Clinic is quite a rush

By Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone  |  June 27, 2008

As always, Tedy Bruschi went all out at yesterday's inaugural SBLI Kids Football Clinic at Gillette Stadium. The clinic gave kids ages 8-12 the chance to dress in the Pats' locker room, sit in on a blackboard session with Bruschi, and run through some on-field drills with the Pats linebacker and his able assistants Matt Cassel, Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Wright, and Ray Ventrone. At one point, Bruschi bull-rushed Curt Schilling's son Gehrig.

Walker's creative spirit

Liz Walker was center stage at the Promise of America Gala at the JFK Library the other night. The longtime WBZ-TV anchor, who's also reverend of the Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain, narrated the New Philharmonia Orchestra's performance of Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." (The New Phil got an assist from the strong orchestra from the Oliver H. Perry elementary school in South Boston.) The event was a salute to the civic contributions of John Hancock Financial Services.

Time to say goodbye

We briefly caught up with Sir Ben Kingsley at the Ritz-Carlton the other day, and the celebrated actor said he's nearly wrapped up work on "Ashecliffe," the Martin Scorsese movie that's kept him busy in Boston for the past few months. Kingsley told us he had wanted to teach an acting class while in town, but his hectic schedule wouldn't allow it. A big-time tennis fan, Kingsley likened his "Ashecliffe" costar Leonardo DiCaprio to Wimbledon favorite Roger Federer, a reference we didn't necessarily understand. Does Leo wear a headband?

'Tip' off the old block

Tip O'Neill's son Thomas P. O'Neill III attended this week's preview performance of "According to Tip" at New Repertory Theatre, and hooked up afterward with the star of the one-man show, Ken Howard, the playwright Dick Flavin, and New Rep's producing artistic director Rick Lombardo.

Considering his role in helping the movie get made, we'd expect George Tobia to like the new film about his friend Hunter S. Thompson. And he does. Tobia, the Boston entertainment lawyer who reps the Thompson estate, attended the film's star-studded New York premiere this week, and afterward pronounced the movie marvelous. "I think it really captures who Hunter was," Tobia told us yesterday. Directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" pays serious tribute to the rabble-rousing writer, and includes testimonials from the likes of Pat Buchanan, George McGovern, Jimmy Buffett, and Gary Hart. At the premiere, Tobia sat beside "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau, whom Hunter never met but still hated because of the Uncle Duke character. (Zonker's uncle in "Doonesbury" looks and acts remarkably like Thompson.) "I told Garry that Hunter would sometimes flair up over 'Doonesbury,' and I'd have to explain to him about fair use and parody," said Tobia. "It was interesting to be at the movie with [Trudeau] because he and Hunter are inextricably linked." In addition to Tobia, who's thanked in the film, VIPs at the premiere included Meg Ryan, Tom Wolfe, Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter, who produced the film, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, Candice Bergen, and NBC's Brian Williams.

Usually, when rock stars want to visit the New England Aquarium, they call ahead and arrange a private visit to avoid the crowds. Not Dave Matthews. The arena rocker, who's in town for two shows at the Comcast Center, showed up at the aquarium yesterday with four kids, his wife, and DMB bassist Stefan Lessard, and then waited in line with everyone else to see the IMAX film "Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D." The movie came out in the spring, but Matthews, an ardent environmentalist who contributed music and songs to the film, hadn't seen it yet. "He was very laid back, and signed autographs for anybody who wanted one," said an aquarium official.

Community Servings keeps fast company. FedEx and NASCAR yesterday gave the agency a Toyota Prius to help it donate meals to sick clients. Making the presentation to Community Servings executive director David Waters was Denny Hamlin, who'll be at the wheel of the FedEx-sponsored race car at this weekend's NASCAR event at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Race.

Friends and family raised a toast to Bob Lobel (inset) after the legendary sportscaster was honored the other night at the New England Sports Museum. Gathering for the private soiree at Billy Fairweather's Greatest Bar were Lobel's longtime producer Alan Miller, Fox 25's Butch Stearns, TD Banknorth Garden president John Wentzell, and Sports Museum curator Richard Johnson, among others. Lobel arrived in style, of course, pulling up in a limo loaded with family members, including his wife, Suzanne, and his children.

South End hotspot Gaslight opened its new terrace this week, and threw a little party to celebrate. Sitting outside were Aquitaine Group's Matthew Burns and Jeffrey Gates, Chanel's Mary Nobile- King, Uzay Tumer, who was on Rocco DiSpirito's ill-fated reality show "The Restaurant," Vidal Sassoon VP Peter Bradley, "Sex and the City" actor Kevin Flynn, design guru Dennis Duffy, Masa's Mohamad El Zein, and George Lewis of the Foundation Lounge.

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