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(Boston Globe Photo / Aram Boghosian) |
Names
Welker gets a winning reception
Judging from his performance the other night, Wes Welker might make a decent coach someday. The Pats receiver worked with the lucky winners of a Dunkin’ Donuts promotion during a game of flag football at Gillette Stadium. Andrew Fontaine, 6, got to toss the ball around with Welker.
The wedding that never was
Turns out chef Todd English and Erica Wang were married. Well, sort of. A few months before the couple’s very public break-up, they held a bogus wedding ceremony on board a yacht off the coast of Croatia. The celebrity chef and his girlfriend of two years were “wed’’ by the ship’s chef. (Wang had previously mentioned the fake nuptials to the New York Post. “He said he wanted that day to be a memory only the two of us could share,’’ she told the Post.) As you can see from this photo, posted yesterday by Gawker.com, the bride and groom both wore white, and even had fake wedding certificates and rings. The real deal was supposed to take place Oct. 3, but English had second thoughts and called the whole thing off at the 11th hour. He later filed assault charges against his would-be bride stemming from an alleged fight Sept. 15, during which he claims his former fiancee hit him in the face with his own watch.Dancer gives back
Former “So You Think You Can Dance’’ contestant Ashley Valerio - who auditioned for the Fox reality show four times before making it on this year - was in town yesterday to volunteer at the Center for Teen Empowerment in Dorchester. The Arizona native (above, center) gave a dance lesson to local young people as part of the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate campaign, which promotes volunteerism.Sound waves
Rosanne Cash and Daniel J. Levitin, a McGill University professor who specializes in music and the brain, were in town last night for “Music on My Brain,’’ a special event at the Museum of Science. Levitin is the author of “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession,’’ and has also done sound work for Steely Dan and the Grateful Dead.For the birds
First, there was “March of the Penguins’’ and then “Happy Feet.’’ Now? “On the Wings of Penguins,’’ a new documentary debuting tonight at the New England Aquarium. Director Bob Kline, whose last film was “The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings,’’ said the penguin pic, shot off the coast of South Africa and at the aquarium, was a labor of love. “There was a lot of tragedy and violence in the Kennedy story,’’ Kline told us yesterday. “This is very gentle story.’’Chefs split
The trio behind two of Boston’s best restaurants is breaking up. Chef Michael Schlow confirmed to us yesterday that he and Christopher Myers and Esti Parsons, co-owners of Via Matta and Radius, have ended their professional relationship, with Schlow buying out his partners. In a statement, the celebrated chef had this to say: “Christopher and I were lucky to have a fruitful and excellent partnership for 11 years. This is a decision we came to together. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Christopher and Esti, and I wish them all the best.’’ Schlow would not elaborate on the reason for the split, but it’s well known in the restaurant world that he and Myers are not exactly best friends. Still, the news comes as a surprise. The restaurants are routinely cited by critics as among the finest in a city obsessed with food. Parsons had previously announced her intention to leave the group to open a place of her own. Myers told us yesterday, “I would just say this, it’s time.’’ He also co-owns Flour bakery and Myers + Chang with his wife, Joanne Chang.
Crib notes
Here’s a scoop: Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady are expecting either a girl or a boy. The National Enquirer reported that the Pats QB and his pregnant spouse were having a boy. Now, Life & Style is insisting it’s a girl. (That’s what we’ve been told, too, by the way.) Citing an unnamed source, the magazine says Gisele wanted to decorate the nursery in pastel pinks, but opted for “a nautical theme’’ with cream and seafoam green. “They’re using a crib that’s been in Gisele’s family for four generations,’’ the source said. “Her grandmother slept in this crib, her mom slept in this crib, Gisele slept in this crib, and now Gisele’s daughter will sleep in this crib. It’s beautiful solid oak.’’
Which band got the part?
Boston bands have a history of making their way onto the big screen. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones performed in the Alicia Silverstone classic “Clueless.’’ Kay Hanley’s Letters to Cleo had a cameo in the Heath Ledger/Julia Stiles teen flick “10 Things I Hate About You.’’ And today a lucky Boston wedding band will shoot a scene in the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz movie “Knight & Day,’’ which has been filming all over Massachusetts these past few weeks. More than 200 local music acts applied to play the wedding band in the movie, and Boston Casting chose five finalists - including wedding bands Boston Common and Groove Authority, and the local rock band Cassavettes (of which Boston.com producer Glenn Yoder is a member). During the auditions, held Tuesday, each band lip-synched Grand Funk’s version of “Some Kind of Wonderful.’’ Cassavettes, the only non-wedding band among the finalists, got word yesterday that it did not get the gig. And as of yesterday afternoon, Boston Common leader/drummer Jonathan Wiegratz hadn’t heard back. But when we reached Paul Fudin of Groove Authority, he refused to talk about the audition and told us to contact the casting company with any questions. We’re pretty sure that means he got the job. Congrats if that’s true, Paul. For the record, Groove Authority covers everyone from Justin Timberlake to Roy Orbison. Wiegratz said the bands were told that filming would be today and that they’d be performing the Grand Funk tune on camera. He said he and his Boston Common bandmates would be bummed if they weren’t chosen to share the screen with Cruise, but joked that they would survive. “It would have been a cool thing to do, obviously,’’ he said, “but we normally have a full calendar anyway.’’
Actor nabbed in drug arrests
Boston native Sam Jones III, a young actor who has had regular roles on “Smallville’’ and “ER,’’ was arrested yesterday as part of a federal drug sting, according to TMZ.com. The gossip site says the actor was named as a “co-conspirator’’ in drug deals that took place last year, and that he has been charged with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess. Jones was interviewed by the Globe in 2002, when he broke into the acting business. At the time, he said that he was interested in serious roles and that he wanted to set an example for city kids. “One day when I get older, I’ll want to play a cop, or maybe a doctor. I will play a drug dealer, too, that’s no problem. But I want quality work. If it’s a movie by Spike Lee, and it’s a street character, fine, I’ll play that character and I’ll try to play it as real . . . as possible.’’ Of growing up in Roxbury and Mattapan, Jones said: “It’s just a bad situation growing up in the inner city, but you don’t know any better, so you love it. And you just get involved in what all your friends are getting involved in. If everybody in the neighborhood is smoking weed and selling drugs, then you smoke weed and sell drugs, too. My message to the kids is just don’t do that; there’s another way.’’
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