NY Mirror

I ran abreast of Manheim again the next night in Central Park, then saw the first half of the Taming of the Shrew production, which is oddball, but I won't scapegoat it except to say that the author— Shemp Howard, I think— must be very proud. Moving from Padua to Tuscany— via Midtown— I graced Torre di Pisa, a West 44th Street eatery where kitsch heaven mixes with such sumptuous cuisine that you leave wearing Venezia jeans. There are photos and tiny representations of the Tower of Pisa everywhere, and the kitchen is encased in a replica of the landmark structure's upper region, geniusly replete with stuffed birds on the landing. All that's missing is a shoeshine boy. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm leaning toward giving the place an absolute rave. Get it? Leaning.

I'm also leaning toward appearing on next year's MTV Movie Awards, now that my spies have told me all the fancy loot this year's on-air personnel received from the network as inducements. Host Lisa Kudrow supposedly got jewelry worth $5000; Jim Carrey was sent to the ceremony on a chartered plane trip that cost $91,000 and he also bagged a $19,000 Harley motorcycle to ride home on; Adam Sandler was gifted with a $15,000 flat-screen TV; and Will Smith nabbed a saddle worth $10,000 (for a horse, not Jada). I'm sure what he really wanted was Kevin Kline's breasts.

Finally, this is no gift at all, but I've amassed some more facts about the sad murder of fashionista John Badum by the Moroccan piece of trade he considered his boyfriend. The trade— who had done lots of steroids— was a country boy with strict patriarchal ideas, though insiders say he'd gotten involved with a farmer's boyfriend who was also the farmer's first cousin! Also, Badum had been institutionalized for his hopeless addiction to romantic obsession. I guess he just loved the lure.

musto@villagevoice.com