First, Gawker got an intern. Now, Josh Marshall is searching for an intern for TPM. Hmmmm. Potential requirements for LS.com intern:
1) Must enjoy first-name familiarity with downtown chefs
2) Must specify premium vodka when ordering vodka-based drinks at bars
3) Strange prediliction for plywood Clinton Street
4) No freaks
· TPM Is Looking for an Intern [talkingpointsmemo.com]

The countdown is on to baseball's trade deadline at 4pm today. We love the job our boy Theo is doing up at Fenway, but you have to appreciate Billy Beane—who everyone figured would become persona non grata to other baseball GM's after his portrayal as Das ÜberGM in Michael Lewis' Moneyball [which is, by the way, even better than you've heard]—pulling off another monster deal for the A's yesterday. He's probably not done.

Beane had been discussing a deal to land Cincinnati's top reliever, Scott Williamson. Instead, Williamson went to the Boston Red Sox, whose GM, Theo Epstein, called Beane to gloat about it afterward.

"It kind of gets me jealous," Beane said.

· Beane Isn't Hanging Up the Phone Yet [Alameda Times-Star]
· Beane Breaks Through 'Moneyball' Backlash [Oakland Tribune]
· 2003 Trade Scorecard [espn.com]

Our fifth and final pitch today comes from Kevin Gregor, the man behind the terrifico Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop (Rivington @ Essex/Norfolk). Kevin, perhaps the one soul as obsessed as we are with the Surface Hotel, also knows the way straight to our heart:

I finally dug up one pic that shows the Surface Hotel lot, pre-construction. only problem is its at night… and only half the lot. but still, thought you may enjoy… I also included a few other pics of places that are changing, or opening in the hood... The last pic [below] is actually of my new spot on Stanton and Orchard… truly worthy of the name “tinys” :-)... it's going to be a juice bar/coffee shop... and if I can do it (lots of space constraints) I'm going to try and make sandwiches/salads as well.

Our fourth pitch comes from former NYT/EW/Citysearch scribe Karen Hudes, who writes:

I'm leaving [Citysearch] to start an MFA program, and building a bracelet biz: www.subzerospy.com

Tell me what word and color you'd like and I'll send one over (there's red, blue, green, orange, pink, lavender, black and white). Get one before they're on Hintmag!

Our third pitch comes to us by way of instant messenger...

shiramww: hi
shiramww: I'm an avid reader of your site (and former Lower East Sider)
lockloct: hiya
lockloct: thanks
shiramww: I lived on Grand and Lewis for over 2 years
shiramww: and love that neighborhood
shiramww: my family has been living there since before the 1900's...
shiramww: anyway - I thought you might be interested in an up-and-coming LESer who just launched his own record label and released his first album...
shiramww: his name is Zeke (Ezekiel Honig) and the name of his label is anticipate recordings
shiramww: he is a born and bred Lower East Sider
shiramww: and he works part-time at Breakbeat Science
lockloct: nice!
shiramww: yeah
lockloct: does he have a website?
shiramww: absolutely!
shiramww: http://www.anticipaterecordings.com/

Our second pitch of the day...

Hi! My girlfriend sent me your website info and said I should tell you about our new Yoga studio. We just opened KIWI Studio at 121 Essex Street, 2nd floor (above the Whiskey Ward) between Delancey and Rivington. We're a very straightforward studio, very simple in design, and just opened Monday, July 14th. We would also love to invite you for a free class. Just check out our website (still under construction) at kiwistudionyc.com. Find a class you would be interested in visiting and I will write you in! Or, I'll buy you a beer at Welcome to the Johnsons as my business partner and best friend is also one of the two owners. Hmmm, Yoga or Beer! Your choice!

Here's the first pitch...

I very much enjoyed your Below 14th column and as another neighborhood resident and soon-to-be proprietor, agreed with your take on many of the venues. Just wanted to add our new locale to your list to monitor. We will be opening Laugh Lounge nyc Comedy Club at 151 Essex between Stanton & Rivington in September. Laugh Lounge nyc will be a bi-level bar/lounge waiting area on the ground floor and 130-person seating capacity performance space downstairs. The club is being founded by the former manager and booking agent from The Gotham Comedy Club and will feature New York's top performers at shows 6-nights a week.

Matt Haughey recently wrote, rather prophetically: "First they came for the email, and I did nothing. Then they ruined the search engines, and I ignored it. Then they came for the blogs and there was no one left to stop them." And yes, they're coming to downtown New York, too—but with a difference. All today on LS.com, recent PR pitches to this website, with a local twist. Grades will be assigned. Please, sharpen your pencils... and remember, good trees died for these press releases...
· That's what happened to all the biz dev folks [a.wholelottanothing.org]
· Yet More Bad PR to Blogs [601am.com]
· Capitalizing on Gawker's Hype [anil dash via 601am]
· Pitching PR to Weblogs [up2speed.com via 601am]
· Gawker FAQ for PR People [gawker.com via 601am]

Pisstacular! Bubby's Pie Co. in Tribeca is orphaning their landmark giant urinal. "They're looking hard for a loving home," says our tipster, Dave from PoopReport. He suggests that perhaps the urinal would be a good fit with a new LES restaurant. Keith, baby, you listening? (Hey, we're sorry about that whole Schneider's thing, OK?) Besides, this stained beauty looks like it'd be a perfect fit with vintage subway tile.
· Save Bubby's Urinal! [poopreport.com]

It must be asked: Is everyone enjoying the Armando Benitez in Pinstripes era as much as we are?


· Release Him NOW!!! [nyyfans.com]
· I Am Thoroughly Disgusted [nyyfans.com]
· Red Sox Better than Yanks [nyyfans.com]

Well, well. Look who's gone and gotten her own little Web Presence. And look who's slumming it in our little neighborhood, stepping waaaaay over the post-ironic line by actually showing up at the Eggers reading...
· Lower East Snide [elizabethspiers.com]

We'd be remiss not to note that two separate posts here last week used the phrase, "we'd be remiss not to..." Remisstifying.

· Auction update: Deals earn city $32m [nypost via ebway]
· It's Mah-way or the Parkway: Open letter to Boro6 [lasagnafarm.com]
· Welcome Visitors! From Greg's worthy LES-based blog, New York Stories: "I don't care what anyone says, we Lower East Siders are kind, courteous and are not at all conceited about being residents of the newest 'IT' neighborhood in Manhattan. We are happy to share our good fortune with everyone" [nystories.blogspot.com]
· Font wars: Helvetica vs. Arial [mimeartist.com via kottke]
· 30! First Book of Ages media coverage [oregonlive.com]

As is our wont, we're off to the Hamptons today, but if you're hanging out in the hood this weekend, may we kindly suggest partaking in tonight's one-night-only public screening of the film Public Discourse at the Two Boots Pioneer Cinema on Ave. A, brought to you by none other than Jen Bekman (of gallery fame). Precis:

PUBLIC DISCOURSE is an in-depth study of illegal installation art. This non-fiction film is about the passionate artists who want their work to communicate to a wider range of people on the streets of New York City. The primary focus of the documentary is on the painting of street signs, advertising manipulation, metal welding, postering, and guerilla art, all of which are art forms performed illegally.

We've been following the production blog for JVG's musical with some fascination, waiting for the post where JVG lashes out about the Fringe Festival moving his production to a totally new location three weeks before the show goes up. Alas, the blog continues to bubble with "chipper" sentiments and "cheery" blow-by-blow. It is our solemn hope that, as the premier night looms, everyone will become a little more unhinged. ALSO: The show has been moved from the West Village to our neck of the woods (La Tea on Suffolk). Look for word about the LS.com/Slower.net Night at Buddy soon.
· "Buddy" Cianci: the musical Production Blog

For all those heading over to the Javits Center today for the NYC land auction, we'd be remiss if we didn't own up to the fact that our photograph of the property up for grabs on Stanton Street that we posted here last week was, well, the wrong lot.



Rather, it's this lot, which is also fronted by a chain link fence. Given its address across the street from the Lotus Club and just around the corner from Salt Bar—it's perhaps even hipper. Thanks to the many who alerted us to the misdeed. LS.com pledges to re-earn your trust, one small plot of land at a time. UPDATE: A Gawker reader reports, "Went to the NYC Land Auction this morning. The first land auctioned off was the two lots on Stanton Street, the ones that Lockhart has been lusting after. The Minimum Upset Price (the first bid) was set at $242,000. Bidding was pretty strong, and the land sold for $2,200,000." (Disclosure: We dropped out at $1.6m.)
· Your Chance to Own a Piece of NYC [nyc.gov]

MOP drops us a line, noting, "The cute redhead in the photo on the NYT [age 30] article has a weblog!" Sure enough... and she lives (you see this coming, right?) on the Lower East Side. "You can have a life of leisure on the Lower East Side," she says of her outdoor deck just opposite the Tenement Museum. (Life of leisure? So true.)
· jennifer crowe :: normal person flies concorde [jennifercrowe.com]

As much as it pains us to endorse Sunday Styles as a trend authority, they're right on our zeitgeist about Age 30. (Back on January 23, Gawker was, of course, ahead of the curve.) Indeed, as longtime readers of this space were made aware awhile back, JVG, JA and yours truly are penning an "interactive" work of "humor" about this important era in life called Book of Ages 30. It's due out in late October from Crown. There will be lots more to come about the book here and on its official website, but given the buzz in the air—not to mention the lead time for monthly publications—bound galleys of the book are available to members of the press for review purposes now.

