Sox wives step up to the plate in food drive

Over the weekend, the Red Sox wives collected thousands of pounds of food as part of their 16th annual Can and Cash Drive to benefit the Greater Boston Food Bank. The spouses, including (from right) Stacy Wakefield, Tiffany Ortiz, and Rhonda Donnelly, were stationed at the gates before both weekend games, even doling out autographed photos of the players for each $10 donation. Although the weekend's total was still being counted late yesterday, the wives have collected more than $140,000 in cash and collected nearly 150,000 pounds of food.

Looks like writer Chuck Hogan is getting his wish that the big-screen adaptation of his Boston-set crime novel "Prince of Thieves" will be filmed entirely in the area. Hogan, who joined the project a couple of months ago as a screenwriter, reports that the script is being read in Hollywood, casting is imminent, and filming could start early next year in Charlestown and other neighborhoods. The project marks the Boston return of producer Graham King, who won an Oscar this year for his work on "The Departed." The movie, which will be called by Hogan's original title "The Town," will be directed by Adrian Lyne ("Fatal Attraction" and "Unfaithful"), who first approached the Boston-based author before the book was released. "[Lyne] read the manuscript, but other projects kept coming up," Hogan told us. "Now it's going along at full steam."

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and his wife, Tiffany, recently sold their 3,852-square-foot Colonial-style house in Newton for $1.642 million, according to county records. After living in the Ritz-Carlton Towers, the couple bought the five-bedroom, three-bath house in early 2005 for $1.615 million. Big Papi, who has been nursing a strained left shoulder, sat out the games over the weekend.

Hollywood hot couple Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard enjoyed a few days -- almost unnoticed -- on Nantucket in one of those charming rose-covered cottages at the Summer House in 'Sconset, we're told. Perhaps Gyllenhaal is getting rested up for her next movie production. The trade publications say the "Secretary" star is set to replace Katie Holmes in "The Dark Knight," the "Batman Begins" sequel that is filming in Chicago.

After singing the national anthem on Saturday, 11-year-old Amy de Silva had lunch with her family at Game On! The young singer appeared at Fenway to raise awareness of a neurological condition she has called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder. Also spotted at Game On! on Saturday night were New York Rangers defenseman Paul Mara and former New York Giants running back-turned-NBC broadcaster Tiki Barber.

Reports that Osama bin Laden had it in for singer Bobby Brown (inset) because of the Al Qaeda leader's infatuation with Brown's former wife, Whitney Houston, really bothered the Roxbury-bred bad boy. "Come on, if anyone is threatened by Al Qaeda they'd take it seriously," Brown told an Australian radio show. "I figure if Bin Laden wants me, and everybody is looking for him, it won't happen," said Brown while in the Land Down Under as part of his Greatest Hits Tour. The singer was quoted by gossip site Gigwise.com as telling the radio station: "But if he wants to try and find me for something so stupid, then he can if he wants. I have to leave it in the hands of a higher power."

The Patriots highly prized and highly paid linebacker Adalius Thomas (inset) was spotted among the glitterati in Las Vegas over the weekend as Magic Johnson hosted back-to-back fetes at the Mandalay Bay Resort. First up, Thomas along with Jamie Foxx, Elise Neal, and Morris Chestnut helped Johnson toast the Olympic Men's Basketball team. Thomas and the rest of the stars returned to Johnson's late - night gathering, which was the official after-fight party for Winky Wright.

Hogan's daughter meets and greets

Singer Brooke Hogan, daughter of wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, was at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleborough Saturday to give a concert and meet with fans.

Looking for a few hardy contestants

More than 1,000 people turned out over the weekend to get a shot at being one of the dozen contestants on reality stalwart Rob Mariano's new TV show "Tontine." Although the show's makers are keeping a lot of details to themselves, it appears the new show will be a mix of "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race," both of which Boston Rob (above, with prospective contestant Kate Andres at Faneuil Hall Marketplace) has appeared and competed on. But this much we do know, Mr. Amber Brkich's crews are scouring eight cities looking for a dozen competitors who will travel for as many as 100 days for the as-yet unnamed prize.

Bright idea
"After the [split] I went home and turned all the lights on!"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" star/creator Larry David, on separating from his environmentalist wife, Laurie

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