So many of us are sealed up in the NYC media bubble that we forget that there's an entire world out there—complete with struggles, intrigue, emotions and money—that has nothing to do with Manhattan. Or even Brooklyn! That's right, the San Francisco newspaper battle has been raging for years. Yesterday, we received an email from Bruce Brugman, editor and co-owner of the Bay Guardian, updating his fellow independent newspaper colleagues around the country about the next stage in the saga that has been taking place between his paper at the now-Village Voice Media-owned SF Weekly. Turns out that VVM may have to finally pay out the money courts have said is owed to the Bay Guardian. As the East Bay Express reported, it's become clear that this is a fight til the death, and one paper will not survive. And then today, in The Stranger (also an independent paper), writer Eli Sanders goes in for a great analogy: "It's a war straight out of the last century in its ruthlessness and its destructive potential, and it continues to escalate even as, all around them, the entire words-on-paper industry is in a state of collapse. They're like dinosaurs, fighting over the rotting bones of a soon-to-be-extinct animal." Read more

This Friday The Hookies take place, an awards show for male escorts. Raven O will be the MC for the evening, and I agreed to be a "presenter" at the awards, which take place at Chelsea nightclub Rebel (251 W. 30th St.) beginning at 11 p.m. I'm still not sure what award I'll be presenting, but categories include Best Newcomer, Best Pornstar Escort, Best Top, Best Ass, Best Fetish Escort, Best Tattoos, Best Body, Biggest Cock, Best Duo, Best Boyfriend Fantasy, Best Mature Escort 40 , Best Escort Blogger / Writer, Best Escort Agency, Mr.International Escort 2010. So you get the idea. If you'd like to vote for any of these categories, whether you have firsthand knowledge or not, visit the site, and you'll get an eyeful. And the event is free if you arrive before 11 p.m., so come on out and cheer me on. And if you hang around afterward, you can join the F Word party, which moved from Santos to Rebel a little while ago. No matter what, it'll be a fun night. Read more

Vice magazine finally stopped trying to be serious and got back speaking about issues we look to them for answers on—namely farts. They sat down with proctologist (or aptly described sphincter scientist) Dr. Lester Gottesman to find out little known facts about flatulence. According to Dr. Gottesman, this Mother’s Day should be spent blaming your mom for why your wind breaking reeks, coffee has a direct correlation to your sphincter muscles, oops poops have an origin and we all have hemorrhoids. Read more

Tourist traps make eating around Times Square an expensive endeavor. And while tourists, no doubt distracted by all the pretty lights and big buildings, are willing to shell out $20 to eat a hamburger next to Julia Roberts’ hooker heels from Pretty Woman, the average New Yorker would rather gouge an eye than eat an overpriced meal surrounded by crowd of fanny-pack flaunters. So why are some many natives intentionally noshing on Ninth Avenue and 41st Street? Simply answered: the pizza is 99 cents.Read more

Last night, two Brooklyn artists, along with some of their hetero and homo friends staged a kiss-out to offer another perspective on the traditional vigil/rally that often accompanies a violent crime. Organizers Todd Shalom and Ryan Tracy placed groups of kissing couples (and some threes) of all genders on corners up and down Court Street in an effort to align themselves with the streets that bore witness to a horrific gay bashing on March 2nd. Check out the video after the jump.