A really Coolio cap

Coolio was congenial as ever before his show at Canvas in Lawrence Saturday night. Make that early yesterday morning. Before taking the stage, the old-school rapper from Compton, Calif., swilled several shots of tequila and showed us his customized Sox hat. (He'd cut a hole in the top to let his signature cornrows get some air.) Well lubed and carrying a wad of cash, the "Gangsta's Paradise" geezer finally grabbed the mic just before 1 a.m., and he didn't disappoint.

As promised, Audrina Patridge showed up at The Estate Saturday night and, as expected, she didn't say much. The few media folks who showed up to see her were warned not to ask "The Hills" costar about: A. Those naughty photos that recently surfaced on the Internet. B. Her boyfriend. C. The tattoo Patridge got on her left forearm last week. Of the three, we were most interested in the tattoo, which is a bit of Chinese writing that, loosely translated, reads: "The rice is fried in pork fat." (The suspicion is that the ink is a practical joke for Ashton Kutcher's new prank show "Pop Fiction.") Anyway, Lauren Conrad's sidekick, who was at the Pussycat Dolls show in Vegas the night before, arrived at Ed and Joe Kane's club around 11 p.m. and stayed until 2 a.m.

Looking to land roles in the new Bruce Willis flick "The Surrogates," a slew of Hollywood hopefuls turned out for a casting call Saturday at Felt. The movie, which begins shooting here soon, is set in the future, when humans live in isolation and interact via surrogate robots that are barely distinguishable from their flesh-and-blood facsimiles. Wannabe actors had to show up looking sharp if they had any hope of winning a role as a surrogate. "That means men clean-shaven and women having done their makeup and hair to the very best of their ability," read the casting announcement.

If you haven't read the ponderous piece on Alex Rodriguez in the latest issue of Men's Vogue, don't bother. There's nothing new. Author Seth Mnookin - he of "Feeding the Monster" fame - was promised access to A-Rod, but the Yankee slugger stiff-armed him at the last minute, canceling their planned get-together in Miami. Mnookin, who's a Newton native and big BoSox fan, told us he doesn't know why A-Rod walked. Maybe it's because he read Mnookin's blog, where the writer calls Rodriguez a "gutless punk" and "an easy guy to hate."

Turns out Gisele Bundchen isn't just another pretty face. On May 19, we're told, Tom Brady's glamorous girlfriend will be honored at the United Nations, of all places, for her contributions to women's causes. At the moment, the world's richest supermodel and her two-time Super Bowl MVP are in Europe for business and pleasure.

Joshua Ferris is the winner of the 2008 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for distinguished first book of fiction for "Then We Came to the End." Patrick Hemingway, son of the late, great Ernest Hemingway, presented the award to Ferris yesterday at the JFK Library. This year's judges were writers Ana Castillo, Jennifer Haigh, and Ernest Hebert. Past recipients of the award include Edward P. Jones, Dagoberto Gilb, Susan Power, Chang-Rae Lee, Ha Jin, Charlotte Bacon, Rosina Lippi, and Jhumpa Lahiri.

The hip-hop troupe finished second on MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew," but Status Quo is number one with Chuck Turner. Saturday, the city councilor presented Status Quo - Jayjion Greer, Dwayne Hines, Darius Rutledge, Jamal Weaver, Ernest "E-Knock" Phillips, and Joshua Green - with a resolution of appreciation. . . . Boston Ballet soloist Rie Ichikawa got more than she bargained for at yesterday's performance by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal at the Cutler Majestic. Ichikawa was plucked from the audience and invited onstage. . . . The family room at friendly Fenway will be full of flowers at the Sox home opener. Rick Canale, owner of Exotic Flowers at Quincy Market, has designed dozens of floral arrangements that'll be delivered to the ballpark April 8, when the Sox tangle with the Tigers. In addition to the 50 bouquets, Canale is creating a few special BoSox-themed boutonnieres for brass John Henry and Tom Werner.

There were several celebs in the house Saturday for the Red Sox exhibition game against the Dodgers at the Los Angeles Coliseum, among them NBA Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (above center), actress Pamela Anderson, and actor Billy Crystal.

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