He later proceeded to organizing Inter-college balls and other shindigs targeted at his classmates.

FORBES: The $26,000 Diamond Blackberry

Most of the homes on this list boast in-ground pools and backyards perfect for Fourth of July shindigs.

FORBES: America's Patriotic Cities And The Homes They Have For Sale

Nifty ideas, of course, but will they and the rest of the birthday shindigs really make Goethe easier to fathom?

ECONOMIST: Goethe

In addition to the open parties, there are more exclusive shindigs.

FORBES: Your Guide To South Beach Wine And Food Festival

For obvious reasons, on and off-screen talent involved in newer shows often dominate the tip sheets at these shindigs, awkwardly juggling finger foods with the microphones being shoved in their faces.

FORBES: Unsolicited Advice For TV Toppers

The other globocratic shindigs are opening up, too.

ECONOMIST: Where the influential people meet and talk

"The essence of ETech is our idea that you often see the seeds of the future in places where people are having fun with technology, " says Timothy O'Reilly, the founder of ETech, as well as other technology shindigs, and the publishing house that carries his name.

FORBES: Magazine Article

And yet in "Gatsby, " at the height of the hero's most lavishly excessive shindigs, Klipspringer plays "The Love Nest" (which tells us that a love nest "cozy and warm" is "better than a palace with a gilded dome") and "Ain't We Got Fun, " two rather simplistic songs of the era that loudly declare that money is the last thing you need to be happy.

WSJ: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Songbook | Great Gatsby | By Will Friedwald