The Noose, Er, Bun Tightens On The Hipster-Nerd Nexus As A Whisper Turns Into A Roar

Confirmation of what we always sensed was the case:

Williamsburg is known for cool bistros and trendy hangouts, but few realize that the neighborhood and its environs are a magnet for hip, young librarians. Although “hip” is not an adjective generally associated with librarians, a stack of archivists, publishers, illustrators, librarians, and other bibliophiles called the Desk Set is out to challenge their image as staid.

The traditional idea of a librarian is “uptight in a bun,” the group’s co-founder, Maria Falgoust, said. “It would be nice if we could change that.”

To follow up on a well-attended Desk Set dance party Memorial Day weekend at Enid’s in Greenpoint, Ms. Falgoust is planning a screening of “Desk Set,” the 1957 Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy romantic comedy from which the group took its name, for the end of this month. She is also considering a Labor Day weekend dance party.

“Being smart and having fun are not opposites,” a digital imaging specialist at the Brooklyn Museum, Sarah Gentile, who has a master’s degree in library science, said at the Desk Set dance party. Ms. Gentile and others wore pins with such statements as “Withdrawn” or “She blinded me with Library Science.” The mood was more merriment than Merriam-Webster.

“Prepare to be shushed!” read the announcement for the event, at which the reference desk revelers downed cocktails with Dewey Decimal numbers instead of names. No one guessed the identity of a concoction of Champagne and raspberry vodka that had the call number of “The Joy of Sex.” Lime Rickeys were served in honor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, as was gin and pineapple juice, said to be a favorite of Vladimir Nabokov.

. . .

At Enid’s, the crowd was checking out each other rather than books.

“I wore my glasses because I wanted to maximize my look,” a children’s librarian, Andrea Vaughn, said. “I already got hit on,” she added. “It’s working.”

Conflating Gluttony With Competition Is More Than Anything Actually Probably Why They Hate Our Freedom

The only thing worse than professional competitive eaters (and try explaining that concept to people in somewhere like, oh, I don’t know, Sub-Saharan Africa) are the walk-ons:

Professional eaters Arturo Rios “Grande” Jr. and Allen “The Shredder” Goldstein scarfed more than two dozen soggy hot dogs apiece yesterday, earning them a spot in next week’s Coney Island showdown.

Rios, 30, of Long Branch, N.J., edged Goldstein, 43, of Plainview, N.Y., by eating 27.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes, a personal all-time best for the divorced father of three who nearly lost his free lunch at the end of the contest at the Manhattan Mall’s food court.

“It’s like any sport, when you try to go that extra mile, try to do that little extra bit, it takes a lot,” Rios said. “And it’s more than physical ability. It’s mental.”

Rios trailed Goldstein — who finished with 26 downed dogs — for most of the match. Both men, who were the only professional eaters in yesterday’s lineup, doused their dogs and buns in liquid (water for Goldstein, fruit punch for Rios) before ramming them down their throats. Watery bits of buns stuck on their faces, and by the final bell, Rios and Goldstein were hovering near a trash can.

“I got it all in and then I had to cough,” Rios said of the final seconds. “My daughter got me sick a few days ago.”

Rios claimed to hold the record for pig feet at 6.6 pounds in 10 minutes.

. . .

The contest had been billed as a chance for an “ordinary eater” or civil servant to join next week’s ultra-competitive field.

City correction officer Edward Ritchie, 30, finished third with 9.5 dogs. Other entrants included Dept. of Homeland Security employee John Sclafani, 34th Street vendor David Brokenbaugh and Loyola College student Donny Lind.

But Beware The Vampire Load

Were it not for all this talk of his possible run for president, he might just be another impotent lame duck mayor no one paid attention to — one whose only power lay in encouraging people to save electricity:

He has a degree in electrical engineering, but even Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday he was surprised to learn that portable chargers draw electricity when they’re plugged in and not in use.

“I always assumed that chargers for my BlackBerry, which I had plugged in at one end and there’s no BlackBerry [attached], wasn’t using any electricity,” the mayor said. “I was wrong.”

So the mayor recommended that New Yorkers unplug appliances and charging devices whenever practical, one of 10 suggestions that will be part of a multimillion-dollar multimedia campaign to create more environmental awareness in the city through small steps.

