Talking up a thirst

We hope Pulitzer-winning author Joseph J. Ellis always has as much fun at readings as he seemed to yesterday at the Borders in Downtown Crossing. The Mount Holyoke College history professor will be on tour for more than a year in support of his latest tome, "American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic."

Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi and his bosses Robert and Jonathan Kraft were the surprise guests for Suffolk Construction's holiday party the other night. (The Boston-based company is building the Patriots Place project near Gillette Stadium.) More than 700 employees and their families attended the swanky soiree that was hosted by the company's CEO, John Fish, under a heated tent on the 25-yard-line to mark the company's 25th anniversary. (That also explains the No. 25 jersey that the Krafts gave Fish & Co.)

It's no coincidence that Martin Scorsese was spotted in Medfield the other day, just as the state was rebuffing the Oscar-winning director's requests to film "Shutter Island" in Worcester. Seems the vacant state facility in Worcester isn't available because of a construction project, but the sprawling former Medfield State Hospital might be available for filming the big-screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel. Scorsese's locations and art crews have been scouring the area looking for a place suited for Lehane's 1950s fictional tale about a murderer who disappears but is believed to be hiding in a hospital for the criminally insane. Already signed on to the movie are Leonardo DiCaprio, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley, and Mark Ruffalo.

Sounds like Sully Erna's getting ready to show his softer side. The Godsmack singer tells Billboard.com he's in the beginning stages of writing a solo CD, and it's going to be mighty serene. "Nothing like rock music," says Sully, who grew up in Lawrence. "It's gonna be very Native American tribal rhythms mixed with these Middle Eastern bluesy kind of vocals. . . . This is a project to get a different kind of music out of me that I feel is inside me, and not for any expectations about how big the hit may be or if it's gonna make it on the radio."

Her role on Joss Whedon's next TV project apparently won't prevent Eliza Dushku (inset) from making movies. The actress, who hails from Watertown, will costar in "The Thacker Case," an indie film based on the real-life 1983 wrongful death case of Kevin Thacker. The story centers on the mysterious death of Thacker, a repeat drunk driving offender whose body was discovered in an alley behind the Marshalltown, Iowa, police department. In the film, Dushku, best known for her work on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," will play an attorney.

The indie romantic comedy "Chatham" has found a distributor, writer-director Dan Adams confirmed to us. "We have a deal with Fox. So it could be out in theaters in a few months," said Adams, who shot the period piece on the Cape this year. The film, which will now be called "The Golden Boys," stars Bruce Dern, David Carradine, Rip Torn, Mariel Hemingway, Charles Durning, and Julie Harris. Adams and his crews made headlines during production for the $60,000 in delinquent payments they owed local businesses. But that seems to have been forgotten during recent screenings where the lines, we're told, snaked outside the theater.

At this time of year, it's better to give than to receive. Just ask Lincoln lass Callie Thorne, who was in New Orleans yesterday to celebrate the restoration of four firehouses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. "It's happening little by little down here," said Thorne, whose efforts on behalf of firefighters started after she met Denis Leary and joined the cast of his show "Rescue Me." The Leary Firefighters Foundation has committed to rehabbing 11 of the 22 firehouses damaged after the disastrous breach of the levees. Thorne and castmate Robert John Burke were in the Big Easy yesterday to mark the completion of the first four. Three more are slated to open in the next month. "It's too bad Denis couldn't be here today, because he's done so much and everybody down here appreciates it," said Thorne, who got to know the area last fall when she shot an indie film called "Welcome to Academia." "I was able to visit the firehouses, spend time with the people, and get my hands a little dirty." Asked when she's due back on the "Rescue Me" set, Thorne said it's up in the air due to the writers' strike. "At least we have a job to go back to," she said. "We just don't know when."

The preliminary lineup for next month's Hot Stove, Cool Music concert was announced yesterday, and there aren't many surprises. Mainstays Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, Kay Hanley, Lori McKenna, and Peter Gammons will again rock the Paradise Jan. 6 as will Paul Barrere of Little Feat, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Dear Leader, and French Lick, which features Celts CEO Wyc Grousbeck on skins. There's also a rumor that organizers may entice the BoSox bullpen rhythm section to perform. Tickets for the eighth annual Hot Stove, Cool Music show go on sale Saturday.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.