Damon is divine; no holiday for Lockhart, Pops
FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION We finally know what Johnny would do -- host a dinner party. The centerfielder, whose long hair and beard remind at least some folks of another savior, is surrounded by 12 of his Bosox teammates in graphic artist Barbara Bannon's parody of "The Last Supper." The Newburyport native said she created the image -- available at www.redsoxsupper.com -- because everyone was drawing comparisons between Johnny Damon and Jesus. "I was a little nervous about my soul," she said yesterday, "but then a reverend ordered two canvas prints, three T-shirts, and an 8-by-10 poster." The only complaints Bannon has received so far are from fans who think Nomar Garciaparra should be Judas. In her version of da Vinci's famous painting, the traitorous disciple is David Ortiz. And that's just wrong.
NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU SEE HIM AGAIN Harry Houdini he ain't, but Pixies drummer David Lovering is a serious magician, as those folks lucky enough to score a ticket to the band's gig at Avalon will find out. Lovering, who in the past has opened for Frank Black, is the warm-up act at tonight's show, the only Boston date of the Pixies' enormously successful reunion tour. Billed as a "mentalist/mind reader," Lovering casts a spell starting at 7. Who knows? Maybe he'll make ClearChannel disappear.
REMEMBER, 'FAN' COMES FROM 'FANATIC' We're told that not a lot goes on in South Carolina, and now we have proof. (We'll concede that Charleston and the state's beaches make it worth keeping part of the Union.) The evidence? Hartsville, S.C., cardiologist Kathryn Lawrence is winging her way to Boston to see tonight's performance of Huntington Theatre Company's "Burn This." It appears the good doctor is a fan of the show's star, TV hottie Michael T. Weiss (of "The Pretender" fame). Lawrence, with the help of the Huntington folks, will meet Weiss after the show and fly back to the warmer climes tomorrow morning.
A SUPER CONDUCTOR We know he's indefatigable, but this schedule is jampacked even for Boston Pops maestro Keith Lockhart. Straight from a seven-day national tour with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Lockhart will travel today directly from Logan Airport to the Prudential Center mall to sign copies of the Boston Pops' new (self-produced and self-distributed) CD, "Sleigh Ride." Tomorrow he begins a 22-concert run of Holiday Pops concerts, which include four concerts this weekend in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. The season at Symphony Hall begins Monday.
A LOT OF GOOD NOYCE Australian movie director Phillip Noyce ("The Saint," "The Quiet American," "Patriot Games") will be honored by the Newport International Film Festival with its Claiborne Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Filmmaking. Actor Billy Zane and Australian consul general Ken Allen will be among those present when Noyce receives the award Saturday from former senator Claiborne Pell and his wife, Nuala, at a ceremony at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport. Noyce will start the day at a Newport book signing for the new biography "Phillip Noyce: Backroads to Hollywood," written by film scholar Ingo Petzke, and later participate in a Q&A session following a screening of his 1979 breakout film, "Newsfront."
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