"In the case of the Roma, the owner's wife didn't only want to have all furniture handles embellished with Swarovski stones. She also insisted the surfaces of the closets be covered in the exclusive skins of rays. Gehr, a master carpenter by trade, faced a challenge: Where could he get ray skins? What was the best time of year to buy them? How do you work with the stuff? What did it cost? And what should he estimate? When all the questions had been answered, and the furniture had been upholstered in ray skin, the owner and his wife came to Lunestadt in Lower Saxony to see the result. Unfortunately the owner didn't like the fish-covered surfaces at all, saying, 'Get that off, and replace it with beige leather!' The order was carried out. But he paid for both variations." READ MORE

The lawsuit from former Post employee Sandra Guzman is being eagerly consumed all over town. Because, you know: "Ms. Guzman and three female employees of the Post were sharing drinks at an after-work function. ['Post' honcho and now defendant Col] Allan approached the group of women, pulled out his blackberry and asked them 'What do you think of this?' On his blackberry was a picture of a naked man lewdly and openly displaying his penis." (As opposed to doing so not lewdly, but whatever!) Except, it's been pointed out, there is no glee at the Daily News, which didn't even bother to gloat. Ben Smith makes a great point: "It's something specific to Mike Bloomberg's New York that it's now a town where the Daily News makes sure not to hurt the feelings of the Post."