It might be a bit of a stretch, but it's just possible that the furor over this week's New Yorker cover is attributable to the summer heat: For irony, as with sex, sometimes it's too darn hot.

Even for Larry David, apparently. In the August issue of BlackBook magazine (due out July 22), bone-dry British ironist Steve Coogan, who also has two movies coming out this summer that will test Americans' waning tolerance for subtlety, tells the interviewer: "My career is so important. I’m being ironic. Can you put that in quotes: 'He said, ironically?'" He also talked about working with Mr. David.  read more »

• Dumbo has been known as Rapailie and Olympia and Fulton Landing and Gairville. After its impending Landmarks designation, the place will get yet a new moniker. How about Rapailie Redux? Or David Walentasville? [Brooklyn Papers]
• St. Nicholas Church was destroyed on 9/11, and, by 2009, it will be rebuilt two blocks away from its former site. According to NY1, the new locale at Greenwich and Liberty streets is "above a security center that will screen buses and trucks headed to the new World Trade Center." [NY1]
• Brownstoner asked: "What if you were a wealthy philanthropost [sic] who could write a $100 million check to fund any infrastructure or public project in Brooklyn?" In chronological order, his readers dreamed up: trolley cars, bike lanes, a high school, a complete transportation system for northeastern Brooklyn, a complete transportation system for southeastern Brooklyn, a large parking lot, Ratner's exile, pre-schools, etc. We say: More high-end pre-schools! And trolleys! [Brownstoner]
• TV's Kramer is not doing so well these days. But the real Kramer (the neighborly fellow who lived across the hall from Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David) is doing just fine. Get your "Kramer Reality Tour" while it's hot. [Newsday]
- Max Abelson]]> http://www.observer.com/node/35397#comments Real Estate Brooklyn Larry David Olympia World Trade Center Fri, 24 Nov 2006 10:59:56 -0500 Observer Staff 35397 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/33564 My commenters below are right: the prejudices that Sacha Baron Cohen stokes in Borat are conventional ones, and the film is a form of Red-State blackface. All the juice in his journey happens between the coasts. When he's on the coasts, the jokes feel forced. In the interior the ignorant peasantry are revealed.

It's minstrelsy because Cohen has taken on the the guise of a minority he secretly loathes in order to put them down.

Why did I write my last post on Borat then? Well, I find SBC screamingly funny in this Lenny Bruceish way. And I fell for the message—pogroms in America—because it was so well coded, coated by humor; and I think I was vulnerable to its orthodoxy. I wonder if I see it again if I'll feel the same. I think not; that I'm likely to see the prejudice plainly, and on behalf of fundamentalists, smalltowners and rodeo audiences, my fellow Americans, feel somewhat offended... (in the same way I'm appalled when Larry David and Jon Stewart talk about pogroms as a real possibility here). Thanks for the smart comments.]]> http://www.observer.com/node/33564#comments Jon Stewart Larry David Lenny Bruceish Sacha Baron Cohen Mon, 13 Nov 2006 03:42:20 -0500 Observer Staff 33564 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/52582 I’m sorry, I just can’t resist.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/52582#comments David Berlinskis Johnnie Cochran Larry David NBC Universal Inc. Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:00:00 -0400 Ron Rosenbaum 52582 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/39296 I’m sorry, I just can’t resist.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/39296#comments Johnnie Cochran Larry David MSNBC Interactive News LLC NBC Universal Inc. Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:00:00 -0400 Ron Rosenbaum 39296 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/32833 Former FishbowlNY editor and Tomato aficionado Rachel Sklar has accepted a position in The Huffington Post's New York office. Working from the company's base in Silicon Alley 2.0 (aka, Soho), she'll be lending a hand as an editor and developing several projects for the site.

Fans of Sklar's unique writing style (featuring show tunes and coinages like "blog synchronicity") have nothing to fear: besides editing, she'll also be joining Larry David, Rep. John Murtha, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and contributors to Arianna's virtual cocktail party. In an email to Media Mob, Sklar reports, "I will also be blogging, which I'm extremely excited about."

—Matt Haber]]> http://www.observer.com/node/32833#comments Media John Murtha Larry David Rachel Sklar Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:44:16 -0500 Observer Staff 32833 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/51398 To the Editor:  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/51398#comments Larry David Michael Thomas Ron Rosenbaums Sun, 23 Oct 2005 20:00:00 -0400 Observer Staff 51398 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/37786 To the Editor:    read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/37786#comments Larry David Michael Thomas Ron Rosenbaum Sun, 23 Oct 2005 20:00:00 -0400 Observer Staff 37786 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/51395 Dear Larry David,  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/51395#comments Cliffs Notes Hollywood Larry David Lisa Kudrowfar Sun, 16 Oct 2005 20:00:00 -0400 Ron Rosenbaum 51395 at http://www.observer.com