Why Johnny Can't Spell

In spite of not having actively posted about it for two weeks, this blog is still getting visits (and the occasional comment) from people who've been following what's been going on between Yours Truly and the local cult calling itself the "Church of Christ", especially its power-mad leader Johnny Robertson of the Martinsville Church of Christ.

Speaking of which, lately I'm hearing it asked quite a lot: Why won't these guys, with all their money, buy airtime on any other television station besides WGSR? Especially when there are other stations in the area with both better studio facilities and broadcast reach? The general consensus is that WGSR's management was the only one desperate enough to sell airtime to the cult, and that every reputable and "real" station in the market wouldn't touch The Three Stasi (that's my latest nickname for Robertson, James Oldfield and Norm Fields) of the so-called "Church of Christ" with a nine-foot cattle prod. I didn't originate that sentiment, folks. That's just what others have been telling me.

Maybe with good reason: I haven't caught most of his more recent broadcasts but the word I'm consistently hearing is that Robertson has appeared "rattled", that the other week he looked like "a deer in the headlights" and that he was practically begging people to call in and pay him attention. I happened to watch a few minutes of his show this past Sunday night and he was ranting about how church bake sales and car washes were tantamount to mortal sin because they weren't mentioned in the Bible. I watched for five minutes then tuned Robertson out and instead began playing BioShock on the Xbox 360. There's more profound wisdom to be found in that video game than there is in the live television broadcasts of three real people during several hours each week: sad, but true.

Meanwhile, y'all wouldn't believe the stuff that's come into this blog over the past few weeks that I can't print yet about 'em. Suffice it say, "Christopher Knight, investigative reporter" is back in the saddle again. More regarding this when I feel like it's time to publish it.

I still stand by what I said on TV a few weeks ago folks: I don't care what Robertson tries to do to me. But as one wise friend told me a few days later: The Lord may yet have some work for me to do so far as these loons are concerned. However, regarding Robertson's boast that he had turned "the community" against me...

We've had three performances of Children of Eden so far. When the cast was greeting the audience following our opening night show one gentleman told me that I was "a hero" for "taking on that nutcase Johnny Robertson". A few days later at our third performance another audience member said that my words during the live appearance had "the love of Christ" and was "what being a real Christian is all about". Not one person has told me that I was wrong for those thirteen minutes, but a lot of people have told me - both in person and via e-mail, and not comments posted to this blog - that Johnny Robertson and Charles Roark are, in so many words, "a disgrace to this area". Again: their sentiment, not mine. I'm just reportin' it, folks. Parse all this as you will.

(Heck, the comments that I'm still having to delete every now and then about WGSR general manager Charles Roark have been more than a little, shall we say, "colorful". And I never knew that Roark had been convicted recently of theft and had served time in jail, or that he was banned from all Wal-Mart stores, or that prior to that he already had FOUR larceny convictions, or that he lost a defamation lawsuit leveled against him... parse all that as you will.)

In the meantime, I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of something that I noticed on Johnny Robertson's website...

You may have to click on the image to read this heading from the What Does The Bible Say? site. It declares in bold red font that...

"The church of Christ is the intellectual center in this region. No one else will take on the issues."

Whoa! Big boast there! The "intellectual center" of this region? I had no idea that the Martinsville Church of Christ was a subsidiary of the RAND Corporation!

And "No one else will take on the issues"? What does that supposed to mean?! If you read this blog you know that I take on "the issues" all the time. So do a dozen or so other bloggers in the area, not to mention many other writers and clergy members of various perspectives. So to say that "No one else will take on the issues" is a bold-faced lie. Granted, few of us would claim that we agree 100% with what someone else might believe... but I don't know of anyone so brazen as to proclaim that they are the "intellectual center" of anything.

Heck, I'm a pretty smart guy, and not even I would say something like that.

But wait, it gets better. Also from Robertson's site...

It says "Polgamist May Come to the Tent".

