Pennies from LA

Boston author Ben Mezrich tells us he won a $100 bet with Hollywood producer Dana Brunetti that the Red Sox would go all the way. But his win comes at a price - a rather heavy one. Seems Brunetti sent Mezrich the payment in pennies. The two made the bet just weeks into the baseball season, when Brunetti and Mezrich were here working on the movie "21," starring Kevin Spacey and based on Mezrich's bestseller "Bringing Down the House." After the Sox won, Brunetti sent word he was paying up, adding that he had his LA staff collecting 10,000 pennies. The dough, shipped via Fed Ex Ground, has yet to arrive. Hey Ben, don't spend it all in one place.

Boston Residential Group CEO Curtis Kemeny opened his posh, two-story penthouse at 360 Newbury the other night to help Boston Conservatory celebrate the opening of its production of "West Side Story" and mark the classic musical's 50th anniversary. The pre-show soiree drew legal eagle B.J. Krintzman, wealth management maven Alice Finn, Battery Ventures' Ollie Curme, and former Houghton Mifflin honcho Nader Darehshori. And how's this for a highlight? Jamie Bernstein Thomas - daughter of legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein - read letters her dad sent home about working on the show.

Boston Common magazine may claim to cover the city, but Jason Binn's glitzy glossy seems to have a problem telling the difference between WBZ-TV newscaster Sara Underwood and Playboy's 2007 Playmate of the Year, who happens to have the same name. In a two-page spread about the Back Bay's poshest persons and points of interest in the latest edition, Underwood, the Boston newswoman, is listed as someone with Back Bay ties. That would be true. But right next to photos of 02116 denizens Tom Brady, Ted Kennedy, and Peter Wolf, is Sara Jean Underwood of Playboy fame. Seems the magazine is put together in the Big Apple and folks there didn't know the difference. "It is a production error," said a spokeswoman for the magazine.

Could Dane Cook and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger be an item? While in town filming the romantic comedy "Bachelor No. 2," the Arlington-born funnyman professed to be single. But Us Weekly is reporting that Cook was recently spotted at a concert in Hollywood with Scherzinger, who was "cuddling and kissing his neck." The tireless Cook, who kicks off a tour later this week, will perform at the TD Banknorth Garden Nov. 17.

Is Gisele Bundchen so upset with Tom Brady making nice with his ex, Bridget Moynahan, that the supermodel would resort to calling him names? The National Enquirer quotes sources as saying that Gisele called No. 12 a "wuss" for trying to make nice with Bridget, who is the mother of Tom's son, John Edward Thomas Moynahan. Even with a very public display of affection in Miami last week, the Enquirer reports that the supercouple are having a tough time of it.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu arrived at the Kennedy Library yesterday to participate in a forum and dinner on the fate of democracy in South Africa. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was joined in the discussion by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who is a former president of the National Union of South African Students, and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. (Senator Ted Kennedy was slated to deliver the opening remarks but was unable to get to Boston because the Senate was in session.) Also on the guest list were R&B and jazz singer Wannetta Jackson, Wheelock College president Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Museum of African American History executive director Beverly Morgan-Welch, and former Profile in Courage Award recipients Alberto Mora and Dan Ponder.

Turns out that "Gone Baby Gone" star Casey Affleck might have a wilder streak than we've seen. Affleck's brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix tells Playboy that the two got matching tattoos in Italy and that Casey videotaped Joaquin weeping during the inking process. So what did the dynamic duo pick for their tats, which are on the inner part of their arms? "Casey and I were in Italy and wanted matching circle tattoos meaning literally 'nothing.' We were making fun of people who get tattoo symbols on their arms," Summer Phoenix's brother told the magazine. Seems like a lot of work - and pain - for an inside joke. . . . Meanwhile, Casey's big brother Ben Affleck was in Spain yesterday, where his directorial effort opened.

Fresh off his duck boat dancing with the Dropkick Murphys during yesterday's Red Sox victory parade, ace closer Jonathan Papelbon is heading to New York for an appearance tonight on David Letterman's show. The show's producers, however, aren't saying whether he'll do his famous jig.

Christopher Walken and William H. Macy will join Morgan Freeman in "The Lonely Maiden," a Peter Hewitt-directed comedy that begins filming in Boston in a couple of weeks. The three play security guards who plot to steal back art they've grown fond of after the priceless pieces are sent to another museum.

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