SamboraBlog

They're just GLAAD to be nominated

'Good evening, Godless sodomites!"
That was Jon Stewart's biblical invocation to guests at Monday's Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards dinner.

The "Daily Show" host, honored for fostering tolerance, couldn't attend the oh-so-gala at the Marriott Marquis. But he said in a videotaped thank-you that "it means a lot to this Jew to get an award from the people who really do run the media." (He added, "I've heard the GLAAD awards are the only ceremony that leaves the ballroom cleaner than when they found it.")

Fellow honoree Alan Cumming was there, and he didn't mind gnawing on one of the hands that fed him.

"Mr. Bloomberg, you are not a New Yorker in my eyes," Cumming said. Though Hizzoner's company helped underwrite the dinner, "X-Men 2" star Cumming derided Mayor Bloomberg for challenging a judge's ruling in support of gay marriage.

The mayor himself wasn't present, but Cumming's attack caused one Bloomberg Media-affiliated guest to hide the corporate sponsor card under the table.

Cumming lightened up as he reminisced about presenter Jessica Lange. Recalling their love scene in "Titus," Cumming said, "We were talking about how things sag with age ... I told her 'I think your breasts are great.' She said, 'Honey, if your hand wasn't there, that'd be halfway around my back.'"

Also at the party were Cynthia Nixon (who came with girlfriend Christine Marinoni and earned a big round of applause), Tim Curry, Bruce Vilanch and porn star Michael Lucas.

Billy Crystal was lauded for his portrayal of gay son Jodie Dallas on the late-'70s TV series "Soap."

Having risked being "pinkballed" in Hollywood, Crystal said, "Understanding [is] vital in a modern society. If you see a rather manly person in women's clothes - it might not be a lesbian. It might be Camilla Parker Bowles."

Olsens' not-so-full house

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are unloading their 6,000-square-foot West Village penthouse. The mini-tycoons paid $7.3 million for the pad in 2003, but never moved in. (Mary-Kate has been renting in SoHo; Ashley in Tribeca.)

"It turned out to be too much space, along with the fact that the renovation was going to take far longer than anyone expected," the twins' rep Michael Pagnotta tells People.

Pagnotta denies rumors that Mary-Kate won't return to NYU, insisting, "They both will continue to be enrolled in the fall."

Marines' rockin' new hymns

Forty-thousand Marines and their families will be treated to what may be the biggest military base show ever at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Friday.

Ted Nugent is due to open the "Rockin' the Troops" extravaganza with "The Star-Spangled Banner" (accompanied by the winner of a Marine guitar contest). The show will also feature Destiny's Child, Ja Rule, Godsmack, Kiss and Richie Sambora, as well as Cedric the Entertainer, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Marisa Tomei, Mary J. Blige and Jay Mohr.

Putting the show together are Quincy Jones, philanthropist Joe Robert, Gerry Inzerillo, Spencer Proffer and Doc McGhee. The show, which is generating a CD, DVD and network special, has been underwritten through donations to www.supportthecorps.com.

Blasphemy on Sixth Ave.

We've always known diabolical minds were at work at the New York Post, but some readers are seeing the mark of Satan in the tabloid's Post Poker game. Would-be exorcists note that the paper printed the six of hearts, the six of spades and the six of diamonds - 666 - on Easter Sunday.

"The idea that the paper would be so utterly disrespectful of the Christian religion as to choose those numbers is no surprise," one former Postie told The News' Derek Rose.

A spokeswoman for the paper didn't return calls. But we're reasonably assured that neither publisher Lachlan Murdoch nor editor Col Allen have cloven hooves.

Side dish

Nothing is exempt from partisan analysis. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl was kind enough to point out to President Bush that there was some stray breakfast food on his face during a recent visit to Tucson. Bush had already greeted Kyl's fellow Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, both of whom apparently neglected to mention the schmutz, the Arizona Star's C.J. Karamargin noticed...

It's no news "D.E.B.S." star Sara Foster has been seeing Benicio Del Toro (they were first linked nearly six months ago). But at least this time around, Foster is glad that no one will think she's dating a girl. "When I was engaged to Ashley Hamilton, because of his first name I used to hear constantly 'Have you become a lesbian?'" Foster told Webster Hall's Baird Jones at Bungalow 8.

Surveillance

Jay-Z helped Knick Jamal Crawford celebrate his birthday at Howard Stein and Stratis Morforgen's new club "58" by sending over 15 bottles of Dom Perignon. Not to be outdone, Crawford sent back five magnums of Cristal to the rapper. Also raising their glasses were Knicks Stephon Marbury, Allan Houston, Tim Thomas, Maurice Taylor, Kurt Thomas and Trevor Ariza, as well as just-defeated Celtics Ricky Davis, Paul Pierce and Tony Allen...

Walter Cronkite has turned to his longtime passion for sailing to help him work through his grief after losing his wife, Betsy, after 65 years of marriage. We spotted the frail-looking news legend and his family last Saturday at British customs on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is winging his way into town to lend his support to Manhattan borough president candidate Brian Ellner tonight at the home of banker David Tufts.

With Ben Widdicombe, Jo Piazza and Chris Rovzar

Originally published on March 30, 2005