Sox-ing it to LA

It's been widely reported that tonight's exhibition game between the Red Sox and the Dodgers will draw the biggest crowd ever to watch a baseball game, and as you might expect, there'll be few boldfaced BoSox fans in the sea of Dodger blue. "Grey's Anatomy" actress and Everett native Ellen Pompeo is expected to attend with husband Chris Ivery, as is Ellen's castmate, Mainer Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey. (His peeps said he'd make at least one of the Sox's three weekend games on the West Coast.) LA top cop Bill Bratton was set to bring wife Rikki Klieman, and Medford's Maria Menounos told us she wouldn't miss it. Boston-bred actors Jonathan Moss Tucker and Jeffrey Donovan were on board, as was "The Office" gang, including Steve Carell, B.J. Novak, and John Krasinski. We'll bet the LA Coliseum hasn't played host to so many Bostonians since John F. Kennedy delivered his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Of course, some of the Sox super fans will be MIA, including actors Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Mike O'Malley, and "Hostel" director Eli Roth, who told us he'll be busy celebrating Quentin Tarantino's birthday in Las Vegas.

Maybe John Mayer should stick to music. The singer was in the stands for one of the Sox games in Japan, and afterward posted a video of himself doing a bizarre bit of play-by-play. The video was first posted on Mayer's YouTube channel - youtube.com/user/mayermusic - and has since spread like a virus. (After Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia fouls one off, Mayer says, ". . . And then that happened!") Blogging yesterday, the Grammy winner said he's been traveling alone in Japan for the past three weeks: "It's been so remarkable an experience for me that I can't book a ticket home yet."

Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (above) surprised students in the 2008 All-State Chorus, which was rehearsing yesterday at the Park Plaza. (Today, the talented kids will perform at Symphony Hall with the All-State Jazz Band, Concert Band, and Orchestra.) Lockhart was also promoting the Boston Pops High School Sing-Off, a statewide best-of-Broadway challenge, the winner of which will perform with the Pops at the 4th of July show at the Charles River Esplanade.

Who's that behind those Foster Grants? Well, it's not Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly," and they're not Foster Grants. That's Tom Brady's supermodel sweetheart Gisele Bundchen (below), who's in Ibiza hyping her first-ever line of sunglasses. The globe-trotting glamour girl, who's being accompanied by Brady on this trip, launched the Vogue Eyewear Play Everyday Campaign at the Atzaro Hotel yesterday. . . . Closer to home, Gisele's ex-boyfriend, Leonardo DiCaprio, caused quite a stir yesterday at the Tannery in Cambridge. The actor, in town to shoot director Marty Scorsese's new film, "Ashecliffe," was in the store for an hour with his parents, and walked out with five pairs of shoes, including some Uggs. (Yes, he paid for them.) Despite his best efforts not to be recognized - Leo wore a low-slung ball cap and a puffy coat - the actor was hard to miss.

The Epstein boys are doing their bit to boost the profile of the Brookline-based nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves. Paul and Theo Epstein have taped a public-service announcement for the agency's exhibit "Choosing to Participate," which is up at the Boston Public Library until May 20. The multimedia exhibit features four moments in history that capture hatred, racism, injustice, courage, and compassion, and uses pictures, video, and audio recordings to tell the stories.

With more than 50 million albums sold, decades of concerts, and three dozen film credits, you'd think there isn't anything new to learn about Meat Loaf (inset below). But then the 60-year-old rocker let film crews follow him around last year as he started an 18-month tour in support of his album "Bat Out of Hell III." The resulting documentary, "Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise," will screen Monday at the Kendall Square Cinema and air Friday on Rave, part of the Voom HD Network. We had a few minutes on the horn with him while he was in New York.

They just told me to hold for "Meat." What should we call you?

I've been called Meat since I was 9 months old. They don't ask Bruce Springsteen why he's called Bruce Springsteen.

I didn't mean to offend. It's just that there are several dozen stories for how you got your name, including one in Wikipedia that says you got run over by a car or something.

Yeah, I made them all up. I'm serious. Once I realized that I could mess with people messing with my name, I just kept making up different histories. Every time. But I'm telling the truth when I tell you that I've been called Meat Loaf my whole life practically.

OK, about that documentary then. At this point in your career, why would you decide to let film crews follow you around everywhere you go?

Not everywhere. I didn't let them do a lot of the stuff that's in my life. This isn't a reality show. The reality shows actually set things up. Those people are trying hard and they're pretentious. All of them, even Gene Simmons. They're past the point of reality.

So you just went with the flow?

Mostly, yes. It's documentary, but also a concert film. I'm not even sure what made it in and what got cut. Like when Dennis Quaid called and said, 'I see you're coming to Winnipeg.' I told him there would be a film crew following me around. 'If you want to come to the show, great. If not, I'm not going to make that happen.' As it turned out, he said he didn't care. . . . Later he played with my band.

In the film you light up onstage, but seem to be tired of the traveling and things that go with it. What's your favorite thing to do?

I really like film. I really feel at home. You ever heard the old line: How do you make a musician miserable? Give him a gig. I love acting, but a lot of actors don't like it. I've been on sets where they're whining. I say shut the [expletive] up because you're working. Stop complaining. I don't complain about working.

Do you envy other acts that have - how can we say this politely - shorter, catchier tunes?

Yeah, like the Rolling Stones, I'm so jealous. [Starts singing] Start me up! Ugh. Give me one of those rock and roll songs. This 'Bat Out of Hell' crap - it's hard.

Can't wait for the Museum of Fine Arts expansion to be completed in 2010? We can't either, especially now that we know who'll be featured in one of the first shows. Cheryl Brutvan, the MFA's curator of contemporary art, was on the phone with the incomparable Ellsworth Kelly this week trying to line him up for an exhibit in the Foster Gallery. "It's pretty close to being certain," said Brutvan, adding that the exhibition will likely focus on the artist's lesser-known wooden sculptures. "We don't have a checklist together, but we're all in agreement that it's going to happen. We're thrilled."

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