Dear Blog Readers — Here is a brief post on the Pope’s visit to Assisi. Last Friday, October 4th, Pope Francis made a whirlwind trip to the Umbrian hill town of Assisi, home of his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi. He came in a helicopter from the Vatican and arrived at 730 am and seemed …
I heard the news on the car radio as I was heading to Assisi to cover the Pope’s visit there. Two hundred and fifty people missing after a floundering ship full of immigrants caught fire and sunk half a mile from the shore of Lampedusa. A frenetic rescue operation was underway involving local fisherman, Coast …
Dear Blog Readers– Yesterday I was in Florence listening to detailed discussions of blood stains, a bra clasp and sperm spots during the opening hearing in the re-trial of the Meredith Kercher Murder. By now, anyone interested in the news has already gotten it, so I will give you just a bit of behind-the-scenes atmosphere. …
Dear Blog Readers — This post is just for those of you who are interested in the Pope, the Vatican and the Catholic Church. I found the interview that Pope Francis gave to a Jesuit journalist so fascinating that I am going to pull out long quotes on various topics and put them in below. …
He’s blown off the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace to sleep in a residence, he doesn’t bother with red shoes or fancy lace, he makes cold-calls to people who write him letters, he gives homework at his weekly audience, he kisses every baby he can, and stops to hug anyone who is sick or …
Dear Blog Readers — Yesterday I covered my favorite film so far in the festival, it is a documentary called “The Unknown Known” about former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Given where the US stands now — poised to attack Syria — the documentary is chilling. Today I was lucky enough to have a …
Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson left hearts pounding in Venice after her appearance to promote her latest film “Under the Skin.” In the film, Johansson plays a sexy alien on a road-trip through Scotland seducing and destroying men along her route. Over the course of her journey she begins to gain some sensitivity and human emotions. …
Dear Blog Readers – I think I may have given some of you the mistaken impression that I lead a very glamorous existence covering the Pope on one day and the Venice Film Festival the next. The truth of the matter is that much of the time I am schlepping around a tripod for the …