Keep your eyes open for Ellen Barkin, who starts work today on Happy Tears, the family drama starring Demi Moore and Parker Posey as sisters. Barkin plays the girlfriend of their father (Rip Torn).

Shooting has been bouncing around the area, including Prospect Park, Old City, Washington Square West, and Warminster.

Cast members have been quite visible over the weekends in the Rittenhouse Square area. Considering that Happy Tears is a modest-budget independent film, Moore and husband Ashton Kutcher have been doing their part to pump up the restaurant economy.

Kutcher took Moore's daughters Tallulah and Scout Willis to the Continental in Old City Friday night. Saturday, the foursome lunched at Marathon on the Square. Saturday night, Moore and Kutcher hit Morimoto. Sunday midday, the four were spotted in the window of the Continental Mid-town having Mother's Day brunch.

No idea how they stay so skinny.

Sinatra anniversary

Rich DeSimone, fittingly a letter carrier, will sing Frank Sinatra-style at today's Philadelphia ceremony marking the debut of a 42-cent Sinatra stamp, the day before the 10th anniversary of Sinatra's passing. The occasion, at Galdo's Catering at 20th Street and Moyamensing Avenue from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., will be streamed on the Web site of Martini Lounge Radio (1340), www.MartiniLoungeRadio.com. Bob Craig, who hosts the station's Do-Be-Do Lunch With Frank Sinatra, will host.

Sinatra-ist Sid Mark will be Michael Smerconish's radio guest from 8 to 9 a.m. tomorrow on WPHT (1210). Mark will take calls and will air comments of notables such as Martin Scorsese (who recently signed on to do a Sinatra bio-pic) and Bono.

That's Dr. Patti Smith

Patti Smith, the South Jersey-bred Hall-of-Fame rocker, will receive an honorary doctor of letters from Rowan University at Friday's commencement. Smith, who attended the college, then known as Glassboro State, from 1964 to 1966, graduated from Deptford High School. Also getting an honorary doctorate will be James A. Kutsch Jr. of the Seeing Eye Inc.

The circuit

That was the sultry voice of Mimi Brown you heard Sunday afternoon on WDAS (105.3). Brown was a 20-year WDAS vet when she left 10 years ago for marriage (which ended) and a real estate career in Arizona (ditto). She's back in her hometown. Her show, The Comfort Zone, airs from 3 to 7 p.m. Sundays.

Random actor sightings: Alan Cumming, laughing uproariously into his cell phone in the Bellevue's downstairs food court yesterday at lunchtime, and Rhea Perlman, shopping at Williams-Sonoma in the Bellevue on Sunday.

Sports yapper Howard Eskin not only picked up Magee Rehabilitation Hospital's Champion in the Community Award on Friday at the hospital's gala at the Sheet Metal Workers hall on Columbus Boulevard, he also guest-auctioneered a sale of sports memorabilia and paid $750 for a pair of earrings donated by Bernie Robbins. Magee board chairman Fred D'Angelo top-bidded a basketball ($1,200) signed by sports figures who attended, including Vince Papale, Adam Taliaferro, Billy Cunningham, Mike Mamula, Mike Chalenski, Ed Stefanski, Phil Martelli, Fran Dunphy and Jackie Frazier-Lyde. The evening raised $170,000.

Bam Margera held court Wednesday at an outdoor table at Kildare's on Gay Street in his hometown of West Chester, indulging passersby who whipped out their camera phones as they recognized the MTV star. "Hey, if I didn't want to be bothered, I'd go inside and hide in a corner," he said.

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Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein and http://go.philly.com/foodanddrinq.