Affleck and Lopez flirt with the altar again

Turns out Britney Spears wasn't the only celebrity inside a Las Vegas chapel in the past week. According to US Weekly magazine, our very own Ben Affleck and the muy lovely J.Lo stopped by the Wedding Bells Chapel on New Year's Eve, but left before swapping "I do's." "They checked it out," says someone who was there. "But they were just kind of joking around." The on-again, off-again lovebirds had planned to ring in the New Year at the trendy nightclub Light, with Affleck's pal Matt Damon and Damon's new best friend and "Stuck on You" costar Eva Mendes. But the pair, joined by Lopez's mother, Guadalupe, her sister Lynda Lopez, and Lynda's boyfriend, "Entertainment Tonight" reporter Chris Booker, stayed in their Hard Rock Hotel & Casino suite, ordering in dinner and -- get this -- a touch-screen slot machine. At 2:30 a.m., US Weekly reports, Affleck and Lopez hit the hotel's Peacock lounge to gamble, but turned in two hours later. Bennifer and Damon did make it to Light the following night, where they hung out with Paris Hilton's ex, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. But by then, the good times were taking their toll on Affleck: He was spotted popping several Tums.

FOUNDATION PUTS WHEELS IN MOTION Marblehead native Tyler Hamilton (left) biked the entire Tour de France last summer with a broken collarbone, so just about anything else should seem easy in comparison. But Hamilton never takes the easy way out. He's established the Tyler Hamilton Foundation, which has two distinct purposes: to help individuals affected by multiple sclerosis and to help aspiring young athletes who have a passion for cycling. Tomorrow, Hamilton will host a gala fund-raiser at the Cyclorama -- fitting venue, no? -- in the South End. The event committee includes Channel 4 sports anchor Bob Lobel, former US national team cyclist Maureen Manley (who has MS), and world champion freeskier Chris Davenport. Tickets for the event may be purchased by calling 781-990-1486.DRUMMER'S HEAVENLY GIG Amazingly, in 40 years as pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, the Rev. Michael Haynes hasn't been able to get his famous brother to play for parishioners. "Usually, when he's been visiting, there's a kid playing a raggedy trap set," Haynes said. But on Sunday, people in the pews finally will be treated to a performance by the legendary Roy Haynes, the jazz drummer who has gigged with Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis, among others. Haynes will play a few tunes during the church's annual convocation and tribute to the late Martin Luther King Jr. (Rev. Haynes was friends with the civil rights leader when they worked together at the church in the 1950s.) So why has Roy Haynes decided to play now? A few years ago, during a family reunion, the brothers stopped into a Baptist church in San Diego and found jazz drummer Louie Bellson behind the skins. "That really hit Roy," said the reverend. "I think it's why he responded so promptly when I asked this time."P.M. PARTY The area's mega-FM station Kiss 108 announced yesterday it has named Artie the One Man Party its new drive time on-air personality, replacing Dale Dorman, who was let go from the Clear Channel station in August after 23 years of service. WXKS began rotating its on-air staff for the 2 to 6 p.m. slot in the summer and announced that it would look for someone to fill the spot permanently. After an intergalatic search, program director Cadillac Jack McCarthy announced yesterday that the station had found the right man on its own airwaves. Artie began his radio career in Burlington, Vt., at age 14, and previously worked in Boston on what was then WZOU. He's been holding down the Kiss 108 night shift, from 6 to 10, and making regular appearances at area clubs on behalf of the station. His evening shift will be filled by Romeo, who is now on the air from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. -- with the exception of the 11 p.m. to midnight slot filled by Carson Daly's nationally syndicated show.BELOW AVERAGE JOE How'd you like to be Matthew Botti? First, the guy's ordinary looks land him a spot on NBC's reality show "Average Joe: Hawaii." Then on the very first episode on Monday, he gets booted off the island. An administrative assistant in the PR department at Northeastern, Botti was one of eight unremarkable Boston bachelors on the show, and, unfortunately for him, the first to be shown the door. We tried to reach Botti yesterday, but he was in New York doing the "Access Hollywood" thing. An official in his office said, "It was a bad show."

Names can be reached at names@

globe.com or at 617-929-8253.