Meeting the senator

By Mark Shanahan and Paysha Rhone  |  July 30, 2008

TMZ.com posted a series of pics of Senator John Kerry yesterday with an eye-catching caption: "Electoral College Girls Gone Wild." The website said the shots of Kerry and a troop of tipsy 20-somethings were taken at a Nantucket house party over the weekend. Not so, said the senator's spokesman. In an e-mail, David Wade had this to say: "The caption is completely erroneous and insulting and it should be immediately corrected." Wade said Kerry and two friends dined at the Straight Wharf restaurant and were walking down the dock when a large group on a boat recognized the senator and asked if they could take a photo. Said Wade: "The group came off the boat and onto the dock, took a photo with Sen. Kerry and his friends, and then Sen. Kerry and his two friends immediately walked away. End of story."

When she was dating Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez was a frequent visitor to our fair city. Not so much anymore. But that's about to change. Yari Film Group announced yesterday that JLo will be in Boston this fall to film "The Governess." The romantic comedy, directed by Nigel Cole, was written by Kevin Wade and Wendy Braff, with a polish by script doctor Don Roos, whose credits include "The Opposite of Sex" and "Bounce." (Wade, incidentally, wrote the Lopez movie "Maid in Manhattan.") "The Governess" is about a professional thief who, in order to pull off a major bank heist, poses as a nanny to the three unruly children of a wealthy widower. Yari's recent features include "Real Men Cry," a drama starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, and Amanda Peet that was shot last year in South Boston.

Boston casting director Kevin Fennessy is drawing on his connections to pull off a benefit for his family, which lost two Cambridge triple-deckers in a May fire. (Another single-family home nearby was also damaged.) Fennessy said the Beantown Swing Orchestra, which he booked for the Kate Hudson and Dane Cook movie "My Best Friend's Girl" last fall, was the first to sign up. (The shot-in-Boston flick was formerly known as "Bachelor No. 2.") The benefit, planned for the Hellenic Center in Watertown Sunday evening, will feature auctions and performances by local comedians Jimmy Tingle, Dick Doherty, Bob Gautreau, and Stephanie Peters, DJ ActOne, and singers Dane Vannatter, Jody Ebling, and Andrea Lyman.

It was only a matter of time before someone started a website devoted to NESN's new Red Sox reporter Heidi Watney. Introducing HeidiWatney.net, which features photos and videos of the former beauty queen (inset) from Fresno, Calif. It's not clear who's behind the unofficial fan site, but they're clearly smitten with Tina Cervasio's replacement.

As it rocks its way across the country, the band Boston is meeting many high-profile athletes who're admirers. Thanks in part to road manager Dave Rahn, who used to be in the sports business, the band hooked up in San Jose with Hall of Fame QB Steve Young and in Denver with Colorado Avalanche coach Tony Granato. During a stop in St. Louis last week, Cards manager Tony La Russa took Tom Scholz and the band on a tour of the park. "It was an amazing night!" said singer Michael Sweet. Boston plays Manchester, N.H., on Saturday and at the Comcast Center on Sunday.

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara better brace themselves. The first couple of comedy are going to get it tomorrow night at the Nantucket Comedy Festival. The event, hosted by filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, will be part roast, part tribute, said festival founder Kevin Flynn. "Jerry and Anne are doing great and they're still as funny as can be," he said. "It's going to be a fun night." The party at Jetties Beach starts with a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 8.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace business women Carol Troxell and Sara Youngelson thanked their Pitching in for Kids staffers with a Capital Grille-catered barbecue at Troxell's Framingham home Sunday night. WBZ-TV News sports anchor Steve Burton Jr. and Savant Project owner Luis Sanchez partied with the charity organization, which is supported by Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek.

What mild-mannered fifth-grader knows words like "catastrophe" and "crusader" and can save the day? PBS's "WordGirl." The year-old show, created by former teacher Dorothea Gillim at the Soup2Nuts animation studio in Watertown, won an Emmy for best writing in animation last month. Gillim, head writer Tom Martin, and Dannah Feinglass, the voice of WordGirl, also scooped up a Television Critics Association Award. WordGirl (below) is "a girl superhero who teaches vocabulary," says the studio's Jody Snider. Comedians such as Chris Parnell of "Saturday Night Live" and Jeffrey Tambor from "Arrested Development" regularly lend their voices.

Looking like the Michelle Wie of tomorrow, 12-year-old Kaila Anderson of New Bedford got some sage advice the other day from PGA young guns Anthony Kim (left) and Brandt Snedeker (wearing visor), and Deutsche Bank CEO Seth Waugh. The event at the TPC Boston was part of the run-up to the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship, which takes place Aug. 29.

Actress Jenny McCarthy went toe-to-toe the other day with West Newbury's own John Cena at the WWE Smackdown Autism event in Washington, D.C.

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