Following in Gisele's footsteps

QB Tom Brady cleans up nice in the new issue of VMAN, a men's fashion mag whose cover boys have included hunks Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, and David Beckham. Snapped by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the pensive pics show another side of our hubba-hubba football hero. (What's with the wet T-shirt, Tom?) But more revealing than the photo spread is the accompanying Q&A, in which No. 12 talks about his offseason travels to Greece and Rome. Brady says he paid for two of his best buddies to come along. "I always say if I ever come back in another life I want to come back as one of my friends. They don't pay for [expletive]. Dinners. Trips. You name it," he says. "I watch 'Entourage' and, like that show, I got a name for all these guys." Asked how he met his supermodel sweetheart Gisele Bundchen, Brady takes a pass. "I hate to be boring for you, but I've gotta go no comment on that one," he says. "It's just easier for me, you know?" When his playing days are over, the three-time Super Bowl champ admits he's not sure what he'll do. "I used to say politics, but now it seems too ugly. I was always . . . someone wanting to stand up against things I didn't think were right," he says. "But I tell you politicians are scrutinized more than anyone. . . . I couldn't deal with that." Though he attended President Bush's State of the Union speech in '04, it sounds like Brady's backing the Dems these days. "I think everyone wants a change. I think it would be great if the Democratic Party could put together a unified campaign," he says. In the end, the QB escapes with his squeaky-clean image intact. Almost. Asked about his greatest vice, Brady says, "Probably massages. I love getting those. They don't last as long as they used to." The mag's editor, Julie Anne Quay, said the Pats poster boy was a dream to work with. "A gentleman's gentleman," she said. "And he looks fantastic."

Alison Kelly's New York runway debut was a dream come true, literally. The Cape Cod native's collection of charmeuse dresses was inspired by a reverie. "I had a dream about a Chinese couple in a vintage 1920s car," the "Project Runway" alum (inset) told us after yesterday's show. "The woman was wearing this beautiful sage green gown, and that's where I started." Kelly's proud parents, who traveled from the Cape to see their daughter's debut, sat in the front row. . . . Speaking of "Project Runway," Elle magazine fashion director and BU grad Nina Garcia celebrated the release of her new book Wednesday alongside fashion mavens Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, and Candace Bushnell.

Norman Mailer is ailing. The Pulitzer Prize winner was hospitalized over the Labor Day weekend with breathing difficulties, and he has been ordered not to travel until his doctors say it's OK. The literary lion, who is 84, has adult onset asthma, his editorial assistant Dwayne Raymond Prickett told the Associated Press. In all, Mailer spent five days in a Boston hospital undergoing tests. The writer has since returned to his Provincetown home. He was scheduled to give readings this month at the University of South Carolina and the University of South Florida, but those events have been canceled.

In other unhappy news, word from WBZ is that former talk show host Paul Sullivan is ending his cancer treatments and focusing instead on his quality of life. Sullivan, who's been waging a battle against brain cancer for 33 months, will receive hospice care at Saint's Memorial Medical Center in Lowell for the foreseeable future. "Paul is surrounded by his family and friends and would like everyone to know how important all the thoughts and prayers have been to him," said WBZ program director Peter Casey.

Steve Martin must have enjoyed his lunch at Papa Razzi Wednesday because the star of "Pink Panther 2" was back at the Dartmouth Street eatery yesterday. Sitting alone by the window, Inspector Clouseau passed the time with a crossword puzzle. . . . Martin's castmate Andy Garcia did some shopping yesterday at Italian clothier Loro Piana on Newbury Street. . . . Carrie Fisher was at Bosse Sports in Sudbury to shoot a scene for "The Women." Following her rock-climbing cameo with Annette Bening, we're told the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher hit the Soma Spa for a massage.

That didn't take long. Just a few days after we reported that Pops conductor Keith Lockhart was getting hitched, someone sent us the invite. The music man and his maiden, Ropes & Gray attorney Emiley Zalesky, will be wed Oct. 7 in the Lindsey Chapel at the Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street. (The reception will be at Davio's.) Lockhart was previously married to BSO violinist Lucia Lin, with whom he has a son, Aaron. Lin, incidentally, is about to become a mom again. She has canceled her Sept. 29 appearance with the Cape Ann Symphony because she'll be traveling outside the United States to adopt a baby.

Enchanting "Bones" star Emily Deschanel remembers her time at BU fondly in the new issue of Boston Common magazine. She was living on Hooker Street in Brighton and studying long hours as a theater major in the College of Fine Arts. But the sister of actress Zooey tells the mag she almost didn't graduate. "I wouldn't be an actor had I not gone through the program," she says. "I was actually put on probation."

Still funny after all these years

Kirk Douglas was his charming self at the opening of the AARP's national convention yesterday. "I just wanted to say that when you have a stroke, you must talk slowly to be understood," said the 91-year-old Hollywood legend. "And when I talk slowly, people listen because they think I'm going to say something important. Ha!" With son Michael seated beside him at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the dimpled Douglas did a full two minutes of schtick. "Dad," said Michael, "five more minutes and you've got a great stand-up act." Yesterday's event was a bit more orderly than the book-signing the night before. (Kirk's memoir is called "Let's Face It.") The audience at the Harvard Club of Boston prefaced their questions with "I am Spartacus!" Yes, the duo was joined by Michael's ravishing wife, Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones. Other oldsters at the AARP convention include Brian Dennehy, Bob Newhart, Joan Rivers, and Tony Bennett.

Christopher Muther of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.