A memorable date at Camp David

There's a lot to like about Terry McAuliffe's heavily hyped book "What a Party!" The Clinton confidant spins an entertaining tale, and in the process drops some serious names. In what other political memoir will you find mentions of "Misha" Baryshnikov, Peter Fonda, Lenny Kravitz, Eric Clapton, Angie Dickinson, and Leonardo DiCaprio? But it's an episode involving Ben Affleck and Matt Damon that caught our eye. In '98, the pair partied with Bill and Hillary at a screening of "Good Will Hunting" at Camp David. The Oscar winners arrived during the day, and Matt, Ben, McAuliffe, and Clinton watched the Broncos/Steelers playoff game. During dinner, while Damon bent Madeleine Albright's ear, Ben rose to greet his date. "Who's that?" McAuliffe asked Hillary. "That's Gwyneth Paltrow, the actress, you idiot," snapped the first lady. The group then climbed into golf carts and headed to the theater. McAuliffe writes that Ben and Gwyn snuggled on one love seat, and Bill and Hill were on the other. "Affleck and Paltrow didn't come up for air the whole time," writes McAuliffe. "I guess they'd already seen the movie." When the lights came on, Clinton said he loved the movie's romantic ending, adding that, like Matt's character, he once ran after a girl. "Best decision I ever made, too," he said. A few days later, The Washington Post would report that Clinton was involved with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Brady really is a doll

If you think the flesh-and-blood Tom Brady is a hot property, just try to get your hands on the synthetic version of the Pats signal-caller. Upper Deck has created a series of action figures based on three Super Bowl-winning QBs -- Brady, Brett Favre, and Ben Roethlisberger -- and Brady 's is by far the most popular. "His sold out in 90 minutes," Don Williams, an Upper Deck spokesman, told us yesterday. The $49.95 figure, which is made of vinyl and stands 11 inches tall, looks like a little superhero, with oversize hands and feet and exaggerated musculature. (Even Tom ain't that tough.) Alas, every one of the 1,000 of the vinyl idols are gone.

Mixed messages from the Police

If we were the betting sort, we'd say the Police will play Fenway this summer. But no one's saying that on the record. Monday, the Globe reported that Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were negotiating a gig at Fenway on July 28 and 29. But yesterday, Sting's publicist, Tracy Bufferd, replied to a Globe query with this rather unambiguous e-mail response: "Reports are untrue." Hmm. What to make then of another e-mail yesterday from a Red Sox insider who insisted that the report is indeed true. . . . His best supporting actor Oscar nomination gave Mark Wahlberg another benefit. The former Dorchester kid who was arrested some 20 times growing up says he finally got to make an early morning call home that brought good news. "I don't know how many times I've had to call my parents and caused them to cry and they had to come bail me out because I did something bad," he told Jerry Penacoli of the syndicated TV show "Extra." "So to hear them for the first time have tears of joy, it meant the world to me."

Justin Timberlake worked out yesterday on the basketball court and the fitness floor at the Sports Club/LA at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common. Later, JT and two bodyguards were seen grabbing a bite outside blu. Pink worked out at the sports club, earlier in the day. . . . Before his "Dancing With the Stars" performance at the DCU Center in Worcester Monday, former New Kid Joey McIntyre took 14 members of his family to Viva Bene Italian Ristorante in Worcester. "Dancing With the Stars" performer Lisa Rinna was at Persona at the Ritz on Monday, where she bought diamond earrings designed by Gary Shteyman. Rinna's husband, Harry Hamlin, who also appeared on "Dancing With the Stars," was seen Monday, where else? The Sports Club/LA.

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling pointed out yesterday at a press conference at the Shaw's in Sudbury that with a coupon promotion the grocery company's president Carl Jablonski announced, Shaw's will have raised more than $250,000 for Curt's Pitch for ALS. Then, Schilling's wife, Shonda, pointed out his visit to the Sudbury store was the first time Curt had stepped inside a supermarket in Massachusetts.

Although "Doubt" was opening at the Colonial Theatre last night, the play's star Cherry Jones met with media yesterday at the Opera House (so she would be out of the production crew's way). After last night's opening, the play's cast and crew were expected to gather at Legal Sea Foods in Park Square.

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