So, perhaps you are a senior editor, or a free-lance writer who does a senior editor's bidding. And perhaps you are asking yourself, is Book of Ages 30 something my readership should be made aware of? Well, that depends. Do your readers like to be amused? Do they have a relatively short attention span? Are they approaching 30, turning 30, or already in their 30s? If so, they may enjoy some of the factoids, demographic stats, biographical sketches, quotes and sage (and not-so-sage) observations packed into this gift-worthy hardcover, including:

· Average numbers of sexual partners at Age 30 (plus lots of other good sex data)
· Demographic stats including but not limited to: debt levels, pregnancies, alcohol consumption, New Year's resolutions, and NASCAR viewership habits
· A rather alluring photograph, taken by Mr. Van Gieson, of some 30-year-old scotches (and a somewhat less alluring photograph of his car)
· Biographies, at Age 30, of luminaries including Martha Stewart, Edvard Munch and Mr. T.
· A two-page spread dedicated to the glory that is Logan's Run

Interested? It would be our pleasure to furnish a galley to you for review purposes. Drop us an email (see contact info in left column). Are you a blogger interested in reviewing the book? Fear not—opportunities (big opportunities!) await for you, too... just not quite yet. Or, if you're an interested reader-to-be, feel free to place your order now at Amazon so we can experience that jolt of adrenaline when our sales rank climbs a few notches. Thank you all, and goodnight.
· Smiling Through the 30th, a Birthday Once Apocalyptic [nytimes.com]
· Book of Ages 30 Ordering [amazon.com]
· Book of Ages [bookofages.com] launching fer real in October

Dear God, Rob Sterling makes good on his threat to launch the bridge-and-tunnel equivalent to our LEStastic blog. We eagerly await Rob's report on the B&T crowd's favorite Lower East Side bars to "cruise for chikks" on Friday night (Some guesses: Lansky Lounge! Rivertown Lounge! Kush!)
· Boro6 [boro6.com]

For the first time in recorded subway-riding history, something in Boldface Names actually made us laugh out loud:

RUSSELL SIMMONS, who seemingly never met a room he did not work, spent most of his tent time handing out business cards. Asked what he thought of the Retreat, an East End shelter for abused women, he said, "I haven't been there yet." Informed that it was not the latest exclusive Hamptons boîte, but the beneficiary of the event, he replied: "To tell you the truth I don't know much about it, but did I mention that my fund-raiser on July 26 only has four tables left?"

· Dysfunctional Family Circus [nytimes.com]
· The Retreat [theretreat.org] domestic abuse shelter
· Resort [resortlounge.com] hot nightclub
· Art for Life [rushphilanthropic.org] Hurry, four tables left...

· JVG launches a group production blog for his musical. [jvg.com]
· Lindsay has been hanging out on the Lower East Side. [lindsayism.com]
· Gothamist will never eat at The Elephant again. [gothamist.com]

While Dave Barry is away, he has instructed his readers to terrorize poetry.com.
· Vacation Advisory and Project Announcement [davebarry.blogspot.com via ken layne]
· Free Poetry Contest [poetry.com]

As a follow-up to last week's LES land auction post, we wandered by the Stanton Street location (tantalizingly close to Clinton) that's going up for bid on July 23. Will you create the block's second hipster bar, its second hipster art gallery, or perhaps your own private community garden? Let your imagination run wild!