How the heck does Johnny Robertson expect us to buy into the notion that he is the "intellectual center" of the region and that he is the sole inviolate authority of the Word of God... when he can't even SPELL his OWN words right?!?

He has had "polygamist" mis-spelled for over a year now on the front page of his website! Tell me again how this is supposed to be "intellectual"?

This is far from an isolated incident. If you've ever read Robertson's hysterical ravings on the Answering the Church of Christ blog, you know already that he has atrocious grammar and spelling. He also has the tendency of shooting from the mouth before he really thinks about what it is he's saying. Although I tend to believe that when Robertson boasted that "we are here to defeat destroy you" he was being more truthful than he possibly realized.

But I am not here to "defeat destroy" anyone. Instead I choose to take the course of action that the wise sage Mel Brooks has discovered is the best way to destroy Hitler, along with any other evil person in this world...

I choose to make people laugh at Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, Norm Fields, and their twisted cult that never does anything but hurt others.

More soon. Some will be serious. And some will be different.

Read More

Muppet engineer Kermit Love has passed away

Ain't It Cool News is reporting the sad news today that Kermit Love, who designed Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus for Sesame Street in addition to many other Muppets after an already renowned costuming career, has passed away at the age of 91.

Love (who insisted that he was not the namesake inspiration for Kermit the Frog, yeah I checked) also did a lot of commercial work, including the creation of Snuggles Bear and the very strange La Choy Dragon:

I'm telling you, folks back then thought and imagined on a whole 'nother scale than we can do nowadays.

Thanks for all your years of wonder and dedication, Mr. Love. You helped bring joy to millions of children, of all ages. And we won't forget that.

Read More

Supreme Court rules that individuals have right to own guns

The decision was 5-4. Which is why I'm not happy about it. That's still too close. In a saner day and age, the decision would have been 9-0 in favor of gun ownership.

Being one vote away from tyranny is still tyranny, in my book.

And then there are those of us among the citizenry who hold to the notion that this ruling has no real meaning at all, because we already know that the individual has the right to defend himself or herself. I sure as hell wasn't waiting with baited breath as to what nine justices in some marble building in D.C. had to say about it.

Here's the text of the ruling (in Adobe Acrobat format) if you're inclined to check it out for yourself.

Read More

Meet the heroes of this season's DOCTOR WHO finale

It's gonna be the craziest Doctor Who title sequence ever...

(Left to Right): Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jackie, Rose, The Doctor, Martha, Captain Jack, Donna

And the rumor is that this still isn't the full roster of the good guys! Over the past few months I've heard that K-9 might be making an appearance too, and maybe even a previous version of The Doctor himself (hmmmm... Paul McGann?). Heck, with that kind of a lineup it wouldn't surprise me if Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart himself was brought in to order "five rounds, rapid".

It promises to be the most epic clash in the entire 45-year history of Doctor Who, as The Doctor and his friends face the wrath of Davros and his new Dalek Empire. The two-part season finale begins with "The Stolen Earth" this Saturday on BBC One in Great Britain, on Sci-Fi Channel a few weeks after that in America and anywhere you want it to be right after it premieres courtesy of BitTorrent download! :-P

Read More

Rotating Skyscraper: I ain't goin' inside that thing!

This scheme has "Bad Idea" written all over it...

An Italian architect is planning what he calls the first "building in motion": an 80-story tall skyscraper where the floors rotate around a central axis independently of each other.

Got that?

Imagine a twelve-hundred foot tall licorice stick, that's held upright and twisted back and forth. That's the kind of effect that David Fisher is aiming for with his Dynamic Towers, which will be built in Dubai and Moscow. These are going to be apartment buildings. And as each floor spins 360 degrees, the entire building's shape will constantly shift and change.

Its designers claim that wind turbines built between the stories will power the entire building, letting it be completely energy self-sufficient. Powerful elevators will also allow residents to park their cars within their own apartments.

It's also being said that construction of each tower will only take twenty months, with six days time required to install each story. The stories for the building will be pre-fabricated in Italy, then shipped to the construction site. The final assembly will require eighty technicians, according to Fisher and his associates. Utilities like electricity and plumbing will connect to the central core via attachments similar to in-flight refueling used with military aircraft.

I'm not going to begin to write down all the bad scenarios that are possible with living inside such a thing. But if David Fischer can pull this off, it might be worth a trip to Dubai or Moscow to check it out. He's also planning a smaller one for New York City. Hey, at least a building like that would deter King Kong from climbing it, right?

Here's a video illustrating how this thing is supposed to work...

Read More

The "lost" tribe that wasn't

Just less than a month ago there was lots of excitement about a tribe of people living deep in the Brazilian jungle that had been photographed from the air. It was claimed at the time that these villagers were just now being discovered for the first time.

In the past few days it's been determined that this was a lie on the part of the photographer.

José Carlos Meirelles has admitted that authorities have known about the tribe since at least 1910! He took the photos and still claimed that these people had been completely undiscovered until his aerial reconnaissance. Why? Because he wanted it to seem like they were a truly lost tribe so that more attention would be given toward the issue of the impact of logging in the Amazon basin.

In other words: it was a lie driven by a political agenda.

I still harbor some admiration for the photos that Meirelles took, but now any appreciation for them will be forever tainted by how he chose to use them. If he had just come forward and said "hey, these are pictures of a tribe that we've known about for a long time but only now are able to get close enough to photograph them" that would have no doubt been a more respectable feat. He didn't play the part of the objective scientist at all. Instead he injected a personal bias into the matter and in the long run he probably did more harm than good to his cause.

That's a lesson that many other scientists would do well to be mindful of.

(And thanks to Nathan for passing along the news about this.)

Read More

CHILDREN OF EDEN: More photos!

Here are some more pics from the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Children of Eden. Some of these were taken by my wife Lisa and others were taken by Dean Brown...

Father (Neil Shepherd) realizes his dream and creates the universe in "Let There Be", the opening song of Act I in Children of Eden

Eve (Rose Cutuli Wray) listens as Father tells her and Adam what they must do as they begin "The Naming"

Adam (Stephen Hale) and Eve (Rose Cutuli Wray) are cast out of the Garden as Father (Neil Shepherd) curses the Tree of Knowledge during "The Expulsion" in Act I

Young Abel (Jasper Thomas III, left) and Young Cain (Aaron Boles, right) join their father Adam (Stephen Hale) in asking Father to accept their sacrifice

Cain (Jay Smith) brings Abel (Winston Sims) and Eve (Rose Cutuli Wray) to a place that they have no business being in "Ring of Stones"

Noah (Jon Young) and his family thank Father for their blessings during "A Piece of Eight" in Act II

More coming soon! And remember: Children of Eden plays for three more performances this coming Friday through Sunday, June 27-29th at Rockingham Community College Auditorium. Visit the Theatre Guild's website for more info!

Read More

"Turn Left": Final stand-alone of Davies era among the best of new DOCTOR WHO

Russell T. Davies, if you're reading this, you have made me feel very sorry that I doubted you.

Yeah, there have been some low points during your reign as showrunner on Doctor Who (insert standard derogatory reference to "Love & Monsters" here). But you know what? If the two-part season finale that begins this coming Saturday is anything as good as "Turn Left" was this past weekend, then I will gladly declare that you learned from your mistakes and that you triumphed in every way so far as bringing Doctor Who back is concerned. This past season of Doctor Who might have been the best yet since the series's revival. And it looks to be going out with a bang...

"It's sort of complicated. I ended up in his spaceship on my wedding day."

"What if you turned right? What then?"

"There's something on your back!"

"We found a body, sir."

"I came so far."

"The Royal Air Force has declared an emergen..."

"Nobody lives in the bathroom."

"America is in crisis, with over sixty million reported dead."

"Why won't you tell me your name?"

"Something's coming, Donna. Something worse."

"'Labor camps'. That's what they called them last time."

"They're going out. Oh my God! Donna look! The stars are going out!"

"Nooooo way!"

"It's a time machine!"

"Tell him this. Two words."

"Turn Left", which Davies also wrote, is the last stand-alone story (more or less) of his tenure at the helm of the classic television series. Last week the Doctor went almost the entire episode without Donna, and now it's Donna's turn in the spotlight in this offbeat episode that also features, after a season of fleeting cameos, the full-blown return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler.

While visiting a planet-wide Chinatown on a far-off world, a fortune teller offers to tell Donna's future. Donna takes her up, but instead of what is to come Donna is made to live out a different past: where instead of turning left at an intersection she chose to have a "safe" life by turning right toward a job that offered security. The most obvious result of this is that Donna never met the Doctor. Without her being there, the Doctor died during the events of "The Runaway Bride". And the result of that was that the world went straight to Hell.

If you've been faithfully watching Doctor Who since its 2005 return, there are rewards galore in "Turn Left": the Judoon's stealing the hospital, the space-borne Titanic, the Sontaran attack... all of these and more we get to see had the Doctor not been there to stop it all. This episode is very much Davies's love letter to his work over the past four years, and it succeeds admirably. My only complaint so far as that goes is that Davies jammed "Turn Left" with references to just about every other Doctor Who-related project he's worked on, including Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures and many viewers might be "lost in the fog" so far as those go. Indeed, I had to go to Wikipedia to find out what this "Trickster's brigade" thing was about.

Catherine Tate does a superb job of carrying the weight of this episode without David Tennant's presence. I've become quite a fan of Bernard Cribbins as Donna's grandfather Wilfred, and it's a delight to see him given so much screen time in "Turn Left".

And then there is Billie Piper's long-hyped return as Rose Tyler. It's not quite a letdown, but it's not what I was expecting either. Under any other circumstance hers might have been a "special guest star" appearance.

But with two words which come crashing down on the Doctor in the episode's final frantic scene (perhaps the best cliffhanger of any Doctor Who episode in recent memory) there is no doubt for anyone that Rose's appearance is no gimmick. That in fact her being here means that something very bad is on its way.

What? What could possibly have made Rose Tyler flee an entire universe to warn the Doctor about?

Here's the teaser that the BBC is now running...

"Turn Left" gets 4 Sonic Screwdrivers out of 5.

Next time: the greatest showdown in the history of Doctor Who begins, as just about every hero in the show's current stable gets thrown into battle against the return of Davros. "The Stolen Earth" transmits on BBC One in five days and across the Internets immediately afterward!

Read More

George Carlin has passed away

George Carlin has died at 71, of congestive heart failure.

I didn't care too much for the vulgarity of his act. And I disagreed with him on a lot of things. But that still didn't stop me from appreciating that this was a man who was obviously very thoughtful and had a deep understanding of many matters that too many of us don't bother to contemplate. In that regard, Carlin was something like a conscience for this culture. Here's a clip demonstrating that (warning: harsh language):

In the end, I choose to remember Carlin as a man with a lot of intellect, who was talented at sharing that with others through many very different voices. This was a guy who did the "Seven Words You Can't Say On Television" and was just as comfortable doing voice work for children's cartoons (not to mention his movie work, like playing Rufus in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure... and Dogma 'course).

Rest in peace, Mr. Carlin.

Read More

CHILDREN OF EDEN: The Third Performance

Are we really halfway through our performance schedule already? Sure doesn't seem like it.

This afternoon was the third performance of Children of Eden, produced by the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County. It was the biggest audience yet! And the show went great again. Today's performance was especially important for me personally because I was finally able to do something that I've been working on all this past week: have some serious tears flowing when I played Seth at the end of Act I. It worked... but man, that was tough! Will try to do it again for the next three times we do this.

My parents got to come and see the show too. One neat moment happened when I got to introduce my real Mom to Rose Cutuli Wray, my "Mom" (she plays Eve) in Children of Eden. Also got to see a lot more friends who came today, and a few who are seeing it for a second time during this production!

(Yeah I'm talkin' 'bout you especially Nell ;-)

You know, this blog has chronicled a lot of... strange and unusual things from my life in the past few years. Everything from running for office to taking on a major corporation to fighting what many have said is evil incarnate, along with everything in between. Doing Children of Eden with the Theatre Guild has been, far and away, the greatest ongoing experience that I've written about here thus far. I have met so many new and wonderful people, have learned so much, and have rediscovered what may be a real passion that I might follow for the rest of my life in some form or another. God has used this experience to make me think about some things, and in ways that I haven't talked about here, He has used it to show me humility and how there are still some matters in my life that need addressing. Through Children of Eden, I have gained not just new friends, but some new family.

And, it's been a heckuva lot of fun!

I'm going to genuinely miss this time when it's over. But until then, we still have three more shows, so we ain't done just yet.

We have off 'til Friday night, although there may be a "brush-up" rehearsal before then. But for now, we've got the next few days to rest and reflect, and figure out how to make the second half of our schedule even better than the first!

Maybe some more pictures soon also. Stay tuned! :-)

Read More

The $400 Star Wars LEGO Death Star

Gizmodo has high-res photos of the upcoming Death Star from LEGO's Star Wars collection. With almost four thousand pieces and setting your wallet back $400, this station is now the ultimate power in the universe (or at least your living room floor, which is the only place big enough to build this technological terror)...It comes with a staggering 25 minifigs and droids, and re-creates 14 scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy.

And I must be a very good boy between now and Christmas, because if I tried to bring this thing into the house on my own Lisa would kill me.

EDIT 9:30 p.m. EST: Lisa took one look at that picture, and promptly said "No!"

I suppose she's right. We've got enough Star Wars LEGO models around the place anyway. At least I've got the Millennium Falcon and AT-AT Walker, not to mention Slave I: what more could a guy need? :-P

Read More

CHILDREN OF EDEN: The Second Performance

Just got back from our second performance of the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Children of Eden. Somewhat larger crowd tonight than our opener last night. Hopefully word of mouth will bring in bigger audiences tomorrow and next week.

Well, I honestly can't remember what much of the audience reaction was during the show itself last night 'cuz we were all so busy making sure we were in place for our cues and such, but tonight I was able to let myself see how the crowd was taking it. The reaction was incredible! There was lots of laughter and applause, but what really caught my attention was what happened as we were about to head down the aisles toward the stage for "Ain't It Good": people in the audience were bopping their heads and clapping and snapping their fingers right to the beat! And then in the next song "In The Beginning", the final one of the show: I counted at least four or five people in the audience who were crying. Which there's nothing wrong with that: I shed some tears too when I heard that song the first time I saw Children of Eden.

We put it on again tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 (same place, the Rockingham Community College Auditorium) and then we're off a few days before coming back for one more rehearsal, before doing it again next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and then the last regular performance on Sunday, June 29th at 2:30 p.m.

I might post some more pics of the show soon, along with photos of some of the insanity that's been taking place behind the scenes :-P

Read More

"Doctorin' the Tardis": More insane music from The KLF

It might be a few days before I can watch "Turn Left", tonight's new episode of Doctor Who which the BBC just transmitted across the pond to our Brittish brethren (and after two years nobody has still gotten that little joke!). "Turn Left" marks the return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler: the Doctor's first companion after the series was revived after a fifteen-year hiatus. Rose, her family and boyfriend Mickey became trapped in the alternate universe at the end of Season 2 (or 28 if we're counting the original series) and the Doctor said that there was no way to escape. If you've been watching this season's Doctor Who you know already that she wound up back somehow, beginning with her jaw-dropping silent cameo in the season premiere "Partners in Crime".

