Pudding picks Walken, Theron

The Harvard hambones known as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals have picked Christopher Walken and Charlize Theron as their Man and Woman of the Year. As is the custom, the pair will parade through Harvard Square separately - she on Feb. 7, he on Feb. 15 - before being roasted and mercilessly toasted by the Hasty Pudding troupe. Theron, of course, won an Oscar for "Monster," and Walken is a legend for his roles in such films as "The Deer Hunter" and "Pulp Fiction." (We got a glimpse of Walken not long ago when he and his excellent hair were in Boston filming "The Lonely Maiden.") Winners of the Hasty Pudding Pot have included slouches too numerous to name, including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Richard Gere, Halle Berry, Martin Scorsese, Tim Robbins, Robert Downey Jr., and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The day before Theron arrives, the Harvard Lampoon will be honoring Paris Hilton. For what, we don't know.

A winning voice

Let's hear it for Miss Massachusetts Valerie Amaral, who this week won the talent contest during the preliminary competition for the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas. An Acushnet resident who attends UMass-Dartmouth, Amaral received a $2,000 scholarship for her vocal performance. Sixteen women will ultimately vie for the Miss America title.

On the campaign trail

In advance of the state's presidential primary, Chelsea Clinton paid a visit yesterday to Boston College, where she did a Q&A with students at the Hillside Cafe and then met with supporters of her mother, New York Senator Hillary Clinton. The former first daughter, who's 27 now and employed as a hedge fund executive, is visiting college campuses in several states where the race among Democratic candidates Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards is considered close. . . . Meanwhile, former Sox center fielder Johnny Damon showed up in Florida this week at a rally for Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Not to be outdone, Curt Schilling continues to shill for John McCain. Writing this week on his blog - 38pitches.com - the Sox pitcher implored people to vote for the Arizona senator, but also had a kind word for Obama, whom Schill called "the other person of unparalleled character in this upcoming election."

This year's model

Turns out Tom Brady isn't the only Super Bowl combatant who'll have a supermodel sweetheart cheering him on. The New York Post reports that the Giants' giant defensive end Ositadinma Umenyiora is spending some quality time with Victoria's Secret angel Selita Ebanks, who recently split with actor Nick Cannon. While her allegiance is surely with the Giants now, just last fall Ebanks was singing the Pats' praises to a Globe reporter. "This season I got off to a late start watching [football] because [Victoria's Secret] keeps me so busy," Ebanks said, "but I'm back in there now and the Patriots are 10-0. Woo!" In fairness, the model did go on to say: "I'm a fan of the sport as a whole. I give all the teams their props." If they're not acquainted already, Brady and the British-born Umenyiora will be soon. Osi, as he's known, will be bearing down on No. 12 all day at the Super Bowl.

Soul survivor

We wanted to snap a picture of B.J. Novak during his stand-up routine at Northeastern the other night, but the publicist for "The Office" actor and writer basically forbade us. The college newspaper was allowed to shoot him, but only for the first five minutes of his performance. Why, you ask? Novak told the audience that pictures steal a piece of the subject's soul, "so, you know, celebrities like Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, they must not have - . . ." Novak finished the show with his soul mostly intact.

Maestro Benjamin Zander has performed on stages around the world, but on Sunday he'll face a rather unusual audience: the leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum. The New England Conservatory prof (inset) is in Davos, Switzerland, to deliver the closing keynote address at the forum that counts Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, and JPMorgan Chase's CEO James Dimon among its co-chairs. So what'll he chat about? Orchestrating collaboration, he says. "I've been asked to bring it all together." He does have some experience with that.

"Red Sox Century" author Glenn Stout has landed another book deal. Houghton Mifflin purchased the rights to Stout's book on the 1912 Red Sox in a deal brokered by Boston literary agent John Taylor "Ike" Williams. So, what's so great about that season? It was the year Fenway Park opened. Another fun fact? That year the World Series featured a tie, forcing an eighth game. The Sox went on to beat the New York Giants.

Mark your calendars: Bill Belichick is ready to blab. OK, not really. But the legendary and notoriously laconic coach will open up at an event billed as "An Evening with Bill Belichick." The talk, set for April 30, is part of the Salem State College Series. Past participants have included President Clinton, the late Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, Goldie Hawn, and Tom Wolfe. Tickets range from $10 to $65 and are available at salemstate.edu/series.

Arlington composer John Kusiak worked on not one but two films screening at Sundance. He wrote the music for "Secrecy," a much-buzzed-about documentary about civil liberties by Harvard filmmakers Robb Moss and Peter Galison, and scored Rob Meyer's short flick "Aquarium," which filmed here in 2006. But Kusiak had to cut short his trip to Utah because of a looming deadline for his next project, a series on Native American history for PBS. Luckily, the music lover stayed out west long enough to catch Patti Smith's performance at the Music Cafe.

Just a couple of days after getting Oscar noms for their work on "Michael Clayton" comes word that writer/director Tony Gilroy and actor Tom Wilkinson will again team up, this time for a corporate thriller called "Duplicity." Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Billy Bob Thornton have also signed on. Gilroy is a BU alum who spent several years in this area working as a musician. He returned to his native New York to write screenplays, including all three of Matt Damon's "Bourne" movies.

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