Drinking up Boston's bars

Comedian Zane Lamprey, host of the drinking show "Three Sheets" on MOJO HD, kicked off Zanecrawl yesterday, a $1,700 three-day, all-booze/buses/hotels-included extravaganza for 30. The partyers started with a timed chug-a-lug contest against Lamprey and Steve McKenna at the German bar Jacob Wirth and planned to hit the Black Rose and a few other pubs before ending the night- none too sober, we imagine - at Cheers. (Jim the Cop, one of the show's characters, was also along, as was mascot Pleepleus, a stuffed monkey.) Lamprey, whose show has him drinking and recovering around the world, said he found the best hangover cure in Denmark, home of Karlsberg beer. "It's called the Viking Club," he explained. "You get naked and run off the end of a dock and the water is 34 degrees. Your body thinks it's about to die and it pumps up your adrenalin and you go into survival mode." (And then, presumably, your body forgets to be hung over.) Follow with the sauna and a beer, he advised. "Rinse and repeat."

Ben Affleck's on the block for the Jimmy Fund, but so far there are no takers. The hometown actor and director first offered himself up for dinner for four in LA (including plane tickets and, no doubt, swanky accommodations) for a mere $10,000 on Tuesday. By yesterday afternoon 50 percent off, with free shipping. Where is the love? Bidding ends tomorrow, so the folks with the cancer research charity telethon are hoping Ben-o-philes get to clicking. But really, what does Ben care? He and wife Jennifer Garner have bought a $16 million, seven-bedroom pad in Brentwood, not far from Ricki Lake and Tobey Maguire, according to Usmagazine.com. The new home reportedly has a wine cellar, library, pool, three-car garage, and a deck with a built-in barbecue. Plenty of room for little Violet and the alleged baby on the way.

On the eve of the Pats' first preseason game, QB Tom Brady was at Jack Johnson's show Wednesday at the Comcast Center. No. 12 was hanging backstage with his girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, wideout Wes Welker, and long snapper Lonie Paxton. Brady and his buddies watched the show for a while but left because of the team's curfew.

Newton's own B.J. Novak may be joining the cast of Quentin Tarantino's World War II movie "Inglorious Bastards." The Hollywood Reporter said "The Office" actor and writer would play a soldier in the film about a band of Jewish resisters in Vichy-era France. Brad Pitt has also come on board to play the soldiers' leader. (Nastassja Kinski is still in talks with the director to play a German actress.) Shooting is scheduled to start this fall and wrap in time for Cannes in May 2009.

Regina Pisa, attorney extraordinaire, shared some secrets with new female MBAs at the Simmons School of Management commencement at John Hancock Hall yesterday. The managing partner of Goodwin Procter told the grads women should never underestimate the power of symbols. "If they offer you the corner office, take it," she said, laughing. "Don't wait to be invited to the table; take a seat at the table." Pisa, a Simmons trustee, also explored how Goodwin Procter grew from an "old, large" local firm to an "innovative, aggressive, and responsive" company with 850 attorneys and offices nationwide. "I was elected with a mandate for change, but no one knew what that meant and no one really wanted that anyway," Pisa joked. A strong strategic plan, employee buy-in, and celebrating every victory are key, she said. "We celebrate everything. I issue celebratory e-mails every day."

Janice Burgess, producer of "The Backyardigans" on Nickelodeon, will screen a new episode and appear with her pink, polka-dotted critter creation Uniqua today at the sixth annual Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. The animated show features original music by Alicia Keys and Cyndi Lauper and choreography by Alvin Ailey's Beth Bogush. "I really wanted the dancing to look like dancing," Burgess said. "And Cyndi Lauper and Alicia Keys are big stars, so it's pretty exciting. We just asked them, and they said yes."

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, a retired Detroit Tigers pitcher from Worcester, joined 50 anglers off Cape Cod yesterday at the 15th annual Joe Cronin Memorial Jimmy Fund Fishing Tournament. Organizers hoped to raise $350,000 for cancer research and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

JoJo Levesque is not a spoiled celebutante, but she'll play one in "True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet" on Lifetime today. The Foxborough teen singing queen said playing a drunk, bleached-blond star was cool. "I don't stagger drunk out of limousines, so it was fun to do something I'm not," she said. She was a little worried some might think it's a biopic, say, of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, or the like. "It's based on a book," she reassured. In the movie, her character goes to rehab and is banished to live with her aunt in Indiana, played by Valerie Bertinelli. "She's just a wise woman," said Levesque, who said the former teen idol gave great advice. "I didn't know her obviously in her heyday, because . . . I wasn't born. But my Mom said everyone loved her." Levesque planned to head home this weekend after a busy summer recording around the country; her last year of high school awaits. And her third album, "All I Want Is Everything," will drop early next year; she's proud she wrote almost all her own songs, she said. "I hadn't been allowed before, and I really took the reins. It's more of a coming-out party for me, as a young woman."

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