Despite our impassioned plea last week, Bill Keller has decided to kill The New York Times' 'Circuits' section. Sure, he wants to punish Jeff Jarvis after their love affair soured, but doesn't he know this hurts all of us?

This weekend's New York Times Magazine featured a lengthy profile of Beck by Arthur Lubow. Among the many revelations: Beck has moved away from Silver Lake, appears to wear the same clothes a lot, and Christina Ricci does a killer Japanese waitress impersonation. Also:

From Maureen Dowd's New York Times column, March 6, 2005:

Did anyone else notice that this Saturday's regularly scheduled David Brooks column was pre-empted by an infomercial for the neocon journal The Public Interest?

In her review of The Great Mortality — John Kelly's new book about the Black Plague — Michiko Kakutani embraces the power of metaphor:

The New York Times just announced two new features to the 'Metro' section: 'Ink,' and 'Lens.' According to the press release:

We made a plea to Bill Keller to reconsider the fate of the Times' struggling Circuits section (why not, like, up the ante and get some new writers/beats?) but, alas, talk continues of a metrosexual revamp:

Due to poor judgement, there was a mistake in the lives of two 'Op-Ed' page contributors, Maureen Dowd and John Tierney. According to The New York Daily News' 'Rush & Molloy':

Our brainy kid sister site turns us onto an amazing web ap today called Montage-a-Google.

In a piece in today's New York Times about the conspicuous art consumption of inconspicuous billionaire Steven "Stevie" Cohen, Landon Thomas Jr. and Carol Vogel write that among his Jackson Pollocks, Manets, Monets, Warhols, and Lichtensteins, is his latest collectible:

First Brad and Jen. Then Charlie and Denise. Now, another beloved couple is calling it quits: Jeff Jarvis and Bill Keller.

In today's New York Post, Keith Kelly reports that New York Times executive editor (and FOJ—friend of Jarvis) Bill Keller is considering shuttering the 'Circuits' section in favor of a new section dedicated to "shopping, fitness and fashion."

We re sure the Times thought that by having staff writers rate the best delivery options in their neighborhoods, they were feeding our hungry mouths with a useful bit of service journalism. Which they have, mind you, but in a different way: now we know where these writers live. Nick Fox on the Upper East Side? Florence Fabricant cruising Amsterdam? It s all coming together now. We're so applying for a delivery gig at Persepolis.
[Requisite Evil NYT Foodies mention: For this very reason, we can guess why Frank Bruni and Amanda Hesser didn t participate in the piece.]
Getting The Best Delivery On The Street Where You Live [NYT]

· We know you're going to find this hard to believe, but the Times might be slightly elitist. There there, don't cry. It's about time you knew the truth. [WWD (2nd item)]
· Slate is just about the last place we want to go for information on the best condoms. Something about the overusage of words like "pleasure" and "sensation" in conjunction with that stuffy maroon page design makes us feel itchy. [Slate]
· Craigslist saga du jour: Evelyn the Food Whore, who may or may not exist. [Craigslist]
· The boroughs may have fended off the corporate invasion for long, but how long will their collective strength last against the Red State Man? [ToTC]
· Ladies and gentleman, your new favorite website: "This blog is predicated on the suggestion that every Wednesday, in the Times Dining Out section, Frank lays a huge faberge egg of hilarity." [The Bruni Digest]

Editor & Publisher reports that John Tierney, former 'Big City' columnist for The New York Times has been tapped to fill William Safire's still-warm chair on that paper's 'Op-Ed' page. (Better luck next time, Dave Barry.)

Usually, New York Times corrections are a matter of life and death. Are there 1.1 million Northern fur seals or simply 750,000 to 800,000? Is the guy's name Craig or Greg? These things are important and need to be clarified.

Monica Almeida/The New York Times

Here's a little warning to journalists out there who might be thinking about profiling literary uberkinder Jonathan Safran Foer for the release of his new novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: clear your schedule first. Based on the intimate portrait by Deborah Solomon (who's much nicer as a profiler than an interviewer) in this weekend's New York Times Magazine, Foer requires a lot of time and TLC, mostly via email:

A spokesperson for The New York Times alerted us to an error we made this morning. The New York Times Company and Granada Media, the producers of I'm a Celebrity- Get Me Out of Here are no longer connected to each other, as we implied in Wubba-Wubba-Synergy. The Times, therefore, had nothing to do with any "scarring, inflammation and blood infection" Downtown Julie Brown may have suffered.

From today's 'Arts, Briefly' in The New York Times: