By Jennifer Brett

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Actor/author Hill Harper was in town over the weekend. Sounds like he'd like to stick around.

"As cool as ‘CSI: New York' is, I'm going to call (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer and see if we can do ‘ CSI: Atlanta'," he joked. "I can set up shop in Buckhead, do a little investigating, maybe take some DNA off a peach."

Harper was recognized at the Men Stopping Violence awards dinner, held Saturday at the downtown Ritz-Carlton. He, along with attorney Judith O'Brien and activist and scholar Rudolph P. Byrd, were honored for efforts to combat domestic violence.

"Sometimes it takes a man to check a man," Harper said.

He was introduced by Grammy-winning R&B singer India Arie, who had a prepared speech but couldn't help veering from it.

"I just think you're so cool!" she cooed.

Paging Dr. Gupta

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is just out with "Cheating Death: The Doctors and Medical Miracles that are Saving Lives Against All Odds." It's a gripping nonfiction account of people who, according to conventional medical thinking, shouldn't be alive. Like the woman who was buried under an ice shelf, freezing and drowning at the same time. Or the young patient whose heart stopped beating for 45 minutes. Both are doing fine today.

"I'm careful not to use the word ‘miracle' too much during the book," Gupta told us in an interview.

The one-time Surgeon General candidate and his wife welcomed baby No. 3 earlier this year (Mrs. Gupta is a candidate for canonization, her husband says), and given the verbal fusillade being lobbed across the nation over health care, Gupta is not at all bummed to not be in Washington.

"It's a little bit striking to me how much angry rhetoric there has been," he said.

[Inside the 285]‘ZQ' goes culinary

Hawks  center Zaza Pachulia has ventured into the culinary world with the slightly renamed "Eno by Zaza," a European Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar on Peachtree Street, where respected local gallery owner Timothy Tew curates the walls. Pachulia's  fashion fetish has earned him the off-court moniker "ZQ." Just last week he joined teammates at the Atlanta Hawks Foundation's 16th annual charity golf  tourney, held at Eagle’s Landing Country Club in Stockbridge.

And yet somehow he finds time for basketball..

First lady fodder

Mary Perdue and Marie Barnes switched places a half-dozen years ago, from private citizen to first lady of Georgia. (They might do it again in 2011, if Mrs. Barnes' husband gets his old job back). Seeing how Buzz is bipartisan,  we figured we'd check in with both. First, we understand the former first lady, who accompanied former Gov. Roy Barnes to Saturday night's Latin Fever Ball at the InterContinental, is responsible for the scores of glowing pumpkins encircling the porch. The proud grandmother of five (with one more on the way!) put her creative talents to work, and the former governor's new Marietta mansion is all aglow these days. Trick or treaters will have no trouble finding it. Mrs. Perdue, meanwhile, is lending her support to tonight's premiere of the documentary "Playground," which benefits two Juvenile Justice Fund programs, the Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation and Angela’s House.

"I am proud to be a part of an initiative where public and private entities are working together seamlessly to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children," Perdue said during an e-mail interview about her involvement in tonight's event and her role as first lady in general.  " The chance to be a part of changing our state for the better, for future generations, has been exciting and energizing. My optimism about our state stems from the energy and enthusiasm, the intellect and determination I have seen in so many of my fellow Georgians."

Tonight's screening, at 7:30 p.m. at the Woodruff Arts Center, honors the late Judge Sanford Jones, who worked  with  filmmaker Libby Spears. Tickets are $25, or $125 for a pre-show reception. Info: www.playgroundpremiereatl.com or 404-73-5000.

Quote of the day!

"I've learned that women only get hotter as they get older."

- Soap star Bryan Dattilo, who was in town for an appearance over the weekend, discussing wisdom he's gleaned during his 15-year run as Lucas on "Days of Our Lives."

Celebrity birthdays

Actor William Christopher ("M.A.S.H.") is 77. Rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson is 72. Musician Tom Petty is 59. Actress Melanie Mayron ("thirtysomething") is 57. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 51. Drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld of Hootie and the Blowfish is 45. Bassist Doug Eldridge of Oleander is 42. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 38. Actor John Krasinski is 30. Actress Jennifer Nicole Freeman ("My Wife and Kids") is 24.