Brady lands in LA

Tracking Tom Brady in the offseason has become a bit like "Where's Waldo," except the Pats QB is way better-looking. Back from a working vacation in Europe, Brady and girlfriend Gisele Bundchen were photographed the other day waiting for a car at Los Angeles International Airport. The couple's whirlwind trip overseas included stops at Gi's pad in Porto Fino, Italy; Ibiza; Paris; and finally Portugal, where Bundchen has a deal to become the face of a new resort in Madeira. While in LA, Brady's likely to pay a visit to his ex, Bridget Moynahan, and their young son, John. The actress looked quite content this week pushing the pigskin progeny around her Brentwood, Calif., neighborhood.

Just because he's backing John McCain for president, that doesn't mean Curt Schilling is on the bash-Obama bandwagon. Far from it. Appearing on WEEI yesterday, the Sox pitcher said he doesn't hold Democrat Barack Obama responsible for the hate speech of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr. "Are you guys still on that kick?" Schill rhetorically asked right-wing morning hosts Gerry Callahan and John Dennis. "Of course," replied Callahan. "That's the best thing that's happened to [McCain]." Nonsense, said Schill. "I would guarantee, Gerry, that you've been around someone who's made horrifically inflammatory racial comments at some point in their life." He was correct, of course, and Callahan acknowledged it. "That's just [Dennis]," he said, throwing his cohost under the bus. In 2003 Dennis and Callahan were suspended after they compared an escaped gorilla to minority children who participate in Metco, a state-sponsored education program. In the end, Schilling said he isn't surprised that the Jeremiah Wright story has legs: "We're so knee-jerk, make-this-story-as-epic-as-we-can when it comes to crap like this," he said.

As you might expect, the sendoff at Anthony's Pier 4 for Steve Bailey was a well-attended affair, especially among pols and influence peddlers. Wishing the great Globe business writer well was a crowd that included Senator John Kerry, former mayor Ray Flynn, hizzoner Tom Menino, House Speaker Sal DiMasi, Secretary of State Bill Galvin, talk-show host Tom Finneran, Democratic consultant John Sasso, Republican consultant Charlie Manning, Entercom exec Julie Kahn, Harvard Pilgrim poobah Charlie Baker, former John Hancock CEO David D'Al- essandro, developer Don Chiofaro, legal eagles Bob Popeo and Jeff Rudman, Legal Seafoods sultan Roger Berkowitz, Elizabeth Grady prez John Walsh, nightlife nabob Pat Lyons, SBLI's Bob Sheridan, and the city's foremost flacks Larry Rasky, Doug Bailey, George Regan, and Geri Denterlein. The columnist, who toiled at the Globe for 30 years, is leaving for a job in London.

Whatever you may have read on the celebrity blogs, Ben Affleck's peeps assure us that the actor was not duped by Sacha Baron Cohen's latest alter ego Bruno. In recent days, there have been Internet reports that Affleck was among those fooled by Cohen's character, a flamboyantly gay Austrian TV personality who is crisscrossing the country making a movie. Never happened, says Ben's rep Shawn Sachs. Oh, sure, and we suppose he's not [expletive] Jimmy Kimmel either, right?

Everett's own Ellen Pompeo was dressed to kill for her appearance the other night on David Letterman's show. The "Grey's Anatomy" actress wore a beige sleeveless blouse that was more unbuttoned than buttoned and an enormous ring on her finger. Pompeo paused to talk to fans outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, where the show is taped.

The culinary kings and queens of Boston took part in last night's "Spoonful of Ginger" event at the State Room. The annual fund-raiser for the Joslin Diabetes Center's Asian American Diabetes Initiative attacted several of the city's star chefs, including Ming Tsai, Joanne Chang, Lydia Shire, Bik-Fung Ng, Ting San, Nadsa de Monteiro, Yasu Hashino, Surinder Singh, and Demetri Tsolakis.

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