We say "miscellany" but really it's not that miscellaneous seeing as everything is from this week's New York Observer. Why? Well, besides the fact that the NYO is a big pinky-peach present on Wednesday mornings and we're lazy (or "efficient" as I like to spin it), it always has great scoops and wonderfully unfettered, Fishy-worthy writing. It's a bit annoying how they don't archive old issues, but what are you gonna do? Anyhow, dear reader, on we go - let's pass those efficiencies on to you!

Cuts at the Times: Who, What, When We knew there would be "targeted staff reductions" at the New York Times, but we didn't know much more about where those 130 job would be excised from (except that 20 would come from the newsroom). Gabe Sherman ferrets out a few more details, breaking that the NYT is offing its four-person Employee Assistance Program (best known for counselling Jayson Blair), 108 business positions, and the staffers at their printing plant in Queens, whose beef stew over rice, chicken cordon bleu, and flank steak are obviously not in the same league as the fine cuisine of Guatanamo Bay. On th ediorial side, packages were offered to the following: "65 rank-and-file city-room reporters, 28 sports columnists and reporters, five obituary writers, six real-estate reporters and eight Book Review staff editors" with the idea that two members of each group can take the package (way to delegate, Times!). In other news, the NYT staff is apparently undersexed. Too bad, that helps to fill the day. [Off The Record, 1st item]

You can take the boy outta the blogosphere...but you can't take it out of Choire Sicha, who gets bloggy with it right at the outset of his maiden voyage as an NYO staffer, invoking our very own Elizabeth Spiers in a misty and meandering rumination on party reporting, the way it should be, dammit. But don't you be dissin' Scott Speedman, my man. Even though I think Felicity would have been better off with Noel, he's still smokin' hot and has many other fine qualities. [The Transom, first item]

The Zeitgeist of MEL: In his weekly breakdown of the NYT pundit standings, Tom Scocca decodes the inmost sentiments of those classy Times readers: "Brown people suffering = dull; brown people taking American jobs = exciting." Even more exciting: learning to press the shutter halfway to avoid digital delay. Tom Friedman's vacation snaps just got a whole lot better! [Off The Record, last item]