And the beat goes on...

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan  |  March 28, 2008

Drummer John Blackwell has hardly come up for air since leaving Berklee College of Music in the early '90s. First, he joined Cameo, then Patti LaBelle's band. Then, he had a seven-year stint with Prince's New Power Generation, and, now, a gig with Justin Timberlake. But Blackwell wasn't too busy to attend this week's opening of Cafe 939, Berklee's new student-run music venue and coffeehouse on Boylston Street. "I want to help lift these students up," he said. "It's a good feeling to help them." Blackwell, who swung by the Zildjian cymbal plant in Norwell while he was in town, told us it's been a treat touring with Timberlake. "He's like Prince, Elvis, and Teddy Pendergrass," he said. "Justin makes the girls scream. We'd play 50,000-seaters, and all I'd hear was, 'Awwww.' "

High marks for Garner, Boston

Matthew McConaughey says on his MySpace page that he's "having a blast" making "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" here with Jennifer Garner, calling her an "elegant, down-home lady." More surprising? The Texas-born actor sort of digs the Boston cold. Then again, "California sun [is] gonna feel good in June," he adds.

Generous Servings

"Dear Margo" advice columnist Margo Howard, "Spenser" author Robert B. Parker, state Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby, and State Street Foundation prez George Russell were among the 900 guests packed into the Langham Hotel last night for Community Servings' annual LifeSavor fund-raiser. More than $550,000 was raised for the charity, which provides meals for those too sick to cook.

Courting celebrities

Celts coach Doc Rivers, team CEO Wyc Grousbeck and his wife, Corinne, managing partners Steve Pagliuca and Bob Epstein, and team president Rich Gotham, were just a few of the VIPs at last night's bash celebrating the opening of Scampo, the new eatery co-owned by chef Lydia Shire and nightlife nabob Patrick Lyons. As the guest list grew, so did worries that Lyons might not make it back in time from Japan, where he'd traveled to see the Sox. But Lyons did show up, strolling in a little after 9. Celts captain Paul Pierce was expected later in the evening, and there was word that actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese - in town to film "Ashecliffe" - had reserved a corner table for four.

Dark deeds

Don't call Nubar Alexanian's pictures depressing. "There's a better word for them," he says. "They're . . . dark." The photographer from Gloucester is referring specifically to the black-and-white photos he's snapped over the past 15 years while shooting on film sets for director Errol Morris. Collected in a new book called "Nonfiction," the images are affecting and, in many cases, undeniably bleak. That's especially true of stills taken on the set of "Standard Operating Procedure," Morris's new movie about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. "Errol rebuilt Abu Ghraib on a lot in LA, an exact duplicate," says Alexanian. "He used reenactments to tell the story, and I was shooting [the reenactments] as if they were real." One of our favorite images in the book shows the Interretron, a device Morris invented that allows an interview subject - in this case Army reservist Sabrina Harman - to speak into the camera while seeing Morris's face.

First, her lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey was tossed out. Now Darlene Tracy says she's being beseiged by fans of the talk-show host. Tracy, who claimed in the suit that Oprah's new show, "The Big Give," was actually her idea, told us yesterday she's being harassed by strangers. The problem apparently started after the North Shore newspaper The Daily Item wrote a story about Tracy's lawsuit, and included the name of her street in Saugus. Before long, Oprah's fans came calling. "I have four kids under the age of 6, and I've got people coming up to me asking me odd questions," Tracy told us yesterday. "I called the (newspaper) editor and said, 'It's not like I'm a sex offender.' " Daily Item editor Henry Collins didn't want to comment yesterday, but said Tracy's address became a matter of public record when she filed the lawsuit. Tracy, who's filed an appeal in the Oprah case, said she's considering moving out of town.

Pats QB Tom Brady has touched down in Ibiza with glamorous girlfriend Gisele Bundchen, who's on the island to plug her new line of sunglasses. The supermodel has been spotted shopping, but thus far there's been no sign of Brady. Bundchen spoke briefly with French TV, but darned if we know what she said.

What's a Victoria's Secret model doing in Natick? In April? Selling the company's sexy swimwear, of course. Word is Marisa Miller, who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's 2008 swimsuit edition last month and is among the most downloaded women on the Net, will be at the VS store at the Natick Mall April 25.

Joseph P. Kahn of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.