Auditions for 'Bachelor No. 2'

(bill brett for the boston globe)

Give Dane Cook this much: the Arlington-bred comic hasn't forgotten where he came from. Last night at the Comedy Connection, Cook gave about a dozen local comics a chance to appear in his new movie, "Bachelor No. 2," which also stars Kate Hudson and starts filming in Boston next month. The film's director, Howard Deutch, winged in for the tryouts at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace club, which Cook selected because it gave him his start. "It's the only place he played for 15 years," said club owner Bill Blumenreich, who still produces some of Cook's shows. Blumenreich got a call late Tuesday from "Bachelor No. 2" producer Barry Katz asking if Cook & Co. could take over the club for the night to audition some locals. "This is like getting a shot at the 'Tonight Show' or Letterman -- something that just doesn't happen for most comics," said Blumenreich. Deutch (above, flanked by Blumenreich and producer Mike Elliott) said he is looking forward to shooting in Boston and will be back in a week to nail down more locations. Most of all, he told us, he's looking forward to working with Cook, whom he described as "a real genius" and "the genuine article."

The Beckhams are having a ball

Soccer superstar David Beckham won't suit up as a US pro player for another nine days , but the buzz the Brit is generating is reaching a fever pitch. Beckham and his fashionista wife, Victoria, who has been tabloid fodder since her days as Posh Spice, grace the front of the next W magazine. And Becks is on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline "Will He Change the Fate of American Soccer?" The answer locally is a loud yes. Beckham's team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, won't play the New England Revolution until Aug. 12, but the folks in Foxborough say Gillette Stadium is nearly sold out. "Even here in Boston, Beckham's had a tremendous impact," said Rev's honcho Brian Bilello . "His presence . . . is already generating buzz and moving the needle for us with ticket sales." Look for the Beckham momentum to continue: The Galaxy is introducing him to the United States with a splashy press conference tomorrow, and Posh's one-hour TV special, "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America," airs Sunday.

The Celtics are recruiting new members, but instead of big-bodied rebounders the Green Team is looking for hard-bodied dancers. Final auditions for the Celts dance troupe are being held tomorrow at Avalon. Before a panel of C-list celebrity judges, including Danity Kane singer Aubrey O'Day and "Real World" alum Tina Barta, the 47 finalists will not only dance, but model swimwear. The public is welcome with a $10 donation to the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation.

Looks like Morton's of San Francisco was the place to be for some All-Star week Red Sox sightings. Spotted were Sox players David Ortiz, Mike Lowell , and Josh Beckett, who celebrated the American League's victory with other players including Ken Griffey Jr. and Alfonso Soriano on Tuesday night. Also in the steakhouse were uber-agent Scott Boras, whose A- list includes Sox ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Watertown lovely Eliza Dushku, who dined with her beau, Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, who was on the losing side of the All-Star tilt.

Life on the road is actually life in the air for country music star Trisha Yearwood (inset) . Word is that when Mrs. Garth Brooks hits the region on Friday for three nights -- in Hampton, N.H., Cohasset, and Hyannis -- she'll be traveling on her hubby's private jet. Although Yearwood's peeps are mum about the deets, it looks like Brooks may be joining his wife on stage.

"Climbing Mountains in Stilettos" co-author Carol Brunelli (above) admits there isn't much in her Milton upbringing that prepared her to become the voice for modern-day bad girls with strong feminist views. "I would say I was brought up to be a good girl," Brunelli said yesterday. "And when I left home, I left that behind." The 40-something college administrator said she and her cohort Ann Tinkham wrote the book to "give feminism a makeover" and show it's still relevant. "Think Angelina Jolie post-Billy Bob," said Brunelli, who is in town on a book tour, including a party hosted the other night by politico Tom O'Neill. So where's Tinkham? "Practicing what she's preaching," said Brunelli. "She got a new Lithuanian boyfriend and she's with him in Paris."

Annie Leibovitz received an icy stare and a stern response when she asked Queen Elizabeth II to remove her crown for an official portrait. Footage of the exchange is included in a British Broadcasting Corp. documentary . Snippets of "A Year With the Queen" (above), which captures the working life of the royal family, were released yesterday. Queen Elizabeth II is shown walking into a room in Buckingham Palace -- which is cluttered with camera equipment -- wearing her crown and her Order of the Garter robes. Leibovitz (inset) tells her: "I think it will look better without the crown because the Garter robe is so . . ." Before she can finish saying "extraordinary," the queen stares icily and replies: "Less dressy. What do you think this is?" and points to what she is wearing. Cameras follow the queen as she storms off, an official lifting the train of her blue velvet cape , as she tells her lady-in-waiting: "I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this, thank you very much."

A British court convicted a photographer yesterday of assaulting Heather Mills in in the city of Brighton as he tried to take her picture. Jay Kaycappa, 32, grabbed Mills, the estranged wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, by her right shoulder to swing her round so he could photograph her face on July 5, 2006. (AP)

Evel Knievel and Kanye West think they can work it out. The iconic motorcycle daredevil and the 29-year-old rapper notified a federal judge Tuesday they will use a mediator to try to settle a lawsuit Knievel filed over the use of his trademarked image in a popular West video. Knievel, 68, sued West in December claiming infringement on his trademarked name and likeness. He took issue with a 2006 video for West's song "Touch the Sky," in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket cycle over a canyon. (AP)

PBS plans to broadcast an animated sitcom based on the NPR show "Car Talk." Hosts Tom and Ray Magliozzi will provide voices for fictional characters based on them , according to a statement from PBS . The statement said the half-hour segments , expected to air in about a year, will focus on escapades of garage employees at Car Talk Plaza . (Bloomberg)

Phyllis Diller had to cancel a "Tonight Show" appearance celebrating her 90th birthday next week because she fractured her back . Diller "twisted the wrong way" and caused "a minor injury, some kind of a fracture which is extremely painful," her manager, Milt Suchin, said yesterday. " She's in great spirits," he said. . . . Tenor Jerry Hadley, whose voice was once heard at top opera houses , was on life support yesterday after shooting himself, police in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said. (AP)

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