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Pope calls Argentine kiosk owner to cancel paper delivery

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This is a very cute story, further illustrating the “regular guy” image that has underscored the vast majority of the coverage the new pope has received.

“Seriously, it’s Jorge Bergoglio, I’m calling you from Rome,” the Pope insisted.

“I was in shock, I broke down in tears and didn’t know what to say,” Del Regno [...]

Drama | Personal | PopCult | Religion

Alas for You (Godspell, Stage Right)

David Mahokey stars as Jesus.

Three weeks ago tonight, I got an email from the director saying he thought he could use me in the cast. A whirlwind of rehearsals, a week of run-throughs, three performances, and we’re done. Wow!

The first act of Godspell is almost entirely fun and games, but the second act quickly moves through the [...]

Current_Events | Drama | Personal | Religion

Stage Right spreads the gospel of music with ‘Godspell’

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The Tribune-Review is very dependable in its coverage of the local arts. (That’s me kneeling in the white shirt, with a tie around my head.)

It’s not always the adults who are the teachers.

In Stage Right’s production of the Broadway musical “Godspell,” director Anthony Marino says it’s the youngest performers who spread the word [...]

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Gerald Green Incorporates Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’ Into Slam Dunk | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

While competing in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest Saturday, contestant Gerald Green reportedly incorporated characters, dialogue, and set design from 16th-century English playwright Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus into his elaborately choreographed dunk routine. “Lo, Mephistophilis, for love of thee/Faustus hath cut his arm, and with his [...]

Drama | Personal | PopCult | Religion

I Find Myself in Another Show

Godspell-screen

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Fired Applebee’s Waitress Writes About Tips, Fairness

This didn’t even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night.

Someone had scribbled on the receipt, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

I assumed the customer’s signature was illegible, but I quickly started [...]

Amusing | Books | Ethics | Humanities | Personal | PopCult | Religion

My Tween Loves the “Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go” Series

I’m reading the “Heck: Where Bad Kids Go” books to my 10yo at bedtime. The author envisions prepubescent hell as a kind of eternal middle school, with popular kids and bullies and pointless rules and no hope. Plenty of literary references — the eleven-year-old hero is Milton Fauster, and he has a friend in the [...]

Culture | History | PopCult | Religion | Writing

Roger Ebert on how the press reports mass killings – Boing Boing

I have no patience for TV news, and feel my blood pressure rise when I see the fear-mongering (“What was the chemical spilled on Route 66 that 10,000 motorists drove over on their way home from work? Will it cause you and your family to die a horrible death? Janice will have that story after [...]

Culture | History | Media | PopCult | Religion | Writing

Why no new Christmas carols?

Historically it’s been nearly impossible for a new Christmas song to break the impenetrable monopoly of “Away in a Manger” (1885); “The First Noel” (1823); “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” (1743); “Silent Night” (1818); “Deck the Halls” (1862); “Jingle Bells” (1857); “We Three Kings” (1857); “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (17th century); “Hark! The Herald [...]

Current_Events | Cyberculture | Media | Religion

Benedict XVI (Pontifex) on Twitter

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John Paul II was a master of communication and enjoyed a special connection with youth. I’m curious to see how Benedict XVI will use this medium.

Benedict XVI (Pontifex) on Twitter.