me. In fact, all it took was a snake-in-a-can and Kim in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We secretly hid the flip-cam behind some tapes, and as we were planning on how to get Kim to come over, she literally walked by. Perfect timing!

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FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: As the Michigan State basketball team gears up to participate in the NCAA Final Four tournament in their hometown of Detroit, the city is preparing for more than just a sporting event. This morning, President Barack Obama laid down the ground rules for how he plans to overhaul America's failing auto industry, namely GM and Chrysler.

Continue reading Kim Stolz's blog on the economy at huffingtonpost.com.

By MTV News interns

Think being an MTV News intern is the coolest job around? Well — you can hate us for saying this — but we think you're right. We constantly get asked what it's like to hang out at the mecca of music and pop culture. We've decided to show you what it's really like to be an intern in the MTV Newsroom. It may be cool, but it's probably not what you expect.

So, we came up with the idea (thanks to some encouragement from Sway!) to deliver a weekly video blog documenting our time here at 1515 Broadway in Times Square.

Besides working alongside Sway, Kim Stolz and Tim Kash, we are exposed to just about anything and everything. This week alone, we had the chance to catch up with Asher Roth, Keri Hilson and Ashley Tisdale! But it's not all glitz and glam. In the coming weeks, you'll see everything from mundane tasks to how we help make some newsroom magic.
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Spring Break is unfolding rather quickly here in Panama City Beach. I'm about to head into week two, and I hate to break it to you, Tim Kash, but it just keeps getting better. We've seen the likes of Kid Cudi, Asher Roth, Jim Jones and Lil Wayne perform by day and party by night at local favorites Spinnaker and La Vela (dubbed La Vela Loca by the Spring Breakers).

Now, I'm usually one for NYC dive bars and places where I can actually hear my friends speak, but this place (or perhaps the unbeatable energy of the people) has brought out a new side of me (for two weeks anyway). Last week, the following things happened, none (all) of which I'm proud of:

1. I participated in a chicken fight in a (disgusting) pool for an mtvU shoot.

2. Producer Matt Harper and I closed down La Vela. Yes, we were the last ones to leave (around 4 a.m.).

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Oh no she didn't!!!

On Tuesday, my old friend Tyra Banks gave me a little shout-out on her talk show. When I heard that I'd been mentioned, I thought, Could this be about successful "America's Next Top Model" alums? News reporters? MTV on-air correspondents? Modeling? Why is Tyra talking about me again?!

And then it came to me with a rush of "shockingly predictable": The show was called "Straight Girl, Gay Crush" and asked the question, "Is everybody a little bit gay?"

On my season of "ANTM," I had a somewhat brief (depending on how much you know) fling with a girl named Sarah Rhoades, a self-proclaimed straight girl. So, naturally, Tyra was using our notorious limo kiss as an example of a straight girl getting involved with a gay girl — so surprising, considering the three times I was on the Tyra show were centered around my apparently very exciting sexuality. Oh great!

Still, though. I'm a sucker for Tyra, so I'll bite.
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I'm so jealous of Kim Stolz right now.

Growing up in the U.K., there are aspects of American culture that you just totally miss out on. For instance, at our high-schools we don't get a prom. We don't have fraternities or sororities. We don't get to play American football or baseball.
There are no cheerleaders. And we don't even have "spring break"!

Right now, while I'm in cold New York holding down the fort, Kimmy's in a bikini, enjoying the sun in Florida, interviewing some of the coolest acts by day, catching some one-of-a-kind performances in the evening, and going to the best parties by night for MTV's Spring Break Week. (I'm sure we'll be hearing from Kim here on the Newsroom blog soon.) I am soooo jealous! Read more...

On Monday, news broke of a Web site called EightMaps.com that reveals personal information about people and organizations who donated money in support of Proposition 8, which passed on November 4, ending the legality of gay marriage in California.

Campaign finance laws are tricky things. Protect Marriage, an anti-gay marriage group that has led the fight for Proposition 8 as well as the fight against disclosing personal information about donors, is arguing that the release of these names has led to death threats, vandalism and harassment of those who supported the amendment. People have even allegedly been getting envelopes containing white powder. How cliché! Come on, guys, we have better methods of getting our message across! Read more...