Words to the wise

By Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone  |  October 24, 2008

Celebrated scribes Robert Pinsky and Jamaica Kincaid joined a cadre of young writers, including Janice Erlbaum, Booker Prize nominee Joseph O'Neill, and Elisa Albert, for a reading at the Coolidge Corner Theatre last night. The event was presented by Nextbook and the New Center for Arts and Culture, the cultural center to be built on the Greenway.

Allen has a nice time

Ray Allen was among several celebs, including Lindsay Price and Kim Raver of "Lipstick Jungle," singer Ne-Yo ( below left, with Allen), as well as Susan Sarandon and Kate Bosworth, who attended a shindig hosted by Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin in New York the other night. (The centuries-old watch company was honoring author Salman Rushdie, architect Richard Meier, and talk-show host Charlie Rose.) We're told Allen raved about Raver's last show, "24," and the actress, a BU alum, admitted she's a big Celts fan. Ray's wife, Shannon, was there and promised to hook up the Hollywood hoops fan with tickets any time.

Sleep chic

Five Boston designers brought their visions to the beds at Frette, the new luxury linens boutique in the Mandarin Oriental last night. Michael Barnum, Tony Cappoli, Dennis Duffy, Duncan Hughes, and Eric Roseff created bedroom vignettes for the store's grand opening celebration.

Technical difficulties

On this night, at least, the show could not go on. Plagued by sound-system problems that prevented Carrie Fisher from being heard by much of the audience, Wednesday's performance of "Wishful Drinking" at the Huntington Theatre had to be canceled before it was over. "It's embarrassing and not something we make a practice of," said Huntington spokeswoman Rebecca Curtiss, adding that just five shows have met a similar fate in the theater's 26-year history. Fisher did her darnedest to carry on, even shouting so that patrons in the balcony could hear her. But at some point, Debbie Reynolds's daughter concluded it wasn't going to work and ended the show. Noting that she had turned 52 the night before, Fisher at one point sighed, "Some birthday present." After a Huntington official announced that the audience could return on another night or get a refund, the crowd responded not with catcalls but with an enormous ovation for Fisher, who also was handed a small bouquet of roses.

We know, we know . . . even saying the words "Joe the plumber" ignites a fatigue so deep we all just want to bury our heads in Sarah Palin's closet until the election is over. But we couldn't pass on this one. Comedian Chris Zito is hosting a Joe the plumber look-alike and joke contest at Dick Doherty's Beantown Comedy Vault on Oct. 30, kicking off what will become weekly performances for the Worcester resident. Zito will be joined on stage by Doherty and Paul D'Angelo, and the whole shebang will be judged by real, live local plumbers. We hope the winner gets a golden plunger.

The beautiful people were out in force at the opening of Elan Sassoon's salon, Mizu, Tuesday. Sassoon was joined by his sister, Eden, and mother Beverly Adams - out from LA - as well as Channel 7's Janet Wu, Channel 5's Karen Holmes Ward, construction magnate Jay Cashman and his wife, actress Christy Scott Cashman, state Senator Marian Walsh, Herb Chambers, and Boston ballet director Mikko Nissinen. And when the bar ran dry, the partying continued at the bars at the Mandarin Oriental and Liberty Hotel.

Brookline native and "Daily Show" comedian John Hodgman came home to an enthusiastic, sold-out crowd at the Coolidge Corner Theatre Wednesday, where he read from his book, "The Areas of My Expertise," and performed with friend and musician Jonathan Coulton. And because Coulton is jetting off to Dublin soon, leaving Hodgman behind, the two did a touching rendition of "You Belong to Me," with Hodgman on the ukulele and Coulton on guitar. "They said they'd only rehearsed it once in the car," said Genie Williamson, an events manager with Brookline Booksmith, where the two signed books and CDs afterward. "It was really funny."

Wes Welker was wearing waders yesterday at the unveiling of Ocean Spray's 2,100-square-foot bog at Patriot Place. The Pats receiver was inducted as a cranberry grower by Peter Beaton. The result of a partnership between the Pats and Ocean Spray, the bog gives football fans a chance to learn about cranberries from third- and fourth-generation growers.

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