I Don’t Think This Is What Kevin Sheekey Had In Mind When He Said That He Wanted To Burnish Bloomberg’s Image As The Law & Order Candidate

Michael Bloomberg’s not-yet-ready-for-prime-time campaign sews up the all-important Jack McCoy endorsement:

“Law & Order” star Sam Waterston praised a possible White House run by Mayor Bloomberg — but had little to say about co-star Fred Thompson’s presidential aspirations.

Bloomberg is “a very competent, very able, very successful mayor,” said Waterston, said plays ADA Jack McCoy.

Waterston is lobbying for the formation of a bipartisan ticket for the 2008 presidential race. By bolting the GOP last week, Bloomberg stirred speculation that he’s angling to hook up with a Democrat or Republican in an independent White House bid.

“Certainly, Bloomberg is a very likely one,” Waterston said of a “Unity ’08” ticket on CBS’s “Face the Nation” yesterday.

Asked about Thompson, Waterston said he had no inside information but thinks the actor will jump in the race soon. A Tennessee TV station reported yesterday that Thompson’s campaign will announce the opening of a Nashville headquarters this week.

And if you were wondering just how irrelevant “Face the Nation” has become, look no further than Ed Koch:

Also appearing on CBS with Waterston yesterday was former Mayor Ed Koch, who said he supports Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and believes she will capture the White House.

But he would consider switching his allegiance to Bloomberg, he said.

“I will choose at the time of choice that person who will be best for the country, irrespective of party,” Koch said.

“Dude, You Should Totally Run For President!”

I don’t know which is worse — someone who actually wants to run for President* or someone who runs for President after one of his aides eggs him on about it during a testosterone-elevating, alcohol-fueled steak dinner**:

The announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York that he was leaving the Republican Party to become an independent was made after nearly two years in which his aides had laid the groundwork for a potential independent run for president.

They collected technical data on the requirements to put Mr. Bloomberg on the ballot in 50 states either as a third party or an independent candidate. Mr. Bloomberg went to Washington for a round of meetings with opinion leaders and traveled the country giving political speeches, including two this week in California.

And Mr. Bloomberg told associates that he was closely studying the 1992 presidential campaign of H. Ross Perot, the wealthy Texan and friend who drew 19 percent of the vote as an independent, to figure out how much a race in 2008 would cost.

For all that, Mr. Bloomberg told a packed news conference on Wednesday that he did not plan to run for president and intended to serve out his second term as mayor.

“My intention is to be mayor for the next 925 days and 10 or 11 hours,” he said. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world, and I’m going to keep doing it.”

Still, Mr. Bloomberg proceeded to use a news conference to give a critique on national politics. It was the fitting end of a week when he appeared on the cover of Time magazine and gave two speeches in California offering a pointed indictment of partisan politics in Washington, contrasting it with how he runs New York City.

Indeed, his aides said that he had not intended for the news of his registration switch, which he initiated last Wednesday by signing a document with the New York City Board of Elections, to become public until he had returned from California, but he was hardly upset at the swell of attention it drew him.

The aides said there was division in his camp about whether he should run for president. Kevin Sheekey, who was the architect behind Mr. Bloomberg’s unlikely mayoral bid in 2001, urged Mr. Bloomberg to run for president over steaks and drinks at a dinner at Dylan Prime to celebrate his re-election in 2005. Others argued that it was an impossible task and a waste of Mr. Bloomberg’s reputation and resources.

Mr. Bloomberg was described as conflicted about a national run, intrigued by the possibility of winning the presidency but telling friends that he would not run unless he was certain that he could win.

*Because, honestly, do you ever trust someone who wants to be President? It’s a weird thing to do.

**On the other hand, faux humility is useful — the idea that you are “drafted” to run (think a shorter, more nasal Wesley Clark) is probably appealing to people. But back on the first hand, shouldn’t you want to run for President because, you know, you have some commitment to public service or some kind of special purpose in the world? Which is to say, the best apocryphal Presidential-Genesis story might not be that one night your buddies idly suggested, somewhere between the iceberg wedge and the porterhouse, that you should totally go for it. (That said, it is slightly less smarmy than John Edwards’ Wade-hugging “never told this to anyone before” epiphany.)