Rumors are spinning that MTV’s The Real World is coming to my neighborhood. Ironic, since we parodied this very topic on FREEwilliamsburg.com back in 2000 and were served with a cease-and-desist by MTV. am New York quoted me today on the story.

The Web site FreeWilliamsburg.com even ran a parody of a “Real World: Williamsburg” back in 2000. Robert Lanham, the site’s founder and author of “The Hipster Handbook,” says MTV’s choice of Brooklyn as the next “Real World” spot proves it’s behind the curve in terms of what’s hip.
“What seems absurd is that MTV is seeming to be discovering Williamsburg 10 years after everyone else did [if the show is set in Billyburg, as rumored],” says Lanham.

My buddy Sloane wrote a book. (Yeah, that Sloane). It’s really really funny, so go out and buy it now. Here’s what Jonathan Lethem says about it:

Sloane Crosley is another mordant and mercurial wit from the realm of Sedaris and Vowell. What makes her so funny is that she seems to be telling the truth, helplessly.

In case you missed it, Whitehead has a hilarious article in the Times about the hype surrounding Brooklyn writers. Here’s a taste: [thanks Jeff]

As you may have heard, all the writers are in Brooklyn these days. It’s the place to be. You’re simply not a writer if you don’t live here. Google “brooklyn writer” and you’ll get, Did you mean: the future of literature as we know it? People are coming in from all over. In fact, the physical act of moving your possessions from Manhattan to Brooklyn is now the equivalent of a two-year M.F.A. program. When you get to the other side, they hand you three Moleskine notebooks and a copy of “Blogging for Dummies.” You’re good to go.
I have a hard time understanding all the hype. I dig it here and all, but it’s just a place. It does not have magical properties. In interviews, I get asked a lot, “What’s it like to write in Brooklyn?” I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it’s like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I expect it’s like writing in Manhattan, but there aren’t as many tourists walking very slowly in front of you when you step out for coffee. It’s like writing in Paris, but there are fewer people speaking French. What do they expect me to say? “Instead of ink, I write in mustard from Nathan’s Famous, a Brooklyn institution since 1916.” “I built my desk out of wooden planks taken from the authentic rubble of Ebbets Field. Have I mentioned how I still haven’t forgiven the Dodgers for moving to Los Angeles?” READ IT ALL

I finally got around to redesigning FREEwilliamsburg. Doesn’t look bad, if I do say so myself. Now, go read it.