Names
"The X-Files" executive producer R.W. Goodwin was in town yesterday, promoting his new sci-fi flick, "Alien Trespass." It turns out his Boston roots go way back. He lived here as a child while his father attended Harvard and his grandfather hawked Globe newspapers at Faneuil Hall before moving up in the circulation department. His family ended up moving west, but Goodwin said it was too late. "From the time I was 4, I knew there was something wrong with Southern California," he joked. "I was imprinted with Boston." Maybe that desert weirdness caused him to set "Alien Trespass" in the Mojave desert; the flick tells the story of two aliens - one good, the other a one-eyed, tentacled creature of destruction - who crash-land in 1957 California. (The evil one turns his victims to puddles.) The story, crafted by Steven Fisher and James Swift, was inspired by classics such as "War of the Worlds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still." "It's not a spoof, it's not a parody," Goodwin said. "We had to transport ourselves back to 1957." Still, he slipped in some low-tech tributes, such as putting star Eric McCormack on a very obvious treadmill for a walking scene. "The background keeps moving for a second" after he stops, Goodwin said, laughing.
A chance to run with 'Cate'
We spotted film crews for the ABC pilot "See Cate Run" filming around the Public Garden yesterday morning. The show stars Amy Smart as a young attorney destined to run for president. Mara Casting is looking for extras, by the way, especially Latino men and women 18 and older who can still pass for high school students."Wheel of Fortune" fans will have plenty of opportunity to witness the game up close, when host Pat Sajak and the ageless Vanna White take over the Boston Convention Center this fall. The duo will tape three weeks of shows in three days - Sept. 3-5. (Is it just us, or does that seem like a lot to do in very little time?) The shows will air in November. TV38 will have all the details on contestant auditions and how to join the audience.
Bradys just brow-sing
Star magazine reported yesterday that Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen visit the same eyebrow technician - together. (Yes, that's the person who waxes their brows into twin-like, arching perfection.) The Pats QB and the supermodel stopped into Billion Dollar Brows in Beverly Hills earlier this month and left with matching arches, an "insider" told the mag.Bugging out
Eric Carle, author of the children's classic "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," got some love from Google yesterday, which incorporated the famous caterpillar into the logo on its home page to celebrate the first day of spring. Carle, who lived in Massachusetts for 30 years before relocating to Florida, collaborated on the design with Motoko Inoue, director of publications at his Northampton studio. Inoue said the search giant initially rejected their proposal to celebrate Carle's 1969 book, which turns 40 this year. But a few months later Google came back, asking for both a spring and fall design to celebrate March 20 in both hemispheres. The images apparently triggered people's nostalgia yesterday, she said. "We've been getting amazing personal stories from fans all day."Rapping with the kids
Rapper Flo Rida was a natural yesterday at the Franciscan Hospital, where he visited with kids and signed autographs. "I have seven sisters and they all have kids," he said, laughing. "I'm always doing something to put a smile on the kids' faces." The little patients even danced along when he played his hit with T-Pain, "Low," he added. "I left them all in an uproar." (Like any good uncle, right?) Flo Rida was in town to visit local radio stations and promote his new album, "R.O.O.T.S.," which drops March 31.Women of the world
Ben Affleck presented Marceline Kongolo-Bice and Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu with the Fern Holland Award at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night. The awards honor women leaders worldwide. Also at the event: Maria Bello, Candice Bergen, Sally Field, and designer Diane von Furstenberg.Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
