Frank talk about injured eater

Don't count Kobayashi out. Despite a jaw injury that makes competitive munching nearly impossible, the six-time champ of the annual Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest may try to down a few dogs next week. That's the word from "Crazy Legs" Conti, the Belmont-bred competitive eater and close friend of Takeru Kobayashi. "He found a doctor he trusts to investigate the soreness," Conti told us yesterday. "When you get into the zone where it's mind over stomach matter, he's one of the best." Kobayashi, 29, announced the injury on his website. "I can't open my jaws more than just a little bit," he wrote. "There's no pain only if I open my mouth about enough for one finger." Conti, star of the new DVD "Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating," said it's rare to be injured while eating. "But 'Hungry ' Charles Hardy once suffered momentary lockjaw on his 97th wing," he said. Conti will be among the favorites at the Fourth of July contest in Coney Island, where he hopes to beat his personal best of 24 hot dogs and buns.

Gisele Bundchen's been shopping -- for Tom Brady's baby. The wee one won't be born for a bit, but In Touch Weekly reports that the supermodel has already bought a load of gifts, including items from Baby Dior, Burberry, and a bib from Gucci. "Gisele is just as excited about the baby as Tom is," a buddy of Bündchen's tells the mag. Brady's ex, Bridget Moynahan , is due to have the baby in the next few weeks.

Twenty-two years and millions of copies later, "Hammer of the Gods," Stephen Davis's definitive biography of Led Zeppelin, is still going strong. "I put my kids through private school and college," said Davis, a BU grad who lives in Milton. "Actually, Led Zeppelin did that." The book, one of many rock bios Davis has done, has been translated into 13 languages, the latest being Finnish. "The oldest form of literature is the quest saga, and that's what these books are," said Davis. "It's Galahad and Lancelot looking for the Holy Grail . . . guys from nowhere who seek fame and fortune." Davis, who was the music editor at Rolling Stone back when Cameron Crowe was writing for the mag, has nearly completed a book about Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses. "The magic of doing these isn't talking to the guys; it's talking to the girlfriends and roadies," he said. "It's like detective work." So what language will "Hammer of the Gods" be translated into next? "Bulgarian," said Davis. "But I want to be paid in Scythian treasure, so we're still negotiating."

No one can ever replace Art Buchwald, of course, but organizers of this summer's Possible Dreams auction on Martha's Vineyard have found a few well-intentioned celebs to stand in for the dearly departed humorist. Buchwald, who served for years as the event's auctioneer, will be succeeded by actor/director Harold Ramis and singer Livingston Taylor. (We're told Ted Danson's delightful wife, Mary Steenburgen, may also lend a hand.) The Aug. 6 auction raises money for Martha's Vineyard Community Services. Because Buchwald, who died in January at the age of 81 , used to auction off his straw hat, the theme this year is "Hats Off to Art."

When Winchester resident Herb Reed and the Platters give a July 12 concert at the Showcase Cinemas Revere, it won't just be a chance for locals to hear classics like "Only You (and You Alone)," "The Great Pretender," and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." The performance will be a test for the Dedham-based National Amusements that could lead to an East Coast movie theater tour for Reed & Co., and live concerts with different acts in all 81 of the company's US locations.

Veteran newsman Bob Zelnick seems pleased that actor and Tufts alum Oliver Platt has signed on to portray him in the film version of the play "Frost/Nixon." "If he's as striking and handsome as I am, then obviously he's the right choice," deadpanned Zelnick, the Boston University journalism professor who worked with David Frost on his famous 1977 TV interviews with Richard Nixon. Zelnick, who would go on to a 23-year career at ABC News, said he knew the interviews were of historic import. "We prepared for it as if it were a trial," he said. Ron Howard will direct the film version of Peter Morgan's play, for which Michael Sheen and Frank Langella will reprise their Broadway roles.

"I'm Through With White Girls" star Anthony Montgomery will be on hand Aug. 1 when the romantic comedy opens the ninth annual Roxbury Film Festival. Roxbury-raised actress/author Victoria Rowell will return home with her new short film, "The Mentor," and will sign copies of her memoir "The Women Who Raised Me." Also slated to attend are actor Boris Kodjoe of the "Soul Food" TV series and Roxbury-bred acting coach Susan Batson, who recently worked Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married?"

It's a wrap for "27 Dresses," the romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl, Ed Burns, and James Marsden. At least for the scenes filmed in Rhode Island, that is. Crews from the Anne Fletcher-directed flick finished shooting a few scenes in Providence yesterday and were slated to decamp to New York today. The "Grey's Anatomy" actress who stars in the runaway hit "Knocked Up" was spotted all over the Ocean State including last week in Newport, where Heigl filmed scenes for the movie, in which she plays a woman who has served as a bridesmaid 27 times.

WBZ-TV scribe Casey Sherman has signed a deal to write "Bad Blood," a book about last month's deadly shootings involving a police officer in Franconia, N.H. The author of "A Rose for Mary," about the Boston Strangler, Sherman said he'll explore the relationship between Liko Kenney, who shot and ran over Franconia cop Bruce McKay before a passerby fatally shot Kenney. "The story isn't so much a whodunit but how did it happen," Sherman said.

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

'I would love to sing in Tehran.' Morrissey, who sang in Boston last night.