How is shopping newsletter Very Short List doing on the second day under the New York Observer's ownership? Poorly enough to motivate mogul wannabe Jared Kushner to hire some dedicated staff, perhaps.

Kushner's assigned an Observer staffer to put out the newsletter, on top of her regular duties, for no extra pay. Insane! Which is why we don't blame said staffer for the mangled subject line on today's VSL — or for any of its other issues with the second VSL mailing of the Observer era.

We also noticed the newsletter is back to running ads for Design Observer, the blog we're told is run by VSL founder Kurt Andersen's friends and thus likely not forking over much, if any cash for VSL exposure. Presumably the Observer sales staff is hard at work finding new advertisers.

Finally: A plug for Two Lovers, a hidden gem of a movie that's barely been reviewed in all the major papers and features an up-and-coming young actor named Joaquin Phoenix. Welcome to the "smart set!"