NY Mirror

That was not the predominant scent—manstench was—when the Cabanas, the open-air upper terrace at the Maritime Hotel, launched its frolicsome Sunday-night gay party, hosted by ERICH CONRAD and LINCOLN PALSGROVE. It's sort of like Beige with less oxygen. But I sniffed out some gossip there: that at the Tonys, after they dragged old, dear CAROL CHANNING out on stage, BOY GEORGE thought maybe he had a chance to win after all. (He didn't.) Also, on that same dizzy night, PATRICK STEWART thought designer RICHIE RICH was Taboo's EUAN MORTON and said some very personal and encouraging things to him. More immediately, club legend RUDOLF PIEPER told me he's helping to open Lotus clubs in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Rio, where the most sizzling hot spot now is Iron Lady. "It's a carioca version of an s/m leather bar, with carnival atmosphere and feathers," said Rudolf. "It's very confused. In Brazil, even macho married men are not responsible for what they do after 1 a.m.—and that's strictly enforced." De-gorgeous! Come on, Dubya—let's take some more vacations.

LITTER BOX

RANDOM HATEFUL THOUGHTS

My guess as to how BRITNEY SPEARS hurt her knee: The Moesha broad who's preggers via Britney's new beau must have done a TONYA HARDING! And here's why the MADONNA, I mean Madge, I mean Esther, concerts supposedly had so many empty seats till the last minute: Flacks hyped it as "sold out" from day one! You figured, "Why bother even calling for tickets?" (That's one theory.) And here's some gossip about the late designer Egon von Furstenberg, who died from AIDS, I mean liver cancer: His last wife, LYNN VON FURSTENBERG, feels his previous one, DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, kept her away from the dying Egon by saying she'd visit him first and Lynn could swing by later. There was no later.

My favorite living couple popped up at Entertainment Weekly's Crobar party for its "Must List" issue: Saturday Night Live's frisky AMY POEHLERand her hubby, WILL ARNETT, whose Arrested Development magician character EW calls "intriguingly deluded." "I'll take that!" Arnett said after I read the description to him. Poehler's characters, meanwhile, are intriguingly diluted (like MICHAEL JACKSON) and often downright white trash. Off camera? "I'm 10 percent white trash," Poehler insisted. I fully believed her until she added, "and part Cherokee."

WEB EXCLUSIVE, 6.25.04

Welcome to the career nook, where I tell you about everyone's upwardly mobile job opportunities, as my own career slides into the tar pits. Drag king MURRAY HILL is the latest offbeat celebrity to get his own TV show. (Details to come.) Meanwhile, the Corsair reports that former E! mook A.J. BENZA says he's getting in the upper six figures to host a reality program of his own. (What—Big Brudda? Again, details to come.) Still in the amazing race, ex-New York magazine editor CAROLINE MILLER has apparently gotten the backing to start up a W-type publication. And I hear FRANK DiGIACOMO is penning an oral history of Page Six for Vanity Fair (which makes delightful sense since he used to edit that very column).

An even larger slice of American pie, C. DAVID HEYMANN's Triumph and Tragedy—a book about JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR. and his sister CAROLINE—will explore the rumors that John-John was notoriously bisexual. Funny, he never bought me anything.

And in more serious news, In Style's HAL RUBENSTEIN came out as a longtime HIV survivor during his speech at a UJA Federation of New York benefit last week. You're gorgeous, Hal!

Now someone help me find my career.

musto@villagevoice.com