No. 12 in Milan with 'The One'

The Tom Brady beat yielded more grist for the gossip mill yesterday, as the gridiron golden boy continued his globe-trotting. A day after saying he's "excited" that ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan is carrying his baby, the Pats QB was in northern Italy to watch new best friend Gisele Bundchen strut her stuff at Milan's Fashion Week. (Dolce & Gabbana's fragrance, "The One," was inspired by the Brazilian supermodel, so she's being well-paid to promote the scent in Milan.) Although the Victoria's Secret stunner is accustomed to paparazzi, having dated actor Leonardo Di Caprio for several years, we're told she asked yesterday for additional bodyguards. (Why not just enlist Matt Light and the rest of the Pats offensive line to keep the shutterbugs at bay? ) Busy as she is, Bundchen, 26, also canceled a business meeting with the conglomerate LVMH, for whom she helps sell expensive Ebel watches.

Brady and Bundchen, who are squatting at the five-star Hotel Principe Di Savoia while in Milan, are likely to see a few familiar faces at Fashion Week. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and his newly blond girlfriend Erin Brady -- no relation to No. 12 -- were at the Roberto Cavalli show yesterday seated beside actress Sharon Stone. Brady and Bundchen are due back in New York tomorrow.

Houston, Ray J. go hand in hand

So what if she's 43 and he's 26. Whitney Houston is getting serious about Brandy's kid brother, Ray J. Us Weekly is reporting that Bobby Brown's ex and her new boytoy were "cuddling and holding hands" the other night in Las Vegas, and spent the weekend holed up at Caesars Palace. Not exactly an innocent, Ray J. is the male lead in Kim Kardashian's recently released sex tape. The Roxbury-bred Brown, meanwhile, is once more talking about a New Edition reunion with Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe, and Ralph Tresvant.

Another kind of Celtic rock

The secret life of Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck is revealed when he gets a call on his cellphone: The ringtone is "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC. Grousbeck, the Green Team's majority owner, is an unreconstructed rocker, and next week his band, French Lick, is making its Lansdowne Street debut. "We're rehearsing three more times before the gig," Grousbeck, the band's drummer, said yesterday. "We don't want to mess up." Dubbed Bash at Bills, the March 1 gig at Bill's Bar will also feature auto dealer Ernie Boch, whose band the Automatics includes former Boston members Barry Goudreau and Sib Hashian. A fund-raiser for two charities, the show promises to be a good time. "We play all my favorite classic rock -- AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and the Who," said Grousbeck. "And we have a lot of fun doing it."

Black Enterprise magazine has ranked the 10 most powerful African-Americans in Hollywood, and Emerson alum Doug Holloway doesn't just make it, he finishes ahead of Denzel Washington and Eddie Murphy. The NBC Universal Cable exec, who is class of '76 and an Emerson trustee, ranks No. 7 on a list that includes Oprah Winfrey -- she's No. 1, of course -- Time-Warner's Richard Parsons, Will Smith, Magic Johnson, billionaire Robert Johnson, Tyler Perry Company CEO Tyler Perry, and Tyra Banks.

Each new baseball season brings a batch of new baseball books, and this spring will be no different. Now, old friend Rico Petrocelli is getting in on the act with "Rico Petrocelli's Tales from the Impossible Dream Red Sox," an insider's account of the improbable '67 Sox on the 40th anniversary of that memorable team. . . . Fall River's Chad and Kerri Teixeira are almost famous. Thanks to their delightful daughter, the couple rubbed elbows this week with TV types Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. The Teixeira's tot, 13-month-old Kaysie Lynn Teixeira, is one of five finalists in the "Beautiful Baby Search '07" on "Live with Regis and Kelly." The winning wee one will be on the cover of a future issue of Parenting magazine. . . . WFNX program director Max Tolkoff is taking a walk, leaving to become program director of the LA alternative stations KDLD and KDLE. Keith Dakin, the assistant program director at 'FNX, will become the PD effective April 1.

The cast of " Cats," currently at the Opera House, met with a cast of cats at the Animal Rescue League of Boston during Kids' Night on Broadway.

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