RUSH: Last night, ladies and gentlemen, I went to New York for the 21st annual Night to Remember cigar dinner that is basically the brainchild, it’s a giant party thrown by Marvin Shanken of Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazine. I have attended all but one. I was unable to attend a couple years ago because I was sick, had some kind of fever and I didn’t think it wise to fly.

Now, the thing kicks off at seven with cocktails and cigars, and it’s at the Four Seasons restaurant on 52nd Street, the old Seagram’s building downstairs. I never go to the cocktail bash because it’s jammed with people. A thousand, 1,500 people show up. It’s a charitable dinner and the beneficiary is prostate cancer, Michael Milken and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. And this dinner has raised, just with one night a year, over 20, $23 million for prostate cancer, just with ticket sales to get in.

There’s always an auction, and great items are auctioned off. It’s a black-tie night. It’s great fun. It’s one of the most enjoyable nights of the year for me. Last night’s special guest was

Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. Michael Milken had him as his guest. Rudy was at our table, Giuliani always is, along with Marvin and his wife, Hazel. John Salley, former NBA great for the Detroit Pistons, is one of the most naturally funny people that you’d ever run into, and he’s been a regular for the last number of years.

It was just a great time, and I almost didn’t make it. I wasn’t able to get out of here until about 4:30 yesterday. See, I never go ’til seven o’clock ’cause I can’t hear in there. A thousand people with all that talk, there’s just no way I can carry on a conversation, so I always time my arrival to try get there at 7:45, eight o’clock. As soon as I arrive, I just slither right through all those people at the cocktail party and just head on into The Pool Room, which is the portion of the restaurant where the bash is held.

Normally what I do, I change clothes on the airplane, about 30 minutes out I start changing clothes, but it was turbulent. I had not remembered turbulence like this in years. It doesn’t scare me, but it would not have been possible to get out of the chair and start getting dressed and so forth.So I had to wait ’til we landed, and because of the turbulence and traffic — it was 34 degrees and snowing when we landed. It was not sticking, but it was just raw. It looked like the holidays, except nobody was happy.

So, anyway, I didn’t get in the car on the way to the party until 7:20. And I barely got there, I walked in, it was about 10 after eight and everybody was just getting seated so I got there just in the nick of time. It’s one of these things I wish everybody could attend once ’cause it’s just fun, and it’s people from all walks of life and from all different political persuasions.

Politics never comes up other than maybe conversation here or there at dinner. But it’s just a bunch of people telling funny stories and having a good time. I ended up getting back, got into bed about 2:30, which is about normal for me. I was the high bidder on a couple of auction items that I’m excited about. It was just a fun night.