So to celebrate the imminent reunion of the Doctor and one of the most beloved of his companions, as well as the return of arch-villain Davros next week, here's something that I've wanted to post for awhile now. This blog has already seen the video for "Justified and Ancient" by The KLF. Here now is the group's #1 hit single from a few years earlier when they called themselves The Timelords. Putting a techno-spin on the classic Doctor Who theme by Ron Grainer, starring "Ford Timelord" and the crudest-built Daleks ever, enjoy the video for "Doctorin' the Tardis"!

Read More

iPod classic owners can finally get a new battery (WITHOUT hurting their iPod!)

Ever since this past holiday season I've been the proud owner of an 80 gigabyte iPod classic. It's gone with me just about everywhere: why just tell people about things like Forcery and my famous school board campaign commercial when I can show it to them, too! In addition to those and thousands of songs I've also put a ton of movies (the entire Star Wars saga, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman Begins, Sweeney Todd, Transformers, UHF just to name a few), not to mention every episode of Lost, along with several clips from Sesame Street and individual Garfield and Friends cartoons. And hundreds of photos, too.

So yeah, my iPod classic has become an indispensable part of my mobile persona. And I haven't had to face the problem yet, but the eventual lessening of my iPod's battery charge has been on my mind, 'cuz I'm the kind of guy who likes to be able to keep using the things he invests in for a long time. Unfortunately like every other iPod ever produced, Apple has not allowed individual users to easily replace the batteries. Steve Jobs thinks it would ruin the look of the iPod (yeah well what about all the millions of dollars that his company could make from selling spare batteries?!). So in the past few years a cottage industry has arisen of companies that provide spare batteries and tools for owners to open the iPod and swap the battery out. One that is widely considered among the most reputable is Milliamp LTD's ipodjuice.com, and I've written about them before. Although I've yet to use their services, I know lots of iPod owners who swear by them.

All well and good... except that when it came time to roll out the iPod classic, Apple made it much harder to remove the case and replace the battery without severely damaging the iPod! Previous iPods could be easily opened with ipodjuice.com's iOpener tool. But the iPod classic's harsh internal locks chew up and spit out the plastic iOpener when its use is attempted.

It took them several months, but ipodjuice.com now has a way to safely replace the iPod classic's battery.

You can't do it yourself like previous iPod models, but you can send your iPod classic to ipodjuice.com. They will replace the battery and usually be able to quickly ship it back to you on the same day. Some folks have told me that turnaround time to either side of the country from the company's location in San Antonio, Texas is less than a week.

Like I said, I haven't used ipodjuice.com yet, and I don't own any stake in the company (and the only time I've been to San Antonio was when I drove down from Austin during my trip this past December). But since this is something that a lot of iPod classic owners have been frustrated with, I thought I'd do my part and spread the word that there is now some help out there if they ever need it :-)

Read More

Governor Easley made taxpayers fund $170,000 "business" trip to Italy

I don't mind saying this: I've never liked or trusted Mike Easley, before or after he became Governor of North Carolina.

When I was a reporter in Asheville, I saw how Easley, who was then the state's Attorney General, practically stole land from a private owner. Easley's claim was that the land needed to be environmentally protected, as if it were pristine wilderness. Then an aerial photograph showed that there were already not only housing developments nearby but a chemical plant also. I saw the plans that the guy had for the land and there's no question in my mind that he was going to responsibly manage the land and make it into something that everyone could enjoy. He was certainly going to do a much better job at it than the state government ever would.

Easley had the state take it anyway.

So now Mike Easley is on his way out as governor, and it looks like he's feeling that the taxpayers "owe" him for the "service" he has given this state: Easley racked up a $170,000 bill during a "business" trip to Italy, which also included his wife, members of his staff and three North Carolina Highway Patrol officers to provide "security" for Easley. During the trip, which included overnight stays in Rome, Venice and Florence, Easley and his contingent stayed at some of the most expensive hotels in Venice and enjoyed dinner at what are considered to be among the finest restaurants in Europe. They also enjoyed the service of a luxury limo and driver at the rate of $3,600 a day.

