Barney's time in the limelight

Congressman Barney Frank, known for his sharp wit and almost indecipherable accent, gets a lot of love in the current issue of The New Yorker. The very long profile by Jeffrey Toobin chronicles Frank's rise from a politically minded high school gadfly in mobbed-up Bayonne, N.J., to his days as Mayor Kevin White's chief of staff, to his current and most powerful perch as chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. One of the candid asides? Describing John McCain after the senator briefly suspended his presidential campaign to join the bailout negotiations, Frank said he looked "like your old uncle, just shriveled and shrunk, and he just didn't look good. And we kept pressing him, saying, 'What is your plan?' " Frank also turned up on the gossip site TMZ this week, advising desperate folks still looking for inauguration tickets to "run for Congress. There aren't enough to go around."

The cast of the new and improved "Dirty Water TV" gathered at Billy Fairweather's Greatest Bar this week to tape their debut episode for NESN. The show, which previously aired on CN8, features a few new faces: former Pats tight end Christian Fauria, "Matty in the Morning" regular Lisa Donovan, the one and only Bob Lobel, and Jen Manley. The first NESN episode, which premieres Jan. 17, includes an interview with Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. After the taping, we're told, Jim Belushi dropped by with buddies Eric Spitz of UFood and Beehive co-owner Bill Keravuori.

Mandy Moore is doing her part to save the environment. The actress was in town to see friends in Medford this week, and traveled to and from Logan in Green Cab Boston. (Born in Nashua, N.H., DJ AM's ex left yesterday for LA.) Green Cab Boston, which promises "ultimate luxury green car service while maintaining an unwavering commitment to the preservation of the environment," is brand new but already proving popular with eco-conscious A-listers visiting Boston. Coldplay's Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfeld, and Boston's Tom Scholz have all hitched a ride.

Electricians, plumbers, and other tradespeople aren't the only ones benefiting from the movies and TV shows shooting in Boston. Turns out that Egan's, a church supply store in Dorchester, has been heavily trafficked by Tinseltown types. The store, located on Gallivan Boulevard, is stocked with everything from altarware to communion wafers and clergy apparel. Manager Mary Beth Tumilty told us that when Ben Affleck was in town shooting "Gone Baby Gone," a production assistant dropped $300 on several items, including crosses, holy pictures, and a poster of Dorchester, which Tumilty wouldn't sell but did agree to rent. "I never saw the poster in the film, but I did see our crucifixes," she said. The trend has continued with TV pilots "Madso's War" and "Bunker Hill," which were both filmed here in recent weeks. "The 'Bunker Hill' people bought small prayer cards and votive candles, and ['Madso's War'] rented an electric votive candle stand," said Tumilty. "It's kind of fun to look for the items" in the finished product.

Don't I know you? That's what Kate Sheridan, daughter of SBLI CEO Bob Sheridan, said while walking along a beach in Australia the other day. Seems Kate, a standout on the Colby College women's lacrosse team, exchanged pleasantries with Paris Hilton, who happened to be passing by with her posse on a beach in Sydney. Paris spent the New Year's holiday Down Under, and managed to raise some eyebrows by spending some $4,000 during a 40-minute shopping spree. What was Kate doing there? Playing in an international lacrosse tournament, which she and her US teammates won.

Kennedy kin Christopher Lawford is out and about hyping his new book, "Moments of Clarity: Voices From the Front Lines of Addiction and Recovery." The son of Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, Lawford is a recovering addict, and his book includes the stories of other celebrities who've struggled with sobriety. (Tom Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Elaine Stritch are all in the book.) Lawford's previous book, "Symptoms of Withdrawal," had a similar theme.

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