The East Village’s Cooper Union was founded in 1859 as one of the nation’s few all-scholarship colleges, and is one of the most selective, rejecting 88% of applicants. Students are not required to declare a major and are largely free to select courses from any discipline. Most of the school’s operating budget comes from alumni donations.

Circuit Noize, the quarterly magazine devoted to the circuit party scene, has relaunched as NoiZe, after its founder, Steve Kammon, died last year “due to complications from a long illness”. The rejiggered magazine will continue to be the go-to source for information about parties, events and music, with a new emphasis on feature articles. In the first issue of NoiZe, …

Reseachers at Ancestry.com have uncovered proof that political gadfly and relentless muckraiser Al Shapton is a descendant of a slave owned by the family of late Sen. Strom Thurmond, one of the most rabid foes of desegregation and civil rights. After his death, it was revealed that Thurmond had fathered a biracial child with his family’s housekeeper. Sharpton calls this …

“I have never been with a man in my whole life. I’m still a 55-year-old virgin.” – Personal finance guru and author Suze Orman, coming out in yesterday’s NY Times Magazine. Orman: “K.T. is my life partner. K.T. stands for Kathy Travis. We’re going on seven years.” Orman also says that she would love to marry K.T., adding, “Both of …

Another crazy, mobbed night with a bunch of hard-drinking bloggers and pals! Even more folks than last year, although we had a harder time herding the cats from bar to bar. As usual, I got way fewer usable pics than would like, with tons of blurry pictures of the floor. And next time we’ll have to set aside a specific …

After a nice brunch with Little David at the usual spot, Eddie, the Farmboyz and I ran across the 2007 Pillow-Fight NYC in Union Square, and paused to watch a few hundred mostly-NYU students beat each other over the head. Then we trekked a couple miles into the wilds of West Chelsea to Awakened, David LaChappelle’s new exhibit at Tony …

Long overdue, here’s the text from my performance at last week’s Worst.Sex.Ever show. My apologies for the delay. I misplaced my notes during the post-show drunkathon and had just resigned myself to rewriting it from scratch when I found the notes in the same coat I’d searched three times. Stupid beer. (Photo via emcee Chris Hampton.) Worst. Sex. Ever. Like …

A slim majority of Americans would vote for a gay or lesbian presidential candidate if he or she were “generally qualified”, according to a Gallup poll released today. Other results: 98% would vote for a Catholic (Giuliani), 95% for an African-American (Obama), 88% for a woman (Clinton), 72% for a Mormon (Romney). I’d like to see what the numbers are …

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s news about the demise of NYC’s Roxy nightclub, comes word that the NY State Appellate Court has upheld the 80-year old “cabaret law” that bans dancing in bars and restaurants. The court’s ruling says, “Recreational dancing is not a form of expression protected by the federal or state constitutions.” In the 1960’s, NYC had …

Google is hosting a Jamaica-based blog, Kill Batty Man, that advocates the murder of all gay people, naming the names of those to be killed. The top post on Kill Batty Man today is a gleeful photo essay of last week’s attack by a violent Kingston mob on three men presumed to be gay. Other posts rail against the incursion …

You may recall Rev. Lonnie W. Latham, the Oklahoma Baptist minister who loudly advocated against gay marriage and for gay people to reject our “sinful, destructive lifestyle”. That is, right up until his arrest last year for for offering an undercover cop a blowjob. Today, Latham’s lawyer asked for the case to be thrown out, citing Lawrence v. Texas, the …

Last year I did pretty well, picking 5 out the 6 top awards. Here’s my prediction for the 2007 Oscars: Best Picture: BabelBest Director: Martin Scorcese, The DepartedBest Actor: Peter O’Toole, VenusBest Actress: Helen Mirren, The QueenBest Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, DreamgirlsBest Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, DreamgirlsWhat say you, cinephiles? UPDATE: David has a funny breakdown of his predictions...

New Yorkers won’t be surprised to hear that the combined city/state tax bite for residents is 47% higher than than the average tax bite for the 8 other cities in the country with a population of greater than 1 million. The combined taxes per $100 of gross taxable resources: 1. NYC – $9.022. Philadelphia – $7.163. Los Angeles – $6.884. …

New York City’s legendary Roxy closes forever on March 10th, shortly before the building is set to be demolished. Originally a truck warehouse, then a roller-skating rink, Roxy has a been a staple of Manhattan nightlife for over 25 years and has hosted virtually ever pop star important to the gay community: Madonna, Cher, Bette Midler, etc. Roxy began its …

Our 2007 East Village Blarg Hop is a little more than 48 hours away. If you are planning to join us, we will be kicking things off at Nowhere Bar at 9PM. We will depart each bar just before the hour to allow a couple minutes of walking time before the next bar. The route is fairly north to south, …

“It’s not a very big thing to say, ‘I made a mistake’ on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can’t.” –David Geffen, one of the most wealthy homosexuals in the world and a former major Clinton fundraiser, speaking about his passionate support for Sen. Barack Obama. Geffen spoke to the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, an interview …

Do you keep anything in your home or vehicle for self-defense? Have you ever had to use it?.

Gentle readers, with the author’s permission, I am posting a late comment to last month’s post regarding the NY Times article about the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Gert McMullin is the “Handmaiden Of The Quilt”, the person directly responsible for its maintenance, repair, and upkeep. Here’s her beautiful and touching message: Joe, the following is in response to some of your …

Tony Blair has announced a reduction in British troops stationed in Iraq, saying that the British-held portion of the country is under better control by the Iraqi government than the U.S.-held portion. Denmark and Lithuania also announced plans to withdraw their tiny contingents. Bush is spinning the British reduction as a “positive sign” that the “corner is turning” in the …

Tim Hardaway scrambled damn fast to get his name off the sign at his Miami car wash. But can even his shitty name be as bad as “Grand Luxe Auto Bathe”?.