· Get a Piece of the Hot [ls.com]
· Own Your Own Piece of LES Real Estate for as Little as $1000! [gawker.com]

A lot of press releases come across our desk, but none as exciting as the news that Krispy Kreme will open a store in Riverhead on Thursday, August 7. (You love Riverhead, right? Take it from Joe Morgan, the gramatically challenged president of KK New York: "Its location near the many great Riverhead attractions such as Tanger Outlet Center, Atlantis Marine World, Splish Splash, Home Depot, and Riverhead Raceway makes Riverhead a great location and destination.") The best news: the first dozen people in line for the opening will be awarded a year's supply of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Coffee: Store Openings [krispykreme.com]

Who knew consultants had a sense of humor? Buried in the Home & Garden section of the Times yesterday was a brilliant piece about Altria (née Philip Morris) and its "baffling" logo. Sez the Times, "Randall Rothenberg, director of intellectual capital at Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm, said the logo inspired him to propose a few possible slogans: 'Altria: We're a Colorful Puzzle,' 'Altria: A Rubik's Cube for the Entire Family' and 'Altria: Not at All a South American Rodent.'" Artist Ric Grufé, however, sees something far more sinister: "I fear we're entering a period when the logo will be the quintessential piece of obfuscation. Here is a multinational attempting to hide behind a blur." For our part, we're transfixed by the photo accompanying the article that shows someone lighting up in front of the logo. Obfuscate that!
· Corporate Logo, or Smoke Screen? [nytimes.com]
· Altria [altria.com]

JVG has relaunched the website for his upcoming "Buddy" Cianci: The Musical. (N.B. photos of "the actors sharing the role of Buddy, David Stern and Bad Toupee.") Were it not for the comedic genius that this production promises, we'd be even more enraged about the Fringe Festival decamping from its longtime home on the LES to the West Village. There's a lesson here, kids: gentrification giveth and taketh. Who knew?
· "Buddy" Cianci: the musical [bctm.com]
· FringeNYC Heads West, Names Shows [backstage.com]

A touching reminiscence, via the Times' asinine "My Manhattan" column, of neighbors finding each other after decades apart on East Broadway. Reminds me of the neighbors in my building coming together after all four of our apartments were broken into simultaneously. Yes, that will be my "My Manhattan" column. It will make you weep.
· On East Broadway, a Wide World Unfolds [nytimes.com]

Greg sends along word of an upcoming Lower East Side land auction conducted by the City of New York:

They're on Stanton between Suffolk and Clinton [ed—hipzone central!], east side (total dimensions 50x75, a bit too small for the Courtyard Surface Hotel, but still...).We got a vacant lot in Harlem in 2001 from a similar auction, alas, before we knew about the total upper>>lower east side migration.

Well, okay, our friends and neighbors...
· JVG, at last, yields to my will. It was only a matter of time. (But lo! He has a plan!) [jvg.com]
· MM is busy making new friends: "What I'm finding amusing of late is the use of caller ID not as a device to screen people out (i.e. not answer the phone if you don't recongize the number), but to screen people in." [cohabitationation.com]
· JA goes all photobloggie on us. Well, sort of. [joshalbertson.com]
· MOP is on the Liz Phair beat. [palmermix.com]
· JCN greets a Sunday dawn atop the East Village: "It has been a long time since I've actually had opportunity to be awake when the sun starts its rise into the sky, splashing color across the darkness of night...."

· Catherine sneaks to the top of the Surface Hotel for the July 4 fireworks... and brings her camera. [catwoman.pitas.com]
· From the corner of Clinton and Houston, Trevor also aimed his digital camera in the direction of the East River. [nycartcollective.com]
· Newsday on the Lower East Side housing boom: "Ryan declined to say how much she pays, but one-bedroom apartments in the area usually rent for up to $1,400 a month." Bwaahahaha! [newsday.com via ebway.org]
· Rebecca Mead writes on Simon Song, the NY Daily News photo intern-cum-blogger. [newyorker.com] (N.B. Song got to go to the hotdog eating contest. Verdict: "Every one is a hero.")

· Thursday afternoon, Citarella in Water Mill. Crowds mobbing the meat counter in search of the perfect thin-cut pork chop, as though a particularly affluent hurricane is about to blow in. Eventually, we make our selections and battle our way into the checkout line. Ahead of us in the queue, Jordan spots Christiane Amanpour. "Yes," he notes, "it's a warzone in here."

· Saturday night, velvet ropes outside Resort in East Hampton. It's slowly dawning on the desperate hordes that this may be the one night in recorded Hamptons history that throwing obscene amounts of money around won't get them what they want. "P. Diddy controls the VIP room tonight," doormaster Fred is explaining. "You aren't getting a table there. And my tables in the main room are sold out." The hordes look dubious and protesteth anew, Amex Black cards glistening in the moonlight. Fred is ready. "Listen, I have billionaires sitting in the main room tonight. You're not getting in."

Guest photoblogging time! From Patrick, a shot of last night's dazzling sunset, looking west from far east Rivington Street.


From Deanna, "a picture i took of the 'hood" from 6th Ave. below Canal.


There were some other people photoblogging last night, too, but linking will only encourage them, and we wouldn't want that.