Getting their kicks

Paris Hilton stopped by the New Balance swag suite at the Sundance Film Festival to check out the PF Flyers and get a sneak peek at some items from the Boston-based shoemaker's still-under-wraps fall/holiday 2008 line. Rocker Cisco Adler, chef Giada De Laurentiis, Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, and "Entourage" star Kevin Dillon also picked out some NB kicks, including the classic 574 and the women's 410. Also hot were the 992s, which are "Nobel Son" actress Eliza Dushku's faves, the Watertown native told the suite's staff. Ryan Tedder of One Republic scored a pair of size 11, brown leather PF Flyers Number 5 at the suite and wore them to Monday night's performance at Tao. "Our luggage got lost on our way to Sundance," Tedder said during the concert.

Sticks and stones will break his bones, but names? Forget it. It'll take a lot more than "flower boy" and "posy patsie" to hurt our boy Tom Brady. Predictably, the New York Post poked fun at the Pats QB yesterday after he showed up at girlfriend Gisele Bundchen's West Village abode wearing a walking boot and carrying flowers. Brady, who'd be better off staying in Boston if he wants to sidestep the pestering paparazzi, wisely swapped the boot for some fine Italian shoes when he and Gisele made the scene Monday at the New York nightspot Butter. (The pretty pair sat two tables away from Gisele's former boyfriend Leonardo Di Caprio.) Then yesterday the MVP was spied sans the boot as he shopped for jeans at the Earnest Sewn store on Orchard Street. (According to Gawker.com, No. 12 told the clerk he needed extra wide jeans because of his "big hips.") But it isn't only the New York papers that are picking on Brady. Readers of the sports website Deadspin.com had some funny things to say about the picture of our hobbled football hero carrying flowers. Here are a few of our favorite quips:

"He's the new spokesmodel for Medical Supply Group."

"He's had a supportive cast the whole season."

"Matt Cassel will start and play well. After the season, the Patriots will release Tom Brady, who will bounce around the league. His last stop will be Dallas, where head coach Jason Garrett will bench him in favor of a young Rony Tomo."

"I blame Jessica Simpson."

"It's really bad when my girlfriend breaks this news to me. TMZ scoops ESPN."

"So her boots aren't made for walking?"

"Isn't this how it all started with Barbaro?"

Boston brotherhood at Sundance

Showtime's "Brotherhood" has been renewed for a third season, but what the news means for those working on the Rhode Island-set show is unclear. "I would cherish the opportunity to continue on the show," said Boston native Kevin Chapman, whose character, Freddy, was hauled off to jail at the end of season two. "I heard the news and thought it's great for the show, but there's a writers' strike and that means - we don't know. None of the story lines are flushed out at this point." Rhode Island's film bureau says 165 people have been part of the crew and more than 1,000 actors have worked on the series. Chapman, who splits his time between LA and Boston, just returned from the Sundance Film Festival for the premiere of "Sunshine Cleaning," which stars Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. While in Utah, Chapman - sporting a unique snowcap with a Pats logo - caught up with his pal Nuno Bettencourt of the Boston-based band Extreme. Bettencourt, who grew up in Hudson, worked the music for "Smart People," starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page.

Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, the founding members of the '80s band Yazoo - later called Yaz - are putting the band back together. Clarke, who's lived in Maine for the past several years, will join Moyet for a UK tour in June celebrating the release of a four-disc box set. Clarke was an original member of Depeche Mode - he wrote their early hit "Just Can't Get Enough" - before leaving to form Yaz and, later, Erasure. He's currently building a recording studio in Maine.

We told you way back in October that PepsiCo had signed Tom Brady's supermodel sweetheart to peddle its product in a sexy, 60-second spot that's supposed to air during halftime of the Super Bowl. While Gisele Bundchen's contract with the soda company is said to be among the most lucrative of her very lucrative career, everyone's being extremely hush-hush about the ad. Pepsi spokeswoman Nicole Bradley did not return our calls yesterday. In all, the Super Bowl will feature more than 30 minutes of commercials by the likes of Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, and, of course, Pepsi.

Dropkick Murphys guitarist Marc Orrell is leaving the band to do his own thing. In an e-mail to fans yesterday, Orrell wrote: "I feel like the time has come for me to try working on different styles of music and some of my own projects. I'm ready to spread my wings, as they say." Guitarist Tim Brennan, who also plays accordion and tin whistle, will take Orrell's place. Dropkick Murphys' ringleader Ken Casey said in an e-mail that the band has added Boston musician Jeff DaRosa and is continuing on with its winter plans, including several dates next month in Scotland, and its annual local St. Patrick's Day shows.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker received a "milk mustache" prior to shooting a "Got Milk?" ad yesterday in Mansfield.

PBS has bought first-time filmmaker Katrina Browne's documentary about her Rhode Island ancestors' involvement in the slave trade and plans to air it as part of its "POV" series. "Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North," which follows Browne and nine other descendants of the DeWolf family as they trace the routes of slave ships headed for New England, is in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, which is where PBS picked it up. Terms of the deal were not released. This isn't Browne's first brush with PBS. She got early help on the film through WGBH in Boston's Filmmaker-in-Residence Program.

It was with some fanfare a year ago that FreMantle Media, coproducer of "American Idol," announced plans to create Idol Camp in Northfield, a summer camp for talented teens interested in vocal performance, choreography, set-building, music video production, and the basics of auditioning. (Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell were not instructors.) Well, it's one and done for Idol Camp in Western Mass. After just one session, FreMantle announced yesterday it's moving the camp to Pali Mountain in Running Springs, Calif., but didn't explain why.

"Alvin & the Chipmunks" composer Christopher Lennertz and his wife, Shannon, have welcomed their first child, a girl named Neave Isabella Madden Lennertz, who was born Sunday in Los Angeles. A Methuen native, Lennertz has written the scores for TV shows - "Supernatural" and "The Strip" - and top-selling video games including "The Simpsons" and the "Medal of Honor" series.

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