Baby Cheney, Weighed on Political Scale, Too

Prize-Winning Paul Simon and Friends, Feelin' Groovy

Is a victory lap still a victory lap if it's run like a relay?

On Tuesday, Paul Simon was awarded the first Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress. Last night, the 65-year-old songwriter celebrated with more than a little help from his friends. And yes -- our colleague J. Freedom du Lac reports -- that included Art Garfunkel, whom Simon called "my dear friend and partner in arguments." Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Marc Anthony and Alison Krauss were among the musicians who performed some of Simon's best-known songs at the Warner Theatre.

Simon eventually took the stage to perform -- but not before getting roasted by his longtime friend and New York neighbor Lorne Michaels. The "Saturday Night Live" creator said he's often asked what it's like to live near a genius. He said he replies:

"Don't ask me, ask Paul."

A Little Relationship Problem for Dr. Laura

Laura Schlessinger -- the tough-talking radio relationship counselor known as "Dr. Laura" -- is taking a break from the column she writes for a California newspaper, after another paper reported that her soldier son is under investigation for posting what an Army officer described as a "repulsive" Web page.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported over the weekend that Army officials were looking into Deryk Schlessinger's MySpace page, which featured cartoon images of rape, murder and child molestation; racial epithets; and stories of drug use. The 21-year-old is stationed in Afghanistan, the paper reported Saturday. The next day his mother said she would suspend her column in the Santa Barbara News-Press.

The complex inside-journalism back story: The Trib article was written by reporter Matthew LaPlante, who last week was under assault by Dr. Laura fans for a previous story they thought made her look bad -- one in which he quoted the radio talker blasting soldiers' wives for "whining," and declaring that "warriors need warrior wives."

SURREAL ESTATE

Buyers: Don and Mary Graham

Price: $4.6 million

Details: The chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Co. and his wife have quietly purchased a 6 1/2 -room, 2,000-square-foot pied-a-terre with 10 windows on Central Park West, reports the New York Observer. "We haven't even talked to our friends about the fact that we'll have this apartment," Mary Graham told the paper, reiterating that they continue to be a "devoted Washington family." Even the name of the 1929 co-op has a D.C. touch: It's called the "White House."

THIS JUST IN . . .

Big misunderstanding! A day after Oprah expressed shock and dismay over a New York Daily News report that her father is writing a book about her, Vernon Winfrey started backpedaling big-time. In an interview with TVGuide.com (yeah, go figure), the Nashville barber said the project is "on hold." The senior Winfrey denied that his daughter chewed him out on the matter but said "there is no book," though "we might have to think about it later on."