Plenty of baby talk from Matt and Ben

While doing press for his latest film, ''Syriana," Matt Damon's been talking a lot about his desire to be a dad. Now we know why. ''Access Hollywood" is reporting that Damon's fiancee, Luciana Barroso, is three months pregnant. The couple, who got engaged just before Labor Day, certainly have room for a baby. The hardest-working man in Hollywood recently paid $10.3 million for a 9,500-square-foot spread in Miami Beach. Damon met Barroso, who has a 7-year-old daughter, Alexa, from a previous relationship, at a Miami nightclub a few years ago. The news that the couple is expecting comes one week after Damon's buddy Ben Affleck became a dad. Affleck's wife, Jennifer Garner, had a little girl, Violet Anne, on Dec. 1. People reported yesterday that Ben and Jen's baby left the hospital on Dec. 4. A friend of the couple told the magazine, ''Ben has been changing diapers. He's an amazing father. . . . I don't know if I've ever seen anybody happier. He's already wrapped around Violet's little finger."

Ehrig gets bounced off ‘Runway’

Wouldn't you know that the first person booted from Bravo's ''Project Runway" was the one from Massachusetts. Kirsten Ehrig, who grew up in Andover, was ditched this week after designing a tacky ensemble that included a Porsche T-shirt. Ehrig, a former attorney who lives in LA and has a line of swimwear called ''O Maillots de Bains," was graciously bid adieu -- auf Wiedersehen, actually -- by the show's supermodel host Heidi Klum. But Ehrig isn't all that depressed about being bounced from the show. ''A lot of times on reality TV, you end up looking less like a rose the more people see of you," she said. (Ain't that a fact!) ''When I was talking to Michael [Kors], I turned into the litigator I used to be. I could have been softer." So who is Ehrig's pick to win Season 2 of TV's best reality show? ''Oh, I thought Nick [Verreos] was amazing, or maybe Santino [Rice] just for the drama factor."

Bill Fowler is history

Several boldface names showed up the other night to fete Bill Fowler, who's leaving the Massachusetts Historical Society after eight years as director. Among those gathering at Doyle's in JP were Henry Lee of the Friends of the Boston Public Garden, longtime Republican operative John Sears, former state Senator Bill Saltonstall, and former senate president Billy Bulger, who cracked wise for 15 funny minutes. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough and his wife, Rosalee, hosted. (McCullough, of course, just about lived at the Mass. Historical Society while researching ''John Adams.") Not the retiring kind, Fowler's taken a teaching job at Northeastern.

Hot Stove adds cool roundtable

Organizers of the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music concert have added a new wrinkle. In addition to music, this year's event will include a roundtable discussion about -- what else? -- baseball. The Commissioner Peter Gammons, former Sox general manager Theo Epstein, and Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi will kick it around on Jan. 7 at the Paradise Lounge. Tickets to the talk cost $100, with proceeds benefiting the Jimmy Fund and Epstein's Foundation to Be Named Later. (They can be purchased at www.thedise.com.) Not a big spoken-word fan? Hot Stove singers include Kay Hanley, Buffalo Tom featuring Theo, Gammons & the Hot Stove All-Stars, Furvis, Juliana Hatfield, The Gentlemen, Nada Surf, Sox pitchers Bronson Arroyo and Lenny DiNardo.

Kapler reads up

Gabe Kapler's supposed to stay off his feet while he rehabs his injured Achilles' tendon. So reading to young 'uns yesterday as part of Sovereign Bank's annual holiday book drive was no problem. The Sox outfielder and Sovereign CEO Joe Campanelli read ''5 Little Monkeys" and ''How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?" at the Bright Horizons Day Care Center at the Tufts-New England Medical Center, and then Kapler gave kids a copy of his favorite children's book: ''The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein . . . A familiar face joined the Beach Boys during their show at Mohegan Sun this week, but it wasn't the first time Glen Campbell sang with the boys of summer. Exactly 40 years ago, the Rhinestone Cowboy filled in for Brian Wilson after he had one of his, um, episodes. . .

Those crazy Korn fellows, who played a sold-out show at the Palladium last night, showed up at Bill's Bar on Lansdowne Street Wednesday to judge a karaoke contest sponsored by WAAF. . . . Mark Wahlberg should get to bed early Monday night because he'll be the center of attention at 5 a.m. (PST) the following morning. That's when the former Dorchester juvie will announce the nominations for the 63d annual Golden Globe Awards alongside actress Kate Beckinsale and ''40-Year-Old Virgin" Steve Carell. The Golden Globes will be handed out Jan. 16 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and the ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC . . . Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was due in Boston last night for a private screening of the new movie ''Memoirs of A Geisha" at the Japan Society of Boston. After the 7 p.m. screening, Tagawa, whose other film credits include ''Elektra" and ''Pearl Harbor," was expected at a cocktail reception around the corner at the Ritz-Carlton.

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