Vince Vaughn was spotted Friday at Details From Alex, on East San Francisco Street. He was buying up Jack Flash cowgirl tees for friends and family. Shop owner Alex Avery did not recognize the actor until a crowd of ladies flocked into the store and whispered the info. Everyone agreed that Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up and Mr. and Mrs. Smith) was one "of the nicest, friendliest (and don't forget handsome!) celebs to enter the store." Evidently, he was in town a spell, because after shopping, Vaughn was seen eating at Coyote Cafe. On Sunday, he was having brunch on the terrace at Bishops Lodge.


Maria Sandoval, former Santa Fe hairstylist and current Hollywood movie stylist, was back in town last week visiting her dad, Richard Sandoval — a well-known painter and longtime New Mexico Magazine honcho. Sandoval's latest venture, in addition to her work on Medium, The O.C. and Pirates of the Caribbean, is making one-of-a-kind belt buckles from rock concert tickets. You can order hers or send in your own ticket from that special concert for a unique look. Visit www.rockmyworld.com for more info.


Writer and film whiz Jason Silverman writes that he and creative partner Samba Gadjigo and a team of filmmakers are working hard to finish a documentary about Ousmane Sembene, the father of African cinema. In SEMBENE!, the team also will be looking at telling the story of African independence, of the dangers of contemporary media, and of the artist who spent 50 years telling stories of resistance. In just a few weeks, the team is returning to Dakar and is still raising some $4,000 to complete its funding (they already have grants from the Pond Foundation and the Sundance Documentary Fund). Visit semebenefilm.com for more information.


Santa Fe's Rajat Singh will be off to the National Spelling Bee next weekend in Washington, D.C. He's 13 and a seventh-grader at the Academy for Technology and the Classics, a public charter school. The son of Ganesh and Monoka, Singh also attended Piñon Elementary School, loves Jimmy Page and reading, and spoke Hindi as his first language. The other New Mexico speller is Hannah Evans.


Ned Beatty, along with his wife, Sandra, and a couple of friends, spent four hours at Latitudes Espresso & Ice Cream this past Thursday morning, chatting and drinking coffee at the community table.


Robert Redford, Oscar-winning director, environmentalist and actor, spoke last week at a news conference with Bill Richardson about Sundance New Mexico. Word is, Redford's house in the Santa Fe area is almost finished. He'll be spending a considerable amount of time here — something he hasn't done since he shot The Milagro Beanfield War back in the 1980s.

Send your news to elmitote@sfnewmexican.com.