I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS…” Alice Cooper is here in CT for a few concerts. So, his python got out of its cage and, looking for a midday snack, ate a heating pad that was lying around. This is the same fearsome looking python that Cooper uses in his act to freak out his audience. Two of Cooper’s crew noted that the snake looked unusually round. One was quoted in the local paper noting that “the snake just shouldn’t get... Read more

HAVE MERCY! YOU’RE KILLING ME!” In a rare moment of actual jurisprudence, a judge just rejected the bid of felon, Jack “Dr. Death” Kevorkian for a retrial. Dr. Death is currently serving a long sentence for his compulsion to help sick people into early graves. Kevorkian was appealing his conviction on the grounds that he had defective counsel in his initial trial. The judge’s problem with the appeal? Well, Kevorkian had insisted as serving as his own counsel in his... Read more

REPAWT FROM THE CONNECTICUT WOODS Ah, New England! I’m just on my way out to weed the garden with Dad. (Imagine that! Weeding one’s own garden is a luxury of which most Angelenos can only dream…) In terms of temperature, we are experiencing what everyone is calling with a Yankee wink, “record high lows.” In terms of the Divine preferential option for New England, the steamahs and lobstahs are happily ubiquitious and perfectly sweet right now. In terms of liturgical... Read more

A GREAT IDEA: HOLLYWOOD MEDIA PRAYER BREAKFAST Friend and Founder of the Hollywood Prayer Network, Karen Covell, has another great idea in the works. It’s the first annual Prayer Breakfast for the Media. Supah smaht, as we say heah in New England. Here’s the press release for the upcoming event. If you can help them get some press on the event, please copy and send on. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hollywood, California–Some of America’s most respected leaders from varied fields of... Read more

“…DOOMED TO REPEAT IT” I’m back in CT for a week of rest and seafood. I’m also working on research for a screenplay I will be writing this Fall. The script is set up against the Spanish Civil War, and every day I find the rhetoric and climate of pre-bloodbath Spain to be more chillingly like our own. The divisions in Spain which set up the war were very complex, but the real crux came down to secularism vs. Christianity.... Read more

THE STATE OF THE UNION’S ORATORY In the name of full-disclosure, I am pro-life so I won’t be voting for John “I don’t let my belief that baby humans are getting killed in abortion influence my voting patterns” Kerry. It is my first and primary reason for opposing Kerry. My second reason is every other position he takes on every issue of which I am aware. But as an artist, I wanted to say a few words about Kerry’s speech... Read more

GOING FOR ONE READER IN A HUNDRED YEARS… Friend, Jen Waters, feature writer for The Washington Times has the following piece running today. Included are comments from one of our Act One faculty, Tom Provost. When I first met Tom at his house, I saw that he had a picture of Flannery on his refrigerator, and I knew we were going to be friends. We are always preaching Flannery to our students and most of them think it is cute... Read more

STREAMING ACT ONE The Act One-Hollywood ’04 program is featured on a new doc for TV that was produced by the Catholic Communications Campaign. The CCC has been a major donor to Act One since 2000, and we would not be here if they hadn’t come on board. The doc features interviews with students, faculty, and alumns, as well as some shots of classes. Click here to watch some of the streaming video. Read more

SPYING ON MY STUDENTS or ‘THE ROCKS CRYING OUT’ Bumming around the Web (Add: when I should have been writing), I stumbled over a blog that one of our current Act One students, Jeff Berryman, has been updating during the month. I link to it basically because it is extravagant with praise for our humble selves. Seriously, it is kind of cool to see what at least one of the students is experiencing. We know what they tell us —... Read more

BOURNE AGAIN Don’t have time for a full review, but do want to add my voice to those who are raving about The Bourne Supremacy. It is a stylish, top notch action thriller with a redemptive message. I was impressed at the way the fight sequences were filmed – intentionally disorienting. Makes the audience almost a participant in the action – and ultimately a definite point of view on violence. Film has one of the best chase sequences I’ve ever... Read more