Big shocker: We like GOOD Magazine. We like it's mission, think it looks pretty sharp and think it's got a fighting chance. So maybe we're biased. But damn, did we ever have a great time last night at the GOOD mag launch party. Unfortunately, our camera didn't, as it broke just as we were about to chase down Google's Larry Page for a photo. (ETP couldn't believe it; we pointed him out to a zillion people and no one had a clue who he was, and therefore lost their chance to git down on the party plane.) That, to our mind, was a way cooler coup than former Vice President Al Gore (whom we are assuming was, in fact, invited). Though we didn't see Gore, we heard tell of his presence right up 'til almost the midnight hour; apparently he was loping about amiably chatting with whomever found him on the way to a beer, rather than sticking to the VIP room (such as it was) and being all snooty. Whatever your politics, it's pretty cool that he stayed there so long and wandered around so accessibly. Menschly. How appropriate!
Less appropriate: PLASTIC CUPS??????? There was something fruity and yellow, and something else fruity and purple, and with the exception of the beer it was all served in plastic cups. Which generates a lotta waste, my friend; that party was PACKED. (That said, I will cop to having consumed at three of those drinks, each in its own cup, for which I now feel guilty.) Now, this is the point where people start grousing about how much the club rental (Emergency Arts in Chelsea) and celeb DJ (Grandmaster Flash, woo-woo!) must have cost, and whether that money might have been put to better use. I have no idea; I do know that it created a helluva lotta buzz, and there were an impressive number of key boldfacers there. Who needs Paris Hilton, did we mention that THE GOOGLE GUYS were there? (I did not see, but heard Sergei was there too). Other socially-conscious/geek chic/Patrick-McMullan-esque/Zeitgeist-tapping-rising star guests included Rocketboomer Amanda Congdon looking more sleek than geek, actually; palindromic "Daily Show" trendspotter Demetri Martin (the only person in the world who can carry off a bowl cut unironically yet adorably), Polo's David Lauren and model/First Family relative Lauren Bush, Radar Fashion Week pundit and HuffPo contributor Dave Hill, American Apparel-soft-core-porn-ad photographer Terry Richardson, socialite Arden Wohl, author Uzodinma Iweala, and "Born Rich" and "The One Percent" filmmaker Jamie Johnson (but, GOOD is all about democracy; being born rich didn't get Johnson in the door when the party was at capacity, though he was allowed in later). Apparently Tim Robbins was there as well (with Al Gore, 'cause that's how Al rolls), as well as "Wind" star Matthew Modine.
The real star of the evening though, other than Gore and the Google guys for those who recognized and couldn't help quietly trailing them through the party, was GOOD founder Ben Goldhirsh, whom we saw embraced in all sorts of bear hugs throughout the night (here's a metaphorical one from a repentant Gawker). We chatted with Goldhirsh, who was exactly as nice as you'd expect the founder of such a magazine would be. Actually, everyone there seemed nice, even the bouncer who seemed genuinely sorry that he couldn't let people in, not even to meet their friends, when the party was glutted at capacity.
Also present, and this is a non-exhaustive and highly-selective list — deep breath — Radar's Jeff Bercovici; ETP stalwart and Opinionista Melissa Lafsky with Weinstein Company Senior VP David Pearson; Jane's Julie 
Bloom; NY Observer media maven Michael Calderone; New York hyphenate Ben Mathis-Lilley, Thrillist/HuffPo massage video star/man of impressive bicep Mike Rothman; E&P's David Hirschman, whose bicep we did not feel but who seems nonetheless quite strapping; Gawker photog Jennifer Snow and videographer/photoshopper Richard Blakely (pictured), who turned out to be the only people we managed to capture on film last night, ironically; Gawker reporter Neel Shah, who wrote this post like he gave a damn; tiemaker and filmmaker Alexander Olch, who makes crazy tufts of red hair somehow sexy; Letterman writer Meredith Scardino and comic Catie Lazarus; $2-a-word writer Gary Shteyngart ; GOOD masthead types Max Schorr, Zach Frechette and Albert Gore Jr., whose father is famous; open-shirted Miramax exec David Greenbaum and FBNY's Dylan Stableford, who commented that it felt like the party boasted "every arty-leaning hipster between Williamsburg and Toronto" (that's true; graphic artist Paul Gilligan is visiting from Toronto).
We didn't stay long enough to find out whether they recycled their beer bottles, but hope springs eternal, which is kind of the reason GOOD exists in the first place. If the GOOD kids can put out a magazine that's half as successful as their party, then the future's looking rather, er, uh, oh, whatever. Flog a lame joke like you give a damn!
