Observed this weekend on an uptown A train: a typical subway scene. An entrepreneurial sort was selling DVDs from a canvas messenger bag slung over his shoulder; titles available included Rush Hour 3, Mr. Bean's Holiday, and The Bourne Ultimatum, all for the low, low price of $5 each. "That won't even get you in the door of the theater!" he proclaimed. Which is true. Have you been to a movie lately? Jesus Christ. Anyway, deals were available if you were interested in purchasing more than one movie. Also, if you were leery of the quality of the DVD, this resourceful man had a solution.

Joe "Private Dancer" Sexton sent out a memo to his Metro staff this morning about City Room, the new blog headed up by Times favorite son Sewell Chan. Things are going swimmingly! Except it seems that some reporters need more than a gentle nudge to start contributing: "Expect that Sewell and Patrick and Jim and Lexi and I will be reaching out to you. We need breaking news updates; supplemental material that didn't make its way into the paper; off-the-beat observations and anecdotes; links to primary sources like Web pages and PDF's that can help the reader who wants more context; and more. Sometimes it's as simple as a phone call or email to us." (Wonder how the union feels about all that?) But Sexton, unlike Rick Stengel over at Time, hasn't resorted to threatening his reporters if they don't contribute to the website. Yet. The full memo follows.