All of this was billed to the taxpayers of North Carolina.

And strangely, WTVD in Raleigh is reporting that many of the expenditures were not reported, having been "redacted".

The trip is being lauded as a "success" by Easley's staff and supporters.

I've got three questions:

1. What kind of a return can we, the taxpayers of North Carolina, expect for the "investment" that we were forced to make for Easley and his buddies to party hardy down Rome and Venice way?

2. What kind of business interests are there in Italy that we in North Carolina should have a compelling interest in? So far, not Easley or anyone on his staff has been forthcoming with this. We're told that they promoted North Carolina as a tourist destination to the Italians... which is kinda like trying to sell a snow machine to an Inuit.

3. In this time of fiscal constraint, how does Easley and his staff justify such wanton spending when there were less expensive alternatives, if this trip was deemed to be an absolute necessity?

I'm not expecting answers from either Easley or his cronies on those questions. It's pretty obvious that the "business" aspect was a facade over what was for all intent and purpose a pleasure trip which this state can't adequately justify and funded by money that we don't really have.

One more example of what I've come to call the "rotted timbers", folks...

Read More

After-Action Report from CHILDREN OF EDEN's Opening Night!

Tonight, the shared sentiment among the cast and crew of Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of Children of Eden is TRIUMPHANT!

The show went beautifully! It was the first time that it had ever been performed in Rockingham County. And judging by the applause and the kind words that members of the audience gave us after the show, this was a huge hit! Lots of people said that they loved the uplifting and powerful message of the story and that the music was "wonderful!" Cast members also received a lot of praise for their acting.

We just got back from a very crazy opening night cast party at a Mexican restaurant in Reidsville (which included the strangest rendition of "In Pursuit of Excellence" that I've seen since this production began... and that's saying something). Everyone involved is ecstatic about what happened tonight. Some have said that this might be the best production done in the history of the Theatre Guild.

This was one of the greatest nights of my life! For ten years I've wanted to not just perform in Children of Eden, but especially take part in "Generations", the opening number of Act II and my favorite song of the show. Tonight I got to fulfill that huge goal. And it will happen five more times over the next week or so.

If you missed Children of Eden tonight, you can see it tomorrow night at 7:30 at Rockingham Community College Auditorium, and then again Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and then next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For ticket information visit the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's website.

Okay, I'm off for now. Time to recharge. "And the night was perfect..."

Read More

Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of CHILDREN OF EDEN opens TONIGHT!

Father (Neil Shepherd) teaches Adam (Stephen Hale) and Eve (Rose Cutuli Wray) how to care for their new charges during "Naming the Animals" as the Storytellers watch in a scene from Theatre Guild of Rockingham County's production of
Children of Eden

Here it is at last: Opening Night for Children of Eden, produced by the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County. The curtain opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Rockingham Community College Auditorium. The show runs each Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 and then Sunday afternoon at 2:30 between today and June 29th.

If you are coming, and you have never seen Children of Eden before, then prepare yourself for a treat.

Children of Eden, with music by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell and the music for the motion picture Prince of Egypt) based on a book by John Caird (the musical Les Misérables), is based on the first nine chapters of the Book of Genesis. Throughout the stories of the creation of the world, the Garden of Eden, the fall of mankind and then Noah and the Ark, Children of Eden explores the age-old issues of relationships between parents and children.

Something that we have joked about during the past several weeks: Children of Eden is a show that has three deaths in Act I, billions of deaths in Act II, violence and mildly suggestive lyrics and explosions and Satan himself... and yet it is one of the most family-friendly musicals in production today! It is also one of the most wildly popular. Shows sell out all over the place whenever it's put on.

And I'm in it! Ever since Elon's production of Children of Eden ten years ago, I've wanted to take part in it. It took a decade, but tonight God will answer my prayer as I step into the cloak and sandals of Seth: the third son of Adam and Eve.

There is a place in Eden for children of all ages. It's going to be quite a show no matter who you are. So y'all come if ya can! :-)

Read More